Chapter 8, Two Weeks Late · 5:21am Jul 26th, 2019
Hello, dearhearts! Golden here with good news from the brass up top: I've finally finished Chapter 8, tentatively titled Of Soldiers, after two weeks of waffling about trying to figure it out. It's a big one, too, weighing in at a hefty 11,861 words. It's an academy record!
Why did it take me so long? Well, aside from work and maybe pushing myself a little hard trying to catch up on the week I missed Chapters 5 and 6, I found myself dealing with something I don't do very often: intimate character development and worldbuilding scenes. The astute reader might notice that the plot in Empty Horizons kept a steady pace, always marching forwards and rarely stopping.
I mentioned previously that I wanted to pull back on that some with this next act and apply some of the lessons I learned from reading PaulAsaran's Bulletproof Heart, namely that the story carries a lot more impact when the characters actually have some time to think about the shit they're going through. I feel like this is the first chapter where I've really been able to accomplish that and do it well, and I look forwards to reading all your reactions!
My co-author has also been quite busy lately exercising his artistic talents. I present to you one of his latest works:
Private Dawn "Dawny" Detours is a member of the Friesland Guards, the force that keeps the peace in the streets of Friesland, the city on the westernmost coast of Altalusia. She's an explorer at heart and knows the streets of the city in and out, and always volunteers for missions that might send her abroad. Of course with violence looming on the horizon, Dawny will be deployed as a soldier, swapping out her police uniform for a helmet and rifle harness that'll allow her to protect her homeland from the cruel and callous baronland invaders. She won't be showing up in Sunken Horizons itself, but my co-author intends to draw a short spinoff comic featuring her deployment to Castle Urtica, where Duchess Nettlekiss will be under siege from Duke Titus's forces. Very cool!
In other non-writing news, remember that Empty Horizons audiobook we started? The narration for chapter one has finally been recorded! I've begun putting the first chapter all together and hot damn, everybody just sounds so good. No idea when it'll be done, though. I'm a busy man.
I've also been accepted on the team for Equestria at War, which some of you may know as a Hearts of Iron 4 mod that allows you to play out all your favorite horse-based war fantasies. They've got me on board as a writer, so I'll be lending my talents to that from now on. Of course I can't show you my work until it's out on the public build, but it's a lot of fun and they have a ton of good stuff going on behind the scenes! If you're a fan of Equestria at War then I'd also invite you to join my Discord and see about starting or joining a game. We play sometimes! It is legitimately better than vanilla and the best mod out there, even ignoring the pony element.
Hrm, anything else to mention? If you're a fan of Company of Heroes 2, then I double invite you to the Discord, cause that game is my jam and it's always nice having more partners to play with. I play that one every day. Oh! And if you want to help me out and get more content, support me on Patron! It really helps a ton, and you can read the chapter early!
See you tomorrow!
Yeah, Bulletproof Heart is certainly exemplary.
Nice art. Do you know if the artist would mind it being uploaded to Derpi? I thought it was nice and would love others to see it. What's the artist's username?
5109750
I go by DisasterPaladin on Derpi, and I keep meaning to post things there but forget.
Go ahead and put it up if you'd like to. Now that gold has reminded me I might plonk a few other things up there as well sometime soon(tm).
I also put non pony stuff on DA as disasterman52
5109767
Alright, thanks!