#onwards with the plot

[forgettable-au]

I'm curious... Are we gonna go back to the surface at some point? Would it be often like every other chapter? Absolutely adore Flowery and Papyrus' interactions they're wonderfully written

YES THEY WILL APPEAR AGAIN

Papyrus and Flowey are basically the B plot :D

They're gonna appear from time to time and they're doing their own separate thing ^^ (wich connects to the A plot)

[flipomatic]

[vigilskeep]

did it ever get explained why davrin didn’t die when he killed the first archdemon? seems like that’s a pretty big oversight right??

LMAO no i don’t think they did. which is funny because i was STRESSED. the whole time i was like okay well if a warden didn’t die then how do we have any evidence that the archdemon really died hmmmm???

[podcastwizard]

i know that this is in no way an original thought and obviously there has to be some pairing down from concept to product but it seems like every disney movie since frozen has had an insanely cool story idea that got paired down and paired down until it was the most toothless version possible and it drives me nuts

[lineffability]

"Wait, what the He– what the fuck happened, Aziraphale?! What about the Book? The Metatron? Why did you come back? Did it work?! What happened?"

Aziraphale opened his mouth, then closed it again. He suddenly looked a little embarrassed. Finally, face down and mumbling into his collar, looking almost a little non-directionally annoyed, he said, simply: "Pushed him."

"What? You what?"

Crowley's eyebrows rose higher than a kite; his mouth dropped open in the telltale way that usually sparked mischievous delight in Aziraphale. Even now, a little rebellious joy jumped up for a moment in his chest, before it was dragged back down into a pit of despair that had taken up permanent residence in Aziraphale's stomach. But a little pride stayed behind, lurking sinfully in the corners of his mouth. 

“Pushed him. Into a bookshelf. And…” Aziraphale mimed a falling weight. “Buried him beneath it.”

Crowley, unlike Aziraphale, suddenly seemed not to have a single care in the world. Bastard that he was, he threw his head back and laughed, and the sound ripped so loudly through the silence of the bookshop that Aziraphale joined in nervously, just so he would have something to do. 

"You pushed the Metatron into a bookshelf?"

"I just said that, yes. No need to repeat it back to me." 

"Oh, you wonderful bastard."

[continue reading Meanwhile the World Goes On Chapter 19]

[read from the beginning]

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Hello! Thank you for every advice you give here!

This might sound like a weird ask, but I don't know how to write the second(or more) draft. I've heard some advice about rewriting and not editing, but every time I try to write the second draft, I just end up copying the first one, with very few differences.

So my question is, what is your way of writing the second draft and if you have any advice on that? I know some things that work for some don't work for others, but I just can't seem to find the right way.

Oh, second drafts. Only the most difficult writing step after drafting, followed by the most difficult step of writing the third draft.

The good news is that almost no one pulls together their story on the second draft. If your first draft is putting down the bones of the story, the second is figuring out where to lay the connective tissue. Maybe you've got too many bones, maybe you don't have enough. Maybe some of your bones are too short, or too misshapen to work. The second draft is getting that story skeleton together, knowing full well you're gonna need to fix some of those bones first.

Get yourself a plan to put that skeleton together - make an outline. I swear I'm not the sworn enemy of pantsers that i sometimes seem to be (it's professional jealousy, I swear), but if you don't have an outline, now is the time to get one. If you do, go back and revise that first. You'll want to know what you want the story to become from the pile of bones you're working from.

Not enough bones - identify what you're missing. If you're like me, sometimes while drafting you write 'figure this shit out later' and then forget to do so. Thanks for nothing, Past Me. But chances are your story needs some added scenes, more character development, etc. Identifying those missing pieces and fleshing out your outline can help you tackle a second draft.

Too many bones - figure out what needs to be cut. Not every scene is going to be worth keeping no matter how attached to them you are. If you're on the fence about a scene, consider if it serves to move the plot forward, develops the characters, or establishes important worldbuilding. If the scene meanders plotlessly, repeats character beats instead of expanding on them, or seems to suck the oxygen out of the story, you may have to rethink or remove them.

