It's been forever since I've made a blog post, much less a fun one.

Because writing is hard.

And all work and no play only leads only to withered souls.

So, just for the hell of it, let's post the most fun and adorable MLP pony pictures we can cram into dis' bitch.

I'll start.

Several months ago I commissioned a special little something from one ZymonasYh about creating a special piece of art using a certain overwhelmingly adorable little changeling. I've waited months for this day to come, but let me tell you that it was most certainly worth the wait! Check it out if you have yet to do so, and send Mr. Zymonas a little comment if you'd like. He puts his heart and soul into making art as good as this and he never fails to deliver!

At long last, after bum-rushing through several lost weeks worth of advanced schoolwork, I have finally freed myself up once again to continue this fruitless conquest for an audience who provide more penny-worth backlash than silver-lined sense whose value I for some reason seem to dictate by how shiny they are under the light .

In between various work days and arghblarghaerhihfiapfh IRL things, I have finally managed to get caught up on, recover, and retype...most of everything I had lost in the tragedy mentioned in the last blog. I'm still a bit saddened by how much writing I had lost. If you don't know already, my wonderful editor still had the chapters and stories I finished that I sent to him for reviewing of which he kindly transferred over to me, but I had sooo many unfinished works before that I really did want to finish someday. I can at least take stock knowing that my wanting will no longer burden me.

I continued work on the next Monster or Mother chapter(s) (a story of mine which is WAY overdue for an update) a few days ago after resting for a bit and idly scrubbing the masses of orange, cheese-flavored dust from my keyboard. I don't have much so far (only a few hundred words from the time of writing this blog) but I hope that I can keep my still-lingering doubts at bay with a few calming rounds of World of Tanks or some other edumacationist activity long enough for me to write more than one paragraph per day without deleting it and quietly washing the night away.

Oh? Did I mention that the next update for MoM will be a two-parter?

Yes, the next update will be in two parts, released on separate days to give you all a bit of breathing room to excite your mind with juicy speculation. I figured that two parts would be the perfect way to REALLY kick off the story. I can't guarantee that it will be as good as previous chapters nor can I guarantee that it will even be decent! Just looking at it now is forcing my inner critic to cry: "Pacing, you slack-jawed tit! Use pacing! No, now you cocked it up! No internet for you!"

Welp, I've been in this same situation before, haven't I? It's just a simple matter of crossing my fingers and hoping that I will be spared from the plank and nail. Everything I've mentioned thus far also counts for Butterflies In Her Tummy. I'm so terribly sorry that the wait is so long and the delivery so "meh" to most of you, but I plead you to steady your feet! Angel Bunny will get what's coming to him!

...within reason, of course.

By the way, did I mention that I have fan-art of my OC? Yes yes, I'm just building up my own glass house from which to contain my idle hubris, but, as far to my knowledge, I have never, ever heard of a writer who receives fan-art of anything but their stories. You can find them all on my profile page in the top right corner. A few of them, such as the desktop background and picture of Hive and Fluttershy (which I still think are pretty awesome) are commissions, but the majority is all sent in by people with a strangely strong like for hexagons.

All the best-

-Hivemind

...

*sigh*

Well, I figured this day would come back around again, as it has only a few times before, but each time more costly and devastating than the last.

There's...going to be a pretty long delay for the next chapter of...well, ALL of my active stories.

To put it short and simple, my computer exploded. The OS became self-aware last night and annihilated itself, completely erasing EVERYTHING from my hard drive.

All of my schoolwork? Gone. All of my pictures of THE best pony? Gone. All of those unfinished, unrevealed stories and chapters? Gone.

Gone for good.

All of them.

I am currently typing this from a backup computer while a brand new OS is being installed my normal computer. I don't want to go into anything too lengthy as I am already very frustrated with current events, but it is going to take me quite a long time to get back up to speed, especially with all the schoolwork and writing that I lost in the catastrophe.

But fear not! For my editor proves himself to be not only as a great friend but as a great ally! At first, I wept at the thought of knowing that all of the hard work I put into the newest chapter for MoM, which was sitting on my hard drive, would be no more. I spent nearly a month working on it, and I imagined myself, devastated, weeping silently into the soft bed sheets that grace the side of my work desk while the ominous voice of Fluttershy's own lullaby twirls through the vacant air into my careless eardrums.

