Hi everyone! This progress update will be as short as I can manage because I know I tend to ramble a lot.
Sooo, first and foremost, I'm loving what I've been working on so far for the start of chapter 4. No particular plot progress (except a tiny bit in Athiel's route) since the very first part of the chap focuses on the relationship between MC and the ROs. But I'll talk about it later in this post.
The chapter will be both calm and not-so-calm. I thought progressing a little more the relationship might be a good thing, though the routes won't all progress at the same pace. For instance, L and the v-poly route will move faster than the others (I think I've already said it. Probably plenty of times. Sorry—I apparently love repeating myself). Doesn't mean MC and the ROs will hop in a relationship and call it a day, but more like a 'okay, I want to spill it out and say there's something here'.
I already started seriously adding the dynamic romance options and filed it somewhere in my doc to keep track of the 'points'. I'll add more later in the routes, so I can then lock MC's demeanor when it comes to anything romance-related. Shy, bold, oblivious, shy but warm in an accepting kinda way, bold but flustered when the words or gestures turn out bolder than MC intended.
I won't lie, I wanted to add a 'stoic' option, where MC approaches flirting and everything similar with a no-nonsense attitude. But there's already so much to write, with several variations for me to keep track of and file in the corner of my brain and in my notes (because I tend to forget some—there's just so many—but at the same time, I want those many variables).
Anyway, I finished L's route, which is currently the longest with roughly 19k words. I went a bit overboard with the variations, I admit, hehe. I won't say much, but I particularly loved writing the ending. The fluff was fluffing, I'm telling you. This route is always so sweet to write, honestly.
I'm currently working on Athiel's route, and PLEASE. I had to think deeply about one scene. How to turn it in a certain way, how to show without telling (for the readers, mostly), how to make it logical from MC's point of view without making them think like a dumbass.
Those scenes always have me thinking for a solid ten minutes, trying to word things properly and without giving too much away. I especially wanted to imply something without saying it outright, so I'm really happy with what I've written so far.
For now, we're a bit past 60k words. Yes, that's a lot and I'm getting worried, because that's way too fucking much for just the START of the chapter. But at the same time, it's still 15k words if you play one route. Idk, guys, I'm worried I might be writing too much for nothing, but the more I write (in general), the more I feel like the dialogues look naked without any description.
I tend to go with 'what do you see? What do you feel? What do you smell? What do you sense? What are your thoughts?'. So when one gets overused, I switch to another, then another. But I try to give a bit of a breather sometimes, with less descriptions and more dialogues, to avoid making it too boring for y'all. And sometimes more dialogues than descriptions helps me breathe too, tbh.
But to get back on track, I want this first part of the chap, and I don't want to shorten it or remove it, even if it doesn't add anything to the plot. Moments with ROs are needed to move the relationship forward and not just fall in love, date, done. Nothing's wrong with that—relationships are complex and it's not the same for everyone. I just want to offer something as complete as I can. Especially in the romance aspect since it's the main genre of this game.
Aaaand I think that's all for now. There's obviously a lot more to say, but I don't have everything in mind rn—that's already quite a lot laid out anyway, hahaha
I'm nearly done with Athiel's route, then I'll start the v-poly route, make corrections, polish a few things, then code it all.
Until then, I hope you have an extraordinary morning/afternoon/evening. I'll focus on the chap til I get a demo update for the Lover Tier :))
(I definitely did not keep it short HAHHAHAHAH, IM SORRY)
Edit: I finished Athiel's route yesterday. I wrote the progress update two days ago but forgot to post it and let it sleep in my notes, lmaooo
We're already past 70k words. I'm working on the v-poly route rn