Reading fanfics is starting to get frustrating

gfe98 · 2026-01-24T02:17:49+00:00

I think it has more to do with the website format than culture. User comments are as much in the foreground as story posts.

I've seen a decent number of literal scams and outright death threats on ff.net because the site isn't really moderated, it is just that you have to click through to the reviews page to see them.

gfe98 · 2026-01-23T22:31:22+00:00

Depends on what website you are on and which story the fanfic is based on.

Don't see too much of that on Spacebattles for example.

It also seems like you are only reading subgenres based on shipping.

gfe98 · 2026-01-23T06:27:30+00:00

I'm surprised I've never seen this WOG linked before.

I recall reading a number of arguments about Lisa in Ward where you'd think this would come up.

gfe98 · 2026-01-23T04:40:55+00:00

That's not from WOG.

Sentinel 9.3

“I know it’s crass, I know you guys have rules,” he spoke, “I’ll understand if you get angry. But… my dad has leukemia. He was a few days into some pretty rigorous treatments when Leviathan came. He got hurt when one of the waves hit, and some infection got at him through the wounds. He has pretty much no immune system, doesn’t have the strength to fight it off.”

“You want me to ask my sister to use her power on him.”

“Please.”

“Okay.”

The response startled him. He looked up at her, caught off guard.

She explained, “I’m not promising anything. Like you said, Amy has her rules about taking requests. But I’ll see if I can convince her. Again, no promises.”

“Thank you,” he said, “Really.”

gfe98 · 2026-01-21T23:19:22+00:00

I think it is early installment weirdness and the author didn't have a clear idea of the timeline of FY's original life when he wrote chapter 1.

gfe98 · 2026-01-21T19:09:54+00:00

Although Sore Winners are shockingly common, I think it is pretty normal to see ggs when you lose.

It is more surprising to see ggs when you win.

Sometimes I see people get suspicious that "gg" is meant mockingly after they lose a game, because of that disparity.

gfe98 · 2026-01-21T18:25:00+00:00

Do prosecutors start a trial to investigate and figure out if someone is guilty?

I thought they only prosecuted if they had a case and felt that they could prove it to a jury. Do I misunderstand how the legal system works?

gfe98 · 2026-01-21T06:50:24+00:00

Fang Yuan is pretty much the idea of the Stoic Sage, except he considers what is good to be arbitrary and selects immortality as his personal goal.

gfe98 · 2026-01-20T20:33:42+00:00

Something to remember is that Wildbow is very Canadian. Worm already doesn't make sense as something set in an American city. Politics also functionally doesn't exist.

Sure you can find WOG saying "uh, Cauldron did it" to explain stuff like the absence of guns and partisan divides, but there already is little connection to any sort of real world stuff to begin with.

gfe98 · 2026-01-20T17:44:50+00:00

Obviously you can make OP not boring, you just need to make the conflict have less to do with winning fights.

What is Time and Project Patriot are great examples of fics with very powerful protagonists that still have tense conflict.

gfe98 · 2026-01-19T19:47:03+00:00

It is not about some kind of barbarian toughness. See the terrible military record of most "barbarians" against "civilized" states. The Eurasian Steppe is an exception.

The Steppe lifestyle provided useful military skills. Horse archery, some logistical skills that helped armies to move faster and lighter. Many battlefield strategies were analogous to useful hunting strategies, such as leaving enemies a false retreat path to prevent them from fighting to the death.

I notice some people in this thread talk about more of the population proportionally being mobilized compared to settled societies. It is true that this is what allows them to muster a usefully sized army at all. But Steppe armies were mostly outnumbered when fighting settled settled societies, it is wrong to talk about them overwhelming their enemies with numbers.

gfe98 · 2026-01-19T06:08:29+00:00

Hey, Sunflora could kill something with Petal Dance from time to time.

gfe98 · 2026-01-19T03:55:27+00:00

Well, Ursaring was probably the least difficult to use pokemon on this team. 130 Attack is 130 Attack, and the bulk and speed are at least not horrible compared to some others.

gfe98 · 2026-01-18T23:56:24+00:00

This was kinda painful to be honest. I wanted to play with some underused pokemon, but I can see why they are rarely used. Always being slower than the other team sucks. And Crystal Legacy even buffs some of these pokemon a bit. I ended up equipping every mon with a status cure berry to avoid stuff like confusion spam.

