2018: The (Hopefully Superior) Sequel to 2017 · 12:14pm Jan 1st, 2018
Blog Number 34: Recalibration Edition
I'll say this in favour of 2017; so far, it's been my most productive year for writing. I've produced 26 fics - of which 18 are complete - and given a huge boost to Magical Deathmatch of roughly 35,000 words. That's about 370,000 published words total, or roughly 1,000 words per day. Neat! 
The continuation of Magical Deathmatch in particular strikes me as important, given the amount of unfinished business I've left behind. Here's hoping that's the first of many, eh?
I just wish it had been a less capricious year, too. After a fantastic first quarter (January, February, and March), there's an unacceptably obvious dearth in the second quarter, and I need not go into the irritations of the second half of the year, especially during NaPoWriMo 2017. At least December ended things as well as one could hope for, with a trio of final hurrahs.
Speaking of December: remember the target I set in my last blog post? 60,000 words for a Personal Novel Writing Month? Well, I met it! And then some: 64,145 words, most of which have been published in December as Why the Gift is Given, A Very Merry Commission, and Upside-Down Cake.
What's remarkable is that every single one is, in some way, the result of one event: The Obselescence Memorial Jinglemas Twinglemas Secret Santa Sendoff: Part 2 Edition! Perhaps it's just easier for me to do lightly commissioned work, though not more than one at a time? I also tried to write for the Monthly Writing Contest Group's Crackships for Christmas, but the project never really got started.
Anyway, last year I did a retrospective on my fics as a way of giving some sort of closure to the year 2016, but then I only had 16 stories to keep track of, most of which I'd already commented on. So, for the sake of some degree of sanity, this time I'm restricting it to the 18 completed fics. The incomplete stuff will have to wait.
Since this is a big one, this blog entry will have the contents page restored.
Yes, it's another long one. Don't you know me by now?
The First Half
Half-Time Hard Times
Turnaround and the Second Half
Goodbye, 2017
Predictions for 2018, and a Resolution
For Now, Think Pink...ie Pie!
The First Half
I started the year riding on the unexpected wave of interest as a result of Lapidify: To See and Die. Blindsided and bowled over by the responses to the fic - to the point it got a Royal Canterlot Library feature - I started off in a damn fine mood, I must say. Not necessarily content to rest on my laurels, mind; I had to enjoy the moment while I could.
Looking back on these first few months, I wonder if that stellar starting place was either cause or catalyst to the phenomenal productivity of the first quarter. Pity that particular lightning can only strike once, in that case, but ah well. So it goes. Que sera, sera.
Anyway, on to 2017's output.
Friends of the Ponies was basically a bit of silliness, borne from the fact that I hadn't really seen a fic capture just how bizarre they are in the show. I gathered some general material from Dragon Quest and The Gauntlet of Fire, mapped out a little scene involving dragons being not so much noble or nasty (a common depiction at the time) as just flat-out weird, gave it a punchline, and then published it. I hadn't intended it to be anything other than a bit of practice before getting to more ambitious works. So obviously, it shot up to become my second most highly rated fic, which wouldn't disappoint me so much if Griffon a Load of Bull wasn't still stuck in the top slot. Ah well, no accounting for popularity.
Her Song of Jubilation was not, in fact, the only Coloratura fic I'd been working on for January, but the other one's word count spiralled out of control fast, so this one had an advantage in that respect. The cause was the discovery of a particular Rara fic (and, more to the point, a dissection and an unimpressed review of the same), which got me thinking what an improvement might look like. I also had this idea leftover from The Last Roundup that Cherry Jubilee's ranch was a sanctuary for ponies down on their luck, and I wanted to have Rara fall from grace in a way that seemed plausible. I consider this my first real triumph of the year.
Sadly, it also failed to get onto Equestria Daily. In fact, this year has not been kind in that regard, with only one 2017 fic making it. Although I did get five fics in total onto that site, all but one were fics produced in 2016. I won't pretend I don't understand the reasons why and wherefore, especially regarding this fic (it was described by its pre-reader as lacking the "struggle" described in the summary, a criticism I've taken onboard for a future re-attempt), but I'm not going to pretend this wasn't disappointing, either.
