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As anyone who has read "Warped Time Wish" would likely notice, it's a bit darker than my usual fare. Readers would do well to brace themselves for the sheer level of the protagonist's narcissism and possible God complex (well, to be fair, he has literally become convinced that he is some kind of deity). He also very much believes that even his pranks serve a greater good or noble cause. The ends really do justify the means in his view.
Just think of him as the more purely Id version of several of my other characters, most of whom have more scruples of some kind and more empathy as well as conscience. Early on, the MC wonders if he might be a sociopath. I prefer to leave the answer to the reader while keeping my own judgment of such things close to my vest.
That being said, he is a young man with obvious anger issues and could use a good therapist/counselor. He just happens to be an angry youth with godlike powers, a nightmare scenario for many adults and even some other youths. Just be aware, he's not likely to seek THAT kind of therapy. He's just going to keep venting his spleen by unleashing his wrath upon others.
I finally got motivation and inspiration enough to resume writing on the Riverdale fan fic, which is good. Oddly enough, it was inspired by my disgust with how much The Take applauded the writers for betraying Jughead's asexual nature and character arc.
I'm trying to keep true to Jughead myself by making sex a basic function that he doesn't mind doing under the right conditions, but he has no sexual attraction to anyone at all. That seems far more in keeping with the true personality and profile of Jughead than them putting him in a conventional, monogamous, highly physical love affair with Betty Cooper.
I followed the Archie, Betty, Ronnie arc to its logical end as well: since it was always destined to be a permanent love triangle, why not make it a poly deal? And since Val still craves Archie on some level, why not include her as well?
There is still plenty of room for conflict in the tale without adding needless romantic drama over cheating, blackmail, etc. I especially like the idea of Jughead becoming the main detective in the group. He's most invested in solving the hit on his old man and getting justice for FP. Plenty of time to do that if lovers are only an occasional diversion, as they are for him.
Also, regarding my Time Warp birthday wish tale, the dark turn that it's taking now is not likely to stay quite so bleak, at least not for some folks. It's just very dark for now. The main character, possibly a sociopath, possibly not, is convinced that he is either a god or demigod, thanks to his new powers, thus above the law and social norms.
Even so, he's not beyond reach for the right kind of appeal to him. I won't say much more, but even the hardest hearts have their soft spots...most of the time. Particularly if he can somehow relate.
...you've presumably noticed a slowdown in the racier material in the Davos anthology. There is a logical reason for that, chiefly that it doesn't make contextual sense in the present martial mood of the characters and the desperate stakes that they face now, but most of all, because the aphrodisiacs used by the Red Priestesses have simply worn out.
The Red Priestesses needed those for a time and a purpose, but now that time and purpose have ended. They have shadow demons to birth, don't they? I promise, when sex makes sense within the plot of the story, it will happen again. Otherwise, this will be much gorier and less lurid, I fear.
That's just how the cookie crumbles, my friends.
...the narrative continues to move in a different direction from D and D's path.
I won't give but one spoiler...it concerns Gendry...and Storm's End.
I decided to "clean up" Chapter Five a bit, so it will be reposted soon, I hope. While I'm generally given to the most salacious outcomes possible, sometimes it might paint the story or a co-author in this case into a corner. That can lead to writer's block and a slowdown of the overall plot development, which would be bad for the story. In this case, it was a fair critique that my go-to sort of high-speed sexualization of the tale simply took it too far from the characters themselves too soon. If given time enough, perhaps they could be "corrupted" a bit more, but not that quickly to the point of showering with siblings. Just a thought. What I might do, though, is put that as a version B or even a "dream sequence" or something like that where one of the characters has a rather intense dream about things of that sort...and leave it in some question just whose dream it is.
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