Project 132 (beta)

[Contra(dictory)]

Re: Project 132 - PART 3: PLANETARY DEVASTATION HAS BEGUN

Spoiler

a little bit of investigation can answer that question for you

 

[Contra(dictory)]

Re: Project 132 - PART 3: PLANETARY DEVASTATION HAS BEGUN

and an updaaaate

we're slowin' down for a bit

 

[Contra(dictory)]

Re: Project 132 - PART 3: PLANETARY DEVASTATION HAS BEGUN

Well, hey.

If you're reading this, that means you've been following Project 132, through all the highs and lows. Mostly lows, if you ask me. At this point in the story, I'm sure you're at least cautiously looking forward to what comes next, but I'm also sure that you're a little bit overwhelmed and confused.

Quick, name all nine Ancestors. All nine Great Beasts. Every element. Every chimera.

Oh, and what is the continent of Meiro- not the Great Beast, the continent- shaped like?

If you can answer any of those questions without looking at the reference sheet, great. You're a fucking boss.

Now tell me how long it took for you to grasp that. How much times did you have to read that ref. sheet? Oh, and something outside of the reference sheet- who the fuck is Maximilian Cynd, again?

If you're savvy- or I've already told you what I'm going to do- you have an idea of where this is going.

I'm cancelling 132. Again.

Sorry.

Now let me make it up to you.

I've started working on a new story. It's still called Project 132. There's a lot of familiar things, a lot of new, and a lot of things curiously absent because they were bad ideas that should not have been there in the first place. If you're reading this, I know you have an interest in Project 132, but don't lie to me and say it's not stupidly complicated and convoluted and greatly flawed, because it is those things.

Project 132 is supposed to be the last time I try out these 132 concepts. It's supposed to be the last story I write on Userpedia, because I had this idea that started out as some characters with scythes and shit that became something greater but I've never done quite right.

I just need one more chance to do this correctly. Sure, it won't be perfect, but nothing is.

From Project 132's beta, I guess you could call it, I've learned a lot of important lessons- especially concerning scale and characterization- and I know what to do with those things.

Project 132's overarching theme is moving on, because I've done this story so many times and relived it in so many different ways, but it's time for it to end.

But it deserves a good ending. A grand finale. I want to make something you'll thoroughly enjoy all the way through and that, yeah, maybe I won't be too proud of in a few years when I inevitably level up my writing stats, but god damn I'll know I did the best I could and I know that the story you've been following hasn't been that.

I'll have a new topic, new Userpedia page and new everything ready shortly.

I know it's probably a bit bumming and irritating right now, but I promise the wait will be worth it.

 

[Walkazo]

Iirc, the continent's a coiled/ouroboros snake. I can name the elements too, but other concepts (inner submerged castles or whatever; giant apocalypse snakes) seemed a bit much and distracted from the nice, fun "elements and evil ancestors and wildcard Ruin" backbone plotb (although Ruin's backstory was also a but much for me to swallow, personally), and yeah, the character list was way too long. As you said, the ref sheet was the only way to keep track of who was what, an that's not a good thing.

But more importantly, imo, keeping track wasn't so much of the problem as that it was hard to find motivation to care about all the characters. In particular, it seemed like we already had a perfectly good cast with Tabuu, Nalia, Tucker and the other pre Intermission 2 characters, so suddenly having all the chimeras dumped on us while other folks we only got glimpses of get pushed aside was almost frustrating. Similar deal with the beasts: most of them were non-characters, and of the ones we did know, Meiro and Skell were the only ones I found interest-worthy (and even then, Meiro was outshined by Raikov and Skell by Lee). The ancestors, on the other hand, were interesting and entertaining, and since they were doled out gradually, you could get to know them - and at the same time, look forward to seeing more of ones you keep hearing about and/or have only got little previews of so far.

So yeah, it was an interesting story with many good characters, but it was a bit too ambitious with some of the concepts and the overall cast size. By the sounds of it, your next attempt is going to be a lot less convoluted, and so I hope that means a more focused cast of protagonists and concepts, so that reader interest and comprehension won't get so diluted. The "grand" in grand finale is quality, not quantity, after all.


(Also, I'm having a deja vu moment atm, so apologies if you've gotten part of this speech before or if I stole it from somewhere or something: I can't remember specifics.)

 

[Contra(dictory)]

You did, in fact, confront me about the "lots and lots of characters" thing before, so that's why it seems very deja vu. In fact, Javelin had similar criticisms to make and I've actually been even more overwhelmed and stressed with writing all this than I was with Typical Tragedy...

In addition, the introductory chapters are just kind of horrible. Yes, shit gets real in Chapter 4, but the first impressions are badly-written with the worldbuilding quickly retconned not even two chapters later (which was supposed to provide the same confusion Tabuu felt, but instead just felt sloppy). The introduction didn't even do its proper job in preparing you for what was to come- the Ancestors weren't even hinted at until the end of Part 1, where they're mentioned as "followers", much less the chimera hunt which was simplified down to a pile of faces with powers that you were supposed to remember and care about. The story benefited greatly from the gradual pace in Part 1 and 2 but then too much things started happening and I was putting in way too much and trying way too hard with way too little.

There's also the question of my writing style. I like being rapid-fire and all, but my narration has been falling flat and so has my descriptive abilities since I've been so focused on action action action ever since Project Aviate, since people responded positively to that, so while I'm working on the new version, expect a maintained, steady pace with meaningful serial escalation where necessary and a more descriptive, refined style from yours truly.

 

[Dr. Javelin]

You did, in fact, confront me about the "lots and lots of characters" thing before, so that's why it seems very deja vu. In fact, Javelin had similar criticisms to make and I've actually been even more overwhelmed and stressed with writing all this than I was with Typical Tragedy...

i seem to recall commenting that this isn't homestuck and you're not andrew hussie

 

[Walkazo]

You did, in fact, confront me about the "lots and lots of characters" thing before, so that's why it seems very deja vu. In fact, Javelin had similar criticisms to make and I've actually been even more overwhelmed and stressed with writing all this than I was with Typical Tragedy...

No, I remembered that. It was the "grand finale" rhetoric at the end that had me deja-vuing for unknown reasons.