Status Update 9/26/17

It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, twenty days anyway. But I've reached a point where I'm ready to let you all know how things are going on my end.

First off, Synchrony. Progress on Chapter 7 of it has admittedly been slowed recently due to the end of the Sunset Shipping contest and the future of the timeline begun in Time Goes On having dominated my thoughts for most of the month, but it has at least been coming along quite steadily. However, it is shaping up to be quite likely the longest chapter of Synchrony yet, which means you probably shouldn't expect an update to that story until well into October. But as always, I will keep you all updated as to how things are progressing with it.

Secondly is the issue of Time Goes On and its universe. Considering all the interest it has gotten, I am happy to formally announce my plans to both expand and continue the setting. This includes the following projects:
1. Expanding the original Time Goes On story by three chapters set in the 2-year gap between the second and third chapters, detailing Twilight and Sunset's reconciliation and growing friendship. These chapters will be released at the same time.
2. A sequel series to Time Goes On with the subtitle Sunset in Ponyville, picking up where the first story left off and continuing from there. This will cover both reinterpretations of canon material as well as original plots. It will cover at the very least the first three seasons of the show, but whether it then transitions into a third fic or keeps on going is something I have not yet decided.
3. Included in Sunset in Ponyville will be a number of flashback chapters detailing other events skipped over in Time Goes On, with a focus on Sunset's arrival in Ponyville and how she becomes friends with the others.

However, there is one set of sorely-needed scenes that I haven't yet found a place for: the development of Sunset's romantic interest in Twilight, particularly after she has arrived in Ponyville. Part of me wants to sprinkle it across the other flashback chapters in Sunset in Ponyville, but I'm worried that spreading it out like that will make it harder to get a feel for. Another part of me wants to include it as another set of chapters in Time Goes On, as that's the more natural place to showcase the developments in Sunset and Twilight's relationship that culminate in Sunset asking her out. But on the other hand, the idea of doing that also feels weird to me because the adventures of Sunset in Ponyville is supposed to be the domain of, well, Sunset in Ponyville, and I feel it would be difficult to cover what I need to cover without stepping on the sequel's toes at times.

I suppose there's also the third option of just doing away with the flashbacks entirely and bumping back the start date of Sunset in Ponyville to when she actually arrives rather than shortly after she and Twilight hook up. But that also feels kinda weird to me because it would basically mean I'd have to cover the events of the final chapter of Time Goes On again, especially since the sequel is going to follow Sunset almost entirely save the occasional chapter covering relevant events in other locations.

So, yeah. That's where I'm at right now. I've already done some prepwork for the expanded Time Goes On series, namely outlining some things and ordering the events of the first three seasons of the show into a reasonable timeline, but I'm not quite ready to begin writing yet. I'd very much like to hear the thoughts of my readers and followers first, of course, whether it be in private or in public. I'll also likely wait to get more feedback on the original Time Goes On from the contest judges, as I've only heard from Oroboro so far. I want to have a very strong idea of what I need and want to do before I truly get started.