NOVEL SIMPLE Update – 28 September 2023
Welcome to RuggyRuggy's Update Corner!
I like to do these after each Arc as a way to refresh and relax. I also usually talk about the story and how it changed from the original conception to the finished product, as well as my thoughts on some story beats, plot points, or characters. Since this is a rewrite of my first story... I'll compare what changed, what was kept, and what was, deservedly, removed.
Removed?!?!?!
Okay, so off the bat, I definitely wanted to change how the story started. Prologue One and Prologue Two (Of the original version) had to go. I just had to cut them out because I regret them so much. The first one was too edgy. It was too violent, and while it would have eventually made sense near the end of the story when all of the mysteries were solved, it was just too much. It was also too long and ruined the pacing, two things I have a lot of trouble with. I know that some things are better told and not shown, but I have a lot of trouble deciding what to skip, what should naturally be implied, and when to have little week-long 'time skips' to skip ahead.
As for Prologue Two? Those familiar will know that it introduces Qina and Claus Keywater-- fraternal twins. They're Virin Keywater's children. Prologue Two also introduces a dryad and a kobold, and it sets up the twin's overarching mission. The twins would've also shown up after the original attack on Parrel's mansion, but that didn't happen in this story.
I haven't cut the twins. They will still show up, but their introduction has greatly changed from the original.
Those also familiar with the original will know that I had originally had 3 slave markets that were taken out before Servi took out Parrel's mansion. That was too much, so I cut it down into a single underground slave market and spent time trying to grow a friendship between Servi and the Earth Elf cousins.
Changed?!?!?!
A lot... A lot changed.
Srassa didn't exist in the original Book One. She showed up in Arc 2 and studied under Dinera, (who also originally showed up in Arc 2) with Momo. Srassa's personality was drastically different. She was much more confident, not as timid as she's portrayed in Arc 1 of the rewrite.
Dineria lived in her own house. She didn't share a house with Claire, but now she does.
Cassidy... Okay, she probably changed the most. She showed up in Arc 4 of the original as a different name. Servi would've met her in the slums, and she would've helped her out, but I moved her here to the first Arc and altered her personality. She wasn't as rough or crass, but I wanted her to be that kind of character.
The entire skill system and guild ranks changed. Originally, the weakest rank at the guild would Rank 10. The scale went from Rank 10 to Rank 0-- a rank most didn't know existed. Each Rank would grant you different spells, skills, and abilities to learn. Skill Paths didn't exist. Skill Tablets still existed, but Skill Phones didn't. Servi wouldn't have gotten one.
The most drastic changes are probably having Servi enroll in the [Forbidden Skill System] after the battle at Parrel's mansion and reviving Albert as her revenant. Those two things were planned in the original, but I was so obsessed with long chapters and super lengthy arcs that it wouldn't have happened before Book 9 or 10 / 3-4 million words into the story.
The pacing has definitely improved. At least, I hoped it did.
Speaking of Albert, the fight in the original happened differently. Servi was fighting some random woman and a hundred guards while Llamare and Liealia fought Albert. That battle ended with Llamare stabbing through his cousin to puncture Albert's heart. (She survived. Servi healed her.)
His backstory also changed a fair bit. For the better, in my opinion. He's much more connected with Virin and has a real stake in wanting to join Servi as a way of trying to right Virin's wrongs. He'll eventually confront him. The original Albert didn't have [Geas]. At least, I don't think it did. (I haven't reread the original in a year...)
(I really don't like the original... It's kinda like my skeleton in the closet... It's only still up for archival purposes.)
Siora (A Wing Elf from the beginning) had a different name. Tim, that koena near her, was still called Tim. They showed up in Book 4 of the original, but I wanted to have them show up earlier. They'll have more importance later.
