That's one more wrapped up! Thank you, everypony who took time to read Twice as Bright. It's been an absolute blast to write, but I definitively need to re-think and re-consolidate my writing/publishing strategy.

By which I mean "Cloudy is a dummy who should've never broken his self-made promise not to publish during the writing process after Lost and Found nearly permanently killed his desire to write." The whole re-thinking line is a lot catchier, so we're rolling with that.

Anyway! Point is, Twice as Bright is done! I am celebrating by staring at excellent, relevant artwork--holy butts that is beautiful and I almost embedded it but I don't know if that's a breach of etiquette--and by planning more stories.

Breaks are for, um. Well. People who take breaks. I mean, I've had a two day break, I suppose, but you're not here to read about me drinking sugar, eating sugar, and eating things not made of sugar but still covered in or frosted with sugar. You're probably here for:

More Ponies

Whenever I finish a story, I like to cleanse my palate. That's a fancy word for scraping your tongue clean. When I first started writing ponyfic, I watched the entire show at least once between each fic. I find this very useful to re-center myself on canon. It probably sounds pretentious or ritualistic, but it's as simple as me valuing starting from scratch very highly.

Lately, I haven't done this. In part because there are a lot more episodes, and not-writing hurts. In part because, without going into detail, there are elements of season 3 that I did not enjoy as much as I had hoped. Still, this time, I'm going to begin by re-watching the show. The last thing I want is to get mired in my own headcanon.

It's been surprisingly long since last I watched season 1, and I absolutely cannot wait.

Second? I plan to read. I plan to read fanfiction I promised I'd read, because I genuinely want to read more fanfic. I plan to read more fanfiction to make a dent in my Read Later list. I plan to read at least one non-pony thing--probably Daetrin's non-pony book, The Demon of Cliffside. I've been wanting to get at that thing for ages now. Before, during and after all this, I'm going to discuss all the ideas I have with my friends.

And then?

We write

If I sound very, um, pompous here, it's probably for a reason. I'm the kind of pony who, in writing, makes faces. If I'm writing Pinkie making a grimace, I'm making the very same grimace. If Rarity looks arch and scoffs at something, I'm staring at my computer screen like its very presence offends me--you get the idea. That I'm writing a long piece on this is because it reflects what I want to write. I'm leaning towards something longer. Something grandiose.

That's not to say I'm decided yet, and I've said time and again I hate making promises even to myself. I'm just thinking out loud, and all I know is this:

*The next fic will feature two or more ponies.

*At least one of these two or more ponies will think that one of the other two ponies is really, really cute/swell/nice.

What I suspect is this:

*It probably won't have the majority of its action in Ponyville or Canterlot.

*It will probably involve perceived or very real peril.

In short, I'm thinking another adventure along the lines of Within and Without or Lost and Found. When I say "along the lines of," I really only mean "long adventure," and even that's not set in stone, but I will say I'm looking towards W&W/O with fond memories.

Add to list of things to do before writing: Re-read own adventure fics.

I have no details, and I have tons of other ideas that may make it into fic. A lot of authors seem to do these compilation posts of ideas for fics and such, and I don't know how interesting it is to most, but if I can mention in no particular order:

RariLuna slightly-dark/adventure/political/mystery.

Those who read my earlier blogs will remember this one. It is one of three ideas I had in my mind a while back. Also, when I say "slightly dark," you have to keep in mind how incredibly resistant I am to darkfic and such. What I call "dark" when I write probably doesn't match others' definitions.

FlutterDash long ship.

Lost and Found really made me want to explore FlutterDash on a deeper level. This is it. The problem is that I'm not sure I can write another non-adventure ship just yet. It'd be fairly intricate and emotional, but I've done a lot of those lately.

Other ships/stories I want to do:

TwiJack - I have an angle that could work. It's Ponyville-centric, so the problem is the same as with FlutterDash, but I really want to do this.

RariLight - I have some very specific unicorn-centric ideas that could be good. May even be a friendship fic. (Cloudy writing non-ship? Ha!)

