So, how about that dry spell, huh? · 6:38pm Jun 6th, 2022
So, how've you guys been?
Its been a long time but I have kept my word. I have not abandoned the story nor will I until I have seen it through. I still have a lot of plans for Bad Mondays and am committed to getting back to my old productivty.
I will not give excuses, and plenty of you have read my previous blogs on the how and why it has taken so long and how bad it has been for me. The long and short of it is that that past seven years of my life have been the worst, most difficult period in my entire life. Indeed, it has actually been the closest thing to a living Hell I have ever experienced. Not to put too fine a point on it, and to make a long story short, I suffered a devastating mental breakdwon, it was apparently the worst case the psychiatrist I had visited had ever encountered (something I only learned recently, how comforting), but I never needed to go somewhere.
However I can confirm I am actually now doing much, much better. I am no longer on any medication and haven't been for years for it. Yes I know that can be unwise, and I did take some medication for it initially, some of which helped, and some of which very much didn't. And at a certain point I did cut myself off and have been progressing pretty much on my own since then. I was offered therapy, before any of you get concerned, but after self reflection I decided against it. In case some of you hadn't picked up on it, I am something of an incredibly stubborn bastard, but I am not stupid, it was a calculated decision and it is currently working out for me.
I am not fully recovered, obviously, but I am much much better than I was by a world of difference and am only improving as time goes by, thank God. It has taken me a long, long time to get back into any degree of swing of things, as this chapter demonstrates, as it was quite literally years in the writing. Mental fatigue, depression, writer's block, procrastination, genuine laziness and a number of other things contributed to it and I am slowly overcoming it all. The last two years have been trying, but they have, ironically, been much worse for everyone else than they have been for me personally, although it has been hard for my father in particular.
I am also successfully applying to the Law Society of Northern Ireland. If you recall my blog from some months back around Christmas time, I alluded to something going on in my professional life. I have passed the entrance exam in December and have attained a prospective master who will take me on as his apprentice if my application is successful, and I would start my two year course to become a qualified solicitor in September if all goes well. Which is... a hell of a difference from being years unemployed I can certainly tell you that. It feels weird to be vindicated nearly a decade after attaining my degree with a proper place in the legal community, but it is what it is.
I also wish to apologise for something else. I had planned for the return of Bad Mondays to be more grand than it is right now, because of a secret project: I am currently rewriting the Dragonlands arc as I have been deeply unhappy with those chapters for years now. This is not just because of misplaced perfectionism on my part, they are, quite literally, just not up to my usual quality, are disappointing to read and don't even allow me to explore even half of what I wanted to in the arc. There was to be more to do with Spike, Ember and the dragons in general, more to be explored with the Bloodstone sceptre and, of course, much more to be explored with the lady of the hour herself, Meranax the elder dragon.
The sharper eyed among you would have noticed things referenced in the most recent chapter I have just uploaded that you might not recall reading in the previous arc. This is well spotted and not a mistake, I am accounting for some of the changes I am making in the previous chapters, so I advise you not to waste your time rereading over the dragonlands arc at this time looking for those hints as they won't be there... Yet.
The rewrites are extensive, while the first chapter has only minor alterations planned, but some chapters are being rewritten, merged, or replaced altogether, and the overall projected wordcount of the arc will be significantly increased. I had also planned to rewrite the interlude for some... extrapolations on things currently occurring or which are to come. I had also additionally planned for a Joke chapter, another non-canon comedy chapter in the spirit of my april fool's day uploads, but that might take some time still. It would have made up for the fact that the newest chapter is a breather chapter with some recap elements to help jog peoples' memories with little action or intrigue to move the plot forward. I'll make up for it in time, I promise.
I have a lot planned for Bad Mondays going forward and I fully intend to get back to my old standards of writing, in order to achieve those goals, to that effect, I wish to acknowledge the help of this magnificent faggot in particular:
This raging slavophile has been on my ass every fucking day for the past year encouraging me to write on discord calls and I have to admit, it has been helping, a great deal. And indeed I have been writing quite a bit more than I have in the past. It has not been easy, not just because writing is not always easy but given my particular troubles it has been hard to recover to the point of meeting quite literally any of my obligations. Shower upon this glorious faggot your affections for he deserves them. Also I want to spam his inbox, because fuck him that's why.
