State of the Dewdrops, Years End 2021 · 12:11pm Dec 19th, 2021
Hello my lovely readers and followers, friends and others. Been a while since I've checked in. It's time for a status update.
Firstly, many of you likely noticed a story floating around in the featured box this last day or so. Murder, She Tried is a fun little short story I wrote as a gift for my friend, The Sleepless Beholder, as part of our friendship group's holiday gift-giving event, Hearthswriting. Like Jinglemas and others the premise was simple: give a prompt or two, they're passed out by the event coordinator, you write a story based on the prompts you get. I took this premise and ran with it to produce a comedic affair with my usual whiplash of mood at the end.
Secondly, there will be a few other stories to publish soon. I've got a speedwrite I wrote with Bicyclette that'll get posted once we finally finish editing it. There's a contest entry for the sci-fi contest I'm also working on in cooperation with daOtterGuy that'll start posting hopefully soon. It's a multichapter work, but no longer than 20K. We're already almost done writing it in fact.
Third, my health has been... a mixed bag. I was able to at least narrow down most of my health issues into two primary categories, one of which is a case of sleep apnea severe enough that my sleep doctor sounded scared as she described the test results to me. (Among other things my blood oxygen dropped below 60%. Much below that and you can experience brain damage, stroke, and heart attack.) And yet I can't use a CPAP machine for anxiety reasons, so solving this has been tricky. But at least I have the issue figured out.
Fourth, work hasn't let up much. I've been having mandatory overtime every single work week ever since I lost my supervisor position and went back to the phones. It really cuts into my writing time by heaps. And though it really should have let up by now, it still hasn't; I still have mandatory overtime four days before Christmas.
Finally... I have some news. I've reached a decision that I, frankly, should have been willing to admit to myself a long time ago.
Star Trek: Phoenix went on hiatus a couple of months ago because I lost the ability to keep up with the posting schedule. We tried several tactics to avoid doing that, including delayed posting, the mini-episodes, and so on, but none of it really worked because none of it addressed the core problem. And that problem is... I just... don't have the passion for it. I haven't felt the need or want to write it like I did with my previous longfic, Danganronpa: In Harmony's Wake. It never captured me the same way. That fic kept me up well past a reasonable bedtime many times over trying to finish it. I even had to completely redo the plan for the back half of the story while still keeping up with the posting schedule, in such a way that might've caused most people to give up.
It was my baby, my passion project. By comparison, despite the fact that by all means Phoenix should hold me even more, as the fusion of two of the most beloved and important fictional universes to my life... it really, really doesn't.
And there could be any number of reasons for that. Maybe it's because I turned it into a story about Sunset and Twilight when at first it was Twilight's alone. Maybe it was the fact that I had no idea what season two was about, and never did--everything in it has been me frantically trying to do something, anything to get the story to a plot point that is planned out far better. Maybe it's the fact that, because I was working alongside someone from the start, I kept losing the ability to direct it where I wanted it to go, and had to make compromises.
Or it could be a combination of things. Who knows.
The point is that Star Trek Phoenix does not hold my interest. I'm not going to sit here and keep pretending like I'm going to bring it back anytime soon when I have no real desire to do so. Trying to do so would be me forcing myself to do something I'm not enjoying. And I write for the enjoyment of it.
Does this mean it's cancelled? No. No it does not. I refuse to cancel it outright, because I still want to finish it... some day. But today is not that day, nor tomorrow, nor the day after. One day, it will return, but for now...
For now it is going on indefinite hiatus, and will remain that way until such time as I get back to completing it.
In the meantime this does open up a window for something else I can work on. Something I've been planning ever since back in May, working together with someone else. Something that, while I'm still not quite ready to announce just yet, will make many people happy. It won't likely interest all of you. I know a lot of you followed me for Trek, and it won't be Trek related. It is, however, extremely well plotted out. That's all I'll say for now. I hope to be able to announce that soon.
In the meantime I'll continue to write some other things here and there as they strike my fancy. I've got a couple of other mature story ideas I might work on, including a tribute to my friend Bicyclette's own world-building--more on that another time. I've also got a couple of other short story ideas, and I'll post those as I desire to.
I know that this announcement is a little disappointing to many of you. I do apologize, and I hope you can understand my decision.
