Hey guys

(Rant time)

So, I'll be honest here, and say I haven't worked on CoA for a while now. Mainly due to school, but also due to the fact I feel like I need to tackle something smaller than another multi-chapter story that I won't complete at my level of experience. I kept procrastinating on CoA until I couldn't ignore the problem anymore. Instead, I'm going to try to write a much shorter story, but I'm making sure to do the best I can for this one. If I can get this done, it means I can then attempt to finish CoA successfully. It's a detour for sure, but I don't think I'm ready to write ten thousand word chapters every so often, and then edit them. I haven't talked to the editing team for a while, so I'm sure they're no longer with me on this. However, I'm still here, and I'm still breathing.

However, I've only got so long before I can't focus on writing anymore. My goals for becoming a United States Air Force officer are only a few years from being achieved. Yes, it's a few years, but at my current pace, it'll be here in a heartbeat. In these upcoming months, I plan on rigorously working on this new story, instead of slacking off and doing whatever. It will be hard, it will require a lot of strength on my part to actually get up and work, but it will get done. If this doesn't work, and I can't finish this, then I'll have to stop writing MLP related works for a while, and move on to other things. I won't leave the fandom, I've been a part of it for far too long to quit now, but I'll reevaluate my stance on writing and figure out what I can do to fix myself. Trust me, I've joined loads of groups on here, read through thousands of forums, even went through hundreds of sites online, and I still feel inexperienced.

I've promised myself that after finals week is over and school is out, I'll write this new story. The name of the story (as of now) is called Platoon. It will be much like one of those Choose-your-own-adventure stories, with different ways the story can end, all dependent on your choices. It will definitely be shorter that what I had planned CoA to be, but it's going to be a little difficult with multiple endings and routes the story could go. I assume that when I'm done with it, it will look like a massive story, when only one of the paths will probably be twenty thousand words long. I do expect it to be a very Mature story (no clop or sex. I don't do that kind of stuff. It's just heavy amounts of gore and swearing), so for those that don't like that kind of story, sorry. The reason for the Mature rating is so I can make this as close to realistic as possible. Life ain't no kiddy ride, yo.

I'm sorry for not saying anything for a while, and I'm sorry for my laziness to get anything done. I'm sick of doing nothing and I want to do something, but it's hard. I will try, I won't give up, and I'll do my damn best.

- The Commandant