Status Updates From The Competition

oh geez why would you ever say to someone you just met, “Hi, I’m Julia. I like your name. Are you Chinese?” (his name is Raiden after a Japanese deity, but we don't learn the origin until quite a bit later on)

there are so many POV characters and so much internal monologue that I feel like I should be further along in the story than I actually am. what the fuck.

first two chapters are just a bunch of exposition for seven or eight main characters. woof. we'll see how this plays out.