L3wt's Feedback Thread

[l3wt]

I have a little story running called A Spider Amongst Flies. It concerns James Arland, a Bretonian soldier in exile, and his little quest to be a royal pain in the backside to a Gallian detachment on Planet Gaia. Here, by leveraging technology, training, tactics, and sheer, bloody-minded spite, he hopes to contribute to the war effort in his own way, knowing he will not be recognized or rewarded for his efforts. After all, it's who you are in the dark that matters, right?

The military sci-fi themes may not be for everyone, and I apologize if you find it trite or uninteresting.

That said, feedback is highly appreciated.

Operation Musket is another story I wrote together with Lambert, exploring Arland's first operation as a Libertonian operative. Grows darker as the team is faced with some of the realities of doing dodgy off-the-books sort of operations.

Another one is Derelict, in which Arland, Leslie Durant and Sarah "Sparks" McFarlen go on an adventure to find an ancient spaceship.

[Manticore]

Once upon a time, there was a man who loved guns. His name was L3wt.

One day, L3wt got bored, and decided that it would be fun to write things. So he did. And he wrote some more. But he was sad.

Why was he sad? Because his writing wasn't satisfying enough. There were never enough guns, never enough cool explosions, and it was utterly impossible to get into his characters enough to make their chest-thumping and witty banter seem real.

But everything changed when James Arland was born. Not a person, he was an idea - a concept within L3wt's mind. The perfect character. A man who liked guns to a level that most people would consider mild objectophila. But James wasn't just an 80's action movie star written by Michael Bay. No, he was an actual character, who could love and interact with people in between blowing up bad guys in countless different ways.

James Arland feels like a person, not a trope. How you managed to do that is beyond me, considering he's officially the "patron saint of guns and cool explosions", but it's impressive. And it's why I like writing things with you.

Keep writing, L3wt. And remember...



There's no such thing as too many guns.

[Commissar]

A Spider Among Flies may just be my very favourite thread. Why is it my favourite thread?

Well, I'm glad you asked. I love the detail you've put into the troop movements, the weapons systems, the implications of fighting and surviving solo on what is arguably one of the most actively hostile planets in the sector (by which I mean things are trying to eat you instead of just crack open your vacc suit and turn you in to a human corpsicle for a while). Arland isn't winning because he's a great marksman, or a heavily muscled badass, or because he can fire two machine guns into the air while screaming about how there can only be one (though I'm reasonably certain he could do all those things). Arland is winning because he's smart, pragmatic, and unflinchingly brutal.

And in a universe occupied by aforementioned plot-armored badasses who win simply by being brilliant shots and fighting against enemies with room temperature IQs, that counts for something. Arland's enemies are tough, numerous, and capable combatants who aren't the sort to politely take prisoners when an artillery strike would get the same results. The way you write them, I respect the Gallics, and that respect transfers to Arland when he manages to stay just ahead. The contrast between Arland in combat and out of it is chilling, and a really neat aspect of his character.

The military sci-fi themes might not be for everyone, but I sure enjoy them. Keep up the great work, and I'm really looking forward to reading more of Arland in the future.

Oh, and also because this line was pretty great:

"This is really sort of a personal project of mine."

- James Arland, on single-handedly engaging an enemy regiment.

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May you live in interesting times.
| Sarah McFarlen | Jane Hartman |