Phantoms, Under Eternal Winds, & Chains To The Grave

HELLO EVERYPONY, I'M NOT DEAD!

I know it's been, checks notes, 7^1/2 MONTHS!?

I think its time for a couple updates then, huh?

First of all, IRL:
I've been working for the past 5 months & I've just recently went on some new medication. Wow it's helped! I feel like I can actually do stuff now, It's amazing. I've been getting my real life in order before working on the fictional life I've created for myself. I've made friends, made money, I'm happier & productive. I feel amazing, honestly. I've done good so far, so I think I am in a good enough position to come back to FiM & writing Fiction in general. So, with my personal progress covered, lets head to the fics themselves, shall we?

One note though before we begin, about Under Eternal Winds due to its heavy use of the Russian language & Slavic literary themes: I'd like to emphasize that it was started before the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, that I do not support Russia or its unjust war & occupation. I do not support the Russian occupation of Crimea since 2014. I have been learning Russian since ~2015 when I started writing MLP Fanfics & was in Highschool. Under Eternal Winds is simply an extension of my love for the Metro 2033 series written by Dimitry Glukovsky & I share his opinions about Russia & the war. That is all, I will hopefully never bring this or any other politics up again.

Phantoms:
I just wanted to say another massive thank you for Phantoms, I'm glad it was loved so! I may go back & do some QoL edits, but right now, that suggestion is purely on the backburner & isn't really a concern right now, or even in the future.

Under Eternal Winds:
About: Under Eternal Winds is about a yound girl named Vojka trying to make a life for herself in the post apocalypse city of Краснобарда / Krasnobarda as the metro goes into a state of chaos once again. It's rather experiment in its use of English / Russian & its emphasis on relationships. It will be around 5-6 Chapters long & hopefully sit around 20k-30k words.

Currently: Under Eternal Winds has been a large project that I've been jumping back & forth from. It's still being worked on, but right now the main focus has been on the total rewrite of Mekanika.
I've planned out the full story now, stretching from the prologue, setting up the world to the ending & the final chapter. Though its still being refined, soon I'll start writing it all into an actual story & from there, posting the full chapters. I'd just like to thank everybody for their interest in Under Eternal Winds.

Future Plans: First of all, I'm going to change the name. I want something closer to its vibe, & while Under Eternal Winds is very thematic, I believe it could be better. Second, I need to finish the chapter planning, it simply needs to be refined & fleshed out to act as a guide. Third, I need to actually write all of the chapters. I want to write then release as my writing progress takes a long time even while I'm taking my medication. Fourth, & finally, to release it! I can't wait to see it come alive, but I shouldn't rush! I want it to be great!

Chains To The Grave / FOE: Mekanika:
About: The rewrite of Mekanika, Chains To The Grave - a working title - is about Midnight's journey to fulfil a rescue bounty, trying to save a girl who was taken from her vault after a deadly raid as they travel the wasteland to get her to a new home. It will be around 6-7 Chapters long & hopefully sit around 25k-35k words.

Currently: I've just finished expanding & roughly planning the chapters, setting up the major themes, characters & points, I've yet to set everything down, but the juices are flowing & its coming along great.

Future: Like Under Eternal Winds it's a larger work focusing on character relationships & their journey, a little bit of refining is due on the chapter planning, but mostly what's left is any translations that come up during writing, & actually writing down the story. Then, once that's proofread, boom! Release! I've yet to decide between unpublishing it or outright updating it, that'll be decided later. After it is released, Through My Eyes & possibly another fic, will be planned, but Under Eternal Winds will come first.

Through My Eyes / FOE: Midnight of Lies:
About: The rewrite of Midnight of Lies, Through My Eyes will be the eventual sequel to Chains To The Grave & thus, isn't going to be fully fleshed out until it's prequel is finished. It's following Midnight's journey home. through dangerous and destroyed territory. Midnight will have to battle not only raiders, slavers, & mutants, but also himself as he reflects on his life.

Currently: Not much, just some rough planning for what's to come, but right now it's only a skeleton structure.

Future: After Under Eternal Winds is finished & being released, that's when this will begin work. As you can see, this is just a small announcement for my future plans.

The Fictional Library:

I'm setting up a Discord server!

While I love the FiM blog system (a bit too much ), It isn't exactly the best thing for quick updates and chatting about progress. Especially as I've been working quite a bit & don't always have time to writeup a whole blog post at lunch. I absolutely don't expect thousands to join or anything crazy, mostly just friends & you ponies who really like my work (thank you all for comments & questions fyi <3, my DMs are always open!) Right now it's still being put together, so I'll send a blog once that's done, but I do intend it to be an open space for writers & readers alike to share & to geek out rather than being closed & exclusive to me.

Finally, I'd like to thank you, the reader, for being interested in my blogs, my work & sticking with me in my endeavors or for reading this blog & finding out I exist in the first place. I couldn't do it without you.

I'd also like to thank the users CrackedInkWell & Forrest-Everfree for their inspiration & works as well as my friends on Discord for supporting me & being my proofreaders

When I just joined the site, CrackedInkWell let me do a reading of one of their stories & even though it was made in the backroom of my old house with my crappy laptop, no editing, & YouTube gave me a 15 minute video limit, they still said I was great & should continue. One day I'd love to actually do it.

Then Forrest-Everfree was always super cool, I always wanted them to read a story of mine, but Idk what they're doing now, I just wish them luck.

Anyways, thanks for reading, I hope I can get these worked on & finished soon, love you guys & see you soon, when the sun crests the horizon~