So, whatcha reading? · 7:57pm Jul 25th, 2014
I've been doing some thinking lately and I realized that My Little Metro isn't exactly the greatest story I've ever written, or that anyone's ever written. In terms of skill I've far surpassed what I was doing in the earlier chapters of the story, and it makes me kinda wince just looking at that behemoth. Ha ha ha, calling that story "big" when there's five thousand other 400,000 word epics out there still going...
Well, I'm gonna share a little secret that many of you probably already know.
I started My Little Metro to try and jump on the Fallout bandwagon without actually jumping on the bandwagon. Essentially, I was reading Fallout:Equestria and decided, Hey! I could do better than that, this story's lame! I'm gonna do Metro, because that's super grimdark.
But no seriously, Metro has, like, ghosts and stuff. Do you ever see a ghost in Fallout? No? Well there you go. I started Metro on a whim and because I thought it was virgin territory that hadn't been explored. Lockbox was created as the anti-Littlepip: no friends and doesn't want any, complaining about his lot in life, and generally an unpleasant pony who has been literally forced into his heroism purely by circumstance instead of choice. In case you didn't notice, he hates saving the world. A lot. At the start, at least, My Little Metro was defined by how different I could make it from Fallout without losing the precious association, and I never thought that was very fair to Lockbox and co. I was trying to write like Fallout without it being Fallout. It eventually ground me down to keep trying to write a story that was never as popular as I wanted it to be nor flowed like of my other works do, and I started to lose steam and interest as readership dropped. Metro deserved better than that, deserved to be its own story that wasn't created purely out of hubris, but it's too late to change things now.
I'm writing this blog to say that I'm still going to write My Little Metro and will, some day in the distant future, finish it. Probably. Once I nail a stylistic choice that will let me write it as its own story, at least.
Buuuuut... I'm curious as to how many of you are still keeping up with it? Or like it? Or just ignore it entirely? It'd go a long way towards me deciding what kind of effort, exactly, I'm going to be putting into this. Because frankly, the last chapter update was kind of a flop. I got something like five hundred views on chapter 18, and also very few comments, favorites, or thumbs up. It was very little feedback for 13,000 words and what I hoped would be a triumphant return in order to try and call back the fans who wanted more. Call it selfish if you want, but I'd rather not have to worry too much about a story that almost nobody reads anymore. The Fallout fad has long passed and only its established fans care about it now. Metro 2033 was never as popular as Fallout and never will be, so my story was doomed to linger in its own shadows ever since I started it. We have to start looking to the future.
Unfortunately, the future is full of this.
So think of this as an informal poll. Of all of you who are following me, specifically to the very few of you will even read my blog or respond to it... what are you following me for, and is My Little Metro on that list?
Your tail is super fluffy.
Lol with the pic
But anywayss thanks yo your story I like Metro2033
Beside I recently knew that Lockbox is like littlepip when you mentioned it, I never noticed.
Send you regards, and waiting for more chaps
I followed you exclusively for My Little Metro. I've always loved Metro 2033, and I greatly enjoyed how you took the Metro 2033 universe and turned it uniquely poni.
Yes, I do enjoy your other stories, but MLM is the one I enjoy the most.
The fact you don't attract the rabid people going "omg feels" I think is a good thing. Metro is the sort of story that has a lot of internal reflection from the reader, much in the same way as Lockbox and Artyom. Always loved it when there's a new chapter up, but have never really felt the desire to leave a comment on it. Mostly cause I've no gripes with it.
Also as a side-note I'm so glad you didn't rename the metro something idiotic like the Vaults being Stables.
Honestly, I haven't gotten around to Metro yet. I discovered you from your Most Dangerous Game Contest entry, and almost instantly followed you after seeing the stories laid out before me.
I just read Sword, Hammer, Stallion, and loved it. I also read Severance a few days ago, and loved it even though it seems abandoned. Your writing quality is astounding, and I won't be surprised if every single one of your stories ends up on my favorite list once I'm done reading all of them.
I'm still keeping up with it.
I was actually lucky enough to find a copy of Metro 2033 in my library, so i'm reading that while I wait
Honestly, this is the only one of your stories that I've read so far, and I really enjoy it. I've read both this and Fallout Equestria (along with it's many spin offs) and to tell you the truth I honestly don't see any influence of Fallout Equestria anywhere in the story.
The Metro games are fun and I enjoy playing them and I enjoy reading this story. Personally, I kind of like the idea that the MC doesn't want to be a hero or save the world, and the way you right him just makes him seem like a normal guy just trying to survive in a dangerous world, similar to how Artyom was in the game.
I really do hope you continue this story because I for one always look forward to each new chapter you produce.
Cheers.
I liked your story because I've always been a fan of post-apocalyptic. Whether it be Mad Max or Walking Dead and anything in-between, I just like stories of what happens at the end of the world
Personally, I haven't played any of the metro games or read the books (cant find a dang PDF that aint in russian
) but I do like the series. From what ive seen via lets plays and what not, its Fallout without all the 50s sci-fi ness and A LOT DARKER!!!!!
