#and also i wanted to have things that aren't too spoilery but give a good feel for the fic in case i can entice someone new to read haha

[coffeebanana]

In honour of today being the one-year anniversary of when I posted the first chapter of Say Something, I wanted to--ahem--say something about this fic. And I thought about sharing the beginning of the next chapter, but 1. it's still the first draft so it's fairly rough, and 2. it's not very representative of the fic as a whole.

Instead, I thought I'd pick short passage I like from each chapter I've posted so far, because what is my tumblr for if not a little shameless self-promo, and I'm proud of the writing (read: neverending rewriting) I've done for this fic!! Plus this gives me an excuse to list all of my chapter titles which I really love as well ahaha.

(And for anyone who hasn't had a chance to read yet, I'll drop the link to chapter 1 here!! If you're interested in ladrien and/or prpr hurt/comfort featuring sentiadrien angst, then this is the fic for you!!)

Snippets are under the cut!

from chapter 1: Maybe They Sell Amok Chains at the Hospital Gift Shop

Ladybug faced away from him now, her stance rigid as she stared out the window. She kept one hand wrapped around the ring, which hung from a chain around her neck. Adrien wondered for a moment where she’d found the chain—she hadn’t left his side for long yesterday. Maybe her yo-yo had a secret stash of Amok chains. Maybe they were sold at the hospital gift shop. She could have fetched one when the doctors took him for scans. When they’d ensured he wasn’t quite bleeding to death by his father’s hand—only almost. Was a gift shop trinket really strong enough to entrust with the ring responsible for Adrien’s life? Hard to tell—that wasn’t the sort of thing people included on promotional signage. And that was…just about right. Adrien’s very existence was false advertising.

from chapter 2: Failure Sounds Like a Dripping Tap

The bathroom sink had been dripping the entire time, but suddenly it was all Marinette could hear. Suddenly it made her skin crawl. She knew there was a way to make it stop—a particular way to twist the handle—but she couldn’t find the energy for that. So the tap kept dripping, each drop serving as a reminder of the mess she'd made. Drip. She let Gabriel get away. Drip. She was failing her team. Drip. Adrien wouldn’t even look her in the eyes.

from chapter 3: Popcorn Ceilings Are No Substitute For Cloud Watching

This time when she sighed, Adrien felt her breath against the back of his neck, leaving goosebumps in its wake. Would those bumps make patterns like the ceiling? If Ladybug could read their warnings, would she back down? “Please,” Adrien whispered. He didn’t have words to explain, but he needed this. Panic sank its claws into him, tearing through old scars that never had a proper chance to heal. The chain bearing his Amok grew heavier. Would he ever get to make his own decisions?

from chapter 4: The Stars Don’t Always Lie 

Outside had been about…existing, mostly. About casual touches and errant thoughts. Inside expected a certain something. Words. Interaction. Progress. Adrien had no idea how to go about any of that. He didn’t even realize Ladybug had spoken until she placed a hand on his arm. “Chaton? You okay?” “Fine.” He couldn’t be terrible if he wasn’t entirely present, right? If some part of him seemed to have remained up on the roof, still longing for that freedom he’d barely gotten a taste of?

from chapter 5: Still A Mere Facade

Adrien was curled up on his side, sliding his phone lethargically back and forth across the blanket. He’d been listless all morning, answering her questions a beat too late or not at all. It wasn’t quite the same as the past few days’ silent treatment, but he was still a far cry from the Adrien—and the Chat Noir—that she knew. Marinette just wished she could think of something to say. But the longer she sat there, the more pressure she felt to speak, which in turn made it even harder to cobble together coherent thoughts. And she really had tried everything—there were shockingly few internet resources for how to help your partner come out as a sentibeing. In a last ditch attempt at finding some guidance, she was about to check the copy of the Guardians’ Grimoire she kept on her phone when Adrien froze, inhaling sharply. It took her a moment to figure out why, a moment to process that the other sound she’d heard was that of his phone rolling over the chain bearing his Amok. It always came back to the ring.

from chapter 6: As The World Flickers In Slow Motion

“It’s not stupid.” Nino assured him. “Your feelings aren’t stupid. They’re just… they’re you.” Adrien bit his lip. “Are they, though?” “What do you mean?” Adrien hooked a thumb under the chain around his neck, watching as his Amok hung in the space between him and Nino. “My father had this. The man who never wanted me to go anywhere or do anything. You really think he didn’t use it?”

from chapter 7: Believing in Moments To Come

Nino and Adrien sat side by side against the headboard, Nino smiling at Alya who stood beside him. She was still pulling out folders, stacking them on the bedside table while her eyes lingered on the pizza boxes stacked between the boys. Adrien paid them no attention—his eyes were glued to the spot where Marinette entered the room. He smiled when he saw her. Marinette would have done anything to freeze that moment—finally, a moment where his smile felt real. Where his eyes sparkled the way they had for years whenever he saw her, where his lips curved softly like every time he’d caught her before she could fall. Maybe Alya was right. Maybe she hadn’t screwed everything up.

from chapter 8: Like Molecules In A Gas

He flinched when Ladybug touched his shoulder. “Are you ready?” Midway through her question, an air vent whirred to life overhead, almost seeming to trap her words inside. It would explain why they sounded so far away. Adrien felt just like the air forced through the tube—it didn’t matter what trajectory its individual molecules took, how many times they collided with each other or the walls throughout their journey. In the end, they had no choice but to follow an overarching path, and he had no choice but to keep moving forward either. If only he could remember how to reply.

from chapter 9: A Colour of Wanting More

[...] “The point is, you have strengths and flaws. You make mistakes. You learn. You…you’re human.” His gut plummeted. “Am I, though?” “Yes,” she insisted. “I don’t know how to convince you, but—well, okay, how about this? They took a blood sample, when you were in the hospital. In case…” She shuddered. “Obviously they didn’t find anything strange, or they would have said something. And I’m sure if they did a DNA test, that would come back normal too. If you wanted, I could figure out how to get one done. I’m sure it’s easy.” “I…maybe. But—” “But what? You have a blood type, and…a heartbeat—probably all your organs in the right place too, because they never said anything about that either. And you just…you have this incredible capacity to love people, and you have—” “Existential crises?” “I—well,” she spluttered. “That’s not exactly what I was going for, but…yeah.” She gave a huff of amusement. “I suppose that’s pretty human of you.”

💜 💜 💜

Thank you to everyone who's been reading and interacting with this fic so far! I appreciate you all so much!!

#miraculous ladybug #say something #coffeebanana fics #aaah this post feels like a tiny word scrapbook of the fic so far #these are not necessarily my FAVOURITE bits of each chapter because how am i supposed to choose? #and also i wanted to have things that aren't too spoilery but give a good feel for the fic in case i can entice someone new to read haha #anyways i definitely thought this fic would be DONE by now instead of like half-done buuuuuuut oh well #hopefully it'll be done within the NEXT year haha #sentiadrien #long post

[an-honest-puck]

Prompocalypse (Ep. 16) highlights and viewing notes because I don’t have the time to liveblog while watching but I do have thoughts that I will complete some other time lol

spoilers ahoy!!!

nothing like the power of a teen girl/tiefling's catty sarcasm to completely undermine a villain's monologue (shoutout to the d20 sound crew for the perfect music and timing on that one!!)

Gorgug learns about a new way of disarming people: kissing them

"Stop outing students!"

"I'M GAY NOW WOO"

Lou turning his adding-up-dice-humming into the first notes of 'Amazing Grace' that Zac immediately picks up on and starts swaying along

Brennan's gentle "yeah" when Siobhan admits to having a question that will be bad for the party, but also that she wants to play the game right

even more spoilery spoilers below!

Lou giving Siobhan a thumbs up after the above question

the fact that Goldenrod finds the need to justify to a bunch of teenagers that he's attacking this student because he's just an evil demon and not because said student is gay

Riz yelling "HOMOPHOBE!" at an honest-to-goodness dragon

"To be clear, I am very socially liberal; I am fiscally conservative!" + everyone's reaction to that (shoutout to Zac's very judgemental head tilt XD)

Brennan saying "I am a libertarian!" in Goldenrod's 'teacher' voice and then growling it again straight afterwards, as if Goldenrod just remembered he was a big-ass dragon XD

not Beardsley's "So convenient for you!" lmaoooo

Goldenrod: What? Everyone should be free to do what they want. I should be free to collect gold and destroy, and you should be free to try and run away! This is a cultured political philosophy!

Ally/Kristen: I'm down from hearing that [and not from his actual attack XD]

Brennan: *describing the gnarly metal music Gorgug's listening to*

Zac: *drops his dice*

"Ooh, beignets!"

the little grin on Brennan's face when he rolls the dice and then A WILD JAWBONE APPEARS!!!!!!!!!!

Jawbone hugs!!!!!! 😭

Jawbone: Y'understand me?

Adaine: No!

Jawbone's monologue about panic attacks which is too much to unpack here and is basically a whole post in and of itself

Brennan: *mentions Tracker*

Ally/Kristen: Tracker!

