On the topic of sequels and other stories · 1:21pm Nov 5th, 2016
For some reason, I decided to wait until after Just Like Old Times stopped being featured to make this blog post. It would've made more sense to do it while this was on the board so I could have something to link to whenever it came up, but whatevs.
Anyway, so y'all apparently really liked that one 
I want to take a moment to thank everyone who read the story, especially those who took the time to let me know in the comments 
Within days, it's eclipsed all my other stories in every stat other than views, and both stories I've written with more views have been acquiring them for over a year. And, of course, with that level of success has come the inevitable requests for a sequel (or third chapter).
First, I think a small introduction is in order. Hi there, I'm Krickis. I'm a wordy bastard. I like making people go through long-winded blog posts to get to relevant information because I like to see myself talk. I have a bit of an ego like that. I'll throw a tl;dr version here, though: I'm flat out not writing a third chapter. Just Like Old Times is exactly what I wanted it to be with the two, and nothing will convince me to write a third. I might write a sequel, but I'm not making promises. If I do it won't be for, like, a year.
Now for the long version, which will better explain the reasoning behind that. If you've been following me awhile you'll pretty much know all this, incidentally. For newcomers, I mainly write one series: Who We Become. It's basically a soap opera with lots of gay horses. Sometimes it's similar in tone to Just Like Old Times, but usually it's a lot more drama filled. It's also fucking huge; the whole thing will probably take around nine years to write at the current pace (although that's probably wildly inaccurate for a list of reasons). I fully anticipate I'll finish this thing with a very small audience, as I'm positive it will last longer than the show and thus the bulk of the fandom. So generally, I don't bother with writing anything other than that series. The one exception I make is birthdays, where I'll write stories geared towards my close friends' interests.
That's what this was, sort of. I've loved the idea of the Velestia ship ever since I saw How Do Ponies Work?'s picture. So I looked around Fimfiction for some stories, and I couldn't find a single one 
I still had no intention of writing about it, though. But then I got to thinking about birthdays, and the idea of writing myself a Velestia story was pretty appealing. Still wasn't positive I would do it, but the story I'm working on now (first chapter will be posted on the 14th) is quite possibly the heaviest thing I've written yet, so when I finished writing the first act, a fluff break sounded like a good idea. Plus I figured I could get some people interested in the ship (I really just wanted to read Velestia stories 
). Thus, the origins of the story.
The takeaway here is that I was only ever interested in a short break to write a quick self-indulgent fluff story. Continuing it now would go against the reason I made it in the first place. It would, essentially, stop being the fun break I wanted and instead become some sort of mad grab at holding onto popularity, at the expense of the story I actually want to write. That said, there is not a bad chance for this getting continued next year.
I wrote a story called Side by Side a few months ago (it's getting published on Monday). It was a birthday present for a homie, so it isn't part of my series. Before I even finished it, I had the idea for a sequel, which I figured I'd file away for their birthday next year. Meanwhile, I plan on writing an Appleshy story for another homie sometime soon, set in her AU (which is hella cool, and [url=htt://pasu-chan.tumblr.com/tagged/mlp-au/chrono]I'mma just leave this link here). Since I love the AU, I figured I'll probably keep writing in it at least once a year. Thus I got to thinking about annual stories like that, which my Velestia story could very easily become. I already have ideas for, like, three more short stories that I could do with it. I'll probably never write a full-length Velestia novel, but one short story per year could be a thing. Granted, with how people sometimes come and go in the fandom, I dunno how many of y'all will still be around to see it (or how many will still care lol) but it's something.
So if you're following me for Velestia, sorry 
If you're following me to see more cute fluff, it'll be there, but it'll be buried under a pile of drama. The story I have coming out on Monday will be a much better representation of the type of stuff I typically write (lol I'm probably making it sound like I write nothing but M rated grimdark tragedy fics). And speaking of shameless self-promotion, the story I'm posting on the 14th happens to be a phenomenal jump-on point for Who We Become, since it predates every other story in the series 
It's actually where I'd probably recommend new readers start from if the series were completely finished. I just screwed up and didn't write the stories chronologically because lack of experience in telling a large scale story when I started this whole thing.
