I mentioned last time that I retconned Countess Ariana’s name in order to bring her into the OreHosa fold, so I had to go back and change the citations of her name in EM1, 2 and 3; which were surprisingly few, only twice per book in the text itself. It actually showed up more in the character glossary in EM2 and EM3. While I was double-checking that, I found a detail about Mariana and Iliana that I forgot about, that Mariana has white hair with a black stripe and Iliana has black hair with a white stripe. I opted to redesign the models in DA despite knowing that it’d be implemented really inconsistently (and for some reason, the system kept trying to apply Iliana’s eye color to the hair stripe). I decided to run with it, and the premise will be that the white hair is a sign of the sisters’ relative power level, so as Mariana’s power wanes, you’ll see more black and as Iliana’s rises, there’ll be more white. It’s so much fun making excuses for the system, but this is what happens when you use AI and don’t want to do a million generations and edits to get everything just so.

While I was at it, I realized I hadn’t written any commentary for the EM series, so I did a little bit on that. I then went back to work on the summaries I wanted to get out, only to get distracted on a minor detail and forgetting to get back to the main task. Whoopsie. Maybe I’ll get those teasers out Monday instead.

In other news, I decided to add Sturla to the cast in anticipation of a sidestory to echo CeleKing2 and 3. Poor Yasuko doesn’t get to catch much of a break in this new world. The scenario is still under development, but the idea is that here he’s the son of a Hell Princess (the second degree of Superior Demon) and a Demonized human, making him the equivalent of a mid-ranking Greater Demon. Now, a Demon of inferior rank can elevate themselves by killing and absorbing the powers of higher-ranking Demons, and Sturla being Sturla, his ambitions are nothing short of claiming the throne as the Demon King, even as the war is underway (or perhaps exactly because the war is underway as it creates the conditions to facilitate his rise to power). However, if I’m sticking with the core power structure reflecting the Sheolites of the Tico series, he’s going to find that Samael is no Wusheng.

Anyway, with Sturla being added, there are others to naturally follow, so I imagine I’m about to fill up the rest of those slots. More about that next time. Stay tuned.

It was barely enough to warrant note, but I did work a little bit on Chapter 15 of CoP. I’m comfortably expanding my lead time, which as I said in Saturday’s post on the main site will come in handy in the hectic madness that is the first term of the school year. (It really makes sense that they give us our bonus at the end of the first term rather than, say, the end of the calendar or school year. They want to remind us why we do it after going through the gauntlet.) I’ll be switching over to WttW, so hopefully I can make the most of His Majesty’s birthday to get some solid progress made. Stay tuned.

I managed to surprise myself and finished Chapter 14 of CoP and wrote the first sentence or two on Chapter 15. Things are moving along nicely. Now if I can just get this sort of lead time in the other stories currently in serialization, I’ll be doing good. I don’t know what I’ll get done tomorrow, but we’ll see. Stay tuned.

I didn’t have a whole lot of time for writing, but I did make a little more progress on Chapter 14 of CoP. I doubt I’ll finish the chapter before the weekend is out, but you never know. Stay tuned.

I managed to do much better today, finishing Chapter 13 of CoP and starting Chapter 14. I might’ve gotten farther, but I got sidetracked because the master file for the Cross Arc character glossaries was all gummed up with a bunch of junk (likely piled-up restore data), so I stripped all that out, but now I have to go back in and reformat everything. All sorts of fun. While my Fridays aren’t quite as crazy as they were in the first two terms, they’re still pretty busy, so I may not actually get as much done as I’m hoping. Stay tuned.

I didn’t really accomplish anything Tuesday, and I only made about half quota in today’s effort of continuing Chapter 13 of CoP. I’ve got tests to grade, so that’s consuming a decent chunk of my time, but the main thing is that I managed to clear the block from the other day, so the path to finishing the chapter is pretty well clear at this point. I just have to keep moving. Stay tuned.

I did a little writing on Chapter 13 of CoP, well under quota, but I’ve created a bit of a conundrum for myself and trying to decide what I want to do with it. As I noted in the update post, I already have this week’s chapter ready, so I’m not really pressured for time. However, I’d like to maintain my lead if not expand it. We’ll see how it goes. Stay tuned.

Another day of minor progress on Chapter 12 of CoP. Kinda wish I’d devoted more time to it because I’m pretty sure I’m just shy of finishing it. I guess that still leaves me in a very advantageous position for next cycle. In the meantime, I need to think about switching over to RttW. We’ll see how it goes this week. Stay tuned.

Again I only managed to make minor progress on Chapter 12 of CoP. It was a long daggone day and I conked out not once but twice in the evening. What fun. And because the school knows we’re on pins and needles waiting to see who gets admitted for the coming school year, they’re kind enough to invite us into the office on Sunday just so we can find out before the work week starts. Lovely.

Anyway, I’ve met my deadline for the story update, but I intend to see how much farther I can get in CoP before the weekend is out. There’s some other stuff I’d like to get done as well, so we’ll see how it goes. Stay tuned.

I made minor progress on Chapter 12 of CoP. While most weeks this would just be a sign of me continuing to lag behind in my goals, I’ve gotten far enough ahead that I can weather a day or two of minimal productivity. I’m close to the end of the chapter, which will put me ahead of the game next cycle. That’s always good news. Now if I can only manage something similar in the other stories. Stay tuned.