Jawbone: I CAME HERE TO FUCK SHIT UP and help children

"Jawbone rules! I'm so glad we helped get his life together"

Introducing, Jawbone: Not a Healer, but a healer of the mind and the soul uwu

Adaine (but mostly Siobhan lol): I would love to do an arcana check... on this absolute fucking unit

Adaine just double flipping off an honest-to-goodness dragon

Kalvaxus: Aren't you supposed to be some kind of high-falutin' elf?

Adaine: I'm a child. You are attacking a bunch of children, you coward.

Fig: Be careful, Adaine; he has a taste for the young ones

Adaine: I have a mental illness and that's fine!

Kalvaxus: Alright, let's not turn this into a fucking PSA after-school special bullshit

Emily's big brain idea to seal Kalvaxus to be the next lunchlad and promote Gilear to be the new VP

Lou's sick-of-Brennan's-shit "Is it [Kalvaxus's] turn?"

Kalvaxus, an honest-to-goodness dragon and the Emperor of the Red Waste: Teens are so mean!

Kristen, mockingly: "Stop making fun of me!"

Adaine: Yeah well at least we're not ugly!

Adaine's happy bobbing!!!!! :DD

"This medicine is great! :D"

Gorgug's Nat 20 (!!!) to summon GORTHOLAX!!!!!

"IT'S TIME TO SHRED, BABY!!!"

Penelope, dying: All I wanted to be- was queen :'((

Kristen: We know!!

Beardsley trying to figure out how to flip someone the middle finger when they only have 4 digits

Riz/Murph, despondent that he can't roll anything higher than a ten. Everyone else: "You can!"

"Should've gotten silver fillings, bitch!!"

"Man, when I grow up, I wanna be a guidance counsellor!" - Adaine

Fabian's "a-HA!"

the strangest bit of improv when the tables are turned and Siobhan makes Brennan improv something coming out of her character's Jacket of Useful Things ("I open up my Jacket of Useful Things and I say 'I need something that will beat Kalvaxus' and I put my hand in a pocket and I pull out...?) only for Brennan to pull out the whole goddamn lore for the jacket XD

Ally: Can I roll for a nat 20 and then be alive?

Brennan's famous last words: Uh, sure, go for it.

Ally/Kristen: This is to the corn god. I know I left for a while but-

[Brennan.exe has stopped functioning]

Brennan: *flabbergasted and now rapidly figuring out how the fuck to figure this out*

Riz/Murph: Praise be to Helio!!!

Fabian/Lou: He-li-o! He-li-o!

BONUS EPISODE UNLOCKED, BABYYYYYY

#fantasy high #there were so many good bits that i didn't include lolol #maybe i'll come back to this post one day and reblog more fun things from this ep! #until then: enjoy these lil bits! #d20 #dimension 20 #d20 fantasy high #d20 spoilers #d20 fantasy high spoilers #day says hey #d20 with day

[onepiece-oc-archives]

what's something you would not recommend when creating one piece ocs?

Thanks for your question!

Honestly, there aren't many things I don't recommend, simply because One Piece is THE fandom for going absolutely wild. If there are things that I don't recommend, there's a whole lot of personal preference involved, so don't take everything in this post as law or something.

First of all: DO NOT get your first and last names mixed up. This is the one thing that I would make law if I could because I have a feeling that some people just... don't notice that they're doing it, maybe? Maybe there's also a dub out there that does it? But canonically, and in 99% of OP-related media, the family name comes first and any given names follow after that. Please keep that in mind. The Straw Hats aren't calling Roronoa Zoro by his last name all the time, they're calling him his given name. Zoro is his given name, Roronoa the family name.

Next, sticking with the names, I wouldn't recommend naming your OC after a famous pirate, simply because there's a high chance that that name might already be taken.

Also, don't overuse the "D." - I know I always say that and I can't tell you why because it's spoilery, but trust me, the D. should be reserved for certain characters only.

Alright, moving on from the names: Try to keep an eye on the setting you're in. For the most part, One Piece is light-hearted and colorful. You can absolutely give your OC a dark backstory! That's not what I'm saying. You can absolutely go dark on the backstory. But try not to make the character design too dark. Not as in "don't make them goth" but rather: Don't make them an eldritch monster with gore and body horror and whatnot (maybe with the exception of if it's their devil fruit power to turn into said monster). It would just be a huge contrast to the overall world of One Piece in terms of themes. Similar things apply to sci-fi (but you can easily get around that by making it a cartoony sci-fi) and other things that are based on a different time period. You most likely wouldn't have a full-on medieval wizard walking around the East Blue, but you could definitely make your OC medieval-wizard-inspired. Full-on Baroque-era dress with the huge skirts and wigs? Probably not a good idea unless it's your OC's formal wear as a noble. Baroque-inspired clothing? Sign me the hell up!

Power scaling time! I'm not saying you shouldn't create Mary Sues. This is One Piece, go wild if you want. But maybe think about whether it would work for the story you're trying to create in your head. If you're making a Straw Hat OC who can sink an entire Marine warship with a snap of their finger, it would trivialize the journey of the entire crew and take away opportunities for them to get stronger or go through character development. The Straw Hats are all about getting through danger together, getting stronger together, beating enemies through teamwork and loyalty and trust instead of just raw power... So, if you want to keep your OC as that powerful person, think about making your OC a Warlord or otherwise powerful pirate instead OR give them a handicap that means they can only use said ship-shattering power under very specific circumstances. For example, think about how certain spells or skills in RPGs take certain amounts of mana/energy/etc. to execute. Maybe the attack needs to be charged? Maybe it takes specific materials to prepare? You'll figure something out.

So yeah, I think that's it for now! I hope this helped and please remember that these tips aren't laws but suggestions. You don't have to listen to anything I've written here, but if you think that my recommendations make sense, feel free to apply them.

Hope you have a great day! ^^

#ask the archivist #topic: basics #topic: oc help #no spoilers

[autumnslance]

⭐ director’s commentary! Anything you want to scream about.

Occasionally I end up writing about Ascians, as I did in the FFXIV Write 2022 Prompt, Vicissitudes.

I still have a lot of Vampire: The Masquerade associations with that word. Most of one's 20s spent in the World of Darkness RPG setting'll do that. In WoD, Vicissitude is a power used by one of the vampire clans; it's transformation of flesh and bone, mostly for body horror.

The story of FFXIV was begun back in the original, failed version of the game, inherited by the new team, who kept many elements of those notes and outlines and basic ideas in the rebuild. But the Ascians really didn't get fully formed with proper motivations and backgrounds until Shadowbringers and Endwalker, after some retooling of those story elements (hence it not always..fitting things in earlier expansions, though they did a decent job retrofitting what they could and did).

That prompt response ended up from Lahabrea's POV, so we'll stick more or less to that, but it gets spoilery from here, for ShB, EW, and Panda raids, as well as getting a smidge long, so...

Lahabrea got the short end of the stick, being the ARR villain and his fate in Heavensward. I love the revamp to MSQ that makes him an actual threat--he kills the WoL, and it's only divine intervention that saves them in that early battle.

Pandaemonium raids giving Lahabrea a swansong works for me; Elidibus too, as I feel he was too vague and shifting through his various appearances, and unraveled too quickly in the end. It's also quite interesting to consider, from not just MSQ but also the short stories, how they interacted with Emet-Selch after all this time.

We have an official short story where Emet-Selch interacts more with Elidibus, so I wanted to write Emet with Lahabrea. They have extremely different uses for their host bodies, and ways of interacting with them and the world through them, as well as their reasons why. We got hints of their relationship, interactions, and views from Emet's biased perspectives, but what's Lahabrea's side?

From what little we have gotten to see in Pandaemonium so far, I think Lahabrea genuinely cares about his son, but is awful at showing it or explaining himself. This is also a man who literally cut difficult parts of himself away rather than deal with them. While Emet-Selch clings to his rose-colored glasses and builds entire phantom cities of his remembered dead...Lahabrea pushes all his memories aside. To the job. Get it done.

It also colors his tense relationship with Elidibus; these coworkers aren't just tired of each other after millennia, but Elidibus is exactly what Lahabrea doesn't want: a specific reminder of his losses, having been a friend of Erichthonios, and knowing so many secrets, like Athena's influence.

And of course, with those malleable mortal bodies, their thin aether is warped under that of an Unsundered's. Emet-Selch, after decades in Solus Galvus's body, looked kinda similar to his original self.

Is it any wonder Lahabrea burned through his hosts, then? Even associated with fire as he is, it strikes me as another way to avoid uncomfortable memories, to cut part of himself away again.

(Also simply useful, in the case of Thancred...who is too much like Lahabrea for his own good, not that either of them would like hearing that.)

So the push-pull of interactions between Emet-Selch and Lahabrea seemed interesting, how each of them approached their host bodies with the excuse of duty but underneath that there seems to be far more personal meanings.