These bones don't fit - figure out what scenes are lacking. Another thing I tend to do in first drafts is sell my scenes short. I just don't think of the best outcome, the most dramatic climax, or a great setting when I'm trying to figure out what happens. In going through your novel, think about each scene carefully. Should this argument take place in a deserted library, or would it be more emotional and dramatic on a crowded train? If the villain's plot seems small, how can you make him a greater threat?

Uuuh bro that's not a human bone - revising scenes that went off the rails. If you're gearing up for NaNoWriMo yet again, you might know the feeling of writing pages of bullshit to make that wordcount. It could be good bullshit! It could be really fun! But if it sticks out like a sore thumb in the story, it may be best to set aside to figure out what to make out of it later.

You're not going to get everything right in the second draft either, so don't over-stress in trying to get your story whipped into shape. But you will be better off after giving those bones a little polish and assembling them into what could conceivably pass for a decent skeleton, one that you won't mind sharing with others to see what other work it might need. Good luck!

[jeza-red]

That scene between Shuro and Laios hits hard.

Because I can understand perfectly where Laios is coming from...

And yet still, I, an autistic person myself, would punch him in the face just like Shuro did and told him to fuck off.

Which goes to show you that autistic people are not a monolith, and hanging onto a dichotomy of "Laios good-Shuro bad" stands on a false premise that one of them has to be a mean neurotypical and the other a pure neurodivergent baby.

[morningflew]

could i possibly interest some of y’all in post-dance things 👀

[player-1]

And speaking of the Mandrass Incident, there is no end to the levels of comedy Nexomon Extinction fans don't know if they've only played the newest game for now. (The only playthrough I can find is w. commentary though, but it's still funny to see the reactions.)

Besides that, the Mandrass Incident goes as followed (with relevant context and spoilers below):

The Nexomon 1 protag defeats Omnicron and his kids in the main game, but post-game story makes our plucky hero travel to the literal afterlife (ie. the Netherworld) to destroy Omnicron's soul and ensure he never returns for vengeance in another doomsday plot. However, the door to Omnicron is guarded by Ziegler's Wardens; confidants of the Netherworld King that will do everything and more to stop anyone that threatens their job of keeping the dead safe and secure in their realm, since the Wardens' lives are tied to their prisoners while said prisoners live in a Inception-like dreamscape that keeps them unaware of their previous demise (and yes, the game references Inception too). Also Ulzar is there cause finishing overdue ghost business (and previously building each Nightmare prison), Deena out of obligation of being the guard between the border of Life and Death, and your usual partner-in-crime Atlas.

Because of this roadblock, Protag is forced to deal with the Omnicron fam all over again and send their souls to the Vortex (possibly the portal/birthplace/permadeath of all Nexomon) in order to get rid of the Warden they're attached to. Even the linked episode (at 8:47) mentions Ulzar previously making a prison for Nara before he realized she's on the side of humans (ouch), the one time Metta/Nexolord is mentioned by name; and how yes, he went MIA after Ulzar's previous fight against Omnicron and even his temporary Nightmare is still empty in the current age...so the N3 Metta theory is still valid >:).

At this point, the gang went through the gauntlet with Arqua (the "weakest") -> Fona (too angy to forget why he's angy at everyone that wronged him) -> Grunda (now Ulrich w. his jacked village chief vibe) -> Zetta (trigger-happy goober that treats humans (aka. Spencer) like a dog) and getting into Ventra's Nightmare for the second-to-last Nightmare (and Atlas is not at all thrilled about facing the bird-woman again).

But their path is blocked by a noticeably large Mandrass, a talking one at that, that refuses to move unless they find his 4 friends that were swept about the place from Nadine/Ventra's powerful winds. After a somewhat lengthy search through the area, they finally procure the missing Mandrasses and bring them back to the main 'mon. The Mandrass is overjoyed and grateful, and then the group (and player) realize far too late why it seems larger than the other four they've met...

He eats them. He eats the other Mandrasses...And absolutely everyone is shocked at the spectacle, stunning Ulzar so bad he legit forgets they were supposed to fight Nadine's Warden and obviously driving Deena to tears. But they still have a job to do, and they push through the troubling memory regardless...

