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Hello and hi, I'm finally back from recovery and am now able to give you your last final reviews for this fic. So let's hope right into it and not waste any more time!
Mint fights Cypress who is revealed to be in Mr Nameless' body and apparently possessing the power of the diary which lets him Save and Load like a game.
So, to begin with. I absolutely love the villain having a Save/Load ability., it's really unique and cool as most of the times, it's usually the protag or good guy that has it and it's really fun seeing how he was able to let other people in on the whole remembering the resets things. The way he just so confidently taunts Mint and constantly resetting and driving her up the wall was great.
The way my original fic ended what where the majority of my drive and motivation came from to keep writing and improving my fic series. I freaking LOVE the plot twists from it. Once I can get this rewritten, I can make it even MORE delicious!
Though of course, there is a slight problem I have with Mint's POV during this and that's mostly because it comes and goes away pretty fast. There's like I think only two or three resets that are shown and really, it's a shame that we don't get to see more of the trauma and stress that this constant reset is causing Mint.
Like I think it'd be a nice way to show off more of Cypress' traits as well during the resets. You could show off some of his cruelty by say throwing her off the ledge and resetting just before she hits the ground, laughing about deactivating the anti-gravity thing while doing so. Purposely making shitty plays and dragging things out or any number of evil people things you could come up with.
That aside, the reveal of Cypress being in Mr Nameless' body was great, seeing Mint in shock and horror was excellent though again, I do wish there were more details in her POV. Like say how his familiar face contorts into expressions that doesn't match the one she loves, or the uncanniness of Cypress or just what Mint can notice. I think it'd really enhance the vibe if we get to see more of what she was feeling during all of this and how it affects her thoughts.
Definitely something to keep in mind when I am rewriting. In fact, I'll come back to this review later when I am working on the rewrite for this chapter and the others!
Mint beats Cypress by calling out Mr Nameless' chosen name and kills him instantly. Then suddenly Doduo reveals himself to be Cypress and just when all hope seems lost, he reveals again that he's actually ex-Cypress and is Tango. After that scare, the whole gang live happily ever after.
For a while, I sat and thought about it. I was like, do I really want to go this direction with it? But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how perfect it would be. How many fics have to end with the hero winning? Wouldn't it be cool if the villain won? But that would be unsatisfying which is why almost no one does it.
But I could have my cake and eat it too!!! The villain would be defeated, but the villain wouldn't be defeated and instead win and THEN psycho plot twist: Doduo was a version of Cypress ALL ALONG!!
Okay, now with the obligatory screaming at the author bit is over. Let me just say that wow, I really, really did not expect Doduo to actually amount to anything. From the annoying little douchebag of your first writing,
These changes you helped to inspire. I also went through great efforts to make Tango more likeable in Book One. My Book Three is going to explore Tango's origins when he first got downloaded into the Doduo and how his adventure with his owner reshaped his outlook on life to make him so different than the Cypress Mint defeated.
I did not fucking expect him to apparently be the villain's second version that became good. That's so outrageous that it circles back to a hilarious genius! Like wow, I love this. It's so stupid but it's so amazing at the same time. It easily overshadows everything in the chapter.
This is why I try SO hard to get people to review through my fic! Comments like these are the absolute pinnacle of the kind of feedback I've worked so hard to get! 😆
That said, I do have some problems with the chapter and that's mostly to do with how Cypress was dealt with. It was... anticlimactic, to put it bluntly.
The build up, the whole 'I'm incredibly op' thing gets dealt with by a method that feels so out of left field. It felt like a Deus ex machina is what I'm trying to say.
I almost wished that Mint did say the wrong name first just so that Cypress would figure things out slowly and then it comes down to a countdown between who could act first: Mint in saying the correct name or Cypress pressing the reset button.
Well, Cypress pressing the button would do nothing as long as the Progenitor was unplugged, but the moment Bill would realize it was unplugged and plug it back in, Cypress would then be able to reset again. Basically Cypress would be mashing the button in a panic so that the moment Bill plugged the Progenitor back in, it would all be over. Cypress would never again let Mint call Bill and they would be locked for all eternity until one of them finally gave in.
