19/11/2022 Patreon Devlog (and snippets!)

Hi everyone! Time for this week's update!

This Week's Summary:

• Revised Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6
• Revamped plot a bit

The Ramble:

This week started with continuing my revisions and getting through chapters 4 and 5. These went by pretty fast. Especially chapter 4 and especially considering I rewrote most of it.

Then I got started on chapter 6.

Every time I go into revisions I have a list of things I want to accomplish. I talked a little about my list of things for Reuben's route last time. This list will differ for every route and sometimes certain fixes are easier than others. For instance, Reuben's route branching was coming up a little short and I wanted to expand it a bit. That part's actually pretty easy.

Enhancing romantic development is also pretty easy because - enhancing the dialogue to lay the foundation for their developing romance isn't that tricky. It's just about paying attention to places where I can work in flirting or more gentle moments between them.

The tricky part in Reuben's route is the plot. I knew there were plot holes I had to fix. And I knew that would most likely create a stopping point in Chapter 6. The case that is the focus on the plot actually starts being referenced earlier on in events the characters aren't aware (yet) are related to the events in Chapter 6. But Chapter 6 is where I really lay out the foundation for what's about to happen so I need to get the details of this crime scene right. And it really required that I stop and solidify some details that were kind of fuzzy.

The main case they focus on shifted a bit as I wrote. This happens a lot as I go because I try to add more dimension and layers to things as I go. So I knew that where I ended in terms of the motivations of the criminal was not where I started. And I was aware I'd need to rework some of this. And I reached that point this week where I had to stop and rework the timeline of the case.

It wasn't too hard but I did have to carefully consider how to manage everything so that's what I spent Thursday and Friday thinking about. Anyway, I've filled in most of the gaps but am still considering one character and what rank I want them to be (they were originally king and now I'm considering if I want them to be a queen) 🤔🤔 But I think that won't have far reaching plot implications either way. I wanted to keep them king since it's a call back to a much, much earlier draft of this project and another character that got cut.

Funnily enough, in the early drafts, "Oberon" wasn't Caissa's code name. It referred to a different character entirely.

ANYWAY. Enough of that. LoL! That's what I did this week!

Sneak Peeks:

Have some snippets of Morgan and Reuben meeting Magnus (who has appeared in Reuben's house! LoL):

"Reuben glared at him, then cut his eyes towards the kitchen."

Reuben: "At least you didn't leave a mess, I suppose."

Ari: "He did. I cleaned it up."

Magnus: "Must you behave this way in front of guests Ari? I swear you have no manners. Didn't I raise you better than this?"

Ari: "I believe you and I are the guests. Or, technically, intruders. And you had no involvement in raising me, I hope you realise."

"Magnus gave him a poisonous look that Ari returned by raising an eyebrow. For a moment, neither spoke. But Magnus eventually let out a sigh and turned back to us."

Magnus: "Please ignore him. He has the social skills of a potato due to his extremely questionable upbringing."

Morgan: "That seems to be a common affliction for Endgame agents, if I'm going off the ones I've met so far."

*****

Magnus: "An adult queen rank with all the potential of a normal queen yet not of the skills to protect yourself. A valuable prize for all sorts of shady groups, wouldn't you say?"

Reuben: "Including Endgame, of course?"

Magnus: "Oh my, are you suggesting Endgame is {i}shady{/i}?"

Reuben: "Are you suggesting Endgame isn't?"

Magnus: "Not at all!"

*****

"Magnus stepped a little closer when he took my hand, one corner of his mouth turning up slightly."

Magnus: "And if you really want me to, I can put Ari and Caleb on cleaning duty for a few weeks to punish them for that dreadfully botched kidnapping."

Ari: "I believe you said you must return to the tower immediately, Magnus? And as you recall, we were following {i}your{/i} orders."

Magnus: "Just say the word, Morgan."

Morgan: "I...think I'm good. I don't think I need Caleb showing up in person to complain."

Magnus: "What a pity. Though I also understand not wishing Caleb to show up where you are. Ever."

Magnus: "I also have occasional regrets when he shows up to my office to complain in person."

Magnus: "But only occasional."

Upcoming Week:

REVISING

And that's it, really. Same as before. I hope to finish Ch 6 and maybe be starting or mostly through with Ch 8 by then!