Extended Progress Update: 8 December 2023

Hi Returning Visitors,

Key highlights of this update and reminders:

• My typical gentle nudge to remember to add my email address can be found here. It's important for the TFS character portrait inquiries and welcome message I promptly send out. Also, remember to check your spam folder and to reach out to me, if needed.
• Writing, writing, and more writing! 😻 I finished that section I mentioned last time.
• Our first winter themed writing is soon, but I shared some soft/warm Mal yesterday! ⛄
• Book Two Snippet: Sometimes the MC really shouldn't say what's on their mind. 😮

Admittedly, this time of year can be busy with various holidays, attention-grabbing sales (I still can't find Baldur's Gate 3 for PS5. 😒 Maybe they don't make it as a disc???), family functions, and so forth, but my writing pace continues to steamroll ahead. Always finishing a chapter a month isn't realistic given how some chapters are more sprawling than others. (It is ambitious! An aspiration to strive for as long as the writing quality remains.) Many of you will know that I write what's best for the story instead of portioning up chapters by word count or their individual play time. I prefer for narrative events to determine when I need to do a transition or begin another chapter.

(This is why Chapter 2 (the one with all the RO excursions) is such a goliath, the size of two traditional novels (roughly 80k each, so 160k) versus how the Introduction is around 32k.)

Writing is just the first step. There's re-reading it, having someone else who's close to me read it, sending it to my friend/editor, Tiffany, play-testing the coding, listening to Spotify while pacing around and scrutinizing parts of it for the ~mood~, play-testing it again, releasing it to you all for our alpha✨, reading your comments/reception, and then probably even more scrutiny. This list is just to make it clear that 'finishing a chapter' is a crucial starting point. I'm still ecstatic though!

Despite this hectic time of year, I did manage to keep up my pace of completing large sections, partially because it's been so encouraging to see Book Two take shape. 🌲 I completed another chapter on December 4th, which is close enough to count into my chapter-a-month blitz. It includes that dynamic section I shared with you all in the last Extended Progress Update, which required a host of variables and unique scenes for your MC to trigger based on how they engage with Mal. Just within the mini-game, there are about 30 unique scenes, iirc, that lead into final outcomes. Do you think I'd let Mal kick the MC out of their industrial loft? Yes, I would. Maybe you can also stay over.

Anyway, before I spoil just how earth-shatteringly amazing or disastrous that can go, let's move on.

Our first winter themed writing will be published in 24 hours! ⛄ It pairs nicely with the frosty wallpaper I recently shared, although the snowy setting in the writing isn't quite that natural/rustic. I can share that what I'm about to be working on brings the MC back to their grandfather's cabin. It will be fun to revisit this setting with the Fernweh Gang. I'm certain you will notice differences across your playthroughs about what can happen there, including an important yet tiny detail.

[Spoilers Ahead!]

Here's an excerpt from Book Two.:

(I included some of the genders, but there are other combos, of course!)

Choice: #Whistle disrespectfully and compliment the deceased, smirking. "I see where you get your good looks from."

Reese and Becca

An appreciative whistle slips free from your lips, drawn-out and low so that more eyes settle on you than Mr. Verner's steel gray ones, except this attention feels far more reactive.

He's handsome and regal, clearly above it all.

Reese is arching an eyebrow at you, while Becca appears dumbfounded before you've even said anything, probably because she has an idea about where your mind is. "I see where you get your good looks from," you compliment Mr. Verner and technically his son. "He would've been such a silver fox."

"Ohmy—[Nickname or Name], that's—no, a hard 'no,'" Becca quickly chastises you. She steps closer to the portrait that you've parked yourself across from, disrupting your view. Her eyes dart between you and the concerningly quiet heir.

Ruby and Beckett

An appreciative whistle slips free from your lips, drawn-out and low so that more eyes settle on you than Mr. Verner's steel gray ones, except this attention feels far more reactive.

He's handsome and regal, clearly above it all.

Ruby is arching an eyebrow at you, while Beckett appears dumbfounded before you've even said anything, probably because he has an idea about where your mind is. "I see where you get your good looks from," you compliment Mr. Verner and technically his daughter. "He would've been such a silver fox."

"Ohmy—[Nickname or Name]—no, a hard 'no,'" Beckett quickly chastises you. He steps closer to the portrait that you've parked yourself across from, disrupting your view. His eyes dart between you and the concerningly quiet heir.

Yes, this is an outlandish choice that I'm not recommending you pick because of how R reacts, but it was interesting to write. 😌

Thank you again for all of your support and encouragement! 💚