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Did you know? SleeplessBrony will be a panelist at the Canterlot Gardens fanfiction panel I'm moderating Sunday morning at 9:30! You should totally come by to see him and the other great authors on the panel.
We now return you to your regularly-scheduled interview post.
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Originally posted to the Vault on 5/18/12.
Yes, you read that right. Today we welcome the Vault's first explicit story. I usually use this space to give a brief glimpse into why I might have selected any given story for inclusion here, but in this case I had a little more to say, so I said it over here. If you're confused about the appearance of a clopfic in the Vault, please mosey on over to that Vault post, and do check out the interview below as well.
[Shipping] • 138,800 words
Twilight Sparkle has a crush on Luna, but the Princess insists that Twilight learn some things about love and romance before they can make a date.
Hit the break for a very lengthy, very enjoyable interview with SleeplessBrony, and links to Romance Reports at FIMFic and the PFA. As always, carefully hand-crafted ebooks can be found at the Vault's Downloads page!
(ETA: If you've read Romance Reports in the past and have been thinking about a re-read, now's the time! SleeplessBrony has recently completed a thorough overhaul/polish.
Pony Fiction Archive • FIMFiction
Where do you live?
United States. Sorry, you aren't getting any more than that.
What kind of work do you do? (i.e. are you a student, do you have a career/day job, etc)
I do have a day job. Currently a student as well, though.
How did you discover My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic? When did you realize you were a fan of the show?
I've lurked on the Cracked.com forums for a long time (really cool place, by the way.) Back before they banned ponies, there was a really active thread talking about the show. Of course, I kept seeing it pop up elsewhere on the Internet, too - memes and macros and such. I got intrigued and gave it a shot, expecting something kind of silly to make fun of.
I was floored by the opening sequence - the tapestry-style art and the mythology stuff was really cool, much more interesting than anything I had expected. I'll admit I was kind of skeptical after that for a bit - I wasn't quite sure what to make of the show, but I kept watching. And then Pinkie Pie started singing.
Now, I'm a jaded twenty-something, so I almost stopped right there. I looked over to the person I was watching with and almost literally said, "Oh god, songs. Tell me she isn't singing."
And then Twilight said, in her best Sparkle sarcasm voice, "Tell me she's not."
Been a fan ever since.
Do you have a favorite episode?
I really don't know. There are plenty of strong episodes, in a variety of different categories. I've always hated questions like these. I'm afraid I'm incapable of doing anything more than generalizing and naming a few possible choices. Or more than a few.
Jeez, I've just gone and looked at a list of all episodes. I was going to name a few names, but how? Seriously, I could list reasons why every single episode through Dragonshy to Suited For Success is my favorite. Don't believe me?
Dragonshy - The first big epic Mane Six quest episode after the pilot, and a good showing for Fluttershy with some much-needed development for her. And hey, the mane six fought a dragon. They fought a goddamned dragon.
Look Before You Sleep - The complete opposite of the previous episode, amazing in a totally different way. Bottle-episode character interaction focus. Great play between Rarity and Applejack, of course, defining a lot of their characters moving forward. And adorkable Twilight.
Bridle Gossip - Zecora! Silly curses! Racism analogies! The song! Pure television magic.
Swarm of the Century - "We'll just build an exact replica of Ponyville right over there. We have exactly a minute!"
Winter Wrap Up - The song. Also, neat world-building.
Call of the Cutie - I don't care what people say, I like the CMCs. Although I do think Season Two was a bit overly focused on them. Still, this was a great episode, more world-building plus puberty metaphors. I know it probably sounds silly, but Apple Bloom's quest to find herself strikes a bit close to home at times. I joke sometimes that I'm still crusading.
Fall Weather Friends - The Top Gun of MLP.
Suited For Success - Again, the song. But also a brilliant episode. Really turned me around on Rarity, who I am sad to say I wasn't a big fan of at first.
And I only stop there because of Feeling Pinkie Keen, too - it picks up right away again with Sonic Rainboom.
That was right about when I started watching the show, actually. The first episode I ever saw as an actual new episode, not catching up on YouTube, was Over a Barrel. Boy, what a disappointment that was. Possibly the only episode I actively dislike, although I won't ramble on about that.
Who is your favorite character based purely on the canon of the show itself? Would your answer change if you considered the fandom in its entirety (i.e. art, fanfiction, memes, etc)?
Another tough one. I like to joke that all of the mane six are, in fact, "best pony," although if I was really pressed I think I would have to grudgingly and sheepishly name Twilight Sparkle.