FlutterDash - I have no less than three other ideas for this ship of varying length, though the goal is to use as much as possible for the fic above.

PinkieShy - Of all the "pure" ships I want to write, this one is very high on the list. Again, same issue as above with it being a pure ship, but if I could make it part of an adventure, I'd be very happy.

AppleDash - Problematic in that the ship's been done to death. That in and by itself isn't the issue, but that I don't know if I'm stepping on others' hooves is. I have two possible angles, one being rather different from the usual ship formula.

ApplePie/RariPie - I have semi-similar ideas for these, but I've written so much heavy emotion Pinkie Pie that this will probably go on the back-burner. Also, it's actually the closest to sad that I'll ever want to go. I could write an ApplePie that I'm sure would be a decent read, yet I'd have no desire to read it myself. That is an odd position to be in.

RariDash - Painful sweetness here, but it needs a framework I haven't worked with yet. One that is neither adventure nor simple long-ship. This will be a challenge, and I'm not convinced yet.

That's basically what's in my head at the moment. The two ideas I had in the last ficwriting deadspace are still very strong, those being RariLuna and FlutterDash. The PinkieShy idea has basically taken the spot of CellyPie now that that's done. Still, I am almost positive that in reading, watching and talking in the coming weeks, I'll have far more ideas to choose from, and hopefully I'll land on one that convinces me fully from the get-go.

If you've read this far, well, damn. I thought about cramming some images in here, but I have no idea what those would be. Sprucing it up with images just to make more people read it is silly anyway. I figure people will read if they're interested, and if they are--if you are--I'm flattered.

In Other News

There's a reason for that Within and Without tag other than "hey I may write something similar." If you've problems with the downloadable formats available through FiMFiction, there's an awesome guy by name of JeffersonPeters who took it upon himself to provide a superior alternative. Here is a downloadable ePub variant of W&W/O for all your reading pleasure! I don't have a fancy reading thingermabob, but I'm told it's quite good.

It's worth noting that he used alternative cover art in the .epub file, and the artist hasn't yet responded to the request for permission to use it, but there should be a link with attribution and everything in there. The real problem, though, is that the artist's dA has been taken down since, and redirects. Still working on that.

That's it! Thank you for your time. If you hate me for abusing your eyes for italics, well, at least I didn't use comic sans. I'm gonna get around to replying to comments on TaB as soon as I can, but know that I've read them all, and that I'm floored (and thankful!) for all the comments!

I am just leaving a quick note here to say that I'm sorry for not responding to PM's, comments or mails for the moment. I've tried to keep on top of things, but it's just not working out. If you're just tuning in, or if you've recently left a comment or sent me a PM, I am very happy to make your acquaintance, please don't doubt that -- I can only apologize for the delayed response.

I'm having a bad time of it, and I need to readjust. There's no drama, and everything that's failing is related to my lacking ability to deal with things that are beyond my control.

Fic updates will go along as planned because quite frankly, I don't know how to stop. Twice as Bright will likely continue at one chapter per week unless something changes.

It's February! Febb-u-ary. Febrarry. Febbary.

It's the second month of the year! I've been quiet for a little while, and I want to apologize for that. Some authors are chatty and make more blog posts than others, and while that's never been me, this silence has been a bit longer than most. It's mostly for those sneaky secret "personal" reasons, but that's not the full story.

Ha. Bet you expected bad news. Nope! During idle hours that've been a little more rare than usual, I've still managed to make some progress on the next fic slated for release.

Using the words "slated for release" makes me feel really professional, just saying.

Anyway! I alluded to there being three possible fics next up. I spoke about a deliciously pompous RariLuna, a sugary CellyPie and a complex FlutterDash. Allow me to share some cover art made by the illustrious Kits for the imminent little fic.

(It's PinkieLestia, in case you didn't figure it out. Or is that Rarity in a Pinkie Costume? Dun dun dunn!)

So yeah! Current plan is that over the next few days, I'll move the six chapters I have over to FiMFiction. After that is done with, I'm going to submit/enable some of them, mostly as an attempt to give myself a nudge on the flank to finish writing this. As always, I'll release chapters at a fast rate until the fic is complete.

