Let's Discuss Waning Moon · 4:39am Jan 16th, 2016
Well, it's been far, far too long. It's time I stood up and discussed what's going on with the one story everyone wants me to continue.
Waning Moon was supposed to be the third and final part of the "MLA Trilogy," as it were. It was supposed to pick up from the story threads left in Bringing Up Blueblood and My Little Alicorn, wrap everything up with a little bow, and be the end. As it stands, however, Waning Moon has basically languished in limbo, along with a good chunk of my other works. I've been called out over and over on not updating the story, and people have been asking when it will continue.
So, what the heck happened?
To put it simply, I rushed a half-baked story into production and released it before I really knew what I was doing.
Waning Moon is a massive pile of plots. We have Princess Luna eclipsing Princess Celestia in popularity. We have the Arcanus E Draconus going missing. We have Pinkie Pie and Blueblood investigating the theft. We have the Cutie Mark Crusaders essentially serving as scoutmasters to the fillies from Canterlot. We have Twilight losing faith in her mentor over the previously-mentioned evil book. We have Kuchen living in Ribbon's head. That's not to mention Trixie, the battle of the Dash-Fluttershy fanfillies, the blood feud between the Cakes and Ribbon's parents, and everything else that didn't even get off the ground.
To put it simply, it's too damn much. I try to put it down on paper, and the story comes out a bloated mess. But here's the worst part.
There is no reason for filly!Luna to be here.
If I cut Luna's plot out entirely, the main plot would be completely unaffected. The book would still be stolen. Pinkie would still solve the crime. The ending revolved around Celestia and her efforts to make things right, not Luna's. Even the whole "somepony's trying to kill Luna" subplot could be excised without affecting anything, and considering how much the end point of that plot kind of squicks me out now, that would probably be an improvement.
So what we had is an uncoordinated, overstuffed mess of a story, with a billion plotlines that I had to keep intersecting to give the illusion that they all went together, and with Luna serving no importance other than being there to be cute.
...
I am going to be perfectly honest with everyone here. I am a hack writer. I write sub-average to average fanfiction about pastel cartoon horses. Before this, I wrote self-insert fanfiction that I'm glad has been scrubbed from history. I will never write or publish an original work. I will never be a famous or successful author. When I eventually die, no one but my family will notice or mourn me. I am not one of the greats of the fandom, and I never shall be. I am unskilled, untrained, and most of all, undisciplined. And the main thing I write is about characters being turned into children, so there's probably something wrong with me.
But I have standards.
My Little Alicorn may have been conceived as a silly little bit of fluff, but when I was challenged to make it better, I worked to make it into something that at least had a little meaning behind the antics. Bringing Up Blueblood was an unnecessary sequel, but I enjoyed exploring redemption from a slower angle, and trying to make one of the most disliked characters in FiM at least somewhat likable. Little Sunny may be more of the same, but I am taking the time to explore the way a world unused to magical accidents would respond to such a transformation, as well as hopefully putting a new spin on a plot hook that's become increasingly common since Friendship Games.
Even my non-MLA stuff attempts to be stronger than it probably is. And That's Terrible was Celestia battling Lex Luthor over cake, but was purposely written to be as over-the-top Silver Age as possible. Eye of the Hurricane (which will be finished) is largely about why you shouldn't try to take shortcuts to improving yourself. A Taste of Meat is mostly an excuse to make a cannibalism joke, but there's still at least a little substance beyond that. Point is, I don't like my stuff to come across as pointless or empty. I really do try to be better than that.
And that's why Waning Moon crashed and burned for me.
I have struggled for years to get back into writing that story, but I simply cannot manage it. I would like to do a "Luna is regressed" story, but I feel like it needs to be of a higher quality than what I am giving you. Everyone that takes time out of their day to read a chapter to one of my stories deserves to have something better than what I am providing. And that's why Waning Moon is (officially) going on Hiatus.
When I start writing about Luna again, it may be in a new fic. It may be a continuation of Waning Moon. I may just jump to the sequel story involving Lofty joining the Royal Guard. But I want to give everyone the filly Luna story they deserve. You have all earned it.
I'm sorry I disappointed you all.
- IAH
Sub average? Dude , you're my favorite author on this bloody site. You have an attractive writing style that makes your fics a delight. My personal favorites are definitely the regression one's, and little sunny is my current favorite that I'm reading site-wide. Chin up, bro!
You're not the best, but you have an exceptionally good understanding of the characters and do your best with every story, which is a lot more than most people have. Thank you for taking the time to inform us of your decision, and for being honest with yourself and us about the direction your feel is best.
Thank you for the first two MLA stories, and thank you for being a writer. We need more of those.