Also, again, I equate "vicissitude" specifically with body horror and transformation thanks to V:tM, so my mind going to the mortal hosts, altered both intentionally and not, often dead but not always (I still wonder about Solus sometimes), seemed like a logical jumping point to examining those interactions and personal feelings.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Lyn Prompts #Lyn Meta #Ascians #Lahabrea #Emet-Selch #Elidibus #Endwalker #Shadowbringers #Pandaemonium

[kjscottwrites]

As one of the beta readers, I'm really interested to know what the major changes are going to be for the final draft of Cavernous, if you feel like talking about them!

OOH yeah I'm kinda dying to talk about it actually so ty! I'll try to give an overview without being too spoilery. (Here's a quick link to the progress checklist for anyone else who wants to follow along with these revisions)

I'm relieved to say that there are no major structural/developmental changes, and that basically everything on the docket is small adjustments to internal character voice and dialog to make sure everyone's motivations are as clear as possible, their arcs are distinctive, and the conversations, u know, crackle. Joanna got the most notes and is undergoing the most changes (Which didn't not surprising! She's been a challenging character for me to nail.) This is mostly going to be about turning the dial up on her sense of adventure/enthusiasm and adding more of her backstory (esp. around her parents & upbringing) to contextualize her decision making - in the grand scheme she should still feel like the Joanna that's already in the text, just with more of her to chew on.

In fact, a lot of the changes are about just adding more context and backstory, so while I really am trying not to balloon the word count too much, I've accepted that this thing is going to probably end up sitting between 120k and 125k words. (It's at like 118k currently) Thankfully I already had my meltdown about not being able to scrunch it under 100k, and I've since made my peace with it 🙏 bless

This is getting long, here's a cut!

The two chapters that are getting overhauled, 20 and 28, are both largely about getting Mikah into the story more - he's so important but remains in the background for so much of the story. In both of these I'm doing some cutting - there will be a little less javelin throwing and certain long carriage convos will become shorter carriage convos, and in exchange there will be a little more elder prince drama, so hopefully that's good news!

There's also going to be a lot of shuffling and adjustment going on with the minor and side characters in order to poise readers for book two which is fun! Gareina, the pretty courtesan who helps Joanna, has been renamed to Corina by an overwhelming committee vote of "how the hell do you pronounce that?" and she'll have some different under-the-surface motivations than her current iteration in order to align with her role in book 2, which is small but important. Characters like Sian (Pritta's politically angling cousin), Olma (Stacker's dance partner), and Martem (Mikah's scribe) are all getting slightly expanded roles, also because of their importance in book 2. In exchange, characters who are there but aren't really important (Like Leti, Vanda, Horus, Evie, etc.) will no longer be named or focused on in order to streamline things and make it easier to recall who's who.

I'm also going to be planting little teeny hints of a new character! He'll be very minor in book 1 and very much not minor in book two :) Lots of beta readers noted the ending as being abrupt so I'll be adding a very short epilogue that will serve as a check-in and segue-way as well. Plotting out book 2 ahead of finishing book 1 turned out to be a great strategy, and I'm just desperately trying not to get ahead of myself and start diving into the next installment before I get this first one locked!

#cavernouswip #cavernousask #omg that was so much longer than I meant it to be #thank u again lol

[ladala99]

Detective Pikachu Returns - Final Thoughts and Review

I just finished Detective Pikachu Returns. So here's a review! Non-spoiler things up top, then spoilery things under the cut! (assuming the site doesn't cut it early)

Gameplay

First up, don't buy this game if you're expecting to get a game. Unless you're just learning how to read and reason (in which case, get off Tumblr please), this game will give you zero challenge.

Much like the first game, you're poking around locations, finding clues until Pikachu tells you that you have enough information to solve something. Those solve prompts are multiple-choice and if you select the wrong one, you're just told to try again.

Of note, the game does give you somewhat plausible alternate answers in your multiple-choice prompts, so a child might find some challenge in trying to pick the right answer every time.

...Unless you turn on the "highlight correct answers" option in the Options menu. Just in case you wanted to eliminate any semblance of gameplay.

There are also very occasional quick-time events. They mostly involve mashing the A button. I actually failed one of the few that actually involve timing and nothing bad happened, there was just a slightly-altered cutscene.

New in this game, though, is that you can play as some additional Pokemon. They each have a gimmick that changes gameplay a slight amount.

There are also (pretty easy, but patience-testing) stealth sections. These feel unfinished due to the animations being really rough, but the actual gameplay of them is fine.

Worldbuilding

This is where the game excels. Pokemon are all around, doing their thing, and actually feeling like they live in the world unlike the main series games. New Snap does it better, but...

You can talk to the Pokemon here and learn what they're thinking about, building more of an idea of how they live.

There are quite a few minor but recurring characters that, as you interact with them, you feel like you get to know.

Story

Is pretty good. It's incredibly predictable, but it's fun uncovering the whys even after you've figured out the whos.

Can't really say more without getting into spoilers, so I'll come back to this.

Graphics/Animations

One of the appeals of this sub-series is the vastly improved animations over other titles in the series. As before, New Snap does it better, but this game is still fairly solid in the animation department.

However, it does feel like the developers cut some corners they didn't in the first game. There are a lot of reused animations here, sometimes in uncharacteristic ways. Characters use their default expressions entirely too often, hampering the emotional impact of some scenes.

Also in the first game, the lip flaps are synced to English in the English-language edition. Here, they certainly aren't. I'm assuming they're synced to the Japanese dialogue, but I played in English so I can't be sure.

But there are scenes they put a lot more effort into, and those really shine through. Unfortunately, it's not the whole game like the first time.

Graphics-wise, the humans (especially Tim) are far superior to the first game, but the textures on everything are very flat in comparison to other Pokemon games on the Switch. It's certainly not distractingly bad.

Conclusion

If you like the Pokemon world's worldbuilding and treat this game as a very long movie (it took me 15 hours to finish it), then it's worth it.

If you're looking for a video game to play, it's not.

You can also watch videos of other people playing the game, but honestly, seeing clips of other people's gameplay, it feels slower and more boring than when you're actually in control. (You can also speed up the walking speed in the Options menu amongst other things)

But yeah, it's hit or miss.

The Part with Spoilers

(This is back to disjointed thoughts like the others. Just felt like making this one post since I writing it in one day)

The last chapter. Ooh, the last chapter was so fun.

Using all of the Pokemon again was so great, bringing everything together.

I did wish the Pangoro puzzle was a little more difficult, but I'm definitely not the target audience.

I absolutely called... everything in the final sequence. The Mayor being manipulated, the real culprit being that greasy-haired scientist, Deoxys.

I didn't call that the scientist wanted to become a Pokemon, though. That does feel a little unoriginal, but honestly even without the movie, since Harry was Pikachu that could always have been the story.

The ending did feel a bit rushed, though. Like: guess and check literally being what you had to do?

Also this building is very much not OSHA compliant with how difficult it is to get to any of the stairs.

Deoxys vs. Mewtwo was really cool. As was Harrychu Volt Tackling.

And of course Harry was able to figure out how to make sure everyone survived offscreen.

So I guess, now that they're split, there's no more chance for a third game. Which is fine - there doesn't seem to be much else to explore as far as these characters go.

Divorce subplot really went nowhere, though. There was no explanation as to why he had decided to do that.

Post-credits scene - I guess Sophia could be in another sequel if they stretch it? They'd have to really stretch it, though. Because again: no talking Pikachu, no game.

But yeah, overall really enjoyed this sequence and very satisfied with the game. It was a nice break - but onto Octopath next!

#pokemon #detective pikachu #detective pikachu returns #detective pikachu spoilers

[xalygatorx]

Hi! What's a scene in your stories (any) that you're dying to write but hasn't happened yet?

And what scenes do you find most difficult?

Any headcanons about Astarion that aren't official in-game (like his background, etc.).

Thank you!

Thank YOU for the questions! :)

Let's see... I have a few scattered scenes for Unbound that I've jotted in my (messy) outline docs that I'm amped about. I just today had some new details come to me about how the big endgame battle will go, so I've had that on my mind a lot.

One scene I've been hanging onto for a while will happen after the Cazador fight when they're trying to figure out how best to deal with the caged spawn (and I'll plonk details under the fold because spoilers). x

I've found two scenes really difficult with Unbound, which have been the sex scene in Chapter 10 and the sort of "summary of events" scene sequence in Chapter 13 (latest one). The first because I was really worried about doing it justice and the second because I bit off way more than I could chew content-wise. :')

I think "summary" or flash-forward scenes in general are hard for me because I start slipping into telling rather than showing what happened in an effort to not forget to mention something.

As for headcanons... Sorry, nothing original that I can immediately think of off the top of my head! Most of the ones I've seen on my feed that I really like are post-canon and either have to do with Astarion having a tailor shop or becoming a monster hunter (and finding a way to be in the sun again).

I hope that all answers your questions!

The spoilery future scene is (admittedly cheesy and somewhat self-indulgent, but) after killing Cazador when they're trying to figure out how best to deal with the caged spawn. When I played through this part, I wanted a middle option between letting them all go and mercy-killing them that would give the spawn the choice of whether they lived or died.

