Random Thoughts About Previous Projects

Given I'm not currently writing any stories(the Kirin story will still happen, but I'm not actively penning it), I decided to make a post detailing some thoughts about previous projects that I haven't said openly. Not really sure what all I'll be saying, but here goes nothing.

--Even though Legacy of the Dark capped off the Kiss of the Dark saga well, part of me has wondered about doing a third part where Dusk Trail is a colt. The only reason why I didn't do it at the time was because the whole saga was tiring to begin with, not to mention drama filled(I'll get to that later). Maybe it's because I'm a strong completionist, where I value the feeling of having something 100% done, but I didn't feel a draw to make it at the time.

--My biggest regret as a writer is still changing the ending to Kiss of the Dark. Not the canon ending, but the decision to go with a darker ending with what became the Alternate Evil version. I'm still very sensitive as a person, but it was worse at the time because I didn't really understand how feedback worked. What I mean is, I had this really bad ideology that if you never screw up with your work, you'll never get people who dislike what you're doing. So the backlash I got for changing the ending to Kiss of the Dark was the last thing I wanted to see. I get why now, some readers were hooked by the way the darker ending was leaning towards and didn't understand why I changed it like that. In retrospect, one thing I would have changed was delete the Alternate Evil version, upload my originally intended version, and explain the change with the Author's Notes.

--That said, it was still a rough period of time from the moment I cancelled KOTD to the moment I decided to finish it. I didn't write at all during that time, and with everything else going on in my life, I was a mental wreck. Honestly, it was amazing I didn't consider suicide at the time, because the year before, I had to fight those feelings on a constant basis. Maybe it was because I had a lot more support during the KOTD fiasco, which really does go a long way. This is why it's never a bad thing to send support to a creator you like. You might not just make their day when you write an encouraging letter, but you might also keep them from going to a dark place mentally.

--The biggest surprise writing on this site had to be when Celestia and Luna's Day Off got to the feature box. I expected it to do decent, not great, and I didn't see it got featured until I got home from a rough day. Seriously, that was amazing and lifted my spirits like nothing else. If you're one of those people who read it when it first came out, thank you. That was just what I needed.

--One story I thought would do better was Her Guardian. That was a unique story in my catalog, and I dunno how I came up with it. Maybe it's just because I like dragons and wanted to write a story where a Garble-sized dragon wasn't a big jerk. Granted, the comments left behind were very positive and I got a lot of requests for a sequel. It never happened because, if I had to guess, I didn't have any ideas for that, and the lower than expected viewcount was crushing. Yeah, they say you should do this kind of stuff because you enjoy it, which I do, but getting a good reception means a lot. Maybe more than it should, which I will admit is a weakness of mine.

--I still don't know how Pinkie Pie Discovers Coffee did that well. That had to be 100% from the title, given most of the comments were just about that.

--Is it weird that I hope the reports of FIMFiction allowing non-pony stories are true? Don't get me wrong, this was a very crucial site for the brony fandom, but here's the thing: fanfiction.net has a very outdated design and it's hard to find stuff there. This site is way more up to date and well run. If nothing else, I would love it if Knightly made a site like this for non-pony fanfiction, because this is how a fanfic site should be designed and run.

--Toughest story to write so far is How To Raise A Kirin. If the next story takes longer than expected, it's because I want to avoid a lot of decisions I made with that one. It's just...I felt like I could have done a lot more with it, and my writing was getting stale in style and content IMO. I feel like I need to reinvent myself creatively, and I'm going to actively choose to do things I haven't done before and/or in a while with this third story. Hopefully, that will show with the final product.