scrape_r_rational/data/cache/2r8a69.md

[MK] The Two Year Emperor, Ch80 - Cracks Form

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• u/Kishoto:

  I'm of two minds of Suze's inexperience. It's both refreshing, to see Godship handled in such a way, and frustrating, because I can't stop imaging how well I would be doing in her position.
  
  And by well, I mean I would go full on, over the top, theatrical, dark caped, shadow hooded Death up in this bitch. I'd be the worst Death they'd ever dealt with, and probably start a war just due to my sheer lack of respect for the Gods and their petty rules.
  

  • u/eaglejarl:

    If you write a 2YE metafic where your SI does that, I will read it.
    

  • u/Putnam3145:

    You'd be quashed really damn quickly at that rate, heh.
    

    • u/Kishoto:

      **YOU DARE TO QUESTION MY POWERS, MORTAL?!**
      

      • u/Putnam3145:

        not my prerogative, no, but the more well-worshiped gods will do that for me :P
        

• u/ianyboo:

  TYE is losing me, I'm diligently reading still but I miss Jake and his toying with the rules.
  

  • u/eaglejarl:

    Thank you for saying so. Thank you especially for saying so now instead of just waiting a bit longer and then leaving a review / comment here that says "this sucks, I'm gone". 
    
    You're actually the second person to say something like this. I've also noticed fewer reviews, reddit comments, and upvotes on book 2 than on book 1. 
    
    I'm wondering at this point if I should just wrap book 2 and move on to the next project; I'm still enjoying writing Suze, Ellen, and April, but perhaps 2YE has had a good run and it's time to put it to bed. 
    
    The next project will be original fantasy in a postapocalyptic magitek world. 
    
    What do people think?
    

    • u/KOTORman:

      I think the world needs a bit of an overhaul. Jake toying with the rules did that in the first book.
      
      Suze quickly embracing her role as Death and trying to topple the gods in alliance with Jake, a bit like Kishoto's spin-off, would serve the same purpose in the second book. I really want to see Suze and Jake team up to take on the gods, take on the rules, and fuck things up big time.
      
      Nonetheless, I'm still loving 2YE. Rock on dude.
      

      • u/eaglejarl:

        Thank you, that's really helpful.
        

    • u/ianyboo:

      I think what most drew me to TYE was the interplay between Jake coming up with ways to break the rules any generally acting rational among folks who are often times stuck in their narrow "things have always been done like this" views.
      
      With the three girls I feel like that they are behaving anything but rationally, Suze has shown herself to be quite competent her current actions seem out of character. The mom had the opportunity to gain enough power to protect herself and here daughter but she just ran away. 
      
      Its just frustrating, I keep wanting to scream at the characters to get their act together and start acting rationally. 
      
      Still, that said I'll stick with it, I loved book 1 so much that I'm more than willing to see where this goes :-)
      

    • u/STL:

      I am actually enjoying Book 2 *much* more than Book 1, which got somewhat stale near the end (due to repetitive munchkining; what's clever the first time is expected the second and boring the third). Book 2 has novel situations, interesting character development, and no obvious end point which means plot developments are much less predictable (whereas Book 1, like almost all adventures, has an expected ending of "the bad guy is defeated"; occasionally this is subverted by having the bad guy win - see 24's Jack Bauer for an example of bad guys repeatedly losing and winning, it gets old).
      
      As far as I'm concerned, the less we see of Jake in Book 2, the better. Giving Suze actual agency makes her a far more interesting character (in Book 1 she was a prop that occasionally offered suggestions and received pats on the head).
      

    • u/Muskwalker:

      > I'm wondering at this point if I should just wrap book 2 and move on to the next project; I'm still enjoying writing Suze, Ellen, and April, but perhaps 2YE has had a good run and it's time to put it to bed.
      
      Me, I *like* Suze, as a character, and I still like the story.  But it feels like she's missing many opportunities to be as smart as she was set up to be in book 1.  It felt like her nature was the kind of person to be learning and remembering, but so far in book 2 we have a lot of her ... not doing this. 
      
      You have been hinting here that there are reasons for this, but if these hints have made it into the story itself, it hasn't been clear.  This doesn't necessarily make it a *worse* story, but it does come across as a different kind of story than just a sequel to the first.
      
      Actually, I'll amend that that line about the hints.  Suze's extreme character change does remind me of a similar outbreak of irrationality in the story, namely Jake's drinking problem.  I might guess that this is intended to show Suze is being manipulated, just like Jake was.  
      
      But Jake's behavioral changes were extreme on a human level, and stood out as something not particularly like him. Suze, however, has recently been through a rather large life change so we're not really calibrated with what's *supposed* to be normal for her now—and on top of that, she's moved to the deity level, where it's already hard to tell the difference between a naturally extreme personality and one that's been perverted (cf. Poe's law).  Acting weird is less suspicious for a new-made goddess than it is for a new-made emperor.
      
      I'd love to see Suze transform the whole idea of death into something awesome (in a world with resurrection, it doesn't have to be as terrible as to us).  If she'll be like this for a while, though, it'd be nice to see the story support what's going on more.  (because if there's anything I imagine /r/rational likes, it's good long explanations)
      

      • u/eaglejarl:

        Fair points all. The hints have been in the story but have been pretty vague. I'll see if I can clarify them in the next couple chapters.
        

    • u/MoralRelativity:

      I agree with both /u/ianboo and /u/KOTORman.
      
      I'm still engaged and interested but not as much as I was before. I love the sound of a Suze / Jake alliance to fix the world and that may be where it's heading but it's travelling too slowly at the moment.
      

      • u/eaglejarl:

        Thanks, I appreciate the feedback.
        

        • u/Mraedis:

          I *love* 2YE, sorry for staying silent before, but I keep waiting every day for a new chapter! If you do quit writing it, please do it in a closure manner and not just abrupt.
          

          • u/eaglejarl:

            No worries. It will end eventually, but I won't just abandon it. 
            
            Thanks for speaking up.
            

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