[UPDATE] It's like being nibbled to death by cats · 7:56pm May 16th, 2023
This chapter is a straight up continuation of the previous chapter, and there's literally zero time skip, unlike most of my chapters in this fic. So much so, in fact, that what had originally been two separate chapters (Gilda fights Sunset, sleepover happens) had to be combined into one because the "Gilda fights Sunset" chapter was going to be too long. It was during the re-working that I realized this was actually the best way to do it and that the one naturally flowed into the other.
In the vein of "...I didn't expect that!", right up until I wrote the last line of chapter 6 (now titled "Breaking/Point") I had a much less emotionally heavy scene in mind where Celestia is taking care of Sunset and the rest of the OmegaverseHuman6 are hanging around while Luna makes dinner and Sunset announces she wants to learn to fight to be a better Alpha. Part of that conversation has been moved to ch. 8, simply because it would fit better after the events of the slumber party, but once I wrote that line about Sunset realizing how badly she fucked up, I knew I had to follow up on it.
As briefly touched on, you'll note chapter names, now. Yes, they mean something. If you have a guess, please mention in the comments and I'll reply there.
Now as to what took me so damn long...I damn near broke my face. And I'm not being hyperbolic. Depending on the strength of your stomach and tolerance for IRL injury and blood, you can see the pic I took (because "In tremendous amounts of pain dulled by shock" me is FULL of good choices) on Twitter. I did have the wherewithal to at least put it behind a "sensitive content" filter.
As bad as my face looks in that, when you take a header into concrete you also wind up injuring other parts of your body. The hospital took full X-rays of my arms, neck, and head and double-checked the rest of me to make sure I was good everywhere else, stitched up my lip, prescribed me meds, and released me into the care of my GF (who, I'm going to say, was an absolute angel the entire time and even powered through her own desire to toss her cookies multiple times while I was being sewn back together). It's been weeks and I'm still recovering.
As of the Sunday before last (as in, 5/7), the itch to write started burning more than the pain in my arms, so I took turns writing for 5-10 minutes until my lower arms started feeling like they were on fire, then I'd read or play video games or something else that was more ergonomic than typing on a laptop for about half an hour. I outlined nearly the entirety of Deviation that Sunday.
Last week I finally pushed myself to finish Chapter 1 of my new fic "Lost in the Dark" for the She-ra fandom. This one is also already fully outlined/plotted, but the execution is proving to be just as challenging as I initially suspected it would. If you're a fan of She-ra, love AUs, and think everything is better when you put Space in it, then I highly suggest you go check it out.
Up next on the docket; I have a commission (yes, someone paid me to write) that actually is what paid the co-pay for my ER visit, so I'm absolutely going to get that finished up ASAP as a thank you. The commissioner is aware of what happened and understands the delay, thank goodness.
After that, I've got an original work I'm hoping to actually get published that I want to finish the first chapter of. As is becoming my habit, I've plotted this one out from start to finish. It's going to be quite a departure from most of my previous stuff, containing no ponies, having nothing to do with magic or sci-fi (well, kinda, and in a roundabout sense) and edges into the surreal quite a bit.
After that, I'm going to lock down another chapter of Lost Little Wolf. Book 1 (the current one) is damn near finished and I want it closed soon. It feels like I've kinda neglected the poor thing.
And as for other works I want to work on...well...
- Fission - My oldest work, I've got eight sequels I'm itching to write that I can't start until Fission is finished
- Voice of Rage and Ruin - The sequel to "My Empire of Dirt," plus its accompanying holiday special
- You Need Never Feel Broken Again - The sequel to "Voice of Rage and Ruin," plus its holiday special
- Gently Strains the Sunbeams
- Destiny is Like Turtle Wax
- The Last Little Unicorn
- This Can NOT Be An Everyday Life for An Equestrian In A World of Monster Girls (yes, that's the title, fite me!)
- Crossing the Streams
- A Town Called Tavern
- Commander's Logs
Soooo...yeah, I've got work ahead of me.
I hope you get well soon, can't imagine how painful that could've been.
Also, you would not believe the sound I made at the potential for a sequel to 'My Empire of Dirt'.
Amusingly, it was the 'after' that hurt more. Once the worst parts were healed up and/or addressed, it was the EVERYTHING ELSE that hurt like I'd been smacked repeatedly with a sock full of steam trains. If you've never tried to work a full 8 hr. day in that much pain, it's exhausting. I'm glad it's mostly over and done with except for a little bit in my arms.
Without giving away spoilers, I will say if you'd like to see that particular version of Sunset and/or Celestia, I'll be dropping little bits of bonus material throughout the rest of my stories, even across fandoms. Not giving anything away, but you might want to start following the logs of Commander Davida Grayson as she navigates the Neutral Zone during a time of war between the Federation, Klingons, and Romulans. I'm hoping to actually release another holiday special this year, and you'll want to watch for a special appearance in that, as well. Also, Deviation will have a little easter egg in the epilogue ("post-credits" style) that you won't want to miss.
Nice B5 reference.
5728497
I knew someone would get it!
5728504
Shows you have taste to make a Londo joke!