Spoiler: in that situation, Mint caves and devotes herself to Cypress. Not sure how long it takes for that to happen. This then creates a dark future where Cypress controls everything only for their world to suffer a massive cataclysm from the ultimate threat of the entire series. This threat succeeds and Cypress and Mint escape the destruction of their world by traveling through the Nexus to another timeline. They aren't able to use it carefully enough and Cypress is lost in the nexus as a result and Mint who I refer to as "Fallen Mint" finds herself in the main timeline on Neo Island and becomes one of the primary foes of Book Five. This Mint cares only about finding her way back to the Nexus and rescuing Cypress. She has an agenda completely separate from the villains of Book Five but joins their side to further her own goals. I plan to have her encounter normal Mint as a dark shadow of her. Fallen Mint will be better at duels than regular Mint too but won't have Tuff as Nails deck since Neo Island can't use cards from TCG Island or GR Island.
Because as it is, it falls so flat on its execution that I felt... disappointed, and it was only because of the sheer insanity that was Tango that I didn't dwell on it during the whole chapter.
That's fair. It still needs to happen abruptly, but I agree that dragging it out and making it more dramatic would be better. I think the way to do it would be for Mint to forget the name she suggested and frantically struggles to remember the right name. Maybe I can even switch POV during it to Bill showing him getting close to plugging the Progenitor back in?
And also the plot twist. I just want to say I love the utter insanity that came from the reveal but at the same time, I wish there was maybe some sort of foreshadowing early on. I know there were tidbits where Doduo was shown to be subtly smarter than he looked and how he's an oddball. But I think it would've been a lot cooler if we also got an idea of just how different Tango is. It doesn't have to be very explicit of course, I know how much you wanted to hide this so I think instead what you could have done is show off some of the other Doduo that live around the world is like and who knows maybe you could also add some red herring here and there if someone gets close to guessing who Doduo is (though I very much doubt anyone will because christ this is insane).
(If this is already addressed by Book 1 then apologies if I'm rehashing what you've already done, just putting my own opinion and thoughts based on what I've read)
Yep, it was addressed in Book One... I think. I guess I'll let you be the judge of that as you go through it!
Speaking of Book One and the rewrite for Book Two, I plan to keep as much things as possible from Book Two as canon, but I will change, add, or remove scenes to make the overall experience better. Changes should be mostly minor or objectively better than the original.
Starting off right after the last chapter, I like the part about Mint being frustrated with Mr Nameless' obliviousness, it's really funny seeing it from a different perspective that isn't the MC.
You don't have to call him Mr Nameless or MC anymore. From now on, you can call him Mark! Mark is the canon name of the 10 year old protagonist you can play as in the first and second Gameboy Color games. It is also how Mark used to look as a kid. It is also why he has a diary. Mint is also a protagonist from the 2nd game. I might give Mint a diary that could work just like Marks but I'm not sure if I will or not. To access the save/load feature, she would need one of those remotes that Cypress had and it would need to be keyed to her brainwave pattern.
I like the chapter, it's a nice little way to show off the aftereffects of the story with Mint taking care of her petty vengeance after becoming basically god of TCG, the king and Bill becoming rich and abolishing gambling and the sequel hooks for the tournament.
The original ending was very abrupt. I added this ending as an extension to the end of it. Originally I had it end after Tango revealed who he was. (But that was before I decided to make it a series)
At first, I was a little confused by this sentence but I think I understand what this is supposed to say. Mr Evil guy took over Gentleman's body, didn't he? It's a familiar voice but in an unfamiliar tone, yes?
With this explanation, it's kinda odd that the machine didn't set off against Seth instead. I mean, it kinda sounds like it will activate on anyone that's nearby and unless it has a charge-up time or a uh, setting that can exclude certain people, it's weird that Seth didn't get mind swapped. Or I could also go with the funny explanation and have Seth literally book it out of the room before the machine activated lol.
Also, I know that this is supposed to be her inner thoughts but oh boy, are there a lot of tense changes here.
Oh and on second evaluation, I don't think I'm gonna focus too much on the grammar for these last few chapters since I know you're gonna have to like rewrite the whole thing so I think I'm just gonna focus on the plot and story beats.
Only because of the device Claire gave Mint that Mint plugged into the Progenitor. The Progenitor regulates those duel conditions so that in order to duel someone with conditions you have to meet the conditions first. The Progenitor normally doesn't allow duel requirements to be so absurd such as the worst technically-legal deck in existence: 59 non-water energy and a Shelder.
