Alright, Finally · 2:12pm Apr 1st, 2018
Hey all! I was finally able to put up chapter 31 of DaD. There are major spoilers below the break, so like last time, make sure to read the chapter first! There's a link to here in the A/N.
I’ve decided I’m cancelling A Daughter and her Dragon. It’s just too much work and I’m getting tired of it. 
...Obviously I’m kidding. I’m terrible at April Fools jokes. The past few years I’ve had to clarify that my blogs that happened to fall on April Fools’ Day were actually serious, so I guess I have to do it again: This is a serious blog. I would never cancel DaD. Not after all the effort that’s gone into it on tons of people’s parts. And I’m most certainly not tired of it.
I feel like this is going to be a thing for me, which means I’ll never actually be able to try a legit April Fools joke… Meh, oh well.
Besides, today’s Easter, too. If anything I would be resurrecting a story, but I don’t have any of those I’d need to do that with. Anyway...
So yeah, that was the end of Act 2 of DaD.
There were quite a few of you who were able to look past the obvious last chapter and see what was actually happening. I’ll admit I’m a little bummed I didn’t get you all, but obviously a ton of you are observant enough to know that obviously the obvious isn’t always the truth. Obviously.
I’ll reiterate what I said in the A/N: this departure was planned a long time ago; the Moose and I knew we were probably going to break a lot of hearts. Moose said, “I will feed on their tears!” Yeah, he’s one of those guys. 
Anyway, with Act 2 now complete, I’m going to need to take another publishing break. Before anybody gets worried, though, I’m not putting the story on hiatus. I’ll still be working on it as much as I can, but it will take me a while before I write enough to feel comfortable publishing more chapters. Possibly longer than the previous publishing gap (sorry 
). I have my outline at the ready, but there are some little details I have written that may or may not make it into the story, and as usual, I don’t want to leave you all on a cliffhanger (I’m sorry that kind of happened with chapter 30—two weeks is better than a few months, though). I’ll see where my writing takes me after I start the next act. And speaking of which, tiny spoiler: I know the four-year jump between Acts One and Two bothered some people (understandably so), so to those people, you’ll be happy to know I’m not doing that again.
Despite Act Two ending on the note it did, I hope you’re all still enjoying the story. I know the last couple of chapters caused the overall tone to take a serious turn. Bear in mind, this is more or less a coming-of-age story, which is why I haven’t added any other genre tags besides [Slice of Life]. There will be some more serious topics coming up in the future, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the story will be all serious all the time. I’d like to believe I’m doing a good job of interspersing some humor into even the more serious situations, and some sweetness where appropriate.
I want to thank you all so much for your patience and loyal readership. There’s a lot more of this story planned, and as I’ve said many times, I have every intention of seeing it through to the end, no matter how long it takes, so please hold onto that patience for me, and I won’t let you down.
I’m currently still searching for a job, so that's been taking up a fair amount of my time. If I manage to find one, I may have even less time to write, but I’ll do what I can. I’m also still freelancing as an editor on the interim, so if anyone would like to hire me to go through something—pony-related or not—so I can make some income until I find something full-time, that would be much appreciated. 
And before anyone makes the suggestion, I’m not starting a patreon. It puts too much obligation on the writing if it's given a deadline. I'd rather go at my own pace and give you quality work.
Okay, so one more big thing: It was pointed out to me that there are a lot of OC's in the story that haven't actually been given obvious descriptions. I frankly had found it daunting to give each and every character a description, but it sounds like it would make things a lot easier for readers to be able to visualize actual characters instead of just... let's say essences.
I'd originally created my big cast list for people to remember who the characters are, but not necessarily what they look like. Well, that's going to change. I'm in the process of revamping the cast list to include descriptions as well, but it's going to take some time. When I'm finished, I'll put up another blog post. At that point I'll say that the cast list is not a requirement to read, but highly recommended.
Edit: The cast list has indeed been updated!
One little side note: with the publication of chapter 31, DaD has officially passed 100,000 words! 
Alright, s’all for now, folks. Until next time!
—LD
Or you could just wait until tomorrow?
Congrats on the milestone!
Also, simpler idea. Just set the story to "Cancelled" status on fimfic and just stay silent all day. People will guess it's a joke, but it's a better attempt than faking a blog
Oooorrr, write a really sloppy ending, and mark completed. Then make the first sloppy chapter of a sequel, tag it with "sex" and frame it as cotton's rebellious years. Then undo the damage the next day
A hundred-thou? Just a start.
On April Fools Day you cancelled DaD. On Easter Sunday you resurrected it.
4830158
I've been wanting to get this chapter out ASAP. It just happened to fall on today.
4830308
First one I would never do in case anybody actually thought I was serious. And this wasn't really a fake April Fools' day joke as much as it was an update.
4830523
With this story, at the rate I'm going and with the size of my outline, I might manage to hit 200k. So, yeah.
4830704
This idea I like. Dammit, I should have thought of that!
4830901
Fair enough, I just saw this part
and thought I'd lend a hand if you needed ideas
4830907
I'd just never be able to pull off trying an AF joke on the actual story without feeling like an @$$. 
I thought so, thank you for the ideas.
4830915
Like a good nude beach, April fool's day is the perfect setting for letting your ass hang out XP
You know, it'd be fun to see a physical encounter between the current Father/Daughter duo and Rarity just before the fire that started the whole mess.
I think I'll take a break from the story... until you finish it. I can't handle stuff like this.
4830955
I don't think I'd be able to work that into the story. Sorry.
4830969
You're welcome to wait, but I'll tell you right now, the story won't be fully finished for quite a long time at the rate I'm going.
4830974
That is absolutely fine. I'm used to waiting.
YOU... How could you? How could you cause her that much pain...?
4842396
As others said in the comment section before me, it's part of what makes a good story, my friend. Conflict and pain.
Keep watching. I'll hopefully be ready with some more chapters within the next few months. Heart surgery is currently putting a damper in my writing time, unfortunately.
4842422
winces Ah... Well... My apologies...
4842423
Don'tcha worry about it, my friend. It's still kind of hard to believe that I can say this, but it's nothing I haven't dealt with before. (see previous blogs)