Well, at what I assume is a fast rate. I don't know if there's a standard here, and I am loath to give solid estimates. I believe I touched upon this before. Point is, this'll get me writing and finishing this up. I get to test the waters of partial releases for the first time since I wrote LaF, you get fic sooner. Everypony wins!

And then what?

I don't know what comes next. I'll have to dig around my brain to decide on the next fic. Since the season's ended now, I'm looking at possible ideas for longer fics, but I'm not going to dedicate myself to a new book-length adventure fic just for the sake of it - or worse, because it's expected of me (if only by myself.) I'm not at all lacking for ideas in general, but it's about finding the idea that stands apart from the rest. The idea that makes me write until I almost literally pass out because I'm drunk on words.

Oh yeah, and the season finale came and went.

You guys don't follow me for my opinions. At least, I expect and assume you don't. I've never made a big deal out of being a variety blogger and I've never tried to be an interesting person. I write stories, and I publish them. Don't get me wrong here: I absolutely love talking to people, and I get so very very happy every time I get a comment, a PM or a mail. I keep meaning to reach out to more people, and I probably will. I love people. I just don't think that me writing a full piece on the season finale is very interesting.

The most I'll say on the subject of the final episode of S3 is that it puts me in an awkward position. I've always adhered strongly to canon; sure, I write ship fics, but I always try to make them as believable as possible, and I always start with canon as a base. The season finale makes this a lot harder for me, and I need to think long and hard how I will handle this.

Last point on the agenda: If you wish to have more cuteness in your life, I have a suggestion for how you may achieve that. Multi-Media Mane Six. Kits has taken the six beloved mini-horses and given them their separate media. Mediums? Separate drawy-thingies! I may be hoping for Pastelshy x Graphijack pictures. Just lookit them:

That's about it for now; look for Twice as Bright in the coming days, and thank you for staying tuned!

Welp, that's Where They Are Joined done, bringing the series to a close! I hope those of you who've read them all enjoyed the journey, even if it's spanned nearly a full year. It's hardly been a cohesive thing, nor have the fics been published rapidly enough for it to be readable as one long fic, but however you look at it, we're done.

I also hope those of you who read WTAJ as the first of the fics liked it, and that maybe you're interested enough to check out the other two stories in the continuity. I would love your thoughts!

It's odd for me to say "the end" like this, because I hate endings. I absolutely abhor ends and conclusions and all such things. The way I retain my sanity is by having each fic be an isolated story; every time people talk about sequels, I waffle and say "yeah, that'd be nice" and sort of just never do anything about it. Here we have an actual series, and it does have an end. It's a little sad, because I can easily imagine all the possibilities that could go into a sequel. Or two. Or three. Children. Exploring RariLight. Pinkie and Dash's wedding(s). (Because, come on, neither of them would want to be outdone by AJ and Flutters, so they'd have to double marry.)

The problem is, this is an old series. It's already three steps removed from canon. I don't think it feels ridiculously AU or something, but since it was started mid-S2 - and has gone on for a long time since - it's now very far removed from the core material. Writing any more derivative scenes would just be self-indulgent. It would be the type of fic that shouldn't really leave my computer, a personal little fantasy. I've got a few of these already; things that aren't good stories, but that I enjoy writing and reading for myself.

Instead: new things! You may've heard me speak of multiple ideas I have. Thoughts and fics stewing in my brain-juices. I want to write CellyPie focused on a very old princess relearning basic things, and giving Twilight heart attacks in the process. I want to write that RariLuna I've spoken of, a broody, elegant and high-class drama-adventure that gives Rarity her dues. I want to write the FlutterDash that, quite frankly, intimidates me; I want to tackle an asymmetrical yet healthy relationship and see if I can do that without sending messages I most decidedly do not want. This may be the end-of-season longfic. I even have an AppleDash idea that's filled with more conflicts than most fics.

I'm very slowly coming to a conclusion here, and I think I may have already decided. All things going well, I'll start writing this week. Right now, I'm distracting myself by drawing things.

