)886,587 · 6:44pm Jul 15th, 2014
Trixieverse is complete (at least from me!). It is 886,587 words long.
It's also 6 books—at least 12 major story arcs—1 overall theme and narrative. Just as it began with Twilight needing the world to be a certain way and going to any length to make that happen, it concluded with Twi finding an outlet, just as I had—and putting that dream into action.
The first chapter went up October 31st, 2011, and I was 43 years old, and my life had been changed irrevocably by two things: figuring out I was allergic to gluten and it made me depressed, and discovering ponies. I'd written four books, which most people still haven't read, and I'd run a daily webcomic for a couple years and then called it off because I was too lonely and too frustrated with my artistic failings. The fourth book came after I'd killed the comic ('Tally Road'), and it seemed so easy to write dystopian furry grimdark for hundreds of thousands of words, rather than draw it, but I was looking for something more. I couldn't connect with the characters and they had a hard time caring about each other because basically nobody cared about me. I wasn't so many years out of the homeless shelter, not so many years beyond a painful and sad divorce, and I was using my ingenuity to run a software business (airwindows.com, still there, and I've still got Applejack's cutie mark snuck onto the pages as I conduct my business in a way she would understand)
July 14th, 2014, the final chapter "Her Story" went up. I was 46 years old. It's been two years, eight months and change. 987 days. That averages to about 900 words a day, all toward a single connected and continuing narrative.
Let's put that into perspective.
Discworld is more than 3,000K words (three million). Of course, Terry Pratchett's been at it for longer—and he's paid.
Wheel of Time is 3,304K words. Game Of Thrones is 1,770K. All of Harry Potter is 1,084K words. Clearly, it ain't like I'm doing anything too impressive compared to the real doorstop-makers. I know there are Fo:E fics exceeding a million words, too: though it's fair to ask even of Wheel of Time, "is this a compelling narrative that tells a story and goes somewhere and ends satisfyingly?"
Fo:E itself is 600K words. Background Pony is 430K words. (Don't ask me about Austreaoh, or I shall gibber and hide ;) )
The Trixieverse series is 886K words.
All of Shakespeare is 884K words. Shakespeare used more words than I do, but did not use the word 'maregasm'.
The Dune series is 705K words. (we'll omit its fanfiction, I think: that seems fair)
Atlas Shrugged is 645K words, and we both wrote rapes, but I like how I handled the implications and consequences of mine better.
War And Peace is 560K words. Les Mis is 531K. Twilight (not ours, that creepy other one) is 591K. I'm pretty sure my bondage ponies are more wholesome than Other Twilight.
All of Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings including the Hobbit is 550K words. (All of Narnia ran about 324K words. C.S Lewis liked Tolkien's words a lot better than Tolkien liked Lewis's words.)
Moby Dick is 206K words. Back in the day we used to think that was a mighty big book. Mind you, Gone With The Wind is 418K words, all by itself.
The Trixieverse books tend to come in around the size of Dickens. Oliver Twist ran 155K words. A Tale Of Two Cities is 135K words—shorter than everything except Trixie's Magic Bit itself and Rarity's Worst Day Ever.
J.K Rowling never mastered tightening story arcs, and her books continued to expand in size as they went. Mine peaked out at Derpy Desires, and then began tightening up to the size of a nice big Dickens.
Ender's Game is 100K words. 1984 is 89K words. Catcher in the Rye is 73K words. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is 69K words. Brave New World is 63K words. Wind In The Willows is 58K words. The Great Gatsby? 47K words.
Are you seeing where I'm going with this?
It's great to be a writer. Everything grows from writing. (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is 30K words. There's a band named Veruca Salt.) It's also great to know how to sustain a continuing narrative, how to build a world in peoples' minds and let them find refuge there.
But to just continue, to go on and on, isn't necessarily the thing. In ponies alone I've written more than Shakespeare, more than Tolkien. In ponies alone, not counting my non-ponyfic writing, I've written more than many writers do in their entire lifetimes. And yet, when Kenneth Grahame wrote 'The Wind In The Willows' (there's an album named Piper At The Gates Of Dawn), he just stopped. One last 58K words, and he was done.