Particularly galling about this one is that the pre-reader did say the characterization and general writing alone were good quality. Just not good enough to carry it over. I mean, darn is that galling. In fact, this kind of almost-but-not-quite-good-enough rejection (for a fic I could have sworn was a good work) would become a regrettable recurring theme this year, but more on that later.
Petalback: Incomplete, so I'm glossing over this one.
White Lightning and the Elite Pony was my first attempt for the then-new Time Action Glory Challenge. At the time, I was utterly intrigued by the inclusion of the White Lightning tag, so I went to find out on the MLP wikia who she was and what was known (or, knowing this fandom, made up) about her. Then I stumbled upon that one shot in Hearts and Hooves Day, of her sitting up to a café table with Ponet, intriguing me enough to look up his entry. From there, I basically cobbled together some plausible-sounding unifying theme for each one, smashed them together, and voila! My first romance fic, the site's first White Lightning fic, and the first of a string of stories for February!
The Icing on the Hearth's Warming Cake can be summed up as a tribute to one of my favourite Season Six episodes. In hindsight, this fic is probably longer than it should be, with 6k being at least a more reasonable length, and the parallels near the end could do with being introduced sooner. My only excuse is that I had a lot of fun trying to capture different aspects of Saffron Masala and Coriander Cumin especially, given their different personalities and unusual perspectives as relative outsiders to the Canterlot winter celebrations. Coriander's backstory in particular was an attempt at some India-inspired worldbuilding, and likely I'll come back to it in yet another nebulous future project.
Raven Night School combined three things: some sleep science I'd picked up here and there; a first-person voicing experiment I was keen on doing to avoid getting too locked in third-person; and a chance to bring to the fore what I can only describe as Best Goth Pony. This was the first completed fic to get anything like a dramatic reception (Petalback got there first, but wasn't complete), which naturally thrilled me as so far in 2017 I'd have been lucky to get one or two comments. Plus, it contained a message rather dear to my heart, given my respect for the Dark Is Not Evil trope. No idea if it'd pass muster for Equestria Daily, but it's on the cards for an attempt at least.
Stinging the Trail - clumsy title aside - was the fourth fic of my Time Action Glory Challenge run, and, like my second fic, it was a tribute to a pair of Season Six characters: here, Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail. I felt that Sky Stinger was given relatively short shrift in the episode itself, since Vapor Trail carries most of the interesting material, yet it seemed to me that he'd struggle the most from what was revealed during the training. With those interesting implications in mind - plus some minor research into Strasbourg (I assumed this was where "Stratusburg" came from) and some worldbuilding trivia - I tried my hand at a little introspective exercise. Judging from the good response, this might also be worth sending to Equestria Daily, though the introspective nature of the narrative might count against it.
The Web Untangled broke the run, but mostly because the work had been sitting in my in-tray for ages and all I really needed to do was finish the darn thing.
To get to the point: I don't like arachnophobia.
I've watched David Attenborough's Life in the Undergrowth multiple times with eyes wide and mouth agape, one of my favourite episodes being the one focused on web-spinners and their ingenious traps. I quite happily pick up stray spiders and carry them outside, or flat-out ignore them (my preferred option, since it involves less hassle). It's obvious the fear is, at best, sensible only in the narrowest of contexts, and I cannot therefore summon much if any sympathy for it. What really gets up my nose, though, is not so much the phobia - which is at least excusable on the grounds of bad luck - as any and all pitiable attempts to justify it. For goodness' sake, I want to cry out, you've got a fear kink, fair enough, but it's your kink. That's hardly the spiders' fault.
Enter Fluttershy. Really, making her a champion and friend of spiders was obvious, but I didn't want the result to be a polemic. As much as I'm fascinated by spiders, there's no getting around the fact that, like many in the animal kingdom, they have to do some unhappy things to other animals. And Fluttershy is the sort of pony who'd probably prefer the company of animals to ponies, her pony friends notwithstanding.
The obvious solution was to compare and contrast, giving her an awkward week interacting with her still-adored friends and interweaving (ha!) those scenes with more peaceful and relaxing interactions on her special spider day. In fact, the emphasis was so much on slice-of-life that the subplot involving Twilight's diplomatic trip was included much later in development as a simple unifying thread (ha!). And while the reception was less dramatic here than for the other February fics, I'm seeing at the moment if it'll have better luck on Equestria Daily. I jolly well hope so.