She's a really delightful character. There's the feeling that I could relate to her, of course - you could say that about any of the mane six. And everyone says that about characters they like, so I'll spare you the corny comparisons. On her own though, she's got a great mix of traits - she's sarcastic and smart without being jaded and cynical, which is really refreshing. Most of all, she's got all the main character "party leader" kind of stuff mixed with classic nerd character traits - brilliant combo.
Honorable mention goes to Rarity, for being ridiculously fun to write, among thousands of other reasons.
Oh wait, nevermind. Applejack is the best. She doesn't get enough love in the fandom - somebody has to say it.
Speaking of the fandom, I don't think it's had too much of an effect on my feelings for main characters. But the consistency with which some background characters have been defined, entirely in the fandom, is astonishing to me. I don't think I ever would have given Lyra and Bon-Bon a second thought without all the fandom stuff surrounding them, and now I love them, wholeheartedly. Pretty amazing, that.
How did you come up with your handle/penname?
At the time, I was working the night-shift forty hours a week, and going to school during the day. Simple enough.
Have you written in other capacities (other fandoms, professionally, etc)? When did you first start writing?
I've been writing creatively since Middle School, at least. Mostly fan works. I've never actually posted anything before Romance Reports, excepting a few short pieces of Final Fantasy fanfiction, sadly enough.
Professionally, I've spent a lot of time writing. I was actually a teacher for a long while, and specifically a writing tutor for a short while. But that was all very dry stuff, some of it very technical and mostly just boring.
What do you like to do when you're not writing?
I'm big into fencing. Also a big fan of hiking and camping and all that other outdoorsy stuff. I like to think it offsets the obscene amount of video games I play.
I'm also a big movie nerd, way more than I am a literature nerd. It's probably affected my writing style more than a little - I tend to go dialogue heavy, obviously. And Romance Reports was planned in my head to have a very classic cinema three-act structure.
Who is your favorite author (published or fanfiction)? Do you have a favorite story or novel?
Hmmm. This answer is constantly changing. Let's start with published.
At the moment it's Vonnegut - I'd like to name one of his that stands out, but they really are all amazing. I've never read anything that is so accessible and yet so deep at the same time. He's got this easygoing way of writing that just... I don't know. It's like sitting down and chatting with an incredibly smart person who is also cool about it. You know, they play it off. They make you feel like the smart one.
Speaking of cool smart people, close second would be Carl Sagan and his descendant-in-spirit, Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Titans of the mind, those two. If you're going non-fiction, it really doesn't get any better.
Lastly, I owe Stephen King. He draws a lot of flak, much of it deserved, but damned if I didn't spend my teenage years reading as much of his work as I could. I know I've cribbed plenty of style from him (italics? As inner thought dialogue?! Genius!) But seriously, when the man sets his mind to it he can string a reader along with the best of them.
That was plenty pretentious, wasn't it? Let's talk fanfiction, then.
I'm not going to name names too much in the pony fandom - I would feel weird gushing about them when they might end up reading this. And I don't want anyone to feel left out - I'm classically bad at contacting people, and I know there are people that I'm a huge fan of that I've never so much as left a comment for.
However! There was a fanfiction author calling himself DK who wrote various works for Final Fantasy. I never contacted him, or knew anything about him, but he was the one who made fourteen-year old me sit up in his chair and think, "Whoa. This is fanfiction, and it's like... really good. This is like reading a book. Holy shit."
Rock on, DK. Wherever you are.
Stephen King believes that every author has an "ideal reader" - the one person who they write for, the one person whose reactions they care about. Do you have one, and if so, who is it?
Hey, the man himself! I was just talking about him. Anyway, my ideal reader, and I know this sounds silly, is the one person out there who gets it.
Let me explain. I often have head canon that is either vastly at odds with what I tend to see in a fandom, or just wholly non-present. I find myself wondering how nobody else would see it that way, especially when it's an interpretation that seems so obvious to me. Not that there's anything wrong with alternative interpretations, but hey, the Internet is full of all sorts of crazy nonsense. There are entire online communities devoted to obscure fetishes, but not one other person thinks (insert weird theory here)? Sometimes I get worried that I'm straying into the crazy zone, where canon is meaningless and AU high-school crossover dramas are the norm. You know, Zutara stuff.
And then I find it - a lone, wonderful piece of art, or something mentioned in a story. Someone else thinks the same thing! Someone else gets it! We're not alone!
