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So I have been noticing a ton of comments on the latest Red Riot chapter about upping content on it at the expense of Hard Enough, or just upping Red Riot release schedule to more a month.So, I thought I'd give people a bit of a heads-up about what's going on in my mind about this. Don't expect this to be structured or be clear in direction. Things are quite murky for me right now.Firstly, Red Riot and Hard Enough are meant to be different story types, with Naruto being a much edgier harsh world of ninja killing each other while Ninja Jesus does his thing, whereas pokemon is a world of adventure and wonder. Things are rough in Hard Enough, more so than in the cartoons, but the key themes of exploring are meant to be there, albeit in a setting that most don't focus on. Aka What being a Gym Leader entails. Hard Enough gets roughly 8 to 10 chapters a month.  I only have one chapter a month of RR which means I usually try and make sure that something seriously significant occurs that people can sink their teeth into compared to slower teasings and plot developments with Hard Enough.

 I know there is a lot of vocal support for Red Riot. I'm honestly glad to see people enjoying it as much as they are. I'm not as opposed to the idea of increasing it but I don't really want to drop a chapter of Hard Enough or shake things up. Also, I was previously somewhat burned out of Naruto after my NNT quest, but I am finding myself enjoying Red Riot as something significantly different.

So there might be some more interest in Red Riot, but don't expect things to change too quickly.

In terms of IRL, I am in a bit of a flux at the moment with the decision to drop my day job from 4 days a week to 2 days a week to be a stay-at-home dad for my daughter as my wife steps back into running her business.

My hope is that when things with her hip dysplasia settles down and as she gets older I can spend a bit more time writing and/or have more structured moments throughout the week that are a bit more scheduled and locked in.I literally had to pull my boss aside a few weeks ago and tell him this was my situation, and he is trying to work out what would be best for work. I'm sort of at the stage where I could step away without feeling too much like I am missing out on a great thing.

Thanks to the consistent support of my patreons I have been able to point out the benefits of me writing more to my wife a lot but it does come up against things such as family time/ aka looking after my wife, daughter, and lately, my increasingly senile aunt...

I'm somewhat idealising the thought of just quitting my day job and becoming a full-time dad/writer but there are obvious risks with that, but there is also a lot of potential. - If I did do this, I'd have to be more serious with things like engagement, which I know I am frankly terrible at as an author, and editing, which I'm passable at. I'd also need to seriously look into upping my game, as there is a lot I think I could do better with my writing. cough - pacing - cough. I'd also probably have to add new tiers and also add more benefits to patreons. If I did that, I think I would try to lock in an extra one or two Red Riot chapters a month, but also the inclusion of something original.

I do want to eventually leave my own mark on the world with a work of fictional literature that is my own work. I have lots of plot bunnies bouncing around in my mind but am unsure if they'd be as well received. Currently, my mind keeps toying with;

1. A gamer installed into WWII setting

2. A sort of mishmash of Power Rangers, and some dark edgy Magical girl setting.

3. Voidhop 4. Medieval gamer setting with hard version of gamer.There are others, but the main two are the ones fighting for my attention the most. So yeah...?TLDR: Viva01 waffes about his life and tells people a lot of nothing is currently going to change as too much is fluctuating in his life IRL to commit to any changes with his writing schedule. He gives a lot of love to his patreons for their support, which has given him more options.

Comments

Frank

Take whatever time you need — your life comes first. That said, I’m personally in it for Hard Enough, not Red Riot, and would be against dropping HE chapters (all else IRL being equal, of course). Either way thanks for the update!

Duco Van der Ploeg

I am personally here for Hard Enough and not red riot (I don't read them tbh)

Kailblade

While I would love to see more stories from you, I can understand the high risk of being a patreon supported writer. I'd wait till bubs is a bit older, and then maybe add a new story to the roster if time allows

Frank

Also, thanks for all the chapters! I only recently found HE, but it’s quickly become one of my favorite stories!

Netveiwer

I love your writing, that's why I'm here, but you have great content release time and seen too many people burn out. Do what you need to do to make sure your good.

Neil Dobson

There's a lot of gamer fics about, and while I think you could do it justice, might be hard to sell to people who haven't already read your stuff. The power rangers/ dark magical girl idea sounds interesting, not soon many stories that combine the two.

AlthePal

Thank you for the update! I hope you figure out a sustainable solution for your work and home life mate :) (I also hope your daughters surgery goes very well) If you are interested in looking at an example of a very well done, medieval (Viking) gamer, type story I highly recommend Legends, Never Die by Ideas guy. It’s really really good!

Ulysis Colon

There is not enough properly written power ranger fics and i believe you would do it justice and write an engaging story😃

Tangle Cat

Love Hard Enough and would be interested in anything to do gamer wise. Like the idea of a gamer in ww2 especially though. Hope everything works out for you

Phyr

HE supporter, will probaly read RR at some point. I don't know if the internet is a basket I would put all my eggs in but thats just me it could be the best thing for you who knows. I am also happy to hear about the "do better with my writing (pacing)" bit, I won't ever complain about a better story..

shadowSeth

I love RR and HE but I think that is just your style of writing more than anything else. You take care of your family first.

no-thoughts-only-vibes

i think there is a way to subscirbe for several months? might be able to work something out to increase your financial security without needing more patrons? just an idea.

