Daughter and Dragon update · 9:00am Oct 10th, 2014
Okay, I have been mulling this over for a few months, and I know there have been a few people who have asked me what the status on the story is. I've come to a decision, and thought I'd let you know.
First up, A Daughter and Her Dragon is not going to be cancelled. That said, where I had planned to go with it (as far as plotted out story) is going to change. You won't see any of it, as the stuff that I need to change is after the current point in the story.
To understand why, I shall explain the history of the story itself.
Prior to last year, my wife and I have been trying for children for about five years. We'd been told that it was going to be very difficult. Even IVF would have been difficult, because of the medications my wife has been on (and we were told had to continue to be on) for most of her life have adverse (or most likely terminal) side effects on a growing foetus.
We had given up. It wasn't going to happen, and God/Goddess/The Universe (personified)/the universe (non-personified)/Celestia/Luna/Richard Dawkins/Buddha/Kali/Lord Sheogorath the Mad Prince/whoever just didn't want us to have children.
A Daughter and Her Dragon was kind of a way for me to write a nice story about a dad and his daughter, and a way of, I dunno, I guess grieving and coming to terms with the 'fact' that outside a miracle, my wife and I were not going to have kids.
Little did I know, when I started writing this story, that less than a month after starting this story, my wife would fall pregnant, and I would actually have a child within nine months.
But it was a little surreal at first: it didn't quite hit home that I was going to be a dad, and so it didn't affect my writing, or the story at all. Cut to four months later, when I went into hiatus on the story, getting geared up for the second act… well, becoming a dad was a lot more real by that time.
I'd seen multiple ultrasound pictures. As gross as they were (and yes, ultrasound pictures of babies prior to the second trimester are gross!), they were pictures of my daughter. At that time, I knew I was having a daughter. She had a name (we decided on a name very early on, and stuck with it.) She was, in a very real sense to me, real!
So the point of writing A Daughter and Her Dragon was no longer relevant to me. But I couldn't just cancel it, because I really loved the idea of the story. I like Cotton Candy as a character, and it is a really fun fic so far.
But the problem is, with this story being written to deal with and come to terms with my grief… there were going to be some serious topics broached with the story.
The name: A Daughter and Her Dragon, was actually chosen very deliberately.
Visit that TV Tropes page, and look at that third paragraph down.
I had planned on throwing a slight twist on the story, Spike realising he was effectively immortal, but his daughter was not. I won't say at what point this was going to be realised, because I might still use the event in the story.
Cotton was going to convince Spike that she needed him now, as a father, not locked away missing her life as he sought a way to make her immortal too.
Then there was going to be a griffon/pony war, and Spike was going to be mortally wounded (he was immortal in the ageless aspect, not invulnerable) and Cotton was worried she was going to lose him, that he was always supposed to be there. What did that tropes page say, again?
Be warned, however, that whatever X is can easily fall victim to Death by Newbery Medal, especially if it's of the huge and/or monstrous variety.
Oh yeah. Big and monstrous. Oh dear.
Well, he was going to survive, though not before I put you, my readers, through the wringer and worry that I was going to kill of Spike like I had done with Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash… oh, and Scootaloo. And anyone else I'd killed off but forgot in this list.
He was going to survive in the end, so trope subverted…
…or was it?
The story was going to be a story of my imaginary daughter's life. Being a teen, finding a partner (it'll likely still happen), getting a job, moving out, etc. Getting married, having children…
Growing old…
And it was going to end with Spike, saying goodbye to Cotton, as she lay on her deathbed, due to old age. Surrounded by his grandchildren and great grandchildren.
The epilogue was going to be Spike, sitting in the park where he met Cotton for the first time, regaling them with stories of her life, and how through them, and him, she will live on forever.
I had a twenty-thousand litre tank ready to collect all the tears from collective brony-feels. I mean, this was the comment I got from my editor in my brainstorm doc, where I had the barest outline of the epilogue written:
Holy crap, Dude. I’m only reading your notes and you’re STILL making me cry. DAMN YOU!
The story was going to be "Slices" of Cotton Candy's life. Her whole life.
And see, now we get to the crux of the matter. As a now actual dad—rather than imaginary dad—the idea of writing a story where my imaginary daughter (because, as I said, this was a story to help me deal with grief, and so was very much a self insert story) dies before my self-insert?
I find that idea very, very, very uncomfortable.
I am sure there are other dads on this site that would understand my not wanting to go with this plot anymore. The idea that you might outlive your child is one that I think any parent finds terrifying.
As such, the original story has become something I do not want to commit to paper. Or gdocs, whatever.
So now I am finding myself in the difficult position of wanting to continue this story, but not entirely sure where I want it to go. Certainly not to its original conclusion.
I am taking A Daughter and her Dragon back to the drawing board for now. The chapters that are up will stay up, and stay as is. I just need to find a new endpoint, and brainstorm my way up to it, so that it still has a cohesive narrative and a natural feeling ending.
It will happen, but it will take time.
I think it would have been better if you had sticked with that original ending. It was very good. But I guess I can understand that you aren't comfortable with the subject anymore. I still hope you can update soon.
2523010
To stick with the original ending would have led to cancellation, honestly. That's why I am trying to come up with something new.
Well, if u don't mind i'd lik to say is congrats for bein a father n' hope for many good yrs ahead for ur family. Now to t overhaul thing um... i guess i can just say g'luck n' also hope it goes well for u too
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I can neither confirm nor deny any allegations against me dealing with bugging the author randomly about if this was ever going to update.
And, I plead the 5th.
Please don't take this as an attack, but merely an observation. This is the second time you've cancelled or altered a story when it steered into uncomfortable territory.
Solution: Go watch Dead Like Me, first season. George dies (spoiler) after having done *nothing* in her life, and the most interesting thing in her life turns out to be the way she dies, thus leading her to discover what makes life worth it while carrying out her job as a Grim Reaper. It's horribly introspective, brings out a whole facet of life and death that we don't think about, and of course got prematurely cancelled. There's even a Pony link. George's little sister is played by the same actress who voices Cadence
Now, go at your story from the perspective that *everybody* dies in the end, and what we do when we're alive makes it all worthwhile. Rip those heartstrings and make us proud.
2523456
That is the main reason I have been waiting for my multi chapter stories to be finished before posting these days.
I have actually cancelled more than you guys and gals are aware of, they just never make it to the site these days.
I think that is the problem with posting on the fly, itmakes it hard foran authpr to change their mind... at least not without repercussions.
It is the mainreason I've only posted one shots lately too.
2524633 First off, Congrats on the kid!
May she bring as much joy to your life as you want to bring to hers!
As for A Daughter and Her Dragon, write a chapter just about them being a family in the here and now (when the story takes place) and see where it takes you. Truly great characters take on a life of their own. They might have a few ideas that you don't. Just see what happens.
Now I want to read the story...
From one parent to another. Congratulations!!!
Take your time on this. Well wait.
As far as a new ending... you could end it with it not ending. Reach a point in the story where your happy with it and leave the rest up to the readers imagination. it could even end with a discussion that one day in the future she would leave before he did. You wouldn't even have to overly change to much of your original plan you would just stop before it became to uncomfortable to right. Granted it would still be hard to have that conversation but there's a lot of different ways you could go about it.
Perhaps save this story for one day in the future when you have to have a serious conversation with your child about death and the future. (NOT a fun conversation but a necessary one. It hurts to make em face it but there better off talking with you about it than anyone else)
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