Quick Camp NaNo update: I've spent a lot of this month jumping around and writing various different spots in the novel. I eventually realized that skipping around was probably a bad idea since it was was quickly burning me out, so I'm back where I was supposed to be, but that means I haven't advanced the story too far from that point yet. Working on world-building, character backstory notes, and outlines for this and the series probably didn't help, but hey, it did unlock me several more potential banning points as I went along. I'm at about 10k in actual story words for the month so far, which is close to my par.

Onwards to rambling at my characters...

Dear Adair (the Forcepainter/illustrator),
I think the correct answer to the question "Which of the other characters is the worst influence on you?" is "any and all of them". I don't know who's prouder of the fact that you stole something: me or Etri. You returned it when you were done and had a good reason, but the fact that you did it at all has marked the point of no return. So much for being the straight-laced voice of reason; you're one of those "amoral carnival people" now. Just try not to lose your honesty and sweetness as you learn that sometimes it's better to bend the rules than to follow them.

Dear Sol (the Lightbringer/fire-breather),
How I managed to misplace a talkative, enthusiastic fire-mage is anyone's guess. You're tailing Drake and the baddie, right? Talan's about to use your brother's stolen magic, but I have no idea if you're smart enough to recognize this. I'd be kind of surprised if you don't get distracted by something and wander off, for that matter.

Dear Etri (the Shadowwalker/fire-eater),
You're saying you have a bad feeling about sneaking around the enemy's home, but could you maybe possibly perhaps tell me what has your thief senses tingling? Does it have to do with Blythe getting zapped by the door? The fact that no one seems to be waking up? I'm loving your backstory about why you're a thief, by the way. For a weird socially phobic goth, you have this almost-Robin Hood thing going on. Then again, I'm getting the impression that you like breaking yourself out of jail and baffling the authorities. There's more to you than I'd thought!

Dear Blythe (the Bladeshielder/blade-dancer),
What exactly did that key do when it made your hand go all tingly? You probably shouldn't have been able to get through that door at all, but the only reason I can come up with is that it's because you're half Guardian/Soldier. Does this mean you can't be hurt by traps? Something's just not adding up.

Dear Chantrell (the Songshifter/melodist),
Are you even in the same place as the others or did Talan take you somewhere else? He would have wanted to keep you close at hand, so where are you? Please don't tell me that your brother has found his way back into the plot again. I was hoping we had gotten rid of him. Something tells me Drake has been hoping the same thing.

Dear Grandeau (the Shadowshaper/mime),
You're kind of out of the plot for a bit until the shadows stop trying to swarm to you. Of course, you are a young teenager. I'm fully expecting you to not have done what the others wanted. You haven't given me any backstory, but I'm almost wondering if Talan took one of your parents when he was snatching mages and that's why you're wandering alone. This isn't really required info yet, but please figure this out by the second draft.

Dear Drake (the Spellbinder/fire-dancer),
You never do anything remotely like what I'd planned for you and, as much as it pains me to say it, I absolutely love when you send the story off track. I had you all set up to use your long daggers to get out of a tight spot, either to work your mind-control or to just go stabbity, which should have been your automatic response. Instead you completely disregard the blades that have become almost an extension of your body and start reaching for extraplanar fire that you shouldn't have been able to touch until the end of the story. What I want to know is who is going to clean up all these charred bounty hunters, hmm? Certainly not you since you don't even remember what you did and you managed to drag the unconscious Sol away from the scene of the conflagration before you passed out. I'm fully expecting you to do something unplanned while you're off serving as Talan's distraction/bait, too. Because listening to the plan the others made would be far too easy.
PS. You deserved that kick to the ribs that Blythe gave you, just so you know. Quit scaring your sister. At this rate you're more likely to be smacked around by her than any antagonist.

~Meri, the author who is still trying to keep all these relationships straight. I'm going to have to draw a diagram of who's dating who, who's currently mad at who, who shares magic with who, and who's related to who. (Or should it be "whom"? Eh, that just sounds pretentious and I'll leave all my pretension to Drake.)