Proximity is Complete!

Celebi-Yoshi

You might have already noticed, but the final chapter, Beautiful Energy, has been uploaded, and with that Proximity is finished... for now.

I did something of a mini-retrospective at the end of that chapter, but essentially I struggled with the last three chapters because they were shifting the dynamic of the piece from a series of unrelated shorts into a more cohesive narrative arc. And I have plans to do a story like that anyway so I wanted to avoid repetition. The conflict that arose from that was hard to navigate, but it's done, and some nice comments have given me pause for thought in my own appraisal of the collection as a whole.

So I've left the story as 'Completed', but I might revisit it with some new one-shots once I'm confident I can keep them independent in a narrative sense. For now, though, it's done, and thank you for taking the time to read it.

I genuinely hope it's given you some enjoyment. I tried a few different styles and approaches across those ten chapters, and I'm more than happy to hear thoughts on what you feel worked and what didn't. Personally, my favourite chapters were Sway; No, Not Today; Larceny. There's something fun about making Smolder's attitude and behaviour into something adorable and vulnerable, and something cathartic about writing about depressive episodes. I didn't push myself stylistically on those chapters, but I had a whole lot of fun writing them.

I'm less inclined towards the final three chapters, mainly for the reasons already mentioned, as well as Duvet Queen, because nothing will ever convince me that diagloue-only narratives work.

So that's it for now. Obviously I've got the Skystar horror story that's underway, but as I'm writing that in full before publishing it might be a while until it surfaces (pun intended). I might bridge the gap with something short and sweet, but I'm working towards some post-grad applications to study a Creative Writing Masters next year, and I'll need a portfolio of original fiction to submit. Thus horsewords will be having to take a hit at some stage in the near future.

Should I get the time, though, who would you want to see featuring in said short and sweet fic?

• Smolder/Ocellus
• Ember
• Gilda

Let me know, and I'll see what I can do when the free time arises.