Been a while, huh? · 3:51am Feb 8th, 2013
After getting bloody letters, dead animals left on my bed overnight, and outright death threats, Wanderer D and FifthAlicorn have gently nudged me to come back to FimFiction after a year of inactivity.
First of all, apologies are definitely due to those of you left that have held out waiting for so long. I'm real sorry that I've been off the radar for as long as I have.
Not much has changed in my life, and my time is, unfortunately, still a rare commodity that I haven't been able to divide properly between all the things that I love, be it ponies or otherwise. Hell, I pre-ordered Borderlands 2 and I only played it the first two weekends after it came out. After that, I just haven't been able to make time to squeeze in some game time with my friends. With some few exceptions (I've played around with the Wii U MiiVerse quite a bit, since the damn GamePad is so portable around the house), just never being home has been what's kept me from ponying as much as I've wanted to. Seems every time I sit down and it's looking like I might end up with some time on my hands for writing, something else whisks me away in a different direction.
That's the main reason I've been so lurky; the other one was actually a complete misunderstanding on my part. See, I don't usually sign in to FimFic when I'm reading (mostly laziness, or because I tend to read when there's downtime at the office I work in), so I never realized there was a revamp of the password system. That revamp also reset the emails, which meant that my email notifications stopped working, and I never found out about it because I never log in.
So all I saw from my end is that no new comments or private messages or story likes were coming into my email inbox, so I just sort of thought, "Ah, I guess interest has died out."
Logging in tonight, I can see that is emphatically not the case at all. I've got over 900 pending notices.
So yeah, super sorry about THAT.
Anyways, so, what's the status on the writing side of things, then? Well, I've not written much these past few months, though I've tried to not completely forget what a keyboard is. I tried my hand at ThirtyMinutePonies, but the timing of the prompts and my own work hours made short work of that plan (I did manage to squeak one in, at least). I might still finish the incomplete, unsent stories and make a little collection of them since they're so short.
As for my main two stories, the ideas and scenes are all there (especially A Lot Like You, that one's completely done and finished... in my head), but I'm so far out of practice that I've lost the groove I had going with them. I don't want to stare at them and try to force something to come out that'll be subpar to the standard (however low it may be, considering The Ballad's origins) that I have for my writing.
So, I've decided to write a one-shot not involving the Mane 6, just to write something a bit different (but not too much, considering it's a romantic comedy), and to have an actual finished fic to my name. Those of you I've discussed fiction with know that I love lesser-loved pairings, and I was surprised to find that this one has all of two fics here in Fimfiction. That's a damn shame, considering how much the fandom liked to pair those two up in the early days (then again, not romantically).
And no, this doesn't mean I'm giving up on The Ballad.
Anyways, on to other details:
Though time betrayed me once again, I had been invited by Wanderer D to participate in the LoEG's initial outing, which was to trade stories with another author and see if we could imitate eachother's styles and have some fun with the users. I wasn't able to participate in the end, but my partner in crime, HiddenBrony, most certainly did. He and I had entirely too much fun coming up with the concept of his side of the trade: a romantic comedy featuring one of my favorite (and too unloved) pairings, Twilight and Cheerilee! Go on, have a read, you know you want to. After you read that, read every other story in his arsenal and give him lots of love. Hell, give the entirety of the LoEG lots of love, those are some classy, awesome people in there.
And, that's about it, for now. I just wanted to let you guys know that I've been resuscitated by a couple of friends with a shipping agenda, so, I'll catch you guys later (but not too much later)!
PS: On second thought, I blame Wanderer D for everything, and you should too. It's easier that way.
IT'S ALIIIIIIIVE
dashie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw8325-fluttershy_kindness_mov.gif
almost had a heart attack when this popped up. I need to check why I had been holding out for so long for you to come back but i am sure it was for a good reason.
And now that I finish reading this blog I still don't care. I'm not giving up!
Time to blame Wanderer for everything that is wrong with this world.
HOLY HELL YOU LIVE! If I wasn't at work I would read the blog, but that will have to wait.
Dear sweet Luna, I thought you were on the moon or something dood.
Cool to see you back though.
YES! YES YES YES! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS.
Step 1: When in doubt, blame Wanderer D.
Step 2: See above.
Nice to see you back!
I am disappointed because you didn't put that song in your post like you promised. =<
But the fact that you made one offsets that, so overall I am happy! =D Welcome back?
You can all take it with my bodyguard:
i.imgur.com/L6zrkNR.png?1
I REGRET NOTHING
806914
i regret letting wrex die in my playthrough...
806922 I never did... I really, never could. He's too awesome.
806949
i tried so hard...but grunt more than makes up for him
Welcome back!
I was literally just talking to a couple author friends last night, citing how crushed I was that it seemed like The Ballad of Twilight Sparkle, one of THE Twixie fics, might've died. Glad to see I was wrong in that regard. :3
You're welcome, guys :3
Oh my god yes!
Welcome back to life.
Welcome back man.
I feel like the biggest jackass because I didn't even remember I was following you. That's how inactive you've been.
