Bleach: Shinigami Quest 34

There's a board for this.

It might work since Haname also reflects the strength of any attack back at the attacker. It's hard to say for sure if it would work though.

I know Haname is useless, but I was more focusing on the fight defensively and use kido.

Speaking as a player of this quest since thread 1 /qst/ really isn't a bad option.

Voting over, writing!

Did you? His spear can't be deflected, but the way Hashimaru works is through parrying.
>Don't use any releases
Unless you wanna boost Analytical Mind to B again, even with even stats his sword beats ours.

Hashimaru is also powered up through each successful strike we make. I don't plan to parry at all.

Damnit less than a minute too late. Also, even if we do beat him, it won't be in a way that would have also allowed us to block a cero so we're not selling it.

Also if he didn't think we did it, why was he raring for a fight?

He said there's nothing we can say that would make him believe it was us so he wants us to prove our strength through a fight.

You draw your sword, but instead of granting it a name, you mutter the name of the 26th Bakudo spell. There is no time to spend on an incantation, so you hurry the spell along, your hand drawing a line through the air, space seemingly melting underneath your fingers, giving way to a plethora of vivid colors. You pull the distorted light over yourself as though it is a veil, promptly disappearing from sight.

Even though invisible, you are still physically present. The first priority is changing your location-...

As you lower your core in preparation for a dash, your ears catch the distinct sound of a Shunpo.

>Ryuu's Shunpo: C

Your jump ends up abrupt and clumsy. In order to not risk catching a blow with your back, you spin in the midst of your leap to face the foe, your sword raised; a meaningless gesture against this mad weapon, but one that still feels too natural to forego.

Rather than thrusting his spear, Ryuu swings it as though it were a club. It shouldn't be an efficient way to use a weapon of that kind, but its ability makes that method of attack completely viable. The unstoppable Zanpakuto nearly smacks your sword out of your hands as it passes through, but ultimately, you avoid the attack - merely the edge of its arc caught you, and only your weapon, which still remains in your grasp.

What you don't maintain a grip on is the spell - the bent light flickers and glows, your control over it growing loose. The redhaired fighter takes a moment to establish a formidable stance, his rusted spear rebelliously quivering against the brief delay.

#26 didn't work to establish stealth. Ryuu's next attack is on its way.

...

>Continue with the plan; use Hashimaru.
>Use an incantationless Hado #31 at point-blank range as a distraction. At this range, it will hurt you as well.
>Use Shunpo to try and get away from him.
>Use another Shikai. (Write-in).
>Use another Kido spell without an incantation. (Write-in).
>Other. (Write-in).

Well, as usual, doing things was a mistakem

>Use an incantationless Hado #31 at point-blank range as a distraction. At this range, it will hurt you as well.
Equip Haname first though. That's the last time I try to get creative I guess. My bad guys l.

I don't know, use shunpo to dodge and after he thrusts, use Sai?

Dodging seems impossible though. This doesn't seem like a winnable fight unless we can incapacitate him with reflect power from Haname. But we might just get fucked by the spear.

This whole endeavor was a mistake, our best bet now is staying alive with our feelings intact.

I guess the way I read it is his shikai can't be halted from hitting the point in space he specifies, as opposed to always hitting the object he wants to hit.

Well one advantage to Haname I just noticed is it doesn't seem like we need to be stationary to use it, nor does it always manifest right in front of us.

Yeah let's just make sure to keep it at a distance from us when he's about to strike it I guess.

So it seem like a strategy could be to use Haname to slow him down, shunpo away when he's overwhelming the shield, and then bind him?

Sure man. We just gotta make sure he gets hit by his own reflected attack.

And form the shield as he starts his attack because he won't be able to stop himself once he starts.

You're optimistic. I figured that since he has a sevenfold strike and Haname is a two layer shield, the best we could do is distract him/slow him down.

Why isnt this in /qst/ again?

Come on mushroom start writing already. Let's get this loss over with

We didn't agree on a plan.