It's always a neat moment. I hope people have felt something like that reading my stuff.
Do you have any tips for aspiring writers, or writers who are struggling with their own stories?
This is going to sound funny, but bear with me.
Don't force yourself too much. If you're having trouble with a particular scene or you just aren't feeling a particular story at the moment, if you're dragging your feet along, struggling to think up what happens next just so you can connect the goddamned dots already, go do something else. Take your mind off it for a bit. You'll come back in much better shape, and your work will show it.
On the other hand, force yourself to write. If you need to take a break from a story or a part, then write something else. You have plenty of ideas, don't you? All straining to get out there. Write one of those. Keep at it, whatever it is, something, so long as the urge to express yourself is being met somehow.
If you're an aspiring writer, this goes double. Write something, already. I know it's hard to find time, I know it's tough work, but those ideas will stay in your head and gnaw at you forever unless you get them out there.
Oh, and take criticism gracefully. Ignore trolls, of course, but when somebody has a point? Thank them. Thank them and go back for more. When somebody likes your work and is honest enough to tear you down a bit, that's when you've struck gold.
What is your typical writing process? (Do you work through multiple drafts, do you have any prereaders/editors, etc?)
First, I take a few months to think about it. No, seriously, I usually do that. I'd been pondering and planning Romance Reports literally for months before I ever typed a word.
After that, I tend to do the wrong thing and bust it out in one draft. Yes, it's bad. I often get stuck on particular parts and write those a few times - my Google Docs menu is full of little scraps of chapters that never saw the light of the Internet - but mostly I type it in one go, give it a day or two and a few re-reads for sprucing up, and call it good.
I never used to work with editors, but I've been warming up to it lately. I often make small changes after posting, taking advice or making corrections given by commentators, but it isn't until recently that I've gone all-out working with someone else. Which is silly, because I know how much of a difference it makes, from teaching and all that.
But seriously, it is the best. Huge thanks to RBDash47 and kits. Both of them have had a wonderful impact on Romance Reports in its final form.
What inspired you to write Romance Reports?
Well, clearly I'm just some kind of big old pervert.
No, really it was a couple of things. One was the fandom's portrayal of Luna back then. Obviously it's changed a bit since Luna Eclipsed aired, but she was often written as shy, meek, socially inept, angsty and reclusive. Not to bag on anyone - I get it, it's a fine way to go with it, but it never really clicked for me.
I mean, this is the Goddess of the Night we're talking about. What did we know about her back then? She went a little crazy and tried to take over Equestria - neat. Kind of badass, but also bad. Obviously has a little streak of darkness, if not quite evil, and some kind of temper. She went bad because she felt unappreciated, so possibly very proud, if not arrogant. She is symbolically, metaphorically the opposite of Celestia. (They are a yin-yang in the opening of the first episode, as well as the obvious night vs. day, light vs. dark, sun vs. moon stuff.) If Celestia is kind, motherly, wholesome and supportive, then what would that make Luna?
So I came to think of her as, at her best, a playful kind of trickster-goddess, and at her worst, a cunning and dangerous queen of darkness. Throw in her very real regret and guilt, however reluctantly she might admit to it, and I thought there was a very interesting character there to work with.
The other big inspiration was the phenomenon of shipping fanfiction in general. Again, not to bag on anyone, but it often portrays a very juvenile vision of love and relationships. I've always wanted a good shipping story that went beyond the big dramatic declaration of love - what happens six months down the line, when all the stomach butterflies have died? What happens when things get real, and the real work and day-to-day of a romantic relationship rears its ugly, wonderful head? What happens when the protagonist realizes that what they thought was true, true love was just hormones and an adolescent crush?
So it occurred to me that you could make a really neat story out of a character learning all that, the hard way, as many of us do. And then... oh hey, look at that. Twilight Sparkle. Smart but naive, socially inexperienced, eager to learn and study the ways of social relationships. Clearly knows nothing about love and romance. But logically, she's going to end up there at some point, right?
All we need now is a catalyst. Celestia would be far too kind, and things would go rather smoothly. No drama there - would make for a sweet, but pretty boring story. Oh... oh hey, Princess Luna. Oh my. Oh my.
And then Romance Reports happened.
Did you run into any tough spots or challenges when writing Romance Reports?
Honestly - and this might sound weird, too - writing the sex.
