Not quite aimless writing, but not fully plotted either. Also, self-perception, or how one can rationalize being timid into seeming laid back (to oneself) · 5:29pm Jan 28th, 2015
So now I've written over fifty thousand words of story. Interesting experience, I must say.
I've always loved the idea of being an ace artist of some kind and keeping to myself in a quiet little corner, where the occasional brave seeker would stumble across my little habitat and be absolutely captivated with the marvelous things I can create using limited resources and even more limited skill, talent, experience and intellect. They'd be amazed and tell me it's awesome, and I'd just go "aw, that's nothing, but thanks". Fulfilling that Idea requires two things (maybe three). One: Be good at what you're doing, and two: Don't make any noise. And you know what? I think I might already have the second one down! Oh, joyous days! (The third thing might be to not undermine your self-image by sharing your approach to fulfilling said self-image in question to the internet, but whatever).
And this is not me being a *crass term for mating* *explicit word for female genital*. No, no, this is totally me being cool and not caring about getting lots of views and likes from strangers on the internet. Whatever, man. I just make stuff for its own sake. I don't need the system, I'm way to cool for that shit. Please love me? 
Even so. I still wish more people shared their thoughts on the story so far. I've never written anything before. And if you who are reading this have never written anything either, then you probably know the feeling that if you ever did try to write something, you'd have no idea whether you're writing anything good or nor. And surprise surprise! Neither do I! 
Which clumsily segues us into the reason I started writing this post. At the moment, I have a general idea of where the story can go. It feels fine in my head, some adventure, excitement, some laughs, perhaps even some character drama. And that last one made me stop and think. What did people think about that last chapter (A much warmer welcome)? I felt that if I wanted to get the story going then I had to scale back the funny a degree or two to make way for some slightly serious stuff, and since Moving With Magic is a practice-session, I decided to run with it and see what would happen. If the story is gonna go the way I'm thinking right now, i don't see it happening without scaling the serious up just a little bit.
And that makes me nervous. So often I've seen fun stories taking a turn for the darker and then just wallowing in that. I'm totally set on that not happening in this story as I've set out to write an uplifting tale. But that's just it, how far can I go with melodrama without alienating it away from the source material? This is, after all, fanfiction for Friendship is Magic. Please share your thoughts. Even though I'm gonna be all like, you know, sort of "meh, whatever," about it.
And now to put this where everyone can see it. *makes a blog that no one reads, from a user that no one knows about* 
I liked the overall chapter. IMO the story will need to get a little more serious, and I think you can do that just fine, even with keeping some of the humor in it. I can see fun times in the future when she finally gets a new glass eye and messing with ponies... as long as its not all the time or overdone.
I will admit, there are some things I wish to strangle Gabrielle about, though. Especially her insistence in not ever wanting to ask for help other than a few rare occasions. She should know its no shame, or to feel like an invalid, to ask for help every now and then with those disabilities, especially from a nurse. It's also not bad to give thanks to those that do try to assist her.
I did like the eye injury explanation you had too, it does make sense with stuff seen in the show.
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Thanks
Well, my favorite works tends to blend humor and seriousness well (pretty much everyone's favorite works does). I should try and see how well I can pull that off.
I hope that Gabe's "flaws" are not real story turnoffs. I read about how Lauren Faust didn't like that the earlier versions of MLP was all about rainbows, smiles and tea parties with no conflict or drama. Which gave me the idea of a protagonist who ends up in a big, fuzzy, heart-covered hug-box, who looks like she belongs in one, seems like she needs it, but doesn't really want it. I also hope that her being sick of needing help & being grateful for it makes sense and perhaps even makes her seem human (current designation notwithstanding).
Ponies (and griffins, too) having tough eyes came from me trying to figure out reasons for Gabe seriously embracing Equestria as her home. I felt that there had to be quite a few perks beyond finally defrosting (a bit, at least) and starting to appreciate close relations again.
Thanks for the response. I'm not exactly drowning in feedback to don't hold back if you want to share. Also tell me if you want some back (if that's okay with you
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Nah, they are not turn offs. They are good to have, it gives her character. I was just trying to say, not to overdo it and make her always seem jaded against asking for help, or kinda mad/disgruntled when receiving it.
I was in temporarily in a wheelchair once for two months a long time ago. I can tell you, yeah it sucked to have to ask for help a lot, and sometimes I was like Gabe about the help I needed or was getting, but more often then not I realized that the people were just wanting to help me get through it.
Now that's not to mean just go up and change everything about her, just trying to say maybe make her a little less put off by the help she needs at the moment. Especially with Nurse Redheart since they seem to be getting along pretty well.
Feedback is always welcome (preferably in a pm, but does not have to be), and I am glad I was able to give you some. Kind of wish I could do a better job at giving you feedback, but I am not the greatest and finding bad things about stories I like.
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Ah, that's good to hear. I figured that someone who had to struggle, a lot, to regain control over their everyday life would be kind of ticked off at finding themselves in such a situation again. It's a bit of a challenge to write though, as I've never been impaired in any similar way even once in my life. My most trying experience was when I had my wisdom teeth pulled out. Though in fairness, my dentist said that it took a record amount of force to get them out and there was quite a bit of cutting involved
It's a difficult situation to explore with just imagination, but I'm figuring that Gabe feels a strange mix of pride and bitterness at herself and her state. She's broken, but she pressed on and learned to adjust. She's bitter, but she's learned to appreciate what she has, and she's got a rational mind and tries her very best to not take her bitterness out on others, even though she can't quite swallow back her exasperation.
As I'm writing this I'm realizing that I seem to be writing down Gabe's motivations mostly for my own sake.
Anyway. I hope it wasn't anything too serious that put you in a wheelchair and I'm hopefully gonna be able to take some time these days and read through Protocol D thoroughly and see if I can offer some insight. In a public comment if its positive