Not what you expect

39 Replies

First of all, this is Aorii and not Krytyk. Sorry to disappoint those of you who have been wishing for an OSO update.

Second of all, no this isn't a Daybreak update. However if you did enjoy Daybreak -- or enjoyed parts of it but not the genderbender -- I'm starting up a new writing project that you may be interested in:

The Flowers in Boreal Twilight

If you're a Daybreak reader, you might remember Captain Markov telling Kaede about the 'Grand Marshal of Samara' having a story similar to hers? This is that story.

You might be surprised that this is on completely different site. This doesn't mean I'm migrating from Krytyk's or moving Daybreak. However, I do have several reasons for this:

Continue reading →

It's been a while!

82 Replies

A really long while. Yeah.

So, what to start with... I guess the overall situation? Basically I've been REALLY busy with work for entire months and had no time to translate at all, it's gotten better now - much better, but I still haven't been able to pick up my interest in translating stuff. Is it age getting to me, is it burnout, or is it other stuff that steals my attention (games)? Who knows.

Of course I don't intend to quit translating, I plan to continue translating novels until at least OSO is complete (including future releases), also AMA short stories - I didn't forget about that, folks.

In any case, translations are continuing. Knowing myself, sooner or later I'll get mysterious motivation and catch up in no time, especially that I've upped language skills by a lot in the meantime. Also, I've been thinking of doing something different to motivate myself, but it's still at concept stage.

Oh yes, what you're here for is a chapter, and a chapter you'll get. Here you can move onto cuddly Yun adventures chapter 2.

——Krytyk

PS: Thanks Aorii for keeping this blog alive while I was hibernating.

Something short and sweet

13 Replies

Posted a short, Extra Chapter for Daybreak Volume 3, finally getting a chance to explain archery as well as two scenes that I dropped from the main story due to pace considerations. It's a fairly lighthearted read so, enjoy~

Volume 4 is currently in planning stages although work on it will start soon.

For anyone watching current anime, Kotarou -- the male protagonist from Tsuki ga Kirei -- is essentially a younger version of male Kaede (introverted, awkward, sensitive and easily embarrassed, but very disciplined in his aspirations). I challenge those who say "Kaede doesn't feel like a boy" to disagree with this =P

~ Aorii

Daybreak Volume 3 Closing Thoughts

88 Replies

Now that Volume 3 has ended... a bit of self-reflection.

This volume was not received well. So as an author, I ended up having a do a lot of soul-searching in the past few weeks... longer, actually.

I've written in the last Daybreak Dev Diary that Volume 3 was me trying to tackle a particularly ambitious topic -- the judgmental biases of human perception -- that proved somewhat beyond my skills as a writer. Sure, I managed to finish the volume and make it... mostly work? But there were definitely some jarring parts, some poorly paced chapters, and a whole midsection that seemed to have thrown people off.

Sylviane -- the main focal point of Volume 3 -- was meant to be a bipolar character from the start. She has a rather mild (yes, mild!) form of a serious psychological illness, and it took a long time peeling back the many layers of issues. Her nearly-molesting Kaede and her suicidal-moment in Volume 2 were meant to be the first peeks of her Hypomania and Depressive episodes. Her bulimia was also a lead-up, as for somewhere between 75% to 90% of anorexia/bulimia suffers, the bulimia is actually a "secondary effect" of a stronger psychological disorder (most commonly chronic depression).

Then she actually, truly crashed in middle of Volume 3 and hit her lowest spot... and a lot of readers hated her for it, and what it did to Kaede in exchange.

(Spoiler warning up to Chapter 12.)

Continue reading →

Kaede's Last Memory and Minor Updates

13 Replies

Sylviane's Concept Artwork by Hachi-Hana - still WIP

As typical for end-of-volume time, I go around making tons of edits. A comment by Kemm reminded me that Daybreak always had an awkward exposition (something beta-reader Himeko used to tell me a lot) so I went back to make edits to chapters 1-3. Not much change a reader wouldn't know already, except -- I added a bit more detail for Kaede's last memory before waking up in Hyperion. A reader once complaining that they had to wait until volume 3's first chapter before receiving any information about what Kaede was like on Earth, so...

Continue reading →