And, speaking of drawing things: I am not sure I'm allowed to call this "fan art" really, because the artist is Kits, somepony I hold very dear and speak to on a daily basis. Out of the blue, he whipped up (and then colored after I'd drooled over it a bit) a rather damn stellar piece of art based on a particular scene from WYHI. Behold!

You should totally go check out Kits' DA gallery. It is the only sensible thing to do.

Well, that's it for now. I'll probably be a little quiet for a while now as I gear up and start on the next fic. Thank you ever so much for reading. Stay awesome!

Hullo m'dears!

I would like to apologize for the post-spam. I try to keep these updates for when I've actually got something of substance to say, and therein the problem; there's rather a lot to say these days.

So, we've all eaten the [insert relevant food], we've watched the Hearth's Warming play and then done whatever else we do during these joyous or terrible holiday times. In my part of the world, this means a smattering of presents. It's funny; with each year, it seems I get less and less presents, but they also mean more and more to me. Today, I'd like to speak to you of a rather stellar present I received.

A year and a bit ago, I wrote a rather long adventure story called Within and Without. Maybe you've read it. Maybe you haven't. It's a season 1 adventure story that, like a distressing amount of my stories, is dear to me in a very unique way. It's in many ways the darkest story I've written (though that's not saying much), but I also love it to bits, flaws and all.

Imagine my surprise when I received this.

You'll pardon the large image, I'm sure, but yes. So it happens that Corma, a very dear friend of mine, decided to do this for me for Christmas. The original artist of Within and Without's original cover art touched it up for the occasion, adding detail, and another dear friend of mine assisted with advice on how to do formatting etc. Here's the full gallery if you want a peek.

The time it must've taken to reformat it to book format/style is considerable, and the organizational challenges - I am well and truly stunned.

I am also in possession of a hardcover copy of something I've written. This is a ridiculously awesome feeling, a childhood dream, even if it won't go much further than this for the moment. This is amazing. Corma, Kits, OB, y'all are amazing ponies.

And that brings us over to topic #2: Where They Are Joined is up and running. If you haven't already read the fics that lead up to it, you may want to have a look at Where Earth Meets Sky and Where Your Heart Is, the AppleShy and PinkieDash prequels, respectively. As I keep saying, you don't need to; the story was written as a standalone, as were they all, but they are a single continuity.

I haven't decided on update pattern just yet, but the entire story is done, and I just finished uploading the last of the chapters. I'm somewhat slowed down by the fact that the Gdocs import sometimes eats paragraphs, so I need to read through this one more time before I can enable the next chapters. It won't take very long, and I expect the next chapter or chapters will be up very shortly. The story is about the same length as the other stories in the continuity.

It's a bloody relief to finally finish it. I've been wanting to close off the WEMSverse for a long while now, and I'm finally there. I'm very excited to hear what people think!

Speaking of excitement (worst segue 2012), Somepony's Building Bridges comic finally got onto EqD. This is awesome in a million different ways and shapes, and I'm happy it finally gets the recognition it deserves. It also means Building Bridges is on the "Popular Stories" sidebar, which is absolutely hilarious. If you're came here via Somepony on DeviantArt, let me know!

That's about it. Hm. Awesome new book, talk about new fic, talk about old fic, yep. Now I just need to finish the whole release song-and-dance of WTAJ and I can move on to PinkieLestia. or RariLuna. Or FlutterDash. Or something else entirely. Huzzah! Thank you for your time, and I hope you have a wonderful end-of-year festivity!

First, let me wish you all a happy and conveniently fictional culture-neutral holiday. Happy Hearth's Warming! Or is that merry HWE? Jolly? Pick one! 'Tis the season to gorge oneself on foodstuffs and good company, the season for kindnesses and so forth.

Most are, anyway. If you celebrate the Season of Slapping People On Their Bums instead, I won't judge. It sounds like a worthy endeavor. You all know this, anyway. Your calendars have told you this.

