• 2 Posts
  • 207 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
Cake day: November 15th, 2024
  • Mercuri@ani.socialOPtoLightNovels@ani.social•I'm writing a LN!English
    2·
    17 days ago

    First, omg, thank you for reading the whole thing. And also for your honest critique.

    From worst writing I have ever read to better than some published novels I had unpleastness of reading. Keep going as you will go places. Your skill has improved so much that it actually is a shame how bad the chapter 0 is.

    Yes! Thank you. I feel like a lot of people are just “this is good” because they don’t want to be offensive. Honestly, your harsh criticism of the earlier chapters is just what I was looking for. It makes the later praise seem earned instead of just platitudes.

    Plus, it gets my head out of my ass a bit and gives me a different perspective. If you feel the later chapters are better then they certainly are better. And if the early chapters are that bad, ouch but yes.

    In your place I would probably start over, and take a look how to structure a plot with twists and turns. Come up with a hook and first sentence of a book. As they say, that is most important sentence.

    This is actually great advice. And I think I see what I’m doing wrong. I have twists IN MY HEAD. But I think I’m too focused on setting up a big reveal later that I’m falling flat early on. Like, I have pages and pages of worldbuilding notes now and you really only start see that stuff in the latest chapter.

    So yeah, thank you so much. I’ll give this a hard look, go back, and figure out how to set up the story better.

    As they say, that is most important sentence.

    And mine is “The universe is a prankster.” which even I admit is a bit cringe.

  • Mercuri@ani.socialOPtoLightNovels@ani.social•I'm writing a LN!English
    3·
    17 days ago

    I have not. I just started writing and now I’m here. I do eventually want to put it out there but haven’t thought that far ahead yet.

    Maybe it’s the wrong approach but I thought I’d get more written before I posted anywhere. Plus so far I’ve been going back and making changes to earlier chapters so I’m not sure how that works with sites like you mentioned.

  • Mercuri@ani.socialtoLightNovels@ani.social•Midweek discussions - 2025 BodycountEnglish
    3·
    28 days ago

    Lets see…

    • Spider Isekai 1-16
    • Average Abilities Isekai 1-10
    • Sword Isekai 16 (reread) and 17
    • The Magic in this World is Too Far Behind 1


    Considering I didn’t read anything for over half the year, not bad. There might be one or two things I’m forgetting but whatever.

    Speaking of rereading Sword Isekai, I wanted a refresher on the story in volume 15 and I saw that Kindle had this “Get a summary” feature. However, I instantly knew it was horrible AI slop when I used it because it said crap that was straight up wrong from book 15. And like, it REALLY overemphasized some really minor things that happened, and then left out HUGE plot points. It was really horrible. BUT it was enough to jump-start my brain so I could actually remember the REAL summary of volume 15.

    Did I comment on AI slop before? I can’t remember. But yeah, it’s gross.

  • Mercuri@ani.socialtoLightNovels@ani.social•What light novel(s) have you read last week, and what do you think about it? [December 15 - December 21]English
    3·
    2 months ago

    <Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life!> Volumes 7 - 10. Kinda surprised that there are so many volumes about a perfectly ordinary, normal, average girl.

    Who am I kidding. Mile is a ditz gremlin. And everyone around her just rolls with it. Right now the scenes that stick out the most in my mind are with Faleel.

    Faleel Shenanigans

    When Mile walks into that in and sees the catgirl and is immediately like “WE HAVE TO STAY HERE! ACTUALLY, LETS LIVE HERE FOREVER!” Hilarious. Especially when she’s trying to treat the catgirl like an actual cat with catnip and cat toys and the father is like “She’s not a cat!” but it’s implied that he tried to use cat toys on her too.

    And I LOVED how when they were finally leaving the in, FIVE voices called out… because Mile and Reina were trying to leave with Faleel.

    And now every time they check into a new inn and there’s no catgirl Mile is bummed. That’s SOOO like Mile. A++

    I will say that FUNA’s writing structure is a bit unique. Like, you’ll be in the middle of one plot arc and then a “Side Story” chapter will come up. Usually when that happens, the side story is something that happens around the same time as the main arc but isn’t relevant to the main arc. Like maybe in the main arc they’re trying to cross an ocean on a boat, but the side story will be about them going to the beach while they’re there. That sorta thing.

    It feels like FUNA just goes “I had an idea for a side story so I’m just going to SLAM it right here in the middle of the book whether it belongs there or not.” I mean, other authors usually put all their side stories that don’t cleanly fit anywhere at the end of the book. FUNA does that too, but not always. It can be a little jarring because it’s like “oh, we’re in this country? Oh… now we’re back in Tils? AAAANNNDD… back in the first country.”

    And some of the side stories are really, REALLY wacky and out there. You read them and you’re almost like “wait, that’s not canon, is it?” That’s just FUNA for you. I remember in Potion Isekai how the MC abused the “the potion bottle can be anything I want” clause of her powers to make absolutely ridiculous potion bottles that were swords or horse-drawn carriages. So, basically it’s like “yup, that’s FUNA.”

    Back to the plot of Average Abilities

    I like how there are now hints that maybe Mile’s super abilities were on purpose and not a cosmic misunderstanding. Like, if the world she was reincarnated in was REALLY abandoned by the Gods, why send Mile there at all? Surely there were better options available.

    We also see that Mabel, Adele’s mother, was also airheaded and wild just like Mile. It makes you wonder if maybe Mile’s that way because she inherited it from her isekai mother or because Misato was also that way and the God’s just picked a suitable mother. It’s implied that Mile’s personality is a mashup of Adele and Misato so I’m leaning towards the former explanation but it’s probably a blend of both.

