Behind Chapter 94 (Patreon)

This is a long ramble about what goes on behind the making of CH.94.
Please don’t read it yet if you have not read the latest chapter posted last week.

I use lots photo refs after I saw the mangaka who made Sun Ken Rock used a lot of photographs to draw his manga, so I follow his technique to speed up my drawing process.

The reference photo used on the last panel of Ch.94 was bought from Reference.Pictures.
Noah and Rachel Bradley are a husband and wife artist duo who make very high quality reference photos for creators. I love their work very much. I will use more of their reference photos in the next chapter as well.

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About Ch.94 (the end of Act two)

The mandarin title of MD, Steal My Heart, was conceived on 12 Feb 2018.  It was loosely inspired by this catchy chinese pop song I liked back then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWtbGkpdoP4

I gravitate toward cheesy pop music lol. That youtube video has english close caption, or you can read the english translation from this site.

Back then I was expecting to complete the whole "Enemy to Friends to Lovers" at the end of 2018 and finishing in 2019… Little did I know…
(^^”)

I think the lyric of that song captures the irrational feeling of craziness for someone you've known less than a week. That passionate madness usually happened in that very very early stages of being together, especially in the first month, not so much later lol…
The newness usually fades off after 6 months. (⁀ᗢ⁀")

NoRa's friendship stage started when they're stuck in the settlement, starting Ch.70. The pacing seems to slow down and not as exciting since they weren't hating each other anymore, but I think they need to enjoy each other's company in a non sexual situation.

If all they have in common is hotness for each other and nothing else, then my guess is that couple probably won't last longer than several months. I consume plenty of romances where the spice is sizzling hot, but the only thing the couple has is physical attraction. They're usually very exciting to consume and very few seems to be bothered by it. I usually raised my eyebrow and didn't find that believable.

Maybe I overthink it and fiction doesn't have to follow the logic of  reality, and the escape from the real world is the whole point of it lol...
(⁀ᗢ⁀)

Anyway, those friendship episodes (Ch.70-84) were also made during the stressful time of the pandemic. I probably would have made that part of the story better if I had been in a much better state of mind. But I'm not going back and fix things, I just took note for next time and moved on.

North liked Cora since he met her, but he kept pushing that feeling toward the back of his mind cos she’s his only way out to save his mum. Even after knowing the other side of the story, he’s willing to help her by letting Zander out, but that’s about it. He figures they’ll go their separate way afterwards.

From the start, I had a list of major things that happened in the story but not the details. I knew there’s some making out right before North realizes this is the girl I want and I don’t want to lose her.

I was considering he’s getting a home run, since all the previous bases has been covered in Ch.62-64.

But when I re-read all the chapters in early 2023, wrote down how many days have passed since they first met, and read Ch.52 Personal Questions...

Well shit, she’s not gonna do it...
(￣ ￣|||)

Cora takes intimacy very seriously and there’s no way a very attractive virgin like her would give it up after 6 days….
Maybe if they've been stuck together for a month, but not 6 days. Or if she's not a virgin, then that wouldn't be an issue.

Anyhoo... the chief has just landed right outside their hideout. Agent North wants his bounty but also doesn’t want to lose Cora.

Can North have his cake and eat it?

(☉_ ☉)

Thank you for still reading after such a long break. When I started MD, I was unaware how many years and how much work it takes to create a webcomic. I really appreciate you're sticking around, and your support here helps me to put more time into this and motivates me to keep trucking on toward the finish line.

I'd really love to create a finished story that makes sense, and is satisfactory to read from the beginning till the end.

Well, I hope it will be... (⁀_⁀")

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Go to the pinned post to binge all previous chapters in a mobile friendly browser.

Finished full chapter after the hiatus: MD CH.92 - MD CH.93 - MD CH.94