Sendicard

Arc 9 Poll

So we have lost, a lot of people over the last couple of weeks. We're at an all time low for the last like 6 to 8 months.

The question has come up and been talked about in my groups and I've come to the conclusion that at this point it is highly unlikely this big a drop is just because we're not in Konoha right now.

So, for those that want to give Indepth feedback, here's a google poll.
(Hyperlink: Form 2025-03-08 22:13:22 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 140- Arc 9 - The end of subterfuge, Sakura reveals herself!

The end of the Arc is here and a lot of moves are suddenly made, next chapter starts on a new tone. Tomorrow I'll be hosting a poll of sorts to see what people thought of this arc and see if it could be improved by a quick few weeks of redo or if any issues could probably just be fixed in the public release versions and I should move on.

I had a lot of fun, it's sad some people didn't.
I'll live, as will this story.

Enjoy the end of Arc 9

-----------------------------...

Possible misstep - notice

So I had a Patron explain earlier why they didn't super like the Arc so far, as I've been wondering. I figured 'this is an unexpected shift' or 'I just don't have interest in other worlds' was a likely culprit of the lost patrons, and you know it's reasonable. I don't think there's anything personal in dropping support, and even if I foreshadowed this a while back there's no reason you couldn't support it until it happened even if you knew it was coming. Even if the drop is big, it was a big ...

Chapter 139- Arc 9 - Making a Move, a Shallow Trust Betrayed

Three big notes before I post here.
1. Lost a lot of patrons recently. It's not a big deal, and I somewhat expected it when I went full AU on us. This was always planned, and even foreshadowed, but I could see why some people might not find it as interesting. Rest assured, even if literally everyone left this story would still continue, it would just update at a very reduced rate. I'll take a look at where we are when/if we drop to 200.

2. I actually had a ton of stuff planned that c...

Chapter 138 - Arc 9 - Sending a Message, and at Least there's Good News... kinda

Sakura being horrendously out of her depth has always been one of my favorite parts of the story and even if I don't think this arc is portraying quite the way I wanted, I will say her being out of her depth has been a constant and fun theme. I think the arc itself would actually be awesome on a binge read, but in chapters like this I worry the pure amount of content and context relating to characters that are completely my own comes across as less fun creativity and more like an odd flexing....

Changelog (116-121)

116: Mostly just changed some wordings, cleaned things up, made it feel better. Some stress was taken off Pt 3 to make the Karin sequence a little more palatable without detracting from the potency of the scene.

117: I added like 400 words of flavor text and 200 words of cleanup, bringing the chapter to almost 4K. There's a little bit at the end changed to have Sasuke commenting that he doesn't like leaving it all up to Ino, and Sakura agrees. Otherwise uh, pretty much identical. Smooth...

Ino and Sakura: Medical studies?

So, in the original draft of this there was a very obscure and incredibly nerdy joke in the first part. I realized almost no one would get it, so I made it even more obscure, meaning either you don't get the joke, but you get to laugh at Sakura being weird, or you do get it, and you get to feel good about yourself. It's always good to lean into it. So don't feel bad if a line looks weird, but uh, if you don't get the joke in the second part you haven't lived.

---------------------------...

Chapter 137 - Arc 9 - Let's Play a Game: Studying, Dark Knights, and a glitch.

Some much needed expo is given in the form of Sakura studying and then some drop in.
It's what she does best, it'd be weird if she was presented with this much context and didn't open a book.

-----------------------------------------------------------

So, the cardinal directions aren’t marked and she lacks a compass with her so the actual direction to where to find the book was completely worthless, which the librarian likely knew when she gave the instruction in the first p...

Wave Becomes Sakura Country

Another canon side story is here.
Poll will be up for $10 patrons for the next one in a bit, since I am behind those polls just go right out.

Enjoy the side story and thank you for your support.

----------------------------------------------------

The crowds around him are loud with murmurs, a ridiculous statement yet true nonetheless. Hundreds of people stand shocked and frozen in place around town, and not a single person dares move or blink for fear that they’ll mis...

Chapter 136 - Arc 9 - Let's Play a Game: A visit to the library, and Sakura Country

So here we are, Friday's chapter.
I also have the side story done which'll be posted later today.
My beta says this chapter felt good, it's "hitting its stride." So you know, there's some confidence for you.

Enjoy, and thank you for the support.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Trotting hooves smack repeatedly on a stone bridge beneath them. The knight and his horse have traveled farther than one would think possible in a very short period...

Chapter 135 - Arc 9 - Let's Play a Game: Options

Sakura's in a bit of a place, and working her way out of it is half the fun.
Getting into it is of course also a part of the fun.
Some of the fun just gets lost in the wind, I don't know what to say.

Enjoy!

---------------------------------------------------------

As much as she would have loved to follow Rosalia around in the hopes that she could somehow use her charm to make her give up her third place picking spot, there’s no way she pulls off something like that...

Ino and the System: Trying her Hardest

This one was voted on by everyone! Because I messed up.
If you'd like to participate in future polls, feel free to join the $10 tier.
Now's actually a fantastic time to do that because I am behind and feeling good so I'm going to be doing like 3 to 4 polls in the next two weeks.

I have it on good authority - me, I'm good authority - that a lot of people are going to really like the second scene. It's also just a great break from the somewhat depressing current place in story.

Chapter 134 - Arc 9 - Let's Play a Game: Learning her Part

One of the things I actually put a lot of effort into in this story is making the negative chapters not feel bad. My Beta has helped a lot with that recently, I really appreciate it.

As for the chapter, eh... Doesn't it suck when someone could help you but chooses not to?
It hurts worse when they're not giving you the justification you need to hate them.

Enjoy the chapter!

----------------------------------------------------------

Saruka’s chambers in this neutra...

Chapter 133 - Arc 9 - Let's Play a Game: Setting the Stage

And with this chapter we kick off an entirely new arc. Technically last chapter started it but this is like, the important intro.
I think it's important to recognize when a tone has shifted, and ensure that shift has value. This is me recognizing that.

For the first time in almost the entire story things aren't really in her hands, Sakura has a feeling of helplessness and needs to learn a new type of situation to try and have any chance of saving her friends. It's complex, and normal...

Thoughts moving forward here

So I've been setting up the arc we've just entered for, probably six months now.
Technically there's been other stuff before that but the active efforts, six months.

And I always thought I'd have figured out exactly how to do it by the time I arrived.
Here's the thing, I'm a great writer, but I'm not perfect. We've made it to the point where I now have to do the thing.

And look, I love the thing.
But I'm also just good enough to know that I'm not skilled enough to 100% ...

Birthday delay

Hey it's my birthday, I'm gonna comply with everyone's demands and celebrate instead of writing tonight. So chapter'll probably be a day late.

Have a good day ya'll.

Chapter 132 - Arc 9 - Let's Play a Game: Setting the stakes, an alternate perspective

So to avoid overfocusing on them, the story officially assumes you've either read the side story: "Otherworlders: Fierro was killed by a little girl?" or don't care.

I will still go into some detail but the story isn't about them, it's about Sakura, and the story is written from her perspective so I won't be heavily describing anyone until Sakura is staring at them.

Thank you for your ...

Chapter 131 - Arc 9 - Let's Play a Game: Bad End Avoided, Question Mark?

This chapter is a big one. This is technically a potential quit point. It's a little jarring by nature, but I like this and I think anyone who would be hit too hard by this scene was already hit far earlier.

I worked with my beta to try and make this as palatable as possible, and this was always planned in the story.
I like my plans, so uh, I hope you will too.

Thank you for your support, I've only come this far because of you.

This chapter has bee...