Instead, let me tell you about some things you might not know:

TAW's "rare ships" contest has concluded. This is interesting for a myriad of reasons. One of them is that without the contest, I never would've started writing No Recipe For Perfection, so I owe TAW my thanks for that. More than this, though, the contest has yielded some great fics. Go check out the winners!

Or don't, 'cause I'll happily spoil it for you right here.

Stubborn as Ponies won the contest, and with good reason. If you haven't read it, you owe it to yourself to do so. It's ApplePie shipping of the highest quality, with a lovely and creative take on Pinkie Pie's mentality. I can safely say this is one of the best ship fics I've read in recent memory.

The runner-up also deserves mention. In Search of Knowledge has issues, sure. The grammar isn't perfect and the pacing, phrasing and all the little fiddly bits made me pause every now and then, but much more importantly, it's got oodles of cuteness that shines through. The problems would've driven me to distraction with a lesser story, but I read this in a single sitting. It has some genuinely good humor, some very sweet ideas, and it's CheeriLight.

There's a link in the post to the full list of entrants, and I myself've read all the non-gore, non-clop ones. I don't mean to insinuate for a second that the ones not mentioned aren't good; on the contrary, I enjoyed every fic I read. Cynics might expect the majority of fics entered into a contest like this to be train wrecks, but that's a huge nope. They were absolutely lovely, though I can't speak for the ones that fall outside of my preferences.

Last up? More fics! You might have noticed that's sort of what we do around these parts.

If you enjoyed loose series started with Where Earth Meets Sky (continued with WYHI) it may be of interest to you to know that the next and probably final story in the series is right around the corner. Heck, this may be relevant to you even if you just happen to like shipping. The story stands on its own two legs fairly well, and like Where Earth Meets Sky, it's AppleShy with a side order of PinkieDash.

The story, tentatively named Where They Are Joined (can you guess the theme?) is about ready to go. It's pending final edits and upload, so expect to see the first two chapters today or tomorrow. Considering how vested I am in the WEMSverse, it's a bit of a christmas present from me to myself, but I've no problems sharing! I figured I'd make another blog post around new years discussing what's coming next.

I'll leave you with a comment on why yesterday's episode was absolutely amazing.

Applejack sitting is approximately the cutest thing ever.

Guess what happens in November?

Absolutely nothing! It's a sharp drawing of breath, a loud silence before we throw ourselves into the madness of christmas Hearth's Warming Eve. All the same, I don't like silence, so I'm just gonna plop down this short little update while I'm trying to produce something worth reading.

I couldn't tell you what I'm releasing next even if I wanted to. Or, well, I do want to, but fact of the matter is, my writing's crazy-sporadic these days. In trying not to stress myself, I discovered that the result isn't a mad boost to productivity as I had hoped, but writing less actually means I'm writing less.

I'm sure it's only temporary. I'm good at taking breaks, but the desire to write is still as constant as ever.

I've still got the same set of fics that I'm fiddling with; Where Earth Meets Sky 3 is one of those (arguably WEMS 2, 2.5, or 4 depending on how you count the fics in that continuity). It's "coming along", which is to say my attention flits between that and a second fic, the barely-mentioned RariLuna. I'm actually writing on that right now, and I'm very excited to try something different. Well, different for me; I don't much feel like trying an entirely new genre or anything.

I'm trying to limit myself to these two fics for now. It's that, or get started on a FlutterDash I really want to write, a RariLight that needs a little work but could be downright marvellous, and a RariShy that's simple-and-sweet.

I could of course go on and detail a million more fics that I want to write, but these are the most immediate. I hope to release something more before the holidays, but I know better than to make promises.

In other news, I heard rumors that this pony show started a new season. There's allegedly been three episodes so far. Anypony know anything about that?

No, seriously, I'm bloody impressed. Amazing season opener, and episode 3 proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the good guys at the studio haven't lost their touch at all. If this is indicative of the direction the series is going - that is to say, a bee-line straight ahead, more of the same amazing stuff - I'm a very, very happy pony!

In my fourty or so weeks on FiMFiction, and indeed ever since I took this writer's alias, I've tried to maintain an image of stolid half-professionalism. I love making friends, but I absolutely loathe making enemies. I've treaded carefully and tried to have an absolute minimal hoofprint.

