Hello, everyone. I'm sure you were expecting the next chapter for this update, but unfortunately I am here to announce that I must rewrite this story. What was originally a story that was supposed to focus primarily on Goku and Vegeta, has since lost that focus and has become too complicated and big for me to handle with too many plot points that need to be touched on in each chapter and characters losing critical time in the spotlight. It has gotten to the point where I have recently been struggling to write chapters because of the heavy amounts of information I need to cover for each character, and it has caused me to rush things, as well as exclude moments that I felt needed to be introduced and emphasized on.
This decision has been one that I began to consider once I introduced Hirudegarn into the story. While many people certainly enjoyed seeing the side characters get their time to shine, this story was never meant to be about them, and that's exactly what it became. Throughout the entire arc, I struggled heavily to keep throwing in Goku's moments with Gine, which resulted in rushed scenes with excess information that would have been touched on without having to keep up with Hirudegarn being shown in flashbacks (like when Goku shows Gine that he can go Super Saiyan).
Things also became difficult to keep up with when I had imposed an update schedule on myself. When I first set out to upload once a week, I had already written at least four chapters ahead. But work and life got in the way, and my time to continue staying ahead quickly diminished to the point where I struggled to crank out a chapter each week. Case in point, chapter 9, easily my worst chapter of the story. That chapter was rushed because I really wanted to post something after not having posted anything for a while. Because of it, I left out a lot of scenes with Krillin, Tapion, and the Galactic Patrol that I wanted to show. And some of it, like Tapion and Krillin's conversation, may feel out of place because of it.
I never imagined that this story would garner such a massive reception and fanbase, but I'm currently at 113 favorites and 130 alerts, and I have over 13,000 hits on this and that's just insane to me. I thank everyone for the support and kind words of encouragement and reviews that they have left for me. This is my first big story, and I'm more than elated. But writing this story recently has felt more like a chore than anything else when it used to be fun. I had so much writing the scenes with Vegeta and Beerus, and really enjoyed writing the scenes with Krillin and 18 as well. But as the story continued, I just had too much to write and introduce, and I wasn't having fun anymore. Which is why it's begun to take me a while to update.
So in the rewritten version of this story, there will be some major changes, such as, but not limited to:
The Hirudegarn arc will be taken out of the rewrite (the Galactic Patrol OCs that have been accepted will still be in the rewrite, as long as the creators allow me to reuse them)
Tapion and Minotia will not return as characters
Less focus will be put on the side characters, but they will be paired with the main characters more often
Goku's inner conflict with Kakarot and the Saiyan side of him will not be as drawn out
Though Majin Buu has not made an appearance in the story yet, he most likely will not until I can figure out what to do with him
The story will be set to end after the Universal Tournament arc. If I decide to continue the story, it will most likely be an entirely separate story from this.
My other story "Hope!" is also in the process of being rewritten, and will NOT cross over with the Divergent Paths rewrite. Both stories will stand alone.
In addition to all of these changes, I will also be accepting more OCs for the story to potentially replace other characters if the OCs prove to be better, such as certain members of Cooler's Armored Squadron, or Champa's team for the tournament. You'll find the forms on my profile within the upcoming weeks.
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Again, I would like to thank everyone for the support and encouragement they have shown me throughout this story, as well as the positivity. I ask that everyone bear with me for these upcoming months as I most likely will not begin posting the rewrite until its completely finished, or mostly finished. Thank you, everyone! This update will stay until I begin posting the rewrite.