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Good web fiction has this fucking electricity to it that just fries your brain. Worm has it, Practical Guide to Evil has it, Super Supportive mostly has it
2/3 have killer anti-hero protags, I posture that if Super Supportive had an young woman anti-hero instead of Alden, it would kick you dead (I love Alden though)
I'm like. 49.99% sure I'm not aro. However the fact that the characters i latch onto are harry august, murderbot, tofu from super minion, alden thorn from super supportive, zorian kaczynski, arthur lester, , ,
I'm not saying I'm noticing a theme I'm just saying this might require more attention
Straight up banger from my favorite web novel Super Supportive this week:
Like what the fuck Sleyca the author. I feel so seen and my own stupidity being laid out clearly is really nice!
It’s like validation but in a way that still makes me want to get better and grow instead of trying to hide from the pain I feel.
Mitski’s “tall child” and the person who’s talking (Stuart) are both inspirationally fed up with their own perceived naivety to me. That feeling, one where you are stupid for getting yourself in this mess and stupid for not fixing it/realizing what’s going on, is rough. It’s the heartbreak of a broken golden dream.
Alden, stewing in contract depression;
Stu:
I really like Super Supportive
It's my favorite on-going webserial! I'm currently on Chapter 234, which is about 1,178,237 words in.
To summarize, Alden Thorne is a teenager in a world where aliens made a deal with humanity that resulted in a small portion of the population developing superpowers. Alden's dream is to get superpowers and become a battlefield support hero, but after obtaining them, he slowly learns new secrets about his powers' nature and the magical universe at large that change him completely.
Despite superpowers being in the name, Super Supportive is not a traditional superhero novel. There isn't as much of a focus on vigilantism, justice, nor action as you'd expect from a Spider-Man comic. Most of the focus is on fascinating world-building and Alden's development as he grapples with trauma from both his past and events that happen in the plot. If you really like magic systems and alien cultures, this is probably more for you.
Speaking of Alden's development, it's good. You get a lot of time for reflection from Alden between major plot events. It feels very real and very satisfying. One thing to note is that this is a slice-of-life novel, which means that the bulk of the story is this reflection by Alden and also his interaction with other characters instead of intense action or drama-- even if that does exist in the story. The author is not afraid to develop the plot and have lasting consequences for Alden, which I find that some slice-of-life stories may not do. Even when Super Supportive's pace is slow, I always feel like something is gained from each chapter and that the story won't go into a hole.
TLDR: Super Supportive is an amazing webnovel. Please read if you like magic systems, alien & superhero society worldbuilding, and a regular update schedule
Some recommended fics on Royal Road, although as I prepare to post this I'm realizing that a few have removed early chapters because you now have to get the ebook from Amazon or somewhere.
#1 - Super Supportive
Character-focused, with slowly progressing story stuff. Things do happen, plot moves along, but this should be thought of as a slice of life thing. It looks, on the surface, like this is about super heroes - but really, there's basically zero traditional super hero stuff.
Instead, it's someone who has been chosen to gain super powers (which is really a thing granted by alien wizards, because ACTUALLY super powers are just locked-down highly specific magic) and how they deal with some disasters and growth and navigating having some secrets and stuff.
This story is about: The daily life of a teenager named Alden. He's growing up, slowly growing his powers, and figuring out who he really wa
#2 - Bog Standard Isekai - It's technically an Isekai, but really the fact that the main character is from Earth has very little impact for the most part. It's a very well done LitRPG fantasy story, while still feeling unique in a good way. Not overly heavy on the LitRPG elements, and the world feels very realistic (meaning the fantasy stuff is consistent) without being gritty and grimdark.
>>> Book 1 available on Amazon here >>> Book 2 available on Amazon here >>> Book 3 available on Amazon here Somet
#3 - Tyrants of Earth - The premise involves people from Earth gaining access to a sort of LitRPG world, but it takes place after this has had time to become somewhat normalized (and after the full-on wars that it caused have settled). Only a relative handful of people get to go there and gain powers and stuff, but can (mostly) go back and forth from there to Earth which means the story partly takes place on Earth.
The main character manages to have the best parts of the "better than everyone else at this and (almost) always wins" type of protagonist, while still coming across as a real and fallible person who isn't just a smug asshole. I mean, he's smug sometimes, but it's called out and he's probably doing it on purpose to mess with someone.
All Ryan ever wanted to do was become an adventurer. Quests, skills, quirky teammates and posting exploits on Realmnet. What’s not to love?
#4 - Die Trying - A fascinating take on a LitRPG. First of all, a big part of the plot is them calling out that the video game elements are strange and seem to warp reality: what does it mean to hit zero hit points? That's not how things work, you're injured to varying degrees but... oh, no, that guy hit zero and is just dead. Hmm. Okay, what about this dodge roll ability, I don't even know how to roll like that and... no, there I go.
But also, it's billed as a roguelike which made me assume the story would involve rapidly going through a scenario and resetting (via death) frequently. Instead, the story is taking it slow. Not what I would have guessed, but I'm really digging it.
Every night, the people who have been chosen as part of this bizarre game are teleported to a post-apocalyptic fantasy world. At the end of each "round" (or when they die) they wake up back on Earth. The story just keeps getting more interesting, and the main character is fascinating: on the surface he's a capitalism-poisoned guy who is obsessed with getting money, but there's a lot more underlying that.
Jump into a fantasy deathworld. Smuggle magical loot and refugees back to Earth. Try not to die. Michael Wade's only goal in life was to get
#5 - Mage Tank - It's an Isekai, but with a very strange fantasy world. It's hard for me to articulate the vibe. I enjoyed it right away, but the story grows and matures over time and starts building some very interesting lore.
It's a little silly, and very over the top.
Book 4 is releasing on Amazon on January 28th and will be stubbing here on January 20th-ish. (Chapters 217 to 287 plus the Epilogues) After
Honorable Mention - Leftover Apocalypse - this one is mine. It's not bad.
Calliope Smith's eighteenth birthday wasn't going great, but at least getting yanked into a world of magic and monsters is a good way to dit
Do you have thoughts on Super Supportive? I saw in your webfic chart that you had read at least some of it.
No particular thoughts, no. Compared to how long it is now, I've read approximately none of it. I had read the first twenty chapters or so back when it had first started becoming popular, and while I really liked the first chapter, subsequent chapters felt too slow to me, and the description promised that it was a slow slice-of-life, so ... seemed like it was only something I was reading to better understand the tastes of RoyalRoad. Which I still don't really understand. I was talking to another RoyalRoad author about what I should write next, and they were talking about what's "on market" or "off market". I kept thinking "okay, but Super Supportive though?". Probably some argument to make that you can strike out on your own and be hugely successful, rather than running with the pack.
The trick with magical contracts forged from the mutual understanding of both parties is that there aren't any loopholes.
Contract yourself to take out the garbage by 5pm and decide you don't want to? Too bad. Maybe you can lock yourself out of the house so..... nope. Deciding to lock yourself out of the house is deciding not to take out the garbage. You can't fool yourself. What if you just went out to your sister's house and ran out of gas .... nope. That's also evading the contract. What if you didn't have any garbage bags? Well now you might be compelled to check.
The more you think about finding a way around your obligations, the more you restrict yourself from actually doing things that might accidentally result in a contract violation.
So many people on the discord (myself included)(join the discord it's so cool!) want Alden to find a loophole to tell Stu about his skill, but it's better that he doesn't even try. Otherwise Alden would tie his brain in knots and end up with nothing but more self-imposed rules.
