Hi all,

Figured I'd post a general update. If you read the latest chapter of LP you probably caught on that it was a bit... off in tone compared to the other chapters (and judging from the comments, a lot of you did notice). I've been dealing with a lot over the last year and stuff in my personal life was affecting my voice, as I tend to put a lot of myself into my writing. Essentially, I needed to work some stuff out.

Thus, All Sisters Go to Heaven was written: a direct result of an author working stuff out. Now, slight disclaimer before you click: It is serious sad tag territory. Possibly tragic. However, if the tag doesn't scare you off, I think it may be some of the best I've written. I put far more work into it than I have any other writing in recent memory and I'm kind of proud of it. It tries a lot of new things while implementing some of the better ideas from my other stories: a return of the almost neurotically well-meaning Rarity from Nova - better realized and written from the intimacy of the first person - mixed with the introspective and sarcastic philosophical meanderings of LP. Mix in a bit of Inception, Memento, and Flowers for Algernon and you've got the basic idea. If that sounds the least bit interesting, consider taking a look. It does have a sense of humor, though it tends to be quite black and understated.

Regular updates should resume after finals are over in a few weeks. In the process of rewriting the most recent chapter of LP with 200% less self-pity. Sorry I kind of dropped the ball there the first time.

-Frozen

          The first chapter of Trixie’s story is finally here! Really sorry to everyone who’s been waiting for this.  I had a heck of a time time deciding exactly how/where I wanted to start. It says 7k words but trust me… I probably have about 3x that in discarded scenes. I tried at first to write it without the initial stair scene, but referring to that particular sequence of events in the past tense kind of ruined the effect.

          So the bit (500-ish) words where Trixie makes the ascent looks very similar, but a lot of details have changed, especially in her conversation with the Monk. It just didn’t feel right to cut that scene entirely, as I really liked it as a starting point. Now that the beginning is set, it shouldn’t take nearly as long to write.  The outline of this story was forged in a haze of caffeine. I started out with the intention of writing a simple redemption story and wound up writing… well, hit the link. It became large rather quickly, and was combined with two other stories I had considered writing. Since I didn’t get to cover everything I wanted to in the first chapter, I put some info below on my plans for Scratch, as some info on a certain faction that might be the threat on the horizon. I’m relatively vague, but If you’d rather avoid any spoilers, feel free to skip it, or skip to the bottom if you’d like an update on LP.    

          My Interpretation of Vinyl Scratch (coming up in chapter 2) came out of a simple slice of life fic I had planned for her. She builds her entire life and career with the intentions of wooing a single pony, just to be thoroughly friend-zoned by that pony. The rest was about finding a purpose after you’ve “already won” at life, when it’s not necessarily the life you had in mind. Needless to say, Vinyl is a Rockstar at heart. She made the jump to this as I thought she would make a nice counter-weight to the occasionally melodramatic, sometimes-too-serious Trixie.

          The second, slightly darker concept I incorporated into BB was my personal spin on changelings: Obviously, we didn’t exactly see the cream of the crop at the end of season 2.  We’re talking about critters who can imitate a loved one perfectly, to the point that the Captain of the Guard didn’t even have a clue. (Granted, she was a queen, but for a queen she was also a bit of an idiot.) So the What-Ifs started flying. What if Chrysalis wasn’t queen of all changelings, instead, the outcast, war-mongering queen of a single large hive? What if the singular hive-mind displayed was exclusive to her particular brand of controlling psyche, and - though retaining the hivemind to some degree - what if members of other less constricting hives were allowed to display a certain degree of separate consciousness?

So what is a self-conscious changeling in the hoofs of a leader who isn’t a total idiot? The perfect sleeper agent, and scary as hell. (No, I’m not going to pull a Shyamalan). Saying too much would spoil some of the plot, but let’s just say if all goes as planned Changelings will make things.. interesting. I hope you all enjoy this, and I’m really glad the project finally has momentum

          On LP in general: The infamous update is still coming. I kind of got tunnel vision with Trixie right before I got hit in the face with 200+ pages a night of assigned reading, but I think I’ve acclimated to the workload. Not to mention, after beating my head against the wall relearning to write a story with multiple 3rd person viewpoints, writing in first person again has been like a vacation. New Chapter within 2-3 days

Hi all,

It’s been a while since I made a formal blog post about general schedule/what I’m working on, so since I’m procrastinating on word 1.5k of a certain new story, I figured now would be an ideal time to do that. This was also going to be a celebratory landmark post, but then-

Oh screw it. Even if it was only for a few hours before somepony with terrible timing (glare) decided to unstar, LP was at 1900 favorites.

