Answers to comments and general update - 21/6/25

Hi Everyone, Tabbycat here!

Wow, it’s been a while since I wrote one of these posts; about two months in fact. I had been planning on posting an update like this more often, but a couple of things got in the way. Number one - work, unsurprisingly. Busy in the run up to the summer so that I can afford to take a bunch of time off without returning to everything being on fire - I’m aiming to get a whooole bunch of writing done over the hols and have a few other projects that I want to put some time into. And number two - I came down with an absolutely horrid bug that basically had me in bed reading and not doing much else.

Net result? I burned through my entire buffer of chapters written (if there’s been some… patchy editing, shall we say recently, this is why. I don’t think I’ve made any typos buuuut…). Despite all that, I’m pretty proud of the fact I’ve not missed a single day’s chapter since I started posting this story - and also pretty irked that some of the things I had planned (a few more interludes, discord and patreon and other shenanigans) haven’t happened yet. Oh well, nearly the summer holidays.

With all that said, thank you all for continuing to read as the adventure continues, and a warm welcome to all the new readers gradually catching up with Dustin’s antics. For those that are interested, in the most recent chapters (I’m writing this the day after /Political Changes for future reference) we are getting pretty close to the point where there won’t be any more new girls for a while as the main plot kicks up a notch. You’ll see what I mean in that regard soon (it’s possible it could even be in the next week, but then things happen and stuff gets elongated so maybe not - for instance, the entire meeting Rye’s cousin mini-arc was originally planned to just be a single chapter and then snowballed a lil, so while it *should* be fully contained in the next seven chapters, that’s more of a hope than a promise.) There are still two more haremettes I have planned that we’ve not met yet that’ll be joining before the end of arc 1, but unless someone really prods my brain and forces their way into the line-up while I’m writing the rest of arc 1 will be done with what just those extras.

Finally, let’s reply to some comments (as always, in name order) - I think this is everyone, if I’ve missed your comment then repost it to this chapter and I’ll update:

Duskdawn

Comment to Medical introductions - is the next chapter going to be called '

Heh, nope - it was a good guess, but I do try and space out the sexy funtime chapters a bit - and we’d only just finished Trea’k’s welcome-to-the-crew orgy a few chapters back. I *do* have some stuff planned for the good doctor, but they need to settle into the crew first.

Jojoo763

Comment to Meeting the overhive queen - nice

Thanks :)

Kougyoku

Comment to Waking in a garden - Congrats on 100 chapters. Cheers! You've been really cranking them out, be sure to take a break if you need it.

Comment to Meeting the overhive queen - Agree! Nice!!

Thanks :) Currently debating taking a break at the end of arc one although if I can get enough chapters written to boost my buffer back out there’s a good chance readers won’t even notice; I can usually burst out a chapter in a hour if I’m inspired and not too tired - although chapters started to get a little large recently which I’ve been trying to reign back in as I felt that was pushing it a bit.

Comment to Space battle - Assuming that was the ace in the hole. Too bad we had to use it against those swill. Always appreciate a bigger gun. Thanks for the chapter Tabbycat.

Ace in the hole is actually the shields. If you recall, shields aren’t something ships carry because they’re not necessary - just turn the craft so the impacts glance off instead. Only humanity’s paranoid enough to decide that full-ship reactive shielding is worth the cost of running a spare fusion reactor just to power. At least, for now…

Comment to Moving Forward - Definitely looking forward to seeing whats next

Comment to Medbay - I'm looking forward to that proper rabyth thank you.

Comment to Abandoned - Nice chapter as always. Looking forward to seeing what we find - or who.

Comment to Communication is important when starting a relationship - Looking forward to the upcoming discussion :)

Hopefully the followup chapters lived up to your expectations! :)

Comment to ♥ A bunny's burrow ♥ - ??? So confusing. Not sure why my cell phone came across like this. I mean , great chapter as always. Ignore the first comment.

Comment to ♥ A bunny's burrow ♥ - This was not. Great chapter.

Gotta admit, it caused me a little headscratching with the first comment but you also liking the chapter lol! Appreciate you took the time to post the second comment :)

Comment to Diplomacy - Both at once? Hoo boy Dusty, git 'er done.