But then, Sir Serene Breeze, knight of Equestria, came before me on a golden steed, bearing joyous news of artifacts concealed upon his desktop. Within it lay the edited version of the chapter, as well as the half-edited version of another story I am writing, both appearing as good as new!

Serene Breeze, I knew you would be a great friend just as you are a great editor, but no more will I re-enter into such a mad state knowing that I can't always count on you!

TL;DR: Computer apocalypse, loses A TON of important files, Serene Breeze saves the day...a little.

:flutteryay:

Again, guys, you won't see anything from me for quite a while, as I have a lot of things to take care of now that most of my stuff has been erased and is thus unrecoverable. But don't worry. I won't leave you all hanging! I will work on the chapters whenever I can and do my best to deliver what you all deserve!

-Hivemind

Well...suppose I have some apologizing to get to. I...may have over-exaggerated the content of my previous blog post. I wrote it off as a rant, but I made it sound more like a great big vent that I directed towards my innocent readerbase than any old mindless line of banter. You guys shouldn't have to take the full brunt of my troubles, if any part of it. I should feel both lucky and grateful to have all of you by my side, reading and listening to what I have to tell. I've come a long way since I first joined the site, but now I just feel like a complete dick piston for having unrightfully implanted yet another heated, mindless post onto the site. We get plenty of those every day.

And for that, I'm sorry. Deeply so.

I've...learned and re-learned a few things the days following my posting of said blog post. I'm...not entirely sure of what else to say here, but...

No.

You guys deserve better than this. A simple, thoughtless apology followed by a quick take of leave with hopes of forgiveness is worth much, much less than the jewel-encrusted monolith that is your time.

I think I'll do this in a different way. A better, more interesting way.

Dear Princess Celestia-

Over the past few weeks, I, Hivemind, have come to learn from my mistakes and remember who I truly am. Not in body, but in spirit and will. I remember once telling myself to write only when I am most comfortable. While I may still hold this to some degree, I've found that if I continue to write under the stress of simply getting stuff done AND to a degree that outmatches everypony else is not only wrong, but an extremely bad idea. The proof is right in front of me...

I remember a time when I would always start off my day with the saying, "Patience, and the reward will be all the sweeter." As time went on and as new challenges arose, I have slowly forgotten this saying and its meaning, which sent me on an inevitable course towards a deep, troubling downfall into the pit of my own mind. I could never free myself from...well, myself. My ambitions became constrained by my doubts and the need to impress everyone I ever knew (yes, even my own cat). Of course, such a feat is impossible, but this belief stayed with me for an absurdly long amount of time, and thus, a new hate unknowingly grew from it; a hate for all competition, my own, personal pit of insatiable, mental hubris.

But, as the days went one, I learned that winning, in any form, counts for nothing! Sure, there's a sense of achievement involved, but it won't last forever. I don't have to impress everypony. Just make them happy by delivering the next act in the line of the many grand, mysterious stories that I craft from the ground up! I need to ignore the mistakes of the past and the achievements of those around me and just keep succeeding on in what I do best, and with the help of my friends, my readers, at my side, there is nothing I can't overcome by willpower alone.

Sincerely,

Hivemind

Phew. That took longer than I thought to put together, though I do hope you enjoy my most modest of apologetic workings. I suppose now I can get back to finishing this next chapter for Butterflies in her Tummy, start writing out part two of this new chapter for Monster or Mother, and then just kick back with what little time I have left and enjoy a nice, long game of--

*Faint, rushed whispers are heard in the background.*

Wait, my birthday is tomorrow? Well then...there goes my free time. T_T

I'm at wits end with this next chapter for Monster or Monster. I'm not deleting it. Rather, I'm doing quite the opposite.

I'm going to write a short, somewhat sad little story that will be around 1200-1300 words long.

Why?

The troubles I've experienced in the past are so mind-tearing, so difficult to push away that I now refuse to even glance at the front page of the site. I may have already touched base with this subject before, but seeing the sight of others succeeding with their stories around me with little to no effort is just something that has drawn me ever closer to just slamming on the nuke button on every one of my stories and leaving the site for good. I've seen many writers before me read my stories and use them as inspiration to write their own stories, which, of course, gain far, far more success than my own doings.

What must I do to impress you people? I'm writing with what I believe to be my greatest writing talent, but these mental struggles I continue to experience as a result are just not helping at all. I've been taking writing breaks, a few of them actually lasting a week long, but they deliver no positive effect on my writing, which is, of course, bad.

