And so, the curtain closes on the World War Arc, however we are still far from seeing the end of all of the ramifications it has left on the world. Namely, the loss of our dear main character, Lune, though I guess that happened two Volumes ago now.
Really, the process of writing this Volume could best be described as "where amateurs become authors", because I feel like I really challenged myself here like never before. As I've said in the beginning of the Volume, the previous 11 Volumes already had each and every chapter pre-planned out and bullet-pointed, with Volume 12 being the first "draftless" one I ever wrote. I knew where the Volume starts and where it'll end, nothing more. I just wrote and wrote and finally got to where I needed to be, which is honestly quite the gamble, now that I look back on it.
Still, I'm glad I did it, because it showed me that making my drafts too tightly packed with events leads to poorer character interactions, so I believe I've improved on that front. Conversely though, I feel like I might not have properly conveyed all the emotions I wanted to in this Volume. Again, out of all the protagonists, I find Meil's Volumes to be the easiest of all to write, with Edward's being the hardest. He's a complex character due to his countless facades, sometimes playing the innocent kid and sometimes showing his true colors. Simply put, if I could compare the situation to video games - Writing Ed's Volumes is like a dungeon for level 45 players, and I've still only just barely gotten out of World 1. It's like that, I genuinely feel like Edward's whole character is just too difficult for me to put into words, I'm just not yet good enough to properly express his emotions in the story.
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Ah, but to not be a Debbie Downer this whole Afterword, let me change the subject - the actual event scenes. I really wanted to see how brutal I could get with the torture scenes, and how cinematic I could get with Jorgen's and Auros' rampage. The football event too, that just came to me after I saw the trailer for the new Inazuma Eleven game scheduled to release later this year, and I felt so nostalgic for watching the anime that I thought to take a few chapters to showcase the characters' Iro Abilities against each other in a bit more unconventional way.
Overall, a lot happened this Volume, but if you were to ask me if I'm satisfied or not, I genuinely wouldn't know how to respond. I liked some parts, and I disliked others, however my readers always surprise me by liking the parts I don't and vice versa. Though I always appreciate feedback, and I'd literally cream if I someone left an honest review on the newer Volumes, since I've barely gotten any feedback on anything past Volume 1.
That being said, as of writing this, TraCon is steadily reaching 150 Followers, and just thinking about that number is making me lightheaded. Hell, I'm gonna be honest, I don't think I even have that many friends in real life, so this is just awesome!
As an extra bonus piece of news I'm happy to announce before signing off - Volume 1 of TraCon will officially become a Light Novel on Amazon KDP! The date is TBA, however I just need to decide on if I'll be publishing with MoonQuill's Publisher Program or if I'll completely self-publish to KDP directly. Hope you're as excited as I am, the day when I can hold the book with my own two hands is fast approaching!
With that all being said, this is Akai Mikan, signing out!