#emmeryn

Birthday Exalt

Happy Birthday Chrom!🎂

Beautiful art I got from ArayaEjiri on twitter

Chrom celebrating with his Wife and Queen Robin, and with his sister(s, Emmeryn is with them in spirit. 🥲)

Hello again! Good news: the first draft of the chapter is finished as promised! While I (clearly) don't mind releasing very long chapters, I debated it with myself and I do think the most natural breaking point is earlier than I initially planned. While that does mean this chapter will likely be a bit shorter than the previous three (closer to about 10K words, I'm guessing?) it means that I have two of the scenes for the chapter after this one drafted too!

Also on the topic of drafting! I have indeed found some techniques that seem to be helping with keeping that process more separate from revisions :D This is going to sound so goofy, but the most helpful one so far has actually just been setting timers for 15 to 30 minutes the way I would for a writing sprint, but then when it goes off, I have to tell the little plushie sitting on my desk what I was working on during that time block, and whether I was successful with sticking to drafting or slipped into revisions instead. This, it seems, is the power of accountability + not wanting to disappoint a silly little guy lol

As for our passage this week, it's been a while since I shared something from a flasback scene, so go ahead and have a snippet from there:

“Look, Emm!” Chrom tugs on her hand, dragging her towards a stall boasting Feroxi metalwork and weaponry. “This is the place I told you about! They have real swords here—this one can even cut through diamond!” He presses his palms and nose against the glass case, marveling at the razor thin blade within. “It’s beautifully made,” Emm says in her polite voice. For some reason, she never gets as excited about swords as she should. “They have staves too,” Chrom informs her, peeling his face from the glass again. “The shopkeeper told me that he carved one of them from a branch of the Mila tree.” “What a fine advertiser you are, young man. Were you a few years older, I’d be offering you a job.” The store owner chuckles when Chrom puffs up his chest. “Well, whaddaya say, Miss? Care to take a closer look?” Emm’s fingers drift to the ribbon securing her sun-hat under her chin as she joins the shopkeeper at the back table. Habitually, Chrom glances at his right sleeve. He doesn’t particularly like keeping the Brand of the Exalt covered like this. This shirt is much scratchier than any of his clothes back home, and he can’t help but worry that people won’t realize that he’s a hero if he always has his brand hidden. He tried asking his mother about it once, and she told him to imagine that he’s playing a game all summer where he’s pretending to be the son of a minor noble instead of a prince…but when Chrom asked her why he has to play a game like that in the first place, she got a sad, far-away look and said that Father believes it’s important, and that’s reason enough.