#sianascera

[jaz-the-bard]

🪄 for the silm ask meme!

Only just realized this was still in my asks,,

I would change the thing about how people who sailed/died can't go back to middle earth! I think that's just mean and elves should be able to do whatever they want. Like okay maybe it's really really difficult so they rarely do, but i think it should be allowed

[stormxpadme]

🎈

Let's Get ((REAL)) fic writer asks 🎈 - describe your style as a writer; is it fixed? does it change?

I have really no idea. Long and feels? Is that a thing? It isn't but my literature analysis classes were literally 25 years ago and my brain has dumbed down considerably. I only know that I can't write short for the life of me. I need my character introspection and the hint of description and above all dialogue. Pure dialogue exchanges make me feel like there's something missing, I even get itchy about writing text messages in a story LOL. I do think that I've been influenced a lot by Stephen King from swallowing a lot of his books whole as a teenager though so make of that what you will. Guy also never knows when to shut up and me, personally, I love that. If I enjoy something, I can't have enough of it. And since King's longest series easily cracks a million words, too, I always feel better about writing far too much in my longest projects.

[stormxpadme]

HAVE FUN

LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIES

[effervescentdragon]

💖

hi siana i miss you!! imma have to work on getting my discord back 💙 thank you for asking 😊

💖 - if you could hug someone rn, who would it be?

my dad. always, if i had to choose, till always and forever and all the way beyond. id give anything and everything for that hug again.

[effervescentdragon]

would you rather live in a world without tolkien or without f1? <3333

you don't pull any punches, huh? hit me right in the bone marrow siana, it's fine, it's alright, i can do this <3

okay so i need to elaborate abt this bcs im physically unable not to talk. if i look at the impact both these things have had on the world, the answer is really easy, because if it weren't for tolkien, i wouldn't be able to enjoy like half of the media i enjoy in general, bcs the professor was insane and i love him for it, and his influence on other writers and on the whole genre of fantasy literature is basically he did it first in a way that's so good and so far-reaching, that everyone has heard of him at least. however, this puts me in a precarious position bcs rn, i can't enjoy anything besides f1, because all the stuff thats connected to tolkien kinda hurt. and living in a world without f1 means no pretty cars that go vroom vroom and more importantly no sebastian vettel, about whom i cannot be normal about under any circumstances.

ugh. if i had to be smart, long-termy, and semi-objective about it (bcs i am also insane about tolkien) i'd have to say i'd rather live in a world without f1. if you ask me in this exact moment, based on my feelings and my coping mechanisms, i'd say sorry professor, but i gotta go obsess about some pretty rich people who crash 800t cars into walls at 300km/h+ for reasons of mental health.

[ais-n]

Hi, if you enjoy Whyborne and Griffin then I can wholeheartedly recommend KJ Charles to you. Her entire work in general and the Magpie Lord in particular. If you need/want anymore recommendations I can give you some pointers. In any case W & G just got its conclusion recently and I am very happy with how it all ended :D

Thanks! It’s funny because I was recommended Magpie Lord, Whyborne & Griffin, and another series all at the same time so I can totally see why you rec Magpie/KJ too. I think probably a lot of people would agree with you so I do think for anyone who read W&G or Magpie Lord and liked it, you should listen to sianascera :) 

I thought about just saying “thanks!” and not saying more because I hate ever seeming like a contrary asshole, but I’m also way too damn honest and I felt like I’d be lying if I didn’t continue… This worry going back and forth stalled me for days on figuring out how to reply, because I’m a dork ¬_¬

To compromise, here’s a longer ass reply, but I’ll put it behind a cut so as not to bug anyone who doesn’t care.

In all honesty, I actually tried Magpie Lord before Whyborne & Griffin and didn’t like it, sadly, so I don’t plan to read anything else in that series. But I did think the beginning was intriguing, I liked the world concept, and KJ’s writing style was fine from what I recall, so I’ll definitely keep her in mind for other series. It might be that other series she writes will work well for the things I tend to gravitate toward and I just happened to not connect well with that particular series. 

The problem I had with Magpie Lord is a similar problem I have with like 99.99% of BL or m/m, which is why I’m exceedingly picky with things I will read, and then what I like, and especially what I will go on to recommend to others. I don’t know how many series or books I’ve read in the m/m world but for the longest time there was only 2 series I recommended, and now it’s tentatively expanded to 4. Even within those series, I don’t find them to be perfect, but nothing is. Still, something about each of them overran any misgivings I might have otherwise had at any point in time (if any), and for all of the series I’ve read them multiple times which is otherwise not super usual for me.

Your comment caused me to analyze what it is about those 4 series that for whatever reason works for me as a reader that the other series out there I’ve read don’t. It isn’t necessarily about the world, the plot, the characters, the dialogue, the writing voice, the length, any of that. Those are all factors, but they are not the sole or even oftentimes primary deciding factor in whether I will ultimately like, reread, and recommend a story.

