The Keepers of Discord reading, now with new artwork! · 10:28pm Dec 22nd, 2015
Hello again!
Two blog posts in two days. What is the world coming to? 
We finally got some snow here in Minneapolis. It's only a thin, wispy layer of it, but it managed to stick around for more than a few hours. Also, it looks like more may be on the way. Perhaps we'll have a white Christmas after all!
I have something really special to share with you all today.
Every once in a while, something comes along, completely out of the blue, and just floors me. This is definitely one of those things:
Part one:
Doctor Wolf (the fine gentleman reading the story) let me know about this a couple of days ago. I didn't know this was coming, so I wasn't sure what to expect when I clicked on the link. But whatever I might have expected, it sure wasn't having the entire story illustrated and semi-animated! The amount of work that must have gone into the art humbles me, it truly does. And, I confess, I was so incredibly touched that someone would go through all that effort that I spent the rest of the day almost deliriously happy. So, I really must thank Skyward Sylphina for all her work. Seriously, thank you so, so much!
The eternal critic that lives inside everyone who writes is making me wish the story were better, to be more worthy of the art. I mean, look at that art! It's brand new, yet somehow evokes a such a strong sense of nostalgia in me, like I've seen it in the illustrations of a favorite storybook from back when I was very young.
Then I blink and remember that it's art for a story that I wrote, and I'm back to just feeling stunned again. Those of you who've received fanart for stories they've written will know what I mean by that.
As of this blog post, only four parts of the reading have been released. The others are coming soon, though. Apparently, there have been some issues with Youtube and what sounds like an unwarranted strike on Dr. Wolf's channel, so he can only release videos in 15-minute slices. The remaining chapters should be along in the next few days.
Again, to Dr. Wolf and Skyward Sylphina, thank you! And a very sincere thank you to all my readers, as well.
Wishing you all a happy holiday season,
~Hoopy
Awesome!
A fantastic reading of a fantastic story!
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It absolutely is! Not only this, but looking through my last few blog posts, it's jam-packed with fantastic art for my stories.
How do I simply not explode with joy? Huh? How?!
Congratulations! I cannot think of a higher honor for your work that could be given at this point, and deserving of it I believe it is. And to think that you neither had to ask for it nor pay for it is a testament to how your story affected yet another individual out there.
I typically don't care for fan readings but this is an exception. Brought back all the emotions when I first read it too, simply beautiful :)
As of this time the last 2 videos are still private but luckily I can read it still.
Congrats, that's awesome.
Great to hear that you enjoyed it so thoroughly Hoopy. And it's wonderful to see how many more people are now being exposed to this story and are amazed at how genuinely heartfelt it can be. Thank you once again for writing this tale, and I'm glad to know I played a part in helping others learn of its existence.
Haven't had a chance to hear Dr Wolf's reading of it yet, but I know he did an awesome job, since he's one of the three fanfic readers that outshine everyone else (the other two being Scribbler and Illya Leonov)
I know the feeling, but just remember that
1) being your own worst critic means that the people around you have a more accurate view of the story's worth
2) if you re-read your story and cannot find anything to change to make it better, it means it is plenty good enough (for now, since you might learn something more about writing or have an epiphany about how to improve -- but always get outside input on whether the change is a good one)