That was a huge thing to start with. Not the actual writing of it, which turned out to be disturbingly easy, but rather the decision to do it at all. I was going to just fade to black at first, you know, like some kind of normal person. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to be a huge part of the puzzle. How can you write about love while skipping the most emotionally intimate parts? That is the whole point of the story, isn't it? The weird rush of discovery, the jumble of emotions and reactions that comes with opening up that chapter of one's life. There are few things quite like it, and I eventually decided to just take it head-on. In for a penny, and all that.
I was constantly nervous about writing Luna, as well. I like my head canon for her, but it is just that - head canon. Especially back then, I had very little backing me up, and I was always paranoid that I might be edging into the aforementioned crazy zone. I'm still not entirely sure I didn't.
Aside from all that, nothing came up that you don't find when writing anything. The cool parts that jump into your head fully-formed need to be connected by something, after all, and it's up to you to make those parts interesting as well.
When you set out to write Romance Reports, did you have any specific messages or themes in mind?
I did, if you'll forgive me for getting all soap-boxy.
The first was the difference between puppy-love crush feelings and real, mature love. Obviously if you're reading this you might not care about spoilers too much, but I'll be on the safe side and just say that the story is basically about that. Twilight, like many people, confuses the two, much to her own ruin. It's unfortunate, but I think everyone learns this lesson the hard way.
That fits in with a larger theme of different types of love. There are many, and in my opinion they're all valid. There's nothing wrong with realizing that yes, you love this person, even if you don't want to be with them forever. Or maybe you just want to have sex with them and would never want to be in a committed relationship - while still caring very deeply for them. These things happen. It's non-traditional, and it probably offends some people to think of it that way, but that is how I think of it.
Lastly, dating your friends is usually a bad idea. I'm not trying to come down on the MLP fandom - every fandom does this. You ship the main characters together. It makes sense - those are the most developed characters, the relationships are there, it just comes together. I gleefully participate as well.
In my experience, though - and I'm speaking very generally, there are exceptions - when a group of friends starts dating internally, things go bad pretty quick. Things can go wrong so easily, and the consequences can be far more than simply some lingering awkwardness. "I don't want to ruin our friendship" has become a bit cliché, but it comes from truth.
And besides, why shrink the world of the story when you can expand it? Bringing in other characters adds new dynamics, breaths of fresh air. And it combats that Star Wars prequel feeling - you know, that awful moment when the fictional world you love starts feeling less like a living, breathing world and more like a poorly-imagined story peopled with the same few characters.
What draws you to writing explicit fiction as opposed to more mainstream fare?
Ha, well, I guess it's just sort of my thing now. I didn't think I would end up here, but here we are.
I've really come to enjoy it, honestly. It's fun to explore that side of characters. There's an old writing exercise that requires the participants to take a line of dialogue, one same line, and modify it to fit a range of different character's voices. It can be as simple as you like - a greeting is perhaps the most simple example. Twilight says, "Hey" or "Hi"; Rarity says, "Good afternoon"; Rainbow Dash says "'Sup?"; while Applejack, of course, says, "Howdy." This may seem minor, but it's really key to a lot of writing - being in touch with a character and their voice.
Take that, and extend it all the way to sex. Suddenly you've got a whole world of new stuff to think about. What would a certain character say the next morning, and how would it change depending on their partner? What do they like, or dislike, and why? How would they go about flirting, or being flirted with? What do they think about when they're alone and bored on a Wednesday night and settling in for a solo session? It's fun to think about, especially for a cast as well-rounded and varied as the Mane Six.
For me, writing sex is much the same as writing action - often, the actual physical actions are the least interesting part. The character interactions and motivations mean everything.
Or maybe I am just some kind of crazy pervert. It's not like I would know, right?
Where can readers drop you a line?
I'm on fimfiction.net and PonyFictionArchive.net as SleeplessBrony. I also have a thread on fimchan, and I check that pretty regularly.
Or you can just go ahead and hit me up at SleeplessBrony@gmail.com.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Mostly I'll just go ahead and apologize to anyone I never responded to, or took forever to respond to, or promised I would read their story but still haven't. I've been getting quite a bit of feedback since I really got going writing, and I was pressed for time to begin with. Real life is, as ever, as I'm sure it is for everyone, something that forces its way into being top priority.
I've got to spread thanks around, as well. Thanks to RBDash47 for the interview and a spot in the Vault, thanks to everyone who's ever left a comment, kind or not, thanks to all the people who run these sites and make the show and make this whole crazy thing that's going on possible. I know this sounds sappy, but it's changed my life quite a bit, in ways I never would have expected.
And thanks to everyone who reads, or writes, or just likes the idea of it.