I can't quite answer the grand "why" of this. It's just how it's been. Perhaps I am afraid of offending. Perhaps I worry that I will cause irrepairible damage to an alias I've become very fond of. I don't know.

One of the effects of this whole "cause no ripples" mantra is that I don't talk about myself. I can discuss method and give advice, but I am reluctant to say how I feel. There is no "Cloudy Skies" person here on FimFiction; I've devoted myself to being less important than my stories. When I make a blog post, it's because I have fic-relevant news or links. Again, an attempt at professionalism. Some sort of arguably-misguided filter as though I'm a robot running a business.

I'm not. I'm a heavily flawed person, and I'm not sure I can keep this up. This isn't a business; it's merely an all-consuming hobby. A hobby that I've gone and developed a very unhealthy relationship with. I had my first doubts and my first resolution to change whilst writing Lost and Found; writing that fic was very, very taxing, and after I burned myself on it, I told myself I would never try to keep to promises or schedules. Even when I make them, I am free to ignore them. My time is my own, I said. That, apparently, is not enough.

FiMFiction is a monster. A marvellous, beautiful, uncontrollable, terrible monster. Come jump into my head as we examine the process of creating a story.

You're not actually joining me inside my head. That would be terrifying.

First, conceptualizing. Amazing. Joy.

Second, writing. Better than any drug.

I've never ever taken any form of drug, for the record. Don't do drugs.

Third, release.

Oh boy.

Every single fic I've written—

Let's pause there for a second. I said "I" there, not a generalizing word. I'm not trying to obscure or mute my feelings here and make this a comment on how things work in general. You can infer any critique on how the world at large works yourself. I'm writing about me, for once. For which I am sorry, by the way.

Anyway. Every single fic I've written and released, one of two things happen: It gets a good reception and a decent amount of views, or it gets a good reception and a slightly more decent amount of views. Some slip the net. Every five blogposts, I complain why nopony reads Ode to Friendship, and I guess this one is divisible by five or something.

So, fic's released, I get lots of comments, and I'm happy about that. Then the silence settles, giving way to some vague sense of insufficiency.

Let me explain. This has little to do with wanting more attention. I consider myself blessed. At time of writing, I'm very close to one thousand followers. I'm proud and terrified of that, and I'm very glad that my stories seem to be read by so many. I don't just want more readers; I sit here wondering why some fics do cross that threshold into "making it big." I wonder what I'm lacking. I wonder where I fail.

So we put on our skis and head down the valley, heading for the Dumps. If you like, you can ride a bobsleigh instead, or a luge. I think they're called luges? I have a vague memory of some Olympics game in the early nineties featuring bobsleighs and luges. That game messed up my keyboard something fierce.

Sorry, I'm getting distracted. We were on our way to being depressed over fics not Making It Big(tm). I'm tremendously honest today. Now, a counterargument some make is that the feature box and popularity in general is self-reinforcing, and that FiMFiction loves certain things. A while back, it was short metafics. Then it was changelings or other fandom tropes. Next, 3k word comedy fics. Following that, we've had a surge of clop and Pony Does Thing, be it Lyra Eats A Book or Celestia Plays Croquet.

To be absolutely clear, I have nothing against any of these fic types. Celestia Hates Tea was funny, and I love me a short noncommittal comedy fic when I can't be bothered reading bigger fics.

What this is—or would be—is that very tempting thing people often do in these situations; rationalization. It's extremely dangerous to try to make excuses like these, because down that path lies a bank loan to fund your mad scientist lab atop a mountain from which you can scream "nobody understands my genius!"

I don't want to do that. I don't have enough hair to pull off a proper mad scientist look.

By the way, I try too hard to be funny when I'm nervous. Just learned that about myself.

I also recognize that there is some truth to this. Shorter fics have an easier time because they're more approachable, but here's my problem: it's only a partial truth. Out there exist stories that disagree with everything I could shield myself with. There are stories that did immensely well that aren't short. There are stories out there that manage to be non-short, non-comedy, non-fanon-pandering and nonclop, and they don't even press any of my innumerable No buttons (I can't read dark or sad)—they are fics that I've read and loved, or plan to read because I know they're good.