What can I say, Dustin’s getting good at dealing with multiple people at once ;)

Comment to End of act 0 ("Welcome to the Galaxy") - 21/4/25 - Appreciate the recap Tabby :) also didn't know Rye's last name till now. Interesting.

Yea, I wanted to make sure it was mentioned somewhere, ditto with Meli’a because that Venn is going to disappear at some point and I wanted people to know who the ladies are before they become e.g. Meli’a Smith.

Comment to Ladies and a gentleman - Time to fuck like Rabyth!

Rye’s sexual identity has really changed over the course of time - the more I write her, and the more comfortable she becomes in her sexuality thanks to Dustin and Meli and the others, the more she goes from wallflower to full on brat. Interestingly enough, when I originally dreamed up the characters a lot of Emely’s traits in the bedroom were supposed to be Rye’s and vice versa. Probably why those two spend so much time together when Dusty’s not around to “help out” :P

Comment to Setting the tone - Aw yeah. I actually forgot to mention that I appreciated the clarification they are multi tailed fox girls such as Kitsune. I had initially thought they were more feline in nature with a name like Feliax.

Yea - lil secret, the name was because I always felt foxes were kinda like cat-dogs and wanted to emphasize the difference between the Feliax and an as-yet-unnamed canid species that I’m still debating bringing into the story in a later arc (they miiight get shoved into another story idea I’m tinkering around with in my head instead :P)

Comment to A family meal with a hint of politics - It's sweet to hear from Emely's mother that our crew ("pride") is the right one. :)

Comment to Bridal Price - Most impressive Mr. Dustin! A royal dowry indeed. Perhaps Cecel throws in something extra to sweeten the deal to try to balance the extravagance of such an offer.

Comment to Emely - I like Emely already! :3

Getting the value and care from her family around Emely joining the crew across in my writing was really important - especially as her character slowly changed (see my comment about Rye above) from the more bratty to the more service oriented submissive. She’s arguably the easiest (she’s happy if Dustin’s happy) and hardest (she’s not just a sex toy with a pulse) character to write spicy scenes for, and having the background helps with that. I’m glad it came across well, judging by your comments.

Comment to Meeting an Empress - Ooh, naked time already? Nice.

It’s a power move, isn’t it? “I can literally have you executed if you offend me, so let me flaunt everything Felio gave me and see how you handle it.”

Comment to Answers to comments and general update - 2/4/2025 - Tabbycat, I didn't know you were following along! Thank you! I am glad we are enjoying each other's work. I have an idea for a science fiction space oddessy much like this one in the works but I'm not sure if it will compare to this one , haha. Anyway, just want you to know this is fantastic work so far and I appreciate the likes and comments on my story as well. :)

If you ever want to bounce some sci-fi ideas off me or discuss planning vs not planning out the plot, feel free to drop me a DM. There is some method to my madness - even if my characters keep having their own ideas about what should be happening.

Neenerneener69

Comment to Political changes - Going back to earth. I suspect we will have a couple security recruits incoming in that case

Slight spoilers but not really - the security team will be basically complete by the time Dustin and co get back to Earth. There will be some things happening beyond just a data dump when they get back into Sol’s gravity well, but recruiting more staff to serve under Yril’k won’t be one of them.

Comment to Two for one - The last line made me chuckle. Keep up the good work

Thanks. I didn’t feel that people’s (I.e. Meli and co) reactions to the main gun being fired showed quite how bonkers humanity is for strapping something that scale to what is essentially a diplomatic pleasure yacht, so thought showing a member of another small species freaking out while doing so in a jokey manner would be best :)

Comment to Interlude - Training Camp - Potential new human recruit in future?

The interludes are sort of but not entirely linked to the main plot - I think I mentioned this in one of the early chapters? That said, Axworth has a plan, and you are correct there will 100% be a human recruit in the future. Now, whether that’s a recruit (e.g. Yril’k, Rocky and Clyff) or a ♥ recruit ♥? No comment, because I don’t actually know. I know the character, but I have no idea how they’re going to interact with the rest of the crew yet.

Comment to A tour of **** - Very cool shield concept

Glad you like it. I wanted there to be at least a bit of in-universe practical explanation for how a shield works, and more importantly why it was humanity that came up with the idea (turns out, not unifying your planet before developing gunpowder makes your species a bit paranoid about conflict, in the exact same way nearly starving your species to extinction made the Rabyth paranoid about food supplies).