《PERSONAL SUNSETS》55
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On a rainy day, over some of roofs, let's reach little tripsy and perform some drunken. Scream to clouds as they growl, tell them some dramatic story, make them cry harder, act exhausted and then back out of your fallacies before to sink in.
-MADHAVI RANAWAT
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- In Serial20 Chapters
Sword System Academia
2/17 NOTICE: I'm putting this on hiatus, possibly permanently. I didn't want to spam with an "update chapter", so hopefully here and in the story blurb will get enough eyeballs. There are a couple reasons for ending SSA for now. 1) I wrote the next chapter but wasn't happy with it. I've been less and less satisfied with SSA's quality the more I thought about it. Part of the reason is... 2) I am seriously thinking about trying to publish some novels to help pay the bills, since I don't have my other source of income anymore. I have never asked for anything from SSA readers, no money, not even a review or rating. SSA is written for fun to amuse myself, primarily, and I would kind of feel bad actually charging someone money for something as unserious as that. I don't think it is good enough to ask anything in return. To use an analogy from music, SSA is more like a jam session with a bunch of friends. You're just chiling and having fun playing some music. I mean, if you are Mozart or even Eminem, your jam session is good enough to sell, but for an amateur beginner like myself, haha, no. If I want to publish something, I feel like I need to go the proper route of practice and rehearsals, which might be more similar to a classical concert performance. With SSA, I work from worldbuilding notes and a loose outline, but what you are essentially getting is the first draft with lots of so-called pantsing. Pushing out a web novel like this also means it is very difficult to go back and improve things without breaking everything else downstream. I wanted to try this "jamming" approach, as it was a good way to teach me about another aspect of writing, but to move forward, I think I need to hone my "classical" techniques, which emphasize rewriting, or at least, revising outlines. 3) While I intend to try to make $$$, my actual current goal is to "get gud". I've spent a lot of time recently trying to understand the self-publishing industry, and I'm pretty sure I can make some money by using short-term strategies with my current amateur skill level. But I've seen too many authors come and go/burnout, and really, the only way that I think I can enjoy writing and still make money on a long-term basis is to become a better writer. And the next step for me, which I haven't done much before, is to spend more time on rewriting and outlines. That is pretty much antithetical to the way SSA is developing. I've always been kind of 20/80 plotting/pantsing, but I want to spend a lot more time outlining before I even start writing. SSA jam sessions don't really fit my goal anymore. If you're curious about what's next, read on... Among other regrets, I regret not finishing SSA. It's the first story I've dropped, but then again, it's the first web novel I've attempted, so I suppose that's not a surprise. I don't think traditional web novel formats suit me that well. The whole SSA story I had loosely planned (beyond a first book or major arc) is way too large as well. Big story = good for neverending webnovel with Patreons, bad for penniless and fickle writer like me. I am currently outlining a complete trilogy to another story in great detail. I want the story to end concisely, and I also want the chance to really spend a lot of time on the full outline to spot pacing problems, character issues, lost themes, and so on. I'll still share this story on RR. What I intend to do is finish book 1, flash-publish the whole thing here for a few weeks, then publish on the big Zon. Repeat for books 2 and 3. The upcoming story will be about crafting heroes. The backdrop is an isekai-like setting, where elves will summon humans to their world as heroes, but the whole hero crafting business is still in its infancy. The elven mage researchers are figuring out how to imbue heroes with power, while the heroes are trying to figure out how to use the powers that they gain. Humans are the best hero templates because they are blank and have no intrinsic magic. Or at least that what the elves thought. The human MC has his own secrets... There will be some similarities with litrpgs, but I would call it more a progression fantasy or gamelit story. For example, the stats are very low, at least initially. Say we have a stat called Str. Going from Str = 1 to Str = 2 is a huge deal. Also, going from Dex = 0 to Dex = 1 is an even bigger deal. I guess you could call it a "low-stat litrpg", haha. Also, the heroes won't be gaining stats simply by killing things or leveling up. You can't increase stats arbitrarily, either. There will be rules to how stats can increase, and how they work with each other. The elven mages will be figuring out these rules in order to craft stronger and stronger heroes. Some inspiration will be from cultivation magic systems, but there won't be overt cultivation, at least for now. A theme I really want to explore is the idea of interactions. That includes things like hero crafter vs hero, tactics vs strategy, skill synergies, racial interactions (dwarves, elves, etc), and son. Yeah, so hero crafting. I'm super excited about this project and venturing into publishing. If you want to check out the upcoming story, you can follow my RR author profile to see when it drops here. Finally... THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! I'm very sorry that SSA is stopping, but I hope at least some of you will find the next story at least as enjoyable, if not more. Thanks to all the readers who gave SSA a shot. Big hug or solid fistbump to all of you, whichever you prefer! I hope this message is not a downer but an upper, because I am psyched!! -purlcray -------------- BLURB: Talen, youngest Master of the Koroi, makes his way to the Empire's capital to salvage his clan's fate. But the bustling city has few opportunities for the traditionalist. For the old sword clans are fading. With the rise of alchemy, gold can purchase strength that ordinarily took years of training to cultivate. Sword artists, once rare and accomplished, are quickly growing in number, especially among the wealthy noble class. Even with such alchemy, though, no one has advanced to the rank of Grandmaster in countless years. Talen's true dream is to walk the path of a sword artist to the very end while fulfilling his clan duties. And then the Swordgeists return, fabled founders of all sword arts, gods who had touched the world long ago and vanished. These myths turned into reality warn of a coming threat. Alongside this warning, they issue an invitation to the Sword System Academy, a path to power beyond the mortal realm. But first, they will hold an entrance exam... Story notes:Sword System Academia blends elements of western and asian fantasy such as xianxia and litrpg. I took parts from different genres I enjoyed and twisted them into my own creation. There will be an explicit system, both of the litrpg kind and the hard(ish) magic kind, but it is embedded within an academic structure that will develop over the course of the story. This is my attempt to design a unique type of system, the System Academia.