As Winter Dies, So Spring is Born brings us back to the Time Action Glory Challenge run. One category of tags that has held some fascination over me is the Lore category, and the two that regularly engage my interest are Private Pansy and Commander Hurricane. Admittedly, that's probably because of the whole Greco-Roman influence, but I think it's also because of just how strong the personality difference is between the two (and really, why does a Commander keep a Private around anyway?). And since, at this point in 2017, I was really keen to keep the good trend going and to end February meaningfully, I wrote a fic about the first Winter Wrap-Up as a way of symbolizing transition, contrasted with a storyline focused on one character's lapse back into historical strife.
Given how much of a hawk Hurricane proved to be, she seemed to me to be my number one suspect for a lapse, but I also wanted Pansy to come to realize as well that one spectacular event does not a secure foundation make. Therefore, in the fic she concludes that the "fire" needs to be kept burning or else it'll go out; awe-inspiring though it was at the time, a relationship has to be maintained, not merely assumed from one dramatic display. Anyway, it's just a lot more interesting when more than one character has their own epiphany too, rather than merely scolding one obviously bad character for their failings. I was trying a lot of things for this fic, and given its great response, I'm considering this one too for Equestria Daily.
Beautiful Lives could be summed up as the Zephyr Breeze fic I never expected to write. Much as I seemed to be one of the few who actually liked him and his debut episode, I didn't really have any idea what to do with him fic-wise. After re-reading some of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, however, I stumbled across the idea of a meaningful scene with Death, which obviously needed tweaking before it'd fit into the universe of My Little Pony.
Making Rarity the Grim Reaper wasn't just an amusing "it's always the person you least suspect" moment; being the closest thing to an artist in the show, she seemed best placed to deliver a message about "the beauty of life", which... yeah, is something I can raise a glass to, definitely, though with caveats. In any case, I most certainly wasn't expecting Beautiful Lives to be met with such an enthusiastic response, and you better believe it's going to try its luck at Equestria Daily.
Transient was my response after reading a fic - for discretion's sake, to remain unnamed - which dealt with some weighty issues but which seemed kind of... dull. Too straightforward, maybe, or too one-note. The solution? Horror-based metaphor. Yet again, I included Rarity specifically for the nature of the moral, but given that both of them are social ponies (albeit at different levels of class), Pinkie Pie seemed the best counterpoint.
This was also a chance at depicting some mind-bending horror elements: too mind-bending as it turned out, since confusion was a recurring criticism of this one, and the main reason it didn't make the Equestria Daily cut. In fact, one theme that emerged throughout 2017 was a recurring charge that my work was often confusing, but we'll deal with that later.
Metal Celestia and Healing Properties. During March, of course, there was the Imposing Sovereigns Challenge. Without going into too much detail, my participation was slapdash. I've already detailed in previous blogs the grisly mess I made during this event, and in hindsight I wonder if that contributed to the unintentional hiatus of the following three months. Not a pleasant thought. 
Valuable Time, or Dolce Far Niente was the only frustrated result of those three months, and in truth was a spontaneous work rather than something I'd been planning to do for a while. Yet again, I wrote a tale in which Rarity plays a prominent role, and while I'd argue that her appearances elsewhere are at least nominally with her interests as a character in mind, this fic is the closest I've come to turning a character into a personal stand-in.
Yeah, I was really frustrated during this time, though I didn't want to advertise the fact in June, and the fic is, after the fact, far too obvious as a sort of pick-me-up to myself. I mean, I still enjoyed the chance to write about the Rarity-Rainbow-Scootaloo dynamic, and the character voicing and narrative style were a lot of fun in the moment. I don't think it's a bad fic. Still, given what I was doing elsewhere, it hardly strikes me as the highlight of the year, and it really feels like just a fluke against the backdrop of a miserable few months.
Half-Time Hard Times
We don't touch ground again until August, when something happened that meant I got fundamentally and insanely tired of this nonsense. Again, I didn't advertise the fact, not least of all because it involved personal life unrelated to my writing. Let's just say I hate August 2017 with a passion that I won't even try to capture in words, and swiftly move on. I only mention it in the first place because it seems to me to have been a major factor in my writing from then on.
