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Hi guys!  Here's episode 1.19.1P, "The New Girl".

This was a controversial episode, receiving by far the most negative criticism of any episode of Female Agent. I made some scene edits based on the feedback, but be warned this episode missed the mark for a lot of people.

Please let me know your thoughts – positive or negative – so I can take them into account in future episodes.  Hit me up here or on Discord!

🦀 ❤️

Online version

Offline version (243MB) 

Hi guys! Before the new episode released, I said I’d need feedback from the community. I certainly got it. 😔

This episode received by far the most negative criticism of any episode of Female Agent. So that’s obviously an indicator that I made mistakes this time.

The criticisms were mainly (but not entirely) in two areas:

I want to avoid spoiling the episode for those who haven’t played it yet, so I’ll get into some detail after the general release on Sunday. But I’ve spent part of this week just listening to and absorbing the feedback (as well as doing prep work for the next episode).

This week: I’ll be focusing on some scene edits, based on player feedback, aimed at improving the characterisation issues.

I want to say thank you to all the people who provided feedback, here, on Discord and in DMs.  I read it all and took it seriously, and I'm sorry to those of you who didn't feel this episode was a hit.

I was trying to get it ready for today, but it's 1700 and I still have lots to do. 😭

What the fuck is going on?
On Discord yesterday, I wrote that I feel like I've kind of "levelled up" somehow in the writing of this episode.  I've just got this incredible energy to dive into the things I've glossed over in the past, really think about them in detail, and pull out the things that make them sexy.

Example (mild spoilers): yesterday I was punching up a scene where the heroine is getting ready for her shift, the part where she changes into a thong and heels before going out into the club. Normally I just describe that happening and let the avatar do the lifting, it's sexy because girls in thongs are sexy, right?

But somehow I just kind of knew there was an emotional beat missing from this scene. It's not just about changing clothes, it's about the effect of changing clothes. We have this intelligence officer, stripping out of her normal underwear, slipping on this girly little scrap of lace and elastic, designed to decorate her for the male gaze.

And I knew this would have an effect on her. A psychological transformation accompanies the physical one, as she changes from 'badass intelligence officer' to something more submissive, sexualised and demure.

And all this is happening in like a second, so it can't be this long internal monologue where she processes this and understands where it's coming from.  It's just this instinctive little rush of confliction that she has to grapple with when she sees her reflection.

Is it worth it?
I don't know! 😭 It's so hot to me that I feel like I can't not do it. But I don't know if you guys are even going to notice all the hours and effort that are being poured into every scene.

I feel like I have to trust my instincts and give myself permission to do this. I'm so motivated for this, it feels like a manic state (except I'm not cool enough to be bipolar).

After this episode I will need your feedback to either rein me back in because I'm over-editing, or let me know this was the right call because it's hotter than usual. I'm too close to it to know.

How long will it take?
It's nearly done.  I know I've been saying that for two weeks, but it's nearly done.

There are basically three scenes left that I want to punch up (one of which I've been working on since 8AM today, and is nearly ready).  If I finish that tonight, then do both the others tomorrow, it'll be ready tomorrow.  If I do one punch up a day, it'll be Tuesday.  If one of the scenes takes two days, it'll be Wednesday. Etc. I want it to be tomorrow.

The release won't be perfect, I'm not polishing it to the point where I'm 100% happy and proud of it. Just getting it to the 'good enough' state and pushing it out to you for feedback.


Okay, that's it, I stopped working on it to write this report because I am stressed to fuck about it not being ready for you guys.  I hope it is going to be worth the delay. I'll keep working on it with everything I've got, I promise you will have it Soon™.

Hey guys!  I desperately wanted to release by today, but it's still not quite done.  Sorry.

I put in about 80 more hours last week, and was able to achieve the following:

I need more time punching up.  Like I wrote in the Discord yesterday:

Everything I'm touching is turning to hotness.  I've got a very clear idea of what I need to do with the remaining scenes, I just need a few more 11-hour writing sessions to make it happen.

On Discord, whydoineedthis22 asked if it'd be possible for me to release a pre-edited version alongside the final version, so you guys can compare the difference?  I think this is a good idea and I'll aim to make it happen after the release.  (Obviously, my hope is that you guys will totally agree that it was time well spent, but maybe I am over-editing?  If so, I'll take that feedback.)

Okay, again sincere apologies that this wasn't the release announcement.  I obviously would have preferred to get this episode out by now.  It will be Soon™.