Velociraptors can draw too

Been a long while since I’ve actually committed to writing something, but man I just got too many ideas to let them rot away in my head.

Summary below:

Starting immediately after the end of Chapter 2's Dark World, Kris finds that whatever entity was controlling them is gone. Connection severed.

Kris has been on the brink of resigning themselves to a lifetime of puppetry, and are now left with more options and choice than they were ever prepared to have. Naturally, they kind of freak out.

So, the first thing they need is some time to themselves. Just to process what felt like years of of possession. But they are never one to go about things the sensible fashion.

And the worst part about being freed from an extended period of possession? You forget how to keep your feelings in check.

Another Winter [Chapter 65]

Summary:

* The gardens burn, but not with jealousy.

Another Winter [Chapter 64]

Summary:

* Smoke sits on the horizon. The end is in sight.

I touched on this a bit in my update post, but there isn't much that will be changed. I might do something with Tenna, given that Anne was my interpretation of him... so he could potentially be a brother; but I'm on the fence about that, since he doesn't even get to do much Post-Chapter 3 in game either.

Not Dead

Ough... for starters, thank you all for your kind words and concerns. Yeah, I'm still kicking. I dunno about 'okay' necessarily, but I'd say I'm at least doing better? A lot has happened, though.

Went to college for a bit. Didn't really go that well, but at least I learned some stuff. Been struggling with my mental health a lot, though have been on antidepressants for a bit now which seem to be helping.

Chapters 3 & 4 were cool, but I won't like that they did burn out my passion for writing AW a little. Not forever, but it definitely made me second guess how I should go about stuff-- and pair that with unspoken hiatuses and guilt for providing a lack of updates... well, you kinda end up trapping yourself in a loop of perpetual self-loathing.

And as for Another Winter itself...

Hiatus

I certainly plan on continuing, even if I'm pretty worried that I've lost my touch and grasp on characterization... And also that I totally got my Chapter predictions wrong (predicted Flower King one Chapter early...), yet, I have GOT to get my Chapter 5 take out before Tricky Tony.

The good news, though, is that Post-Flowerfell should go quite smoothly for a while, given that Chapter 4 (which will be my Chapter 5) is going to be the Church, which is already fully fleshed out. Obviously I'm going to have a few of my own takes, and it will be far from a carbon copy-- but it will certainly help production time.

I'm not going to promise Weekly Chapter Updates (though I'll try to be more active on Tumblr moving forward) or anything like that this time around, since failing to meet those standards I set for myself is part of what contributed into that bad loop I was stuck in.

At the very least, I'll be shooting for 1-2 Chapter Updates a month (ignoring breaks, which I will likely end up taking to avoid burnout in the future). Of course, I might put out more chapters than that, but this is just a more lenient set of standards I'm setting for myself, since I do still have other stuff going on.

So, expect more updates soon, but there is one more matter I'd like to bring up.

GoFundMe

I want to ask for some help on the behalf of my partner. One of the biggest motivations to get over myself and try to commit to writing again was in an effort to help them; so that I could reach out to more people in hopes that they could get more support.

Their circumstances aren't as pressing currently, but they are still pretty bad, and I want to help them all I can. If you can't donate, that's perfectly fine, but even just sharing this around would be a big help.

Another Winter [Chapter 63]

Summary:

* The Great Battle for Flowerfell unfolds.

Another Winter [Chapter 62]

Summary:

* The Capital awaits. (This chapter has some graphic depictions of violence and darker themes than usual. You have been warned.) (It is also recommended that you disable any Site Skins for this chapter, to ensure the Work Skin functions perfectly.)

Another Winter [Chapter 61]

Summary:

* Lost among the stars... a forest may grow from the roots of constellations...

Another Winter [Chapter 60]

Summary:

Susie learns about Flower Mages, Kris has a talk with their dad, and Noelle goes off script.

Another Winter [Chapter 59]

Summary:

* Queen Linnaeus stands ready for judgment.

Another Winter [Chapter 58]

Summary:

Another mage joins the bouquet, Kris does some puzzles, and Noelle takes a trip down memory lane.

Another Winter [Chapter 57]

Summary:

Tekton talks politics, Kris finally gets to ride the subway, and lurkers watch from afar.

Another Winter [Chapter 56]

Summary:

Kris gives a pep talk, the party hop down the bunny trail, and more of the Antomine-Gurder conspiracy starts to unravel.

I don't really think it's weird, and I'm not sure if you're still an active reader after all this time... but I wanted to say that I thought about this ask a lot during my hiatus. It was very uplifting to see and a big motivation for me to pull myself back up to continue.

Sorry it took so long to answer, too. I kind of got it in my head that it wouldn't be fair to answer my inbox or reply to comments, since it may give the idea that I'd be back to writing when in actuality I wouldn't be ready... and the longer I took, the worse I felt about myself.

just wanted to say your fic is cool! I'm only on chapter 35 and I'm rationing the rest out so I don't ruin it by binge reading, but I've enjoyed it so far!

Didn't mean for it to be so elusive... I'll have to link it every few chapters or so. Also, THANK YOU!

Thank you! It's a bit nerve wracking to be writing again, especially when under a time limit... but I still got 48 days to beat Toby, and I estimate (based on my outline) that this Dark World has a minimum of 8 chapters left!