That's odd as hell but I guess since Mr Nameless always rejected the duels with specific conditions, it's not too out of hand to say this can happen but I will say that it does sorta come out of nowhere, if something similar to this does happen in your first book then it'd certainly be great foreshadowing but as of now, it feels like plot convenience tbh
Uuh, I don't remember if Axel can see right now 'cause like, isn't he speaking through an earpiece? How is he gonna tell if she's nodding or shaking her head? If this was addressed earlier then I apologise for being such a forgetful dork😜
I think I need to add more reminders that Axel can see out of the earpeice. It has a micro camera included which allows him to do so. I believe this was mentioned back in chapter 13, but it was definitely mentioned. You forgetting is a sign that I should add at least one reminder about it at some point. I'll do that in the rewrite.
Damn what? He has causality manipulation? Holy shit, that's busted. I mean it's probably only limited to duels and nothing else but considering that all conflict in this world is resolved with duels then that's still pretty op!
Oh wait, no. It's not causality manip, he has fucking Undertale's SAVE/LOAD function except it's a shittier version since it doesn't erase people's memories.
I feel like this loneliness bit could be played up more since it kinda just falls flat and disappear mid-sentence. I'm assuming something changed in between writing this as the transition to controlling fate is incredibly abrupt and makes almost no sense
Haha, Mr evil man, there's already a problem with your plan since Mint quite literally is able to remember the resets. I'm assuming the diary can and will work on Mint despite it being attuned to Mr Nameless due to her being a former nameless and PC
And nevermind, guess the 'keeping memories after reset' was planned. I retract everything I just said about him miscalculating things though jury still stands for whether Mint can use the diary or not
Mint can't use that Diary. The only people who can use their own diaries are Mark, Mint(if I decide to give her one) Kram (a character from Neo Island to be introduced in Book Five) and maybe Fallen Mint if i decide to give her one.
I'm not sure if this is intentional but this bit here feels like Mint is slowly falling for some kind of trap or mind control. I know it's probably supposed to represent her not having to tax herself by the constant duels but still, I think it should be a bit more detailed and it should show like more of her relief and desperation.. I guess? I'm not really sure how to describe it though so something to keep in mind later on
Y'know, it is kinda crazy that none of the cultist in like a thousand year timespan ever thought of using the Mindswapper for themselves. Like I get that cultist are fanatic devotees but damn, it really is wild that no one had ever wanted to steal it for functional immortality.
They don't understand how to use the device to upload a different mind in place of Cypress. They only understand how to activate it to override someone else's mind with Cypress. I could probably add this as a question for Mint to ask, though in the rewrite.
Well those with power always exclude themselves from any penalties. Thanos naturally didn't snap himself out of existence or leave it to a coin toss. He just exempted himself.
Immortality is something that is staying canon too. Cypress's ineptness at using the nexus glitched up Doduo when he brought them over and made them all immortal.
and thank god, Cypress didn't choose a psychic, fairy or ghost. If any one of them became immortal then humanity would be so doomed since they have like no weapons to fight back
... Does Cypress not know what the Black Box can do? Or is just because he's that confident that he doesn't even respond to Mint literally talking out loud about messing with it?
Oh the black box is called Progenitor, huh? I guess if Cypress doesn't know what black box they're talking about, then I guess it makes some sense that he wouldn't notice though I still think it'd make more sense if Mint made some sort of codeword for it honestly. Because black box is like really risky as hell since that's quite literally the shape of the machine
Mint was unable to use a codeword. She would have had to set it with Bill in advance, and Bill has no idea what Mint's situation is or what she is trying to accomplish by calling him. He thinks it's just a social call.
I know I made a theory about the Mindmaster using names to swap minds before but I can't remember exactly whether it was actually stated to be what lets Cypress swap minds. Because having her call his name to save Mr Nameless is... weird and kinda comes out of nowhere.
The mindmaster is a prototype. It has a failsafe built in. The failsafe allows the effects of the mindmaster to be reversed if the person is beaten in a duel and then the victor calls out the original name of the person who lost. That would allow them to test it without permanently erasing anyone's original mind. Cypress isn't smart enough to build a mindmaster on his own, so he just uses the Prototype.
The voice Doduo hears came from the Altar. It is not Cypress. The voice belongs to Lugia. Lugia is the being the cult was formed to worship. Lugia is real and exists in their world. Lugia is also immortal in the sense that it does not age. Lugia can die from wounds, though. Lugia will be important for Book Five.
He meant the time 100 years ago when Cypress failed to ressurect properly. He ended up ressurecting in the body of a Doduo and later became known as Tango.
