A post-Apocalypse Tamer word and Patreon consultation

The title's pun is fully intentional.

As I write these lines, Apocalypse Tamer is now completed with 140 chapters, making it my second longest series behind Vainqueur the Dragon. It's taken over most of the year and was written in chaotic times for me, but I'm satisfied with the journey. Apocalypse Tamer was my first time creating a 'crossover' between various other stories, and though the writing stumbled in some places, I feel I've nailed the landing. 

I would like to thank you all, my dear patrons, for supporting this story to its conclusion. I wouldn't be able to write this story for so long without you, and you all deserve a hug for it. Cheers!

You can find my general thoughts on Apocalypse Tamer, spoilers included, in the final chapter's A/N. I would be happy to read your comments and notes on the story there.

But the question this post aims to answer is: what next?  

In the short-term, I'll work on compiling the final volume into a single PDF for download; this will take the place of the normal Saturday chapter. You can also look forward to a last Bestiary Entry showcasing the final boss(es) of Apocalypse Tamer once their arts are complete. I've also mentioned working on a short webtoon called Djinn in the background, so I'll probably release updates on it when it's more advanced.

As for novels... well, it's currently open-ended. Hence, I would like to ask your feedback and opinion. 

- Potential New Stories

Now that Tamer is complete, I'll take a pause from LitRPGs. I don't exclude coming back to the genre in a few years, but I feel I've covered pretty much every aspect I wanted to examine (the LitRPG multiverse between my stories, deconstructing standard System Apocalypse conventions, the existential implications of the universe being reduced to numbers...) with Tamer. At this point, I think there isn't much left to explore that I haven't already addressed.  

By now, long-term patrons will know I always try my hand at new genres. After Tamer's grandiose post-apocalypse, world-shaking quest, I think it might be better to scale things down a bit. Write stories focusing more on characters interaction and development, more grounded worlds, maybe even anthologies rather than big linear quests. 

While Tamer was being published, I toyed with various potential story concepts and even commissioned potential covers. Here are a few examples of those I feel have the most potential:

Art by Dinovoila & Gharbi Zouhayer

Commerce Emperor would be a fantasy story where a set of twenty-two Heroes possess unique powers, with the main character being The Merchant; which allows him to buy anything. And I mean anything: memories, knowledge, years... if the price is right and the buyer consents, anything can be negotiated. This would be a somewhat low-fantasy story in the vein of A Song of Ice and Fire and Octopath Traveler, focusing more on political intrigue, economics, more grounded adventures, and a cast of heroes with their own powers and unique motivations. Some are looking for vengeance, others to find redemption or help their people thrive. Focus would be more on a cast of characters whose individual stories intersect a la Perfect Run. 

Art by Vitaly S. Alexius

The other work I would be most interested in are a scifi anthology called the Stars of Sirius, a mix of cyberpunk and space-opera. The recent rise of AI/ChatGPT in our world validates some ideas I have for the future, and this story would examine things like the long-term consequences of AI development, post-automation capitalism, genetic immortality etc... The main character would be a female protagonist fused with an AI suit in the vein of Metroid, and they would tackle self-contained adventures each focusing on potential challenges the future holds in store for us, from android rights to space pirates and transhumanism. 

Not an actual cover (the concept art is still unfinished), but a random illustration of what you can expect XD

Another title I've toyed with, with the tentative title of Blood & Fur, would be a fantasy story set in a Mesoamerica-inspired world. The main character would be a poor young man chosen for the honor of becoming the ceremonial emperor of an Aztec empire equivalent, living in luxury... with the catch that he'll be sacrificed to the vampire nobility, which holds all the real power, after a year's tenure. Unwilling to die, he would scheme to learn magic in order to free himself from this fate and overthrow the vampiric rules of his nation. This story would include a lot more eroticism and esoteric elements than my earlier books. 

These are the major titles I'm considering writing next, and all would be both shorter and more grounded than previous titles before them. It would be less about saving the world/universe and more about the characters fulfilling their dream, examining societal and existential themes, and more grounded magical/technological systems.

More importantly, I'm interested in writing more than one of these stories at once; I thought focusing on one story at once would help me focus, but I realize now that I need some novelty to stave off story fatigue. 

- Writing Schedule: Quality over Quantity? 

However, a big issue I've found with Tamer is that... well, I tend to write quantity over quality. Many times have I posted a chapter I wasn't happy with not because I thought it was ready, but because I had reached a deadline. The fact a lot of stuff now happen in the background (from company management to RL issues) doesn't help. I feel the text quality of Apocalypse Tamer suffered compared to earlier works partly because of this state of affairs. 

I admit that I would like to try focusing more on quality this time; perhaps spend a bit more time rewriting chapters and write longer ones rather than short bursts. I've even considered writing a full book first and then publish it on Patreon chap by chap after editing it in-depth; but that would leave with an inactive patreon for a long time. Or follow either Mechanimus' example (write one chapter a week, but one that is very long and in-depth), or the author of Mother of Learning (publish chapters when they're ready). Should I focus on one story with a set number of chapters per week and write another with an 'update when chapters are ready' kind of schedule? 

Honestly, at this point I'm considering all possible options going forward and nothing is set in stone. As my patrons, I truly would like to hear your opinion on this. 

So before I post any poll on the stories or the future of the patreon going forward, I truly desire to hear what you have to say on this. What would you like more going forward? Do you have suggestions or preferences? As I said, at this point the future is open-ended. 

Please tell me what you think in the comments, I'll read them all :)

Best regards,

Voidy.