I am also writing additional non-pony related projects. People already know about the Rains of Orion project, my science fantasy adventure that I had begun years ago but I am also doing additional projects. One, is Starbreak, another sci fi story which I won't bother to explain here but I can confirm I am 10k into its production, and another more recent sci fi story (yes another one) that I am writing that has the working title of Dominion that I am both prologue and one chapter deep into to the tune of 24k+ words already. I have nowhere to upload these stories the way I do pony fiction, other than the Royal Road, as they are original fiction and it will be easy to lose my stories in the absolute WASTELAND of shitty isekais you can find on that website. But I may upload them there anyway as they have a functional comment section for each chapter allowing me to interact with my readerbase which is honestly my favourite part of writing. If anyone knows anywhere else I can upload original fiction for public consumption, please let me know. Also don't say Fanfiction dot net or ArchiveOfOurOwn, I will literally skewer you if you do.
I also have a shitton of other projects on the backburner I am not working on right now, such as Green Sun (Science Fantasy, Sword and planet shenanigans), Immortal Imperatives (Science Fiction) The Raven (Urban Fantasy, American Gothic) The Last Son of the Crow ([REDACTED], project working in conjunction with The Orthodox Priesthood), and several others. I am prioritizing my work, don't worry, but working on other things is helping me slowly, agonizingly slowly, get back up to par and I will begin work on the next chapter of the Crystal Empire arc post haste. I have a lot more planned for Bad Mondays with a solid outline for a good long while worked out, including a prequel which some of you already could easily guess.
In any case, glad to see you all again. I understand if a lot of people have moved on, I can't blame you, it was a lot of bullshit time wasted. I hope you enjoy the chapter and that time has been kind to you, and will be so in the future. Till then, cheers.
It Lives! And just when I was starting to enjoy my Mondays again. Well screw it, lets all enjoy some bad Mondays together!
Good to have this story back.
I’ve been casually coming back to this story for years now; And while there have been many other ones that have come and gone during that time, I still always find my way back here.
I’m so glad that you’re doing ok, and I can’t wait to sit down and enjoy this new chapter over a nice cup of coffee!
the dead can come back to life
mamasgeeky.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/easter-meme-9.jpg
Glad to hear you're doing better man. I always prefer it much more if someone takes time to write something they're happy with instead of churning out crap just to try and give people something to read, so take your time.
Yes! Thank you for continuing this story!
Four years... huh, this is one of the rare few hiatus stories i never removed from my list. So glad i didn't.... Welcome back handyman, we welcome you back with open arms and happy smiles.
*grins* I’m glad life is coming together for you, good luck on finally making that last step in your journey of law!
Damn, Handy. It's great to hear things have started turning up for you, even though you've had to struggle through hell to get there, especially passing your entrance exam and getting a prospective mentor. I know how hard the both of those things can be.
No need to apologize for the delay, or a lack of grandeur on its return, it's just nice to get it back.
Seriously man, congrats. I hope things continue to look up for you.
So much has changed in four years.. but the anticipation of a new chapter in this story has always been the same. Welcome back Commander.
I am very glad you are doing better, because that is the important thing! Congrats for finding a master for your apprenticeship, I wish you the best of luck with that as well. It's good to hear you've been writing and working on other projects. I am glad you've updated Bad Mondays on Monday this continues to please me.
Holy fuck, Handy, Welcome back! Not only have you brought new chapter, you have brought great news, great future projects to wait for and also great joy from hearing that all is well! Great to have you back, you magnificent bastard.
Awesome to hear that you're on the road to recovery, and that there is at least One of the Greats that won't perpetually be locked as "Incomplete".
Oh hey, look what the cat coughed up! Shit, you show up, DSNesmith makes a surprise reappearance, all I need now is NFire to find his way out of whatever deep hole he fell into, and that'll be three of my long-absent favorite authors back.
