The September Update (2017)

CHAPTER 6 PROGRESS:
Stage: First draft
Word Count: 1,514

How about that fifth chapter, huh? Hopefully you now understand why it took so long; it was about the length of two chapters, but I didn't feel right splitting it apart. In the end I'm quite satisfied with the end result, and I really have Typoglyphic to thank for helping out near the very end.

And with that... the story broke 50k words, passed a whopping four hundred views, received a new cover, and is now at 22 likes! How about that?

I'm not making any promises with six's release date, as it could very well end up being the same length as five was. On top of that, there's another... um... matter... that I'd like to address. What better way to lead up to the story's first anniversary thaaan... retcons!

_{A distant echo rings:}

"I’m aiming for zero major retcons..."

Okay, okay, wait; hear me out!

The first chapter of OSha went through several iterations, with details like the airship's inclusion, size of the expedition, events within the Stable, and the survivors all varying wildly over the course of the initial drafting. I compromised and cut many ideas, as I didn't have much in the way of feedback during early development. Over time, though, I have felt the need to introduce one particular idea that almost made its way into the final version: Orange Kyanite and the majority of the expedition survive Stable 56.

Now before you start worrying that this is going to mess up everything, allow me to assuage your fears. While the first two chapters will obviously need to be overhauled, 3, 4, 5, and even 6 are almost entirely unaffected by this change. Quillwright still emerges from the Stable alone and flightless, and to be honest, now's the best chance for me to make any changes like this to the plot, as I haven't yet been painted into a corner by thousands upon thousands of contradicting words. While I hate making a rather important edit like this so long after I first published, I firmly believe that the overall plot will benefit greatly from this change, having massive repercussions on how everything plays out in the end.

So in this revised version, the group still arrives at Stable 56, there's still something suspicious going on, but after an ensuing battle within, Quill is separated from Kyanite and presumably killed in an explosion. Similarly to the current version, she comes to without a wing and finds that she has been abandoned by her allies, most of whom made it out alive. Then it plugs right back into her entering the swamps, encountering the radigator, etc, etc. As previously stated, I wish I'd made this much earlier, but it's taken considerable time to not only plan out how this new version could improve upon the existing content but also how it will affect the later story. I think I finally have everything sorted out and I want to go through with it.

How long will this take? I'll essentially be reworking what's already there and trimming a lot of it down, so it shouldn't take anywhere close to a full-length, original chapter and won't affect six's progress. I'ma try to roll out the changes before the next blog post; wish me luck...

September Changelog:

General changes:
-Improvements to spelling and grammar throughout.

Chapter 3:
-Buckwater's backstory has been expounded slightly regarding PipBucks. It may have seemed a little curious that a town descended from Stable Dwellers had a store owner interested in buying a worn and outdated PipBuck. Tough Sell now explains the situation to Quill near the end of their bartering scene.

Chapter 4:
-One tiny line has been added to Marigold's dialogue that hints at her backstory. Since it's such a minor detail and difficult to notice, I'll include it here in case you'd like to know:

Marigold looked taken aback. “What? No, I'm not going back! Harvest needs me!”

She's from Buckwater, but I'm not giving away anything more than that for now.
-The cure for typhoof has been revised. Rather than penicillin, the sickness is purged with plenty of clean water and strong antibiotics. Another relatively minor detail, but one that I feel needs addressing.

Final thoughts:

• So I got Bloodborne and wow. I looove the art style so much! There's something strangely alluring to me about old, decrepit Gothic/Victorian architecture, and this game is quite literally oozing atmosphere from every crack in the cobblestone. The soundscape is haunting, the monsters are creepy, the combat is a blast and it's a Souls game that I'm finally somewhat competent at!! Maybe I can even complete it...
• I finally got moved to second shift at my job, and I'm feeling so much more rested now that I get to sleep in. Add on top of that a bonus for the shift and a quieter atmosphere and I'm currently loving my job right now.
• I got my first cavity filled... it was very unpleasant. Take some advice... do NOT skip flossing; it'll come back to bite you.
• A random but amazing mystery video.
• The Fallout: Equestria audiobook project on Indiegogo got funded to the moon and back! I contributed some, and while it'll be a year until it's released, I'm really excited to see it come to life. I love what I've heard so far.
• The new Metroid game is really good.

And how about some great new 4EFB/BlackGryph0n?