Figured it out/Focus shift announcement

So I was writing CH 142 and 143 for Arc 10 and almost immediately realized they felt different. Snappy, cute, fun. I was genuinely blown away by how much better they felt, which of course made me realize how bad Arc 9 felt to write.

To put it simply, Arc 10 is fun, and Arc 9 isn't.
I've been wondering why losing so many Patrons has bothered me so much I can't stop thinking about it. After-all, I don't write this story for profit. It's been a theme the entire time, this story is a huge loss for me. I write commission, and regularly take time out of my work to write this story instead. I shouldn't care about the profit, I shouldn't find this work.

The reason is that Arc 9 was work. I spent the entire time cutting things that would be fun so I could get to the part where Ino and Co were back in the picture. In the process of this I halved Arc 9, yes, and in CH 142 Ino and Co are back. It's cute, it's fun, it's snappy, I enjoyed writing it.

But the cost was a really dry, really shitty arc that didn't give anyone, me included, the feeling that this story needs. I liked Arc 9 from a writer perspective. It was a little dark, a little emotional, it had complex themes and explored outside of Sakura's comfort zone.
I can only point to like three scenes I actually thought were fun though, and that's a serious problem.

So the public edits of Arc 9 are going to involve a lot of adding back in scenes I cut, exploring the wackiness of this world so it doesn't feel as bad, and even giving a better insight into why I want us to be here. The exploration I have planned, the fun stuff, and of course some more fun scenes from the cast at large. It'll be fun, and I'll keep the change log posted every few chapters. I might even straight up add new chapters.

But, when considering fixing an issue, it does need to be understood why I had that issue in the first place. The reason is the schedule. I really have started considering Sakura work. I have a set amount I need to write, in a set time-frame, and it is a good amount of what I have the energy to get done in a week. This story makes up like 15% of the income I need but takes 50% of my energy. I can't do that, I need to stop doing that. If I do not make changes, Arc 9 will happen again, in exactly the same way, and I will watch as what I've worked hard for, what I'm proud of, burns to ash.

I've even found a lot more sexual jokes in recent arcs because I'm relying on my instincts more instead of my brain.
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So, I am shifting my focus. Instead of trying to get out steady, constant, three times a week content that often fails to be 3x a week, I will instead be focusing on the quality, the plans, the humor and theming. I still want to get out a chapter every week, but I will be focusing a lot more of my time on creating an organic, enjoyable, lovely chapter.

I'll also be focusing more energy on the edits, so hopefully the story as a whole will come out better.

I'll still be doing a side story every week, I really don't think it's the problem, but I'll try to see how I feel. Who knows, maybe with more free time I'll actually end up creating more content from the story at random. I dunno, either way, I need to chill out or I'm gonna burn out and I can't do that. I have an ending planned.

Chapters will now be Sundays, but probably around 4K on average, with a higher polish and quality. If I can't manage that... I dunno.

Either way, public edits of Arc 9 are gonna be sweet. Can't wait til they get there, might use some of the extra time to get ahead on those.

As always, thank you for your support. I will understand if a wave of people leave after this, and won't be questioning anyone. If you do stay though, thank you, genuinely.