MoMo

Hey Beneath_the_Trees just checking in to see how your getting on with 'Cats New Toy' again as it's almost been 2 years now since I last checked in. 
          
          Honestly I’m not even sure if you’re going to see this or if you even pursue writing anymore. Just wanted to let you know that there’s still someone out here, who’s waiting for your return, and the characters you envisioned.
          
          Kind regards, Xavier.

Hey Beneath_the_Trees just checking in to see how your getting on with ‘Cats New Toy’ as it’s been awhile since you posted an update and since I last checked in (Jun 2022). Love the idea of the poly relationship with Jaspers mom having another parter, I’m excited to see what sort of person Casmir is and how Jasper going to interact with him. Also excited to see more of how Mrs. Wells takes Jasper being wolves and how she will interact with Neeks.
          
          Hope to hear from you soon and that writing goes smooth for you going forward.
          
          Kind regards,
          Xavier.

Anyway here's an actual progress update (which I will hopefully do more often to keep you fully up to date until the release)
          
          Chapters Completed: 4/??
          Current Chapter Being Written: 5
          Current WIP Chapter Word Count: 1,427
          
          Total Word Count So Far: 24,541
          
          
          
          Old Chapter Count: 35
          Old Chapter Equivalent: 6/7
          Old Chapter Word Count: 1,746
          
          Old Complete Word Count: 88,637
          
          
          And then for funsies here's a chapter 1 comparison:
          
          Rewrite: 6,111 words
          Old Vers: 1,869 words
          
          
          As well as the past few days word counts:
          
          Friday (6/16/23): 4,095
          Today (6/19/23): 62 [ongoing]
          
          I think I've finally figured out a schedule for when I work on this fic around my new job, so *hopefully* (knock on wood) I'll actually be able to get this done within the year ^^' I might not get Without the Mask done before then, though, like I'd originally wanted. I'm sorry this is taking so long, everyone! I keep pushing back the deadline, which I know can be so frustrating! I'll try to give more frequent updates like this though!  Maybe some fun snippets if I get far enough. 
          
          I've also been working on updating the art! I've gotten a lot better since those days, and now Wolven has his own actual picture design instead of someone's Kakashi fanart like an ✨️asshole✨️. That, sadly, is also taking a fair chunk of time, though less than the writing itself. 
          
          The biggest roadblock I'm having are the akuma fights. Oogie Boogie's is pretty much in the bag already, because that one is overflowing with ideas and the direction I want it to go. These starting ones, though? ...Yikes. But I'll get there, don't worry!

Some minor changes in the rewrite:
          
          
          -The cast has been aged up at least a year. This was to give Adrien and Marinette time to mature as heroes, so their actions in the story might make more sense compared to how they act in the show. I screwed with the timeline so that they are still in François Dupont for CNT, though. I'm taking canon and throwing a LOT of it out the window, what's a little more? ... Seriously, the only things I'm taking from the later seasons are some characters and that's basically IT.
          
          -Jasper has freckles now. That is all.
          
          -Wolven's activation code is still body language in place of the vocal command "Fangs Bared", but now his superpower's command is "Rise Up" instead of Arcessere. This is because Arcessere didn't fit well with the direction I'd taken Neeks' character, and Rise Up, while simple, has a secret little meaning that will hopefully become clear as time goes on. 
          
          -I'm actually going to remove the Arcadia chapters from the main story, lol. They just didn't add anything and although they were cute I just... don't really want to put them back in and distract from the main plot. I'll probably go back and rewrite/continue Arcadia at a different point, as a new story once all my other projects are done. 
          
          -Jasper uses sign a lot more but he still prefers his notebook, esp. since he doesn't know French sign yet.
          
          -Already mentioned this multiple times but the parent polyship is now four instead of three. I may never go into how Noel, Astrid, and Casimir become a throuple, but their story is super cute and I love it
          
          There's probably going to be more, but I just haven't gotten to those points yet. I'll update again if I think there's anything important to note for certain!

Astrid, about Mitzi: So it appears we'll be getting someone new in the group, don't you think?
          
          Noel, only half listening because he's struggling to get Eva in the bath: Are we stealing them?
          
          Casimir: New or used?
          
          Astrid: Wonderful responses, both of you.

Tikki: *gently taps table*
          Neeks: *taps back*
          Adrien: What are they doing?
          Jasper or Plagg: Morse code
          Tikki: *aggressively taps table*
          Neeks: *slams hands down* YOU TAKE THAT BACK--
          

Fun fact about the rewrite: Eva is going to be getting FOUR parents, including Mitzi! Astrid has a husband she married before they both fell for Noel, and they take great pleasure in teasing him  all the time so he gets all blushy (he's smitten and it's adorable)
          
          It's going to be a very cute four way polyship, I swear

You know what it's been long enough here's a tiny snippet of the rewrite, as a treat.
          
          "The quiet chattering of Adrien’s classmates came to a halt, then started up again in a frenzy as another person trailed into the room behind her. Adrien’s eyes widened, unaware that he’d begun to hold his breath as startling crimson eyes glanced around the room.
          
          'He’s like a ghost,' Adrien thought as he remembered how to breathe. 'Ethereal.'
          
          The boy gave them a shy wave and an equally shy smile, his ivory skin almost as pale as the snow-white hair framing his face. Adrien’s heart immediately ached for him; the poor boy looked so scared and nervous, he might end up sick. He’d thought his first day of school had been bad, but Jasper’s, it seemed, was making it look like a cakewalk. 
          
          He offered Jasper what he hoped looked like the reassuring smile it was meant to be, but if the way his hands tightened their grip on the notebook pressed tightly to his chest was any indication, it hadn’t worked.
          
          Then again, if Adrien had been on the receiving end of the look Chloe was currently giving Jasper, he’d have been nervous, too."
          
          

I haven't even gotten close to it in the rewrite yet (still on chapter 2... trying to expand the akuma fights and this first one is HARD, especially since I'm trying to get Ladybug and Wolven to be a little at odds with each other a bit more believably) but you guys have no idea how excited I am for Oogie Boogie's fight. It's going to go in a slightly different direction than the original version with an extra twist, besides Anamaqkiu's appearance, that I hope is going to have everyone's jaws dropping! (I'd like to say I'm certain your jaws will drop, but I'm also very afraid of setting the bar too high)
          
          To be honest, Oogie-Boogie's chapters are one of the things that cemented how much I wanted to rewrite the story, because every time I read it, I hated the direction I'd gone with it. It wasn't BAD, per say, but I hadn't really developed the characters and their relationships with each other as well as I'd thought at the time. When I'd reread those chapters, I'd think of a much better, potentially more impactful (well, it's certainly more impactful to me) scenario. So that's exactly what I'm going to write, and I can't wait for all of you to see it!

This has actually just made my evening, I’m currently staying in Italy  for two months for a graduation experience, so I’m glad I have something to look forward to reading during or when I return home.