The person that was supposed to be Cypresses vessel never had Cypress override his mind. That person then went around impersonating Cypress and controlling the cult. Ultimately that leader believed he was so special that Cypress decided his mind was more important than Cypresses mind and that he was chosen to be the new Grand Cardinal in place of Cypress. He believed he could surpass death with his mind now being the new thing that would upload to the mindmaster upon his death. The idiot locked himself in the Ghostmasters fort, sealing himself and Mary inside killing them both.(This was how the ghostmasters fortress became sealed) The guy didn't ressurect later and Mary became the final Ghostmaster when she died. I'm also going to make Mary before she died be Tango's original owner to be explored in Book Three.
Y'know, while it is kinda sad that he can't really experience love the same way as a human, it is good to see that for all of this wacky shit, ex-Cypress can see how weird everything would be if he tried getting together with Ellen
Don't worry. I have a plan for that. In Book Five he will meet his nemesis: a Shiny Doduo fighting on the side of his enemies clad in customized Mewtwo-style armor. This Doduo became shiney through experimentation. The results made this Doduo unique with human-level intelligence. This Doduo will also be female and not have masochistic tendencies. She will fight with a graceful flowing style instead of a blunt style like most Doduo. Tina will be her name, and I have plans to make her a romantic partner for Tango.
And that's it! Phew, what a wild ride this has been. Like wow, I had no idea things would get this insane nor how enjoyable it really got with the wacky and crack-ish ideas played seriously.
I've got so many plans for this series. I gave you some insight and some spoilers, but that only scratches the surface of the plans I have. This didn't just brighten my day, it made it. In fact, it made my whole week. I'd go so far as to say it made my month. I can't wait to see what you think of Book One and for the rewrite later for Book Two. I guess I'm running out of content to exchange with you, though...
Perhaps I can do review brokering? I just need to offer to set up and review fics of others on your behalf and then you could review my fic in return. I want you to read my Book One! Your reviews have been so freaking good!
For a while, I sat and thought about it. I was like, do I really want to go this direction with it? But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how perfect it would be. How many fics have to end with the hero winning? Wouldn't it be cool if the villain won? But that would be unsatisfying which is why almost no one does it.
I definitely understand that. Like the first time I saw Infinity War and saw that Thanos won, I was in a huge shock. Like hot damn, it was the first time I saw something where the villain actually won and it genuinely made me so excited for the next movie to see how they'd actually beat him.
These changes you helped to inspire. I also went through great efforts to make Tango more likeable in Book One. My Book Three is going to explore Tango's origins when he first got downloaded into the Doduo and how his adventure with his owner reshaped his outlook on life to make him so different than the Cypress Mint defeated.
Yeah, Save/Load powers are incredibly BS. There was one Undertale/MLP fic I've read where the MC and Undyne fought Genocide Frisk and it was incredibly terrifying seeing Frisk dodging every single one of their attacks despite the MC knowing about Frisk's ability to reset, and like the only one they could beat him was outdetermination-ing Frisk to overtake his reset powers.
Regarding Cypress reset powers, I feel the reason why I felt like it was a Deus Ex Machina was because the way they defeated him kinda came out of nowhere. Maybe it'd work better if the characters explain the exact mechanics of why it works and maybe have Axel's POV slowly going through potential solutions and ideas, and having him share his thoughts with the other ghostmasters, would make it feel less like a plot contrivance and more like a puzzle for both the characters and readers to solve. I think writing it like that could work since there's a lot of time where nothing kinda happens (aside from Mint's distractions), and putting in something that shows the previous heroes figuring out a plan could certainly tie them back into the story and make the ending a lot more satisfying.
Well, Cypress pressing the button would do nothing as long as the Progenitor was unplugged, but the moment Bill would realize it was unplugged and plug it back in, Cypress would then be able to reset again. Basically Cypress would be mashing the button in a panic so that the moment Bill plugged the Progenitor back in, it would all be over. Cypress would never again let Mint call Bill and they would be locked for all eternity until one of them finally gave in.
Spoiler: in that situation, Mint caves and devotes herself to Cypress. Not sure how long it takes for that to happen. This then creates a dark future where Cypress controls everything only for their world to suffer a massive cataclysm from the ultimate threat of the entire series. This threat succeeds and Cypress and Mint escape the destruction of their world by traveling through the Nexus to another timeline. They aren't able to use it carefully enough and Cypress is lost in the nexus as a result and Mint who I refer to as "Fallen Mint" finds herself in the main timeline on Neo Island and becomes one of the primary foes of Book Five. This Mint cares only about finding her way back to the Nexus and rescuing Cypress. She has an agenda completely separate from the villains of Book Five but joins their side to further her own goals. I plan to have her encounter normal Mint as a dark shadow of her. Fallen Mint will be better at duels than regular Mint too but won't have Tuff as Nails deck since Neo Island can't use cards from TCG Island or GR Island.