I know that feel, bro.
I...don't know what to say. Don't feel bad for admitting you didn't think things through. Don't force yourself to do something you don't want to do. Make sure you love what you're doing. The best fics I've read can have typos, plot holes, and read like a google translate parody, but still be compelling if the author enjoyed writing it. It's nice that you want to write for us, but make sure you're also writing for you. It's not worth it otherwise.
Aww dude.... I really wish you didn't feel as shitty as you want us to believe you are. There are people here who enjoy your works, and would like almost nothing more than to see them continue. But I say 'almost nothing more' because what we want more than anything is for you to enjoy what you write, and to not beat yourself up when it just doesn't come together. No one who is any one wants to knowingly pressure you when you aren't feeling it.
I only wish I could say something to actually convince you of such, but all I can do is hand you a picture of Sunset having a good time and hope the good vibes come through that way.
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IAH, you're not a failure by any means and you're a great story writer. If you feel that way about your fanfic, that's fine but keep on trucking with whatever else you've got going on.
I like your stories.
Personally, I like the story, but I can also see why you need to give it a re-think. Come back when you feel the time is right.
I like your stories too!
Well, if your problem is that Filly!Luna has problems connecting to the larger plot, then give the villain/antagonist, some important reason for turning Luna into a filly, like making her easier to possess, or as step one in a two-step plan to Fillyify both Celestia and Luna to stop the Day/Night Cycle or something.
... If you want to break into Original Fiction...
An idea might be to pick one of your fanfiction ideas and transplant it into a new setting, like Real Life, some Generic Fantasy Universe, or some Sci-Fi Verse, for those things that need Supranatural forces, which you might spruce up with other ideas... Or have it occur in real life and have your Supranatural forces be a major shift in science... And now I'm rambling.
And then there's donation buttons if you want to earn some money that way. Paypal Business Free seems good... But nevermind that.
Nothing disappointing about recognizing when something is broken. Not sure how much I agree, but I admit it has been a while.
Besides, saying you write sub-average fanfiction is doing yourself a disservice. Even at their worst, your stories read better than a fair chunk of professional publications I have seen.
I had rather figured that Waning Moon was on hiatus in light of the fact that it hadn't had an update in forever. But I contest your assertion that your fiction is "sub-average to average." Were this in fact the case, then it wouldn't have anywhere close to the 10,000+ views that it has. And nobody would care about the lack of updates either. So you're clearly doing something here that people enjoy.
The fact that you give yourself those standards is what makes your work so enjoyable. That's more than most modern novel authors do. That alone. Always remember one thing. If you are unhappy with your work and feel it is a substandard mess... And you actually USE the word substandard.... In terms of literary work, most especially fan fiction, chances are that you are in fact your harshest critic. I enjoy your work and will happily see it continue.
As for Waning Moon... A possible fix is to simply have the big important characters treat her as a child. "Mommy and Daddy have more important things to do." As the plot threads weave and tangle, see her try to make a difference, and ultimately be rejected by the adults because of reasons.
Dude, I said it before, I'll say it again
I enjoy your stories more than any other author on this site. I always look forward to reading your works. MLA and BUB remain the only pony fanfics that I have printed and bound myself, just so I could keep them on my shelves. They're sitting not five feet from me as I type this.
The standards you set are what make you an amazing author, and the fact you strive your hardest to meet them means that you succeed where others don't.
Whatever you decide to post, whatever you decide to do with Waning Moon, I'll be ready to read it, and probably reread it until I can quote it from memory.
Dude, I started a story about Twilight and friends adjusting to get being an alicorn. I started and planned on finishing it when season 4 was a thing to look forward to.
If anyone is a lazy hack, it's me. Heck I've promised myself to write more and I've only dabbled for the past 6 months.
You're selling yourself short. You're among the best writers here.
Your story of Blueblood was too strong for me to read and that proves that you have skill. BTW you should really commission a cover for that story.
then stop writing and figure out what it is you want to do before doing it , like i did for the fic i just made for season 5's end that maybe you'd be able to find helpful if i showed you how i went about making it....
.....
or at the very least you could just read it since i know you'd enjoy it
you mean like the staff for the show did for season 5's end?....
ok i laughed at that a bit gonna admit....
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but are you a skelleton?....
OH NO!
THAT HUMILITY...
IT REMINDS ME OF,
MYSELF!!!
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wait wait wait hold on , you've actually already PLAYED undertale right?
of fuck if you haven't , then of fuck , you need to right the fuck now do it immediately , and preferably stream yourself playing it so i can watch :l ....
this game will also help really lighten up your mood (as has everything else i've sent you over the years that you never looked at....).....
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... Where'd the new chapter go?!