While he has a very good command of “voice” and an impressive range of characters (especially for a new writer), he seems to struggle somewhat with writing characters that are action-oriented and less conceptual, DFW-like, and/or metacognitive. His characters also sometimes seem insufficiently agentic: sharply perceptive of their world but insufficiently willing to act on their own perceptions.
I think that it is due to a genuine lack of strategy to achieve one’s goals. For example, the story about the Origami Men is explicitly set in an ASI-led world. The same thing can likely be said about That Mad Olympiad. The story about The Company Man has the protagonist work for an AI company intended to create the ASI, which is one of the best positions to have an impact… if you work on alignment, which, as far as I understand, isn’t the case. OffVermillion’s protagonist is an ordinary human whose friend could be best described as a hikikomori who values the super-beautiful virtual world more than the real one, and I don’t think that there is anything one could do about it (except for isolating the friend from the virtual world for a few months?) The story about Our Beloved Monsters has the characters outright enter AI psychosis where agency is lost to the AIs.
I agree the characters’ actions make sense given the context of those characters are and in what circumstances they find themselves in. However it is Tomas’s choice to create those character/world pairings. One thing I like a lot about The Distaff Texts is just how much agency is on display despite the seemingly bad hands the characters are dealt.
The story about The Company Man has the protagonist work for an AI company intended to create the ASI, which is one of the best positions to have an impact… if you work on alignment, which, as far as I understand, isn’t the case
I think that it is due to a genuine lack of strategy to achieve one’s goals. For example, the story about the Origami Men is explicitly set in an ASI-led world. The same thing can likely be said about That Mad Olympiad. The story about The Company Man has the protagonist work for an AI company intended to create the ASI, which is one of the best positions to have an impact… if you work on alignment, which, as far as I understand, isn’t the case. OffVermillion’s protagonist is an ordinary human whose friend could be best described as a hikikomori who values the super-beautiful virtual world more than the real one, and I don’t think that there is anything one could do about it (except for isolating the friend from the virtual world for a few months?) The story about Our Beloved Monsters has the characters outright enter AI psychosis where agency is lost to the AIs.
I agree the characters’ actions make sense given the context of those characters are and in what circumstances they find themselves in. However it is Tomas’s choice to create those character/world pairings. One thing I like a lot about The Distaff Texts is just how much agency is on display despite the seemingly bad hands the characters are dealt.
The portrayal of Esther is notable here I think.