At this point, I've pretty much accepted the fact that my brain needs a bit of a rest, and I'm gonna stop fighting it on that point. This story's already been going for seven months now, and if the cost of keeping it going is a short break every now and then, that's fine by me.

So I'm not gonna stress about it, and I'm aiming for an April return to this story. It's kind of at an okay point for a "To Be Continued" anyway, what with the second trial just finishing up at all. It's a natural rest point.

I might also start writing some other, much shorter stories to break up the monotony, which I hope will help me keep focused. As much as I love this cast of characters and the story I'm telling with them, there are times that it gets a little tiring for it to be the only thing I'm writing. So I might try to weave in some one-shot stories with a different group of characters in a different setting.

Just wanted to put this journal out there, so anybody who might think this story is abandoned can rest assured that it's not. I refuse to give up on it, but I don't want to force it, either.