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Writer's Blog: A Road Map and a Request (Patreon)

Published:
2022-06-14 02:55:38
Imported:
2023-03

Content

Life has finally settled down enough that I was able to figure out a roadmap for the rest of the month! I’ve been in a bit of a writing rut (stuff’s hard right now, as most my creative energy is currently dedicated to cracking morbidly inappropriate cancer jokes that make my mom laugh and the nurses wince). I’ve still been productive, but it’s focused mainly on recoding things for Mind Blind. Hope’s Chapter 9 conversation in particular was a doozy to rewrite. I think it went through like nine iterations before I found one that worked.

Barring any surprises or emergencies, I’ll be able to get out three rewritten chapters this month. That being said, I’m aiming for four. (Maybe even five, but that depends how heavily I change the introductory scenes with Vengeance to reflect Button’s new invisible alignment/sympathy tracker.)

Anyway, here’s what lies ahead for the rest of June:

June 14: Battle of Buttons - Kenzie’s Date (now rewritten with 3x the angst)

June 16: Battle of Buttons - Rosy’s Date

June 17: Battle of Buttons - Sally’s Date / Writer’s Blog

June 18: Battle of Buttons - Gray’s Date

June 19: MB 2.0 Chapter 8 & 9 Release / Chapters 10 & 11 Feedback Request

June 20: Delivery for the Damned Sneak Peak (Undead Edition) / UCRT Mermaid Short Story from May (featuring Rosy as the mermaid because they're by far the fishiest RO)

June 21: Delivery for the Damned Development Poll (On Romance Dynamics and Player Autonomy)

June 22: UCRT Short Story for June (featuring sauciness with an unexpected character)

June 24: Mind Blind 2.0 Chapter 10 release

June 25: MB Regency Saucy Sides (Featuring terrible lines such as: “Is that a timepiece in your fob pocket, m’lord, or are you just happy to see me?”)

June 26: Live Q&A / Nick Wiseman Has Opinions on Gray's Parents

June 27: Mind Blind Short Story (Depending on my mental state, this will be either an emotional tear jerker or a comedic misadventure involving a disastrous meet-and-greet at a superhero convention. Perhaps both?)

June 28: Mind Blind 2.0 Chapter 11 release / Chapters 12 & 13 Feedback Request

June 30: Battle of Buttons – The Final Judgement of Gil’s Truest Love Quest 💜

The feedback I received from last week’s post for Chapter 8 was AMAZING. No joke: I copy-paste all your responses to a Word document that I continually refer back to while rewriting. It's been invaluable as a checklist to make sure I reevaluate scenes, as well as providing ideas that wouldn't otherwise have occurred to me.

In fact, your responses were so helpful that I’m once again showing up like Oliver Twist with his empty porridge bowl and begging for more. I’m finalizing Chapter 9 currently, and there are two moments which are emotional heavy hitters: Button’s (and Nick’s!) reaction to Nick being taken, and Button’s (optional) conversation with Hope.

The Hope convo is completely rewritten and overhauled, but I would love to know what you guys are hoping to get out of Button’s dialogue with their mother. (. . . And yeah, the pun is still funny to me.) This is really the only opportunity Button gets to express their feelings about the past to Hope, as during her later in-person appearance has both characters otherwise occupied with things such as Not Dying. Granted, it’s also possible that Hope may not show up at all and instead keep her distance. So if your Button needed one last opportunity to yell at her, or if you want a certain dialogue choice that will clear the air . . . Now’s the time to tell me :)

Nick’s scenes, I’m honestly pretty happy with—especially now that there’s a lot more dialogue reactivity based on Button's relationship score with Nick. Some are significant, others are smaller. But again, if there’s anything you wish were in the scene between siblings that isn’t currently, I’d love to know before I release the new version!

