Status Update - July 2023 (Patreon)

Hello once again to all my amazing intelligent beautiful patrons!!! <3 <3 <3

It's been a while since the last status update, and while I'd like to say that's because I've been doing nothing but crank out loads more content, that is sadly not the case. I'll talk more about that in a bit, but first let's look at what's cooking:

Curses! is still ongoing, there's about a half dozen more chapters to go there. We hope you're all enjoying that story, I'd like to say it was fun to write but tbh we stalled a few times trying to figure out what it was about & where it was going. OTOH we kind of like how it turned out & we hope you all do too!

We just wrapped up Club Luna book 3, but don't despair! Book 4 will be starting up on Monday, and it'll pick up pretty much where book 3 left off. The next Luna book will follow the same episodic format as the other books, and we have episodes 16, 17, & 18 all queued up and ready to go. 

Normally we wouldn't start publishing any chapters unless the entire book was complete but we couldn't pull it off this time. We're confident eps 19 & 20 will be completed before they're due to publish tho, so we're not too concerned.

Mountains of Magic is onto its second volume now, with great thanks to Jess and Camille for commissioning those chapters. I know it's been kind of dark and maybe a little controversial lately, despite Lia's best efforts to keep it fluffy. 

It's actually been a hard story to write, mainly because nature & the environment are really important topics to us. Researching some of that stuff has been really draining & depressing, but we really want to get all the details & science accurate because we feel that strongly about it.

Speaking of mountains, big shoutout to Lucy for commissioning Green Canyon Magic and for making sure Tale of a Fox in Welland (aka Welland Revisited) reached a satisfying conclusion. Thanks also to Aster & Yuki for commissioning Magic of Ben Macdui! Back when we started working on Mountains we really had no idea it would become popular enough that people would start commissioning spin-offs, but it's really amazing!

And thanks as always to Meg for bringing us more chapters of Kon-Kon! I don't know yet if we'll see more of that story in the future, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Looking ahead, it's probably one of our worst-kept secrets but we're working hard on Aka Amy book 4! The end of Club Luna book 3 brought Cass & the gang up to the same point in the timeline as Amethyst & Theresa, so the next Amy book and the next Luna book will both be taking place at roughly the same time. Amy's going to start publishing after Curses! is complete, so most of that story will be posting concurrently with Luna.

Further ahead, once we finish work on Amy & Luna we really want to get back into space and get going on Daughters of Demeter book 5. We've had a lot of trouble picking that story up again, but we're going to try and sit down with the crew to see if they'll tell us what's been holding them back. 

I'd like to say we have a few more irons in the fire, but that hasn't really changed since the last status update back in (squints...) November? Really? Anyways, we have a few more story ideas & a few chapters of some random stuff, but nothing's complete enough to report on.

Which brings us back to the other thing. Thanks to ongoing anxiety, executive dysfunction, and a combination of other health issues (both mental & physical), all that's contributed to a big slow-down in our writing output over the last couple months. 

Like I mentioned earlier we normally wouldn't start publishing a story until it was complete, but in the past we had like 1 or 2 entire stories sitting in the buffer waiting to be scheduled. Now I'm chasing deadlines that have already blown past & it feels like we're fighting a losing battle.

Which basically means we might be taking a break after Amy-4 & Luna-4 are finished. No promises yet, but after 3 years of averaging at least one chapter per day, we might finally have a notable gap in the schedule.

That's all we have for now. Thanks again for all your support! We really couldn't do this without all of you!!! 

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

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p.s. over on our Discord Camille and a couple others expressed an interest in getting May Hawthorne's point of view of the moment when she realized Cassandra had become a goddess. I hope this satisfies your curiosity! ^^

Club Luna Thirteen Months Extra

=::= May Hawthorne's PoV =::=

"Very well Cerys," I responded to the blonde wolfgirl. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect. You've obviously changed a great deal since the last time we met. Are you girls keeping the club going? I take it you're in charge now?"

