March Newsflash #1 (Patreon)

The first week of this fortnight, I didn't write much at all: it was a school holiday, and me and the rest of my household were sick (not anything serious, but it knocked us out). But this week I returned to writing afresh to write Honor Bound Chapter 9 and have ended up writing more in one week than I often would in two - or even in a month!

Right now I'm listening to There For You by Pearce Roswell from my Honor Bound playlist. I have quite a few folky, gentle instrumentals that put me in the mood for writing this project.

Chapter 9 has been proving to be a ton of fun! The first half is unashamedly a hotsprings episode - the reason why I nicknamed this "Project Hotsprings" when I was first talking about it - and so far it's 31000 words devoted to chilling out, starting slow-burn romances, discussing how serious each others' romances are, cementing friendships, having some deeper chats, and soaking up the sun. Plus some nice descriptions of characters in their holidaywear, some of which are more conventionally attractive than others (Fiore, Raffi) and others are basically what they wear normally (Savarel).

I'll talk more about the second half in the next newsflash but after two frantic chapters full of drama it's a nice change of pace, a calm before the storm that'll be ramping up again next chapter!

Honor Bound current wordcount: 365313 words

Honor Bound fortnight wordcount: 26717 words

Honor Bound average playthrough: 78903 words

Behind the Scenes:

I watched How To Have Sex and it was an amazing film - check content notes, though, as it's quite a tough watch. If you're in the mood for it, I highly recommend it. And I also saw The Green Knight which I mostly really enjoyed, but wasn't a fan of the last 5 seconds: it jarred me and put me off the rest. But the actors, especially Dev Patel, were stunning and I have a lot of mythic inspiration rolling around in my head, also thanks to reading the awesome Spear by Nicola Griffith.

My favourite bit:

There are some lovely bits where polyamorous relationships can start or be developed that I'm really pleased with. I'm happy about giving plenty of space for them - sometimes I've felt a little squeezed when writing them. But I feel really good about these ones.

Sneak peak:

This morning, you've been served apricots and delicate Zaledoan pastries with pomegranate juice. Matia has spread honey on thick slices of bread and is munching happily while ${mat_they} and ${varenn} quietly discuss what to do today. Matia's dressed in casual clothing—loose flannel pants and a slate-gray shirt, ${mat_their} golden hoops still gleaming in ${mat_their} ears. It's unusual to see ${varenn} out of uniform: ${var_theyre} in sand-colored linen pants and a short-sleeved green shirt: crisp lapels, but no tie.

Raffi seems to be enjoying the casual dress: ${raf_theyre} wearing

*if raf_gender = 2

a pale, figure-hugging dress reaching ${raf_their} mid-thighs that would look a little like a tennis dress if it wasn't clearly not made with practicality in mind.

*else

pale, figure-hugging shorts reaching ${raf_their} mid-thighs and a turquoise shirt with a deep neckline that shows a great deal of ${raf_their} muscular chest. It would look like an athletic outfit if it wasn't clearly not made with practicality in mind.