Comments

Anonymous

- RE: Nick's reaction to the news. It would be cool if it were possible to fail stat checks here. Going for humor to calm Nick down while lacking the necessary stat points? Boo for you. Time to panic. Would also increase the perceived pressure of the situation. - RE: Rosy essay. Will we be able to rewrite our flirty essay? And if so, will we be able to escalate the whole thing once more? Not saying Button should hand in another irrelevant essay, but maybe there’s a way to write an honest self-evaluation while simultaneously sticking to the importance of close student-teacher bonds as a necessary requirement for mission success? If that’s in any way possible: Might we have a look at our essay later to check for any harsh notes? 👉👈 If Rosy thoroughly corrected Nick’s reports, I’d like to see them attack our Button’s work with the same type of passionate ferocity, even if it doesn’t include any (outright) flirting. I’m such a sucker for epistolary romance. 😇 - RE: Hope worrying about Button’s safety. 1. Resentful!Buttons with a bad Hope relationship and low Rosy opinion could think that Hope should be thanking Rosy for finishing her job. Resentful!Buttons with a bad Hope relationship and higher Rosy opinion could think that Hope is only mad because she'd probably like to finish the job herself. 2. Button could think of this undercover mission as a way to prove themself to their parents as a future AMO within the soon-to-be-revealed NPO Program – if they have professional ambitions in that direction. Or, with a bad Nick relationship, they could also aim at becoming the new golden child and replacing/surpassing him within Unity. Or, with enough anti-Ment resentment, they might want to demonstrate their capabilities in order to rival other Ment agents and thus, with time, make them obsolete. - RE: Threat of Rosy reassignment. 1. What are Nick’s thoughts re: Branham here? After all, both Rosy and Branham are responsible for putting Button in danger, so both should suffer the consequences. Is Branham simply too powerful to topple, too useful, and/or too good a friend? 2. What does Nick know about Rosy’s Florida past and what context can he give us about Unity’s work there? Rosy mentioned they’re not a registered MIV yet they “possess the skillset”, so did they teach or did they learn? Even if Nick doesn’t know the exact details, surely he would have knowledge about the local Unity facilities. And if someone like Nick doesn’t know, then I’d consider that a useful clue as well. 3. I really need some Nick thoughts with regard to Hope’s recommendation. I already mentioned that, but I’d also go *grabby hands* over any hint as to why it was Hope and not John. And in which way (if at all) this makes a difference – to Nick or in general. - RE: BRS. Maybe an option… 1. for a resentful!Button to suggest the BRS as a deserved punishment for Hope? 2. in which a Button with a bad parent relationship can accuse her of using this trial as a delayed form of self-flagellation in order to guilt-trip them. This could work for long estranged Buttons who might see the whole thing as a manipulation tactic in order to reestablish contact: “Look, Button, see how far I’m willing to go for you! See how much I love and deserve you! Shouldn’t you stop me from doing this dangerous thing if you love me (and our family)? Do you really want me / Nick / our family to suffer?” Why else would Button’s opinion suddenly matter to their parents if not only to get them their way somehow. - RE: Aeon bombing. Maybe add some more perspectives? Suggestions: 1. “I was used and it was *not* different. I am the only victim.” 2. “Ments are a mistake. At least this one only managed to hurt one of their own.” 3. “Maybe you and Dad were right from the start. I should never have applied to Aeon.” - RE: Goodbye. The option to simply disconnect the call. - Last but not least: Totally unrelated, but you mentioned in another post that you were still looking for Rosy puns in order to list them as a romance. If it’s not already in contention, may I humbly nominate “Kiss from a Rose”? I would laugh for days if that one got used somewhere.

Anonymous

One thing I always thought was super cool is how regardless of the choice Button makes (except the PANIC option), Button realizes that they're tied together physically and that Button's physical condition will affect Nick. Its minor, minor feedback, but I'd love to see an extra line leaning into that! Edit: Shift return! My old friend! I forgot about you Having button get low to the floor, or square breathe, or hold their chest would be a cool visual cue for the rest of Team Hemera. With Hope- I'd love to just see more fully fleshed out responses from Hope. I think we have a lot of options for our Buttons, but while I understand why Hope would follow UCRT's/Adsila's instructions I feel like she'd be more resistant about it? Nick's in a coma and her other child is in some pretty obvious danger (obvious for someone who knows the protocols of undercover missions). It would be cool to see her maybe struggle to not turn the plane around.

