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[RT][HF] The Good Student - Chapter Thirty Eight

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• u/Noumero:

  *Fascinating*. This chapter is fascinating. The joint battle scene / storytelling session was quite unique, something I've never read before; it also both demonstrated the demons' interesting characteristics, Nic's particular strengths, and served as the climax for Nic's attempts to study demons.
  
  The double-twist at the end was nicely done as well. The hero's brilliant plan and the entire complex sequence of events leading up to it was actually *the villain's* brilliant plan, but it ended up not being *quite* brilliant enough, and the hero managed to partially succeed *anyway* — that's a pretty interesting trope, in my opinion. It has the villain being smart, the hero being smart, a convoluted but fine plan, and the convoluted plan's realistically inevitable failure. It's *optimal*.
  
  And the twist about the demon being the true sacrifice! It did seem off to me that Nic specifically needed to be sacrificed. If he is an ordinary person — magic-wise, at least — as everybody keeps telling us, why doesn't the demon with its followers go find someone less sharp and tenacious to trick and sacrifice? I figured it had to do with the tether or the fact that it needs to be someone the demon is inside of.   
  The actual explanation, though, makes much more sense.
  
  Kudos, u/mooderino.
  

  • u/mooderino:

    Thanks, man. My biggest issue was trying to keep it unconvoluted (disconvoluted?) enough so it could be understood without simplifying it so much it became obvious. I think I could smooth it out some given time to edit—a few people got lost towards the end—but I'm very happy you were able to follow the central theme so clearly.
    

    • u/closeresemblence:

      I got everything except what happened in the end. Was the premise not that Nick consuming the demon would turn him into the gate? what did he do differently?
      

• u/SatelliteFool:

  Oh, and as always Moody, your cliffhangers are straight up *evil*.
  

• u/SatelliteFool:

  Hero baiting. Saw it coming but in a good way.
  
  So Nic just ate a demon. 
  
  *Neat.*
  
  No idea what this means in terms of the whole *door* thing, but I'm glad Nic at least managed to pull off a partial win. What was it Davo said? 
  
  *"Whenever I experience an overwhelming sense of fear and trepidation about the demon you carry around with you, I remind myself how scary and unnerving you are. The demon’s probably sitting in a corner hoping you don’t notice it.”*
  
  Fitting.
  

• u/TheAtomicOption:

  That was... very confusing.
  

• u/Dent7777:

  Nifty, loved this chapter.
  

• u/hamberkler:

  I don't mean to fangirl, but I'm coming off a bit of a high after binging this story over the past two days.  I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure this is the best thing I've read, to date.  I'm blown away.  I have a couple of ideas on how this is going to end and regardless of how it all plays out, I think I'm going to be satisfied.
  

• u/WarZealot92:

  What is this story about? The summary on the website is kinda meh.
  

  • u/Noumero:

    In a fantasy world with rare magic, a son of a maid scores second-best in countrywide exams through hard work, which lets him transfer to the school for nobility along with three other commoners. The school heavily discriminates against such rags-to-riches types, but outcompeting other students and out-rules-lawyering the facility quickly turns out to be the least of their problems as they find themselves in the middle of a nefarious plot involving demons for which they're sorely unprepared. Competence porn, deadpan-snarking, banter, and studying ensue.
    

• u/pizzahotdoglover:

  I'm on chapter 7 of this story (I'm not reading the other comments to avoid spoilers, so please don't include any if you reply), and I'm considering dropping it. Anyone reading this must have kept up with it, so I'd like someone to convince me to keep reading. 
  
  Here's why I'm not sure about reading more: So far, it comes across as fanfiction about studying. There's magic but the MC isn't interested in it (though I expect this will change at some point). I like the explanation that he's only learning so much in order to pursue Dizzy, because it's the only flaw that makes him believable. It just seems like he is constantly being praised and rewarded all the time for being so awesome. He's a total dickhead going around making an ass of himself by throwing the rules in the teachers' and librarian's faces, and he's rewarded for it. The teacher he rudely demands tutoring from ends up praising him for his clever plan and being very cooperative about teaching him. The librarian rewards him with a key to the library and 24/7 access when he demands to be allowed to take out books. It seems like the author is trying to create the illusion of struggle/adversity, but the MC instantly and decisively wins every conflict, and the people who were initially obstructing him end up doing exactly what he wants and more, while telling him how smart he is.
  
  My question is, does it get better, or is the rest of the story like this? 
  
  Thanks in advance for any replies.
  

  • u/Noumero:

    The rest of the story is not like this. The true plot is revealed around chapters 16-18, and Nic is severely *underpowered* for it, not overpowered. I suppose it is still "about studying", since Nic the main character is the good student, so he solves his problems by studying at them, but the other issues you've described do stop appearing, in my opinion.
    

    • u/pizzahotdoglover:

      Thank you for your reply. I don't have any issue with studying as a theme or with the author using the first part of the story to establish that. Based on what you said, I'll read till at least ch. 20 or so and see if I feel differently.
      

      • u/Noumero:

        You're welcome. That said, I would be interested to learn how your opinion changes, so when you do read up to Chapter 20, I would appreciate it if you message me about it.
        

        • u/pizzahotdoglover:

          Will do. Hit me up in a week or so if I don't remember.
          

  • u/Caimthehero:

    I'm up to date with this story. It's the most planned out work by Moody but in some ways his weakest. There is far more subtlety and less plot movement than in most of his other stories. A good chunk of this story is slice of life which I know can be a turnoff for more plot focused readers. As for Nic being impressively good I can tell you right now that it is the arena he excels at the most so it is believable that he is good with the academy. 
    
    You do bring up very good points though. Points that I noticed but hadn't really thought about too much because of Rule Of Cool. Up until now Nic gets away with far too much than his social station should have allowed. There's reasons for most things ending in his favor but it does feel kind of hollow. It's like he won a lottery rather than fixing his own race. I won't name examples and spoil it but the preferential treatment and bullshit messing with him, because he's a smart protagonist so he should suffer, for unjust reasons continue even in the last few chapters published. I'm going to conduct a Gary Stu test based on only given information and see what Nic gets. I'll post results below.
    

    • u/Caimthehero:

      Okay so I took the test twice and made sure to double check everything. I was a bit more generous to Moody in my second check eliminated a few marks that I couldn't for sure back up with enough evidence. That said Nic Tutt scores 35. Results as copied: Fanfiction & MMO/RPG/Original Fiction: High-to-very high chance your character is a Mary Sue. Risky range to be in. The 3rd highest rank behind EXTREMELY HIGH CHANCE and Certainly Mary Sue.
      
       The main crux of it is how smart he is and how much he is able to get away with authority figures. Those two factors earned him over 20 points easy.
      

      • u/Noumero:

        How did you get it so high? I managed to get it up to *at most* 20, by checking off the following:
        
        >32, 35, 42, 47+b+c, 48, 49+8+a+b, 67+a, 71+a, 72+b, 79, 97.
        
        > [Possible plot spoilers: chapter 20](#s " De-Suifiers: 1, 2, 5, 15, 18+a, 19").
        
        In any case, I prefer using [Wildbow's definition](https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/3gw7wq/what_makes_a_character_overpowered_or_a_mary_sue/cu257fu/) of the term more than such tests: a Mary Sue is a narrative black hole, a character that bends characterization and established rules of the setting in own's favour. Being very smart doesn't count, as long as the character isn't literally superhumanly smart, and I don't think the rest fits Nic very well either. Can you offer specific examples?
        

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