Glad things are continuing to look up for you! I'm looking forward to more Bad Mondays shenanigans.
I can't wait to read all the stuff you've got planned for us, I'm glad you're doing better too!
Wooot!! Welcome home as it were.
Time for a reread, my memory being kinda poo.
You're a bloody legend, don't apologize, and Godspeed. I'll be a faithful reader, Cheers.
You may have been gone for a bit, but we all still remembered you. Now that you're coming back, we will continue to build upon those memories with many more to come.
Welcome back, and good to hear you're doing better.
I'm happy to see you back and even happier to hear you're doing so well! Congratulations on your professional progress as well - that's a lot of effort paying off! I wish you the best in your work and mental health.
I wish you more the best in writing though because gawd dayum I have missed Bad Mondays. You had better finish that dragonlands arc before I get there in my reread.
In about a year
I read very slowly
Cheers
All I can really say is Welcome back, it's great to see you again.
Now hurry up on the dragon lands, I'll be accosting you in exactly eight hours from this comment with further demands.
You better answer your phone.
I was shocked when I saw the email notification. Now I’ve just got to find the time to read it and remember what is going on.
I KNEW it! It wasn't just the late-night binge sessions, something was indeed off with the Dragon arc. Love you and this story too much to complain about it, so I am ecstastic that changes are coming.
In regards to publishing, a friend did some fan/original fiction on this site: https://www.quotev.com/. No clue about it's inner workings, but it might be what you're looking for.
OH MY GOD IT'S HAPPENING! THIS IS NOT A DRILL I REPEAT! THIS IS NOT A DRILL
Never doubted you for a minute, man. Welcome back.
"...and so it was that a Priesthood of Orthodox Christians would soon overwhelm all Fanfiction-related media, demanding with impeccable timing the completion of so many unfinished stories. A true revolution for a site with so many a dead fic as Fimfiction.
To learn more, please refer to the ongoing chronicles of: Handy, Return of the King, Chapter Two."
Seriously though, good on you all around Handy. Not gonna lie, I just graduated and am in-between Jobs right now, so the sudden revival has been just about the biggest breath of fresh air for me. I genuinely hope the best for you when it comes to your apprenticeship, as that's certainly one hell of an opportunity, and look forward to 'the old standard' making a return.
Also, this just seems fitting to me:
Good to see you are in a better state now. Good luck on your future endeavors.
It’s good to see you back, doing better, and bringing promises of more. I love this story. It’s one of my favorite to uses of the Trapped in another world trope (I refuse to sully your story with the I word. Those things are innately rubbish beyond what sturgeon’s law can account for.) You ditch pretty much all the tropes that drive me up a wall and present a character far more relatable and entertaining to me than most fiction period. So to see you committing to writing more of it warms my soul.
For websites were you can post your stories I read a lot of sci-fi over on SpaceBattles. If you aren’t completely repulsed by the cesspit that is Reddit r/hfy and r/Resditserials are pretty good (or at least, as good as Reddit fiction hosting gets). Because I’m an incorrigible contrarian who thinks getting skewered sounds kinda hot, Imma suggest archiveofourown and fanfiction.net as well.
“It would be a sad error in judgement to mistake me for a corpse“
-handyman and this story I guess
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Don't worry, there's a better word for the genre other than Isekai. Its actually Portal Fiction, and its an old genre indeed, and basically encompasses any story where the man character gets yeeted through a plot device of any kind to another world/time period/the celestial realm or what have you, and its what I prefer to use as the name of the overall genre and look at different kinds of Portal Fiction of Subgenres. This way I can just sideline the entirety of Isekai off into their own awful corner of Fiction and allow me to distinguish between say, Sword Art Online, (where everything is happening in the real world, people are just stuck in a virtual simulation), and whatever fucking absolute trash is being shoveled out by Japanese Corporate Media this summer. (I personally dislike reincarnation Portal Fiction but thats me) And distinguish both of these subgenres from time travel fiction (Russian Portal Fiction does this A LOT, shit's crazy over there), Human in Equestria such as Bad Mondays and so on.
