Vol 2 Aftermath: Casual's thoughts and rambles (Patreon)

Volume 2: The Aftermath.

Well, this one got away from me. That much is true. In addition, I bit off a bit more than I could chew with editing, working on the story, and all that wonderful stuff. It definitely got a bit scuffed at the end, with the multiple delays.

That said, I’ve learned a lot. A lot on publishing, and a lot about writing itself. I’d certainly like to think my writing improved drastically over the course of this book. But it's a bit hard to tell, being so deep within it.

Thanks to the edit squad for their tireless work in helping me make it better too, you guys are awesome for putting up with another “10 pm plz halp” from me. I know that can’t be easy, and I felt kind of bad each time I did it.

Secondly, thanks to everybody for reading. It's certainly been interesting, as the book has continued. How much its expanded is honestly a bit startling, and just how many people enjoy this story still, still stuns me.

So thank you. Thank you all for reading. It means a lot that I’m bringing people that much enjoyment with a story that was originally intended to be basically a smut harem story.

Its funny how that changed. I still get a smirk every time I think about how its changed.

That said, onto more thoughts.

The original plan for this book was to have it be the same breakneck pace as the first, and cover another full year.

However, as I began writing things, that felt unfeasible. Xiulan’s issues… couldn’t be resolved in the one or two chapters I originally had them slated to take. In the original draft, it went fast… and as I was writing, that speed felt like a disservice. Same with other characters and events. I decided to explore the characters a bit more, in the end, rather than push forwards at my original intended pace.

That, and I had quite a free health issues, so the main desire was for a slow, slice of life journey of people figuring each other out, and becoming friends.

Is the first part of the book a bit slow as a result? Perhaps.

Now, on to plot elements. I deviated completely from my first drafted structure. I still hit most plot beats I wanted to hit, but how I hit them changed drastically.

Honestly? Big D’s journey wasn’t supposed to occur at all until after the second viewing of the Solstice festival. Thus, it was supposed to be after the tournament. Book 2 and the tournament arc would have had Big D have gone too far in the other direction. Too cautious instead of too arrogant, and the second book was supposed to be him also overcoming everything that happened with Chow Ji, and finally deciding to set out into the wider world.

However…. I made the decision to put it in there. Mostly for something for Big D to do.. Mostly because I felt like he wasn;’t doing anything at all, and the story is called beware of chicken. Having him a complete side character for a volume felt wrong to me. Looking back on it, I don;t know if that was the correct decision or not, but it was the one that was made. That said, everything that happened on the journey was going by the plot beats I have, so I’d say it at least turned out alright.

Next is the tournament arc, which ho boy. This was not intended to even be half as long as it was. Basically, the original idea was to pull a bait and switch. Absolutely nothing was supposed to happen at the tournament. It was supposed to be maybe 10 chapters, but closer to 8, of Xiulan kicking everybody’s asses and then the tournament ending. Xianghua and Gou Ren was always going to be a thing. I had the scene where she introduces herself planned and mostly written since chapter 30 of Volume 1. Which I’m, still immensely proud of, and her introduction is something that was fun.

Loud Boy and Rags were originally one off jokes.,Despite Loud boy “looking suspiciously like a protagonist” he wasn;t originally supposed to be Tigu’s friend, just some rando who got father than he should have before being defeated.

Thus Xiulan wins and the tournament ends… and Lu Ban does nothing, despite the fact that it was going to be heavily foreshadowed that he was going to try something.

Thus instead, it would transition to the “forced Marriage arc.” Wherein Elder Yi did kind of betray the sect, Tigu captured by SM when they’re leaving after giving time for Gou/Yun/Ri Zu to escape, while Xiulan is basically imprisoned by her own sect. and things go basically as they did in the chapters I decided to go with

However, Xi Kong would have ended up as a bait and switch, where he uses one of the Jade Grass Blades to Oppose the Shrouded Mountain Sect basically alone,  and frees Xiulan.

Then the fight happens. Jin, at this point, isn’t actually even involved. Xiulan is the one who managed to defeat Lu Ban, using her single shattered Jade sword with Tianlan’s help.

From there, the VB sect was basically completely destroyed when Xiulan manages to force the retreat of the SM along with Tigu. The survivors, the weakest disciples, Xiulan collects, and flees with to Fa Ram, while her father is killed.

Then there would have been a small intrigue arc, and it would have culminated in Jin using [Break the Rocks] on Zang Li’s father, while Lu Ban is taken out by Bi De for good.

Which would have been the end of the book, likely, and Bi=g D seeing the festival again would have triggered his quest for the formation.

This was changed relatively early, with Big D’s adventure, and then the changes to the tournament arc, as I explored the world a bit more. I personally think that the extended arc is good, but the reason why the book is so long is because it is essentially 2 books.

Now onto other things. Character Bloat is a thing that I’m struggling with, and I need a solid plan to tackle. This is exemplified the most by lots of people thinking Zhang Fei the Torrent Rider, and Zang “Loud Boy” Wei are the same person. So thats something to focus on. There are now lots and lots and lots of characters. Theres 15 on Fa Ram alone. Hong Yaowu adds quite a few, and Verdant Hill adds even more. Then with the tournament, and the places Big D travelled to, Shen Yu and the Cloudy Sword Sect, The Shrouded Mountain Sect—

Well. Its a lot. Even just listing them all would likely take up several pages. So that is something to think about for the future.

I have a lot to think on during the break. The good news, is that theres so much stuff I can do with the current state of the story that I’m excited to get back into it for volume 3 (probably gonna be renamed Vol 4, with vol 2 gonna be split.). The problem is that theres actually too much, instead of too little, so keeping things at a manageable level, with a mix of farming slice of Life and Xianxia shenanigans remains a priority.

So. Once again, thank you all for reading. And hopefully the little side stories I’m gonna post are enjoyable.