That's fair. It still needs to happen abruptly, but I agree that dragging it out and making it more dramatic would be better. I think the way to do it would be for Mint to forget the name she suggested and frantically struggles to remember the right name. Maybe I can even switch POV during it to Bill showing him getting close to plugging the Progenitor back in?
That could work. Maybe have her blurt out random names first, have her entertain the idea of it being something ridiculous like BasicBro before finally figuring out that it was the name that she suggested which could lead to a big 'Awwww...' romantic moment.
You don't have to call him Mr Nameless or MC anymore. From now on, you can call him Mark! Mark is the canon name of the 10 year old protagonist you can play as in the first and second Gameboy Color games. It is also how Mark used to look as a kid. It is also why he has a diary. Mint is also a protagonist from the 2nd game. I might give Mint a diary that could work just like Marks but I'm not sure if I will or not. To access the save/load feature, she would need one of those remotes that Cypress had and it would need to be keyed to her brainwave pattern.
I mean, if you ever decide to make the later books super dark with bad ends and stuff, you could give her that ability even if it was only for like that one arc or book.
Yeah, I know. I was mostly asking the duel requirement being needed in the first place since I'm not super sure if it was mentioned that the Black Box can enforce those rules bofore
Mint can't use that Diary. The only people who can use their own diaries are Mark, Mint(if I decide to give her one) Kram (a character from Neo Island to be introduced in Book Five) and maybe Fallen Mint if i decide to give her one.
Well those with power always exclude themselves from any penalties. Thanos naturally didn't snap himself out of existence or leave it to a coin toss. He just exempted himself.
Mint was unable to use a codeword. She would have had to set it with Bill in advance, and Bill has no idea what Mint's situation is or what she is trying to accomplish by calling him. He thinks it's just a social call.
Yeah, I get that. Though maybe it should be mentioned that Cypress and his cult didn't know about the Black Box's name so future readers wouldn't get confused by it, because I certainly did.
he mindmaster is a prototype. It has a failsafe built in. The failsafe allows the effects of the mindmaster to be reversed if the person is beaten in a duel and then the victor calls out the original name of the person who lost. That would allow them to test it without permanently erasing anyone's original mind. Cypress isn't smart enough to build a mindmaster on his own, so he just uses the Prototype.
The voice Doduo hears came from the Altar. It is not Cypress. The voice belongs to Lugia. Lugia is the being the cult was formed to worship. Lugia is real and exists in their world. Lugia is also immortal in the sense that it does not age. Lugia can die from wounds, though. Lugia will be important for Book Five.
Oh, so it was Lugia. I thought it was Tango being dramatic. That's interesting, I wonder why it's normal Lugia speaking through despite the card being Shadow Lugia.
The person that was supposed to be Cypresses vessel never had Cypress override his mind. That person then went around impersonating Cypress and controlling the cult. Ultimately that leader believed he was so special that Cypress decided his mind was more important than Cypresses mind and that he was chosen to be the new Grand Cardinal in place of Cypress. He believed he could surpass death with his mind now being the new thing that would upload to the mindmaster upon his death. The idiot locked himself in the Ghostmasters fort, sealing himself and Mary inside killing them both.(This was how the ghostmasters fortress became sealed) The guy didn't ressurect later and Mary became the final Ghostmaster when she died. I'm also going to make Mary before she died be Tango's original owner to be explored in Book Three.
Don't worry. I have a plan for that. In Book Five he will meet his nemesis: a Shiny Doduo fighting on the side of his enemies clad in customized Mewtwo-style armor. This Doduo became shiney through experimentation. The results made this Doduo unique with human-level intelligence. This Doduo will also be female and not have masochistic tendencies. She will fight with a graceful flowing style instead of a blunt style like most Doduo. Tina will be her name, and I have plans to make her a romantic partner for Tango.
Oh, so we're delving into genetic experimentation in a future book? Sign me up for that. Will Tina be a villain that Tango will have to seduce and redeem?