Thank you my lovely readers. See you next time.
It's a bummer about the story, but health comes first. At least you have a plan for going forward. Some don't even figure out that much.
Let's hope 2022 works out better for you. See ya around!
It’s alright dewdrop. Health is the most important thing for everyone.
I really hope that 2022 gets better for you.
Everything is alright. You need to do whatever is best for you. I hope above all else that you health gets better. Have a Merry Christmas!
Nooooo. Not Phoenix....qq
5618398
Valid points. it's still disheartening to see in my opinion one of the best trek crossover that does not rely heavily on beta trek Canon, on this site be put in limbo. On the bright side for those who want more trek I'd recommend a knights gambit which while not finished it does at least get updates semi regularly. To the author I wish you luck in your future endeavors.
I'll echo those who have already lamented the lack of updates to Star Trek: Phoenix. I do understand that health comes first and I don't begrudge you that, but I am deeply saddened to see that one of the only half-dozen or so stories that I used to truly look forward to each week/two weeks isn't coming back any time soon. There were days during the pandemic where I used to wake up and think to myself "well, today is likely going to suck but at least there's going to be a Phoenix update to read!" I can only hope the hiatus ends eventually.
Oof, stopping a story is always a tough call, but it's often the right one. Fanfiction is about writing for the fun of it and the love of the characters. It's about being able to share that fun and love with other people. But, at the end of the day, it's for the author more than the readers. It's your journey of growth that you've chosen to share.
Best of wishes, and feel free to reach out to me again on discord anytime if you just want to talk or vent.
Till Next Time,
Rainstorm
To be honest, I was actually pretty surprised that you started posting season 2 so soon after season 1. I had assumed given the format that there would be a break between seasons that you would use to build up a buffer. That said, I’m not really too surprised by this development, and I fully understand your decision to go on hiatus, and I recommend that when your story format gives you the perfect opportunity to take a break, use it!
P.s. mandatory overtime sucks, it’s part of the reason I haven’t really tried writing in the last couple years, even though I have some pretty good ideas.
I am very bummed. i was really liking the story.
Well, it is what it is. If that's what you feel is the best route then that's just how things are.
Anyway. I was originally planning to save this for the story's resumption, but since things are as they are I decided to just do it now and move on -- Phoenix's Tv Tropes page is up as of today.
5618658
Oh my goodness. Thank you a ton for making a TVTropes page for Phoenix. I promise you this won't go to waste when Phoenix does finally return.
And thank you all for your understanding.
5618646
i feel the same and we both know how this is going to end I we have scene it several times.
Your health is more important! It's your stories - you don't owe us anything.
As others have said, it's disappointing but completely understandable and absolutely none of us hold it against you whatsoever. In fact, we all give you our best wishes. You need to be able to enjoy making your product-- if it feels like an obligation, that's no good for you or us.
To give my own words, I can't help feeling that this partially our fault as readers and commenters though, at least a certain few of us who were... let's be polite for ego's sake and say "not entirely rational" concerning a certain major plot point that probably could've made it easier to sustain the rest of Season 2 for you. I mean, I know you said you and your crew didn't really enjoy writing it either, but I can't help feeling like that was at least partially if not mostly because of our outrage over it.
To be honest, I've still got this nagging feeling that you only said you hadn't been enjoying that plot because you didn't want those of us who got over ourselves to feel too guilty about all but forcing you to alter the plans for your story outside of any true decisions on your team's part. Maybe I'm just a worrywart reopening old wounds for no good reason, but all the same, I apologize once again, and reiterate that I wish you the best.
Never write what you're not having fun writing.
First rule of fanfiction, because this isn't a job. So you've made the right call.
That is certainly disappointing hearing Star Trek Phoenix won't be back any time soon.
And I'm not even that much of a Star Trek fan. Perhaps the day it returns will be the day I've finally finished all the Star Treks. At the moment, I'm nearing the end of Season 2 of The Original Series. So, I've still got a long way to go, and you'll have plenty of time to get back to it.
5618672
Take as long as you need, mellonin.
Ohh noooo a taste of my own medicine! Aaaa! A true shame you don't have a passion for continuing it. I hope you change your mind someday.