Look at Twilight's List. Look at Those Blue Wings. Fics that are titans, blowing everything I've ever written clear out of the water. Stories that aim for the same target as I, but succeed where I fail. I absolutely detest comparisons, but here we are.

I said "I" again, because contrary to what you may've thought given that this sounds like a whining rant, this really isn't a complaint about FiMFiction. Like I said, FiMFiction is a beast. It works as it works, and yelling, screaming and crying over that won't change a thing. It's not FiMFicton that has to change. I am the problem.

I am the one who's letting my sanity erode because I keep asking myself why I "fail" and, even when given answers, refuse to accept them. It's not even news. Back when Equestria Daily used the star system, I worked so hard to try to earn that 6-star tag. I never got it. I almost did. 4.8. Almost, but not quite. I may have to adopt that as my motto. It took me weeks and months to accept this; time spent literally losing sleep. That's literally literally, not "totally kinda" literally.

In hindsight, I should have noticed back then that it was a warning bell. I didn't heed it, and now I find myself trapped in a web of, well, let's see. Jealousy, I suppose? Jealousy and despair over failing to figure out what to do. I don't even know if I'm praying for a way to "improve", or if I just rail against the crapshootyness of popularity.

Again, I'll freely admit—since we're being candid here you and I—that I think some of the things that get sixtyfive bajillion views, they aren't always "good". Again, my concern is that there are examples of fics that are the type of stories I write, with one exception:

They made it. I didn't.

I actually still write. I finished the prologue to the next story yesterday, and I don't think that's a good thing. Perhaps worse, I still love writing. The peaks, the high points of writing, they're still there; the rush never fades, but the norm, the standard feeling of having to interact with fan fiction, reading or writing, is dipping lower and lower.

I'm not giving up, nor do I want this to come off as some pointless rant. What I'm saying is, I need to take a step back, and this is my declaration of intent regarding exactly that. Until I can have a healthy relationship with writing, I don't think I can do this any more. When you're in the dumps, you can't think, and when you're okay, you don't see the problem; this is me trying to remember what it feels like to be down in the dumps, and act on it. Self-preservation.

Hopefully this just means a short break. Perhaps Season 3 will help. I don't know what I need, but damn can I ever tell you tons of things that I do not need: I don't need comparisons. I don't need to be told what I have. I don't need ideas or anything of the like. This isn't logical. This isn't rational. I am the problem. FiMF isn't. You aren't. I've actually no idea who you are, reading this far. I think I write this for my own sake because I need to make it "official", to tell myself it's okay to put the quill down.

Sorry if I'm slow in commenting in the future. Sorry again for... blunt honesty and speaking about myself. I won't let myself delete this blog post, but I don't quite know exactly why I'm posting it, either. An explanation of any delays in the next fic?

Blogposts like these won't happen again, and I don't intend to be some regular in drama-land posting about whatever-ails-me. I'm not really going anywhere, and I'm not closing shop.

To those I chat with on a regular basis for whom this is hardly new; I'm sorry that I couldn't let all the tremendous help you've given me be enough. This just keeps bubbling to the surface. Perhaps putting it on speaker will help.

After I submit this here blog, I'm going to enable chapter two of No Recipe For Perfection. That's the first point on the agenda: RariPie! Yay!

I'm probably going to enable the rest of the chapters with a 1-2 day delay between each, so there's your schedule. The entire fic is written, edited and polished, so I'm just giving the chapters a fine sanding before I load them into the party cannon, so to speak. Write and learn: Publishing unfinished stories is a hell with roaring flames of stress, publishing finished stories is simply delightful. The only hard part is holding back from publishing everything at once.