I've got so many plans for this series. I gave you some insight and some spoilers, but that only scratches the surface of the plans I have. This didn't just brighten my day, it made it. In fact, it made my whole week. I'd go so far as to say it made my month. I can't wait to see what you think of Book One and for the rewrite later for Book Two. I guess I'm running out of content to exchange with you, though...
Perhaps I can do review brokering? I just need to offer to set up and review fics of others on your behalf and then you could review my fic in return. I want you to read my Book One! Your reviews have been so freaking good!
I mean we could do that, but I think I'd need to get permission to even do something like that, not to mention a lot of the fics I do read have authors or are on sites that don't do reviews on this kind of level usually. 'sides Chp 8 of JaND is getting pretty close to completion so there's still something we could toss in for that exchange.
I definitely understand that. Like the first time I saw Infinity War and saw that Thanos won, I was in a huge shock. Like hot damn, it was the first time I saw something where the villain actually won and it genuinely made me so excited for the next movie to see how they'd actually beat him.
Yeah, Save/Load powers are incredibly BS. There was one Undertale/MLP fic I've read where the MC and Undyne fought Genocide Frisk and it was incredibly terrifying seeing Frisk dodging every single one of their attacks despite the MC knowing about Frisk's ability to reset, and like the only one they could beat him was outdetermination-ing Frisk to overtake his reset powers.
Regarding Cypress reset powers, I feel the reason why I felt like it was a Deus Ex Machina was because the way they defeated him kinda came out of nowhere. Maybe it'd work better if the characters explain the exact mechanics of why it works and maybe have Axel's POV slowly going through potential solutions and ideas, and having him share his thoughts with the other ghostmasters, would make it feel less like a plot contrivance and more like a puzzle for both the characters and readers to solve.
Hmm... maybe... It would have less shock factor that way though... Ugh. I kind of feel like it gives something up to go the other direction, but maybe it's ok if it does... I'll have to think about it.
I think writing it like that could work since there's a lot of time where nothing kinda happens (aside from Mint's distractions), and putting in something that shows the previous heroes figuring out a plan could certainly tie them back into the story and make the ending a lot more satisfying.
I do like the idea of cutting to showing the Ghostmasters trying to come up with a plan. I guess it would still be very suspenseful since if I clue the reader in then they will be anticipating if Timmy will unplug the Progenitor or not.
...Yeah!
That would probably work well! We won't see Bill's side at all. There will just be the anticipation of if it will work or not. Like cutting the red wire in a bomb!
That could work. Maybe have her blurt out random names first, have her entertain the idea of it being something ridiculous like BasicBro before finally figuring out that it was the name that she suggested which could lead to a big 'Awwww...' romantic moment.
I mean, if you ever decide to make the later books super dark with bad ends and stuff, you could give her that ability even if it was only for like that one arc or book.
Yeah, I know. I was mostly asking the duel requirement being needed in the first place since I'm not super sure if it was mentioned that the Black Box can enforce those rules bofore
Oh. The idea is that you can set duel requirements and then in order for the opponent to duel you, they have to accept your requirement. Normally, you can just refuse the duel and it doesn't matter (at least in the context of my fic. In the game you have to duel those with requirements as a way to progress) but in the case of the game to determine the owner of the Phantom Lugia card, the duel against Cypress is essential. Refusal to duel would give him an automatic victory which would allow him to to turn his one Lugia card into 4 Shadow Lugia cards. Lugia (the mon) doesn't need to be Shadow Lugia because Lugia has a connection to the nexus for the express purpose of allowing the Lugia card to be transformed into 4 of any card in the Pokemon TCG including modern cards. In this case, the selection was Shadow Lugia. The fact that it happened to be that and considering all the shadow symbolism in the ruins of the card dungeon is why Claire made the comment of it being so fitting. (also because I decided what card Cypress would get after I had planned and created everything else so it was hilarious to me how well it fit the narrative!)
New character. Not MC. There will be a new MC for Book Five, but it will be an existing character from the series. Oh fine, I'll just tell you. The MC for Book Five will be Trish. (the one with the Dark Raichu deck that Mint beat at the game center) Tango will accompany her on her adventure there.
Oh. You probably are remembering correctly. It's been a long time since I watched it. In that case, bad example. But I think most villains exclude themselves from the bad events or changes they cause.
Yeah, I get that. Though maybe it should be mentioned that Cypress and his cult didn't know about the Black Box's name so future readers wouldn't get confused by it, because I certainly did.
