First of all, I want to thank all friends who also feel touched, happy, and satisfied from CoI.
There was a sentence that I had mentioned several times in my afterword or volume thoughts: I can't satisfy everyone's expectations because everyone's personalities and experiences are different. Their demands will also be different. They might even contradict each other. If I want to satisfy them all, it will only disappoint everyone and often turn the story into a mess. Sometimes, some people can get what I want to express, but some people can't. This is not the author's fault. Of course, it's not the readers' fault either. It can only be said that under the corresponding scene, both parties are not on the same frequency.
I used "Lightseeker" as the title of the second volume this time because not only do I like grand narratives, but I also like groups of people who have worked hard for the same goal from generation to generation. They have worked hard and sacrificed themselves to chase after that light. I also like to write about the insignificant humans in life. In a world filled with suffering, a large number of people struggle to live for the sake of small hope and a better future.
It is just like how when the sun is shining, there would always be a lot of dust visible under the light. Some of them would gradually fall, but new dust would arrive and join the dance. Fate would also mock, "Look, there are foolish people chasing after the light again. Look at the losers before you. They are enough to fill the sea."
Such Lightseekers might end up in darkness. They might end up only be able to curse after spending their entire lives. But they still yearn for the light. It is just that they can not reach it themselves.
So, I wrote the second volume from two perspectives. The first was Lumian's internal struggles, from lingering pain, confusion and resistance, to the gradual rebuilding of social relations, to the repeated blows, the shattering of values, and the process of finding strength in them and beginning to redeem himself from a psychic perspective. The second was the experiences and results of the specific characters around him, which in turn gave Lumian that energy and varying degrees of strength.
From the beginning until now, Lumian's personality had definitely undergone minor changes, but there were no fundamental and fragmented changes. As long as one put aside the reasons and excuses he has given himself and look at what he has done and how he has treated the people around him, one would truly know what kind of person he is
He once had a beautiful family, but it was destroyed by his father. He once had his grandfather to protect him, but he could only watch as his last relative died of illness. He was once adopted by his sister and had a very beautiful life for nearly six years, but he eventually lost it. During this process, he was even a child vagrant for a few years and relied on his ruthlessness and dig deeper into himself to survive. However, when he has the capacity, he would take the initiative to help a group of dying old people who reminded him of his grandfather.
This is his original personality, and the five to six years he had lived with Aurore were crucial years for building his personality. He was softened by the comfortable and warm life, and he was taught and nurtured in every aspect. These combined with his original personality shapes his current personality. He can empathize with the bottom class and stubbornly offer help.
After recalling that his sister is a follower of Inevitability, Lumian's breakdown was not only a collapse of hope, but also the shattering of his values. He helped the playwright because he was subconsciously finding something to do because the other party was also an author and yearned to vent his inner emotions. During this process, he would inevitably go against the values taught by Aurore and show that nothing mattered. He would copy whatever he saw others do. After that, he repeatedly experienced the misfortune of the people at the bottom and felt anger and indignance from it. After having empathy, he picked back up the values inculcated to him by Aurore.
Therefore, after he pushed Franca away, he said that someone had once reached out to him. That was the moment I truly presented the figure that was previously immersed underwater. Therefore, the person who gave light was not only the person who gave him a good life, but also molded his current personality. That light was not only Aurore, but more so his self-redemption spirit. It was a value that had been reconstructed. No matter what she had done, it was still Aurore who had truly sculpted the present him.
It didn't matter what kind of person Aurore was. What mattered was the impact and significance she'd brought to Lumian.
Sometimes, if you really write based on other people's comments, you would find that it is useless and meaningless. For example, if I wrote about Aurore, a group of people would immediately come out and say write about the sister again. Why is he thinking about Aurore again? If I don't write about her, the same group of people will said how flat and imaginary Aurore is; I can't emphathize with her. So, what exactly can I do? I can't write about her, but I need to sculpt a good character for her? My choice was made very early--when I see similar comments, I would directly skim over them and stick to my own pace.
Actually, I roughly understood the true reason and the crux of the problem. After CoI is done, I would analyze it properly. It's a very interesting study of the psychological state. However, there is no point in doing this now, and it wouldn't solve the problem.
It is precisely because Aurore had such a deep influence on Lumian that from a certain point of view, shaping Lumian was equivalent to shaping Aurore. This is one of the ways to make up for a deficit character.
Of course, the psychological problems associated with the disaster in Cordu will also affect Lumian's choices and actions.
When I finished the second volume, there are two things that puzzle me the most:
Firstly, there is the matter of Lumian forcing the submission of the script. On the one hand, there were people who minded that Lumian had covered his face when he went to the theater manager. On the other hand, they ignored the fact that Lumian had not considered covering his face at all when he was subduing the doorman. After that, it was only after Jenna covered her face that he covered her face. I felt that I had written it very clearly. Any more would only be the two additional sentences after the incident. Under those circumstances, it was impossible to directly write about Lumian's psychological changes. That would lose the narrative beauty.
Secondly, why do people care so much about the Mysticism Smelling Salt. It can only deal with Sequence 7 influences. When Susanna failed to trigger their desires, I used 200 to 300 words to write the cause of the failure--failure due to the interference of fate, fail due to the luck of a die roll. Did you even read?
As for why "Fallen Mercury" was able to perfectly select the Tree of Shadow's branch burning and the purple flames capable of destroying Susanna's immortal body. That will be a whole other thing.
