Upload Notes: Beyond the Sea Chapter Seven

Another chapter to this fun voyage~ Hard to believe we're only on chapter fuckin' seven of this story. It's genuinely almost novel length at this point, and we've only gotten through one arc! Very impressive, and as I've said several times before, I love this change of pace I get with this story. So much more emphasis on plot and character development than the usual story I get myself into~ Which isn't to say there's any problems with those stories! But I do enjoy having this opportunity to build up worlds and think of how plot threads will connect more meaningfully.

And like I've also said before, hahah, the more a story becomes about the plot... the harder it is to keep consistent size interactions going! This harks back to my point about my three pillars of writing I mentioned way back when. Trying to strike that perfect balance isn't always going to happen, so I have to look at the longterm and spice elements in where I can. This chapter in particular was interesting, since there is a lot of size interacting going on, what with Moana going about and fixing the town. But it isn't particularly sexy or fetishy, only for glimpses. I worried this might detract some readers, but I think those that want that narrative-fetish balance, this chapter should suit them well~

Not often I end up writing stories about giants rebuilding things. Usually it's them tearing it down... Fun stuff though! I enjoyed retracing Moana's steps and pinpointing all that areas of destruction she caused, and getting to explore the perspectives of the townspeople one more time added depth to the scenes. This is the last we're going to see of Port de Desir, so hopefully it was a good send-off that makes you think back on all the fun we've had so far~

I really enjoy how this is getting set up for the next arc. I hope you guys are excited for that! Moana and Sophie are out adventuring now, and there's so many events ahead of them. And Flynn, too! I had been debating about Flynn's inclusion for MONTHS. I was going back-and-forth on whether he'd be a fun contribution, or just a nuisance that I have to keep writing around. But I think with where the story is headed, giving Sophie a means to "fast travel" is huge. And hey, it's nice to have a pet come along, right? I think he'll add to the story positively. But I also really like my last-second idea to give Moana a basket to carry her stuff! It was something I originally was going to handwave, like, ahaha sure Moana just puts all of her supplies in her pockets or whatever bro. But when I thought about it more, yeah that just sucks the immersion right out. Having a basket makes way more sense, and I'm already looking forward to how that can get upgraded along their journey -- or maybe broken! Who knows.

And Admiral Glace, ahaha, here we go. The big bad appears, eh. At least, the biggest bad I've thought of yet. I'm hoping readers find her intriguing~ but I may have tried too hard on the menacing aura. She'll be fun to add to the plot deeper into the story for sure~ And that's not the only enemy Moana and Sophie will have to look out for. No spoilers, but as you might expect, their next destination won't be all friendly faces.

Don't ask me how lighthouses actually work. I took a guess based on some diagrams I could find, I had to come up with SOMETHING for Moana to fix. I probably sound super-stupid to any lighthouse engineers reading this, but hey, if you're a lighthouse engineer and one of my patrons -- can I visit? I've always wanted to visit a lighthouse. You can tell me all about how wrong I am about lighthouses so long as you tell me inside of one.

Really looking forward to continuing this story, as usual! It takes more work than other stories, but the pay off, I feel, is worth it. Hope you all have been finding it satisfying to read~ and thanks for all your support!