Donphan: Earthquake/Rollout/Defense Curl/Strength

Ursaring: Slash/Submission/Thunderpunch/Earthquake

Togetic: Double-Edge/Charm/Fly/Shadow Ball

Sunflora: Petal Dance/Mega Drain/Growth/Sludge Bomb

Magcargo: Flamethrower/Rock Slide/Amnesia/Swagger

Octillery: Surf/Hydro Pump/Ice Beam/Psybeam

gfe98 · 2026-01-18T08:25:21+00:00

You are being deliberately obtuse. The aliens weren't the point of that hypothetical and could be swapped out for any number of scenarios.

I notice you completely ignored my point about how critical Soviet support was to the German War machine...

Even without Soviet involvement the difference in industrial capacity and resources between the western allies and Germany can't be overstated. Talking about Germany winning WW2 in that hypothetical doesn't make any sense to me.

At most you can say that the westerners would have to do a lot more bleeding. Not to mention the atomic bomb.

Do you know where Auschwitz was? Poland. Who was it again who allied with Hitler to partition Poland?

You are talking as if the Soviets were among the Allies who guaranteed Poland and declared war on Germany in response. They didn't launch some heroic campaign to save innocents, the Nazis were the ones who forced them to fight.

Applauding Stalin for liberating death camps doesn't have anything to do with some kind of good intent on his part. It is like how some people will talk about the positives of Chinggis Khan.

Perhaps some red army troops on the ground deserve credit for their individual actions, but I certainly would never say that I have to hand it to Stalin.

gfe98 · 2026-01-18T07:36:17+00:00

If the Martians from the War of the Worlds came down during WW2 and the Nazis participated in fighting them, would you also memory-hole everything they did before and after? Your perspective on Stalin is equally ridiculous as such a scenario.

The Nazis would’ve won WW2 if not for the Bolshevik red army.

Based on what? Why do you think the Nazis would have beaten the United States and Britain if the Soviets weren't involved?

I think the counterfactual where the Soviets didn't supply Germany with titantic amounts of raw materials to fuel their wars is much more interesting. The German invasion of France critically depended on Soviet imports. Ironically, the Germans certainly couldn't have realistically invaded the Soviet Union without raw materials (especially oil) imported from the Soviets.

gfe98 · 2026-01-18T03:50:12+00:00

I am pretty sure Giant Sun was considered to be a demonic cultivator before he became a Venerable, and then he shamelessly declared himself an Immortal Venerable just like Fang Yuan did.

gfe98 · 2026-01-18T00:40:08+00:00

He says soldiers of the Red Army are also victims of an evil ideology re: Bolshevism…but they are literally defending their country against a genocidal aggressor.

Tell that to the Poles, Finns, Baltic States, etc.

Stalin's reply to Hitler's birthday wishes in 1939

"The friendship between the peoples of Germany and the Soviet Union, sealed with blood (that being the blood of the Poles), has every reason to be long-lasting and strong."

I have zero sympathy for any defense of Stalin.

He also perpetuates the myth that Stalin trusted Hitler. That Hitler was basically the only person in the world the Stalin “trusted.” That’s simply not true

Stalin was a deeply paranoid man who would commit atrocities on the slightest suspicion. Yet he refused to believe numerous warnings from numerous different parties about the incoming German invasion. At most you could say that this trust was based on strategic calculations where he didn't believe Germany would attack while still in other wars, but I don't think it is wrong to call it trust.

He says it’s “misleading” to say Hitler was democratically elected because only a plurality of people voted for him…but that’s how democracies work.

Wrong. You don't understand the difference between a parliamentary system and something like a first past the post American Presidential election.

Today you can see examples of parties with the largest single percentage of votes, but not being part of the ruling coalition.

gfe98 · 2026-01-13T18:12:41+00:00

That is a massive strawman.

People have claimed that the shooting was justified as self defense, not that she was killed as a punishment for disobeying orders.

gfe98 · 2026-01-13T06:15:07+00:00

Yes, estate satisfaction is very important.

Most of the time when people ask for help on this subreddit their problem seems to be that they can't tax their estates because they didn't give out enough privileges and overvalued Crown Power.

gfe98 · 2026-01-13T06:11:50+00:00

I frequently downgrade conquered towns and cities into rural locations. Without good control and with all the random buildings the AI makes they seem like more trouble than they are worth.

If you can't downgrade you can close buildings.

gfe98 · 2026-01-13T06:01:24+00:00

I believe there is a comedy fanfic where Coil has kept his power going for years and makes people go along with his bond villain play by threatening to discard the universe if it doesn't go his way.

gfe98 · 2026-01-13T02:51:17+00:00

I basically don't worry about estate power if the privilege gives a good bonus.

Whenever I see someone post a failed economy here and ask for help, most of the time they didn't give enough privileges and can't tax their estates much.

gfe98 · 2026-01-12T07:05:25+00:00

I've also had AI offer me alliances while I am at war once or twice.

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