Before she had a chance to respond I looked over at Kaylee again. I really couldn't believe she'd willingly taken on the form of a tiny three-tailed foxgirl, but she seemed comfortable enough with that body. 

As I stared at her I commented, "And Kaylee you've changed even more."

Finally I looked at the other two girls, but I didn't know them. So far I'd resisted reading anyone's minds, considering I was here to try and make amends I didn't want to offend anyone on the off-chance one of them could somehow sense that sort of thing.

The girl on the left was a slender petite ravenette with exotic violet-coloured eyes, but despite that I was quite positive she was a normal mortal human. The other girl was more of a mystery to me. She bore a striking family resemblance to Cassandra, so much so that I was convinced she was either a blood relative of my former student or her appearance had been magically altered to make her seem like such.

"I'm afraid I don't know either of you," I said as I continued looking at the two of them, "But I assume you're also members of the club?"

"Just get to the point ok? Why are you really here?" Melanie asked, and from her tone it was clear she was both wary and distrustful of me, which was fair enough all things considered.

I looked at the ravenette wolfgirl for a moment, then let my hands drop and my shoulders slumped as it hit me. Despite all my best intentions I really wasn't making a good impression. 

"I came to apologize Melanie," I admitted with a sigh. "I owe all you girls an apology, but yourself and Cassandra most of all. May I join you, so we can talk? And if Cass is here, I'd like to see her as well please."

The two werewolves exchanged a glance, then it seemed like Cerys was about to say something. Before she could speak up I heard the screen door off to my left suddenly swing open. And at that moment I suddenly sensed the presence of another god.

My heart skipped a beat as my mind raced. I knew Cassandra's mothers were both fallen angels, my first thought was one of them had somehow contracted with another god and brought them here to watch over their daughter. Either that or Club Luna had themselves found another deity to act as their sponsor and mentor.

I turned on the spot, prepared to confront or at least meet whoever this god was, but instead of some unknown deity I found myself staring into the eyes of none other than Cassandra herself. And from the look on her face I knew she'd sensed my divine power too. There was no mistake, no misunderstanding. Somehow, in the time since I was last here, my former student had attained godhood.

For a moment my thoughts just stopped. I couldn't process what I was seeing or feeling. I couldn't come up with any theories or explanations as to how a half-demon could ascend to godhood. I couldn't comprehend how anyone in this day and age could ascend at all for that matter. Between the status quo and the general state of the world it simply didn't happen anymore.

I was just starting to get control of my scattered thoughts when a second figure emerged from the house behind Cassandra. She stepped past the half-demon goddess then turned to face me, and once again my heart skipped a beat while my mind blanked out.

Her body was had changed subtly since she was last here on the mortal realm, and her manner of dress was wildly different from anything I'd seen her wear in the past, but her face was the same, as was her pure white hair. It was impossible, incredible, inexplicable, and I could barely comprehend what I was seeing. But somehow, it was her.

My daughter had been restored. She was back here on Earth, no longer exiled, no longer wasting away to nothing in isolation. She was alive and healthy, and she was apparently friends with the girls of Club Luna.

I felt my heart racing as my cheeks heated up, while my eyes began to sting slightly. Even my breathing became unsteady as my emotions threatened to overwhelm me completely.

"Is it really you?" I half-whispered to the pretty young white-haired girl, almost unwilling to let myself believe it incase it was all just a cruel joke or illusion. "You're back? But...how?"

I could see the emotions in her eyes and on her face. Then she spoke, and I knew it really was her, without a doubt.

"Hello mother," my daughter greeted me, and my emotions surged. 

She said some other things but I only half-heard her words. I was too lost in the moment, the realization that somehow my child was restored, healthy, and alive once more. No longer a shadow of her former self, she was solid and corporeal.

A few seconds probably elapsed as we just stared at each other, then when I could hold back no longer I finally dashed forward. I pulled her into my arms and held her tight. 

For now Club Luna was all but forgotten. I'd been reunited with my child, and that was all that mattered to me.