Here are a few further regrets regrets and other things.
Why I feelAnother Interview was so bad:
What I tried to do was to essentially see if I could pull off another successful interview story like I did with Storey five, but when I asked people for suggestions of questions for the interviewer to ask most of the few answers I got were mainly homosexuality related, which being that most characters' tails do not wag that way, made the whole thing feel more awkward. The other issue was I was trying to get this idea of what the pups called there private parts', which had sort of been mentioned into previous stories, (let's be adult about this) out of my head. I feel this was unnecessarily awkward, and the euphemism I went with for Zuma felt off, even to me (I do not want to go into that here). Anyway, I feel the story ended up subpar, for me, and unnecessarily awkward.
Pushing my comfort zone:
I first got the suggestion when I mentioned I was trying to get this idea I had of Tracker and his GF going on a walk, that would end in the two of them making love, and a long time reader of mine encourage me to do it (pusher comfort zone). So I wrote it as a dream. Seeing as the dream seemed to indicate Tracker stumbling on his sexuality, I couldn't resist writing a story about him and his girlfriend stumbling on theirs together. During the course of writing it, I had the idea to do another one shot about Jura's past relationship, and the ending that he and Rex were going to experiment with a few new things. When I decided that it woul be an appropriate ending to have Tracker and his GF consummating their relationship at the end of the story would be the best way to end it, I decided see how dirty my readers minds were, and I stated I was planning to do this by implication but if anybody wants it more explicit, speak up. And people did say so. Regardless I refused to do that for this story, though I might for the story foreshadowed by the one shot I just mentioned, and that's what I ended up doing. However, for reasons of good taste, while explicit, it was significantly tamer than the more smutty fics out there. I also tried to do a similar one shot following, the end of Rough Patch, but that only ended up feeling more unnecessary and weird, which is why I took it down not too long ago. Overall, I think the series ended up with too much sex.
Skyes's sexuality:
The end of the storyRough Patch essentially gave a conclusion to the subject of Skye's premature sexuality. However, I bone headedly failed to recognize that, and brought it up again in, Reliving Trauma, and I think Chase's wording made sounded too explicit. However, I can at least justify this on the grounds that Chase saw her very upset and was looking for any means to make her feel better, but simply misjudged how to do so, and worded things poorly, not to mention Skye felt creeped out by it. Not to mention, the fact that Skye in the end declined his offer shows that she had grown since Rough Patch (she could hurt him if she gets carried away).
Ending:
I had long planned of them of ending the series with a capping story. However, during an MRI, I came up with the idea of one of the pups having to go to the hospital and get an MRI himself. I initially thought about taking the story down, because I felt it was kind of subpar, but in the end I decided to keep it as a sort of pallet cleanser after the serious story that was Empathy.
Skye's vet visit:
I personally love this story, because not only does it really expand upon the previous details from the story Medication, but because I deliberately crammed a lot into a one shot to provide a sense of just how uncomfortable this situation is for everyone, with the story also taking place in a small (claustrophobic) environment, with uncomfortable subject matter, and lots of long pauses to further capture everyone's discomfort. I also find the story to be kind of frustrating, because everyone wanted me to write it, and it did not seem to be well received when I actually did so.
Ryder's characterization:
I made Ryder more father like because given the pups are essentially kids, he is basically their dad. Additionally, in cases where the pups get in trouble, it is shown that he views disciplining them as reluctant responsibility ("He hated when he had to do this"), but is willing to show tough love when he needs to (or bite the bullet on the other matters) i.e. he's acting like a parent. While he hopes Zuma doesn't get another UTI, he specifically tells him that if that were to happen, he would be there for him. It is also shown that he is not exactly comfortable with how Katie is recommending Skye deal with her "issue", but put her needs before his own comfort, which is why when he talks to her about it, he doesn't show any sign of being judgmental (because he doesn't want her to feel self-conscious about it). Not to mention, it is made clear that a good part of Ryders's desire to keep this quiet is to protect her. The other thing I really loved about Ryder's characterization was about how Ryder has a special relationship with Skye (due to specific circumstances), and how much he clearly loves all the pups. For example, his hatred towards Skye's parents is largely on "because you hurt her" grounds.