This chapter actually changed dramatically from the way it is now.

In my first draft of the script, the mounting pressures on Kraal caused him to get more and more frustrated, culminating in him lashing out at Chris when he asked if he wanted to join them for game night. Then in the previous page, he was going to come out and apologize to Chris and make it up to him by joining in the game night with his roommates.

That was the script I was planning to use until very, very recently. Kraal’s explosive reaction was going to be dramatic, and then his subsequent reconciliation was going to be heartfelt… But I finally realized that it just didn’t quite fit him.

Kraal is just not an explosive person. That’s not to say that he never gets angry or upset. As demonstrated in this chapter so far, his nerves do get the better of him from time to time. But it doesn’t manifest as him losing his temper as it might with others.

So I took some time to rework the chapter and Kraal’s interactions with his roommates. And I think it’s much stronger for it. It was a sacrifice to remove some of the drama, but the payoff was we got to see a deeper side to Chris and Kraal’s relationship as roommates, all while staying true to his personality.