Oh, so it was Lugia. I thought it was Tango being dramatic. That's interesting, I wonder why it's normal Lugia speaking through despite the card being Shadow Lugia.
Oh, so we're delving into genetic experimentation in a future book? Sign me up for that. Will Tina be a villain that Tango will have to seduce and redeem?
Actually, Trish and Tango will be working for the villains of Book Five early on. Tina will be on the side of the rebels that are actually the good guys along with the mysterious GR X. I also plan to have Tango have traditional mon battles vs Tina which he will lose many times until he finally wins.
The events in Book Five will lead to the final book in the series Book Six: Ragnorok.
Well, GR X was on Neo Island. One of the others was occupied doing science with his new friend and going on a quest to discover the long lost Legendary Rainbow Palace. One of them is Mark. Another is Mint. One of them is Trish. Another is Tango. There will be one more threat who will also be covered extensively in Book Three: Origins. An existing character.
I mean we could do that, but I think I'd need to get permission to even do something like that, not to mention a lot of the fics I do read have authors or are on sites that don't do reviews on this kind of level usually. 'sides Chp 8 of JaND is getting pretty close to completion so there's still something we could toss in for that exchange.
Permission? What do you mean? The idea is I would find an author on TR, review chapters of their fic and ask them to review your fic in return. Then when they review your fic, you can then review mine some more. But yes, anytime you release new chapters, I want to review those so you can get farther in mine. Also, I just had a thought. What if I start giving you my catnip reviews? Like put your fic in there and then I review others to get them to review you? Granted, I know people sometimes give some sucky reviews on there, but I'm just trying to think of ways to give you incentives.
Oh. The idea is that you can set duel requirements and then in order for the opponent to duel you, they have to accept your requirement. Normally, you can just refuse the duel and it doesn't matter (at least in the context of my fic. In the game you have to duel those with requirements as a way to progress) but in the case of the game to determine the owner of the Phantom Lugia card, the duel against Cypress is essential. Refusal to duel would give him an automatic victory which would allow him to to turn his one Lugia card into 4 Shadow Lugia cards. Lugia (the mon) doesn't need to be Shadow Lugia because Lugia has a connection to the nexus for the express purpose of allowing the Lugia card to be transformed into 4 of any card in the Pokemon TCG including modern cards. In this case, the selection was Shadow Lugia. The fact that it happened to be that and considering all the shadow symbolism in the ruins of the card dungeon is why Claire made the comment of it being so fitting. (also because I decided what card Cypress would get after I had planned and created everything else so it was hilarious to me how well it fit the narrative!)
Wait, ignoring game mechanics, what happens if the player sets their own requirements? Can they do that and subjugate their opponents' requirements for their own or is it strictly only for people who the dueler initiates with?
Like say an example: Cypress challenges Mint to duel him with a set of rules.
Can Mint instead make her own requirements if she was the one that challenged Cypress? Can they negotiate until each side is satisfied with the requirements (I'm assuming not otherwise Mint wouldn't be panicking so hard)? Or is she restricted because of her ex-nameless status?
Actually, Trish and Tango will be working for the villains of Book Five early on. Tina will be on the side of the rebels that are actually the good guys along with the mysterious GR X. I also plan to have Tango have traditional mon battles vs Tina which he will lose many times until he finally wins.
Oh, so Book's Five is gonna have em' do that one meme where they go "Are we the baddies?" huh? And traditional mon battles would be cool to see especially since we don't exactly have a lot of those in your fic (or well any, considering this is a card game fic). If you want advice on how to write those battles, you can hit me up anytime.
Well, GR X was on Neo Island. One of the others was occupied doing science with his new friend and going on a quest to discover the long lost Legendary Rainbow Palace. One of them is Mark. Another is Mint. One of them is Trish. Another is Tango. There will be one more threat who will also be covered extensively in Book Three: Origins. An existing character.
An existing character as a threat? Hm, is it Ellen? I remember you saying you wanted to do something with her but I'm not sure if this is what you meant (It's probably that short crush bit about ex-Cypress thing, isn't it?) Also Rainbow Palace? Are we gonna explore that thing in a future book because that sounds cool and also very on theme if it's gonna be Ho-oh related.
Permission? What do you mean? The idea is I would find an author on TR, review chapters of their fic and ask them to review your fic in return. Then when they review your fic, you can then review mine some more. But yes, anytime you release new chapters, I want to review those so you can get farther in mine. Also, I just had a thought. What if I start giving you my catnip reviews? Like put your fic in there and then I review others to get them to review you? Granted, I know people sometimes give some sucky reviews on there, but I'm just trying to think of ways to give you incentives.