Anonymous

I agree if Button's relationship with her is low, Hope may hesitate, or even not be the one to take the call initially. Perhaps John is the one who initially takes the call, but he passes it onto Hope when he suddenly gets sick on the plane? Hope and Button then have an awkward conversation where Button can then air things out or let Hope have it; or somewhere in between, like: "you fucked up, but I would like to try to forgive you." It's also a good opportunity for guilty Buttons to misread Hope's hesitancy as her not wanting to speak with Button on account of them being the one who planted the bomb. Then there's an opportunity for Hope to explain, and maybe Button believes it or not.

Anonymous

Three times the angst— I am 👀👀👀👀👀

Anonymous
>>85784943

- RE: When you give an essay excuse and say that it blew up. “[Rosy] groans. [Rosy] reaches towards the center console [...]” This is entirely subjective, but I think it would flow better if a) the two sentences didn’t both start with Kim’s name and/or b) the two actions didn’t feel as separate. YMMV. - RE: Nick tries to connect with a resentful!Button who doesn’t call his parents. 1. Maybe include a reference to Button’s therapy here because I feel Button’s mother must play a huge part in those sessions. Suggestion: “My therapist and I agreed that [specific way of coping with the trauma] and this situation is [circumstance conflicting with coping strategy].” 2. Buttons with a bad Nick relationship could have the option to say/think that they declined the call specifically to spite their brother. 3. Should Button be able to decline the call because they feel it might emotionally compromise them for the mission? Even if they suddenly found it in their heart to grant Hope the tiniest shred of forgiveness, wouldn’t it be strange right before they have to convincingly play-act as the worst embodiment of their Wiseman family hatred? 4. While it pains me greatly to play a resentful, Wiseman-family-hating Button, I kind of hope Nick’s advice re: Button finally confronting their fear isn’t necessarily meant to constitute ~good advice. It feels a bit like it because Button isn’t allowed to get a reaction in. Personally, if it were me in my Button’s shoes, I’d say something along the lines of “Fear has reliably kept me alive, so far. That’s more than I can say about Mom.” - RE: Kenzie date. Depending on how hateful and/or anti-Ment our Buttons are able to get, should they have the opportunity to actually like and/or empathize with their bombersona? Hoping you have a good week. Even if you managed to do “only” 25% of the things listed here, I would still consider that A LOT. Honestly, from where I’m standing, you are an absolute machine. Also, thanks for giving me an official justification to compile feedback for the next two chapters. I’m already attempting to brainstorm some bad puns re: the muffin mishap.

Anonymous
>>85784943

I don't really know where else to leave this stuff (Discord seemed more for bugs and typos), so I'm leaving it here even if it's super late and easy to miss: - RE: Hope's make-up. "Mom carefully dabs her pinky under her eyes, brushing away flecks of mascara. Despite the attempt, her makeup still resembles 1970's-era Gene Simmons." The panda comparison ("her already smudged eyeliner smearing even further, making it more panda than catline") makes me think Alice Cooper would make for a better make-up reference here. With Simmons, I feel, it's all about the black-and-white contrast and the black lines dramatically accentuating his features, whereas Cooper really has that black under-eye area look going on without much else to distract from it. - RE: Mario's tiramisu. Maybe note that the tiramisu is vegan for vegan-flagged Buttons? Or give us another choice to explicitly flag Button as vegan before we go to Sofia's? There is the opportunity to flag Button as a vegan in chapter 2 when giving Glitch the breakfast but only if Button went for the pancake/facon combination, not the avocado toast.