Love and Tolerance.
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Comments ( 48 )
Can't say I've read his works, but I've read nothing but praise about SleeplessBrony, and although it's not exactly my cup of tea it's getting harder and harder to justify not taking a look.
While some people dislike the idea of things not going swimmingly, this was probably my favorite point of Romance Reports and what set it apart from every other fic at the time. Also, just dropping by to show my support; your fic is a larger influence to my writing than any published book.
Wish I could be at Canterlot Gardens with you guys, but I won't be able to make it this year
Hope to see both of you at BronyCon 2013 though!
Whenever I read dialog between characters, I always seem to remember a certain phrase to describe the interaction.
'Brevity is the soul of wit'
It could just be me though...
>>389192
Agreed; the trials that Twi and Cheerilee face--and their amazingly-obvious-in-retrospect origins--were a huge gut-punch for me, especially as I'd made a similar mistake myself only a few months before reading Romance Reports.
Ah, I love this tale.
It's hard to overstate the sheer goodness that RR brought into my life: it helped to break me out of a twelve-plus-years-long depression for one thing, and Sleepless' portrayal of Cheerilee helped me decide my career path (I'm going back to college to become an elementary school teacher). 
Not what I expected when I sat down to read what I thought would be a goofy, raunchy comedy about lesbian pastel ponies, but the Princesses work in mysterious ways.
It remains one of my favorite stories ever, and I've no doubt that it always will.
Ah, Romance Reports. The first MLP fanfic to successfully rustle my jimmies by forcing me to read twenty chapters of Twilight having graphic sex with everypony only to not follow through on the Twiluna (which was the only reason I was reading the damn thing in the first place). To this day, I hate Twilee (Cheerilight?) solely because of this fanfic.
Congrats, Sleepless!
I don't think I even need to say how much I agree with every point you make in this interview. Sexuality can be incredibly revealing of character- there's not much that can more effectively cut to the heart of who a character is, how she sees herself, what she wants to see in others- you can easily reach the same heights of drama with physical threat and danger, but that distracts from the deeper questions like 'who do I want to be' with a big dose of 'AAAA! I want TO be, save me!'
Solemn brohoof to a pioneer in exploring pony personality through intimate interactions, without whom I could not work and exist as I currently do
>>389177 "Nothing but praise"? Sorry, not even close. There's a thread on the TV Tropes forums somewhere that has dedicated itself to tearing "Romance Reports" apart, MST3K-style (except without the humour, unfortunately), and on this very site, we have NaturalGlitch - just go and have a look at the commentaries on "RR" and other SleeplessBrony stories bearing that name. Also, while I really like Sleepless and what he's written, there's this little issue:
>>389211 No, it certainly isn't just you. Sleepless has an unfortunate tendency to drift away into purple prose on occasion - why express something with two words when you can use ten and all that (weirdly enough, it's usually not in the sex scenes, as so often happens in this kind of story, but in the dialogue-heavier ones). It worked in his favour in his best story, "Like Fine Wine", because all the dialogue was actually needed for the story to work as intended, but in "Romance Reports", it brings the action to a screeching halt every so often.
Also, giving us the message that there's a difference between real love and silly little crushes and then writing something like "LFW", which gives us the exact opposite of that, is a little strange when you think about it. You can't know the difference between the two until after the fact - in the situation itself, both feel exactly the same. Outsiders might be able to tell, but you're not going to listen to them when you're in love, and their judgement is anything but foolproof. Twilight was in love with an ideal Luna, same as Spike was in love with an ideal Rarity. One gets sent through hell to learn what a dumb idea that is, while the other gets to consummate his love after decades of pining. Where's the difference in the basic situation to justify that difference in outcome? (Incidentally, it might also be the reason why I like "LFW" far better than "RR".)
I got hooked the exact same way as Sleepless. Giggle at the Ghostly and Twilight's reaction just absolutely slayed me.
Sleepless himself, really piqued my interests(and a fair number of others) in the possibilities surrounding Twilight and Celestia's relationship.
>>389344
Actually, you answered your own question: time.
Twilight's feelings for Luna break down rather quickly, because they're just a crush. Very quickly thanks to Luna's crash-course-in-love quest--keikaku doori--but it's implied that things would've panned out that way regardless.
Spike on the other hoof has decades in which to observe Rarity. Yes he pines, but dragon or no a crush is going to cool given that much time. Spike has all those years--well, until he goes back to Canterlot, anyway--to observe Rarity's flaws as well as her virtues. In the end he still loves her, warts and all.
