Hi there, I'm Titanmaster 117, and I'm here to make an executive decision:
I'm deleting the Interval Arc and moving straight back to Cull.
When I was writing out the Interval Arc, I had assumed that a lot of people would enjoy it. I would be answering a lot of questions about Blake and how she came to be who she was, about Ilia and Adam, about the White Wolves and the Acolytes of the Ascended, and show off the previously spoken about corruption in Atlas that I'd talked a lot about previously.
I had been really excited to write out this arc, it had been something that I'd been planning for a long time.
Yet now, as I look into my review box (thanks for leaving those reviews, by the way. It really means a lot), I see that not only are people not enjoying it and wanting to move back to the main plot, but they're also commenting on the fact that this story itself isn't anything compared to the first...
That hurts. That hurts a lot.
I never wanted this fic to be bad. I'm not the best writer, I know. I'm not stupid enough to think that I'm amazing, but I still like to think that I'm pretty good.
And I never wanted this fic to be 'Edgy'. I wanted it to be dark, sure, but I never wanted it to be edgy. Ascendancy is meant to be a dark story, but it's also meant to be a compelling one as well. Phase One of Ascendancy set one hell of a high bar in terms of storytelling, and this is me trying to match and exceed it.
(That's why I was taking my time with progressing the plot earlier in this story. A lot of people in the last story complained that I jumped into the war aspect of the story without any build-up, so this is me trying to even it out and improve.)
And as for the comments about Coeur... fuck, I made a mistake, guys. I've already said, and I've already apologised for them. I don't know what else to do about it.
Don't worry, I've just deleted them. You won't have to worry about them now. But I'm still going to wear that with me now. I'm going to be known as the guy who made a rant about Coeur for no reason and lost the faith of a massive chunk of his audience because of it. That's a shame that I'm never going to be rid of.
And now with people saying that the reason I don't have as many favourites and follows as my previous story is because this one isn't as good as the previous...
That hurts. That hurts a lot. I've upset and disappointed a lot of people, and it means that I've got one hell of an uphill battle to climb in terms of regaining the trust of my base audience.
It's a hell of a big hill, but that doesn't mean that I'm not willing to try and climb it.
So, after 24 hours of this chapter being posted, I'll be deleting both this and the Interval Arc, and moving on to the rest of the Cull arc. I've got a lot of work to do in terms of pulling back my audience and regaining trust and faith in me, and I'm sure as hell going to do it.
Do keep in mind though that it's still going to get dark at points. It's a war story and people are going to die because of it. That hasn't changed from the first story, and it won't in the foreseeable future.
Just please, let me know your thoughts and what I need to improve on, and how this fic needs to improve compared to the first story. I really want to hear your thoughts on the matter and what I need to change and modify in order to make this a better experience for you. I've really hurt the faith of a lot of my readers, and I'm ready to put the work in to try and get it back.
But again, Ascendancy is still going to get dark at points. That was always the plan. It always has been since Phase One.
Just... just bear with me, okay? Please. This has all left me in a bit of a bad place. I am planning on chugging along back to the main arc, but right now I need to know what you guys think and recommend before I do.
Just stay with me, please. I need all the help that I can get.
And if I want to regain your trust and respect... well I better damn well get started.
Titanmaster 117 out.