Humanity is no longer master of the planet and must fight tooth and nail to barely survive
Would you ever see something like this in fallout
Metro is basicly the grown up 'realistic' version of the apocalypse. Instead of 'big guns, big fun', Metro is 'you get shot, you most likely will die'. Fallout is basically the kid friendly version of the apocalypse; no infections, easy to heal, guns and ammo galore, people that will help you out, etc.
I've always enjoyed Metro, books and the game, for its gritty realism. You get shot in the leg, you will most likely bleed out or get infected. You also can't save the world by completing a quest line, hell, you can't even save the world in Metro. The world is already dead. The best you can do is your best and what you think is right. Or do what you think is wrong. Its all grey, really.
In Fallout theres always a blatant line between good and bad, and you get to choose which side you want to go to at any time. You can even switch back and forth at will. Theres also no real 'hurry up, or we all die!' going on. You always know what to expect and you always know what you're going to do.
To me Metro is gritty realism, while Fallout is a child proof sandbox.
Love 'em both, but Metro will always be top tier to me.
Also I'm just blatantly ignoring anything Equestria Girls from now on.
Damn dirty corporate bastards...
I've actually only read a few of your stories: "No Quixote Here," "Huggled," and "All Skin and Bones." I don't read incomplete fics, so I can't comment on Metro. I've also never played the game. I did read Fallout:Equestria, and I liked it well enough, but to be quite honest I'll probably never read Metro even if it's finished; there are a lot more long fics on my Read Later list, and I rarely start one.
I prefer your short comedies, but do what you want.
It's still in my top fifteen, and I'm trying to keep it there! :B
but LP totally does this D:
I got into MLP fanfiction because of My Little Metro. Yes, it was your story that did it. Sort of. I'd been browsing EQD and had seen the prereader comment about how good your post-apocalyptic world-building was. (Though honestly I actually started with My Little Alicorn because I had to find your story again after considering whether I was going to read fanfiction.)
The prereader was right. The world you've developed is amazing. It's complex, it's active, and everything hints at expansiveness that we're only glimpsing. I want to explore it along with Lockbox.
Unfortunately chapter 8 messed me up bad. I wasn't ready for first-person grimdark (I still cringe when I think of how Sweet Dreams died). I wasn't ready for ponies to be dying graphically in front of my eyes (I have a very vivid imagination). Raindrop was the kind of energetic personality that I thought would be perfect to help turn our morbid story toward a brighter future, and I was not prepared to watch first-hand what happened to her.
And certainly not to have to end her myself.
I still get tense just thinking about reading this story so it has sat on my favorites list unfinished. But it's a testament to the story you've built that I keep it there, intending to finish it eventually. I know it probably doesn't fit very well in the Metro universe, judging by what I've seen, but I'm still holding out for that better ending. For Lockbox to figure out Fluttershy and the invaders, and to help the world turn back in the right direction.
P.S. I don't remember if you ever got to see it, but while recovering from chapter 8 I did some art with me crying over Raindrop.
I may be a little late on the draw here, but I found you from Metro.
I was going on a Metro binge and this was before I'd read Fallout: Equestria.
There aren't many good Metro stories. None, now that I think about has the main protagonist as a pony, in a pony Metro.
Lots of fics about Artyom, a couple about Princess Luna, but with the exception of a few that are actually being worked on, most of them aren't updated.
This story is quite literally the only "Epic lenght" Metro fic on this site.
I don't comment on new chapters or anything, but I definitely enjoy them.
Honestly, I'm following you because I really liked "Whisper Sun, Silent Moon." I never actually read Metro (of Fallout, for that matter), I just wanted to know if you ever put out something like that again. But I don't think that I'm representative of most of your other watchers.
I think I followed you for Severance, or maybe for your comments elsewhere. But I don't read pony stories as long as MLM.
(Well, except FO:E.
)
Between Real Life™ and trying to start my first fic, I'm on a bit of an hiatus from reading fics, but I definitely enjoy reading MLM. So I'm glad to read you'll keep writing it. :D
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Never saw anything post S3 or that movie. What I heard of the fourth season killed my interest in the show, and now I'm only interested in pre-S4 content. But that's genuinely terrifying. D:
Short version: yes, I'm still following MLM and I like it and would like to see more of it.
Long version: I'd like you to continue it, but I honestly hadn't realized up until now just how heavily MLM was intended to be an anti-FOE. Knowing that, I'd encourage you with your idea to wait until you feel you can write MLM as its own story and not just a Take That to someone else's. Also, I never really caught on to Lockbox as the anti-LP until you explicitly stated it just now. Granted, I never really liked him very much so I suppose you succeeded there.
2315749 Okay, this post articulates the whole "Metro is more mature than FO" line of thought best, so I'm gonna respond to it. And before doing so, I will admit I have not read Metro 2033 the novel, but I have played the both of the games and several DLCs.
Honestly, I don't see much of what you're getting at. I'll give you that the FO games (most notably 3) tend towards rather silly morality systems that often don't make much sense and that their sci-fi elements do tend to be a bit more noticeably over the top.
But let's remember some of the things present in the Metro games:
Person-portable miniguns that somehow function without batteries.
