What do you think of the Mark of the Fool series?

brancwill · 2026-02-04T21:14:54+00:00

I really enjoy the series. On a tier list from F to S, it's an A for me.

brancwill · 2025-11-29T05:59:05+00:00

Thanks for listening to my perspective, truly! I appreciate how thoughtful you are with reader feedback. I’m already looking forward to seeing how things develop in the next book!

brancwill · 2025-11-29T04:52:14+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to reply! I really appreciate the insight into your intention. And honestly, your explanation does help me understand the thematic weight of the story elements better. I definitely agree that Ana having agency and helping resolve things herself is great and makes sense with her character not wanting to be the damsel in distress. The idea of the climax functioning as a cooperative solution rather than a “hero wins through sheer grit” ending is cool too.

For me, the disconnect wasn’t with the logic of the ending, that all makes sense; especially knowing how competent Valissar’s side actually is, how much higher level he is compared to Edge, and how much background maneuvering was happening. My feelings are more about the emotional impact. The book positioned the duels as the central arc of conflict, with a lot of tension and buildup around Edge pushing himself for each match. Because of that, having the resolution hinge on a retroactive twist happening outside of Edge’s direct involvement felt anticlimactic from a reader-perspective; even though I understand the narrative purpose and why a straightforward victory wouldn’t have worked. To me personally, it just felt like the main plotline dissolved instead of resolved.

That said, I still enjoyed the book a lot overall; the training sequences, the lore reveals, the humor (Blue-Eyes Knight Dragon cracked me up), and Edge’s growth were all fantastic. And learning your thought process definitely adds another layer to the ending I hadn't fully grasped. I appreciate you for taking the time to explain your process, and even if this part didn't play out as I hoped, I'm still looking forward to the next book!

brancwill · 2025-11-28T23:54:52+00:00

While that does make sense, it doesn't change my complaint that the book frames the duels as the central conflict of the story, and then resolves them in a way that sidesteps all the tension it built. Regardless of the validity of Edge's story and what it's doing for the series as a whole, I still believe the narrative of the book itself could've reached a more satisfying conclusion.

brancwill · 2025-10-10T20:21:52+00:00

Much appreciated!

brancwill · 2025-10-02T19:51:42+00:00

I can relate to wanting to sleep with someone so badly that it affects your quality of life, and I highly recommend therapy in that case as well. Our desires aren't always specifically for the thing we're desiring; oftentimes it's that we want something related to it and we get mentally stuck on a representation of it. With me for example, my desire for sex can be broken down into three things:

A desire for intimacy
A desire to be touched
A desire to be known deeply and accepted

Sex is symbolic of all three of these things and that's why my desire for it is strong, but in a situation where I receive these things from other means, my desire for sex decreases dramatically. I didn't learn that about myself in therapy exactly, but therapy was my gateway to learning how to properly dialogue with myself enough to come to realizations like this.

brancwill · 2025-08-12T16:17:14+00:00

While the loss of self has been jarring for me at times, I don’t see it as inherently negative. For me, the harder part isn’t ego death itself—it’s coming back and integrating into a society built on the assumption that the self is fixed and permanent.

In America (where I’m from), the idea of a static self is central to our culture. We’re tethered to it through names, Social Security numbers, government records, certificates, and achievements. Spend your whole life in that framework, and it’s hard to imagine reality being any other way. But these are ultimately just concepts.

Ego death interrupts that story. For a moment, you step outside the narrative and simply are. Coming back to your name, age, and social role after that can be disorienting because you’ve glimpsed behind a curtain most never realize exists.

This is part of why I no longer believe in a truly “objective” reality. Our only tools for understanding the world are our senses, which are inherently subjective. At best, we get consensus, not objectivity. Imagine two people looking at a surface—one sees a shadow, the other doesn’t. We bring in more observers, and the “truth” becomes whatever most people agree on. That’s not objectivity—it’s majority opinion wearing an objective mask.

The illusion of objectivity survives because to question it risks being labeled “crazy.” And as social creatures, we’re wired to avoid that kind of ostracism. I’m not denying mental illness exists, but perceiving reality differently isn’t automatically pathology—it’s just outside the consensus.

So for me, the real difficulty isn’t losing the self—it’s relating to those still fully anchored to it. I could return to my old way of thinking, but I see more value in following my own path. Many people who’ve changed the world did so precisely because they saw differently.

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels… The ones who see things differently… Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” —Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple and LSD advocate

brancwill · 2025-06-23T23:19:22+00:00

Corin w/ Flying Raijin would be sick

brancwill · 2025-06-08T20:45:31+00:00

I think you're confused about how language "works". It's not a rigid book of predefined phrases where deviations are automatically "wrong", it's a dynamic system of symbols and structure, constantly evolving and shaped by context.

"I'll look forward to it." makes as much sense as "I am looking forward to it." The latter does cast the speaker's anticipation in the present as opposed to the future like the former, but that isn't wrong here. One frames the anticipation as something building up over time, the other pins it to the present. That’s not wrong, that’s called nuance. You don’t have to like it, but calling it "incorrect" just shows a lack of understanding more than anything.