Servi still died, but it happened differently. In the original, she wandered around town, unable to understand anyone, and she had her arm cut off when she stole food. Fisher's and Arnold's abuse of those singi children still happened, but it happened in front of people who cheered them on. (Yeah... I regret that a lot. I have no idea what I was thinking.)
Fisher didn't have a part focused on him. In the original, he showed up in the beginning and didn't show up again until Arc 2. This time, however, I want to develop his character more. I'm not the happiest with how I handled him in the original, so I'm making sure I'm changing that.
Now, let's talk about Momo... In the original, she had Srassa's personality. Momo was a beginner. A total newbie who joined up right after Servi did and passed out during their first mission into the city's sewers. (Joining in the original was a different process. There wasn't any kind of class to sit through or papers to fill out.) But I didn't want Servi to have to babysit both a cowardly Momo and a cowardly Srassa, so I made Momo the experienced one. I think it fits her character better. I like it when she's confident, spunky, and happy.
Most of Lucoa Village remained the same, except I think I changed a few names here and there. The group still went on a mission to collect akablooms, but that monotonia-addicted bear was a new addition.
Let's talk about monotonia. That dastardly pill. It originally showed up in Arc 3 of the original, but I added it in Arc 1 to connect to some things that would show up later on.
Parrel died in the original, but he lived this time.
Oh, and this is probably a big one. But in the original, I don't think Servi ever became a futa. I can't be bothered to go back and check, but it took nearly 1 million words for her to even kiss Momo, let alone have sex with her.
In the rewrite, Servi hasn't had sex with Momo, but she does have sex with Itarr near the end, and that's not counting the fun she had with Nimyra. (Compared to the original, this Servi is more experienced...)
Added?!?!
Nimyra! Our lovely Drow Elf did not exist. Servi stayed at the guild in one of the rooms they offered. Lucy also didn't exist. We've already talked about Cassidy.
But now let's talk about places! Servi's Soul World and the Crimson Grotto are new additions. Nimyra needed a place to stay, obviously, and at first, it was a shack in the slums. She would've been a prostitute, but one that's not so famous. She would have lived with Lucy and sold their bodies to the guards to buy food. Servi would've helped them out of poverty as thanks for giving her a place to stay until they found a place in the common district.
But I didn't quite like that idea. I wanted to alter Nimyra's character, so I made her the Queen of Night and granted her a lot of power, money, and status over Lando's nobles. Lucy had always intended to be addicted to that drug. (Phrine, that drug Cassidy used on Lucy, is a new addition. It didn't exist in the original.)
That whole sequence with the underground slave market was new, but I've already talked about that.
Myrokos, the Golden Reliquary, Adam, and Eve (I know those last two are just codenames. We have no idea who they are) were new additions. I wanted Servi to face a tough opponent, and she needed a way to unlock Necromancy, so those two were born into the story. The whole mystery behind the GR, Adam, and Eve can probably be solved with a few leaps of logic.
I think most people will have a hint about their identity after reading the first chapter of Arc 3. You could maybe get a small hint in Arc 2, but I don't think it's possible without a lot of leaps of logic.
Arc 2?!?!?!?!
Okay, so off the bat...
Arc 2 will encompass the original Book 2 and Book 3.
Book 3 is probably my biggest regret. Seriously... It's...just so bad... It's edgy for the sake of being edgy. It's so far past grimdark that it's grimderp. That sole book is the biggest reason why I wanted to do a rewrite. I just needed to fix that mess of a story.
The original Book 2 was a training book. Momo would train with Dineria, and Servi would train with someone else. It was just a few dozen thousand words of...filler that ended with a tournament. A tournament in which I wanted to have 64 extremely detailed fights between all the combatants.
It was too much.
But not no more!
Arc 2 will have Servi, Momo, and Srassa train under Dineria, and they'll go to the city of Waveret! A new location means new people! New fun! and most importantly...
The friendship between Servi, Momo, and Srassa will deepen... (That's all I'll say about that...)
But Arc 2 won't just have that. It'll also combine a heavily reworked Book 3.