Áine's old oathbreaker abilities she refused to connect to pre-Nautiloid and that her tadpole ends up dredging back up start to combine with the bardic abilities she's gaining and this is the first instance of that being apparent. She basically breaks her usual performance rule to sing a funeral hymn for the culled spawn when everyone is too shellshocked to digest the deaths (it's the only thing she can think of to comfort them) and, through the Amulet of Lost Voices (which was snooched from Withers' crypt in Chapter 1) she becomes a conduit for the passing souls of those spawn to pick up the hymn.

It'll be a very cathartic scene, both in terms of grief and also in the realization that vampire spawn do retain their souls in some fashion after they're turned. It's a really impactful realization for Astarion, his siblings, and the spawn who chose to live. It makes my heart sad, which means it will hopefully turn out to be a good chapter.

#unbound fic #answered ✨ #text #writing

[besthimbomachine]

I want to address something about my current Kenny fic, my love when it counted, for my own peace of mind:

Nothing Kenny did will have been too bad that it would be down right abusive or violent.

I myself generally don't read exes to lovers stories because people write straight up abusive behaviors as being forgivable. Which I, as someone who was in an abusive relationship for years, just can't vibe with.

And there won't be cheating either. Cause I also don't think that's forgivable. So those are my self impose limitations.

If you want more explanation, there will be more below the cut but it'll slightly spoiler-ish. I'll also add this info on the masterlist entry for the fic in my pinned post.

Honestly, I'm not trying to hype the what did he do thing cause it's very much a what it says on the tin situation. There wasn't any monumental event cause most relationships don't end cause of just one monumental fuck up. Most of the time before the last big screw up the person will have fucked up in small ways through the whole relationship.

Like, I write the characters as people and therefore they aren't good at talking about what they think and how they feel especially when something bad happens. But it's not like they are being dishonest either, they just lack the words to talk about things. So yeah Kenny was an asshole and acted selfishly but he also made honest mistakes because he thought he knew what was best or because he felt scared and cornered.

But yeah, I wanted to show my hand here cause there might be people like me out there who feel uneasy with these kinds of plots and I know how that goes. I often don't put content warnings in my fics cause I just straight up tend to avoid writing things like harder kinks and darker tropes cause I just don't vibe with it.

Also, I don't even think this is too spoilery cause the what he did part isn't even the point of the story. This is more about people having to face their mistakes and try to be better even if there might be nothing for them at the end of that line. It's about how time can change people so intrinsically that they barely even resemble their former selves. It's about learning to live with your guilt and giving yourself a second chance.

#I don't even know what to tag this #but I had to address this cause lol if I didn't have this info I wouldn't read my own fic #like I try to make my writings as light hearted a place as possible #so this is safe you are safe here #I think in my opinion the worst you are getting is what Kenny did in this chapter getting angry and raising his voice while being a big man #which terrifying I know when my ex gf did that I got scared and she was smaller than me #but as you've seen I'm never writing him doing that on purpose or not feeling bad afterwards we safe here #now I'm off to take a shower and do my hair cause curls are very high maintenance when I come back I'll look at my replies #in the mean time I dunno drop a comment about the chapter in my inbox

[twotangledsisters]

You said you'd finished writing S2, congratulations! Can I ask what you're most excited for in S3 or is that too spoilery?

Thank you so much! I am very proud to be this far ahead in writing it's always a relief!

And of course you can ask anything, and this questions comes at the perfect time because you do not understand how much I need to just ramble about something I love right now!

But you're also right it's hard to talk without spoilers so I'm going to try my best to talk about my fave bits... briefly. Without giving too much away! Obviously if you wanna go in completely blind, do not continue reading!

1.- Caine! She's kinda chilling in the current fic... On some involuntary sideline no action time. But she will be back in S3 full force! She'll get a new weapon at least temporarily, there's a scene where she sits on the floor with Hamuel in her lap, she's just as sassy as ever and she just has a good arc for the start of S3.

2.- Edmund... I am still not 100% sure about how I'm gonna handle him. I do know where he goes to at the start. But if you know me and you've been following for a while you know I don't quite enjoy how quickly the show glossed over how terrible Eugene's childhood was and how hard it must have been to get back to Edmund who is like 'yeah I knew where you were this whole time, I know you were heading down a bad path cause of the wanted posters. What did I do about it? ....' Like... I love Edmund, there needed to be more than one episode to mend that father-son relationship. Trust me... He gets an earful about that, but he gets that in S2.

3.- Lore, worldbuilding, prophecies... I have so many plans. So many plans. Some of these plans we've been getting foreshadowing for since forever, others we're gonna start getting foreshadowing very soon. I am excited! Especially diving deeper into the capabilities of the sundrop, moonstone and how they came to be.

4.- Getting darker. Up until now I've tried to keep things... Relatively tame. Please ignore The Great Tree for this statement. But things get serious in S3, there are character who won't make it out alive, and I don't means character like Weasel who I doubt anybody shed a tear for. I think my writing when allowed to get dark can be really good, take the finale of Princess, Pirate, Prosecutor for example!

5.- Frederic and Arianna... Look, they aren't the center of attention by a long shot. And they spend a lot of time splitting up to be more productive in season 3. But when they are together, when they are being a couple and making decisions for their kingdom and their family, they have some very strong moments this upcoming season.

And so much more that I cannot talk about because of spoilers!

But trust me, I'm excited! I've been waiting for this for sooo long! Season 3 is where we stray the furthest from the original canon and it's just so exciting for it!

Thank you so much for asking, I needed this today.

#two tangled sisters #ask answered

[ataleofcrowns]

hi! feel free to ignore this if you don’t want to answer/too spoilery, but i was curious:

do the ROs have any pet names or names of endearment they would call their partner in a relationship? what about being called? i’m looking forward to playing the update this weekend!

Hope you had fun playing the update! I won't specify exactly which endearments the love interests might use or might want to hear: you'll find that out later on in the story ;)

But I do have some ideas on the topic which you might enjoy reading about:

I think X might surprise you on this point. Obviously, they give the Crown a nickname, and they also casually use endearments like "my love" or "my darling" when the relationship is platonic. For X endearments are not reserved for romance, but are easily used; sometimes it's even used merely to add flair or flavor to their style of speaking. If anything, for X in a romance, using their partner's name rather than an endearment is more of a sincere expression of affection or attachment.

As for being called endearments, X doesn't have any particular preference. Similarly, though, if you really want to express your love for them, using their name instead of endearments is much more effective and better received.

For R, I think they would love being called endearments by their partner (as you may have guessed from how much they enjoy the Crown's poetic compliments) rather than using endearments themselves. They would find it a little embarrassing with the Crown specifically, but instead of endearments, I can see them being the type to express their affection in clear terms.

They both love being praised as well as enjoy praising others, and similarly, they would have no qualms giving compliments to their partner or saying "I love you" on a regular basis. Verbal affection is definitely one of their most preferred ways of expressing love.

For A, they aren't one to typically express their affection with words, so I can't see them using endearments often or even casually. However, it might surprise you that they would actually like being called romantic endearments by their lover: it's something they like to receive rather than to give. It's the same with praise or compliments, it's not their own method of expressing affection but they do really like receiving it.

The way A shows they love their partner revolves more around quality time, doing things for them, enjoying their company, etc rather than using words. Though they do use them, of course, just comparatively less; it's not their preferred love language for giving affection.

For D, I think being called romantic endearments wouldn't do much for them. They prefer to simply be called by their name, but when it comes to using endearments themselves, they don't have any problem with it if their partner enjoys it. If anything, they'd be very liberal in using endearments when they notice that their partner likes it: the same with giving praise, saying "I love you", expressing affection verbally, etc.

It's not so much about the words for them as it is about being able to do something nice for their lover that meets their needs, which makes D feel good for meeting their needs as well. Similarly, in terms of receiving, having their lover do something nice for them is the way they appreciate being shown affection the most.

#interactive fiction #about d #about x #about r #about a #ask #childofthemoonandsun #thanks for the ask! #also see the ask i answered about the LIs love languages #might give you additional context!

[interact-if]

Hi, everyone! We're kicking things off for the A/PI Heritage Month celebration with interviews from the featured authors!

The interviews will consist of the authors' experience with writing their projects as an A/PI, insights to their project, their experience with the IF Community, and general advice for other authors!

So without further ado... Cer!

Cer, author of Snakeroot

A/PI Heritage Month Featured Author

There is something wrong beyond the trees. A curse infects these lands. They call it the Rot, a curse that distorts the lands and creatures around it. For years, its tide has been stemmed by magical barriers, dutifully enforced by hunters. For years, the strategy has worked… until now. Today is not your lucky day.

The barrier has cracked. Something slithers through.

Why now?

Why you?

Demo is currently going through processing from CScript to Twine!

Author's Ko-fi | Discord

(INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!)

Q1: First of all, introduce us to your project! What is it about?

Snakeroot is a very self-indulgent story about monsters, haunted forests, and surviving when the odds are stacked against you. In other words, it's basically a D&D storyline I packed into a modern(ish) fantasy IF format so I'd have even more of an excuse to draw and write about some OCs.