So in the wake of that unfortunate event, two more unfinished fics joined the list - The Nightmare Stigma and The Mare in the Magic Hat - which if anything did little to improve my mood at the time. The trouble is that I hate letting hours of work go to waste, even if it means adding to the unfinished pile. Part of me insists I should refrain from publishing anything that hasn't been written from start to finish, out of courtesy for those who would be interested in not being kept on tenterhooks indefinitely, but when the result is huge gaps in productivity and generally feeling like a time sink, another part of me doesn't feel too kindly disposed to this strategy.
Turnaround and the Second Half
Unworthy of the Sun turned things around, at least partially and parochially. Which is all the more remarkable, because at first glance its existence is absurd. I do not watch - and have little to no intention of watching - the Equestria Girls movies, and indeed what I know about the first two is almost entirely second-hand. Romance is hardly my genre-of-choice, and in any case I only stumbled upon Oroboro's Sunset Shipping Contest: Changing Seasons with barely a week and a half left to do anything in.
Perhaps I was just at the "what the hell, anything goes" stage, but in any case the result was a fic that garnered a pretty damn good response, made it as an Equestria Daily feature, and revitalized my writing.
So why this fic? Apart from the "what the hell" attitude I presumably had around this point, I admit Sunset's backstory, demon side, and redemption at least sounded pretty great, to the point I wouldn't actually mind seeing her appear in the show. I speculate that working in an unfamiliar genre might have helped me escape from whatever mental pit I'd fallen into around that point.
Setting it in an alternate universe definitely helped, since I could reshape the Sunset-Celestia dynamic while still keeping the essence of what made the character stand out to me. It also gave me a chance to scoop up some trivia I'd had hanging around for a while; Celestia in the fic is based strongly on the classical god Apollo, and when I noticed a little further along in my book the name Apollyon, I got the idea - via a long-winded digression - for making use of Sunset's demonic side. Plus, I'm generally fascinated by the concept of Dissociative Personality Disorder (though I'm a little iffy on whether it actually exists).
Mix all this together, and presumably that's how you get Unworthy of the Sun.
Sunset in the Otherworld soon followed when it became clear that Unworthy of the Sun was too big to be allowed for the contest (there was a word limit). By this point, I was back in the game and had stumbled upon some fascinating folklore in Wiltshire and the neighbouring counties. I also switched from Celestia to Luna, included the Apple family (because farmers, Wiltshire: you see it, right?), and went all-out on both the underworld and on the theme of duality (I'll admit I had the Batman villain Two-Face in mind during this time, having stumbled upon Batman: The Animated Series).
To my detriment, it turned out: the emphasis on worldbuilding and adventure came at the expense of the actual romance, which was a major factor in its failure to win the contest. I mean, I'm still pretty proud of the result, but Unworthy of the Sun was incontestably the stronger work.
Rarity's Genesis was a return to much simpler ambitions, after the explosion of the Sunset Shimmer contest. I went looking for more contests to join, figuring that here was the key to keeping up the standard, and found via someone's blog (I forget whose) the Make Rarity Not Garbage Contest on the Barcast. (In truth, not a group I'd have likely joined otherwise). Rarity's Genesis was based on looking up the etymology of "Generosity", which threw such a surprise my way that I had to incorporate it into the fic. Combine this with Rarity's artistic outlook - I made her a painter, partly because I imagined her as being experimental pre-cutie-mark, partly because a painter seemed more archetypically or stereotypically "artistic" - her social worries translated through the eyes of a child, and some nods to canon events, and you get this fic.
Here Comes the New God is frankly a cheat. It was lifted, with some modification, from The Campaign for Extra Trixie, which itself is a strong contender for "fic I'd delete if I had to pick one". I then published it solo in the hopes that it might get its dues, unattached to the other short fics of that anthology. Hardly a triumph of the year, but it's something, I guess.
Knitting Encouragement was the other entry for the Make Rarity Not Garbage Contest - a minor point, considering neither got anywhere in said contest - and arguably the stronger of the two, albeit a little more straightforward with its motifs. Apart from being an excuse to add to the Time Action Glory Challenge collection with Matilda and Suri, Knitting Encouragement was also a chance to look at filly Rarity post-cutie-mark, and given Cheerilee's appearance in the flashback it seemed natural to use her as a counterpoint, especially with the apt twist of having Cheerilee be a little like the Cutie Mark Crusaders in her desire for a cutie mark. Take Suri's canonical history in Ponyville as per Rarity Takes Manehattan, as well as a different approach to generosity (as collaboration), and here's the result. Although I must confess the word count stipulation was cruel. 
