If the theory was my crappy book only received a 5 star rating by accident, a fluke mis-click, or a troll just having fun messing with people, etc., that theory is now also out the window. Three separate outsiders each separately came to the objective conclusion that my book was top class, and rated it as highly as they possibly could.
This is why once you cross the threshold of 1, the only remaining limit is infinity. If it's possible for someone else to like it, then it's also possible for two other people to like it, or three, and so on. The more people who get a chance to read it, the more who would like it, which potentially, taking the future into account, could amount to trillions of fans.
This book is established as an entertainment product capable of entertaining others. This is no longer up for debate. Which means if you're not entertained by it, it's not the book's fault, it's your fault.
I did everything I could to make this book a pleasant experience for the reader, removing all obstacles of poor wording or grammatical snarls. I put years of effort into improving the user experience. If someone says they didn't like the book because the writing was bad they're lying. The word choice and fluidity of the story is professional grade. It's almost poetry at this point it's so polished.
So what are their remaining excuses? If they say the ideology in the book is bad, they would have to give a convincing argument for why the ideology is bad -- one that refutes the arguments in favor of said ideology found throughout the book. You can't just say the ideology is bad on no basis, without any proof, or any refutation of all the effective and rational arguments for the ideology found right there in the book. That is not a valid objection. That's called a temper tantrum.
If they say the events are unrealistic or unlikely, that's silly. Of course the events are unrealistic and unlikely -- it's a work of fiction, a story, that posits an unlikely and unrealistic series of events because they're more interesting than day-to-day life. The whole point of stories is to venture into territory that's more exciting than our ordinary existence, if it were probable and realistic it would have no reason for being. 'What if?' is a source of endless wonder, it's food for the soul.
So long as there are no internal inconsistencies it doesn't matter how fictitious a universe is. And I spent years making sure there were no internal inconsistencies. There aren't any.
If you say a book that borrows characters from other stories is inherently bad, you're being prejudiced. Newton said all his advances in math were due to standing on the shoulders of giants. Why shouldn't this be the case for storytelling? Why not make use of a good foundation to build up towards higher heights? If you're improving on the original source, what is the basis for complaint?
And I can list off infinite ways I'm improving on the originals. For one -- every time a couple did not form in the source who obviously should have and now does, like Illya and Shirou, Natsu and Lucy, Kyosuke and Kirino, or Mikoto and Touma.
This includes every time a couple does form, but the boy doesn't treat the girl nearly as well as he should have -- like Saito with Louise, Sasuke with Sakura, or Gray with Juvia.
Secondly, by putting these characters in a new environment they're able to use their powers in new and interesting ways. For instance, Sakura Kinomoto's Record card being the arbiter for the guilt or innocence of justice-involved individuals. This is an obvious application of her magic that never comes up and will never come up in the official story. It can only be explored here, outside the narrow box of Clamp's imagination.
They're also able to learn new things and talk about new things that would never have come up in the original works. For instance, anyone on a fantasy world will no longer have to stay an ignorant fantasy worlder in this new environment, all modern science and technology can be introduced to them. Or anyone used to the status quo of idyllic modern Japanese school life will have to re-build the ground rules of civilization and actually think about it themselves once they're back on a primordial planet. Characters whose potential for growth in their old stories had already been choked out due to unchanging circumstances now have whole new avenues of progress. A new frontier to grow into even better people than they were before.
Thirdly, by combining their various abilities and knowledge sets across different stories, new synergies emerge that never could have occurred in the original. Orihime curing Chtolly's venom accumulation is something that can only happen here.
The value added of this book is everything made possible by the new circumstances for these old characters. If the value added is as large as the value of the original sources themselves, then using old characters in new works is as high utility as inventing wholly new characters. In fact, most 'new' characters are just thinly veiled ripoffs of old characters and personalities seen in previous stories anyway, so the benefits of 'new' characters are pretty thin to begin with.
It's not that I'm incapable of coming up with new characters and so had to steal from other better writers -- this is my 12th book, and the previous 11 all feature characters from my own imagination. I specifically chose to write this book because I saw that I could surpass the original writers at their own game, I could make their own characters more interesting than they could.
Nor do I do this out of disrespect for the characters involved -- I do it out of respect for them, because they deserved more and better than what they had received from their origins. I gave them a platform they could shine on specifically because they were worth featuring. This is no different from how Fate/Kalied Liner gave Illya a new and better platform than the original Fate/Stay Night visual novel gave her. It wasn't out of disrespect for Illya, but respect. And it created something even better than what came before.
Since no one objects to Fate/Kalied Liner they have no logical basis to object to '100 Waifus'.
