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Writing Artistic Focus brought the idea of Melia's true mother to mind. Then Step Up brought her further into the forefront. It was almost inevitable she would reappear in another fic - the surprise was that said fic was hers.
Short-Lived Diamond is a very difficult fic to write because it takes place in an era where most of the known characters of XC1 are not present. The main character, Melia's mother, is basically a fully original character. Sorean and Yumea are there, but the context is fairly different. Kallian is a teen who hasn't learned any real life lessons yet. Other characters are either not yet born, or varying degrees of "somewhere but not relevant" and "so little in-game screentime that they're basically OCs in this".
Because of the above, there's very little established canon to work around. This is both a good thing and a bad thing: good because it allows a lot of worldbuilding opportunities, bad because doing almost anything requires that extra effort.
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| Chapter | Wordcount | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Offer | 4 721 |
| 2 | Ascension | 7 605 |
| 3 | Bruting | 4 807 |
| 4 | Introductions | 7 808 |
| 5 | Accustom | 4 712 |
| 6 | Embark | 4 188 |
| 7 | ??? | |
| Full work | 33 841 | |
Notes & Trivia
- Melia's mother is named Clara. This is a reference to how Melia's English voice, Jenna Coleman, later played Clara Oswald of Doctor Who.
Ch.01
- It is not a coincidence that this fic starts in the same place that XC1 itself does.
Ch.02
- Juicy Broccoli has a "tomato-like fruit" because its original Japanese name is "Juicy Tomato".
- I have a very specific idea as to which established character is Clara's old husband. It’s not hard to find the key word.
Ch.04
- My intent here is to establish that Sorean is weighed down by losing his previous Second Consort that he truly loved, and that is why he will never end up that close to Clara (and thus Melia).
- People that have been reading my fics in order may notice that the seers are named in alphabetical order (Yvonne, Zordes, Alvis). Alvis is not without a sense of humour.
- The implication of this and chapter 1 combined is that Yumea has just given birth to Tyrea. She suggested Sorean look for a Second Consort, not expecting him to succeed, just to get him out for a few days.
Ch.05
- The royal family uses computers with the Skylight OS, which is basically Windows. Aqua is kind of like Azure (though only in name), and Scribe is Word.
- There aren't any references in the names of Clara's family. That's on purpose.
Ch.06
- There was no way to put a revolver in the story without naming it after a Colt.