Book 2 and Book 3, together, were like 400k words.
Arc 2? It's 103k words. It's been packed, edited, re-edited, re-re-edited, and overlooked with a fine tooth comb. And it's so much better for it. I am super proud of it.
(It also contains a tasteful illustration of a certain red-eyed main character in the nude... Yep. I have a decent one of her, futa and all...)
And I'll just say this.
Kitty. Cat. Pajamas... (With 3 illustrations...)
I'm sorry if that was hard to follow, but I'm just so excited to release Arc 2!!!!!
Now...
After Arc 2?!?!?!?
Arc 3, of course.
But I want to bring up something I planned since the beginning. I guess you could call them Non-Canon-Crossover.
Is It Wrong to Try to Splice Souls in a Dungeon?
Interconnected: Danmachi
A fanfic in the world of Danmachi with the Itarr Familia. (I'm torn between those two names, but I'm leaning toward the first one.)
The obvious members would be Servi, Momo, and Srassa. But I've never written a fanfic before. I've wanted to, but I've been too scared. (I also have to reread Danmachi. It's been a long time, and the last volume I read was Volume 14. I also haven't read anything other than the main story volumes, so no Sword Oratoria. I also haven't played the mobile gacha games, either, so I don't know the stories from those.)
I don't know if I want to mesh with the main canon, so I might have it take place in the past or something, before Bell's time. I'll have a better idea after I reread it.
(I might read, add in Servi, Itarr, Momo, and Srassa, and kinda fuse those characters into the story where it makes the most sense. They wouldn't overpower or overshadow Bell or the others. They'd just kinda be there, doing their own thing in the background. (Rather, Bell and company would be in the background. It'll focus on Itarr and Servi and friends.) They'd be friends with the Hestia Familia, though. I like the idea of Hestia showing Itarr around and helping her get a job, and Bell can help Servi and her friends get used to the dungeon.)
But then that brings me to this...
I used to love reading, but after writing... I just lost that joy. It's hard because I keep comparing my stuff to what I've been reading, and I know that's unhealthy because the biggest killer of joy is comparison.
It's a problem I need to solve, so I'm hoping forcing myself to reread one of my favorite series will bring that spark back.
Have any of you guys experienced something similar? Like, serious question. I want to overcome this feeling. I hate it.
And of course, I want to cross over with Chimeric Ascension, my other story. I don't know how, yet. But I'm working on it.
And there's Goblin Slayer. I actually had the first chapter written 2 years ago. Servi ends up helping Cow Girl repair a wheel on her wagon while she's making her deliveries into town, and she joins the guild with Momo and Itarr. (Back then, Srassa was a pretty minor character that didn't have much presence. Her role has been drastically changed in this rewrite to be more important because I really like her character and her potential.)
Closing Out?!?!?!?
And.... I think that's about it. Arc 2 is ready and done. There's nothing else I need to add to it other than fixing a missing comma here or there and trying to get more illustrations. But I think I'll wait a week or two before releasing the story. It'll be twice a week-- same as before.
I'll use that time to finish editing Arc 4.1 of Chimeric Ascension. (I'm about 75k words away.) I think I want to have I:SS on Monday and Wednesday, and CA on Tuesday and Thursday.
We'll see how long that schedule lasts. I've never had two stories uploading at the same before at a regular rate.
I prefer to have an Arc written and edited completely before publishing because I'm always making changes. Some are minor, like a drink or food. But others are major. An example is the way Servi uses Necromancy. She has [Create Undead], and [Summon Undead]. [Create Undead] didn't exist until after Chapter 22 was published, and I had to make that change for the rest of Arc 1 and Arc 2.
But having I:SS and CA publish at the same time will be an experiment. I hope it works well.
And....
I think that's all! Forgive me for any spelling mistakes or repetition. I get so excited when writing these that I sometimes type faster than I can think.