200 · 6:49am Nov 6th, 2013
That's two thirds the way to being a good movie title! And far more watchers than I ever expected...
But we're supposed to celebrate round numbers, right? Why not primes? Well, maybe it's because numbers that end in a bunch of zeros are easy to convey by doing jazz-hands...
Whatever the reason, I thought I'd post and let everyone—or at least some sub-set of the 200 that "watch" me—know a little about what I'm working on. The two stories I've mentioned previously—the young Starswirl epic and Rarity vs. the Creatures from Beyond Time—are both currently on the back burner as I work on one that's been quietly simmering for a long time now: Maquette.
It is the story of a bittersweet legend, as it is told to Twilight, of one of Equestria's greatest sculptors and his final masterpiece. I didn't set out to create a new spin on the old Pinocchio fairy tale, but the similarities are hard to ignore—and I've grown fond of the connection. One of the greatest differences (besides the obvious ponyness) is that the story is from the sculptor's point of view throughout, not his creation's. It was because of this complete change in perspective that I didn't notice the similarity until much later.
In fact, it was as I was belatedly searching for a name for my old sculptor amid a list of sculpting terms that I finally made the connection. You may have heard the term "maquette" used for the small clay sculptures of a movie or video game character. The word is French and it means a scale model, a three dimensional sketch, of a final work, possibly in another medium entirely. There's also an Itallian word that means almost exactly the same thing: Bozzetto.
And there I had both my sculptor's name, Bozzetto, and the name he gives the little filly he creates, Maquette. It was the cuteness of Maquette for a little filly's name and the sound-similarity between Bozzetto and Geppetto that put a smile on my face. It was if the story was begging me to write it.
And so I write. Not fast, but hopefully, well.
I don't want to put a Sad tag on this one, even though the main charachter dies. And no, that is not a spoiler. It is firmly established, straight away, that this is the story of Bozzetto's death. It all happened hundreds of years ago—of course he's dead. He was old when the story begins! Death is always sad, but that's not the point of the story. I don't want the story to be tagged Sad just because it has a sad note in it—there are many other notes, including notes that come after. Enjoy the whole song.
You should celebrate followers in binary. Your one hundred millionth (base 2) follower isn't too far away.
Oh man, was I the 200th follower? Congrats on getting that many by the way.
I like round numbers and repeating numbers and sequential numbers and sometimes random numbers for no reason. :B I celebrate a lot.