Aha! And we’re back I apologize for the delay, but with various vacation things happening between first the Twisted Jerk and then me, progress slowed a little bit. But you’ll be pleased to know — or I suppose I hope you will — that I’ll be working on getting things back on schedule from here on out. And since this is as good a time as any as a general progress report, let us commence forth:
First and somewhere-most, website updates: I missed the entire month of June — which puts me two back — and I’m closing fast on this month’s first deadline. A little bit of a press, but I will plan on doing two each step this month; two on July 15th and two on July 30th. I figure that’s the best way to keep things up to date. Now as for the subject, it’s notable that my actually setting information pages have languished quite a bit, so I probably need to do those. Maybe a metallurgy explanation like mentioned before, maybe a talk about some rather important swords in the setting that mean important things. Or, associated, some rather important foundational characters to the backdrop of the setting. With that being said, I won’t be going all in on those. I did originally plan to talk about another video game which is largely foundational to who I am right now [Footnote 1], but, well, my vacation did spark a few things which I really should talk about sooner rather than later. Those eagle-eyed readers out there might notice I was conveniently gone for a week centered around the dates of Anime Expo, which isn’t a coincidence. While there I managed to stop by the premiere of Helck [Footnote 2] and the showing of Fate/Strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn [Footnote 3] and both of those reminded me that I really, really should get around to talking about those series since I will be mentioning them a lot. Either way, that mostly covers the website.
Second and actually foremost, novel progress: The first draft of EKI 2 is proceeding… I can’t really say apace because I’m a bit lost as to what its pace should be. I knew from the beginning it would be longer than Nocturne of Fog [Footnote 4], but precisely how much longer is proving… interesting. I’ve almost covered the entire length of Nocturne of Fog already and I’m not really halfway done, so… We’ll see. I really need to put my nose to the grindstone, as it were. Then there’s the Ancient-folk centered story I mentioned in the projects page [Footnote 5]. It is also proceeding… somehow. That one’s harder because I’m not entirely sure how long book 1 will be in the first place, but it’s probably about a third of the way done. That being said, writing that one in particular has led to some lazy writing habits [Footnote 6] I need to focus on kicking, so there are some chapters that aren’t really complete yet and I do need to work on probably adding one or two more to the parts I’ve already completed to help pace things a bit better. Maybe. We’ll get there when we get there. As for the other projects listed under active, Dreamtide is as Dreamtide is and the Baron of Chevaladin is languishing basically on the backburner at some point. But I do need to get back to it some time because I know there are a few things in it I want to work into EKI probably starting with Book 2. So.
And last but not least, there is a third project I’ve been toying with a while. I won’t say too much so as not to ruin the surprise, but I should have the first bit of it out for you sometime this month. Hopefully. For a little teaser — and to assuage any uneasiness about it affecting the pace of my writing — it’s a short-form story project that I work on from time to time when I’m a bit stuck otherwise. Helps keep the writing juices flowing and such.
With that said, I should have something up by the fifteenth. Until then!
Footnote 1: Heroes of Might and Magic II, for the curious.
Footnote 2: I know I’ve mentioned Helck before and I really need to talk about it in detail, because I love it and think more people need to be aware of it. Especially because the Manga is 3 volumes deep into an English localization and there’s an anime coming. As for the Anime, having seen the first two episodes, I can say it’s everything I could hope for as a fan of the Manga. The characters sound great, they did an awesome job of pacing the humor and overarching plot, and there were some things that were just so much better in motion than on paper. The horse race was just excellent. I hope the rest of the adaptation is just as good.
Footnote 3: To keep it brief for now, I have a love-hate relationship with Fate. But I’m excited to see an adaptation of Strange Fake, because I find it one of the coolest stories in that setting. I think False Ridder and False Berserker are some of the most interesting implementations of Servants so far, the Beautiful Assassin is a really fun version of the class that covers a middle-ground between the classic subterfuge archetype and the more modern combat based version, and I can’t wait to see True Archer and True Rider in action. As for Whispers of Dawn, it was pretty spectacular and I’d give it a watch if you can. The highlight fight between False Lancer and False Archer is everything you’d expect and there was a shot in there of the night sky in the desert which I think is one of the most beautiful shots in Anime I’ve seen. And, I mean, seeing *that guy* show up after the credits? Oh yeah. That’s the deep lore I’m here for. I am sad we didn’t get to the police station fight, since I can’t wait to see the Beautiful Assassin going all out and everybody’s favorite mech-priest, but oh well. Something to look forward to.
Footnote 4: As a minor sneak-peek, there will be a third viewpoint character joining Allard and Erica.
Footnote 5: In my own head I call it ‘Vanished Celestial Ark’, but that might be a bit too on the nose.
Footnote 6: As it turns out, when I really get in the zone I find it easier to write dialogue than narration. So sometimes I let myself just write the dialogue and fill in the narration later. This isn’t a great approach and I need to train myself out of it. Probably.
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