Writing Log #13 - "Be my player two?"

Getting this out of the way before we're all eaten by spooky ghosts!

【Life update】

So I got sick, which changed my plans a bit. Writing this with sniffles and a headache, and hoping that the worst (a swallowing-glass type sore throat immune to painkillers, oof) is over. I'm going back to bed after this post--fingers crossed I'll be fully back in action starting November.

【Commissions / Schedule】 

I worked extra hard on commissions this month and the money I made should be carrying me all the way into 2025. That means two months of full-time Alulu shenanigans coming up! (Minus some days off for the holidays/new year. Maybe.)

Some people requested discounted Lulu and/or Alvin art, so I'm attaching two here: one featuring Lulu as a racing girl from the LoveLive! series, the other is NSFW VA Billy hanging out with the blorbos.

【Sanctuary 17223】

The original plan was to work on the second draft for chapter 3, but commissions made it really hard for me to focus, so I shifted things around a bit. And the progress I made feels amazing!

Based on feedback from my partner's initial read, I edited chapter 1 into its beta copy, ready to go out to more people for proofreading and general reactions! It started at 4,900 words in the first draft, went all the way to 7,500 words in the second draft, and the beta copy is now sitting at 6,450 words. I also compiled all the major character traits, lore drops and subplots of this chapter into a separate document to keep track--having no loose ends is important to me. It's the least I can do for my readers.

In my defense, they started it.

The story starts with Lulu committing a little act of vandalism, but you see, it's totally justified. And it leads her to her subby boyfriend, so can we blame her? No way. :3c

Last month I finished the second draft for chapter 2 (from 10,050 to 13,400 words) but I found some issues with it, so I made a li'l draft 2.5 cut down to 11,500 words. I went over it with my partner for the initial feedback and then once again edited it into its beta copy at 11,150 words. Finished that one right before I started writing this post, fresh out the oven. (Also, the first image attached here is a scene from this very chapter. They're made for each other.)

The illustrations to go along with these chapters haven't been started yet, but having two out of six chapters at the "sending it out to beta readers" stage is HUGE for me! This one is much, much more in-depth than any of the AU stuff I make, and I can see the time I'm spending on it is paying off. In the words of my partner, "Something really, really good is building up here. It's fun, the dialogue is great, and I'm super intrigued by the lore." :') (Supposedly, it REALLY kicks off when Lulu meets Alvin in chapter 2--I'm biased, but I'm inclined to agree...)

I have 1,500 words worth of notes to add to the big lore/subplot document for this chapter, but I'll get to that later. Gonna have to clear my head a bit first, because there are maaany things happening (and foreshadowing future events) :P

"They didn't ship you with a user manual, did they?" I ask dryly.

"Ah, we've determined that nobody reads those," Alvin says. Can't argue there. "You're free to look at my source code though."

"I think I'm good."

Somehow, this is lewd. And then they, like, play video games together? Just get married already.

【Coming soon...】

Honestly, I want my body to make a full recovery before making any specific plans. Buuut I have some character designs I wanna adjust, a certain chapter 3 to get to, and there's a new NSFW thing I'm absolutely dyyyiiinnnggg to draw, so expect to see some of that hopefully sooner rather than later! c: