End of Book 3 Note/On the Creation of Tony the Raccoon

Now that book 3 is officially over, I’d like to take some time to talk about some of my thoughts going into it, as well as where we’re going from here.

If book 1 was an introduction to the characters and the premise, book 2 was about the introduction of the monthly quest, as well as Magnus and Alex’s first real test as a couple and growing together, then book 3’s main themes were secrets and trust, and its role would be a bridge from the previous books into setting up for the later arcs.

It’s why it started with Naomi, who had secrets of her own, and the System revelation to her, escalated into a reveal to a beach house full of people, then brought Jordan and the Student Council couple into the fold as well. All the while, there are subplots that also have to do with secrets, like the history of Lucy Chane, the secret of Magnus’s father, the trip into town that ended in a blood oath, and more. And through it all, trust is built and tested.

Most of the past 51 chapters were planned in the weeks between the time I wrote the end of book 2 and when I started on book 3. I already had the overarching plot and the main events, of course, but it took quite a while to decide on the powers, the week-to-week and day-to-day events, and even chapter-to-chapter outlining. Though Dash’s last name was decided back during chapter 26, when he was mentioned for the very first time. The scene in chapter 108 was planned and written all the way back then as well, though I didn’t know when I was actually going to use it at the time.

Now for a little sneak peek and teaser into book 4’s plans, I’ll try to keep it as spoiler-free as possible, but given the nature of what I’m going to say, I’ll mark it as a spoiler anyway so you can choose not to read it if you want to go into book 4 completely blind.

Spoiler

The “amnesia arc” was always planned. It was something I had to do as soon as I decided the actual goals and nature of the System. Though what those are, I’ll keep a secret for now since it’s probably the biggest plot twist of the entire series. Though, admittedly, I didn’t think I’d get to this arc this soon. Though, actually, it made perfect sense as I was planning this arc, writing the premonitions in chapter 63 and 65, and getting closer and closer to chapter 100.

The reason being, every book reset the board in some ways, shapes, or forms while still escalating the plot and stakes. Book 1: he’s just a normal guy who was now getting “seduce or die” quests out of nowhere. Book 2: Alex’s now on board, they thought they’d figure the System’s quests out, so boom, monthly quest! Book 3: they tried to see if they can game the System and instead, it threw curve balls at them, but they still got through somehow and gained valuable allies. So, book 4 pulls the rug from under him.

Every past arc so far, Alex had been a constant, the anchor, the rock, the brain behind the operation. She’d supported Magnus through every step of the way since finding out the truth. She’d been the deuteragonist—well, she still is, she just won’t remember who he is anymore until he actually somehow manages this monthly quest.

Magnus now has a whole support group of 20+ people, and yet none of them can realistically fill Alex’s shoes. And that’s the interesting part. Also, the subplot of the investigation, possibly more Hosts, and the whole Lucy Chane’s history thread will be pulled on.

But this is, understandably, why it’ll probably take me a while to plan book 4. Because it’s a soft-reset for the series. It’s not a brand-new story: Magnus will still be Magnus, and all these characters you’ve gotten introduced to through the past 3 books, especially book 3, will still be the same.

But at the same time, without Alex at the center of everything, it’s gonna be jarring to get used to, for Magnus as the titular and main character, for you as readers, and for me as writer.

Book 4 will also see Professor Elena Marquez finally brought into the fold, finally coming into the role I’ve pictured for her since the moment I introduced her in chapter 9: a mentor figure, alongside Harper and Tony. The how, though, you’ll have to read and find out.

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Which finally brings us to the creation process behind Tony the Raccoon—one of my proudest creations, and also the bane of my existence and writing speed.

Like I said right above,

Spoiler

Elena Marquez was always going to eventually be one of Magnus’s mentors. But when I introduced her, I also knew she wouldn’t step into that role for a long while.

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And so, around the time I decided to kill Magnus off for the first time, I was already looking into alternate mentor figures to help Magnus until Marquez could take up that role.

But I didn’t want a wise mentor. I wanted a quack mentor who happened to be accidentally right a lot of the time… for the wrong reasons.

Which meant, the blueprints for Tony were:

— actual insights and wisdom the likes and levels of Uncle Iroh and Master Oogway;

— quirks or other character traits that undermine those insights and wisdoms, for good reasons;

And since I was already thinking Master Oogway, I figured, “Hey, Magnus’s already getting superpowers, fauna/flora communication is a thing after all.”

But to just give him animal communication like that of Squirrel Girl, Aquaman, Dr. Dolittle, or even a Disney Princess would be too much of a cheat code—too helpful, and not very funny.

So, I figured, I’d make it so he’d actually have to speak in the animal’s tongue out loud to communicate with them, and just because they understood him didn’t mean they’d have to obey. The animals retained agency on whether they’d actually do what he asked, or just take it as a strong suggestion, then ignore him.

And thus, that’s how the power was created. Which gave him access to an animal mentor figure. The next step was figuring out which one.

At this point, I figured, what if the quirks or character traits that undermine the mentor’s wisdom were the fact that it’s animal logic that translates badly into human society, yet still holds some truth to them due to the fact that humans are still animals very deep down?

This ruled out the obvious choices like cats and dogs, which are too domesticated.

Then I looked up wild animals that realistically live inside city areas, especially campuses. And among the list, raccoon brought back a memory for me. It was my senior year in college, I was camping out on a field trip with the class, and in the middle of the night, a raccoon broke into our tent to scavenge for food.

And yeah, that’s how Magnus’s mentor was decided as a raccoon. Pretty random, huh?

But anyway, after deciding on the animal, I started designing his behavior and thought: What if he talks profoundly, but gets distracted every thirty seconds by food or shiny things?

You can guess how much I liked that idea, given how Tony turned out. And for some reason which I can’t explain, either, I keep imagining Tony’s voice to sound like some retired mob boss, gravelly and rough.

So, at this point, I just sort of listed everything I had on him:

— Master Oogway/Uncle Iroh insights and wisdom;

— animal logic, works by coincidence because humans are animals;

— distracted every 30 seconds by food, especially pizza, or shiny things;

— a flair for theatrics, faux profundity;

— talks like a retired mob boss;

And I was like, “Okay, what should I name him?”

Then I was surfing YouTube and one of those old Marvel promotional shorts was recommended. I don’t even remember which one it was, but it was for one of the Spider-Man/Tony Stark moments or something.

And yeah…

That’s how Tony the Raccoon was willed into existence.