That was officially so long that I formally apologize for taking up so much of your time but not long enough to go back and edit anything out 
I'm ashamed to confess I didn't even know this fic was a thing until I saw your blog post come up on my notifications, so I quickly nipped over to check it out. Needless to say, a very enjoyable read that has earned a spot on my favorites and a like!
Makes it even more enjoyable though, like the lollipop after the vaccine
Not that I'm complaining I like the drama part as well. 
This was all the reasoning I needed.
I had the same issue back when I was writing my First MLP series. I put months and months and months, maybe even a year's worth of work into it, but it had such a small fanbase. In the middle of it I started a few other stories that skyrocketed pretty quickly and left it in the shadows of Fimfic. Instead of going for popularity I continued my first series, wanting to finally finish it(which I did!!!) and now I'm on a new Series which has blown up far beyond anything I expected XD
I read the entire post btw. I may have followed because of this story, but I stayed to see what other amazing things you have written. (Which is why I am in the middle of reading Warmth in the Snow
TLDR - TOTALLY UNDERSTAND! Reading other stuffs you wrote!
Just promise if you do write a sequel to tag the original!
4286049
No worries, and I'm thrilled to hear you liked it
4286211
That does tend to be my mentality as well
4286441
Hope you enjoy the rest of what I have to offer.
Glad to hear you stuck with it, and that you're finding more of an audience now
4286472
I certainly will, no doubt there
That's how art differs from commerce! The greatness to say: This is whole, this is good (and yet never good enough ^^)! And yet there are always ponies and places where a writer can ask: what happened there? and turn it into a story in itself. #insomnia_induced_philosophy_thoughts
I also think you're overestimating the drama in your stories ^^. I came here from the TIM saga to get some much needed fluff. So let's see what you have in store with your prequel. Bring it on! Gonna give it a shot even though I don't really enjoy the EQG side of MLP.
On a side note: It is pretty ironic that in your last blogpost you wrote about getting back to things people care about and then your first story that had nothing to do with that gets a new view record. ^^
4287233
I might be overestimating the drama a bit. Perhaps it's just in comparison to other slice of life romances, where drama is either uncommon or so over the top it's hard to take seriously (of course, I don't mean to imply that all other slice of life romances are like this). It's say I generally write hurt/comfort stuff, so there's always that feel good ending to everything.
Glad to hear you're giving it a shot
Obviously, if you're problem with EQG is just the basic pony to human shift, well, this story is going to have that. But if your problem is more on the presentation (the characters often appearing as flatter versions of themselves, the occasionally silly high school antics, the fact that nobody seems to take magic threats from another dimension seriously enough) then I'd like to think this story will avoid the worst of the tropes.
I was always including this story in the 'things people care about' category. I realized about halfway through writing it that it would likely get featured. Between the eye catching cover art, the relative shortness of the story (therefore easy to digest), the not huge yet still significant following I've built over the past year and a half, and most importantly the general curiosity I knew people would have for the ship, this story had a lot going for it. Now if my next story gets featured, then I'll be surprised.
Fuckin' love you dude, whatever you write, I'll probably read it. <3
4287458
Thank you, I'm glad to hear you gave have so much faith in me
4287321 I don't actually know why I dislike the EQG stuff. I do like HIE stories whether they ponify the human or not. But as soon as a story leaves Equestria something is missing. Humans just don't have the fluffiness of ponies and that in the cold and dark "real" world...
But yes. You really have learned how to write drama in romantic stories. The first one was had some problems in the later part where it became a bit "teachy" (?) meaning enforcing a moral point of view. Maybe the thing was that it hadn't a antagonist that had a reason and a development. So the drama in the story was because it was written as such and not because of the understandable reasoning and acting of a character.
Finding home had Twilights parents as antagonists and was therefore able to focus on both sides. I don't think I make any sense here but in my head it does.
Writing is hard...