I realized that, for me, power dynamics between a couple is really important (especially in any sort of romance or romance-adjacent story), in that I don’t like relationships that don’t have trust, respect, and equality or give-and-take at the center of it. I also really prefer stories where consent is very consciously addressed, both in that it’s given but also that it remains, and if ever something wavers within that, it’s acknowledged and addressed. I really like stories that take their time getting the couple to get to know each other before it’s instasex, and where sex isn’t used as the way to solve or avoid problems without there being consequences, and where it isn’t just automatically assumed that sexuality = consent and interest. Like, I’m gay but I’m also ace. Just because there’s a woman who’s also a lesbian around me doesn’t mean I’m going to instantly want to sex her. Likelihood is exceedingly low for that, in fact, even if I weren’t ace. 

I also like stories where the main characters’ merits and flaws remain evident throughout, but they find ways to accommodate each other, or account for the quirks of the other person. I really like stories where you can tell there’s love and respect and trust between the main couple, and especially when we first get to watch that be earned rather than jumping straight from meeting to xyz.

And then I’m also exceedingly picky outside of that entire topic; I’m a character-driven reader, so I have to connect with one or more characters well enough to stay engaged. I also get bored quickly, so I want the plot to be decent, although a great plot is even better. I like good dialogue or interesting narration. I appreciate versatile writing voices. Most importantly for a series, not only does the series have to be good in each book, but ideally over the course of the series it gets better, AND the ending has to be adequate or at least not frustrate me to the point that it tarnishes the rest of the series leading up to it.

I know I’m super picky about all this and that the majority of stories can’t really meet all those expectations, which is why I don’t read a ton of series anymore because I got kind of burned out over the years. 

Also, to be clear: There’s absolutely nothing whatsoever wrong with anyone who likes all the things I mentioned I like to avoid. When I was younger, my view of power dynamics between a couple was drastically different than it is now. I also felt that at that time we had fewer options out there in general in the whole LGBT field, and one reason I initially got into m/m or BL is because it was the only LGBT content I could find at the time, plus because I was character-driven in feeling that some canon characters who happened to both be male really fit each other so much better than others did for them. 

But the things I tend to like in this regard are not really super popular as a whole across the genre, so it just reinforces to me that I’m extremely picky on this particular topic. Which means that just because I’m too picky for certain things, others may super love it, and that’s awesome! I love that there are so many different stories out there, so many different perspectives both as readers/writers as well as within the stories themselves. It’s so awesome <3

I actually do totally plan to read that one short story that KJ and Jordan wrote together--I took a break from W&G because I’m now rereading for the millionth time the Raised by Wolves series by W.A. Hoffman--but I think it’ll be really interesting to see if maybe that story pulls me into a different world KJ writes, who knows. I think it’s so cute that The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal was mentioned in W&G as a book Griffin just had lying around. For some reason, that little detail delighted me lol So I’m def curious about the whole Simon Feximal thing. Especially since the art I saw commissioned for it looks dooooope

Oh btw, though - side note, the cover of Magpie Lord is so cool! *___* I love it so much!

Anyway that was my unnecessarily long answer, sorry lol I just didn’t want you to think I ignored you if I never mentioned Magpie Lord again. I was bummed I didn’t like the story, tbh; it started out strong for me and I went into it initially assuming I would love it. Unfortunately, in the end it just happened to be a story that didn’t work for me primarily because of the couple, but like I said, I’m definitely up for trying other series KJ writes, starting with Simon Feximal ones. Depending on how that goes, I’ll see about checking out anything else she does. 

And if it turns out the Simon books also don’t work for me, it’s just a personal thing from someone who’s picky as hell about certain things. It’s definitely not a reflection on KJ as a writer, because you can tell at a glance her works are well-loved by many, and that makes me super happy. I love it so much when there’s a writer who’s able to create worlds and characters for readers in a way that they genuinely love and connect with and want to spread their joy to others. It’s such a beautiful thing :)

Thank you for the recommendation! Sorry I’m so picky I couldn’t take it to heart as much as you would have hoped, but I super appreciate the recommendation, and I hope others are less picky than me and are able to enjoy the series fully because it’s certainly an interesting premise :)

[ais-n]

If your friend doesn't mind, I'd love to add him. I'm at lvl 57 now and I managed to enter the Grand Line. I figured out how to see all the maps that are available so far and holy shit do I have a long way to go all the way to Dressrosa. I want to level up high enough to try my hand at the clash maps, bc apparently the characters you can get there are really good. But I need to improve my timing and stuff, because it still sucks. But yeah I'm looking forward to it. Thanks again for the help! (3)

I’ll send your ID to my friend and see if he’s willing to add you :)

Yeah I’m still on Sabaody tbh. I think my friend might be in Dressrosa or further, not sure, but I’ve been slow as hell going through the main story islands. Part of it was because I was watching all the little previews along the way for a long time, because it was a really fun way to relive the high points of the series. But that does slow you down a lot if you do that vs skipping all the stories and just jumping right into the fights.

