I owe you an explanation · 7:11am Dec 16th, 2015
I should make one thing clear: Nothing bad is going on. I don't really have obligations, or some kind of horrible thing bearing down on me. I'm not going on a hiatus - technically, I kind of already am on hiatus, so the only way I could hiatus my hiatus would be actually updating. But still: I feel like I owe you an explanation as to why Light's updated so infrequently. I'd like to say it was because of another story that I am also working on (Yes, I'm working on something that's a prequel to Light! ...Sort of!) but no.
What really happened is that I got ahead of myself. And I'm sorry for that.
See, I actually have more of Light written, all the way up to about chapter 22, I think. Though one chapter is unfinished on account of me being unable to find a good location for a battle, more on that later. I sort of rushed through Light, making more interesting scenes like one that segues a crossover with the Avatar of Albion, and may be the first time we see the Dark Avatar at the height of its power. Fun stuff.
The thing I'm getting at here is that I honestly... sort of... forgot about chapter 12. It was finished, yes, but that didn't mean it was good. I'd simply think to myself "ooh, chapter 12 is lackluster" and then ignore it then go back to writing Kraber reenacting that one chapter from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac where Nny beats a psychotic admirer while screaming "ADMIRE ME?! YOU SHIT!!! I'M THE VILLAIN IN THIS FUCKING STORY!" (so look forward to that) and also doing unspeakably horrible things. It was fun!
But, well, the original draft of chapter 12 was just... bad. It was the weakest part of the story, and I say that when considering that one of the chapters is literally bare-bones. It was too bloated at nearly 30k words, and it wasn't dense enough in plot. It just... felt... it felt like a filler episode, is what I mean. It's not - I mean, we get more character development, more of Kraber reading Lyra's journal, but it felt like it dragged on towards the end, and the end of said chapter was just... a mess. Just a fucking mess. There was padding, not enough characterization, it felt rushed, I abruptly forgot about one character halfway though, it felt almost too bloated for me to change, and it simply wasn't up to my standards.
I spent some time earlier this week finally trying to fix it, by trying to make the end segment its own chapter, but I ran into the same problem. So: I split the chapter in half. The first half is fine, and should be uploaded once Rhys gives it the okay and comes back. Or, alternatively, it'll be uploaded if Jed gives it the okay and I get tired of waiting for Rhys. 50-50 chance, really.
Anyway, the other half of chapter 12, due to the lack of substance in its ending, will take somewhat longer. It needed a near-complete rewrite, and I'm actually putting in character moments. So, look forward to that guys. Rest assured though, I am totally working on it.
Right-o, take your time on it, I'm sure it'll turn out fine. Everything you've produced so far has been top notch so I suspect that you may be a bit overly critical because its your own work, Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing how Kraber's backstory develops, especially given it was a big influence in getting me to consider trying my own hand at this verse (dunno how that'll turn out, hopefully not catastrophically).
Anyhoo, take your time, and I look forward to the future releases.