Status Update (2020-02-03): "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated" - Mark Twain

Tl;dr: I'm not dead, and I haven't left the fandom completely, but I haven't got much writing done in the last eight months, so while EotN is not abandoned, I cannot say when the next chapter will be released.

Greetings everyone.

If you're reading this, then you're probably wondering if/when the next chapter of "Echoes of the Night" is coming out, I wish I had better news for you, but I figure some news is better than no news:

The short answer is that I haven't done much writing since posting the first chapter of EotN, and while I would like someday to come back to the "Age of Night" universe and finish telling Hiccup and Muninn's story, I cannot say when the next chapter will be published.

I know this isn't the news a lot of you were hoping for, and this is difficult for me to write, but please allow me to try and explain:

As I alluded to in my last author notes, I've been struggling with depression since graduating from university in 2017. I am getting treatment, but recovery is a long process, fraught with set-backs. Couple that with trying to figure out what I want to do with my life now that I've left education and It's been difficult to find motivation to write.

Also, I admit to losing interest in the franchise somewhat after the release of HTTYD3, due to the problematic elements of the film's ending (I don't want to get into it here, so if you don't know what I'm talking about, I suggest checking out 10Blue10's essay on the subject). So the few times I was able to work up the energy to write, I didn't feel like working on HTTYD fanfiction.

Finally, in the time leading up to/after my graduation, and the confusion about where I was going with my life, I tried too hard to build up an identity for myself as a "writer", and I lost sight of why I started writing in the first place; writing became something that I did out of obligation, because it was what I "wanted to be", rather than something I did for fun.

This update isn't all doom and gloom though: It's taken a long time, but I've finally found a project that I'm enjoying working on again. I won't say anything else about it at this time, as I'd prefer to keep the story as something fun I'm working on for myself, and to avoid building up expectations for something I may lose interest in halfway.

I hope to see you again soon, with better news!

~Superbun

P.S: If anyone would like to know what I had in store for Echoes of the Night - if that would give you some measure of closure - please get in touch with me via PM and I'll figure out some way to share my notes with you.