1900 favorites.

1900.

Thank you.

Really, thank you all for that. Holy crap. I don't say it enough, but y’all are awesome. It’s not just about the numbers either: Those of you who comment regularly are better than I deserve. I've read quite a few unnecessarily harsh comments left on other stories, several that in, my eyes, didn't really deserve it. Yet there’s been practically none of that here. You all aren’t afraid to tell me when I’m coloring out of character lines, and there's often healthy servings of constructive criticism, but at the same time I’m never knocked down and beaten over the head with it. I do occasionally write things that are COMPLETELY off the wall, but instead of a dramatic clusterbuck, generally the response is “Hey... that was completely off the wall.” at which point I can carefully replace whatever it was I knocked off. The open-line of non-hostile communication continues to be really valuable to me; having that general sense of leeway gives me the confidence to try new things, which is how the whole Trixie thing came about in the first place.  

More on Trixie after a general update on LP.

Lez Ponies isn’t going to be pushed aside for work on the new story. Ideally, both will alternatively update, more steadily after I get into the swing of the semester. After a somewhat awkward lull of Rainbow wrestling, bard derailing, intimate suturing, and a scarlet cat named Herring things around Ponyville are finally going to start heating up again. And yes, I really did just type that sentence. Most pressingly on the LP horizon is the fact that, as you might have already guessed: there’s only one way to get rid of a mingle-mark. It’s not really a spoiler as that’s the first sentence in the next chapter. The bigger question is “who” at this point, if you catch my drift.  

To address a few concerns regarding the most recent chapter of LP: Luna’s nice, really. She just comes off as a little scary when she’s cranky and covered in papercuts. Her not-meanness will be further highlighted next chapter. As far as overall progress goes, we’re still a ways away from Kate’s big encounter with the mare behind the curtain, not to mention whatever comes after that (heheh).

On all things Trixie Related, the first chapter of Trixie to Bellatrix – a Bard's Beginning, will hopefully be submitted to my super amazing reliable pre-readers at some point tonight, at which point they will smack me in the face and tell me to come up with a better title. Hopefully.  It’s taken longer than I originally expected because I hadn’t considered how damn complicated planning the stages of an adventure story would be, especially as I’m the idiot who decided to commit the flashforward to six years after the events of the Trixie episode before doing said plotting.

(I kind of get all expositiony and rant-like after this point about Bard's Beginning, so unless you’re interested in the finer details feel free to skip to the TL;DR)

The problems started on brainstorming night; I had my first Monster ever (and I never drink caffeine), so things got more than a little jittery. My brain was working faster than my fingers were shaking... which was a lot. I basically plotted the events of the six years out, as well as some time after, making sure they all linked together properly, both from an escalating standpoint as well as a symbolic standpoint. Eventually, the outline got so obtuse and unfocused I actually had to split it into three smaller “books” (large arcs).

No more caffeine for me.

It took a nap and fresh eyes to realize that my subconscious had screwed me. The outline was essentially a less complicated, ponified rip-off of Tolkien - Lord of the Rings: Steamy Mare Makeout Edition. Cue giant facepalm. Second attempt to outline was met with similar results, thought I caught it slightly earlier on: an awkward blending of Game of Thrones and Full Metal Alchemist. Go figure. The third attempt FINALLY managed to produce acceptably ‘fresh’ results. It’d be really nice if the brain’s “Hey, this would be really cool-” idea prompt came with a “-but just to let you know, I’m completely ripping off this thing you won’t remember until you’ve already implemented the idea in something important” disclaimer.

Likewise, the process of writing has been similarly slow, and at several points managed to be more problematic. A few near-complete prologues had to be tossed because the chosen perspective/starting location simply didn't work. Also, estimating the appropriate modicum of humor to use from scene to scene in this sort of story has been fairly rewrite-inducing: Trixie balling on the outskirts of Ponyville, because she’s realized that her entire blank is a blank and her blank is blank and all she can do is blankity blank? Now let’s make a hobo joke! Yeah. That got cut, as did balling Trixie. Imply rather than state. In general, I seem to be using a lot more subtlety than I'm used to.  