But I don't know this might work. Like even without shutting off THE HEART, didn't our copy of Haname at least briefly slow down the Cero? It was just we weren't sure if we could still run while carrying Hanae.

Use Haname

Let's take a brief break, everyone!

Would you guys like to talk a little about the state of the quest? I can't stop feeling as though everyone is constantly disappointed in what goes on in the quest, at least judging by the consistently conflicted, frequently tied votes as well as the meager participation in general! I understand that that's entirely on me, and I'm not trying to blame you guys for anything at all! To the contrary, I'm really grateful to you for taking the time out to read and participate in the quest, and you should always feel free to participate as you see fit without a regard for me, but I still feel like I'm doing things in a way that isn't as enjoyable as it could be! That feeling has been bugging me for a while, to tell you the truth.

I also had this thought lately that while low player participation may not be a bother to me personally, it's a drag for you guys, because the votes get clogged up into ties and the quest generally feels kind of lonely. It's what I feel when I play in quests with low amounts of players, at least! I don't think I can remedy something like that through anything other than trying my luck with a completely new quest, because Shinigami Quest has ran for over 30 threads now, which is a menacing barrier for new participants. Tell me your thoughts on this, too!

If you're not having fun, then I'm not having fun! Your enjoyment takes a priority above everything else. If there's something that you aren't enjoying, or if there's nothing that you're enjoying, or any other complaint whatsoever, lay it all on me, and don't feel bad even a little bad for speaking your mind! Word it as harshly as you like! I'm not going to get sad or angry about anything you tell me!

Please speak your mind!

Maybe it's because almost nothing has happened with the main storyline, finding the hogyoku. We haven't made any progress at all! We've learned a lot about Ryouta and a lot of the quest is focused on his personal problem which is nice but we haven't even touched upon the overarching plot at all

I sort of feel like our choices rarely have much influence on the overall story

My biggest problem is the long vote periods and the long writing time.

Well honestly I feel like the quest has many of the same problems as Substitute Shinigami Quest only in some ways worse. Like there's the same feeling of aimlessness and fragility, only there isn't even anyone we can really confide in to tell what we really are, especially not with Urahara's vaguely threatening presence a constant.Like I can get behind us never finding the Hougyoku, just like Clarissa never rescued Clarissa, but I'm not really sure what the journey is about.

I have more to say in a bit.

Ryouta is an interesting character but he's not a very entertaining one for obvious reasons

I see! Ryouta and his problems were meant to be the main plot of the story from the very beginning, but I must have messed up my overall emphasis and given the story the wrong impression as a result, or maybe the fact that it's all dragged on for so long was what resulted in that. No matter what I intended to do, it was never meant to feel like a drag! But if that's what it ultimately resulted in, then my intentions don't really matter and I need to do something to fix it!

I try to make the choices have as much of an impact as I can manage to make them have, but most of them aren't immediately apparent. It's also not obvious if something has occurred due to player decisions even when it really has. I'm not trying to belittle anyone's patience or attentiveness; it really is a problem worth addressing if it feels like the choices are meaningless!

I extend the vote periods when there's uncertainty or ties in the votes, but I do dislike doing that because it takes up time! The fact that I take ages to write updates is a problem I've been truly struggling with, though! I haven't the faintest idea of how to take it on. It's like my main nemesis or something. I'll see about giving mass scale prewriting a firm, solid try and see where that goes.

I guess for me at least, the problem is more the way no one really wants to talk or figure things out, and sometimes the only thing that does happen is I get yelled at by everyone whenever I get worried.

I don't really have the same problem as the other guys, like I knew that the story was really about Ryouta, and that choices do have lasting consequences.

I guess the problem is that the pieces I've put together lead to Ryouta seeming to meet a tragic end, that even if it might be poignant, I would still find pretty unpleasant. That also often leaves me paralyzed when it comes time to vote, because sometimes I'm not sure what will save us or doom us.

