Episode 7 Recap

Episode 7 Recap

Just an FYI for those who haven't played Episode 7 yet, I'm going to be talking about spoilers. So if you care about that, just a fair warning.

The main plot

For this episode, my main focus was on dealing with the fire at the end of Episode 6. Most of the episode revolved around figuring out what happened and trying to resolve it. I planned and wrote a progression in the shoes of the characters to get to a suspect. The issue isn't completely resolved but it was the focus. I didn't see any other way around it.

I know some of you don't want a story that's so serious and just want a light-hearted story that doesn't involve so much drama and action. I hear you. But I had to raise the stakes some for this episode just to add some gravity to it all. For those of you who might be concerned, don't worry too much about the tone shifting completely. While there will still be plenty of drama, crime, and action in the episodes to come, it won't overtake the fun I try to inject into every episode. I'd rather the story be more fun than serious even if it starts to become nonsensical. I figure if you've gone this far, you should be okay with it.

Erika

Erika plays a heavy role in this episode. I thought it made sense since she's the one who would be most assertive when it came to figuring out what happened. There's still plenty of fun to be had with Erika and a lot of her story to uncover. Most of her story will revolve around the Proving Grounds and Old Town. I have fun with Erika's storyline in a way that's unique to her personality and I wanted to do that with the investigation.

Harlow

I wanted you to have some intimate time with Harlow. At the same time, I didn't think it would be fair to have her engage in some erotic experience right after she went through what she did. I think it would have been cliché for her to have gone all the way just a few days after what happened. More than that, I wanted to be fair to her. As I've said before, I try to treat all of the characters like real people. And when I write the MC, I try to default to a good guy. Knowing that more fun with Harlow is on the horizon, I thought I would be patient with her. I know some of you might be frustrated but I think this is one case where it would feel rushed.

Kate

Even though we got some Kate action in this episode, I still wanted to add some uncertainty to it all. Kate is struggling with this. I think the forbidden aspect of your relationship with her adds some eroticism to it. At the same time, I wanted to give her some human emotions so that it doesn't seem like she's falling head over heels for you. I hope that I found some balance with Kate's uncertainty in this episode.

Vanessa

Vanessa is going to be a wall you're slowly chipping away at. Since she only has one scene, I wanted to get some information across. I always try to have some fun with Vanessa. A pool scene of my way of having fun while giving you a chance to check out her body. I also tried to give some insight into her and Uptown as well. If it's not clear already, the MC doesn't take Vanessa too seriously, so you shouldn't try to either. This episode was just another case of that.

Riley

Riley's focus right now is the coffee shop, so I wanted to reflect that. In this episode, all of her attention is taken by the business you need to handle. I sprinkled in some flirting and romance for a little bit of progress with her but I didn't have any plans for anything to happen with her at the moment.

Other Love Interests

I know Marisa has a few fans, so I'll never forget her. I plan on inserting her into the story when it seems appropriate and using her in the investigation seemed appropriate.

Since The Stranger already appeared in a previous episode as a stripper, it made sense to me to have her show up again. We didn't see her in the last episode. I figured there was no harm in giving you the option to have some fun with her if you wanted to.

I pulled away from forcing the other love interests into the episode for both time and logical reasons. I try to put them in whenever I can but the story will always take precedent.

Overall

My goal is always balancing the seriousness and fun. The nonsensical with the believable. The absurd with the realistic. Even though Episode 7 dealt with the seriousness of the fire at the coffee shop, I wanted to have an enjoyable experience while you and Erika tried to crack the case. And with every episode, I also try to build a foundation going into the next episode.

I just wanted to give you all a glimpse of what I was thinking while making the episode. I try to be as logical and systematic as I can when writing the specifics. Thanks for your patience as I put everything together.

I've been rendering and plotting Episode 8 for the past few weeks now. I won't have an official progress update until August when I have something significant to share.

Thanks for your support and patience, everybody. If you have a message for me, send it my way. I'll be back later with some plans for Episode 8. Thanks again and take care until then.