Hello, yes, it has been a while and I am not dead and nor have I forgotten about this series (though I fear other people have? I dunno).

And as the title of this A/N suggests, this is a good one! A positive A/N! No bad news here, and I am not being sarcastic!

A while back ago, I talked about how I don't really ship BillDip (Still don't?) and I'm iffy on writing Limbo is a Legend for a lot of reasons. I mainly discussed the shipping problem, but I also touched upon the fact that I am working on other things and have mostly moved onto original fiction… all that has remained the same, nothing has changed from that fact.

Thing is, there's a couple of other things related to Limbo is a Legend that I didn't really mention. The main one being: y'all, I'm just tired of editing this damn thing. I really am. I hate editing. I am not good at editing. And furthermore… I've already rewritten large chunks of it. Counting the edits I was trying to work on before the hiatus, that's two major rewrites. And that doesn't count some of the smaller bits of editing I was trying to do on the side either! Like it's just too much! It's too much for a free fanfic, I'm sorry but it's true.

And honestly… I am not that good at editing. And I do want this series to be the best it can be but honestly? What do I gain from writing fanfiction besides growth as a writer?

Nothing, really. Some nice feedback too at times, sure. And, of course, making other people happy. But I don't gain financially and it doesn't really help me market my other stories I got (no one is interested in fanfiction authors switching to original fiction; tumblr has made it quite clear to me on that notion).

Like most people, I write fanfiction 'cause I wanna have fun. It's actually nice to take a break from writing original fiction as I find fanfiction a lot easier to write. During downtime, I like working on projects I don't have to worry about one day going thru the publishing process.

So, why the hell am I spending so much damn time working on a fic I don't even enjoy anymore? Especially when I am at the point where the reworking and rewriting is just gonna be too much and at the end I will still probably be dissatisfied anyways.

Well, I shouldn't. But how am I gonna complete this thing anyways? I like completing things. Finishing things I am working on really boosts my confidence and is just… a good feeling to me. Plus, I hate leaving things unfinished… it haunts me.

(Hell, the first fic I ever wrote is kinda unfinished and that fic also haunts me to this day).

So I was laying in bed thinking of all this shit and I had an epiphany: if I don't like or want to work on Limbo is a Legend, then what if I just don't?

Sounds crazy, I know. But I had thoughts congruent to that one as well: Life is a Fairytale… isn't that good.

There was a time in my life where if you asked me the best thing I ever wrote, I'd point to Life is a Fairytale. While LiaFt still remains as the longest completed work I've ever written, it's honestly…. Not that great.

I was originally gonna go back and mainly do light edits to it before really working on LiaL. Fix the dialogue tags, change some other style choices I grew out of, fix grammar and spelling mistakes… things of that nature.

But then I realized, a lot of issues I was dealing with in LiaL kinda stem from LiaFt. It's almost as if LiaL is a sequel to a shaky fic that wasn't thought out until I was 7 chapters deep into said shaky fic! And furthermore, said fic only had one outline! Who woulda thunk, ya know?

There's a lot wrong content-wise with LiaFt. I am sure I am also really the only one who sees it too, since I have read it so many times (especially the first chapter. Fuck that chapter).

Deus ex machinas pepper the end, Tad is characterized oddly, there are subplots that just kinda… stop. Bill's entire motivation to leave the forest changes halfway through the fic! Not because I wanted it to change, but because I had a better idea and just. Changed it. And it's so obvious!

And the actual town of Gravity Falls isn't connected well with the rest of the world. The world building in LiaL feels almost completely different than what is established in LiaFt due to the fact that… I didn't connect the two fics that well together.

And Life is a Fairytale is just… there's a lot of old writing. A lot of old writing, filler chapters, filler sentences, and goddamn I wanna age up Dipper a few years! I do! Kinda stuck now, however.

I can't really write a sequel to a fic that's just… kinda shaky and one I myself haven't sat down to read for like a year or two. That's just kinda the way it is, it's hard to connect details that changed in the middle of the story, and then again at the end.

Another detail is this, however: when I wrote LiaFt, Gravity Falls (the show) wasn't completed. This doesn't seem like a big deal, but it kinda is? Some new characters were introduced that I could've used! There are reveals about the lore of the show that I could've added. Plus, I like the idea of Life is a Fairytale almost being a close-ish retelling of the show with some major details being changed (Dipper and Mabel's parents being dead, all the demons being gods, established magic system…) and I did enjoy incorporating some of the show details into the fic. It made everything a lot more interesting, I think, and I also think a lot of y'all also enjoyed those details as well!

I recently got both seasons of Gravity Falls On DVD, so I figure what the hell, may as well rewatch the show since I bought it. So I am planning on rewatching it soon-ish (I still got work and college is coming up too, so it may take a bit).

While thinking about all this shit, I got kinda nostalgic for… well this series? Which is kinda where all these thoughts just burst forth. Plus, I had a good brainstorming night the other night and kinda figured out a lot of details.

