>>6395562In addition to all THAT, Cambion Quest in particular had a bit more rigid characterization at times (pre-named, pre-established main characters with at least some set personality and backstory). That let me plan at least a bit of an arc and, while you all made me shift it in more ways than one and even added entire new multi-thread subplots (such as the betrayal of Ziwei Bo, the Empy romance), I had at least a few ideas in mind which I was able to deliver on... But maybe not as clearly or cleanly as I wanted, so I figured I'd highlight them here.
At the beginning of the quest, ZZ's connection to her nobleborn human boyfriend (and to polite human society more broadly) has been compromised by her jealousy, insecurity, and her unwillingness to let go of a past defined by monstrosity and a sort of rough and libidinious masculine sensibility. All that is of course embodied and exaggerated to the point of tragic parody by CZ at quest start: she's more envious and more insecure to the pint of hiding herself away and voyeuristically people-watching with invasive telepathy, she is more monstrous and obviously goblinoid, she is CLEARLY more masculine in a way that imepdes her intimacy, and more violent in a way that is utterly outside her control. All these things conspire to alienate her from the world and herself, just as ZZ is more subtly alienated by the same traits in miniature.
There were a lot of ways their arcs could have gone from there, but as the one you anons settled on began to take shape, I began to play with the presentation of both characters. This being a "A Queste for the Selfe Amongst Demogoblins, Nilbogs, and Sundrie Other Freakes of Nature," of course both characters' journeys saw them follow a shared arc of found family with a bunch of weirdos and foreigners (the Regiment) and self-actualization. They end up reckoning with their past (and past quests), and deciding what they actually want out of their future -- how much they are willing to compromise with "normalcy" or "civilization", and in what ways.