Belt-fed shotguns.
Railguns/Gauss rifles MacGyvered together from the debris of the apocalypse.
Keeping your health up is boiled down to having a pack of syrettes you jab yourself with for quick healing and you even have (admittedly slow) regenerating health.
Oh, and Artyom kinda does save the Metro. Twice. Even if we discount the "best" endings to each game. In the first, the Dark Ones are never revealed to be anything but monsters without the good ending, so getting rid of them actually seems like a good idea. In the second, you blow up D-6 and all the badguys with it. You know, the neo-Commies who were gonna go all horrific pre-war superweapon on everyone who didn't fall in line with their ideology.
Then, on top of that, the games do have a morality system. In both of them you have to complete unannounced, arbitrary good deeds to get the good endings. Just because the game doesn't outright use the words "good" or "bad" doesn't mean it isn't labeling certain choices as such.
I'm not saying you're wrong for liking Metro, mind you. I liked the games and most of the DLCs as well. And maybe the books have a lot of the realism But to me the Metro games, at least, seem about as silly as FO.
For me, My Little Metro is that one story that I'll stop reading other stories just to read when it updates.
In other words, it's freaking awesome.
2316617 The gas powered metal ball launcher things, are not railguns, or gauss rifles. They are in no way railguns or gauss rifles.
The mini guns have batteries, they are just built into the side of the gun.
There are no belt fed shotguns anywhere in Metro. There are AK47 model shotguns, though.
Those are adrenaline shots, they help you ignore pain, and taking a bullet to the anywhere would take awhile to heal.
The good endings are non-cannon to the story.
I'm drunk. Do not reply to this. A google search could have done a better job than I just did. Faggot.
My Little Metro is the story that first attracted me to your work. It’s one of my top favorite stories since I started reading it back in May 2013. I’m glad to hear you plan to continue it.
I can tell you that I’m a fan of several FoE stories out there (and I look forward to seeing where you take Finding Harmony), but it was your different take on earth pony magic, the atmosphere you write into the story, and the characters that make me really enjoy My Little Metro.
2317264
Okay, specifically in response to:
First, I apologize if my original post came off as rude or insulting. It was not intended to be.
That said, I'm a little confused. Where do google searches figure into this?
No thanks, I don't need any bundles of sticks.
2317264
Please refrain from drunkenly insulting other users on my blogs, thank you.
I originally started following you specifically for this story, and am always perked up when I see it update. While I think I can understand not much wanting to invest the effort into writing a story so few people will read, I for one would be ecstatic if you continued it :)
people who wright great fics lets just say like End Of Ponies for example then STOP!!!!!!!
should be given a baby puppy,name it watch it grow up for a year or so and experience all the joy and good times that comes with it.Then one day watch as some one goes up to said puppy puts a .45 to its head and blow its fucking brains out!!!! That would be justice
would you my good sir like your very own baby puppy?
My little metro was what brought me to actually start reading one of your stories, I believe I had one of yours on the read later list, but I never got around to reading it: games, life and several Fallout Equestria spin offs is my only excuse.
I love Metro for what it is, ever since the first game came to light, then finding an English translated copy of the novel in my local bookstore, the world I read was unique in my eyes and to see it then, in pony iteration, by you, considered one of the best writers of the pony fandom, I admit though I came late to your story, rather than seeing you start it from the beginning but that's in the past, nothing I can do to change that.
At first I expecting, rather, waiting to see how much were you going to copy directly from the original book and game, whether this was just going to be a direct copy and paste of the narrative from the originals. What I got was an amazing almost original story, you took the basic plot line, and drew your own creative twists into it, while some ideas you took from the original source they are never immediately recognised for who or what they represent.
To answer your question: as of now I'm following you only for My Little Metro, when I get around to them, your other stories may join that list.
The future isn't so bad really. Could be a lot worse than a few non cannon high school themed movie flops based on corporate greed that you can ignore or watch at your leisure. I've read up to chapter 17. I would have read Chapter 18 too, but you can't just post these 13k word chapters once a year and expect former readers to catch on to you.
I have a theory that the only authors to retain some manner of larger following have an internal consistency and you can't really pin the blame on the pony. Not on yourself nor your reader.
I would suggest some marketing (Find authors published on EQD that take commissions and get some art done. Good art definitively draws people in, but if you're going to maintain the rate of 1 chapter a year then it really won't matter much until the series is complete.
Doesn't take a genius to see that you've begun to loose interest. So what you need my friend, is an ending. It is a lot easier to write if you have one in mind.
So I haven't checked this site in a while and I'm a little late to the party, but without sounding too overzealous I want to say that I almost never read fanfiction and don't follow any other stories or authors except for this one- MLM is pretty much the sum total of my fanfiction experience and consequently I look forward to updates for it like little else and sincerely hope you continue it. That is as long as you are legitimately motivated and enjoy doing so; if you don't enjoy writing it of course I don't want you to feel obligated to continue slogging through just for its fans and I'd rather not read it at all than read a forced update with no passion put into it, but if you think you can put the work into it and make it into something you enjoy writing again I encourage you to do so.