EThe First, The Last & The New
MLP: FiM
Equestria Girls
Slice of Life
Sunset Shimmerʼs attitude towards the holidays has changed significantly over time.
Celestia
Cadance
Sunset Shimmer
Uz Naimat · 5.1k words · 25 1 · 339 views

The Full Year - 2023 · 8:09pm February 1st

Happy New Year, lovely peeps!

(A month late, but whatever.)

Six months ago, I made a blog recapping everything I’ve done for the first half of 2023. And since the new year has come, it’s time for the recap of the latter half of the year.

I successfully held my job at the post office for the last six months, and then, in December, I finally got my dream offer at another company. This transition allowed me to do two things for the first time - submit a two weeks’ notice and a job acceptance letter. My stint at the post officer was filled with laughs and smiles - my colleagues surprised me with a birthday cake for my 21st birthday in August - as well as tears - I was dismissed due to redundancy at the beginning of October, before being called back mid-November. In other news, I also started college again! After dropping out of engineering in Nov 2022, I went back to school in August 2023, this time, aiming for a Bachelor’s in Business Management. I ended my first semester in mid-December, with my second starting a month from now. Going into my personal life now, my Ma finally had her hysterectomy surgery in early December; she’s recovering nicely and is set to return to work in early Feb 2024.

Late 2023 had been equally as busy for my life on FimFic. Let’s get into details!

Stories released published Jul-Dec 2023:

August 30th: So Many Wonders
This was just a cute little story I concocted mid-2023 because the idea would simply not leave my head. Starring a nine-year old Dash and Fluttershy, the story follows the two little fillies as they explore the ground, and Ponyville for the first time. It is supposed to be the start of a series that follows the Mane Six’s childhood lives, but I’m not really sure whether I’ll continue. We’ll see.
September 18th: Ladybugs Awake
Story of the year. Story of the year. Months later, I still don’t get why it blew up the way it did, but I’m still so grateful. So this short 3k-word fic is very simple in precise - after the events of ‘A Canterlot Wedding - Parts 1 &2’, Twilight and Cadence sit down to have a late midnight chat. There’s trauma, hugs, tears and hot cocoa. More details down below.
September 22nd: Never Made The Cut
Following the success of Ladybugs Awake and my subsequently reaching 100 followers, I decided to publish what has not been published before. Never Made The Cut is a compilation of stories that I had published and deleted, stories that had never actually seen the light and even deleted versions of published stories. I’ll update it as I keep writing and scrapping things. It also includes the very first fanfic I’ve ever written, which is so bad it’s almost good.
December 26th: The First, The Last & The New
My 2023 Jinglemas entry and Lunaria’s gift. Last year, I was unable to submit my Jinglemas story and it ended up in the hands of a Breezie, TCC56. And to increase my chances of obtaining an EqG assignment, I submitted an EqG prompt. I got my wish. The First, The Last & The New did not turn the way I wanted, however. I put off the story for so long that I had to rush to get it done by the deadline. It was also published without a cover art, something which I had never done in my near 4 years of fanfic writing.

Alright, folks, let’s talk about Ladybugs Awake. Yes, I’m not done.

Even now, months later, Ladybugs Awake remains the crowing achievement of my fanfic career. Staying at a near 150 upvotes, over 1.5k views an amazing four-day stay in the Featured Box, this story not only brought me to a 100 followers, but it was also scouted for Equestria Daily! Equestria Daily, yaʼll! Can you believe it?

But, yes. I will be talking about it constantly all the time. And looking at it now makes me realize that dang, it is really is good. Sort of impressed myself with it.

And now we get to the art. All my MLP-related pieces for the latter half of the year, with many more to come!

There were so many, in fact, that I had to make two separate collages to shwocase them all.

Keep an eye for the next blog, Part 3 of my art gallery where I give you more details about the pictures!

Six months ago, I made the following goals:

Write 7 more stories (2023 goal = 10)
Do one more art commissions (2023 goal = 5)
Achieve 100 followers
Win in another contest

Of those four, three have been achieved. I did reach my amount the amount of stories I wanted, I did create a whopping total of five art commissions this year (which is more than previous years combined!) and I reached the big hondo after the success of Ladybugs Awake. So, yeah.

Sadly, I did not win another contest. I was expecting to place for May Pairings 2023, with Mayor, but alas, it was not meant to be. Iʼll get more chances, though.

Anywho, thatʼs the wrap on 2023! Keep a lookout for the half-year update coming July 1st, 2024!