Er…as you can probably tell, I’ve been awake for a little too long, as I'm being overly negative. It is definitely coming together, I did hit a comfortable stride and decent balance of tone/humor/story eventually last night and it got a lot easier from there on out.    

TL;DR: I’m sorry Bellatrix's story is taking longer to release than I originally promised. While I don’t always say when something is going to be out, I do try to meet self-set deadlines when I bother making them. I’ve been shifting between typing whirlwind and a backspace tizzy trying to get this story established before I go back for the semester, though a lot of that is just not wanting to admit that summer break is over. I just need to stop getting distracted by the long reaching stuff, it's borderline obsessive compulsive: Of course! Why wouldn't I finish outlining every detail of Arc three - before writing a Chapter 1.

The moral of this story?

1. I may have a slight OCD problem.  

2. You readers are all awesome. Except for that one person with unbelievably terrible button timing.

3. And from this point forward - no more writing and caffeine for me. Seriously: Bad things happen when I'm being physically kept awake by a substance, my imagination drifts to really odd places and encourages descending into depths I usually wouldn't sink to...

...like the possibility I might have written a two thousand word clop scene out of boredom. Which would have been bad enough-

...had it not also taken place in Fluttershy's basement...

...I really am going to hell now...  

Well, it's kind of been a rough and confusing week for many comedy writers on fimfic, myself included. There was an administrative post pointed at a handful of individuals that vaguely stated the following: All stories with any semblance of adult humor are meant to be qualified as mature. Thing is, even if it was aimed solely at a few individuals, it's now a general rule, and it's being applied to everyone who shares even the smallest fraction of the spotlight, which is partially why I've been a little wary of updating in the midst of the proverbial scourge. I had hoped this would sort itself out, but it's been almost a week and things are still a mess. As I don't feel it's fair to make you all wait any longer, I'm going to upload the next chapter either late tonight or tomorrow, but I feel like I owe you all a warning.

If the rating of Lez Ponies is altered to mature, it will be solely due to outside intervention.

I have no intention of changing it myself, even though Celestia knows I love my innuendo. Other than writing a parody filled with off-color jokes and obscure references LP was always intended to be a coming of age story, something very much intended for a broad audience. Figuring out who you really are along with who you're meant to be in the grand machinations of the universe is painful, a struggle we all face, and that's something I've tried to capture right alongside the gross-out laughs of balcony doors and Rainbow Dash. Point being, I've exercised a lot of restraint with that wider audience in mind. I've shunned coarser profanity for the most part, kept the story as light and heartfelt as possible, all the while attempting to treat sexuality as equal parts humor and a meaningful angle of character development.

Now, here I could go into a long spiel about how the rating system needs to change and blah blah blah. To be honest though, that's been thoroughly discussed at this point, alternative options have already been presented by authors who hold a much more prominent voice and sway in this community than the new girl on the block.  

Instead of tossing in my two cents in on the subject, I would like to take this moment to give my assurances to you, the reader. Whatever happens with the ratings, LP itself is not going to change. If this next chapter hits the feature box and I'm slapped with a mature rating as a result, so be it: it's not going to influence my writing in the slightest. I'm not going to suddenly cut loose and let this devolve into the story of a girl screwing a bunch of ponies. I will continue my attempt to write a bizarre thematic amalgamation of genre-parody, suggestive/referential humor, and heartfelt self-discovery. I've drawn my own line regarding how far I'm willing to push things and that line will stay firmly in place, no matter the rating. I'm going to keep telling the same story I've been telling. I'm still not particularly confident in my ability, but I'm going to make a valiant effort to end as strongly as I started.

And since I learned my lesson from last chapter...

Anypony want to proof-read in about twelve hours?       

Awesomeness, courtesy of Barbetos: Its apparently in the process of being vectored and colored. A smarter, less impulsive author probably would have waited to post about it until it was finished, but as it's the first fan art I've ever received, I may have jumped the gun and squee'd a little. There's also a clever underlying subtext to it, if you read beyond the initial reference.

Anyway, go give Barb' a hug or leave him/her a nice comment or something..

On LP In General

Firstly, The latest chapter did indeed set some big things in motion. Yes, I was tired and I accidentally used a hammer instead of a brush for foreshadowing. There's a storm coming Miss Winsor. That foreshadowing aside, the second part of the chapter which is currently being worked on aims to clear up a lot of the existing concerns about Flutters. I won't give anything away here, just keep in mind that Kate is operating with a lot of partial information about what happened in general. There hasn't really been time for an extended conversation with Flutters, as they've been consistently interrupted or derailed.

