"Therefore I Won't" Week—MLCT · 7:12am Oct 7th, 2014
Well, when I was coming off hiatus, and building up for this big week of updates, I knew that I'd have to lead with a big one on Monday. MLCT was the no-brainer choice for that. It's the fic that single-handedly got me into writing fiction for the first time since middle school. Naively in the best way possible, I started writing that because I loved ponies (this started way the hell back in the summer of S1, yikes!) and I loved Chrono Trigger (truly a defining game of my childhood) so I've always described the the whole "me writing a fic that marries these two ideas" as some form of love letter to two universes that have had significant meaning to me. Well, Evangelion is quite up there as well, but bugger me if I could figure out how to mesh such diametrically opposed themes. I've probably blabbed about my motivations enough in previous blogposts, but suffice it to say that this was the fic I've felt the most guilty about leaving on hold. I want to see the ending far more than you, dear reader. Or rather, I want to share that ending with you. I want to show you how Rarifrog accepts her call to action. I want to show you Nightmare Moon and what makes her tick. I want to take you to the Kingdom of "Zeal" and share my interpretation of it. I want to prove to you that Twist is, in fact, the Entity, because someone keeps denying that for some reason.
So, after fighting the urge to publish anything early, getting all my ducks in a row for this weeklong event with the odd-name-unless-you-already-saw-the-preview-blog, Monday finally rolled around and I was able to flip the chapter live. Appropriately enough, the largest chapter of MLCT to date, though that’s slightly misleading; I’ve had larger updates in the past where I broke it into two chapters and released simultaneously. Still, a 13k update’s nothing to sneeze at, unless you’re Ether or Jaxie or any of my other loquatious friends. And it was a bit hoppy, consisting of fifteen different scenes in a big ol’ tour de force of character building, foreshadowing, and arc progression. I was... fine with it. It serves its purpose, could be less clunky, blame the outline, certain upcoming chapters will be better. But I was pleased enough with it to lead the week with it, so up it went.
Up it went during work. Because work would keep me distracted from F5-ing for comments and views and stuff. Right? Right? …sorry, boss. 
But anyway, the comments came in. And, you guys… you guys...
Comments within the hour. One within a minute or two. Tons of excitement and cheer to see the thing come off hiatus. Even a brief pop into the feature box. Once I got home, it was straight into a dryer-warmed blanket, listening to squee-tastic music (no no, stop, Pav, don’t watch it again…), and generally just babbling happily. You guys are so amazingly supportive and… maybe not patient (nor can I blame you), but at least “understanding”.
It’s more than that, though. Comments are great. Positive comments are great. Comments from recurring, long-time readers are great. Descriptive, constructive comments are great. However. Taking a step back and looking at what MLCT is, in fairness it's a pretty simple fusion fic. “Chrono Trigger, with ponies.” In terms of plot events, I’ve stayed fairly loyal to the game so far, with total deviations like Twilight’s antics in this latest chapter being the exception instead of the norm. But I never intended for this to merely be a cheap reskin. Motivations. Character arcs. Themes. A goofy scene about Twilight freaking out over her horn, until the gut kick of why she freaked out. The goal was always for the crossover to be more than the sum of its parts—to really benefit, in both directions, from combining this adventure with these minature equines. Aquaman has the best way of describing this phenominon, namely that “if you add the numbers 1 and 2 together, they don’t equal 12. They equal 3, a new number that contains both the previous numbers and yet exists as its own distinct entity at the same time.” So, to come back after such a long hiatus, to drop down a big ol’ heap of horsewords, and then to have several commenters cite that exact reason as why they enjoy this story… It’s so very reaffirming and rewarding and electrifying to have readers who don’t merely like the story, but are actively engaged by the story.
Seriously. Other bloggers have said it more elegantly than I have, and I continue to be a hypocrite when in the reader seat, but while I’m here in the writer seat for the moment… Comments matter. A lot. Never underestimate the impact that your feedback will have.
Well I’ve completely lost track of time I WILL BE THERE~ BESIDE YOU~ THROUGH THE LONELY NIGHTS THAT FALL~ so that’s enough sappiness for now. After all, tomorrow today Tuesday brings us some [Sad] tag, with All of It, For Her. It’s bittersweet, and it contains donkles even though archonix didn’t even write it, and a bunch of people I respect voted it as their favorite in a contest some time ago. Please look forward to it.
YEARS IN THE PAST ... BUT NOT MANY:
You... You Bastard. I searched for that post back here:
3075726
3075763
and yet didn't notice (or realize the significance of) the denial. I don't know how I managed to miss that.
You are the worst type of person. And/or a mastermind beyond compare.
I have no idea if "Twist is the Entity" is a bluff, a double bluff, or nothing of the sort...but I don't care. I'm more interested in the rest of it, anyway.
And My Little Chrono Trigger goes back onto my RIL. :V
YES. WATCH IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. AND THEN WATCH IT SOME MORE.
2513826
Those look 'shopped. Pixels and stuff.
2514212
quickmeme.com/img/ff/ff19cb68a995fe85c3b962fc32690aa59827a6158b202a70ae44383fa7be5cd8.jpg
Since you mention the Kingdom of Zeal, I'm like 100% sure who's gonna be Queen Zeal (unless you throw me a really fast ball), and I am so looking forward to that.
Definitely looking forward to it! It's always great when a fusion fic deviates from the game's plot enough to bring new elements that are still true to the game but also MLP and develops the characters as they are in the show but put in the game's story, and I tried to do the same with the Earthbound one I'd made. But I think that's all part of the fun in writing that sort of fusion fic, is seeing how they'd handle and react to the situations that parallel the game it's fusing with, and how the game's basic plot affects them and develops them.
Chrono Trigger is easily my favorite video game ever, I remember playing it when it first came out and I still replay it from time to time. But then again I find the 16-bit era seems to have all my favorite RPG video games
. FFIV, V, and especially VI, Secret of Mana, Earthbound, even a few that didn't make it here like Live A Live.
Man when I first discovered that animatic/song I must have listened to it 3 dozen times over the following week, much to the chagrin of my roommates.
Never ever ever ever underestimate what your words will do to others. You can build up lives, or destroy them, all by what you speak. And I don't care what anyone says, no one is fully immune to them.
And glad to hear the good news! Woohoooo!
There's really nothing quite like the feeling of having another person really enjoy your work. You certainly deserve it, bro. 
Looking back at it, im finding im biting my claws more waiting for a lot of the fusion fics I have watching to come off hiatus and update. MLCT was the one that kept me wondering "I wonder if Pav is going to come back anytime soon" over any of the others (and their respective authors). CT is one of my alltime favorite games and you are doing a great job capturing it.
Sorry, Im just kind of babbling, I'm glad you're back.