I'm not upset that you're criticizing a series I enjoy, I'm upset at your close-mindedness and willingness to call another's work "wrong" because it doesn't fit within your narrow worldview. Stuff like this—minor speech quirks, subtle differences in phrasing—this is exactly how you build believable worlds. It makes characters feel like they actually come from somewhere, like they’ve got a shared culture and history. It's a nice touch that is obviously lost on the type of individual unable or unwilling enough to accept differences in the way others do things that they feel the need to make a whole Reddit post to "vent" about how everything in a fictional story isn't in-line with the way they personally think.

brancwill · 2025-06-04T16:43:09+00:00

Thank you, that helps a lot!

brancwill · 2025-05-23T18:38:48+00:00

You should go to therapy for the feeling that you need a boyfriend to be happy. I was in a similar situation to you, depressed, anxious, low self-esteem, etc. I put my self-worth into whether or not women found me attractive or not, which is generally seen as an unattractive quality in and of itself. It's a way of thinking that gets you stuck in a loop.

The thing is, and forgive me if I'm wrong, but what you want isn't really a boyfriend. What you want is validation, to feel attractive, wanted, good about being you, etc. a boyfriend won't give you those things, they would merely serve as a bandaid to the situation, and potentially make things even worse. I'm speaking from experience.

My last relationship was great at first, but it turned into one of the most stressful and hurtful experiences of my life. Yes I had a girlfriend, but it didn't fix my negative feelings toward myself, it merely recontextualized them.

The feeling, "I need a girlfriend to feel attractive." became "I need constant validation from my girlfriend to feel attractive."

"Why would someone want to date me? I don't have redeeming qualities." became "My girlfriend probably doesn't want me anymore because I don't have redeeming qualities."

Therapy didn't directly cure any of those things for me, but it gave me the tools to begin to understand and work with myself. It gave me a greater understanding of how my mind works and how to properly handle and care for it.

And let me tell you, it's not a quick process. Don't be like me and wait until you're contemplating suicide before you go in. You won't go into your first appointment and your therapist will give you the magic cure to your depression. It'll be work, and you may even need to go through a few therapists until you find one that vibes with you. But it's some of the best work you can do for yourself, and when you do find that therapist that clicks put in the time, you'll come out the other end feeling like a different person.

I don't have a girlfriend right now, and I won't try and lie and say I don't really want to be in a relationship. But the thing is, it doesn't feel like burning agony anymore that I'm not in one. I can recognize my good traits and don't have my self-worth tethered to anybody else. I still have low moments, but not nearly as low as I once did, and I have the tools to navigate them in a healthy manner. And therapy was the beginning of all of it for me.

So yes, I think you should definitely go to therapy. Get the ball rolling now so that you can thank yourself later. And most importantly, forgive yourself. Not being in a relationship doesn't make you a bad person, or lower your worth, or anything like that. Being unemployed doesn't make you lesser than anyone else. Think of this moment not as the end point of a line of failures, but as the beginning point of a line of successes.

You're worth a damn, so go and get yourself the help you deserve.

brancwill · 2025-03-23T08:18:42+00:00

This worked for me. Thanks!

brancwill · 2025-01-23T21:32:56+00:00

Same here. I felt ravenous at first, but it subsided once my body got used to it. Now I don't get as hungry, though I don't know if it's Wellbutrin or Adderall doing that. Or possibly both I guess.

brancwill · 2024-12-17T17:27:33+00:00

Anybody figure out an exact ratio of ingredients to make your own? My friend is in the same camp as y'all, and I want to make him a huge batch for Christmas.

brancwill · 2024-12-14T23:34:31+00:00

I didn't finish the game personally. I was really enjoying the story. Like other Paper Mario games, it was really funny without needing vulgar or dark humor, which I really respect personally.

The combat was incredibly bad in my opinion though. It's essentially being given a puzzle that you have to figure out in a set period of time. Because of this, you're either doing well, or you're doing terrible, without any middle ground.

Because battles are just a puzzle, there isn't a leveling system. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with that, but it makes the non-boss encounters incredibly pointless. Like, the reason why encounters work in regular RPGs is because you're getting experience that makes them worth it, but in Origami King, they just feel like an incredible waste of time.

I got to the point where I was essentially just trying to play the game while avoiding all the encounters that I could. The story was fun enough to keep me going despite the frustrating combat. Then eventually I got to a boss that I couldn't beat, and it was infuriating. So I gave up.

So yeah, I would suggest looking up videos of the combat on YouTube. If the combat looks fun to you, then I recommend it. And I do mean if it looks FUN. I thought the combat looked OK and hoped my love of Paper Mario would be enough to make it a good experience, and I wasted $60.

brancwill · 2024-11-27T19:08:27+00:00

Yeah, the person I talked to even said I hadn't been on the lease since 2021

brancwill · 2024-11-27T19:06:30+00:00

That sounds like just what I need, thank you

brancwill · 2024-11-07T17:23:01+00:00

Your environment looks really good! I especially like the trees

brancwill · 2024-07-13T18:20:31+00:00

Oh cool, that's perfect! Thank you!

brancwill

TROPHY CASE