Update? Hah, I wish.

It's been a while since I said anything here, hasn't it? Might as well put something up, while I have the idea fresh in my mind. I could probably use an outlet of sorts, in any case.

So, first of all, the vignette I mentioned in my last lengthy blog post was finished not too long after that went up, and it wound up being...well, it's a little hard to describe it with a single word. Cathartic? Fulfilling? Regardless, I do know that it was important that I wrote it, and I understand myself better for it. If anyone was intrigued by my earlier mention of it, and wanted to read it, the finished product can be found here. I'm not likely to put it up anywhere else in the foreseeable future, given the personal nature of the subject matter, but I'd like to at least share it here after mentioning it once before. I'm also considering adding more to it, turning it into a proper story, but that will have to come much later, if at all, as I only have the barest concept of how it would go.

I've also put a little more work into the Dota 2/MLP crossover that I've had going for...at least two months, I think? Something like that. I've worked through nearly all of the issues I had with the content I had done the last time I mentioned it; the only one remaining is that it begins very abruptly, and I may not change that as I wound up writing the entire thing so that it would work with such a sudden beginning. I just need to figure out which direction I want to take it and how far I want it to go now, and I should be able to finish it rather quickly after that's done with. That's also something that I may end up writing more of, as the idea of several Heroes intervening during the conflict with Discord caught my fancy.

Then there's the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon fic that I've had in the works for the last two years, which has absolutely nothing to do with anything on this site, but which I feel is worth mentioning regardless, as I've poured so much of myself into it - probably more than anything else I've ever written. Progress is still very, very slow on that, but I've managed to hit on inspiration for several parts thanks in large part to a pair of Pokémon fics I've fallen in love with. So if you're at all curious as to what sort of story it's going to be, I'll direct you over to From the Ashes by EverD (which happens to be a crossover with Harry Potter), and Master, Pokémon? by Saphroneth. The tone of each of these stories made me want more, and so I'm going to try to fit in a little of both into my own story. On top of that, there are a few concepts cribbed from or based off of parts of those stories that I've added in, so I feel I owe them a bit of a debt - which I'd like to repay in part by giving their stories more attention.

In non-writing news, I've started to play Final Fantasy XIV, and it's the first MMORPG I've ever played that I actually think is worth subscribing to. The soundtrack is fantastic, the art direction and visuals are absolutely gorgeous, the gameplay feels more welcoming and deliberate than others of its kind, and the story is pretty darn engaging. If anyone else is on the Adamantoise server, that's the one I play on. I've managed to find a good Free Company - or guild, in most other games - through a friend of mine, and that's also made the experience a lot more entertaining than it otherwise would be.

I've also been listening to a lot of synthwave recently - Carpenter Brut and Dance with the Dead, primarily, with a bit of Le Matos mixed in. All three of these make some great music, and I'd heartily recommend that you check them out. (I may have mentioned Le Matos before, but still.)

...Anyway, I think that's everything. Until next time, I suppose.