One thing that’s really annoying is eventually, like maybe around Water 7/Thriller Bark? A little bit in Skypiea too actually, it starts getting annoyingly difficult to pass some of the levels. I had to use gems on some of those even though I had good crews that could handle extra isles. Not all the levels in the main island are like that, but some are, and I don’t really know why they did that. I guess it kind of makes sense; after a point, the people they fought in story really did get quite powerful, too. So I guess it’s being thematically appropriate. It just annoyed me at times lol So I did end up doing a lot of playing in the extra isles for a while.

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When you get to a point that you can fight in some of the 30 stamina extra isles and not have to use gems, and if you’re at a point where you really want to start leveling up faster, a really good thing to do is find an extra isle where you can easily beat it at 30, do staminax2 so it’s costing 60 stamina but you get double the rewards (including exp), and then just play that over and over. That’s what my friend did, he said, and it worked because we started playing within a week of each other last year and dude’s literally 100 levels above me XD Although, he also lucked out and got a great character as his main character from the start (Fujitora) whereas I got a decent one but who wasn’t as powerful or versatile (Red-Haired Shanks).

btw, one thing I kept messing up when I first started playing was I didn’t get all the different variations of the characters. So people would talk on and on about Legend Shanks and I thought I had Legend Shanks, so I invested a lot in upgrading him, but I didn’t have the right Shanks. So he wasn’t the person everyone told me to put in this or that team or do this or that with. I ran into that problem a few times, thinking I’d properly verified it was the right character they were referencing, only to later realize I misinterpreted after all.

Also as a side note I forgot to mention in the other message, if you see people talk about God Coby the way they talk about God Usopp – be careful. God Coby is a joke. Do not waste time upgrading the hell out of the normal Coby you get. God Usopp (aka GPU) is the real deal, he’s definitely helpful. But the regular Coby (starts out as the tiny Coby Luffy first meets) is kind of useless. However, regular Helmeppo (also starts out the way Luffy first met him, except I think he’s like Marine Sailor Helmeppo?) actually does get useful to an extent as you upgrade him. So he can be worth some investment. I just wanted to mention that because I had gotten GPU and saw he was really helpful, then I saw people saying God Coby everywhere and I was so new to the game I didn’t know it was an inside joke, so I upgraded him and then was like, “Wait, why is he so lame???” Those reddit jerks lol ^_~

Oh also, the clash islands are fun because yeah, you can get some cool characters, but even at my level I struggle with some of them. So depending on what characters you get, it can take a while to be able to play them effectively without wasting gems, or spending more gems than you prefer. However, there are a bunch of other islands that keep popping up, including a bunch almost at the end of the island list that when you click it, there’s like 20 islands or something that pop up. I think some of those are less dramatically difficult than the clash islands, so you could start with some of those to work your way up.

PS: I’m still pretty shit at tap timing tbh XD Some of my crews I’m boss and can tap time even if I can’t see the special FX words, but others I’m awful at consistency. So hopefully you get better at that than I do lol Eventually, with the characters you do play a lot, I do think you’ll get used to it and get really good at timing on them, because even with my klutzy ass self that happened. 

Good luck! Let me know if you ever need anything else! obvs I can talk a million years on OP and OPTC, soooo….. ¬_¬;;

Oh wait, one more thing! Best ships to upgrade: Merry Go (regular), Merry Go (Flying Model), and Thousand Sunny (regular edition, you might get random other editions as specials here and there). I personally liked the Merry Go flying model for a while there because it heals you in addition to boosting crew attack, and for a long time I needed that little bit of HP healing help more than I needed extra HP + attack boost like the regular Merry Go does. But once you get normal Thousand Sunny, imo that’s the best all around ship, because it boosts crew’s attack, plus it can deal 50,000 damage to all enemies every 15 turns if you upgrade it to the top grade. It has smaller variations of that before it’s fully upgraded. There are other ships that exist that you get in story or might randomly get some other way but most of them are much more specific in usage so I never use them. A really thoughtful OPTC player might be able to do a better job properly utilizing them than I do. But in the beginning like where you are, I’d just spend all my Cola on Merry Go and ignore the other ships, and set all my crews to that ship.