I don't know whether writing Trixieverse, six books about naughty ponies, will be like that for me. Quite a few of the real doorstop-makers are being paid to do what they do. I've seen my finances collapse over the last couple years, though that is partly economics and the nature of the world Google has made, where all creations get thrown into the giant 'free' vat and served up a kilobyte at a time.
The total number of books I've written is ten. Kings of Rainmoor, Ghosts of Rainmoor, Aquarius, Tally Road, Trixie's Magic Bit, Rarity's Worst Day Ever, Dashie's Foaling, Derpy Desires, Diamond's In The Rough, Too Near The Sun. They compress to 9.6 megs. This is that file. There are many zip files like it, but this one is mine. It took twelve seconds to download over my sketchy American internet. I'm sure in years to come, it will take even less time…
There are four stories on FIMfiction which have more words than all of Trixieverse. Three of them have thousands of views and upthumbs. One has 506 views, 81 upthumbs, five down.
There are forty-seven stories on fanfiction.net longer than all of Trixieverse. One of 'em's by Short Skirts & Explosions, if I'm not mistaken. Google can hook you up with any of them just for the asking. It will take the same twelve seconds to download any of those stories. You only have to know, to ask for them by name. Google doesn't care. The internet doesn't care. It can't tell the difference between Tales of The Cosmic Wars Vol Three, Light of Hope (favs 10, follows 4) and The Great Gatsby (one-fiftieth as many words. one-fiftieth as good, then?)
What do you want to do with your life?
I've been asked if it's okay to write fanfiction of Trixieverse. My feelings are mixed. On the one hand, I've only got one life and it's slipping away faster and faster. I've given three years to the ponies, and not begrudged it. The internet doesn't know I'm not Tales Of The Cosmic Wars Vol Three, Light Of Hope. Very soon, these three years will be lost forever, the effort meaningless. Having people ficcing on the world I've made helps keep it alive and continues that refuge for others (even if imperfectly) and I have to respect that. Of course you may, 'cos I love you.
But remember you're practicing for something. You're learning. You're taking a while to play with someone else's toys (in fact that becomes recursive: you play with Trixieverse which is me playing with Lauren Faust's toys which is her playing with the My Little Ponies of her own childhood) and expressing what you've got to express, using them. Maybe that's the perfect form for you to use, maybe not. It gives you a running start, much like C. S. Lewis took when hijacking all sorts of things for 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe'. But what you're celebrating isn't really the heart of what you're doing. You're practicing.
And then remember: you'll die, and then it will become clear that there was no practicing. That was it. You did what you did, whatever it was. I'm old compared to most of you lil' colts and fillies, I know this. I can feel it: the strain of staying alive in Google's universe where I don't matter and nothing I do is of much consequence, it gets heavy at times.
I can't promise I'll write, draw or otherwise create anything as good as Trixieverse. I can try, and most likely will, and I may even tell you about it here. (if not here, where?) Trixieverse struck a chord for, it looks like, 596 readers, some of whom made their homes there like it was a sort of Discworld or 222B Baker Street. (forgot to count Doyle's words!). That's more people than would fit into my house. More importantly, to provide that mental haven for even ONE HUMAN BEING, ever?
Priceless.
(I'll be at Bronycon if anypony wants to talk: and even if I never make anything original to compare with Trixieverse, I figure I'll give it a try. Because I'm still alive, and even if it's not my world, by Celestia I am still living in it, and I've learned how to do some stuff in the time I've been here. I know people will tune out the instant it's not ponies, and I don't care. Dickens was alive once, Orwell was alive once, I'm alive now and we all gotta do what we can with what we got in the world we're born to.)
W00T!!!
I will be there as well! We'll have to get all the FiMfic authors together for a group pic!
Good stuff.
*golf-claps*
Thank you Applejinx! I still have to read the last 2 books in this series, i was waiting for the big COMPLETE before starting them.
But the first 4 were priceless to me. I have greatly enjoyed your work and look forward to your next project.
Take care sir, and may you be happy wherever life takes you next :)
You did all of that, and invited me to play in this kick-ass sandbox with you, for which I can't thank you enough.
You know, it's possible you still haven't written your magnum opus. Miguel de Cervantes was, if I recall, in his late 50s and early 60s when he wrote Don Quixote. Before then, none of his work had made much of an impact.
