Story notes for "Netflix and Chill? No, not like THAT!" and other random updates.

Should probably have done this ages ago, but, uhh... I was busy. Yeah, that's the excuse I'm going to go with. <.<

I was honestly surprised by the sheer amount of positive feedback my little tale about a man living as the housemate of two ponies got. It also genuinely makes me smile that several people could feel a connection to Andy's struggles, at least when it comes to the frustration of trying to find a steady job.

Many of Andy's emotional and mental issues actually reflect on some of the struggles I've had to go through in life. "Write what you know" and all that, after all. The shadow of chronic depression, the mental scars of repressed emotions, not to mention the feelings of failure and inadequacy when you're forced to rely on social security benefits and feeling like you're not going anywhere in life... "Treading water" as Andy said. Been there, done that, didn't even get a T-shirt as a memento. Thank goodness (most of) that is in my past now.

Wew! Okay, that was starting to get a bit heavy there, so let's switch to something a bit more light-hearted, hmm?

EDIT: Totally forgot to add this in, so here goes for posterity's sake. There's actually a (rather obscure) literary reference in the story and I'm not surprised at all that no-one noticed it (or at least no-one pointed it out even if they did notice it.) The names of Andy's friends -Bert, Patricia, Erik and Åke (the Å is pronounced as O)- are from a series of novels called The Bert Diaries which I used to read a lot when I was but a snot-nosed wee young lad. Since the Netflix and Chill? story takes place in a Sweden-ish area, I simply couldn't resist the temptation to do that particular reference.

In the comments someone asked to see a visual representation of the Dynamic Pony Duo and that got me thinking. So, when I found a suitable artist (with very affordable rates I might add) who had an opening, I took the opportunity and threw my money at them. And so here they are: Silver Comet and Willow Song!

Art done by AlexDTI over on DA

The artist did an absolute bang-up job with both characters and I was squee-ing with delight all day when I got the finished versions. I don't squee, so that should tell you how happy I was!

Speaking of these two adorable fluffballs, I'm indeed currently working on a sequel to their story to further explore the relationships and dynamics between the trio. Alas, going has been a bit slow due to some sleeping issues I've had which have left me just feeling exhausted rather than well-rested every morning, but I try my best to chip away at it whenever I have even a tiny sliver of energy to expend on creativity.

So, uhh... There we go, I guess? If anyone reading this has any questions about the story itself or the characters, don't be shy to ask them either here in the comments or even via a DM!