I'll probably have more fancy stuff to say on the fic itself once it's fully released, but right now, I'm very wary of spoiling things. What I can say is that I'm very excited about the fic in general, and that it's fun to write a lesser-done ship like this. I personally love all mane ships, I truly do, but it's fairly obvious RariPie isn't a common OTP. Fortunately, this didn't hinder my joy of writing this in the least, and I hope it's as convincing to you as it was to me as I typed it out.

And then there was art! First, we've our second piece of Lost and Found kinda-fanart! Aymee, who has both a tumblr and a DA gallery, is apparently some kind of sad-Fluttershy prodigy. That makes her a slightly terrible person, but she's still an excellent artist.

If that doesn't convince you to go check out her tumblr, I don't know what will. She's done a veritable bucketload of ponies over the course of the last year, and her mastery of colors is beyond question far's I'm concerned.

Also! If you've read No Recipe For Perfection, or heck, any of most of my fics, you may've noticed the cover art being awesome. Most of the cover art, including NRFP, PPH, WYHI, Bonds, WEMS and Best Plan, they've all been done by Kits. Why am I telling you this? Well, it's not just to tongue his backside. Kits is now accepting commissions!

Granted, he insists this was mostly so he could have an answer for when people ask him if he does commissions. Instead of being a grumpy grump with pants who says no (the grump, not the pants), he can be all "Yessirree mrs. Bob, I do indeedy!" If you're in the market for art, be it cover art or just plain' ol pony cuteness, he does amazingly complex vector BG's, and that's just one of his many talents. Check out those muros!

That's that! I'm gonna toggle chapter 2 and run off to see if I can whip the prologue of this next fic into shape.

I have no control over my life. I've got three separate fics that I really want to write, and I've even made a good start on one of them, but no, of course I can't focus on that. Instead, I've finished a RariPie fic.

It doesn't have a title, this despite the fact that I usually think of titles as I plan fics. Nopony else has pre-read it yet, this despite the fact that I usually look back over my shoulder for validation every three pages when I write. I haven't yet arranged for cover art, and I'm simultaneously convinced this is the best and worst thing I've ever written despite—well. No, actually, that always happens.

Still, the mid-length 20k RariPie fic lives. Let's talk about writing!

Some fics are slow. They are work. You have to fight to figure things out, and some days you can't write at all. They're the fics where you often have to ask around to find out why you're doing this to yourself; to get a reminder or confirmation that it's worth it. Much of the time, they're not fun, even if you loved the idea and know you'll love the end result on some level. Hi, Lost and Found.

Other fics are easy to write. They write themselves, almost, and it seems that the main issue is finding time to sit down and write. When you do, the words are free, and you make steady progress. This is the norm for me, given that I don't plan stories in detail before I set out to write them, content with a vague outline.

And then there are those fics that just exist. A week ago, you had a vague idea, and now it's done. You get possessed with a story concept, and it swells in your head. It is all you can do to locate paper or a keyboard and try to write it down before you run out of memory.

Guess which one the RariPie was? Also, I lied. When I said "you", I meant "I". I don't actually know how you write.

See, I am very particular and exact about persona hygiene, yet for the past week, the daily shower hasn't been something to look forward to. It's been a chore. Eating has been totally sidelined, and it's been difficult to motivate myself to do anything but write. Any time I was doing something else, I wanted to be writing.

I cannot wait to share this fic and see what people think! It's just so great to get confirmation, to see that I can still be totally enraptured by writing; I had thought this drug-like haze a thing of the past, something I hadn't felt since Within and Without and Best Plan, but here we are.

I am so flippin' high on life now.

In other news; Well Grounded's hit FimF, come and gone. It was surprisingly challenging to rewrite an old fic of mine to something that I could upload without being worried about its reception. In the end, I feel I managed a workable angle, but at the same time, it just hammers down on what I've always known; shortfics are not my forté. That's not to say I won't write shorter fics ever again, but I won't make a focused effort to do so. Well Grounded, in its first incarnation, was actually me trying to see if I could write a good shortfic.

Also, bringing up matters of pony race and such on FimF is apparently a fairly bad idea, so there's that, too. Comments were interesting.

Now, I'm going to take a break before I seek and then attend feedback and try to get this RariPie fic out. I need a title, too!