Today is the last day to join, so if you want in on it, be sure to read over the rules and PM Shakespearicles!moon · 5:22pm Mar 31st, 2021
Lund is a mood.
(life and writing updates after the jump.)
He's my favorite underrated singer at the moment. If you haven't listened to Broken on my Eerie Lantern playlist, his most popular song, then you have just been missing out. I'd give the original a listen before the remix. As acceptable as Noah Cyrus' vocals and Lil' Skies rap was, it just doesn't come together the way the original does.
Anyway, sorry. You didn't come here for music recs.
Or... probably not for my life stuff, either, but you're getting it.
If you've been following me on Twitter, you may have already gotten an idea of what I'm about to talk about.
So I'm entering the last leg of my pregnancy (yay!) I'm excited, both to have my baby and to have my body be solely mine again. Some women really enjoy their pregnancy, it's true. But... Well, just like with my first child, this has been rather challenging.
The bilateral hip pain I mentioned in my last blog update has progressed significantly. My ability to withstand standing, or even firm chairs without lumbar support, for any extended period of time quickly waned. Suddenly I found myself needing to keep a walking cane handy. Some days, I couldn't take a step without help let alone stand up on my own, and I'd break down in tears from the pain. The only real answer I had at my disposal was to take it easy...
But work was getting increasingly demanding on my body, and apparently, the presence of a walking cane was against their company policy. I found myself needing to stay home and file for short-term disability. This started back towards the end of January. Because my work's insurance company is a nightmare, this hasn't been an easy process, and I'm currently going through an appeal.
So as nice as it sounded to just "stay home and relax" the truth is this time has been stressful and largely depressing. It's been a struggle to focus on anything even remotely productive.
That isn't to say there haven't been good things to come out of this time!
We upgraded my old PC so that I now have solid access to my writing. I've also picked up crocheting, and I'm very excited as I near the completion of my daughter's receiving blanket. I caught up on a bunch of games I'd been wanting to play. I've been able to enjoy my time with my son. I managed to get a PS5 (though that turned out to be less exciting than my new PC). While it was spotty, I also did manage to do some writing, too!
(Here's the part you've been skimming for, lol)
So if you somehow missed it, I updated Eerie Lantern.
I'm also over 3k words deep into a new chapter for What They Expect to Give. My hope is to have something this week, if not, then very soon.
Less exciting, but may be of some interest to you guys who haven't started the story yet-- There has been decent progress in getting newly edited drafts of the beginning chapters up. If you stayed away from WTEtG because the style or tone put you off, you may want to give it another look-see. I really think the readability and general feel of the story is more attractive now, and it better reflects the skills I've learned since coming back into writing in 2016.
And I know no one asked for it, but I also started working earnestly on an X-Files/MLP crossover fic I came up with ages ago. It's progressed far enough that I feel confident that it will see the light of day someday. It's still in rough draft form and could use with some work, but I think it has a lot of potential.
One other good thing to come from all these writing efforts was the continuation of my blog series, Overpriced Writing Advice, with episode eighteen. In that episode, we covered writers giving feedback to other writers. It has a bunch of tips to consider and could be beneficial to you even if you're the one seeking feedback, so if you haven't yet, maybe give it a read?
Also, if you guys think of any writing topics you'd like me to try and cover on OPWA, just post a comment or shoot me a DM. I had designs to cover romance as a genre, as well as the various kind of narrative POVs writers can use... but those were just some ideas. I also got a new webcam, and the thought has crossed my mind to do writing videos or even live stream writing help/reviews for FimFic writers! I hesitate mostly because I dunno if I can drum up interest or even stick to a semi-regular upload schedule. What do you guys think? Would you watch writing vids or pony fic help livestreams?
Aaaaand that's it! That's all I got. My blog posts generally tend to peter out and become more rambly and disconnected as I run out of things to say, so I'll just end things here. (I do KIND of feel like I'm forgetting something, but if I did and it's really that important, I'll just do a follow-up blog I guess).
I hope you guys are doing well, and that you're all staying safe!
P.S.
It's Trans Visibility Day! 
Art is by AllyClaw
Do you guys have any MLP trans stories you'd like to drop or share? Post 'em in the comments!
Tangential...
ToixStory wrote one of my favorite incomplete stories on this site, Out of Touch. When I learned it was incomplete and they were no longer active, I followed them off the site to see what they were up to lately and found The Land of Neon and Northern Lights: The Story of a Girl. Not pony, but by a pony author, and has stuck with me because of the style, pacing, and presentation of the story.
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Oooh, that looks good! I'll give it a look, thanks.