Zeroguard

Hey I've been an advocate for more RR but I also love all the Hard Enough you've given us, if the current balance works for you I'm also fine with it. All past comments should probably read with 'ideally in a magical world where you simply have more time'. Take care of your family first, pursue your passions second and listen to the peanut gallery fourth, third is for you to slot in and out as life demands it. I'll keep reading your stuff pretty much no matter what!

Jericho Rising

I would be very interested in the ww2 setting story. Don't read too much from that side of things but those I do normally strike true. Power ranger style magical girl setting is an interesting take and I know it's got a heck of a large community around it so that might also be a real good pool to test the waters in. Voidhop is a classic choice for some and would do well regardless as a standalone. Altogether though I have no qualms with the situation from Patreon and your story. It releases on a steady basis, is content heavy enough to be significantly enjoyable and a well looked forward to break in my life. You've done what you've promised on the cover with Just the Hard Enough content and I personally am very satisfied. Whatever you chose to do, know you have the community support at the current level regardless. So any exploration you feel like doing shouldn't go amiss. More a tangent than anything but, as an author myself; what I can recommend is to rewrite any personal projects multiple times and to keep the quantity of words low enough that re writing it in a different fashion doesn't feel like a drag. Eventually something will just click but it may take a few run throughs, so don't frustrate or burn yourself out over it. It'll work out in the end with perseverance. I also find it rather normal to not enjoy my personal work as much as I do someone else's, so I normally get family and friends to read through the drafts to see if they latch on to something I didn't.

Jericho Rising

Same. I was interested and have been holding off on reading the Red Riot series as a binge however.

worldly bee

For the WWII idea -- are you thinking about that in a 'real, historical' WWII or some kind of 'alt-history' a la Youjo Senki?

Seli (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-05 12:00 To be completely honest, I think a gamer in a WWII setting is a terrible idea. It's just really hard to depict the horrors of that war respectfully while combining it with Fantasy elements. Considering the rise of antisemitism and the weaponization of it by islamophobic, hard right politicians... It seems like it's the wrong time for such a fic. But I'm from Europe and remembrance of WWII is taken seriously here. It might not be a problem for most of your other readers.
2024-06-03 12:36

LordJJJ

I came for Hard Enough and stayed for Red Riot, love both stories and all that you give us. Hope things work out on the job and home front and will be selfishly hoping that your time gets to pivot more towards writing because you have a gift! I enjoy unwrapping it every notification bell 😄

the pyro stick figure 76

I'd vote for idea number two, because even if I'm a huge world war nerd I have a personal dislike of gamer fic's and mixing a somethings so serious as a world war with that seems a bit tonally off-putting to me?

TypistTyphon

Love your work! I’d vote on Medieval uplift with gamer aspects. Hard enough is the best!

HonorBound Fate

I like both stories, but I think of red riot as sort of a treat I get once a month.

RDZ90

I came and stayed for red riot personally and have been an advocate for more updates however your family and mental health are important and should be a priority, I'm a fan of your writing and is grateful for any updates going forward thanks

Marco Belina

I am being real with you. You are just such a talented author.

Jordan

I'm honestly fine with whatever you think is best.You've found a great balance of quality and quantity. Also the last thing I want is for you to get burned out, your a person not a chapter dispensing machine.

Louie Roquero

I love both stories but I love hard enough even more. You're the only author that I support currently as the quality of the story is top notch and I will keep supporting you for that.

Jordan

Kinda agree it's hard to do a historical self insert( and that's coming from a huge fan of them), adding a gamer system on top. Though it just depends on the setting and how the system works.

philip

Tbh, I'm down with new tiers for extra patreon chapters in RR

Pokum

My 2 cents for what its worth is to focus, if you really do decide to drop the day job to be a full time writer that is great but make sure you are not juggling too many story plots etc. Keep it to HE and RR, then if you find yourself getting bored etc work out an ending and then start over in another universe and revisit someday. You don't want to start 3+ storylines have the readers put you in a position where you have to release 5+ chapters a week and get burnout. That will suck.

Jordan Belmont

I found you around February last year and burned through your stock of HE on fanfic. I'm not against RR. But I think the plot lags enough that you trying to cut down chapters in favor of RR would have me leave 😭. I'm happy to have been around to support you for over a year now man. And while I have issues with you're writing here and their. I've genuinely loved your doses of hard enough every Tuesday and Wednesday. Although I do miss those. Bonus once a month interludes especially from the pokemons point of view. I'd pay for another tier, but I'd request you to please keep the real world political stuff out of the pokemon world. Pokemon world politics are cool I love it. Especially all the scheming we had with the blackthorns lol. But none of that special treatment for the ladies stuff it totally caught me off guard when it first started popping up and now have to stop reading for a bit when it happens because I know you didn't always write like this. Also yeah plot progression does seem too slow at times. Like I'll be waiting for that event or battle you teased and then nothing happens in forever. I'm still waiting for that legendary Pokemon who was watching Brock's family that you teased in that empress chapter to come forward and be revealed.

