June Blog: The Train Keeps Going Down The Track

"I'm going to rest and recoup" I say in my last blog post, and then don't do that.

However, I feel... genuinely good, right now. It's likely in part because we've gotten the air conditioner fixed, but still.

Turns out I was right to be paranoid of the transfer of my blog not working. I had to work to build the site back up from scratch and, bonus, one of the articles I thought I'd saved a backup of, I hadn't. The file existed but had somehow been saved over by a copy of a different article. So I had two copies of one and zero of the other.

That said, the article casualty was just an NPC I'd made, walking through the process of creation and with some prose for flair. I still have the character sheet itself, and can potentially put something back together featuring them once the loss doesn't feel so fresh. And when it comes to the site's appearance, I may like the recreation a little more than the original. I've learned some things and the second time around was a lot smoother. The loss of the comments still stings, but so it goes. I've added new plugins, for security, to help loading times, and more, and so the blog lives.

And more than that, I charged my absolute hatred of the sound of my own voice head-on and turned one of the written TTRPG reviews into a Youtube video. There was a lot of editing, taking out every time I breathed or gulped or stuttered or the one time I audibly smacked my hand against my computer desk, and I both caught a typo on one of the slides after upload and think the result still sounds scratchy due to my inexperience, but. There's some pride there too.

I even have a few likes on the video and one subscriber now. Though Youtube does seem to think that the video is about Starforge, the video game, instead of Ironsworn Starforged, the tabletop game. Not... sure if there's a way to correct that or if it's just a case of Youtube gonna Youtube.

On the writing front, I did throw one more short story into my anthology. "Over A Barrel" is one of those episodes that fanfic writers tend to sweep under the rug, but given that I ran headlong into writing about sheep, and I haven't been shy about referencing how the ponies treated Zecora, maybe it isn't surprising that I was thinking about what to do narratively about the bison as well.

I've also decided to cool it on the contests for the foreseeable future. Act of Chaos, Set Us Free will see continuation and completion, because it's a story I want to see told, especially since it's me dipping my toe into an alternate version of Gen 5, but I'm going to focus on my own personal stories, along with commissioned works, for the next while.

Speaking of, my commission rules have undergone a change. I was contacted about the possibility of a long-running adventure story, and after hammering out how that would be handled, I now have the option to be paid chapter-by-chapter with word budget being assigned to me on a monthly basis. That also means that there will be a story launch very soon, and if you're a fan of Rarity, then you're in for a treat.

And I believe that's all of the chatter, so onto the stats.

---

Current Ongoing Stories:

• The Long Eventide
• Lightning Rod
• Act Of Chaos, Set Us Free (new)

Current Anthologies:

• Flashes of Eventide (new)

Current Completed Stories:

• A Moonlit Storm
• Dawn of the Chiroptera
• Every Dog Has Her Day
• Lesbian Sheep Syndrome
• Flash Memory
• Better To Ask Forgiveness
• Crystalforged
• If You Go Down In The Woods Today
• And She Captivates
• Like I Don't Exist (Anymore)
• Princess Twilight Sparkle Versus The Royal Harem Decree (new)

Current number of followers: 82 (up from 65)
Current number of patrons: 0

Words I've published so far across all my stories, both completed and ongoing: 147,500 (up from 129,204)

Completed story with the most words: A Moonlit Storm at 16,411
Completed story with the most views: Princess Twilight Sparkle Versus The Royal Harem Decree with 2,484 (dethroning Better To Ask Forgiveness)
Completed story with the best vote ratio: Princess Twilight Sparkle Versus The Royal Harem Decree with 366:8 (dethroning Better To Ask Forgiveness)
Completed story on the most bookshelves: Princess Twilight Sparkle Versus The Royal Harem Decree with 1070 (dethroning Better To Ask Forgiveness)

Number of contests I've entered: 7

• Ancestral Tribute: A Moonlit Storm, first place
• SPOOK: Dawn of the Chiroptera, results pending
• Species Change: Every Dog Has Her Day, no placement
• Flash Sentry: Flash Memory, honourable mention
• Science Fiction: Crystalforged, no placement (new results)
• Arboreal Yearnings: If You Go Down In The Woods Today, no placement
• Spring Fling: And She Captivates, no placement (new results)

Number of commissions I've done: 2 (up from 1)

• For Moproblems Moharmoney: Like I Don't Exist (Anymore)
• For Spamotron Princess Twilight Sparkle Versus The Royal Harem Decree (new)

Number of times I've been reviewed: 2

• By Mike Cartoon Pony: A Moonlit Storm, Excellent rating
• By PaulAsaran: A Moonlit Storm, Pretty Good rating

Other cool things:

• FanOfMostEverything featured A Moonlit Storm in a card blog with the card "Impisi, Spell Butcher"
• Equestria Daily scouted Better To Ask Forgiveness
• Rain_Flick3r did a reading of Like I Don't Exist (Anymore)

Canon characters tagged in my works so far:

• Mane 6 (The Long Eventide)
• Princess Luna (The Long Eventide)
• Night Light (A Moonlit Storm)
• Fluttershy (Dawn of the Chiroptera, Every Dog Has Her Day, and If You Go Down In The Woods Today)
• Twilight Sparkle (Dawn of the Chiroptera, Princess Twilight Sparkle Versus The Royal Harem Decree)
• Luster Dawn (Dawn of the Chiroptera)
• Rarity (Every Dog Has Her Day)
• Applejack (Lesbian Sheep Syndrome)
• Rainbow Dash (Lesbian Sheep Syndrome)
• Flash Sentry (Flash Memory)
• Discord (Better To Ask Forgiveness, Act Of Chaos, Set Us Free)
• Celestia (Better To Ask Forgiveness)
• Tempest Shadow (Lightning Rod)
• Grubber (Lightning Rod)
• Flurry Heart (Crystalforged)
• Zecora (If You Go Down In The Woods Today)
• Trixie (And She Captivates, Princess Twilight Sparkle Versus The Royal Harem Decree)
• Sunset Shimmer (And She Captivates)
• Wallflower Blush (Like I Don't Exist (Anymore))
• Pony of Shadows (Like I Don't Exist (Anymore))
• Chrysalis (Princess Twilight Sparkle Versus The Royal Harem Decree) (new)
• Moondancer (Princess Twilight Sparkle Versus The Royal Harem Decree) (new)

Species representation among original characters (counted if they have both been named and given a speaking role) so far:

• Earth Ponies: 5
• Pegasi: 3
• Unicorns: 2
• Crystal Pony: 1
• Bat Pony: 1
• Zony: 1
• Zebra: 2 (up from 1)
• Kirin 1
• Umbrum: 3
• Changeling: 4 (up from 3)
• Sheep: 2
• Reindeer: 1
• Deer: 1 (new)
• Minotaur: 1 (new)
• Hippogriff: 1 (new)
• Griffon: 2 (up from 1)
• Hedgebeast: 1
• Abada: 1
• Nyx: 1
• Crocotta: 1

---

And now, my plans for June are:

• Chapters for Lightning Rod, The Long Eventide, and Act Of Chaos, Set Us Free
• A short story about the cast of A Moonlit Storm foalsitting Twilight Sparkle