If the argument, alternatively, is that it's fine to do spinoffs of pre-established characters, but they have to be 'true to the source.' 'The problem with '100 Waifus' is that the characters are 'misinterpreted.' If they had been correctly interpreted than the exact same scenario might have been a good story, but because the writer failed to understand the characters and channel their personalities it was no good.'
This argument at least isn't inherently stupid. But it's still irrational. If there is an actual factual discrepancy, like 'this character speaks differently,' or 'this character doesn't have this magical ability,' that would be one thing. But when it's simply a question of interpretation, of opinion, about the character involved, it's egotistical to believe your view of a character is the only valid one. There are no facts about the 100 waifus lifted from the storybooks in this book that are off. Any objection must come along the lines of -- 'I think this character would think and say and do something else,' which is just a prognostication. There's no proof that's how the character would think, say, and act in the novel situation presented to them. It's just as likely that my interpretation is correct and they would in fact do exactly as I said. Or if not 'as likely,' so long as it's possible it's as valid a flow of events as any other. If it creates a more interesting story that way, why not? No one has the right to deny a character's potentialities.
The only way for this objection to really stand is for the objector to write their own version of the exact same story and then read it over 21 times to prove it's more interesting than my interpretation, which is already on the record as being interesting enough to read at least 21 times. Then you could say, 'look, my interpretation of the character is better than yours!' Anything that produces a less exciting story is de facto not as good an interpretation and thus the objection cannot hold.
So that brings us back to the basic question of whether the story is interesting or not. If the real objection is that 'nothing interesting happens' and the book is 'boring,' that's at least a valid concern. Unlike all these other unthinking prejudiced responses. I can understand that if someone only reads stories where people are fighting and dying left and right, '100 Waifus' could look weak sauce in comparison. Alternatively, if people like the thrill of the hunt in romance stories, and only think it's exciting before a couple gets together, a story set entirely after the couples get together can seem dumb. Then there are people who only like to see hard workers rewarded, like fans of sports series where 90% of the story is grueling training sessions and painful setback losses.
For people with individual tastes that aren't in line with what '100 Waifus' has to offer, they at least have an excuse. But I think it's about time these people broaden their horizons. '100 Waifus' isn't a matter of taste, of flavor. It's about life, the universe, God, and everything. This is so much more important than a close game of baseball or an evenly matched fight. This book answers the important questions -- not "Who's stronger, Goku or Vegeta?" Or, "will the next pitch be strike three or ball four?"
It answers why God would allow evil to exist in this world. It answers what's in store for us in the afterlife. It answers how societies should be run, what our basic law code should be. Why we exist in the first place, to what purpose, and how to fulfill that purpose. It answers what virtues we should seek in the opposite sex and what virtues we should strive for in ourselves. It answers so many fundamental questions that will have a profound impact on the rest of your life that you absolutely need to know these answers, and the sooner the better.
If '100 Waifus' were just one more entertainment option among many, like a basketball game versus a soccer game, I could understand people not wanting to read it. But when it's the way, the truth, and the light, we're not talking about basketball versus soccer anymore. We're talking about the salvation of your soul and your chance at happiness for the rest of your lived days.
Which loops back to the argument -- 'oh but the ideology is wrong so no such benefit exists.' Fine, if that's the case. But to do that you would have to prove even one thing said in the book false through rational argument. You're welcome to try, but if you don't furnish such proof, yet again you're left with absolutely no excuse to dislike this book.
'I don't need an excuse. I don't have to do anyone the favor of reading their book, it's my choice to utilize my time elsewhere.'
As to that argument, yes, technically, that's true. But what if the consequences of avoiding this book are a life full of unnecessary and self-caused bad decisions leading to depression or an early death? What if it isn't you doing me the favor of reading this book, but me doing you the favor of teaching important truths via this book before it's too late?
What if the consequences of people not reading this book are the end of the world, which I fully believe to be the case? If people don't correct the mistakes I highlight in this book, if they don't change their ways, we're all going to die and the light of humanity will wink out. If they avoid books like these which could convince people to change course before it's too late, won't they live to regret that decision?
Is it really imposing on someone to show them the one path forward that doesn't lead to their own destruction? Wouldn't they want to know such a thing?
Were the Trojans exercising their free choice to not be 'imposed upon' by refusing to listen to Cassandra? Or were they idiots who ignored Cassandra at their own peril and to their own doom? Maybe sometimes people should hearken to others' words. What if '100 Waifus' is one of those cases? And until someone proves any one thing wrong about the ideology in the book, then logically it must be the case that this is one of those Cassandra-like situations. Ignoring prophets is always bad news.
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