(Appendix of Soul Links and Author’s Corner 3)

Current Soul Links and Ranks

Jessica Marshall, Rank 4

• Much more likely to initiate and accept conversation with you (Note: Now happens naturally)
• Will no longer notice your camera unless it is mentioned by you or someone else
• Will agree to one arrangement of your choosing, as long as it is not initially perceived as sexual (Note: Agreed to be Leon's model)
• Is now comfortable with wearing less layers of clothing around you (Note: She's taking steps toward being more comfortable with others)
• Will now spend most of her free time with you
• Is more likely to flirt with you
• Is open to cuddling with you
• +Is less likely to be jealous of your other Soul Links. This is not guaranteed.+
• +Receives more physical pleasure from your touch than she normally would+

Holly Marshall, Rank 1

• +Will accept massages from you when she is stressed+
• +Will no longer notice your camera unless it is mentioned by you or someone else+

Lily Fairchild, Rank 1

• Much more likely to initiate and accept conversation with you
• Will no longer notice your camera unless it is mentioned by you or someone else (Note: This advantage is no longer in effect now that it has been revealed to the target)

Marlene Fairchild, Rank 3

• Much more likely to initiate and accept conversation with you (Note: Now happens naturally)
• Will no longer notice your camera unless it is mentioned by you or someone else
• Will attempt to seduce you frequently, regardless of who’s around
• You are less likely to be noticed by other people when engaged in discreet sex acts with Marlene
• +Will reveal her biggest kink to you (Note: Hasn't happened yet)+
• +Will allow you to film her during sexual encounters+

Ophelia Vidal, Rank 2

• Much more likely to initiate and accept conversation with you
• Will no longer notice your camera unless it is mentioned by you or someone else
• +Less likely to use her powers to hurt you or your Soul Links+
• +Will pay you surprise visits when she’s bored or lonely+

Leon’s Soul Rank and Miracles

Leon Marshall, Rank 3

Mental Tendril: You may now plant a suggestion in a Soul Link's mind, and they will perceive it as their own. This success of this suggestion is not guaranteed. This Miracle may be used on each Soul Link once every 24 hours.

Measurement of Happiness: Taking a picture of someone will now let you see a measurement of the happiness in their lives. With 0% being totally unhappy with their lives, and 100% being completely content with their lives.

(Author’s Corner 3)

Hmm, dear readers! I say, hmm. A bit of a long Author's Corner ahead, so strap in (not on) for some rambling. I've underlined important takeaways if you'd prefer to skim.

Since we spoke last, I bought a writing software called Scrivener. It was kind of expensive for my blood, but it has a lot of features designed to help writers keep track of characters, events, locations, etc. I could (and probably should) have done this already, but Scrivener is more streamlined than keeping multiple documents myself. With any luck, you might begin to notice more consistency in my writing!

As for story related updates, well, I keep promising new characters, but where are they? A fair question. Up until Leon got his part-time job, my idea for how he would meet his other Soul Links was kinda boring. He would wander around town and try to find depressed or attractive women to be his models. That's it. My whole grandiose narrative plan lol Thankfully I improved upon that concept, and thus character introduction timing has shifted slightly to accommodate the extended setup of getting a job and having an organic way of meeting these characters. Arlette is for sure coming up within the next five chapters, I promise.

One thing you may have noticed if you read my occasional chapter notes, is that I was struggling with how quickly Jessie seemed ready for new sexual situations. I was concerned that I was getting carried away with the scenes and that her character arc was going to suffer for it, but then I thought that perhaps her character was trying to tell me something, and I officially added to her character dossier--which are private for now due to spoilers--that Jessie has a habit of crossing her own boundaries when she's feeling aroused in consensual situations. Whether that trait is a natural one for Jessie, or the result of bad/rushed writing, I actually quite like it. She just can't help herself when things get heated up. Adorable and sexy, in my opinion!

I'm considering cutting Yeong-Ja, the rich Korean American character. We still haven't met 6 of the planned 11 Soul Links (including Yeong-Ja). Even if we were to get 1 rank up a chapter, we'd have 110 chapters total. And honestly, that's fine. I figure the story will be around 300-500 chapters, give or take 50 either way. But at the rate I'm going, we don't even have a halfway completed Soul Link at almost 60 chapters... so things might get longer than I'd like.

Would you guys be terribly torn up if Yeong-Ja were removed? As it stands, I've barely thought up anything for her story or how she will tie into the narrative, and I don't want to have a tacked on character for the sake of story length when the story will be plenty long enough already. I'm sure I could think of a plot for her if you guys were anticipating her debut, but I do have other projects I'd like to get off the ground.

I have three entirely separate stories (as in, not related to Soul Links) I want to get spun up soon, and I've even been planning one of them out pretty heavily for a change. One is a fantasy epic based loosely on the 108 Stars of Destiny from Suikoden fame, one is a sci-fi adventure series with Outlaw Star inspirations behind it, and the last one is a thriller/mystery following a group of characters marooned on a desert island (it's not inspired by Lost. There are other desert island narratives, people!)

That's all from me for now. Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll journey on with me as we discover some new characters.