We were just now talking about how to counter this unstoppable spear pretty well though.

Like I don't know, the long writing times kind of heighten my dread, but on the whole it feels like we're one wrong move from everything falling apart, and there's no one who could understand what we're going through.

Well yeah, that was actually really nice, and in recent threads I feel like we've improved in that regard. But there have been times in the past when we just vote and then wait.

Are we gonna get back to the actual quest today or no?

>Once thrust, it cannot be swayed or deflected in any direction until it reaches the destination set by its user before the strike

Does that mean he could go to attack something and simply let his weapon go because it has to go there before it stops?

I'd like to take some time to think about how I can remedy the pointed out issues!

I understand where you're coming from. I did suspect that I've been doing even worse with this quest than during my first time. Instead of fixing any of SSQ's faults, I've done a complete 180 and unintentionally made them worse.
>I have more to say in a bit.
If you still do, then feel free to speak your mind! Feedback is never redundant, and I always appreciate it!

One thing I neglected was that you're one of my favorite QMs because of how emotionally engaging your writing is, and I really hope you don't stop.

Never rescued Kimiko I mean. But yeah I'm at work right now so I can't type a lot. I think maybe if you finished the fight scene and saved this until after we reached an ending of some kind that might certainly be better for the other players.

Thank you, I really do appreciate it! I don't intend to stop because I find running quests to be a ton of fun! But something just doesn't feel right this time around, and I need to find out what it is and how to fix it before I can properly continue.

I'm sorry for interrupting things if you were enjoying them despite everything! However, I just find myself unable to keep going in good conscience with the way things have been. It just doesn't feel right to me!

Aizen did nothing wrong.

It really doesn't have much to do with fighting other than the fact that Ryouta kinda sucks at it though

I really appreciate your concern, but I literally can't engage with this on the level it deserves for at least another hour, and I think the other guys have already said their piece.

I don't think we really suck at it. Like statwise we're pretty much dead even with Ryuu, except he has better strength and worse spi, we're also smarter than him and don't have to deal with an unruly Zanpakuto.

Also what's with Squad 11 and dysfunctional relationships with their swords?

It's not only about the fighting, but it does feel like a problem as well. I think I ultimately failed to make it as engaging as I wanted it to be!

Please contact me on twitter if the thread drops off before you're ready! I don't want to let your thoughts go unheard!

It's just kinda shitty to start a thread and then stop after one update

Without a doubt! I don't like it one bit either! But I feel like pushing on and just hoping that things get better isn't the right way to go about it! I've been finding myself thinking stuff like "it's going to get better in the next scene, I just need to finish this one" with some level of frequency lately, and it hasn't worked out so far, and it may not do that at all. I need to take some time and clear my head properly before I can continue with some degree of confidence that the times of everyone involved will be spent doing things that are enjoyable and engaging!

Like I said, being engaged isn't any of my problems with the quest.

I think the problem is with both your quests, the impression I eventually gathered is that this is a character-based drama that's almost a subversion (not sure about deconstruction) of Bleach and shounen in general. And while I don't really want to put words in their mouth, it's possible that at least some of your other players were might have expected this to be more like other Bleach quests? Like it might be a case of differing expectations?

I feel like a dice system would help the combat be more exciting.

I disagree, I like how diceless makes combat more a puzzle based on using what we currently have available.

It can still be a puzzle with dice rolls.

I guess, but to me things are already stressful enough in this quest without adding the potential for random failure. Also, despite fighting being a feature of being a shinigami, it -really- doesn't seem like it's the main focus of the quest.

I just don't enjoy fighting when our success is entirely dependent upon how much the QM likes our plan

Also that usually leads to only having one possible option for success which isn't very engaging

And our stats aren't that great, despite being an allegedly important asset.

I don't know, to me it makes the time it all clicks worth it, like when we initially had to run away from that Quincy guy, but later were able to just shut him down with Ishiken. Also I really like that at first, we DID run away. Quest players almost never retreat or back down in my experience, even when it's a good idea.

