update 44.

WHAT I DID.

fun fact about me this week, i got sick. i live in canada, so best believe everyone around me is slowly getting ill and passing it on as they recover. unfortunately for me, despite how much i brag about my tough immune system, i caught that very bug. as it is, i spent a lot of time in bed rather than doing my assignments or writing, which explains, for the millionth time, why my update is so small. apologies. 

i don't have much to say about chapter nine. i'm very much in the same spot as i am last week, just slightly farther along. still the same section, still the same scene—still the same choice set that i didn't finish last week, even. i'm currently writing something that, surprise surprise, wasn't planned initially. still, i'm very excited with how it's turning out and like the change of direction. it sets up things for book two a little and gives more insight into the lore of the world, which is something i tend not to focus on too much (a mistake? probably). as i'm sure you've learned, i'm a very chaotic writer. sometimes i wonder how this story is functioning as it is.

in other news, i started writing my lovely holiday shorts, coming out possibly by the end of the month or early january. i've changed ideas for it multiple times and i'm sure that it will evolve as i go, as most things i write do, but for now, i'm enjoying the little intermission. i don't want to overwork myself too much, so like the previous shorts i wrote, it will be more story-based rather than choice-based. this simply makes it easier on me when writing, since the branches for choices tend to take up a majority of my time and i simply do not have that luxury right now.

the one exception i will make, however, is branching off to have alone time with an ro of your choice. as always, these interactions can be platonic or romantic, though if it's the latter, i'm thinking of treating you all with a scene that takes place after the hunter and ro have established their feelings for each other. none of that pining stuff, we're going straight for the hand-holding and kisses and back rubs and soft smiles. i've teased you all long enough with the prospects of relationships, might as well give you somewhat of a reward. 

STATS.

362,134 words (+1.88k)

SNEAK PEEK.

"It's really nothing to stress about—unlike our situation with Atheron." They wiggle their eyebrows at K. "See how I changed topics? Wasn't that smooth?"