Life is brief; Fall in love, maidens; before the raven tresses begin to fade · 3:42am Feb 2nd, 2014
You know, I began to write my magnum opus Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying back in 2011. It seems like just yesterday that I was going to just write a one shot to contribute to the dozens of mlp fanfics out there, wanting to give back to the tiny community of fellow fans. Then after about ten or so very positive reviews, I decided to continue it. Now look at where we are; the future. The number of writers and their creations has gone from a few dozen to a few thousand. I feel old now, like my story is a classic, a relic. I'd say I'm like the Balzac of mlp fanfictions, but I'm nowhere near prolific enough. I might qualify as a Bronte, except I have little love for any of the Brontes or their works.
Ah well. Putting that aside, I'm afraid that I'm not really enjoying mlp all that much any more, and I'm of the opinion that when you don't love something, it's better to not force yourself to love it. So, with that in mind, I'm planning on finally wrapping this bad boy up. The next update will be Part 3b Side B, which is almost entirely written to my satisfaction. I still hate large swaths of it, but less so than before the three or four rewrites it's gone through. After that, there will be one final update. A gotterdammerung of an ending if you will. Please excuse the lack of umlauts, I use a US keyboard and am too lazy to look up the ascii codes. Anyway, the final update will be long, and it will be cathartic, at least for me, and it will finally end this story that is both too long and too short.
I don't know how long it will take to write. I haven't even written out the outline yet. I have an idea of the outlines for the two chapters it is going to replace, but now I need to reformulate them, prune and graft them together while adding new elements to make it flow. I have no idea how long it will be, but I suspect it will likely be the longest chapter of the story.
After this story, I think I might retire from the internet for a while. I don't think this fandom really needs me any longer.
About the bi-weekly updates, I'm sorry for missing the last few. It just feels awkward to basically say the same thing every couple of weeks. "Sorry it's not ready yet. I'm still working on it, and it should be done soon. Whoops, actually everything I've written thus far is putrid garbage, so I'm going to start over and make it slightly better. By the way, work is hard." So I'm not sure if I'll try to keep doing them. If you want me to though, I will.
By the way, the title of this post is from the song Gondola no Uta. I picked up Ikiru a while back and I highly recommend it. Even though it's a Japanese movie made in the '50's, the themes it deals with are timeless, and so it is just as powerful today as it was then. Much like how much of classic literature is still relevant. Though the outward trappings are dated, the core of the story, the ideas, characters, and conflicts they present are ones that have existed for millennia, and will likely exist for millennia more. That's the kind of story that I'd like to write. One that deals with ideas and characterizations that surpass the mundane and deal with issues that all of us have, and will always have.
Anyway, my $0.02
System.exit(0);
I knew the moment you said that writing the story felt more like a burden than you no longer were enjoying mlp, but sooner or latter we all have to move on, and to be honest you will be moving when the apex of the series has long been left behind us.
That said, I won't lie that I find extremely pleasant that after all this time, and the loss of what originally drove you to write your story, you still intend to finish it, since as you said, this is one of the classic MLP fanfics, dare I say one of the legendary ones, which will pass as the longest running fic in this fandom once it's finished.
One last thing: I'm assuming you stopped watching the new episodes, so what was the last one you watched, if I may ask?
PS: You were part of the golden age of that wonderful summer of 2011, so it's not that you are no longer needed, but that you will always represent the best of us during that time, so even if you decide to one day disappear all together, you won't stop being that
I'm sad to hear of your interest waning. I consider this story to truly be one of the legendary classics of mlp. I am beyond grateful to see you stand behind it!
Yeah, while it is sad to see you go, if you feel your interest drawn elsewhere, you should follow it. Everything else won't make anyone happy.
As the others have said, it is extremely nice of you to finish the story even after your interest has waned, and I cannot express my gratitude for that enough. I think I mentioned before that I am certain that this story of yours was the one that got me into MLP fan fiction, and it is still one of my absolute favorites, a masterstroke of pacing,characterization and character-driven storyline. This story is for TwiLuna what Composure is for Twilestia, and in my honest opinion you can be damn proud of it.
As for your blog updates, I read 'em. Not much more to be said about that. There are always some interesting things you have to tell, so...
So do you plan to continue writing anything outside of pony then, once you are done DLTSCYC? Or was that the aim of DLTSCYC in the first place?
You are neither a Balzac or Bronte, you my sir are a Baggins. Bilbo to be precise. Had one great adventure, but you now feel old and worn out. You just want to finish your book, your one great masterpiece, and sail off into the west. I feel like I'm losing an old friend. You were one of the first five writers I ever followed( to this day I only follow 19, pretty low considering the hundreds of fics I've read). I really loved your fic, and I plan to start at the beginning, and read it all the way through again when you finish it. Well, all good things must come to an end, and so too shall this fandom fall someday. May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always with you, may the sunshine warm you always, till we meet again. Good bye!
P.S. I remember picking out Ikiru from the library when I was 11. I bet my mom thought something was wrong with me when I really liked it. Thanks for reminding me of it, I need to go rewatch it.
1785946
I'm many things, but most of all, I'm a man of my word. When I started this thing, I said I'd finish it, no matter how long it would take. Well, I'm going to finish it.
I don't know about longest running. Isn't Fallout Equestria still going?
You don't even want to know when I last watched an mlp episode. As far as being part of 'the golden age of ... 2011,' suddenly I'm reminded of Donovan's Atlantis, and I can't help but wonder am I the poet, the scientist, the magician, or one of the other so called gods of our legends.
my antideluvian baby, yeah, glub glub down.
1786106
Thanks, it was a pleasure to write for you all, and I hope that the end of the story will be as enjoyable as all that has gone before it.
1786599
Thank you for reading, and I'm glad that you don't mind the sedate pacing of the story. I am rather proud of it. Once it's all said and done, I'm going to find some whacko to bind it for me, and I'm going to set it on my coffee table. When visitors come and ask what it is, I'll tell them it's a story about love between two female magical ponies. And I wrote it. As for getting you into fanfiction, I apologize, and I hope that I may one day experience enough penance to make up for it.
1786748
That's the aim of all my stories. But I plan to work on non-fanfiction stuff in the future. It might not ever be good enough to publish, but it might be good enough to self-publish as an e-book one day.
1794310
Well, I am short and do have hairy feet. I wouldn't call this much of an adventure though. Not all that much orc fighting or dragon slaying involved, not even all that much walking. It's just a simple love story, nothing more, nothing less. The kind of thing that happens everyday, or might never happen at all.
I need to go rewatch Ikiru too. Have it remind me that just going to work everyday and earning enough money to pay new bills isn't the only reason to live.
Thanks everyone. It's been a fun(ish) ride, well more of a stroll really, and I hope to see you at the end.
1804079
Cool. I'm sure you'll let us all know if that happens, right?
1804079 Well, it's been helping me, so don't beat yourself up too much on my account.