I'm aware of r/HFY and had a gander and was absolutely shocked to see how many of the tired old tropes I see all the fucking time in pony fiction, especially every variety of HIE, are almost exactly the same and executed the same way in most HFY stories and it kind of spoils a lot of them for me. (in fact some of my Sci Fi stories are being written very specifically to counter trash I see in the HFY genre, or at least do them better). I absolutely loathe reddit, so while I prize engagement, I can't imagine myself using it for anything other than promotion of my stories. I've never actually used spacebattles much myself (other than finding it amusing my story was referenced on some threads there years ago), so I may consider it.
Generally what I might do, is if I go onto the Royal Road, when I start either my prequel or sequel story to Bad Mondays, I'll begin cross posting between here and Fimfiction, to heighten the typical Fimfic reader's awareness of my account over there and begin migrating for when I post original fiction to keep as much of my audience. Or at least let them know where they can find me again if they decide to fuck off.
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Never heard of the term portal fiction. I knew it was old but didn’t know there was another term for it. Now I can finally talk about things like Narnia, Oz, John Carter, etc. (or even more modern things like destroyermen, and the lost regiment) and not feel off because I can’t think of anything to refer to them other than Isekai. Thanks for the term. I’ve heard of that Russian stuff. Makes me wish I could speak the language.
As for r/hfy, you certainly aren’t wrong. Believe me I’ve made similar complaints and more plenty of times. But there are some outstanding diamonds in the rough (not unlike on this community) and it is pretty good for garnering more readers if your story can get some traction over there.
Again, it’s super cool to see you back and fun to see your writing plans.
I am so happy that your safe and healthy...or healthier. I look forward to absolutely everything to come and hope you find even more joy in your writings.
Our savior has returned~! Joy to all!
In all seriousness though, I've heard, (heard mind you) of Wattpad from my wife, but know basically nothing about it so... Good luck with that
ЧЕЛ ХОРОШ
though I haven't read the story, but maybe I will in the future.The fudge!? I was about to write you off as one of the best dead writers on FiM,
Just finished reading "Prey and a Lamb".
If you're truly back, I'll have to re-read the entire story up. Just to throw my ass on the HypeTrain.
So glad you're back Handy, you've been in my daily prayers, God love you.
Glad to see you back at it! If you ever feel the need for more eyes before publishing, my offer remains perpetually open! Feel free to drop me a DM if you'd like to inquire about my credentials. In the meantime, I have seventy-two chapters, interludes, and April Fools of the greatest pony fic on the site to reread.
Welcome back, you big gae
Best of everything to you and yours, we hope you will keep doing better.
We doubt this could come to pass, but should you ever lack appreciators of your work, as long as we draw thought, you will always have at least one.
Every now and again I get back on this website, to check a few stories and see if they've updated. I check this one first every time. I love your work and I'm thrilled you've come back. I hope things continue to go well for you!
Hahaha! I'm so happy for this new chapter, this is genuinely one of the best stories I've ever read. Been re-reading the whole stories now for the first time in years because of it, and I'm enjoying it every bit as much as I did the first time. Please never stop writing stories, pony themed or otherwise - you're an amazing storyteller. I logged in for the first time in like four or five years just to write that.
Looking forward to more , thank you so much !
Apparently you're reclaiming your life, more power to you!
Since I'm no stranger to self-defeating behaviour myself, I don't expect you to just flip a switch and never be affected again, but even Handy walking out of the badlands burdened with gold had to take his first steps before getting close to success, and you seem to have come quite a distance already.
Having just read Bad Mondays in its entirety, I noticed quite a few typing errors, at least some of which had been pointed out to you years ago in comments. Since you're committed to continuing work on it, I assume you're interested in reviewing and correcting all of it, and I'd personally like to help you do it, if possible. From a comment by JBL I gather the currently published version might not be the most current revision, so I'm not sure what would actually be helpful to you and I could use a pointer.