Ok, not that last time wasn't a legit reason (at least I assume having a broken arm counts). But yeah, for the second time ever, Shackles and Friendship is going hiatus.

As some of you know, I've been preparing myself for a grueling program called HackReactor, which in a nutshell is a boot campt for programmers. A 13 week course of constant hacking/coding, 8am-8pm, Mon-Sat, nonstop.

Crazy.

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Trying to get a feel of where you stand on this. As some of you know I use pictures and sound to make the fic a bit more interesting. Pictures, I use sometimes when I feel my writing skills fail to describe what I imagine.

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Did I actually keep my word and uploaded a new chapter as I said I would?

Oh goodness! Something must have gone right in the world!

...

Or very, VERY, wrong.

Chapter 45 - Scatterbrained

I'd say two maybe three days before I upload it. Thanks for being patient.

~Zai

So as some of you might have heard from a certain abomination, I was indisposed for a while due to a broken arm. Well it's still broken and I'm still wearing the cast, but I've managed to reorganize my life so now I can put some time to writing. Understandably it will be slow till my arm's inevitable freedom, but the good news is that the newest chapter is currently being edited, and should be uploaded soon.

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I'm Zai's (what kind of name is that) sister. I was asked to inform you all that he broke his arm a few weeks ago. Which is why there's no news or updates. I was kinda supposed to post this last week, but I forgot.

To his great annoyance.

Zai doesn't know how to swim. Haven't had a girl for two years. Can't ride a bike. Is losing hair. Getting fatter.

I am evil.

I'm happy though, Tirek is definitely a antagonist I can keep in the back burner till the time is right. A leaching antagonist that's likely more powerful than Rodney? Heck yeah! Now that's battlefield equalizer!

Thank you Hasbro!

Yes, I have been working on it. And finally, it is done.

Sort of.

Currently going through revisions and final editing. I'd also like to thank all the people who gave their time to pre-read the chapter. It was critical to the overall plot and I'm very much grateful to all your feedback.

I aim to release the chapter this weekend. Cross your fingers everybody.

~ Zai

Well things are finally back to normal, somewhat.

The cops found my car fourteen miles out of town abandoned. They're currently holding it for a few days to get some evidence and some such of the criminal. Also finally finished with all the paperwork for claims, report, etc. Luckily I actually qualify for a cleaning and sanitizing package from my car insurance to make sure there isn't any harmful or illegal substances in the car when I get it back.

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............

So yeah, my ride got jacked. Now this is really problematic, I rely on that old tin can a for a lot of things.

Like living.

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Ah man, can't believe how long it's been since I started Shackles and Friendship. Of course, I would never had have the motivation to continue and learn to write for this fic if it wasn't for all the support (positive and negative) that I got.

Which is why I thought I'd give something back to the readers and perhaps, to future writers.

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The chapter's done, although editing it is taking a lot more time than usual. Not sure exactly what happened but both my editors seem to be busy with their lives, which is understandable.

In other words I'm editing my own work, which is a problem since I wrote it. You tend to go blind to the most obvious mistakes when trying to fix your own work.

Will try to get it done by Sunday this week.

~Zai

Hope to get it ready for editing before I leave, which I unfortunately didn't reach. But I got most of it done, about 80%-ish. Currently at 7K words if some of you measure word counts. I could have released something earlier on at around 6K which had a really good ending. But according to the blog I posted a while back a large majority (nearly everyone) wanted no cliffhangers. So I'm trying to wrap most of the major plot turns in a single chapter.

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An early update with one hell of a cliffhanger, or make it one big chapter?

You know, I've always sorta wondered why it seems that Twilight was the only perso-er pony to study/research/experiment with magic. But after the soul sucking comic book and the explosive popularity of Flutterbat, I think I know why.

Magic is f***ing dangerous!!! It is some seriously dangerous weapon grade plutonium stuff!

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