Thieves, Spirits, and Romantics and Didgeridoo were leftovers from previous months, even if the former was only one month ago, and the latter was dozens of months ago. The Science of Hugging was legitimately produced during the month it was published, though plenty more fics sit behind the scenes, waiting for their chance. Again, not going to delve into too much detail with these unfinished fics, but let's just say I knew when I was publishing them that I was doing so solely to tide me over until I could produce finished works again.
This was when I hit the NaPoWriMo challenge, and I've already written about what fun times I had then - sarcasm emphasized - but I also intended to meet December 2017 with a new, revised target. I'm happy to report that the last three fics I released helped me to meet that target and then some! All thanks to the magic of the season! Huzzah! 
Why the Gift is Given borrowed heavily from The Science of Hugging, mainly in its character dynamics. Part of the reason is that, for the most part, I hadn't quite got a handle on Berryshine "Berry" Punch as a character; I didn't want her to be just another drunk joke, but the drinking (of punch, I shall insist) had to play some part, so I decided instead to make it more like a comfort-habit-slash-professional-job. Character-wise, I went for a more manic-depressive personality, trying to capture simultaneously why she might be fun to have around and why she'd also be a trial.
Best way to do that, I believe, is with the old standby: a filly's perspective, simultaneously too young to fully understand or shoulder the problem, and too old to be reduced to simple or naïve emotions (Piña and Dinky in part were meant to address that latter angle). It was also a test run for the Dinky-Amethyst dynamic, something of particular importance to me considering some ideas I've had for both characters, and a chance to give Ruby Pinch her own distinctive personality and to look at the central unifying question of the piece from a more... philosophical angle, shall we say?
A Very Merry Commission is my all-out nutcase fic. Petrichord's Secret Santa project, initiated early in December as a tribute to Obselescence, was the trigger for the three fics of that month, even if - in the case of Why the Gift is Given - only tangentially. But whereas that one dealt with a relatively weighty matter, A Very Merry Commission was a free-for-all featuring Rarity and Derpy as a comedy duo.
After I received DragonGeek's request, I had a look at their profile page to gauge what might go down well, and the "Comedy" tag stuck out. Having read and watched a bit of Jeeves and Wooster recently, and tried to come up with a plausible way for Rarity and Derpy to interact, I basically went for the "horrible ensemble" angle combined with Rarity's unorthodox generosity, and the rest of the fic pretty much wrote itself from there.
I hasten to add that it was sheer luck I managed to get a Rarity-based commission. She's basically the character of the year, which given the stuff I've tackled feels absolutely apt. 
Funny thing is that Upside-Down Cake was originally meant to be the Secret Santa fic, but this being my project, the word count spiralled out of control fast and I had to abandon it in favour of the other projects. Still, it had enough material on it that I felt the fic would make a good coda to the year, even though by doing so I add to the unfinished pile.
Goodbye, 2017
While 2017 had its ups and downs - and I really could have done without the latter, to be frank - the year has to be reckoned as a good sign. Not only does it act as evidence that a high degree of productivity is on the cards, making me thus optimistic for 2018's prospects, but it includes some notable personal landmarks, such as my first steps into the romance genre and the first time I've revisited and continued a fic I might otherwise have left for dead (that's Magical Deathmatch).
The evidence also suggests that a monthly target of 60,000 words strikes the right balance: not too ambitious or challenging, not too meagre or disappointing. With 26 fics published during that year, I think I've found a comfortable place and far more reasonable targets to aim for. I can proceed from there, hoping of course that circumstances favour this approach. Not to overlook the obvious way to improve: plug the gap in the middle of the year, and for goodness' sake don't bite off more than can be chewed.
So yeah, mixed, but hopefully I've left the worst behind me. I'm not expecting miracles or a happily ever after, dear me no, but a little less stress and a little more success seem like fair enough demands to make of the future.
Predictions for 2018, and a Resolution
Speaking of which, and looking back at Blog Number 24 (which this blog is modelled after), now's the point where I speculate on what's coming up. Last year, I made specific predictions of what fics I was going to write, so I'll start with that.
Ahem.
LOL, I dunno.