If we're talking actual plot, though, you basically play as a monster-hunter with missing memories & mysterious powers, fighting against the effects of a magical curse that distorts land and creatures alike. You start the game with an assignment that takes you to the edge of a Barrier, which keeps most of the curse under control, except oops! There's a part of the barrier that's broken! Lucky you've got a whole team there with you, but guess you'll have to deal with that, huh?

Q2: If it’s not too spoilery, what are you most excited about your project?

Ooh, it's tough to choose! There's a few interesting confrontations maybe towards (?) the centre of the plot that'll be fun to see played out, something along the lines of the protagonist uncovering some things about themselves, their memories, and their companions. I'm also definitely looking forward to seeing the routes that people will take through these, since it — at some points — will probably become somewhat of a balancing act. Haunted forests and magical curses are certainly a fun type of setting to work with!

Q3: What inspired the current project you’re working on?

It's basically a D&D campaign idea that I've had for a while, adapted and morphed into a shorter (ideally) and more compact (hopefully) format for IF. That being said, some part of me starting out was deeply committed to the idea of having it in a modern-esque setting, likely due to playing in a friend's Monster of the Week campaign at the time, so I've ended up at a weird in-between original setting that jumps all over the place sometimes. I think I've mentioned before that I binged a good deal of Final Fantasy playthroughs as I started as well, so I reckon that aesthetics-wise with technology, that's definitely come through with the sort of fun rule-of-cool vibe they have going on. It's all vibes, babey!

Q4: Do you pull from your own identity for inspiration? How has that been reflected in your work?

I don't think there's much of an explicit link to my identity in Snakeroot as much as I've seen other games directly address theirs, but that being said, I wouldn't be surprised if someone pointed out some implicit ways in which it bleeds through.

If I think about it in terms of the setting, I think to some point, the land in which Snakeroot takes place is somewhat shaped by where I grew up — Singapore — in which there were often surprisingly dense pockets of forest bordering the school, the back of the house, or places I frequented with friends, considering how built-up the city itself actually is. I have a habit of walking the dog late at night, so every so often I'd be struck with that ominous feeling of being watched as I walk along a particularly dark treeline, and maybe that stuck with me!

Where I live now has far less of that sort of forest / jungle-y vibe, which makes me kind of miss it, so maybe the real friends we made along the way were the definitely-not-normal owls blinking back at you when you past the treeline for too long.

Identity-wise, I'm not sure I've drawn much in terms of like, a direct connection to Singapore in addressing the dynamics of the country itself, but I do like to see representation in the stories I tell, so for instance, the Luo siblings are Chinese (or Chinese-coded, considering the original setting), one of which is canonically trans.

That being said, these aren't portrayed as a huge story element in the sense that their stories are about being Chinese or being trans, in Mallory's case — that's not what Snakeroot is about — but these are parts of their identity that make them part of who they are. It's just nice to see yourself represented in some way in any story, really, even if I think it's personally unfair that I don't have cool horns or a sword or magic glowy eyes.

Q5: What’s been your experience so far? With writing, with the if community...

Honestly, it's been really positive! The IF community has been amazingly welcoming, and I doubt I would've gotten half as far without any of the sense of support and community both fellow authors and readers have created. Writing is always shaky thanks to the good ol' writer insecurity and the occasional curse of imposters syndrome that haunts me every odd weekend or so when I can sit down and work on Snakeroot between schoolwork, but the support definitely helps!

Q6: Do you have any future projects in the works?

I've been playing around with a sci-fi type game about an android-clone protagonist who has to solve the mystery of their original's murder, with a more linear story and just one main companion — something about coded loyalty and the demands made of yourself and being a not-quite-ghost. I definitely do want to revisit it the moment I have more time!

Q7: Finally, what piece of advice would you give to fellow authors?

Find some writer buddies! Or reader buddies, whatever works. Everything's better with friends, and the support and solidarity is honestly invaluable.

#if: events #Asian/Pacific Islander Month 2021 #Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2021 #a/pi month #a/pi month 2021 #aapiheritagemonth #aapi month #interactive fiction #authors of color

[besidethedyingfire]

Good morrow, or afternoon or evening? Anyways! I love the premise of your if, and since ro react asks are okay, if my eyes aren't deceiving me like always and this isn't too spoilery: how would the ro's react to MC disappearing for a whole day, only for MC to come back with a surprise for the ro's?

Gooood evening! (For me at least), I love this ask. There is a similar-ish idea happening in the book so maybe you’re a genius with this ask but here you go!

Messina takes after her mother, when she gets upset she gets angry— wouldn’t talk to anyone until MC was back safe and sound. She’d start putting together a search team of willing participants, but since the lands out there are a death sentence, she’d be preparing to go on her own to find MC. Whatever it takes haha. Her bow would be slung around her shoulder when MC shows up again, and she would give them the lecture of a lifetime. Definitely gets mad, calls MC reckless and insolent and threatens them with an arrow between the eyes if they ever pull such a stunt again. But when the yelling is over, and relief settles in— she’d accept her surprise with a low gaze and a warm blush. She’s glad to have MC back, and will harm anyone who tells them how worried she got, haha

Murphy mirrors his sister, but gets more irritable than angry. He has a temper, don’t get me wrong, but he’s also a lot more level headed than his twin. He knows MC is smart enough to take care of themselves, but still can’t think of every possibility of something going wrong. He wouldn’t let himself act with his heart, though, and would spend the day waiting for MC to get back, if they were still gone in the morning, he’d face the weather to find them. He’d spend the day training in combat, getting his anger out through immersive movement, he’d nearly take the head off a training dummy when MC walks in and says his name. At first, he would snap— turn to see MC with such anger and irritation drawn across his face before he realises its them. They’re holding something he had mentioned wanting in their hands, he stops holding his breath. Doesn’t say anything to MC for a while, then mentions he hated not knowing where they were, because he’s trying to get better at the whole ‘talking’ thing.

Summer would be the first to notice MC was gone, and the first to propose a search party to go and look for them. Even if it’s just been a few minutes that’s she’s been unable to find them, would be worried beyond consolation from anyone else. She would more than likely she’d a few tears to Shae, and have to be physically restrained from going out in her thin layer of clothing to look for MC herself. She would be stress-studying when MC got back and quite literally drop her books on her toes (ouch) in order to leap up and wrap MC in the tightest hug, given they’re comfortable. Would start crying when given her surprise, and spend the next 24 hours doting on MC hand-and-foot to make sure they feel appreciated and loved <3

Shae wouldn’t do anything too drastic, they know MC is smart enough not to get themselves kidnapped, or whatever. They’d check all of MC’s favourite places, find a spot they knew MC always came to and wait. They’d wait for hours if they had to, not once moving until MC was with them, safe and warm. MC would get back eventually and find Shae sitting in that one place they always went to, waiting for them of all people. Shae would turn, greet MC with a smile and pat the spot next to them. No big sigh of relief, no yelling match or death-grip hugs— they’d thank MC for the surprise with a nod, or an arm around their shoulder and life would go on. Shae wouldn’t get mad, or overly upset at all— they trust MC. Also is definitely the type to do the exact same thing, and come back with nothing but a cool rock they found— overreacting would make them a hypocrite, lol.

Lucas is the one that wouldn’t hesitate in the slightest to go out and find MC himself. He’d be off without a word to anyone else (which is stupid in itself) and pushing through the weather to find them— some of his sisters home cooked food in his bag in case he finds MC hungry. He’d hum a song as he walked, searching the tracks he knew MC took most often, every know and then calling out their name at a half-yell. He’d find MC in no time, a grin drawn across his face because he’s proud of himself haha— MC’s picking up something they found for Lucas, sees him and nearly drops it at the surprise of him being there. He’d just laugh, walk over to MC and pick it up himself, pocketing the item and mentioning something crucial to MC— “I brought food.” Never even bothers to give the thing back to MC, by the way- not much of a surprise.

#reacts & scenarios #interactive fiction #asks #Messina Cole #Murphy Cole #Summer Darcy #Shae Kahn #Lucas Reilly

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Oooh, I'm very curious to see what you have going for that Manifest fic!

kmomof4 asked:

Manifest, please!!!

snowbellewells asked:

I bet you will not be at all surprised to hear that I am dying to know anything about the Manifest AU that you have not already shared. (It is such a brilliant fic idea!)

However, I’d also love to hear more about #10 The Alt S1 divergent idea with a cursed Killian in SB (I’m always a sucker for those… 😉)

Well, it seems unanimous. Everyone wants to know about the proposed Manifest AU.

Unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot to tell you about this potential fic. I was hoping to get a better idea about what exactly happened in Manifest, and what caused it before I could fully develop an AU based on it, but it seemed like with every episode of that show, the mystery only deepened.

But in a spirit of answering your question (aka, making it up as I go, lol), here are my rough thoughts:

At the end of 3a, the gang aren't successful in stopping Pan's curse. As in canon, Emma and Henry leave SB, because they aren't sure what might happen to Henry, since he wasn't involved in the original curse. Hook goes with them (mainly just because I want him to, lol). Neal doesn't (mainly just because I don't want him to, lol). Regina gives them some sort of false backstory, because they won't be able to remember SB once the curse hits.