So let's go back to me not writing Limbo is a Legend. How can I finish the Once Upon a Time Trilogy without writing Limbo is a Legend?

Pretty easily. Make it the Once Upon a Time Duology. AKA, two books, not three. Part of growing as a writer, I think, is being able to tighten up a story as much as possible. If I can write a story in two books, then I shouldn't stretch it to three. If I can write an entire story in one book, I shouldn't stretch it to two. I'm (usually) long winded, so putting some reigns on myself is hard, but good practice.

And fanfiction, for me, is practice. And I wanna practice writing a series here first before tackling my planned original fiction series'.

So my thoughts are kinda like this: I don't wanna write LiaL, LiaFt kinda needs a bit of a rewrite, and wow look at all these new ideas! I can probably concoct a story similar to the original one I wanted to write within two books. Probably.

And, though I am working on a side novella in my current bout of "down time," once I finish that, I'm gonna need another side project to work on during downtime. May as well be this monster of a series, right?

My current plans are as follows: rewatch Gravity Falls, rewrite LiaFt and also outline its sequel (which is no longer gonna be LiaL). I may change the series name too so its more fitting… dunno yet if I can't figure something good out, then probably not.

I wanna note that I am NOT gonna be taking LiaL down. It will remain up for y'all to read at any time! It just won't be "canon" to my series anymore.

As for the rewrite of LiaFt… I dunno if I should post it as a new fic or if I should replace the chapters? I am leaning toward just posting it as a new fic, honestly, as that would be less confusing and would also allow people to read the old fic if they wanna. The old version of LiaFt will have a note in the title that it is old. (So most likely, I will probably rename it to "Life is a Fairytale (Old Version)" while the rewritten version will be just "Life is a Fairytale")

How does all that sound? I think all this sounds like a pretty great idea. I get to tell the same story I want using more of the show elements and details and also shortening the entire series and allowing me not to work on LiaL because honestly… fuck that I don't wanna do it anymore. I know writing two newish fics sounds like a lot more work than just editing LiaL but honestly, a lot of LiaFt is probably gonna stay the same, I just wanna cut some chapters and change some scenes up and the like. Likewise, I love the idea of having an old version and new version of something I've written to show my progress as a writer. Years have passed now, I've been wanting to work on a project like that for a while now, and LiaFt is pretty much perfect for a longterm and large project like that.

Most likely I'll announce when I am posting the new version of Life is a Fairytale. I wanna get most of it rewritten if not all of it and the entire sequel outlined before posting it. Luckily, since I am gonna be mainly tightening LiaFt, and all of it is already written, I hopefully won't struggle with it as much as LiaL.

The new sequel, from the ideas I have remaining from LiaL and the original third book, is gonna be a wild ride, I can promise you that! I will also be lifting more things from the second half of the second season to incorporate as well, something I didn't have the option to do when I was originally working on this series on the basis that those episodes hadn't aired yet.

This is all gonna take months to do, but it's already been several months since my last update. I won't have any more updates most likely till I get most the rewriting process done… and that will probably officially start taking place next year sometime hopefully. I can't promise how timely things will come out; it may take a year or two to get LiaFt rewritten and the new sequel planned in detail but, hey! I'm still working on this fic, I wanna keep y'all updated in a somewhat timely manner, and yeah.

Honestly, I don't really have deadlines. It all just matters on my mood and how other projects are going.

Anyways! Hopefully y'all like the ideas I just kinda threw up everywhere. Feedback to any of what I said above would be fantastic! Especially on whether or not I should change the series name and if y'all who are still even interested in this series like any of these ideas above?

And also feedback just to know that people are still even interested in this story would be great. It has been a bumpier ride than I expected and I know usually people aren't this… obsessive? With things and I know most people usually finish their series without having to constantly be going back and editing and all this bullshit…

What can I say. I'm bad at what I do and am also a perfectionist so it all just kinda sucks and is embarrassing that I've been running around in circles and getting nothing done for so long. It's almost as embarrassing as this is the second time I've had an uncompleted fic with three A/Ns hanging on the end of it.

Hopefully next time, I'll have a new fic posted for all of you, and hopefully it will be good and y'all will like it!

Thanks for reading and bearing with me for so long. I know I don't do things in a very… even manner. I'm a messy and chaotic person and that just kinda bled into this series I guess, despite my best efforts.

Tho, I do wanna note this: Since I rarely use fanfiction . net now, I will be posting the new version of LiaFt only on AO3 since I like that site better. The new version of Life is a Fairytale and its sequel will be AO3 exclusives. I will note in my profile on here when they are up, however, for those who wanna read the new version but who don't use/rarely go on AO3.

As always, thank you all so much for all the support and I hope I have y'alls continued support? Who knows, because I certainly don't!

I hope everyone has a good day/night/whatever time it is, and I will get back to you once I got some sort of real progress to speak of!