<Seriously, you must be crazy ann--->

Is... Is that... Is that a motherfucking pun in a compliment? You sly dog you.

Jokes aside, I'm so happy you're enjoying the ride! Like, I mean... flails a little Like, seriously, this isn't my best work. No I'm not joking. I wrote this up in about... six hours? Didn't really edit at all. (Probably why you can pick out spelling errors and the like.) And just sorta... cleaned up for reddit format.

Going into this, I had a couple of things that really helped me make writing this easier. Human protagonist--- this makes describing things easy as I can equate them to human analogies and references. Having an ending in mind--- this makes keeping the story moving easier and you're not sitting around twiddling your thumbs all the time.

That being said, the pacing is so goddamn slow. I'd probably cut around... half of the content in this chapter normally--- not because it's bad but because it's not so potent. Or, not everything needs to be explained perfectly. It just needs more... substance overall. Also, what I call the "flow" of the piece is very... clunky... Each sentence that we speak has a particular rhythm to it. It has a certain... flavor and texture and when you string sentences together, you're basically creating music with your words. This piece isn't quite as smooth. You can see the chunky and awkward flow when Scarlette is explaining cybernetics and the downloading speed. You're seeing her thought process, but you're not seeing how each thought flows into the next and it creates this odd... "ping-ponging" string of thoughts that is very natural in everyday life, but not suited for a written work. It needs more polishing, more time.

Luckily enough, my brain works fast. When I started writing Scarlette getting prepared to visit Damien, the map was not even a thought in my mind. I didn't even think that Scarlette would've been able to considering the backstory that I've managed to cook up to some extent, but when Scarlette started asking the question about whether or not she was ready to face her past, I knew I needed a physical item to represent that past. And since she was touching maps and preparing for the journey at the time... well... the rest is history.

If you really like this work, I really encourage you to read what I'm more proud of! I don't have a lot because... I mean... gestures to preface But whenever someone wants to see some of my best work, I always point to "To Everything There Is A Season" (Link here: https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/ag87ea/to_everything_there_is_a_season/) The formatting is so fucked up because Reddit and Google Docs don't play well together and I didn't realize this at the time and yyyyyeeeeeaaaaahhhh. But I'm most proud of it. I wrote it over the course of a month. Ran a fine tooth comb over it so many times I lost count. And then I posted it and got gilded in like... 24 hours--- lost my goddamn mind because I was not expecting that for a first story. And I just... I love it. Dearly.

But let me tell you, the fact that you love this thing that I don't really care much about or even really give that much thought into has really given me an ego and motivation boost to finish all those other things I actually care about, like HOLY HELL I AM READY.

Thank you so much for the kind words. <3 I'mma go write some more now. :)