It is precisely because the main storyline of this volume is the initial redemption of Lumian's soul that the entire volume appears to be restricted in all aspects. The map cannot open up, and he is always trapped in one place. This is the reflection of his psychological problem onto reality, and it is also the inevitable development of his psychological problem:
He resisted new interpersonal relationships or considered other things. He only wanted to complete Fors's mission without considering anything else. Then, he would go with the flow and resolve the auxiliary matters. This restricted the second volume to the market district and within the mobster plot.
The way I dealt with his psychology and emotions was not to perish in silence, but to explode in silence. Therefore, a lot of the volume lacked Lumian's inward thoughts and were replaced by silence.
Firstly, the repeated use of inward thoughts and emotional outbursts would make the subsequent catharsis lose its potency. Secondly, silence can be more resonant and potent most of the time.
Through repeated silence and repeated pressure, it finally explodes and is vented, creating the Pyromaniac who will just curse even a passing dog.
Here, it is showcased differently from LOM. The Clown can be deep and reserved, and he can go quietly with the flow. However, the Hunter cannot do so, neither can the Demoness. There needs to be a showy appearance and a shout.
My writing methodology has been summarized. There are all kinds of keywords, but it doesn't mean that every one of them has to be used. This is because some of them are universal and suitable for any situation. Some are limited by the environment and personality of the characters and can not be used universally. Fitting a square peg into a round hole is taboo for writing.
Among the surrounding people, I originally hoped to construct Auberge du Coq Doré as a complete and real society. I hoped that every tenant there would have their own story and corresponding experiences and encounters. However, later on, I realized that not only would this be too much work, but it would also contradict the story's main line. After all, this is a fantasy novel, not an urban novel. If ordinary people as supporting characters exceed a certain number, it would be a disaster.
Therefore, I divided the tenants of Auberge du Coq Doré into three categories. The first category was purely used as a background and only existed in the conversations of Charlie and the others to thicken the hotel's shaping. The second category was the characters who appeared in this volume as dust, including the Ruhrs couple, Fleming, and so on. The third category would have a plot later on. For example, the information broker, the young man who yearned for upper-class society and his mother, and the nude model who did not return. This way, it prevents having too many coincidences by not arranging everyone's stories together.
The other character I'm talking about is based on Jenna's mother from Down and Out in Paris and London. In that book, there's a scullery maid at a hotel. She's in her fifties and always wears a wig and makeup like eye shadow. She insists that she used to be an opera actress while working hard every day. I think there must be a story behind such an individual. It's very compatible with the family that Jenna's character needs.
Of all the depictions of these people, the one I am most satisfied with is the one about Ruhr and Michele. The contrast between the Capital of Joy and the cruel reality is what I want to express. It is also the dust in the Lightseeker theme.
Originally, I had hoped to use the inevitable problems of illness and old age to gradually collapse and let people die bit by bit to highlight the structural social conflicts and how the old had no one to rely on. However, after thinking about it, it would be better to use it in LoM. The main problem in CoI is the invasion of the Outer Gods and the various influences brought about by the evil gods. In order to show the nature of the apocalypse and the dangers of the heretics, it is better to lean towards such an aspect. It would also be easier to string together the plot.
Similarly, the same is true of Jenna's mother's death. It required both the logic of what can happen in reality and the addition of unnatural influences that made it appear too impulsive, so as to move closer to the main plotline. So, instead of bringing emotion and tears, I hoped to invoke grief and anger.
There was a huge problem that I had to deal with here. For the sake of suspense, I put aside the possibility that they were affected by Beyonder powers for later. As a result, many readers could not link the two together and found it ridiculous. Now that I think about it, I could change the perspective of the member of parliament's office in advance and explain that there would be abnormal emotional fluctuations. Although this would lose a certain amount of suspense, it would be much smoother in terms of emotional impact.
Similarly, because of Lumian's mental state, the second volume would have a combination of limitations and confusion. For serial novels, this means that there would be a missing main storyline and a problem of not being able to open up the plot. It wasn't until I directly made Mr. K ask Lumian to join the Savoie Mob for the Iron and Blood Cross Order as part of a bigger scheme that I felt that the problem in this aspect had been resolved and the story became smoother.
Now that I think about it, I could use technique to skip some steps and advance this to the middle of the second volume. That way, the subsequent plot lines would not appear sloppy. This was the biggest problem of this volume.
I've written quite a bit. Let's end here.
What exactly is the Iron and Blood Cross Order plotting? What is beneath Trier? The truth of the disaster in Cordu will be further revealed in the third volume, "Conspirer".
Well, according to usual practice, I would take three and a half days off from now on and resume the update at seven o'clock on Sunday night.
Also, because I have a child now, I have to take care of her in my free time. However, after starting to write, it's very difficult to have time to go out with her on the weekends. Furthermore, it's really difficult and exhausting to write a sequel. I had originally planned to only start resting one day a week halfway through writing. Now, I can only bring it forward. Starting from the third volume, starting next week, there will only be one chapter at 12:30 p.m. each on Saturday and Sunday. I ask for your understanding. (TL NOTE: 2 chapters on weekdays, 1 on weekends, 12 chapters per week)
Finally, thank you for your support.
Last of all, please give me monthly votes~
Also, thank you livy37 and Zhuri for tipping a Silver Alliance again.