Seriously, I'm predicting nothing. Of the four fics I predicted last time, the only one that amounted to anything (Petalback) is still unfinished. Also, I'm awful at playing prediction, and have been for a long time. So in the long term, I'm only making one fairly generic resolution for the New Year, which is this:
I end 2018 with a finished novel
No ifs. No buts. Maybe some coconuts, depending on what it's actually about. Magical Deathmatch would be the obvious candidate, but again, no predictions. I'm not an oracle.
For Now, Think Pink...ie Pie!
In the short term, however, I will be working on a collaboration project. Ceffyl Dwr revived the Pinkie Pie Collaboration I mentioned a few blogs ago, and I've signed up to write a couple of chapters for the project. Darn me if I'm not excited to do 'em! After a lengthy hiatus around Christmas, I'm ready to get back into the writing game. Watch this space, and here's hoping for a better year ahead! 
Also, I need a new "pony of the year". Rarity was fun, but it can't be all about her, now can it?
Can it? 
Anywho, that's all for now. Impossible Numbers, out.
Statistics
NEW: List of Reviews
Nothing to add. As usual. Might as well bring a book to read, hah!
Fics Accepted By Equestria Daily
Still waiting to hear back on The Web Untangled. Been a heck of a wait, I must say.
New Stories? Three detailed above, and all interestingly enough based on or inspired by the Secret Santa event. Why the Gift is Given, A Very Merry Commission, and Upside-Down Cake.
New Updates: No.
Story Count: 64.
26 in 2017.
16 in 2016.
2 in 2015.
0 in 2014.
8 in 2013.
9 in 2012.
3 in 2011.
My Total Story View Count: Rendered obsolete due to new site changes.
Age: 2,211 days, or 315 weeks and 6 days.
Working: 19 days in December 2011, 2x366 days for 2012 and 2016 leap years, and 4x365 days for 2013 and 2014 and 2015 and 2017 combined.
My Follower Count: 154. From the beginning of 2017, that's an increase of 64 followers. Not too shabby, methinks, and there are some good 'uns too.
My Followed Count: 131, though I know one of them is going to be deactivated during January as per the Secret Santa protocol (it's a temporary dummy account for the Jinglemas 2017 fic).
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I'm glad to see you're enjoying it so much. Honestly, I've been itching for months to give some fics a little more supplementary background, especially the ones where I dug up some exciting trivia and wanted to bring it to the table. As for the collab retrospective, I couldn't possibly comment, though I admire the effort and experimentation you're putting into the Pinkie Pie group.
I will say this: hope your retrospective doesn't involve nearly as much drama as this one did. Drama's fine for stories. Not so fine for real life.
I was certainly surprised when I worked out I'd more than doubled my total word count by the end of 2017. That year saw more work than all previous years combined, which is frankly astonishing. Although if this year goes well, I may raise the stakes further, but I don't want to count my fics before they're published.
Thank you for your congratulations. They're most welcome.
You're most kind, but for the love of Pete don't jinx me by saying that. Joking aside, I'll do what I can to maintain the standard.
It was fantastic. Like DragonGeek said, I can't wait until we do it again next Christmas.
Only up to the planning stage. Getting outside restrictions didn't trouble me: only the usual realization that I'd tried too much again. It's another project on hold.
In theory, as soon as I get a reply for the previous submission. In practice, that's about once a month. The only exception was during the hiatus.
Ah, different tastes. I didn't like On Your Marks much - it felt too aimless to me - but Top Bolt is absolutely one of my favourites. I personally would rank as serious contenders: Gauntlet of Fire; Newbie Dash; The Saddle Row Review; Flutter Brutter; Spice Up Your Life; Stranger Than Fan Fiction; Buckball Season; and Viva Las Pegasus. Depends what day you ask me.
Oh dear.
That's not good news. I shall have to keep an eye out for that information, but I never would have guessed, to be honest. In any case, I always assumed they found their way back indoors.
Let's just say, without divulging any further, that I'm functioning reasonably well and the past is the past.
Please believe me: I don't wish to sound curt, and I am grateful for your concern, really I am. But like I said: I only really brought it up because it seemed to me it would be a grave omission not to do so, given I wanted to make some sense out of the last twelve months. I almost didn't allude to it at all, except that this seemed far too excessively reserved even for me. It's not like I went into detail. It was ultimately a personal matter.
All the same, thank you for your kind words. I do indeed have ways of dealing with what happened, rest assured. So it goes, unfortunately.