Oh, I thought you meant as in me providing you random fics to review in exchange for me reviewing yours. I've seen some people do it online and just thought that's what you meant (not that I'd wanna do that in the first place, I'm too socially anxious to actually bother random folks lol) so yeah, we can go with your suggestion. And also uh, you can keep your catnip reviews. I don't think it'd sit well with me if I took something when it's supposed to be yours, not to mention, I don't even think or know if that's even allowed.
There will be another version of Mark. He will have a diary. That diary will be used to gaslight and manipulate a good character into doing evil for the villains. The good character will question things, but through trial and error and thousands of resets, the evil Mark will discover exactly what to do or say to get the other character to do what he wants. Evil Mark will suck at duels because he relies on resetting with his diary every time he loses. Manipulating the good character is a form of revenge one of the villains will be having against that character. The good character will be a champion-level threat.
Wait, ignoring game mechanics, what happens if the player sets their own requirements? Can they do that and subjugate their opponents' requirements for their own or is it strictly only for people who the dueler initiates with?
Like say an example: Cypress challenges Mint to duel him with a set of rules.
Can Mint instead make her own requirements if she was the one that challenged Cypress? Can they negotiate until each side is satisfied with the requirements (I'm assuming not otherwise Mint wouldn't be panicking so hard)? Or is she restricted because of her ex-nameless status?
I would say who ever approaches someone else for a duel allows for the one approached to set a duel requirement. But good question because I hadn't thought about that before!
Oh, so Book's Five is gonna have em' do that one meme where they go "Are we the baddies?" huh? And traditional mon battles would be cool to see especially since we don't exactly have a lot of those in your fic (or well any, considering this is a card game fic). If you want advice on how to write those battles, you can hit me up anytime.
An existing character as a threat? Hm, is it Ellen? I remember you saying you wanted to do something with her but I'm not sure if this is what you meant (It's probably that short crush bit about ex-Cypress thing, isn't it?)
Oh, I thought you meant as in me providing you random fics to review in exchange for me reviewing yours. I've seen some people do it online and just thought that's what you meant (not that I'd wanna do that in the first place, I'm too socially anxious to actually bother random folks lol) so yeah, we can go with your suggestion. And also uh, you can keep your catnip reviews. I don't think it'd sit well with me if I took something when it's supposed to be yours, not to mention, I don't even think or know if that's even allowed.
So, in catnip, I can put any fic up for review (including someone else's) as long as I do the reviews that I sign up for. So you could get reviews that way. Also, you wouldn't really be taking it, you would give me reviews in return. Ultimately I'd be reviewing other authors fics so that you could review my fic more. But you would be getting reviews for your fic from other authors.
There will be another version of Mark. He will have a diary. That diary will be used to gaslight and manipulate a good character into doing evil for the villains. The good character will question things, but through trial and error and thousands of resets, the evil Mark will discover exactly what to do or say to get the other character to do what he wants. Evil Mark will suck at duels because he relies on resetting with his diary every time he loses. Manipulating the good character is a form of revenge one of the villains will be having against that character. The good character will be a champion-level threat.
Ooh, sorta like GreedIF Subaru, huh? I wonder who's the good guy's gonna be. If he's from GR Island, I'm gonna put my money on Bill. He seems like the type of guy that Mark would want to get revenge on.
Oh and while I don't remember if I asked this before, have you got any plans for like legendaries after Gen 2? Groudon, Kyogre, that kind of stuff? I'm thinking probably not due to the TCG games not really going above gen 2? But who knows really.
So, in catnip, I can put any fic up for review (including someone else's) as long as I do the reviews that I sign up for. So you could get reviews that way. Also, you wouldn't really be taking it, you would give me reviews in return. Ultimately I'd be reviewing other authors fics so that you could review my fic more. But you would be getting reviews for your fic from other authors.
Ooh, sorta like GreedIF Subaru, huh? I wonder who's the good guy's gonna be. If he's from GR Island, I'm gonna put my money on Bill. He seems like the type of guy that Mark would want to get revenge on.
Oh and while I don't remember if I asked this before, have you got any plans for like legendaries after Gen 2? Groudon, Kyogre, that kind of stuff? I'm thinking probably not due to the TCG games not really going above gen 2? But who knows really.
