Shadow Runner [LitRPG]

Shadow Runner is a series I started INTENDING to have it end relatively quickly, and yet, the ending still snuck up on me. Not because I didn't achieve what I wanted from the series, mind. I did! Adrian and Amelia finally have their peace, quiet and relatively safety… for two immortal semi-eldritch creatures!

Still, I enjoyed writing about them a whole lot, especially the fluff and cozy scenes, so I was definitely sad to see things wrap up. I could have kept going, of course. Considered it, even. However, well, ultimately, I do believe they deserve their happy ending, and I didn't want to draw the duo into an ever escalating chaos ladder.

Ultimately, what the duo wanted was simple: safety at first, and then each other. And really? In violent cyberpunk worlds, we have far too few happy endings. Good thing this isn't Night City!

As is becoming tradition, here's a little sneak peek into some plans that were discarded.

Mela was supposed to die. The killer of Kittens was originally a different character, and Mak would have returned to find his entire gang and family gone, which would have led to him meeting and teaming up with our intrepid MC later.

I also briefly considered drawing Adrian's father into the plot earlier, and making him an actually semi-sympathetic character simply too defined by his trauma, but decided against that simply because the way I set up his character profile he WOULD have tried to off his son the second he realized he was involved with less that legal eldritch cybernetics.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

In spite of that, you might have noticed throughout my books (Prime example: Glaustro), I have a thing for setting up the backgrounds for my less utilized characters as much as I do for my main cast. Which is fine since it lets me write them better, but it's kind of frustrating how much you guys never see! Maybe I'll start posting those notes with some character art eventually, at least as bonus content?

In this book series, that would definitely be Amelia's father, Garren (Kittens leader) and Catill (Adrian's former boss, in spite of how little screen time he got).

Garren, in particular, shows up, does a few things… and then gets killed off screen. Unfair, I know, especially with how much I wrote on him in my notes, but them's the breaks. Suffice to say he was a badass and had more than a few adventures in his youth.

Really, if I ever do a sequel or unrelated story in this universe, maybe I'll pull up all my notes and incorporate some of them. Could be fun! For now, though, I'll focus on making the next series I have cooking better than the series I've wrapped up.

Also, I will do my very best to sit down and actually put together a full playlist for this series considering that the chapter titles are songs by the time this little extra post is up on RR, but I did a poor job of keeping track of links and stuff at the start and there's SO MANY now! Will try to set aside time for it, though.

Until next time!