They take a plane, planning to start a new life in New York, but halfway through the flight, there's some sort of a disturbance, a la Manifest. Whatever it is that happened, their memories are restored, and they decide to go back to SB to defeat Pan/find a way to break the curse/etc.

Though it seems like it's only been a matter of a few hours to them, when they get back to Storybrooke, they learn that actually five years have passed. Things in SB are...not good. Pan has decided to make SB the new Neverland, after all.

That's honestly about as far as I've gotten. I have a few other very broad ideas about a plot idea/trope I want to use, but it would be too spoilery to lay it out here.

Now, in this story, obviously Pan would be the big bad. (I felt like he was great as a villain, and it would be fantastic to utilize him again.) What his endgame is, why he needed to get rid of CS, and why he messed with time in that way, I don't know yet, unfortunately. And of course, until I know that, it will be hard to figure out how the heroes will defeat him. All I know is that CS is pivotal to it, and True Love will probably play an important role.

#wip meme #my fanfiction #fandom asks #captain swan

[jojotichakorn]

Hello 💛

so christmas break is coming and i've been wanting to start *and binge on* a new bl (that is if I'm not still utterly controlled by bad buddy brainrot lol). anyways, what i had in mind was manner of death. i've tried watching it before when it first came out but the first ep made me cringe sksk. i think there was an accidental kiss or sth like that? i don't really remember but i want to give it another chance. my question here is, is it worth it? (Well obviously yes, i know you love it) but like can you give me a mini review (or an in-detail review, whatever you're comfortable with), sth to hype it up. i really trust your judgement when it comes to this stuff

Have a good day!💛

heyyy!! you're absolutely correct - i do, in fact, love it, it's my second favorite show, i think it's perfect. i'm going to give you a general gist of my feelings along with my dear friend and loyal companion @sporadicauthor's feelings, as i did ask them to help me out here as well (thank u so much ora <3). i kept it as not spoilery as i could, so you could enjoy the series to its fullest:

so, one of the most refreshing things about manner of death is that it's a story about queer people, but not necessarily a story about being queer. and there is nothing wrong with those stories, of course, but it's really cool to see two gay men just doing their thing, you know? it's a murder mystery that happens to have two male leads that are queer and in love with each other. that's fucking incredible.

in general, the series is amazing from start to finish to me - it hasn't disappointed me once: the pacing is perfect, there is no unnecessary drama or plot points, and an absolutely incredible ending. but speaking of the murder mystery specifically - it is good and it is the central point of the series. it's going to keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time, trying to guess what's going on, who's in the right, and who's in the wrong. as a cherry on top - it's a murder mystery that does quite a good job of criticizing the system, especially the police, which is so rare and so amazing to see.

another rare thing to see is that we are actually dealing with adults here!! not high schoolers, not uni students, not even someone who's just out of uni - these are grown men meeting each other and falling in love!! i think this is so important to see, also because a lot of us queer alloromantic people miss those "milestones" early in life and get to really experience that side of life later than cishet people.

all characters in the series are very well-written - i can't say anything specific because figuring out the truth about every single person is a big part of the fun, but you will have plenty of people to love and hate, support and admire.

the relationship at the center is also amazing - despite the fucked up circumstances and some unorthodox things happening, they are ultimately equals who respect and support each other. they are in an established relationship throughout pretty much the entire series as well, which is also quite rare.

with that established relationship, you will see a lot of intimacy too - i say this with confidence, no other mlm series has this much intimacy between its leads. and i don't know if someone has told you this before, but in case you don't know - max and tul are some of the best actors we have ever had, and they are also very close, so the chemistry is off the charts.

i also love how the relationship is portrayed as something constant - a lot of the time, especially when the main focus of the series isn't just the relationship, in moments that aren't directly related to said relationship, the characters are often not really portrayed like they are in love, even though in real life you would always think of your partner regardless of what the situation is - manner of death understands this, and you will never feel as if the main characters suddenly don't care for each other the same way they do during the romantic moments because they are occupied with something else. that's what i mean by it being constant.

as a final small point, the series is also shot beautifully, in my opinion, and there is quite a bit of symbolism, which is always lovely.

so hopefully all of this convinces you to watch it, but if you have any follow-up questions - i will gladly answer them!!

#manner of death #archer responds #hsfavoriteworlds #archer's bl recs

[sweetescapeartist]

DBS COLORING BOOK CHAPTER 74 REVIEW

*spoilers* I liked this chapter in isolation.

*spoilery spoilers* I dislike this chapter when comparing it to other chapters.

Here's the battle Vegeta fans have been waiting for...! (Glad I lowered my greatly expectations)

First, let's talk about use of panels real quick. When there is action, Toyo has done better and uses about 6 panels max to convey the fight. But when there is dialogue, he uses too many panels. Like 7 to 9 panels on one page. That is too much for dialogue. And he has pointless reaction shots often.

It begins with the axolotl inspired Sugarians leaving their fishbowl homes through cleaning-tube roadways. I like their aquarium-like city and their buildings.

And here we are on page 2 with the Toyotaro dialogue. 😒 How can I tell? Compare it to Dragon Ball and you can easily tell the difference between Toriyama's dialogue & Toyotaro's dialogue. (Toriyama has been more focused with working on the DBS movies. I highly doubt he contributes as much to the manga as some fans believe.)

Vegeta sounds like Mr. Satan when calling fusion and cloning "tricks" lol. And no, I doubt Vegeta's Forced Spirit Fission would work on Granolah. Granolah split himself in 2 with a technique. It is still all Granolah & he hasn't absorbed anyone. Forced Spirit Fission is useless here.

Granolah sure is chatty again after he kept saying how he really really wants to kill these Saiyans. Vegeta tells him he parted ways with Freeza and he is an enemy now, as to which Granolah laughs. Granolah thinks Vegeta is betraying Freeza to spare his own life. This just let's us know what kind of person Granolah is...

Granolah is a nonsensical idiot who doesn't know how to reason well & doesn't listen to truth because he assumes he is already right. I don't like ppl like him who refuse to grow mentally. I went from liking Granolah, to not caring about his bland personality, to disliking him. 😑

Oatmeel's input is pointless because he doesn't sway Granolah into believing the Saiyans may not be lying. He quickly gives up and becomes quiet. Vegeta informs Granolah that he was a child when Planet Cereal's ppl were killed and wasn't part of the attack. But he doesn't care and Paragus wants revenge against the royal family... I mean, Baby wants revenge on all Saiya... Granolah wants to kill all Saiyans.

Then we get Vegeta saying he will kill Granolah after barely talking to the guy who was willing to talk. I guess Vegeta just wants to fight and test his power instead of trying to redeem himself like earlier chapters implied and fans theorized. Throw that out the window.

He turns SSB Evolution & Hakai's large rocks around Granolah. But Granolah appears behind him and shows Vegeta true hakai. He elevates a big chunk of the ground & blows it up then the force pushes Vegeta to him and Granolah strikes him. Cool way to use the environment in battle.

Also, Granolah knows Hakai. He shows it off by using his own more powerful Hakai & suggests Vegeta's training with Beerus is lacking.

There is some cool looking art. Their fight moves from forest to river to lake. Interesting environment s for DB. Reminds me of the Cooler movie and the fights on Namek a bit.

This entire time, Vegeta is on the defensive and has to run. But, I find pages 16-21 silly.

Why is Vegeta swimming when he can fly through the water?! Swimming is slower & Granolah is firing fast ki blasts at him!

YOU: "But, Vegeta is swimming so Granolah can't detect his ki."

Granolah can see him! His right eye is supposed to see blood flow and stuff. He nearly hits him multiple times. And lets not forget he was sniping them long distance and his Goku in the neck and almost took him out. Why does Granolah need aim assist now? I'll tell ya why. To make Vegeta look more impressive than Goku by making Goku look like a poor fighter. And this was a Goku who was using Ultra Instinct and still got messed up by Granolah while Vegeta is just using SSB Evolution. Character sabotage... 😒

Back to my complaints about Vegeta swimming. The swimmin' would work in OG Dragon Ball but not here. It would work on Namek with Freeza who can't sense ki, but not here with Granolah who can sense ki (& maybe even god ki) & his eye can percieve all kinds of movements of the body.

And why does Vegeta momentarily pop up out the water then go hide back into it? Don't say its 'cause he needs to catch his breath. He aparently did training holding his breath while on the Heeter's ship, so he should be fine holding his breath. It was for a short period of time anyways. It just doesn't fit and is unnecessary in multiple ways.

Vegeta Hakai's Granolah's big blast to escape it and it blows him out of the water. Interesting kinda... Until you realize that Vegeta's training that we were shown was lame. He just Hakai'd logs & rocks! It should've shown him trying to Hakai ki blasts from Beerus. Make his training look cool darn it!

Chapter 70 Established that Hakai has changed. It no longer is just erasing things from existence in different ways. It has to have a *boom* explosion to it. So when Beerus Hakai'd Zamasu in chapter 19, there should've been an explosion instead of turning him into sand? So, now whenever the Hakai is used, there will always be an explosion...? I don't like how Toyo is quick to change what he set up just for his convenience...