Of course, there's the pesky matter of earning a living. It's always getting in the way of us artists. Still, you've gotten this far; no sense giving up now.
The three longest books in the series were the ones whose titles start with the letter D. Coincidence?
you aren't that much older than I am Rarijinx, and I'd be glad to be around to see more from you ~<3
It isn't just 886,587 words. It is 886,587 carefully chosen, excellent, emotionally powerful, intellectually broadening, truly engaging words. A truly worthwhile word is worth a thousand pointless ones.
You have 886,587 worthwhile words.
I think you are brilliant.
Christ am I ever depressed.
But I'm proud to have been part of this, and I'm incredibly glad to have met you, and... I guess I should say I'm happy for you. You did create that space for me, and it really was the space that I went to, on and off. TMB, its characters, its philosophy, and its author all taught me some lessons that I won't leave behind when I eventually leave ponies behind.
Look at me being sentimental. It's not like you're dying or moving to a country without Internet. But I love you too. <3
That is one impressive accomplishment. Doesn't matter if it's pony or not. That is some of the biggest dedication and love for something you just don't find much out there in today's world.
Though not my favorite genre, you certainly have a powerful way with words and kept this sort of mature charm to the characters. I've yet to read the final book. Only ever went up to Rarity's Worst Day Ever and Diamond's In The Rough, but I can say you left an impact and showed me that Mature stories aren't all dead yet. It had some really great moments, and I'm happy to have had the chance to read something that showed such great character in ponies like Diamond's confidence and pride, Apple Bloom's dedication to the farm and dealing with her insecurities and eventually not just finding her special somepony but also solidifying a bond her family has had with the Riches for generations.
And who's to forget Scootaloo fighting to be the colt even without the bit that Sweetie desperately needs and keep her from going down the wrong path. AJ finally being able to show Derpy the love she's had for the mare for a long time. Cloud Chaser helping Pinkie and Fluttershy through some dark times. And that book's FINALE! Simply unforgettable.
I can say that I won't be forgetting your story within the foreseeable future. You know how to make the most of a scene. I'm sure that if your stuff was in the SFW genre, you'd probably have maybe four times the followers. But the fact that there are so many brave souls who don't mind being seen as favoriting your story, goes to show how good your writing is. Not that many probably even would care what others think of them favoriting a pony story with lots of sex.
Google has indeed helped create a very controlled ecosystem. Pushing more and more towards removing anonymity and adding more censorship. Despite it all and the hardships you've found a place of comfort and probably one of the few places left with open mind enough to allow such creative writing to go undisturbed.
Keep doing what you know best. You should probably see about maybe publishing your books, commissioning some art for each book for each chapter that highlights a special moment and such. But of course, you know, gauge interest in whomever would be willing and able to produce the funds to buy a copy before placing an order for printing. Just a thought. I'm sure many of your fans would probably enjoy a physical copy. And all great stories deserve at least one printing!
Would I have your permission to print it out for my personal library? I would be willing to pay for the privledge.
We Believe in You!!!
And now that you've read the whole series… try reading it again knowing everypony's secrets, to see the way they've been dropping hints and giving their game away all along. In some cases, revealing stuff before _I_ knew it.
I mention this seeing some of Chatoyance's comments, finding Fluttershy baffling—and knowing that her most disturbing revelations can be read in several ways, by intent. And of course there's Rarity's arcs, and her own revelations and little hints.
You might find the books even more interesting when you know the characters better, and their struggles all the more touching when you know their secrets
Applejinx you are my hero
Aw, now that was depressing.
Can you at least take heart that as a writer -- and artist -- you leave behind a lasting legacy far more important than most people will?
Most people won't leave behind more than a few children and an estate sale... but you, you've created literature.
And it is literature, for all that it involves naughty futa cartoon horses. As far as 'literary merit' goes, I'd rate you as the very best I've seen on fimfic.
And if it helps, from what I've seen, you could easily get traditionally published if you wrote an original series. And then, who knows, maybe it would become a timeless classic, read by people and enhancing their lives for hundreds of years to come (like many of the books you mentioned).
That's a legacy worth having, and I think it's within your grasp, given your masterful ability to deal with and develop characters emotionally.
I say, go and write your masterpiece. You're ready, and the time is ripe.
Make your legacy what you want it to be!