    Also, Mile assumed she was pretty because her face was an “average” of everyone’s face and therefore a “universal beauty.” However, she looks EXACTLY like Mabel so that can’t possibly be the case. And when you think about it, she has white hair too which isn’t an average of anything. This ties back to the idea that she wasn’t truly “average” on purpose. The god purposely took “average” to the limit for plausible deniability.

    And we keep things being slightly and subtly wrong. First the Elder Dragons looking for the ancient civilization. Then the Scavengers operating a mostly broken and abandoned ancient facility. The cultists trying to summon “Gods” from another world. And then the orcs and ogres from another world.

    And FINALLY the Nanos are becoming their own character, but it’s still nothing like the anime.

    Interestingly, I am still not tired on the ongoing gag of “there’s a bunch of young rookie adventurers. They’re probably weak. OMG NOPE!” so YUNA is definitely doing something right.

  • Mercuri@ani.socialtoLightNovels@ani.social•Anime Season Winter 2026English
    3·
    2 months ago

    “the story leading the author” type of writing.

    Yeah, the author gets an idea for a premise and they think if they just roll with it everything will fall into place but then it DOESN’T and then you have to take major steering changes so the boat doesn’t sink.

    Isekai Smartphone is one of the worst offenders from the top my head.

    Dear God, that stupid show. I thought Season 1 of the anime was okay for what it was. Like I knew it was trash but it was still kinda fun and silly. But the Smartphone went bye-bye almost immediately and it just became a “the MC is so all powerful that this is stupid.” Then Season 2 rolls around and introduce an enemy that’s as expressionless as a doormat and about as threatening as a poodle and a flying island fetch quest. I never finished it because I was just bored out of my mind.

    On the other hand it really shows when a series follows a clear outlined path and gets only better with each new volume (Bookworm, Silent Witch).

    Haven’t read Silent Witch yet (but I probably will based on everything you’ve said) but OH MY GOD did Bookworm deliver in that regard. Not ONCE in 33 Books did I ever have to go “wait, what?” Everything fit smoothly together.

  • Mercuri@ani.socialtoLightNovels@ani.social•Anime Season Winter 2026English
    3·
    2 months ago

    Oh… I do live Frieren and Oshi No Ko. I agree, Oshi No Ko has some AMAZINGLY beautiful sequences that are iconic and memorable. Sometimes I load up an episode and just watch Aqua ask Mem-cho to join B Komachi or a similar epic moment (white glowstick, anyone?)

    Time for Torture has been on my “to watch” list so I should probably get around to that. Haven’t really heard about these other ones so I’ll have to give them a look.

    I ended up dropping this manga eventually, but liked the earlier portions a lot

    I feel like a lot of anime and LNs are like this. They start out really strong with a unique idea and then the author realizes they really didn’t think of an endgame or sometimes even a midgame and it falls flat.

    SAO and Promised Neverland are like that. Crazy good opening arcs, then degenerates into garbage. It’s REALLY obvious the author had an idea for an arc, and then after the arc was like “whelp… now what? Oh, I know, I’ll put Kirito into a coma for the whole season and then have a character that’s practically a direct rip-off of Sabre from Fate!” or “Okay, lets turn this from a cool psychological horror thriller into running from explosions for 12 episodes… yay!”

  • Mercuri@ani.socialtoLightNovels@ani.social•Anime Season Winter 2026English
    4·
    2 months ago

    I have no idea how anyone could ever think that’s weak but it’s a light novel so just deal with it.

    What do you mean your ability is instant-death to anything just by thinking about it? You can’t carry our bags with that! You’re banned from the party of Sages!

    I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too … The LN is something of a hate-read for me.

    I remember you talking about it a while back. The anime was also SO bad. Like, I saw episode 1 and was like “oh, this is different” because he gets his “inheritance” in the other world and can freely travel between the two. Like Making 80000 Gold In Another World but with more serious vibes. And then the story just trips and faceplants HARD. Like, it actively TRIED to avoid making any kind of sense or doing anything fun and unique with the premise and simply devolved into “Lets make this as stupid and boring as possible.” The glow-up is lame, especially when compared to something like Lookism, and the Isekai is about as generic as you can get.

    Anyway, I don’t know why, but I’m Fated out. Fate/Stay Night is bad. Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works is good. Fate/Zero was… not terrible. Fate/Grand Order was an obvious cash-grab tie-in for the gacha game that I wouldn’t touch with a 40-foot pole. Do we really need to wring more money out of that franchise? I think there’s only so many twists you can do with “haha, the grail isn’t actually an all-powerful wish giving thing and heroes can come from the future too!” Maybe I’ll see the reviews, but I feel they’re going to be inflated because “OMG MORE FATE” even if it sucks.

    I’ll probably end up watching most of these. Cheat Skill I might watch just to see if it’s as bad as a I remember, but probably not…

    Isekai Office Worker: The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter

    This one sounds similar to “Headhunted to Another World, from Office Worker to Big Four”. I actually liked the premise of a totally normal human working for the demon lord because those were EXACTLY the skills the Demon Lord needed. I also liked how a literally DEMON LORD was a better boss than the black companies of Japan. But by the 6th episode I got tired of the gimmick of “oh no, bureaucracy problem! Lets think about it in the mind-bar… and now the problem is solved!” I’ll definitely give this one a try and see if it accomplishes what Big Four couldn’t.

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