ERROR'S PROFILE

author=Unity

author=Error
I had to infer things like the capitalization of Infernal or the plural of Naga from the script

Yeah that's partially my bad, as I'm not always consistent as I should be.

It turned out consistent enough. I just assumed that it was a matter of local dialects. Mainlanders pluralize Naga differently, and child-Merel picked up the usage from Heather. I'm reasonably sure that's not something you had in mind but it *does* match the script. :-P

(on the other hand, one irreconcilable error if you're still taking bug reports: Yvian's school's name shows up alternately as "Unwavering Blade" (5 times) and "Unwavering Sword" (4 times). I liked the sound of "Unwavering Blade" better, so I went with that.)

author=Unity
I've really got to make a more detailed lore/world bible for future projects (I have a google-docs one for Weird and Unfortunate but it's still missing stuff that I just kept in my head and thus still have inconsistencies).

I usually keep a notes file with anything I think I need to write down. Then when I'm done writing I go through it and apply anything that needs to be consistent. I always miss something, though.

I keep all my notes (and the source text) in a Git repo, because I'm insane (actually originally it was to make myself less afraid to cut things).

author=Unity
Merel was created because I had a character in an (unfinished) story that I worked on in my youth who was very similar but whose love was doomed to be unrequited. I wanted to give that character a chance to find love, tho Merel took somewhat a life of her own apart from that character.

Aww, that's sweet. You're nicer than me. Usually I'm looking for ways to be more horrible to my characters. Which is the out-of-universe reason for Merel's nightmare, incidentally. I didn't feel right writing a fanfic that didn't have *something* dark as hell in it.

author=Unity
Chisa is a bit of a personal character for me. I mean, I put some of myself in all of the characters, but as introverted super shy person, she reflects a lot of myself and a lot of my inner struggles went into her character, both consciously and not...she's kind of a mess of attributes

I think all authors do this. I certainly do. Chisa didn't come across as a mess to me -- I think the contradictions added depth.

There's lots of me in my version of Merel -- mostly in her inner monologue, where it wouldn't clash with her in-game personality. Child-Merel's line from the game "But it's TRUE!" was...well, relevant to my interests.

author=Unity
That's another aspect I enjoyed, that conversation with Heather at the end. It's something I failed to really capture in the game- Merel isn't an expert, she's someone who fell into this because of her own curiosity and her desire to find the truth.

I'm glad you liked it, that's another section that took a lot of thought and rewrites (mostly to avoid Writer On Board) and had a lot of myself in it.

I don't think you failed to capture Merel's autodidacticism. It came through just fine, or I wouldn't have been able to build off it.

author=Unity
Actually, I started making a game about just that, a love triangle that would culminate with the three characters forming a relationship, set in a Dragon Quest-like world where the three of them are servants of that world's goddess.

I like it already. Add the goddess for a quad? Or would that be too much of a...no, I'm not going to make that joke.

Since playing LA I've been toying with the idea of trying my own hand at RPGMaker. Probably also with a mostly-gay cast, because why not. I know LA uses custom art, but is it possible to make something reasonably good-looking with RPGMaker's stock art? Game art has always been my sticking point when I've poked around games.

author=Unity
It's on hold for right now, as I'm struggling to write the start of a polyamorous relationship in a way that I find satisfactory

I sympathise. It sucks to have something you want to write but can't figure out how to do justice to.

author=Unity
(Also because I just have to get Weird and Unfortunate done and out of my system XD)

Holy hell, I know that feeling. I've been feeling it on AD for the last year and it is so relieving to not have to feel it anymore. Good luck! I'll certainly play Weird and Unfortunate when it's done.

author=Unity
I can't put into words the satisfaction I felt reading this! Thank you so much! :DDDDDDDDDDDDDD

This makes it all worthwhile. :-) It's an honor to be read! I don't think I'm likely to have a similar opportunity again.

My pride drive insists I point you to the rest of my work (AO3 work list, my own archive). My self-improvement drive wants to know if there's anything you didn't like in Aletheia's Daughter, or that otherwise seemed off, so that I can take things into account next time.

Quite all right, I've been bombed out this week too -- mostly from work. That's why the backmatter hasn't gone up yet.

Thank you for the kind words!

On character voices, I had three years to notice and fix all the mistakes I made with them, so that helped. :-P As did the availability of the script -- I can't thank you enough for releasing LA unencrypted, it would have been far more difficult to get fine details right without access to the script and maps.

Karuna was the easiest of the main cast to write; her personality is closest to my own. The hardest was Chisa. Partly because I can't get inside her head, but also partly because of the stutter. I remembered it being much more prominent than it actually was.

Also, I loved this exchange! XD

Haha, thanks. I think that one was a late addition, but I'd have to dig through history to be sure. Am I allowed to like my own jokes? Because my favorite one was this bit:

Eleven. Sorry for the missed update.

The final chapter should go up Saturday. :-)

And nine!

I've been reading along as you post new chapters

This is more relieving to me than it should be. :-P Intellectually I know I write well, but right after I post something, all my suppressed insecurities start screaming at me. The one comment in chapter 5 about the private fears of authors comes straight from my jerkbrain.

I'm not plugged in to fandom in general, so I don't know anything about the landscape you mention. I do put a lot of effort into canon compliance and continuity, so it's really nice that it's appreciated. More came out of the effort than just research, too. I actually missed most of the Hotenshin scenes while playing, because that segment tripped some serious vicarious embarrassment for me. I clicked through it with my eyes mostly closed. I got to see what I missed while studying the script.

so I'll indulge you ^_^

Thanks! Hidden for spoilers: