Afterword - Book 1 - Chapter 24 (Patreon)

Chapter 24: Inspiration & Aspiration

(Original Chapter title: Adventurer III)

A very important chapter because we're about to introduce a major character... Ranthia's armor from the cover art!

The lunch date scene was new. Ranthia was in a sad mood and I was in the mood to write something fluffy, so it happened! It was a fun opportunity to explore the salon's warm culture and namedrop Elaine's favorite stylist (who's still retired to be a mom). I also like the difference between bold Hexara when she's alone with Ranthia and skittish, blushing Hexara when she's around people she knows.

Ranthia finally does more (for lack of a better word) scientific studies on what her images and shifting can do! Honestly, as the writer, it was mildly grating that Ranthia's the sort to go "eh that's good enough for now" instead of truly experiment. There's more I would have LIKED her to try here, but she was focused on "what makes me need to include something and what doesn't" and stopped once she had her answer. Which is fine, that's fine, it wasn't like I had IDEAS and wished to address QUESTIONS.

(Ranthia and I mostly get along, but sometimes we trip over one another. She has her own goals and thoughts, after all. This is perfectly normal, I assure you.)

Ranthia's prayer with Xaoc was fun, I rarely am "allowed" to share the exact nature of her prayers, which are half serious prayer and half dutiful child reporting in (and half social, because Ranthia doesn't care that the math is suspect). It also was fortuitous timing. Readers, from my beta readers to RR readers, love to point out when Ranthia's not being especially chaotic. As if she or I were somehow unaware. There'll be a future scene with a character RR readers haven't met yet that may or may not address that for people, but Ranthia will never not acknowledge it.

And, at long last, we have Ranthia's first dance practice! It goes poorly and ends in pain. Much like most first forays into the arts. Blind Chaos isn't even CLOSE to the first thing I've written, I've been doing creative writing since I was a child. It's just the first thing I've really kept consistently writing since I was a teenager. And even then? Going through the OG manuscript for book 1 is rough! I've grown, I've improved.

But, like Ranthia, the important thing to do is to stick with it. To keep practicing. To keep trying.

Every dance step taken is progress. Every word written is progress. Every stroke of the brush or digital pen is progress. Every lyric is progress. You've created something that wasn't there a moment before. Was it perfect? Who cares! Iterations, revisions, and such will improve it.

Real art isn't perfection, real art is passion.