And I'm sorry to hear you didn't have much of a fun time either. For what it's worth coming from an online stranger, you have my sympathies. I've been there. It's not fun.
Ha! It's at times like this I marvel I don't get more published, to be frank. This blog alone would weigh in as a pretty decent-sized one-shot, based on word count.
In the meantime, I look forward to your response with interest.
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Well, it's sweet of you of course, but please don't feel obliged to do so. Admittedly, I rate comments - even critical ones - more highly than likes/dislikes and favourites (which only tell you that someone was interested enough to click, not why). But again, I don't want to put anyone on the spot over the issue.
The second one. Goodness knows I'm not organized enough to plan the whole year out that way! I happened to be tackling a lot of "beauty" and "art" themes, which suggested her character every time. The last two, in fact, were the results of the Secret Santa, and so were sheer astonishing coincidence.
In theory, at least, I don't think it's too hard to get a decent amount of writing out of leisure time; one hour a day roughly equals 1,000 words a day, which matches my 2017 output. Obviously, in practice the muse just isn't that cooperative. I tend to write in boom-or-bust cycles, going several days without anything before spending huge chunks at once.
Well, I'm truly honoured!
I can think of no finer compliment, especially from someone showing the enthusiasm you've shown. I wish you the best of luck, Ceffyl Dwr! (Though do us both a favour and promise me you won't ever overdo it. I speak from experience. Anyway, if I'm going to inspire anyone, I want to do it properly. 
)
No sweat. I won't worry about the "added pressure", rest assured of that; I was committed to the goal anyway, whether anyone else took an interest or not. In any case, I'm committed to it only insofar as I feel comfortable about it; the instant I sense it's not sustainable over the long term, I'm lowering it to something more manageable.
Again, I couldn't comment as I've never run a collaboration before. In fact, this is the first time I've ever participated in one unless you count the Jinglemas 2017 fic. Certainly looks like a lot of fun, utterly appropriate for Pinkie's "smile, smile, smile" philosophy. Just don't spin too many plates, that's all I'll say. I notice you adding new material to the group, and while that's fine as it goes, I suspect you might have to ease up on one or two to keep the momentum going at a safe speed.
Good to hear. A workload shared is a workload halved. I sincerely hope you find someone to take a chunk of the job off your hands, and were I in any way remotely confident I could do it, I'd volunteer myself.
In fact, I should probably take after your example and revitalize my own Private Pansy group. The meagre thing's been neglected for months, which is a poor show on my part. Perhaps some new project, or a collaborative effort, would give it a much-needed second wind?
However, I want to abstain from that until I can be sure I'll chip in with some more Pansy fics of my own. This was also part of the reason the Time Action Glory Challenge prompts went on and off; I wanted to be sure I could do them myself before demanding them of others. It's probably some bad psychological quirk of mine, but the reasoning seems sound to me.
Yes, I much prefer larger stories. Part of it is because I started out, years ago, determined to write novels like the ones I loved (and love) to read so much. Part of it is because I "think" longer and more fleshed-out storylines, whereas short vignettes and scenes feel insubstantial by comparison. To use an analogy, it's sort of like appreciating (not loving) a Pixar short, but getting deeply invested in a feature-length Pixar movie.
Honestly, I'd rather aim to produce and finish more longfics than to scale back a bit, though I might do the latter on occasion. Maybe it's the ambition talking, but the ideas for the longer fics just get my blood running and my mind firing on all cylinders. The day I complete my first novel will be a good day indeed.
Huh. I had the exact opposite response; I thought Apple Bloom's worries were far better conveyed in Bloom and Gloom, but I strongly connected with the sweet Tender Taps arc and wish that this had been the main focus. Admittedly, more because of the nice character interplay than anything else, but as a one-off, it was a cosy tale. I don't remember a thing about the song, though.
Plaid Stripes I could live without (I find her a bit annoying). Ember, on the other hand, was perfect as a foil to - and friend for - Spike, especially when she's sort-of-but-not-really-so-don't-read-too-much-into-it interested by the whole friendship thing. Gauntlet is my favourite Spike episode to date.
Yes it certainly did, but ha ha ha, don't ask me to classify 'em. Masterweaver and I still don't know how to organize the 2018 tags, what with all the TAGC redistribution and whatnot.
Lastly, thank you for the responses! Nice to have this chat going into the new year.