My Brain Works in Strange Ways: Good News and Bad News.

Yo!

So I've finally sat down and redone the outlines for the String Bean story, and it's got an escalation that matches the ending I wanted for it now, so that's good. The hard part will be actually writing it and not letting myself get sidetracked injecting social commentary into it. There is some in it, obviously, because of the themes I'm going for, but I don't want to be too on the nose. You'll see what I mean in the author's notes. Let's just say incels are not involved, but something that sounds like the word 'incel' and happens to apply to my colt OC. That's all the spoilers you're getting today

So that's the good news: there is a plan now. The bad news: you're probably not going to like the rest of the plan.

I've decided I'm going to first finish and publish the String Bean story, then focus my attention on the Niko stories I've been meaning to write for a year or two now. These will take a while, and will not be published on Fimfiction. They'll go on my DeviantArt account instead, and even assuming they don't take too long they won't be published until near Christmas time. I'm re-thinking and re-planning that as well, trying to balance what can be done and what I want done: it may be a trilogy, it might end up as just a single multi-chapter story with a lot of the initial ideas cut, so I can't say how long it'll take, exactly. I will not be writing pony in that time, either.

What I might do is re-write pony in that time, though. I still have the suggestions from Equestria Daily to change up my Pharynx monster hunting story, it'll probably involve a full redo to make it singe-perspective, so if you like it the way it is, download the story's current version while you can, it's going to get overhauled eventually and I'll attempt to submit it to EqD again just for the sake of it. Depending on how things go, when I finish one Niko story I may try to do a oneshot again to clear my head or brush up on some technical skills, but it won't be any major projects. Think Soldier's Promise type of things: stories with a set goal in mind and very clear emphasis on those goals. Nothing planned yet on that front.

After Niko stories are done, it's back to Bastion. Now, why the long break in between that and String Bean? Because it's too similar to each other. I'm catching myself more and more in writing things that are too close to each other, that's not the sort of stagnation I'm okay with and clearly that's not what readers want. String Bean is about Apple Bloom and a boy; Bastion's stories, especially the first one, are really similar in look and feel. I don't want any cross-contamination between the two.

The original novel series? Putting that entire thing on ice. I've been cutting myself off from things, it makes sense to cut my work off as well. This will be the last time I mention it here, if it ever gets done and published? Great. If someone beats me to it? At least the ideas will be out there, even if they aren't coming from me.

So that's that, now you're all up to date.

"Wait, Cracker, what about the jobhunting?"

Right, that. My courses are going well, I've found a few companies that I am interested in, but to get them interested in me I'd have to learn, well... something that I'm not getting taught. I might be able to learn on my own, but I wouldn't have any certificates. But things are evolving in a positive manner overall.

Okay, Cracker ou-

"Wait! What about the other thing?"

Huh? Oh, yeah. I've left the biggest groups I was in. Like I've stated in previous blogs, I'm having trouble keeping myself productive. I've put on weight, too, which is not good. There is no deeper meaning behind it, I just hit the button on a whim. I stay off of social media like Twitter or Facebook, I have no reason to stay in larger groups. Besides, I've been getting repetitive and predictable there, too, and if I'm being perfectly frank some people just get on my nerves anyway. Better to spare your energy and channel time and attention into something productive. So, if you're wondering why I don't comment on group threads now, there's the reason: I do not see them anymore. Cracker's making a half-hearted attempt at monk-mode.

...I guess Cleric Mode would be a more apt description, though, wouldn't it? Cleric of Odin, maybe? I'd have to cover one eye for that, though...

Anyhoot! You are now up to speed on everything,

Cracker out.