So that's the last item off the list I wrote all the back in Primary Fears. Now, I feel the need to warn you, Afterwords are usually more positive than what's about to come. You may want to sit down. The next few lines are going to be more negative than usual.

Anthology. Writing. SUUUUUUUUCKS. I usually like to have a little freedom when it comes to writing the stories, so I tend to hop around from chapter to chapter, while watching out for inconsistencies of course. But here… I couldn't really do that. If I found myself hitting a wall with one story, I couldn't move on to another without forcibly emptying my brain of the setting for the previous fic and having to adjust to the setting of the new one. All these setting changes ended up messing with my concentration, and I feel like the fics suffered for it, even when I wrote all the dialogue in one go and wrote the rest of the fic around it. I just couldn't win when it came to trying to get focused writing these, even with my favourite fics (Boiling Over, Eruption and Movie Night in case you were wondering).

But sadly, it seems my opinions on Eruption were not shared. That fic seemed to mostly fly under the radar, and trust me, it did NOT feel good. As I said back then, if it weren't for the fact that I write everything in advance, the failure of my favourite story would've been a hammer blow to my motivation to finish the collection. In fact, the whole collection seems to have performed… weakly. At least in comparison to everything else I've written. Frankly, I'm glad this won't be my final performance before going dormant (more on that later).

Right, moving on from the negativity, I will say that I'm happy I got all of these concepts out of my head and onto paper (screen?). Particularly Boiling Over. The lack of comfort fics like it is… honestly surprising, I must say. I realise I may have messed up in writing Whatever it Takes (which was more meant to be an exploration of the pups acting out of character, a fact I actually forgot while writing it, stupidly enough), but I'm still glad I wrote it. It's just a pity that the collection didn't do as well as I'd hoped. But there are a couple of stories I'm proud of.

As an aside, there's someone I'd sincerely like to thank who you may have seen mentioned once or twice in my fics: Zojak. Aside from him making all of the covers for my fics (this one included) without me even asking, he's been incredibly supportive from the moment he made his account here, and even before that. In addition, he's been kind enough to proofread three stories (those being Boiling Over, Whatever it Takes and Eruption). He's been a real friend the whole time, and frankly, I can't thank the guy enough. And as always, to everyone who reviewed, favourited, followed and what-have-you, thank you all for following my stories.

And now for my future plans. I said at the start of the collection that this won't be the last thing I write here (which is good, since this would've been quite the whimper to end on). And that is true. Because THIS will be where I plan to end it. I still have enough in me for one more fic before going dormant. As for a future return… well, it's still very much in the cards. Bowing out isn't really due to lack of ideas as much as it is about trying to restore some balance to my life.

What will the fic be? Well, since I've been writing descriptions and titles for all of my other fics, I may as well give you one now:

REKINDLED ANEW

Against the odds, it happened. Despite his seemingly-fatal accident tearing him away from his home, Marshall has safely returned to Adventure Bay. But scars run deep for the Paw Patrol, and Marshall's unbelievable return won't immediately heal everyone's trauma. Marshall soon realises that in order to truly put his nightmare behind him, he must first help everyone else do the same.

Sound familiar? That's because this one is actually another sequel! This time to Relight the Fire. The more I thought about continuing the fic, the more I liked the idea, and the more I wanted to bring it to life. You won't have to read Relight the Fire in order to read Rekindled Anew, though. I plan to cover my bases on that account with a prologue. But fair warning: if you thought Relight the Fire was an emotional gut-punch, then Rekindled Anew will use your gut as a speed bag. This is quite possibly going to be the most depressing thing I write here, and the themes actually made me consider rating it T as opposed to my usual K. But you know me, there's always light in the darkness.

It may even break the record held by Primary Fears as the longest fic I've written, but nothing's set in stone… least of all the release date. My practice of not giving out concrete release dates shall remain in place for this one. But I'm looking forward to writing and releasing it, and I hope you are, too.

So once again, I hope you enjoyed Twin Sirens, and I hope you're looking forward to Rekindled Anew.

Until next (and potentially last) time:

PyreFly out.