Welcome back! You've rekindled my hope that we'll one day see more Ballad of Twilight Sparkle. Please take your time though.
Huzzah! He has returned. Now all we need is to strap him down in a chair and force him to write more The Ballad, for it is awesome and without compare.
807134
I've tried that. He actually REALLY enjoys it
i.imgur.com/HB4uQpI.png
Welcome back! i cant believe it i where starting to lose hope that i would never see The Ballad of Twilight Sparkle completed.
One of the best twixie fics out there or more of A Lot Like You sense im a big fan of both twixie and twidash.
Its okay you can take your time don't rush it but.
Please for the love of the royal pony sisters don't disappear without a word again.
H-h-BAAAAAAHHH IT'S A GHOOST-AAH~!!!!
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What? He's ALIVE?! OMG HE'S ALIVE!!!!! SO AWESOME!!! MORE EXCLAMATION POINTS HERE!!!!
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Wait. . . . .
[img] http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6lsp9cjfp1qklm53o1_500.gif[/img]
WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEEN?!?! WHERE IS THE CHAPTER 16!?! I'LL BURY YOU~!! I THOUGHT YOU'D BEEN SUCKED INTO ANOTHER DIMENSION OR SOMETHING! DA HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU NOT EVEN SO MUCH AS A LETTER OR ANYTHING!!
Ah`~ it's ok though~ all is swell~ Gravekeeper has risen once again~ not that it makes me happy or anything, you bastard~
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I-I. . . WE MISSED YOU SO MU~CH!
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...Ok, maybe I missed you a bit more than others...
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But hey whatever let's party! Gravekeeper is back!
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Don't ever leave us like that again!! PLEASE DON'T!!!
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Well, good to see you're back, I've enjoyed everything you've put up. I'll look forward to your oneshot, though honestly slightly less than I would an update to your stories I'm already reading.
806882 I demand a song and dance! At least the song of revival that was used during whatever ritual you all partook in.
Read blog. Ahem.
HOLY HELL YOU LIVE!! HE'S ALIVE! ALIIIIIIIVE!
I may weep.
806914
Wrex.
I should go.
Holy s...t, I had planned for a good while now to write some sort of epitaph for "The Ballad", given that today marks a year after its last update, but now knowing that you are still alive, still loving ponies and above all still waiting to continue it, well, that plan just got destroyed, and I couldn't be happier!
Welcome back, mister GraveKepper
Normally I'd be mad at someone taking this long to update, but DAMN it's hard to be mad at the potentiality of the continuation of The Ballad.
I've waited a year already, what's another month or two?
It's great to have you back Grave.
And they called me crazy for buying this "Congratulations! You're not dead!" banner. Who's laughing now Fun-Filled Events Ltd?!
YAYAYAYAY
O hai.
807419
That's the song I was talking about. Fitting, no? =P
Glad to see some news from you. Also glad to hear you have not given up on Ballad. Celestia knows I haven't. I'll be sitting here patiently, waiting for however long it takes.
In the meantime, I am sure I will enjoy whatever else you come up with.
Lovely to see you back again <3
Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!
dashie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw473_hophappyhop.gif
OmGoshOmGoshOmGoshOmGoshOmGosh
you're back!?
(but then i couldn't re-read The Ballad of Twilight Sparkle 
again so i won't)
I'm so happy i could die!
most people here:
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/163/057/opwilldeliver.jpg
Glad you are back
I'm so pleased you're not dead.
Thanks for the warm welcome, guys
You guys are beyond awesome, and possess the patience of Buddha.
806853
Lookin' kinda yandere there, Shy
806882
I had totally forgotten that we'd talked about that song! I curse my horrible memory, and also, I blame Wanderer for that, too.
806914
All we need to do is find your savefile and alter it so that you killed Wrex. Then, we can blame you for that, too.
807256
Now, now, Fifth, what happens in GoogleDocs stays in GoogleDocs.
807372
Have you ever heard of a series called "One Piece"? I think you'd like it, Telaros mah boi.
807464
It had better have been something along the Spy's epitaph for the Scout! I will accept nothing less classy.
840923
Are you implying that I've sat down and watched all the specials, movies, up to 585 episodes thus far, read every manga, and somehow... *somehow* been a fan of this series for nearly 12 years? WHO DO YOU THINK I AM!?
willlifedesign.co.uk/images/multimedia/manga_anime/k_o/o/one_piece/Usopp.jpg
Though, I might have *probably* heard of it.
840923
Just wanted to let you know, YOU'RE THE ONLY REASON I EVEN COME TO THIS SITE ANYMORE.
I occasionally check back on this site to see if The Ballad of Twilight Sparkle has been updated so I can reread it all over again (before reading the new chapter, as to prolong the end of this masterpiece you have written.)
Its been more than a year, and I have never been so dedicated to seeing a series through than this single fic.
Keep up the work, and have you thought of taking authorship professionally? Infact... Are you a professional? I wouldn't be surprised.
Ciao.