For anyone who's wondering · 3:12pm Jan 20th, 2014
In case anyone has noticed the rather long delay between updates of There Goes the Neighborhood, there's a very good reason for it. The story has not been abandoned, or even put on hiatus.
You see, season 4 put a bit of a damper on my plans at first. To be honest, some of the resolutions I had planned involved the use of the Elements of Harmony, and with them removed, I decided to just ignore the events of the new season. Then I got to thinking...
The only reason my original planning used the EoH was because they were a central component of the show, and it was the most likely way the characters would resolve certain conflicts. Acknowledging their removal makes the resolution more complicated, but ultimately, more satisfying.
That put me in a tough spot. You see, the next chapter is probably the point of no return. I had to make the decision before publishing. After mulling it over carefully, I chose to do away with the EoH and bring the story in line with most of S4 canon. That meant I needed to scrap most of what I had written; I'm basically back to square one on the new update.
So, yeah, it's going to take longer than my usual glacial pace this time. That sucks. Still, the new plotting is vastly improved and the resolutions will be much stronger.
If you thought the previous chapter was chaotic, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Combine that with the ongoing refinements in my writing style—which has improved a lot in the last few weeks, as my other work hopefully shows—and this one will definitely be worth the wait.
I, personally, am really looking forward to how the Blueblood-Apple family conflict is going to play out. Give me that, and I'll be happy.