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Some writers use a lot of words, even though their pieces read very smoothly and swiftly.  Others write prose with few words that nonetheless seems very busy.

Word count is an imperfect measure, but it may be the best we have.  If your writing takes a lot of points to post, it should give your reviewers a relative lot of points, and so should be more attractive to them.

It could also be that a few 'suitable' women have been pushed at him and he's recoiled from their empty heads and hearts, and the experience has pushed him away from the whole business.  Catherine is not in their class, nor they in hers.  That could lead to him becoming more controlled.

Catherine's willingness to stand by her worthless brother might just make Matthew's fire burn all the hotter; this is virtue as he can appreciate it..

Matthew may have been pre-occupied by taking over his position, especially if the circumstances of his father's death were drawn-out or troubling.  He might also have been tied up with fighting and family politics.

Janet, even when Matthew and Black J were playing, it would have been natural for Matthew to have taken the lead.  Later, when John was widowed, the natural tendency to turn to the 'technical' aspects of his work and away from the human parts would increase that effect.

Well, he showed up in the first chapter.  We just don't know who he is.

Just when it looks like Matthew and Catherine have either reached stasis or are an arm's length length from Real Progress, the villain must strike again.

Or Insatiables?

And yet he played well with Matthew as a child.  Impatience could explain him not 'playing well' as an adult.  That, and not being able to live out adventures as he did when he was playing.

See Matthew training and wiping the floor with people--and schooling them, so it's clear they are not toadying.  (Maybe he walks in, then interrupts where necessary.)  Then have Black John critique Matthew privately, leading to a training session where Black John schools Matthew--soundly.  And the discussion turns to strategy, politics, and the human element, and it's clear that Black John is the eternal student who nonetheless asks hard questions.

(Maybe Black John lacks the patience to instruct the lesser students?  Or presses them to learn faster than they can?  He asks others to do things when he wants to husband his patience?)

KH's words are address.  Amy's are titles.  Not sure these guys would call each other 'brother'; they are just too cut-throat.  'Master' addressing upwards sounds right insofar as they are apprentices.

That name could come from history (their creator, the place of their creation, etc.), or their goals, or how they see themselves (masters of life and death), among other things.  To the extent that it tells us about goals or creation, or about means, the reveal of the name can reveal key information.

It was my impression that if you wanted to be on the wrong side of Black John it would help to have either an army or a death wish.