Progress Report

Finished writing the first draft!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost a week after I started the last path of the update, I finally put down my pencil (and great timing too; since the notebook is ending as well). Altogether, this next part is 145 notebook pages — which seems like a lot, but the great news is that all the paths are written!!!! The only one that's missing is a variation of the Vallen meeting.

This means I'll write the second draft much quicker.

Half of me wasn't sure whether I should write this last path — the one you don't go meet Vallen — but now I'm so glad I did. I don't think I would have come up with this if I were writing the first time on the PC, where I'd have the blinds on and would want to move quickly. I love how it turned out. Before, I had accepted that not meeting Vallen would be the 'weaker' path and that you'd miss out on content and that's it, but, now, you see and experience different things on both routes.

The Vallen path is, of course, still much bigger but this one shows the beginning of the conflict between Alessa and Raf that'll unravel throughout the book. Plus, you get more Lance and Hadrian as well xD

Before, I was super excited for people to go meet our Red Guard, now I'm excited for people to play both.

I'll take a few days 'off' where I'll focus on this month's Bonus Content, and then, by next Monday, I'll charge full speed on the Second Draft!

Last weekend, I went to the Gulbenkian Museum and Gardens. There, I saw a collection of XII and XIII-century illuminated texts written and painted by European monks. The texts were in Latin and beautiful. As I tried to understand the flawless cursive, I thought about a young Romanus with Adso bending over their shoulder, warmly giving instructions.

It's hard to imagine they did this with only measuring rules, natural paints, and a steady hand.

The museum had amazing art pieces, but these two, in particular, stuck with me. I don't why exactly, only that I stared at them for a long time. The first French noblewoman will definitely star in The Rose as a minor character. Maybe at the ball?

That reflection on the lake... I don't know. I love it.

Lastly, the garden didn't have that many flowers, but I did find flowerbeds. And look! A Golden Rose 😋

That's it!! I hope you have an amazing week. I won't write a Progress Report on Friday, because I'll start writing the chapter on Monday, but I'll be posting other content! 🌹