[ais-n]

I have to say it's a bit overwehelming just how many characters there are. So many. And apparently not all of them are worth evolving to the top, like the GPU is better at that level then the next. But I also want to evolve all of them to see what's the next evolution like. And then I want a team with all my favorite characters, regardless if they are good and I definitely want that hot spring ace. too bad you can't fill a team with the same charas, a harem of Aces would be nice indeed :O (2)

lol ikr it’s frickin crazy. I get overwhelmed by my character box sometimes. Also if you’re like me and like to collect a copy of every character you ever get who’s not just rando nameless soldier or something, it gets confusing eventually because I’ve accidentally held onto unevolved versions of characters thinking they’re a totally different version of that character, only to eventually think to check and see nope, that’s just the unevolved version.

Speaking of, the best way I’ve found to do all that is a bit tedious but it works. I sort my character box by char, which will then group all the characters by their other versions. Inexplicably, it doesn’t keep all the Straw Hats or even normal characters at the top. The boosters and evo characters will pop up in between which is really annoying but whatever. Anyway, then I check the character numbers on each of the characters. Most of the time (not always, but usually), the evolved versions of the character will be one number above each other. So like, let’s say baseline Law is number 26. When you evolve him he becomes number 27. If he can be evolved again, he becomes number 28. So if you have three Laws in your character box, and you see one is 28, one is 314, and one is 26, you know that the 26 eventually evolves into 28 so you can decide if you want to just feed 26 to 28 or 314 instead of wasting more time on evolving him into literally the same character you already have.

Also, when you use the wikia page (http://onepiecetreasurecruiseglobal.wikia.com) it’s helpful because you can go to a character’s page and see what their evolutionary path is so you know what to gather if you decide you do want to evolve them, you can sometimes find notes at the bottom telling you if you should/shouldn’t evolve or if the character is worth investing in, but also super helpfully it tells you exactly how much EXP it takes to max the character. That depends on how badass the character is, and also how many levels they have. 

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Like, a Legend character that can be powered up to level 99 will take 5 million EXP to max. Which means you will have to use 5 million points worth of turtles, porcs, rando characters, and whatever other boosters you use, to get that character maxed out. But other characters, say the ones that only go up to level 35 or the baby porcs which have to get to level 10/max before you can evolve them, will take WAY less EXP. 

The reason that’s useful is if you have limited materials for upgrading characters, there’s no point in using a 5000 EXP character to power someone up who only needs 100 EXP. When I feel like it, I will sometimes calculate the amount of EXP left before the character maxes out to make sure I’m properly utilizing my hime turtles, elder turtles, whatever, and not wasting a bunch of EXP that could be useful on someone else. When you’re in the power up screen, in small letters it will always tell you how much EXP your character already has, above and to the left (I think) of where it tells you how much EXP is needed to get to the next level. The amount that character ultimately will need to max out varies by character so it’s always good to check. It took me a while to figure out you could calculate all that so I thought I’d pass it along :)

Also, you probably noticed this, but you always get more EXP if you power up with the same color as your character. So like a blue turtle will give a QCK character way more EXP than if you fed that blue turtle to, say, an INT character.

Anyway yeah I struggle with the whole evolve or don’t evolve thing too... My friend actually said what he does is he evolves everyone up to their top evolution, and then powers them up to level 40. He stops there until he gets everyone in his character box at that level, (except of course for the ones he uses all the time or really likes and maxes them out) and then when everyone’s equal he will upgrade them all at the same time to level 50 or whatever. I think I’m going to try doing something like that because I have a ton of characters who I’ve never evolved even once, let alone maxed at their current level, and I want to get them all up as high as I can.

Also, what I do sometimes is I keep one of the basic characters, and then I keep a second version which I evolve. So I’ll have unevolved and evolved for some people, if I feel like it. Chopper’s the best example of that... when you get his basic form you get in game on his island, it can actually be evolved like.. 4? 7? ways. Based on his rumble ball transformations which I can’t remember all the versions right now to give you the exact number. So you can have Horn Point, Brain Point, Arm Point, etc. I kept one Chopper pre-evolved but maxed out, then as I got random Choppers in pulls or whatever, I evolved them in different ways so I have a version of each of his rumble transformations :) Pretty nerdy, I know, but it makes me happy to see all the little Choppers in my box any time I scroll by, even though I almost never actually use any of my Choppers on my teams ^^;

I’m also sad you can’t fill a team with the same characters lol A harem of Ace would be awesome XD I super want to do an ASL team. I finally have all of them, and I’ve done one here or there, but I keep trying to figure out the best other people to add to fill out that team. Sadly, they’re never the most powerful teams when I do that, so it’s very limited what I can do with them.

I really wish they’d give us way more team options. I think we can have, what, 8 crews right now? I would like to have slots for 20 crews. I want to have a crew for each color, for each class, and then a few fun crews like an ASL crew or all my favorite characters crew, or other things like that. I’d also like the ability to name the crews so I can name it, like, “SLASHER/SHOOTER CREW” or something. Because there are islands that only allow specific colors or classes or whatever and it’s a pain carefully building crews only to have to periodically dismantle one or more of them to fit the really specific island requirements.