Act II Review/Reflection
Evening all, its been a while but I hope you enjoyed reading the nine new chapters of ACT II in A Time for Unity.
Because I'm writing in Act form now instead of chapter by chapter, I'll confine the reflection to its own chapter so that I can talk about it cohesively.
This arc was something important to the story from the beginning of my writing process. Here was always going to be a food shortage, as there usually is in wars. It also is a convenient plot device to perpetrate betrayal inside the heroes ranks.
This arc also sets up the internal struggle Harry is going through in determining his moral ethos now that he doesn't have Voldemort's horcrux influencing him anymore. His rampage in chapter 19 was heavily inspired by Rick Grimes' reaction to his son's death in 'The Walking Dead' where he kills several enemies in cold blood that he didn't necessarily need to. His wandless magic as you can see is progressing subtly, but he struggles to concentrate due to being grief stricken and having seen so many horrible things.
For Daphne, she certainly had a less active role towards the end and that's because she had a very major role in the first act. Most of this is now to set up her coping with the failure to find the traitors before they caused another tragedy.
Now, the big ticket items, Hermione and Remus' death. It is fairly obvious that those two were the moral compasses of the group and for the story to develop the way it does, they had to go. Hermione dying wasn't a decision I made lightly, having her die like that though was the hardest part. Ron died saving someone, surrounded by people who cared about him, Hermione died alone and in vain. I'm sure a lot of you won't like that and I'm sorry to disappoint but not everyone gets to die with a purpose. Hermione's death was meant to illustrate that, sometimes, especially in war, people just die. It also confronted Harry with the difficult task of preserving someone else's legacy that ran counter to his instincts.
Remus' death served a different purpose. The gruesome nature of his death (which I spared you all from), propelled the moral degradation of Tonks and Harry. It showed Harry the time for diplomacy was over and that actions of any kind were necessary otherwise they were going to collapse in on themselves. It calls back to the discussion he had with Remus about the guards at the greenhouses. Tonks' words to Daphne at Remus' funeral were also a call back to their discussion in the first chapter of A Time for Unity.
Dedalus and Sturgis' treachery was probably guessed by most of you, some of you might have seen it as a red herring though. My goal wasn't to keep it a secret, the important part was that the characters struggled to see any of their peers as murderers and so everyone was a threat, adding more stress and pressure to the situation.
Some of you may notice the chapters are shorter which is something I grappled with mentally for a while. Coming to terms with the fact that they don't need to be four to five thousand words to be good was difficult to learn but getting more across with less is something I'm working on.
As always, my website will be updated with relevant maps and explanations to accompany the story, simply type in RevanchistVII and it should be one of the top results. I'd link it but doesn't allow links even just typed out.
The next Act is seven chapters which I plan to have out before the year turns… no promises though. I welcome reviews and discussion about my work, especially criticisms of which there are many to be made, so don't hesitate to comment!