Now after all of their loose ends with Omnicron's Children are dealt with, the Protag opens the massive door holding the King of Beasts inside...and finds nothing. Yet the confusion fades for now as a wall is broken away to find a trio of familiar faces; Atlas, Deena, and Ulzar... Wait a minute-

After a bit of back and forth (before Ziegler appears to rain on the parade), its revealed that the entire story of the Netherworld (minus the Omnicron kids' Nightmares) was a Nightmare all along; keeping the Protag oblivious of the mortal sin of travelling to the Netherworld without actually dying, failing the task of destroying Omnicron and letting him escape to the real world, and getting trapped in his stead with Ziegler himself being the Warden in charge as he crafted a world of dreamlike sights and fabricated allies to aid them in their journey...-Oh yeah, and all that happened two weeks before the story even began, so the real team were scrambling to find Protag while battling Omnicron by tooth and nail.

Yet the Protag perseveres despite it all, fighting off the fake Deena that's been with them since the beginning, the king of Death and the revived Wardens, and finally Omnicron himself as his soul is snuffed out for good...Yet all good things come with a cost, and with the Beast King's death comes the death of his monstrous subjects, starting a slow and painful extinction of all Nexomon that were bound to his command. Minus Nara for being the embodiment of Nature and Life, Metta out of spite, and the rest of his kids in undead limbo cause of mystical Netherworld magic, it's not a great time for everyone involved here.

Now after all of that, as the Protag is forced to process this monumental burden that's placed on their shoulders, they eventually go to talk to the real Deena/Nara for advice and emotional support. At some point, Protag would've mentioned the Mandrass Incident since 1. It's the first time they met another Nexomon that had human-like intelligence besides Omnicron's kids, 2. Questions how/why Ventra's Nightmare was built around a dog-eat-dog world unlike everything Nexomon was before, and 3. Most likely a "you'll never believe what I went through" story to laugh about in the future and mention how surprisingly accurate the fake/Nightmare Deena reacted.

And despite it all, even if the real Deena only got a second-hand account of the event, was just as horrified about the story as well. And after all of that, after a literal millennia until Nexomon Extinction takes place, she's still salty about the whole thing. Whether it's from the Protag not realizing anything is wrong about the world until the final stretch (which was the whole point of a Nightmare) or being dumb/complacent in leading those poor Mandrasses to their death (even if they were already in the afterlife?), she still held onto that horror/betrayal of her new human friend the entire time. Even after she started her own plot of getting her kid to become Omnicron's heir through extreme mental gymnastics and a whole lot of dumb luck...

And that's what I love about the series so far. If you know the joke they were winding up in a previous game, you'll understand the punchline in another.

[teecupangel]

I keep thinking about Desmond, our fave isekai protag, getting dropped into baldur’s gate 3. Only, per one of my favorite isekai tropes, as a no-name NPC. As one of the Sharess’s Caress escorts? As one of Astarion’s spawn?? Basically him just being Tired Of This Shit and trying to avoid the plot but of course that’s not going to work lol. I haven’t even decided if he would be a romantic interest for the MC or a companion or anyone, or what his class would be. But ugh his isekai potential too strong.

His isekai potential is too strong.

If we want Desmond tired of everything and just want to avoid the plot, I personally would put him somewhere safe-ish? Desmond is the type of person who wouldn’t turn a blind eye to atrocities if it smacked him on the forehead so the best way to ensure that he stays away from whatever plot is happening is by making him an NPC in a more or less stable area where he would feel like other more knowledgeable and experienced with all these ‘dungeons and dragons’ (they have magic, holy shit) got this. That would point us to someone in Baldur’s Gate before Act 3. This way, Desmond would have his peace and quiet until the party starts doing their thing and Desmond stop being able to turn a blind eye on everything and he’s ‘forced’ to assist this party of… well… interesting people

As for his class, well, you can go for the class I’m going for with my playthrough of BG3 as Desmond. I made him multiclass Rogue (Thief) and Ranger (Gloomstalker), with a little bit of Bard (College of Swords), specifically:

Rogue Lv 4 – Thief (because Thief’s skills are more all rounders than Assassin’s)

Ranger Lv 5 – Gloomstalker (more stealth options, Dread Ambusher is our Assassin skill lite and lv5 has extra attack XD)

Bard Lv 3 – College of Sword, more on the side of Desmond being good in being seen as ‘non threatening’ but his spell list is more on the side of support than actual damage.

