2022, The Year in Review · 3:07am Jan 1st, 2023
Another year over, another new year to take its place. Hard to believe it's been over a decade at this point that I've been on the site. G4 has come and gone, G5 is coming into its own. Who knows what another half decade might bring if I'm still active on this site? Dare I risk the tempetation of being on the site for another ten?
Well, in the meantime, let's take a look back at 2022 and see how the year progressed for me. After 2020 and 2021 were let downs, 2022 managed to be surprisingly enjoyable for me when all was said and done. But I don't wanna get my hopes up for 2023, even though I think we're all due for a "Good" year all year round.
January
I start physical therapy, which turns out to be rather enjoyable. My first fic of the year is posted on January 4, entitled "Of Fashion and Flying" and born of a request. My first G5 fic of the year and only my second overall is published on MLK Jr. day, "Learning to Forgive" and it gets an audio reading and becomes the first of many fics of mine to hit the feature box this year. I conclude January with my first padded pony fic of the year "Something to REALLY Rave About", an unofficial sequel to another padded pony work. I also do what is currently the last of my comics reviews, expressing my disappointment with "Generations".
February
My physical therapy comes to an end, and I test positive for Cvoid after my dad contracts it (though thankfully it's a mild case). Before any of that comes to a head, I publish "I Lied" an AU story about Ahuizotl after the events of "Daring Doubt". After working on Volume 14 if my "What If?" series in January, I publish it in mid February and wrap it up by the end of the month. Other than that, the month passes uneventfully.
March
Within the first week of the month I publish "A Royal Canterlot Meeting", which explodes in popularity, easily becoming my most viewed fic of 2022 (though not my most commented on). Needless to say, it hits the feature box with no trouble and stays there for about two days. "Haven, Alphabittle and the Rumors" doesn't hit the feature box but still does well for itself. Then, at the end of the month I publish "Twilight's Legacy" as I have to prepare for another colonscopy. I also work on but do not publish both "Izzy's 'Little' Secret" and "(Mis)Adventures in Cheese Sitting".
April
During my ten year anniversary celebration, I publish "(Mis)Adventures in Cheese Sitting", which hits the feature box, a feat that four out of my next five published fics also accomplish. The two stories that follow this month, both "Silver Diamonds" and "Hitch's Sunny Day" hit the feature box. All the while I opt not to watch "Tell Your Tale".
May
"Izzy's 'Little' Secret" is published, my first official G5 padded pony fic. Just over a week later, I publish my third straight G5 fic with "Meeting Mr. Starscout", and it too hits the feature box. I watch and review the "Make Your Mark" special towards the end of the month, and publish two stories (neither of which hit the feature box): "Pegasus Pillar Romance" and "Cheese and Cakes".
June
Despite only publishing one blog plost for the entire month, I still manage to post three stories: "Only A Pony" (a YonaBar fic), "Princess Meets Princess" (a follow up to "A Royal Canterlot Meeting" involving a grown-up Flurry Heart meeting Celestia and Luna) and "Junior Maretimers" (a fic involving young Sunny, Hitch and Sprout). "Junior Maretimers" becomes my fifth fic of the year to hit the feature box, easily surpassing any previous record I had for such a thing. "A Visit From Uncle Zephyr" is completed within this month, allowing me a long grace period with its proofreader.
July
I publish three G5 fics, two of them based around Sprout and the third based around Phyllis: "Izzy's Lucky Clover", "Shadow of a Sprout" and "Turning Over a New (Clover)Leaf", with only "Shadow of a Sprout" not hitting the feature box, despite it being a crossover between G4 and G5 and being based on a fan comic. I also begin work on my fourth Pinkie Pie as a ponyfied Spider Man fanfic, so that I have it ready for publication on Spider Man's 60th anniversary next month. Due to a burst of inspiration, I boot up "Potty Training Tales" yet again for some bonus chapters. As of writing this journal, I am still waiting to hear back about one more possible bonus chapter (though I'm thinking of doing one last one myself).
August
"A Visit From Uncle Zephyr" gets published on the first of the month, and ten days later I publish "The Amazing Spider Mare: A Long Way From Home", which I manage to finish up by the end of the month despite celebrating my birthday. On the day of my birthday and through the rest of the week and weekend, my family and I travel to Ohio's Kings Island, then travel to Cincinatti, Kentucky for the remaining days, only coming back to Indiana to stay the night at a hotel before driving back the next day. "Crusaders Forever" is completed in this month, but I do not publish it in this month.
September
"Crusaders Forever" gets published, becoming my third straight fic not to hit the feature box. When news breaks of Queen Elizabeth II's death, I immediately put together a one-shot entitled "Long Live The Queen", a GallusStream story involving the death of Queen Novo dedicated to the memory of the deceased queen of England. It soon hits the feature box, though it drops off after about a day. With "Of Crystals and Jinxies" finished and waiting to be published, I start work on my fifteenth consecutive volume of my "What If?" series in the fifth straight year of doing two releases. "Of Crystals and Jinxies" gets released the day "Make Your Mark, Chapter 2" drops on Netflix. For the rest of September, I review episodes from that batch.
October
I complete my reviews of "Make Your Mark, Chapter 2" and on October 2 publish the fifteenth volume of my "What If?" rewrite series, though I want to correct an error I made there in that I still have one episode from Season 8 left to rewrite, so I haven't completely rewritten Season 8 like I claimed I did in that fic's final installment. A day after the volume is published and the same day I complete my reviews of "Make Your Mark, Chapter 2", I officially hit the 1,000 followers mark, a milestone I obviously never expected to cross. "A Sparky Sprout" is then written and published, and from this point onward none of my fics for 2022 hit the feature box. "End of the Orchard Road" is also written in this month, though I hold off on publishing it until the next month. Probably my most active and productive month on the site.
November
"End of the Orchard Road" is published on November 2nd, and then on the last day of the month I publish "Sprouting A New Tale" as my final G5 fic of the year and my penultimate fic of the year. I also review "Make Your Mark, Winter Wishday" when it drops on Netflix just before Thanksgiving.
December
My least productive month on the site this year, bar none. I only write and publish one fanfic: "A Very Daring Hearth's Warming", a follow-up to "Rainbow Dash and the Daring Do Connection". I publish it on December 9 and that is the only fic I publish for the month. I don't even begin making plans for my next fic until after Christmas, which becomes the first Christmas since starting my account where I do not have any comics to review (due to having exhausted all the ones I want to read). I end the year with 243 fics published and 1,010 followers. I never expected to get this far when I started this account, it amazes me that I've come so far.
Well, there you have it. I'll definitely get through 250 fics next year, but I really can't foresee my follower count getting much higher than it already is now. As for whether this coming year will be as productive for me, I cannot say. Now that things have settled down for me in regards to insurance and health care, I'm looking into the possibility of career employment full time or at least more demanding part time. We'll have to see what comes of that, I'll do my best to keep you all informed of any developments.
hope it wil be good for you this year
All of those fanfic ideas are great.
Nice job with everything; you've had a productive year! Nice job writing everything that you did down; I can hardly remember what I did this year - LOL! I hope your follower count does increase, and I hope you stay on this site. I really enjoy your work and your personality. Take your time with everything, and I hope that things continue to improve.
Have a wonderful existence regardless, and,
Happy New Year!
Quite the productive year for you; i hope this year's even more productive. 2022 's been a whole anthology of experiences for me.