8 153 - In Serial13 Chapters
Norsege Isles: A Farming LITRPG Survival Experience
The world is gone. Mother nature has been taken advantage of one too many times and now she's fighting back. Rather than trying to heal their broken planet, humanity decides to take a more fantastical route. Enter Eden, the virtual world that promises lifetimes of adventure along with a land size that claims to be infinite. For the entire human race, it has to live up to its biblical name. Ambrose, a young man drawn to the promise of Eden, says his farewells to his parents before uploading his consciousness into the virtual world. But Ambrose doesn't want to be the king's knight or spell-slinging mage. No. Ambrose wants to farm. Picking his skillset around living off the land, Ambrose enters the Norsege Isles with dreams of enjoying the world for what it used to be. Dangerous creatures lurk in the woods of the Isles, fearsome beasts that'll rip any human or Norseman to shreds if given the chance. Ambrose will have to learn how to tame the Isles' animals if he wants to have a hope of living his dream as a farmer of unexplored wilderness. He'll also have to deal with any pesky people that decide that he's easy pickings. Will Ambrose make it long enough to harvest his first crops, or will the pressure become too much to bear? Join Ambrose as he strives to live his life in the new world.
8 209 - In Serial27 Chapters
Again from Scratch Saga: Izmittor Unchained
If someone precious to you needed your help, would you extend it? Would you still do it if it costs you your peace and perhaps even your life? For Tercius, a man mysteriously reborn nearly thirteen years ago, there was only one answer to both questions. Feeling compelled, he sets out to journey to the northern Sogea and its infamous Western Izmittor mountain range, a natural stronghold of sky tearing mountains and deep canyons. Legends about the place abounded, but he knew without a doubt that the hidden valleys, rushing rivers, thick forests, and desolate landscapes hid powerful predators, the likes of which stalk the harsh terrains for an easy source of meat and bones. The many natural dangers of Western Izmittor would be hard enough to navigate safely for a lone traveler, but to make matters worse Tercius had enemies in the heights of Western Izmittor, humans and spirits who would see him dead if they ever learned of his true connection to the Pyramid of Tergaron and the Society of the Magi. To make things even more difficult, he also had to ensure that the true extent of his own Innate Skills remained hidden, for if the prying eyes of the world fell on him and his many secrets came to light, then he would never again know a day of peace. Can one reborn man manage to keep his secrets and still succeed in doing what his conscience compels him to? Will he have to choose one over the other? And can he do any of it without reigniting the sparks of a planetary war the likes of which had not been seen in millennia? Follow Tercius’ story and find out! *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** This story is a continuation of Again from Scratch, a story of mine also posted on RR. Reading it is NOT necessary to read this story, but for anyone who wants to get a little bit more background, here is a link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/38803/again-from-scratch Again from Scratch was my first journey into writing and I have taken all I learned from that and started writing Again from Scratch Saga, a continuation that is almost stand alone. Changes in certain phrases and words between the two are edits made because of the rewrite plans I have for the old story. The story is available here, on RR, on Webnovel, and on Scribble Hub.The cover was taken from PublicDomainPictures.net and made by one Nona Lohr
8 121 - In Serial18 Chapters
Paranoia!
He felt it. The way helplessness kicked in and showed him the sweet but suffocating cage he was locked in. He just wanted to break free and feel the thrill of being alive. Having been granted that wish, he'll find himself amidst the conflicts of creatures lurking in the shadows and super-powered humans that prefer basking in the daylight among the average. It's not a problem though, he'll thrive and survive. He has a system after all.
8 235 - In Serial26 Chapters
Soul Power 9999
I... don't remember how I died. Or anything else, really. I don't know who... what I am, what this dark space I am in is, or why the souls all around me are looking at me. But I do know that if the world starts falling apart, escaping comes first, even before listening to the messages that keep ringing inside my head. I only really remember the first one: [The [Simplification Process] has begun.] And so, while the world was doing a 180, I was stuck deep underground as an incorporeal soul, absorbing the essences of thousands others like me who had been torn to shreds just to prevent myself from dissipating, and trying desperately to go up while recovering jumbled up memories from my past. I did try to posses monsters to gain a physical body, but... It seems my soul got too powerful to be shackled down by a vessel. Releases every two days at 12:00 on Central Europe (GMT+1)
8 121 - In Serial39 Chapters
Bathilda the Bat
Bathilda is an overworked nurse who's life ends at the non-existant hands of a tornado. Upon meeting the creator of the universe shortly after her death, she decides to start a second life rather than joining God's harem of histories greatest women. How will she fare in this new world when she realises that the reincarnation process didn't work as she had expected it to and that a stranger has hijacked her mind? All she wants to do is help people, yet that seems like a far off dream and is easier said than done in a world full of monsters. Cover created by gej302. There is no release schedule for this work as it's mainly just a side project. Any comments will used to improve the work for everyone.
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