Granolah brags about himself then Vegeta brags about himself-...! That's why I dislike Granolah! He's just like Vegeta! Maybe if I stop thinking of Granolah as a "good guy" then he will be cooler? I did like evil Vegeta as an evil character. We were supposed to hate him. So, if I imagine Granolah as an evil Vegeta... It worked! Granolah's unappealing attitude works perfectly if you view him as an evil enemy! (Still kinda preachy tho)

VEGETA: "But I'm still going to win."

Vegeta fans rejoice! Your prayers have been answered by the great Zalama! Vegeta announced victory...! Wait... I've seen this before... Yo... Vegeta fans, prepare for Vegeta to be defeated just in case. He has a record of announcing victory then ultimately losing. Don't get your hopes up too high.

Lol Granolah disses Vegeta's ego 👌. But Granolah is unknowingly talking about himself too XD. Dummies. Vegeta mocks him by calling him "Mr. Strongest" & Granolah has nothing to day. Granolah can dish it out but can't take it.

Goku wakes up and sees Vegeta fighting Granolah. Who cares? How are you gonna be caught off gaurd in a form that reacts on its own? Go back to sleep. I'm not mad at you, Goku. I'm just disappointed.

Vegeta fires a barrage of ki at Granolah and Granolah Hakai's them. Then Vegeta fools Ganolah into destroying an ancient city of the Cerelians.

VEGETA: "I can tell, you know... That you only recently acquired this absurd strength."

GRANOLAH: "How? How can you tell?"

VEGETA: "Thank you for confirming."

There's the Granolah we know. Quick to give out valuable info. Also, this is to make Vegeta appear "smarter" & a "better fighter" than Goku. Realistically, a master martial artist like Goku would be first to notice that Granolah recently acquired this kind of power. But, Goku is being dumbed down for Vegeta's sake.

VEGETA: "Need I repeat myself...? You may be stronger but... there's no gaurantee that I'll lose to you!" *attempts to break Granolah's leg*

So says the guy who always loses unless the opponent is weaker than him. But, he even lost to weaker opponents on Earth before, so....

Vegeta fans calm down, calm down. This is basic Vegeta dribble. Let's be real. When has Vegeta ever defeated an opponent that was stronger than himself? Never. When has Vegeta become stronger than his opponent and defeat them because they're weaker than him now? Always. Does Vegeta ever win when he is too cocky? Nope. This is to hype y'all up. Don't be mad if he loses. Y'all know this routine. The arc ain't even over so the chances of him winning are low.

Now let's examine Vegeta's fight in comparison to Goku's fight.

Goku goes through all his forms & uses Ultra Instinct in base, SSJ, SSG, SSB, & then goes silver haired UI when fighting Granolah. Then, he loses in every form. Vegeta goes straight to Blue Evolution and only seriously gets hurt once.

Goku keeps getting hit despite having a technique that is all about evasion. Vegeta gets hit far less & doesn't have Ultra Instinct.

Goku was struggling to fight a clone that was half the power of Granolah. Vegeta fights Granolah at his full power and struggles less.

Goku complains about his training and how he is struggling using his technique. Vegeta who had less time with Hakai training isn't complaining about struggling with Hakai.

Goku far surpassed Vegeta in the Moro arc, yet they are crippling Goku to let Vegeta catch up & make him look better. Vegeta has literally gotten a handout that he didnt have to work hard for in order to catch up with Goku... This chapter is fine when isolated and you aren't thinking about any other previous chapter. But, it is a convoluted mess when you look back at the previous chapters, the piss poor storytelling, & Vegeta's poor Hakai training that leads up to this chapter.

Where'd that "heroic" Vegeta and that "redemption" stuff go? Its as if Toyotaro decided he should stop tying to make Vegeta the hero & main character instead of Goku being the main. (Thank God.)

But... Vegeta says that he loves fights that are unpredictable?? That I disagree completely with. Vegeta wants fights to go in his favor through all of DBZ and will throw a fit when it doesn't.

In RoF: it was going in his favor so he loved it.

Destroyer Tournament arc: he didn't like that things didn't go his way in the end.

Future Trunks arc: he was upset when losing to Black, but loved it when he thought he was going to win.

ToP: angry when everyone else surpassed him, happy when he gained an upperhand, upset when he lost the upperhand.

Moro arc: Vegeta is upset that Moro is stronger but even more upset that Goku is stronger than him. When he is stronger than Moro he is loving it. Then when he loses the advantage, he is upset.

Vegeta doesn't love unpredictable fights, Goku does! Vegeta loves predictable fights in his favor.

Granolah asks how many lives were sacrificed for Vegeta's carnage. Vegeta doesn't answer. Why? Because its best to ignore the fact that he has killed billions of ppl so that Vegeta fans can ignore his bad actions (Yet many say that Vegeta has developed so much without acknowledging his terrible past). Can't have Vegeta looking like a bad guy in this chapter, right?

Oh boy! Page 37 is more "Vegeta hype!" He doesn't care about strongest or second strongest ('cause he has never been 1st place) & he basically explains Dragon Ball to us.

Roshi already taught Goku & Krillin that there will always be somebody stronger, so they need to keep reaching higher and higher.

If Vegeta is stronger than he was a few minutes ago, would that mean the same for Goku when he was fighting? Why did he perform so poorly? I wonder... 🤔

Granolah jabs Vegeta in the stomach, but Vegeta manages to slow it down (how come Goku using Ultra Instinct couldn't do that?). And cool. Blood. Anime has better writing and cool character development/moments. The manga has blood... Well, I guess blood is cooler to some ppl.

Vegeta is looking like Goku in the ToP before he attained UI. He has his head down & all. Vegeta just isn't talking about hownl much he sucks. Why does Goku keep insulting himself? N-nevermind. This is about Vegeta who keeps complimenting himself.

Why did Granolah become scared of Vegeta suddenly? Wouldn't he just see him as a mad dog and use his amazing power to put Vegeta down before he can do anything? He hates them so much, but keeps letting them live.

Uh oh... Vegeta doesn't like protecting and saving? BuT I tHoUgHt hE wAs a hErO! Where is his development going?? Ya mean the real development he had in the anime or the pseudo development in the manga?

But even after saying all that... I prefer manga Vegeta to be like this instead of a wannabe hero. Wannabe hero doesn't fit. This feels like Vegeta is in character again. I like this. I was just criticizing how Vegeta was written in past chapters in comparison to this one. A more chill Vegeta who loves battles? This is what I've wanted from DBS manga Vegeta for a long time!

Oh snap! Vegeta's transforming? I wonder what it will look like (thanks for the warning from the leaks 👍). Oil... Why are you even in this chapter? We don't care about you right now & you're boring without Maki. Goku says it ain't "any old god ki."

I wonder how Goku never knew about this new form if he and Vegeta trained on Beerus Planet together. Ya think he would've sensed and saw it & even wanted to fight against it.

So is this new form a spur of the moment thing? So Vegeta has a new form that he never trained... And he asks if Granolah has been training his new power on page 34... Sounds hypocritical of Vegeta, or he is being thrown a bone to make him look capable. Is Vegeta gonna pull a Golden Freeza by not training this new form? Or maybe a UI Goku at the ToP and lose the form?

Page 43, Granolah shoots tiny ki blasts at Vegeta's tower of flaming ki and he is surprised it did nothing. Why not try again but this time use that one big blast instead. No? Gonna let the guy of the race you hate finish transforming? Just gonna be scared and shocked to make Vegeta look impressive? Ok.

Pages 41, 44, & 45

Oh! Here it is! The new form...! Aaaand I still don't like it. Also, he healed up like Goku did last chapter too. Odd. Why does transforming heal them now? Didn't before.

No build up to make the form more cool, it's just

"Here, Vegeta. Goku has one more form than you do & he has mastered UI, so we can't let you fall too far behind. So I just pulled this crap transformation fresh outa my butt and gave it to you."

Another undeserved handout. Can you please make Vegeta earn a new form in the manga? PLEASE?!

Vegeta looks like he is in his own UI Omen form (like how Vegeta fans begged for Vegeta to get for the longest time). Dark hair with sone lighter coloured higlights, light coloured pupils, new aura. But this is what I see...

SSJ3ROSÉ of DESTRUCTION INSTINCT OMEN (or just "SSJ-ChexMix" for short)

Looks like in the end, Vegeta needed to resort to his own Ultra Instinct equivalent!

Oh no... I criticized Vegeta's bad writing too much! I bet some Vegeta fans are gonna automatically assume that I hate him because I want him to be written better without plotholes! 😱

IN CONCLUSION:

This chapter is good when isolated on its own. But, this chapter is filled with inconsistencies when you look back at previous chapters. Overall, it's... a mixed bag that I barely like. It's just so retarded that Goku had to be dragged through the mud just for Vegeta to look better. That is insulting to Vegeta and it either shows how much he sucks or or how weak the writing for Vegeta is. But we got what we got...

