Random Ramblings CLXXVI

IN WHICH I LAY OUT PRIORITIES, I GUESS
I'm thinking today might be one of those two-blogposts-in-a-day days. We'll see.

Still disappointed in the lack of reception for Sunset Shimmer: Spider Queen, particularly its epilogue. But, like CoffeeMinion -- a far wiser man than I -- told me, sometimes things just don't hit, which is frustrating when you actually try to deliver a quality product. Now that I've officially washed my hands of The Hotel, I only need concern myself with everything else I've promised various readers and/or myself. If you would be so kind to follow me past the jump, I shall explain.

These Are The Things On My FimFic To-Do List: (in no particular order)
1) Finish Sunset's Recovery Arc
2) Start Sunset's Redemption Arc
3) Write at least one more chapter of Mayor's Break Time
4) Write the conclusion to the Burritoverse
5) FINALLY finish Antonovka (doubt you remember it; I never forgot)
6) Clean up and publish P.D.P like I promised Mugen (incl. creating the final chapters)

That's a LOT of stuff on one plate. And I don't like things on my plate touching because I'm kinda OCD like that but now I'm mixing metaphors. Let's look at where I am on each of these things.

(1) Rarity Reveals..., the next entry in the Recovery Arc is complete and ready to go. Its follow-up, tentatively titled Exes Meet Again, is currently swirling around my brain; I think I've got a decent idea of how it will go. The final story, Recovery, is pretty much in the same boat. I started laying the groundwork for it in SSSQ and will set it up in EMA.

(2) The Redemption Arc is something I've had in the works for close to two years. It's only going to have two stories, but they'll both be multi-chapter. I'm also having issues outlining certain critical parts of the second story to make things internally consistent. I've already begun the first story, but I won't publish a word of it until Recovery is complete. Whether it's a direct sequel or a spiritual sequel to Recovery is up to you; it's going to involve a LOT of the same headcanon (as in, nearly all).

(3) I don't want to be tired of writing the Mayor and Spike, but I just haven't been able to come up with any ideas for them since New Year's, except for Spike going on strike, thanks to the events of Comma Comma. I may just try to write that and end the saga there. Seven chapters is respectable. If I ever come up with more ideas, I can add them.

(4) I've had a conclusion in mind for the Burritoverse ever since the very first entry. But, as with MBT, the conclusion may not necessarily be the end. Here's a spoiler that really shouldn't shock you: Sunset and Sonata will meet again. Beyond that, it's all up to me trying to find workable ideas. For Maud, I'll have to do a lot of geological research so she can accurately compare the layers of a burrito to certain mountain ranges. For Octavia, I think she would complain about the acoustics and clientele and maybe pine after Vinyl because I ship them so hard. For Derpy… I don't fucking know, but her internal monologue would likely need to be completely bonkers.

(5) My Greatest Shame is not finishing this story. I want to finish it so badly. It's mostly outlined, and I've alluded to its contents in several stories, including the climax of my very first one on this site and in at least one chapter of MBT. I just don't know how to get from Point B (where I am) to Point D (where I need to be). I might make this my priority once I finish Recovery.

(6) Or should I spend the Summer fixing P.D.P and making it fit for publishing? I don't know if Mugen is still around; he's the story's biggest booster, although some of my other loyal readers including Coffee would like to see it as well. The first Part has already been rewritten and just needs to be broken into chapters (it's over 16,000 words). Parts 2 through 5 have also been written, although 2 and 3 need some cleanup and I need to fix some clunky wording in a critical chunk of 4. Part 6 is almost entirely unwritten, which is the problem. Thanks to that blogpost describing it, which I almost literally pulled out of my ass as I wrote it, I may be able to finally write it, but I'll probably need help.

So, what am I doing right this second? I'm transposing Ted Anderson's Equestria Girls: Happy Holidays comic into literary form, including changing up the diary scenes to remove Twilight so the story fits in between the first two EQG movies like it was supposed to. Of course, doing this has the problem of the first story of the Redemption Arc running parallel with the entire Recovery Arc. These stories literally cannot take place at the same time, yet they do. That's why I'm referring to Redemption as a "spiritual successor" to Recovery and not a true sequel -- it uses the same headcanon and backstory but leaves out things unique to Recovery like Sunset's mental breakdown and most of the Sunsarity fluff. In Redemption, we will have a Sunset who is much less mentally broken. She'll still have issues, but that's not the point of it. Wait. Why on earth am I transposing EQG:HH? Because doing that will make it easier in the future for me to pick out passages to use in each chapter of Redemption's first story, Blooming Friendship. I'm very excited about finally making more progress on this story, and I hope you'll enjoy it when it comes.

Well, that's all from me for now. I'd love to hear your feedback. Peace out!