Dude, Ryuu's stats are about the same as us, except with an admittedly decent Zanpakuto but no kido. And haven't we won virtually every fight we've been in since the academy? Like just because we're the protagonist in a Bleach setting doesn't mean we have to be horrendously powerful. We are, aside from our very versatile ability, pretty much average for a rank and file shinigami, maybe even a low rank seated officer.

To me, one problem is the way you just skipped decades at a time and only allowed like one action. Like we should have been able to keep correspondances with the shinigami we've met, but all too quickly enough time passes that it'd just be weird to do it now. Like as much bullshit as Clarissa was going through, she had peers she was able to level with in a way that I feel like not only does Ryouta not have the opportunity, he also lacks the ability to do any of that.

Also I guess the one disadvantage of our low power level is our near constant proximity to the most dangerous man in Soul Society, but really that'd be a problem regardless.

Like Urahara now has no one to stand in his way and we've been wasting his goddamn time for what feels like at least fifty years now.

Like I genuinely don't get it, on pretty much every mission we've saved the life of the shinigami in the same area as us, and defeated at least one challenging opponent, and yet people still complain about us being too weak.

I mean maybe a part of it is that it doesn't really seem like we're making progress anywhere? Like our stats increase slowly, our special power comes at a Terrible Cost, our primary mission is unobtainable, socially we seem to be in stasis more or less, and our own personal mysteries are more or less just questions I'm pretty sure we don't want the answers to. And honestly I'm not sure how you could take away ANY of that without also taking away what makes this quest what it is.

Like I don't know, I want to keep moving forward, just be forgiving when we gripe a little?

Also I feel like you really shouldn't beat yourself up with taking a long time to post, since I don't think I'll ever be able to post anything like this quest no matter how much time I have, and to me at least, the slow post times indicate that this quest isn't all mostly pre-written, you're really doing your best to work our choices into the story.

>versatile ability
Imagine if we copied Wabisuke, and you'll understand how fundamentally BROKEN Ryouta is. Wabisuke is a bit disgusting on its own, and switching from that to Judenmaru would be insane.

For me it's a combination of several things:
>Ryouta rarely seems to exercise agency, or even necessarily HAVE it
>Ryouta has had zero success on his main objective in the plot
>His lack of emotional content makes it difficult to relate to/root for him
>His character growth arc has gone more sideways than anything else
>He's generally disengaged with the setting
So he was always rather flat and lifeless as an MC, and his general lack of progress and investment in the world around him hasn't helped.

I don't know about that, despite Urahara continuously telling us "if it's not the Hougyoku, just fucking leave" and yet we pretty consistently do not do that at all, despite knowing damn well that we won't find the Hougyoko ever. Also to me, while definitely low-key I haven't really had trouble figuring out Ryouta's feelings and don't really have a problem with him not really having a place within the setting, though him not really having a group of friends or peers within Squad 12 is kind of sad.

...I'll definitely give you his character arc being kind of confusing though. Like with Clarissa at least I generally knew where to aim.

I think the time jumps were a bit too rushed, we didn't have much chance to establish a base of contacts. We came out of 'school' knowing 2 people total. Trainning is slow as sin despite decades of possible time to devote to it, and nothing even hints at anything that would give the MC a personality. E.g. Even something simple like liking tea and learning tea ettique of his own violation.

Pretty much.

Never got to do anything during the time skips either.

I feel like Ryouta's not really having any interests is a key element, but I will say him having a very small contact list kind of makes it worse, because the only hobbies we really had opportunity to mimic is Shiori reading and Moeka being a fuckup.

Well crap, Mushroom last posted at 4:30, and it's now like way past his bedtime.
I know he said not to hold back but I'm still worried we demotivated him.

That's not true! All of the feedback has been incredibly helpful so far!

Well that's good to hear, I hope you find a way to move forward that won't lose what makes this quest so special.