I sort of feel that I've neglected Applejack, and because of that, I've planned some scenes with her coming up in the next few chapters. She's probably the only one out of the mane six I've not really given a fair space in the spotlight to and it's high time I amended that... Much to Kate's discomfort. There's a lot of fun to be had with a character who can be forgiven for being crude because it's in her nature to be completely honest.

Now that I'm finally settling in, chapters will be coming at a more consistent pace. Not being able to write the immediate story for a few days essentially gave me a lot of time to plot big picture stuff, and suffice it to say that if all goes as planned, things may get a little twisted.

Writing this continues to be overwhelming (in a good way.) Every time I feel like I'm pushing things too far, you all are there to tell me otherwise.. The feedback continues to be great, constructive, and more supportive than I ever expected it to be. Really. Writing for an audience that not only appreciates my quirky sense of humor, but also supports the occasional heartfelt character moment provides an uncommon balance, one that makes writing LP infinitely more compelling and fulfilling than I ever expected it to be.

In the past, I've found writing to be satisfying;

However, I can't say it's ever been this much fun.

Oh hai everypony.

I've not really talked about it, so I thought I'd use my first blog post to address my writing plans for the future.

First off, some background

Less than two weeks ago, I was dealing with a serious bout of writer's block. I had just gotten into the third 'act' of my previous fic, Nova, which was causing me a lot of problems. There were a ton of new characters I had to write in the festival scene, and I realized I didn't have any idea how to write any of them, because I'd spent all of my previous time primarily developing Rarity and Celestia. The dialogue between the newcomers felt forced and shallow, a far too generic interpretation of the Mane six, so I wound up scrapping most of it. I didn't know them the way I knew Celestia and Rarity, and felt like I was just going through the motions.

I needed a way to acclimate myself with their characters, a story which would let me focus on each of them individually.  

Thus, Lez Ponies was formed.

I was not expecting it to be well received. At all. Not only was it my first time writing in the first person perspective, it was also my first attempt at anything that falls under the category of comedy. In all honesty, I almost didn't upload it altogether: On the final read-through before pressing the publish button, I remember thinking, Ugh, this is is pretentious crap, when did this become an outlet for me to deal with my relationship issues? I only spent half the chapter on ponies. And as I've said it before, I can't judge my own attempts at humor at all. It might be a lack of experience, but during rereading at every attempted joke I found myself thinking this is dumb, I should cut this. At some point, despite the self-destructive thought process, I drunkenly hit the publish button (Note to self: "cider" and editing does not go well together).

Post pancake consumption the next morning, I logged in and nearly dropped my phone. The notifications had seemingly exploded while I was sleeping.

Since then it's only gotten more crazy, but I'm doing my best to rise to the occasion. I did want to communicate a few things      

1. Feedback is extremely important to me. As I've already stated, LP is way out in left field compared to what I usually write, so I've been paying a ton of attention to the feedback. Comments, criticisms, all of them are read and carefully considered. I'm in completely uncharted territory and out of my comfort zone, so the detailed feedback helps me out more than I can adequately express.

2. LP is a learning experience. I'm constantly trying new things, and consequently making new mistakes. If you feel like I'm 'doing it wrong,' please communicate that. I would have never realized that Celestia's letter came off as overly harsh and been able to address it in the following chapter, had I not received so much feedback supporting that point. I'm in the habit of trying to correct my mistakes. It feels like my style has changed so much already since chapter 1, and it's all the feedback that has helped that happen.  

3. I also just kind of wanted to thank everyone that's actively supported LP. While my previous work has been mostly for my own entertainment, the experience of authoring LP has made me realize how much I enjoy using writing as a medium to entertain others.

Lastly, I wanted to say to those following Nova:

I'm definitely not abandoning my older fic. I'm taking a short break from it to focus on LP in order get a better grip on characters I'd previously ignored, not because I've lost interest in Nova as a project. I have every intention of finishing it and will do so after taking a small break to get a sufficient handle on the characters in question. You all supported me a long time before I was featured, so turning my back on you guys to focus exclusively on a more popular story would be kinda crappy.

As a final note, I've got to be out of my apartment as of next week, so updates will be a little more sporadic until I'm moved into my new place. My roommate didn't really clean much before she left, so whether or not we get the security deposit back is pretty much up to yours truly. When I do get settled in, however, the updates will blot out the sun.