Wanna know how to make Vegeta look good without making Goku look pathetic? Goku never uses MUI! Goku defeats Granolah's clone with SSB. Then, Granolah merges back with his clone & catches SSB Goku by surprise and knocks him out.

Then, the reason why Vegeta seems to be doing better is because Vegeta is using SSBE, unlike SSB Goku who was caught off guard. Why make the MUI form & Goku both look like trash just to give Vegeta his own Ultra (Destructive) Intinct? Is Vegeta really that trash?! 😓😴

I don't wanna see the Heeters anymore. My hype for them died, but maybe a later chapter can make me like them more. Idk.

Where is my homie, Moniato?! 🐌 (BEST CHARACTER OF THE ARC SO FAR!)

Oh yeah...I was supposed to complain about not seeing Freeza again like I do every chapter... Who cares at this point? If Granolah is stronger than Goku & Vegeta, what can Freeza do? Hide for 3 yrs and let Granolah die?

What are my predictions for next chapter? More Vegeta wanking of course. More gloating & looking down on Granolah too. A battle of overinflated egos. Bad dialogue and decent to good art. I'll probably find it mostly boring but I may be surprised (that could be a good or bad thing). Vegeta will appear to be winning before...

Vegeta gets defeated & certain Vegeta fans will rage & be annoying. Those ones will complain about how Vegeta always gets the short end of the deal (that's what he gets for being shorter than Bulma & 12 cm taller than Krillin). This one should happen imo based off of Goku's performance.

Vegeta's fight will get interrupted before the battle ends so that Vegeta fans don't get angry. Make Vegeta fans feel that Vegeta could've won and keep them grasping on to hope. (How manipulative.) This one is most likely to happen to "satisfy" all fans.

Vegeta will win and Vegeta fans will rejoice & some will be very annoying. Despite the fact that he had terrible training, was handed a new form just to stay relevant, and Goku had to underperform & UI had to be nerfed just to make Vegeta look good. This one may happen just to appease Vegeta fans. (That is the worst outcome imo.) If Vegeta gets "a win/a W" against a main villain, make sure his training looks impressive and he has some sort of connection to the main bad guy. That way the victory feels well deserved.

If the final enemy is Freeza, then Vegeta defeating Granolah isn't "a win" against a major villain. Granolah will just be a bump in the road. He's already set up to not be a "bad guy." In the end, the main bad guy will be either Freeza, Gas, 7-3, or someone. Vegeta fans shouldn't care if Vegeta wins or loses against Granolah. He isn't the "final boss."

#dragon ball #dragon ball super #dbs #dbs manga #manga chapter 74 #review #Vegeta #Granolah #Goku #vegeta wanking #wtf toyotaro

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1024 - Initial Thoughts

Happy Volume 100 Day! Indeed, Volume 100 officially comes out today, it's a shame we didn't get more of those We Are One segments (just like the Nissin noodle commercials) but it wrapped up nicely

There's also a chapter to deal with though so let's get to it

Spoilers for Chapter 1024, Support the Official Release too!

I forgot to mention the special Popularity Poll colour spreads last time but here's our middle one mainly involving the Straw Hats, Vivi, the remaining Supernovas, Bon, Merry, Woop Slap (seriously how?) and some villains (Crocodile, the rest of Moria and Enel). Sneaky bit of Sabo on the side too who'll be fully displayed in the next spread

Oh Usopp, your braggadocios scamp you. He's spreading Fear of God by claiming some recent KOs are due to his Conqueror's Haki

Also claiming to have defeated 2 of the Tobi Roppo...I mean he contributed at least, maybe word it like 'I fought two of the Tobi Roppo and I'm still standing'

Plus he's riding a very unimpressed Alligator SMILE atrocity XD

Horsealina chan (aka Speed) is back to protect sweet child Tama, as it turns out the KOs are from Big Mom's Conqueror's Haki who's fighting on this floor, which must mean that Law and Kid are taking it to her

Also it's still worth applauding that Nami, Usopp, Speed nor even Tama have succumbed to BM's Conqueror's Haki

Luffy's status is still unknown to the crew though, and Nami does seem a bit nervous about it when asking Franky

Franky's right though, no news is good news because if Luffy was defeated or dead he'd be paraded around by the Yonko

Franky is also making motions to move Nami and Usopp with him to the performance floor, so the crew's gonna be converging soon

Some Heart Pirate action too as they fend off any attempts at enemies intervening on Zoro and Sanji's fight with King and Queen, seems like Law they don't like to be told to do stuff by the Straw Hats either

Everyone's bouncing from the Third Floor too thanks to Maria's arson attempts

Out in a blaze of Yohoho is Brook carrying Robin, but no you're not cremated just yet, need to be ashes for that

Look at Robin so peaceful, as Brook guards over her and also is eager to know how things are going

He calls Jimbei who's on the Fourth Floor with Kid's remaining crew, didn't know Kid has a feral female crewmate

Trust Jimbei to be concerned about the big picture of Kaido, but he also mentions how people are fleeing the castle, is it because of the fight in the Performance Floor or because we've reached mainland?

Showing Kawamatsu defending the line does make me think the former

But back to Yamato vs Kaido now, looks like some parent/child attack tennis

Since we can't avoid it now I know the Vivre Card Databook is saying that Yamato is female but since Yamato is identifying as Oden and was still canonically called Kaido's son I'm gonna continue to use male pronouns for the time being. Don't read too into it okay or leap at me for using the wrong pronoun because it's a can of worms right now and I don't want to be part of it

I mean, come on Yamato it's not like you expected Kaido to take it easy on you when you're trying to stop one of his endgame plans

Flashback time! And that's where the Dragon statue used to be...

Kid Yamato is precious, and also has Conqueror's Haki

Kaido all about not winning any Father of the Year awards, he's been starving Yamato, says if he wants to be Oden then he'd be better off dead, then threw him in a cave for a month

Yamato isn't alone though, there are three master swordsmen samurai in the cave too

And now he entices them, with a serving of food for one and a load of swords to fight over it

And the twisted cherry on the bastard cake: 'But I thought you were Oden', was there ulterior motive though? Oden would be able to inspire the Samurai right? I guess not for his own gain though given how he's treating Yamato

The Samurai grab the swords, but they hand Yamato the food: Samurai don't get hungry...unless they're Kin'emon and Momo, like how Kunoichi don't get hungry unless it's Tama

Full on Tama vibes from Kid Yamato eating their first meal in ages, I see that Oda

Dang then one of the Samurai just cut the chains off of him

Since I was given away on spoilers (like seriously guys use the 'Keep Reading' thing, it's the best way to hide spoilery stuff for those who don't wanna be spoiled) this must be Ushimaru, and he does look like those old Zoro pictures

He also now has an eye injury, but he feels disgraced, probably because he was captured rather than killed

Look at this little baby who is probably 5 foot tall hiding behind Oden's journal and doesn't know how to read yet

Looks like Yamato had 3 Dads, all of them Samurai, who taught him to read Oden's journal so he could fanboy more

10 Days pass and Yamato is weakening, seems like the Samurai feel that Yamato will need to be in the fight

Ushimaru though with the Shimotsuki crest on his back has had enough of prison, the Samurai are busting out and in turn giving Yamato freedom from the cave too

Amanowato, I feel like that's important, but the only thing I can find is a special dance (Amanowato Mai) that's performed on the day of the Annual Festival - October 15th...which is a Friday so maybe...

Back to the present and Yamato asks the tough questions, what right does Kaido have to steal freedom?

But Kaido makes a usual cruel response, there are no easy answers

And then we conclude with a clash of Thunder Bagua

Whooof, lot in that chapter huh?

We've got collective chaos with the Straw Hats as they do as expected begin to converge towards the performance floor, perhaps for the final hold off before Luffy and Momo arrive.

Oda though must've known that we were hoping for a Zoro flashback, because he then gave Yamato one instead XD It was cool to see some supportive people in Yamato's past, but while Yamato4Nakama fans will point that he now has a link to Zoro via Ushimaru we also have to note that Yamato's backstory may not have enough tragedy to be a Straw Hat (I'm joking in this btw, Carrot doesn't either unless the Dukes die but Zoro and Usopp's backstories aren't so tragic either)

Yamato giving me Tama vibes when a child is interesting, I do wonder why we have gone that route other than adorableness, but you can see where his strong admiration for Samurai lies too. Wonder how he got Oden's journal so young though

But yeah, no break which is good, I have a feeling though we'll get one next chapter after the colour spread is finished, 1025 could be setting something up big so Oda can pass out for a few days till giving us fire once again

#one piece #one piece spoilers #one piece wano #wano country arc #wano arc #onigashima raid #straw hat pirates #usopp one piece #god usopp #nami one piece #cat burglar nami #franky one piece #iron pirate franky #cyborg franky #jimbei one piece #first son of the sea jinbe #jinbe #brook one piece #soul king brook #nico robin one piece #devil child nico robin #heart pirates #kid pirates #animal kingdom pirates #beasts pirates #kaido one piece #hundred beast kaido #yamato one piece #shimotsuki ushimaru #op spoilers