I don't want to be the catalyst for giving others great success. I want to be the catalyst receiver! It sounded like a good idea to remain a catalyst at first, but after seeing others stride with absolutely no effort while I continue to struggle with everything I do in the back, I now question myself repeatedly each day.

"What happened to me?"

So with that, I'm done.

Finished.

I want these struggles to be over with.

/rant over/

Anyway, I'll have this story out maybe by later tonight.

Maybe.

And that's a big, big maybe.

To that end, have a disturbing gif and a Fwuffyshy.

--Hivemind

I'm too lazy right now to write out something lengthy, so I'll get to the point as soon as possible.

Greetings readers.

For the past month or so I feel as if I have been "losing my touch" when it comes to writing. I can barely write fluently anymore, let alone at the usual level of quality. I've been stressing out over this for, quite literally, months on end. There hasn't been a single day of my life so far where I did anything but worry about my writing. It's frustrating the hell out of me and, most of the time, forces me to get little sleep just because of my continued struggles in the areas of how a paragraph looks/sounds. Every word, every sentence, and every paragraph feels like a great big frustrating chore to me.

And I'm fucking sick of it.

Let me show you an example.

"She lifted her head and opened her already-closed eyes in readiness to peer into the unknown. Standing across from her only a few feet away was the very recognizable figure of a pony, a very tall pony at that, whose body shape resembled that of a grown mare. Her mind went straight to the image of an alicorn, immediately thinking of the three princesses in the royal cities of Equestria, but the thought was quickly rejected once she saw that the pony lacked the hefty, trademark wings of the regal species. It did however possess a long, white horn matching its shiny coat color. Its mane and tail were just as remarkable. Unlike the princesses, they did not flow like they were caught in the grip of an invisible breeze, but their luxurious colors of emerald and navy blue were two things that could give Celestia’s mane a run for its money. Its eyes were without a doubt the most dazzling part of its body, for they too were of a deep blue in color and sparkled like gemstones. Everything about the mare resembled magnificence in its prime, but what was she doing here, and why?"

See this paragraph right here?

It took me two days to write this fucker.

Two days.

For a single paragraph.

In my world, that is execrable in the name of progress. I'm losing my grip on what I think is considered quality writing and what isn't. What do you guys think? Does this paragraph provide a good example of whether or not my quality of writing is going off the rails? Am I doing too much or too little?

Also, spoilers.

-Hivemind

In regards to my recent blog post concerning the truth behind the Season 3 finale, I feel that I must express...well, amber feelings. This is probably just the effects of staying up late at night to write, but god damn that news just hit me right in the feels...

Ever since I first started watching the show I could think of one word and one word only to describe it...beautiful. God damn beautiful. To see the third, and most exciting season come to a close is like looking back on a whole year of your life. An entire year of laughs and cries, ups and downs; every moment of it just bounces right back to you. I remember watching the season premier and thinking "This season is going to be the best season ever!" In my eyes, indeed it was. It's pains me to see the end of it near in sight.

This show has touched me deep inside, directing its full force at every part of my nigh invisible emotional complex. Everything about the show is so beautiful that it, quite literally, nearly brought tears to my eyes on more occasions than I care to admit.

The ponies themselves? Beautiful. The touching, caring, and thoughtful back story? Beautiful. The rich, full world that we, the fanbase, have come to call our home? Beautiful.

Need I say more?

Sadly, even if I had to, I would have nothing more to say, save this: The world of Equestria is the stuff of beautiful, tearful dreams, and we, my fellow people, are more than lucky to be a part of this grand reality. God damn do I love this show.

His heart heavy with warm feelings, sleep deprivation, thinking-straight-lessness, and a sudden urge to start writing for Butterflies in Her Tummy again-

-Hivemind

Oh god, I hope this is fake. Please, PLEASE let this be a fake article o__o

400 followers...and by this point I thought I would have killed myself to end the suffering that is writing these stories for you word-hungry sods.

I...don't really have anything special planned. All I can say is that the next chapter of Monster or Mother will be up...probably before the 20th.

There will also be a very detailed and lengthy explanation for a very special...thought going through my head included in a note at the end of the chapter. It's a serious one I might add, so feel free to read it, or don't. I won't force you.

Back to the quiet place...