Extended Progress Update: March 3 2023 (Patreon)

Hi Returning Visitors,

Key highlights of this update and reminders:

• A gentle reminder of the TFS Q&A post that can be found: here.
• Please be sure to see this post about adding my email address to your contacts so you can enjoy the RO character portraits. As of now, I’ve contacted all patrons about the portraits.
• A TFS Achievement Guide is in the process of being finalized. 🏆
• Book Two Snippet: Mal has an opinion on the MC’s personal space.

Spring (and most likely a dusting of pollen) is in the air as we slide into March. I’m already spying a few of the budding yellow and white blooms that inspired some of the scenery in Book One; hopefully, they endure the chill. 💐 It’s also been about two months since the release!

What has felt like a whirlwind waned into a zephyr and now I’m just getting back into the full swing of writing for longer periods of time. (I’m not going to jinx it by saying it’s going breezily, but I’ll admit that I did miss the feeling of seeing sections slowly take shape after time spent filling out a choice set before traveling deeper into the plot.) It’s my intention to continue to shift and carve out more time while still maintaining some social media presence; however, you all as patrons in addition to Book Two will be my main areas of focus. It’s less stressful, more fun for me, tbh.

In terms of Book Two, I’m fiddling with a scene set involving Marjorie that is going to be very important. (Seriously, you should make a mental note of it 👀.) I’m thinking of better tracking your dynamic with her within this book to allow for more variation. I have a variable from Book One I’m using called: “marj_meet_1 = "XXX”. The “XXX” is filled with how your MC decided to engage with her during your first encounter; there are four fills: joke, mean, neutral, and kind. Some of you will have been sweet to her, while others might have cracked a joke or suggested she belongs in an insane asylum among other things that Marjorie isn’t going to have forgotten.

I’ve been working on carrying that variable forward to create unique scenes for your MCs along with considering adding a relationship tracker. This tracker would have a point gain/loss similar to how you can influence friendship with B, which allows me to better keep a gauge on the dynamic as compared to a fill that relates to a prior event. There will be more chances to engage with Marjorie in this book, possibly even to help or to hurt her, so I will see how it goes as I continue!

What I like about this section is that it sheds more light on Marjorie, including how the other townsfolk treat her. There are a few touching scenes in this part, though I did want there to be an underpinning of how her loneliness (self-imposed or imposed by others) has affected her.

An important thing I wanted to mention is that a TFS Achievement Guide 🏆 is being finalized. This is something my awesome friend/editor, Tiffany, has been compiling by carefully combing through Book One to identify what triggers each achievement, organizing different achievements by type, and even creating some stat/relationship guides that relate to achievements. I have seen its level of thoughtful detail and know that it’s been a labor of love that readers will be fortunate to have. I’ll make a post when it’s finished. It will be compiled in a public GoogleDoc that I own to make it easily accessible for all of my readers; however, this is all thanks to her efforts. 🥰

[Spoilers Ahead!]

Here’s an excerpt from Book Two:

Peering around Mal to inspect Marjorie's booth would be easier if they didn't completely fill your vision, choosing to redirect your focus.

The border of your personal space is being gently tested, but undoubtedly still respected, as if it's a no man's land they can't enter.

That doesn't mute the feeling of closeness.

I guess the MC is only allowed to focus on one M-named person at any given point in time. XD

(At least according to Mal.)

I hope you have a lovely weekend ahead! 💚