If you want to keep him in one class only, making him a Thief (Assassin) would make the most sense with the hidden blade being more or less his one shot kill weapon, although in terms of gameplay that’s kinda like making him a “best in first round only” kind of deal. The multiclass above is the ‘compromise’ I made to have Desmond be more or less in line with his setup in Assassin’s Creed.

Of course, if you want to have fun and make Desmond suffer (affectionately), you can make him a Warlock with a pact with an unknown Great Old One. This would add a layer of mystery to who had ‘helped’ Desmond be pushed into Faerun and we can hint that the Great Old One is:

Isn’t actually a Great Old One but one of the gods but Desmond’s otherworldly-ness and his lack of ‘worshipping’ stopped him from being a Paladin or a Cleric and pushed him into Warlock territory

Is one of the Isus from his world that had escaped into Faerun (or somewhere close by) but, since that Isu is a deity from their world, the Isu is counted as one of the Great Old Ones (which sounds a lot like “Those Who Came Before”)

Desmond’s patron isn’t one entity but a legion, using some kind of system to support or affectionately bully him at times if and only if the legion reaches a majority vote. Desmond technically has multiple access to ‘Wish’ but it’s more of him asking help from the legion and hoping many of them would give him what he wants. … and, yes, I am basing the legion on the whole “Desmond’s patron is us” idea I have XD

Even if Desmond isn’t a magic class, I think he’d have a few scrolls with him, mostly support spells like Invisibility, Fly and even Enhance Leap (also Speak with Dead and Speak with Animal) with a few attack spells that he uses as distraction most of the time

Sidebar: I’m not sure if you mean Astarion’s spawn as in we’re setting this after BG3 with Astarion having ascended and making Desmond his spawn or if you meant Desmond is a fellow Cazador spawn, either way, we’ll have to find a way for Desmond to escape his sire’s thrall if that’s the case. The easiest would be Desmond getting a tadpole in his brain like Astarion but that does mean that… well… if his sire was Astarion, this will lead to Desmond wanting to kill Astarion because he sees being put in his thrall as something horrible as it makes him lose control over himself even if Astarion was to be… ‘kind’ to him. If it was Cazador though, then that means Desmond will want to kill Cazador (and maybe Astarion and the party helped him during the whole… Cazador ‘sidequest’) and that would be his reason for being unable to keep himself from the plot.

[porto-rosso]

brother where is the charles appreciation

[saff-rons]

max verstappen should receive a public service award for spending media day talking me out of the blind panic I've been in all week

[kaiowut99]

ZeXal Meets Adult Swim: The Episode

[lifesupreme-if]

we are finally seeing what the hubbub about phantom liberty is and i am 👀 this shit is so cOOL

[the-haunted-office]

When a character in a book acts completely out of character or says or does something that doesn't make any sense whatsoever because the author needs something in the plot to happen.

Edit: Oh shit wrong blog, but whatever, my point still stands.

[fideidefenswhore]

Out of all of the people who had orchestrated Anne's downfall, which of them disliked her the most? I'm going with Cromwell.

I mean...to have been participants in this, it's likely they all disliked her, although arguably some of them (Carew, Bryan) hadn't seemed to initially do so, Bryan esp. being the one that seems to have had a good working relationships with her through 1530, at the least...

Chapuys seems to imply it's Carew and Montague leading the faction, at least earliest on. Arguably this must have changed over time, as Edward Seymour is present in an extremely important and politically significant meeting (the attempted Imperial rapprochement of April 1536, which he attended , between Cromwell, HVIII, and Chapuys), and they're not. Although...what reason, arguably, did the Seymours have for especially 'disliking' Anne and/or the Boleyns? Their daughters were promoted to her household. They might have had simmering resentment that another 'minor' noble family had risen so high and secured so much power and influence, but that doesn't really set them apart from many others than likely felt the same way, and it's not quite strong enough of a motivation for...such a conspiracy? If that makes sense.

Cromwell is the only one of these that she's reported as having said she'd "like to see his head off" though, so...yeah, probably him.