Cedar Haugen

From one writer to another, write about what enthralls you. Burn out is a struggle sometimes, but writing about a passionate subject helps all the more. Balance is the goal. Life work balance is key to happiness and you and your family deserve all the happiness. Writing wise, I love how gritty and downright inspirational the heroes of the WWs were. In the face of artillery, gas, endless fanatics, and rising technology that changed warfare forever, men and women fought for freedom and peace. I hope this finds you well, and wish you happy writing.

Antony Wilson

What do you mean about void hop?

Alzhan

Gamer in WW2, Gamer IN WW2, GAMER IN WW2 (More frequent Red Riot updates are also very welcome, it's literally why I became a patron.)

Squeeky602

Hard Enough is my favourite fanfic. There are simply too many Naruto fics available. Hard Enough hits all the right spots with Family, Adventure, Teaching the next generation and self improvement.

tester

I'd like to see more of either story, but not at the expense of the quality or schedule you already have. If you are planning on doing more writing, I'd ask for more Red Riot updates. HE has a good update schedule already, and the quality, quantity, and update consistency are great as is. RR's only problem is a long time between updates. I'd recommend ramping up slow; maybe start with one extra RR chapter a month and build up a buffer if you feel inspired to write more?

Thousand Odysseys

I don’t read Red Riot at all. Checked out the first chapter at one point and didn’t really click with it. I understand people speaking up if they like it more and prefer that. But since it has apparently come to the point where you’re taking their requests to lower the rate of Hard Enough to make room seriously… just adding my counter vote. Just so it is know that some people do much prefer HE.

Tim

I really like ideas 1 and 4, but have no idea what voidhop is. As for the Power Rangers, I can't picture it and only watched the first 2/3 seasons? (I assume Season 1 was Green Ranger, Season 2 was White ranger) So I don't know how disconnected I would be from it (This is obviously just a personal opinion). As for current stories, I am glad you are keeping with Hard enough. Because Red Riot has less activity, the people that like that story would be more vocal while the Hard Enough crowd wouldn't say much. until something upsets them. Hence why there might seem to be more wanting Red Riot. Personally I am a "hard" supporter of HE.

Morgan

First and foremost I'd prefer you wrote the stories you personally are most interested in, I've seen far too many stories burn out from authors pushing themselves to write chapters from novels they are no longer as invested in, till one day, updates just stop. I've for many a month now been subscribed to the art only tier because RR is the only story of yours I'm currently interested in. Have you considered releasing some chapters of RR publicly to gauge how interested the community is in a Naruto fan fic? As as of right now to my understanding the only people who have read RR are those who initially had an interest in HE. Resulting I'd be very surprised if your community's opinions weren't largely in favour of HE.

charles dupont

I haven't tried red riot, but now i wonder if i should. What's the best way to find them sequentially? It doesnt seem intuitive in the patreon app

Ixta

I just want to echo this comment. I'm totally supportive of whatever works for you in life and strongly believe in the importance of taking care of your family. But at the end of the day, I'm here because Hard Enough is one of my top 3 favorite ongoing stories right now and I wanted to support its creation. I don't read Red Riot, so seeing HE lose out to RR would be a pretty big drop in the value of my subscription, for me personally. Obviously there's a lot of Red Riot fans who feel the opposite way, and I have no idea what your story statistics actually look like and how the value calculations would stack up. As for any potential original stories... All of those ideas look like they could be promising, but it's really the wonder and adventure and wholesome moments of Hard Enough that make me love it enough to voluntarily pay for it. I'd probably be more interested in something that has a similar vibe than in something dark and grim.

Viva01

Glad to hear you're enjoying it! And also that so many people are enjoying the slice of life that HArd Enough gets to showcase.

Alex McGregor

I'll be honest I don't follow Red Riot, the combination of setting, location and just general story beats didn't grab my attention, so I'll be disappointed if it takes up more slots in the month, but, not much I can do about it

Shadeepta

I just wanted to say that while I originally came for HE, Red Riot is really what makes me stay. As one of the advocates for increasing the number of RE chapters a month, it would be greatly appreciated. However, I do understand if you're unable to due to your other responsibilities.

Aegorm

I joined specifically for Red Riot. I also read HE, but it doesn't grab my attention as much as RR. Just 1 extra chapter a month would be amazing!

Joseph (T3mmie)

I'd be interested in the power ranger magical girl one but the dark edgy bit kinda throws me off. More serious sure but grimdark magical girls is a bit overplayed in my personal opinion

Joseph (T3mmie)

I joined for hard enough, I also think that I wouldn't want you to take content from that to add more of the naruto one. Especially if you don't want to. These are your fictions, how much and how little you write them is fully up to you.