That's why Like Fine Wine keeps vying with its big sister for the title of "My Favorite Sleepless Fic": what it lacks in meaty conflict it makes up for in sheer sweetness.
Heh, looks like I've answered my own question: it's the dessert to Romance Reports' hearty dinner.
I love this interview. I must admit, I've never actually read Romance Reports (pony sex doesn't sit well with me), but there's so much in here which really strikes into the heart of writing. For this interview alone Sleepless has my respect.
That pretty much blew my mind. What an insight into the world of high-quality clop writers!
>>389438 We actually have no idea how long, if any time at all, Spike spent observing Rarity. Even if he did, at the time of "LFW", he hasn't seen her in a very long time. They're sharing memories of how his life used to be as a baby dragon, not how it used to be growing up, which gives the impression that these two haven't seen hide nor hair (or scale) of one another since "RR".
My point was that you couldn't have told the difference in emotion from the situation itself - the author stacked the deck that way, but the characters couldn't have known that. No one freshly in love would answer yes if you asked them whether they thought it was just a crush. It was Twilight's first love, same as it was for Spike, and in that regard, "LFW" undercuts the basic lesson of "RR", not that I fully agree with that lesson in the first place. In fact, if I squinted a little, this could be read as slightly misogynistic - the woman's first love is just a crush, the boy's first love is The Real Thing (tm). (Then again, you could read this as anti-equestric and pro-draconic, so I'm reading too much into this, I guess.
)
On the other hand, that Applejack side story he wrote pretty much destroyed AJ's credibility as a character in the "RR" universe, so I can be glad that at least that didn't happen to Spike and/or Rarity in "LFW". Goodness, I love Sleepless' stories, but that one was so completely unnecessary. Wasn't it enough to push the characters in ever-so-slightly different directions in "RR"? Was it really worth it to shatter the image of the Element of Honesty in that way? Fortunately, the story he's currently at is a sign that he's back on track, so here's hoping it stays that way.
Congrats Sleepless! Romance Reports remains the one clopfic I actually read and enjoyed for the characterizations
Not gonna lie; I am not a fan of Romance Reports. I would even go so far as to say that it's my least favorite fic in the fandom. However, reading this interview has put it in a new light for me. While I still don't like it very much (Cheerilee and Twilight should have stayed broken up, period), I also don't hate it as much as I used to.
I really felt the story was less romance, and more this:
Which I don't really consider romance.
But, yes, the fic is remarkably well-written, and deserves its place in the Vault. Congrats, Sleepless, even if I don't like your fics very much.
I tried to read RR, but honestly, I couldn't make it through the first chapter. Think a small part of it is due to the choice of tense, that that just rubbed me the wrong way. But beyond that, how a lot of the action is described, it just felt dry, wooden, detached. Just wasn't for me. Which is a shame, because the ideas, the longer term romance, things not working out easily, and so on, well, that is the type of thing that normally does appeal to me.
The interview was good though.
And here I thought I was the only one to hate RR. Honestly I couldn't find very much good to say about the fic.
Hmm, I'm not too sure why so many folks are putting this story down. But (in the words of Q-Tip) opinions are like voices, we all have a different kind. I suppose with something like this you either adore it or detest it. I'm one of those who adore it, by the way, it's my favourite fanfic. This is a really good interview as well. It's always nice to hear things from the author's perspective.
Sleepless just got bumped to the top of my fics-to-read list, which, indecently, is right behind Stephen King's "On Writing." I picked it up a couple months ago and lost it in the shuffles of moving until the other day. As my PonyHoof addon says, "Huzzah!"
Unfortunately "On Writing" is behind a ton of homework, but that's just the way of it.
>>389854 Since I was among the people who had negative things to say about "RR" (if less negative than some others here), let me put things in perspective: I like "RR". I don't adore it, and I certainly wouldn't hand it the title of "best fanfic in the fandom" (that goes to "It Takes a Village"), or even "best fanfic by SleeplessBrony" ("Like Fine Wine", if you couldn't tell), but it's by no means bad.
Yet I can see the flaws in it, one of which, unmentioned by me so far, was the choice of narrative tense. Present tense is great for action, but in dialogue-heavy, character-driven works, it tends to undercut immersion, if only because every verb makes you subconsciously go "something's not right" for a split second. I could overlook it in "Like Fine Wine" because that story has a far narrower character focus than "RR". It's also not that much of a problem in that Applejack side story (which had other flaws that bring it down to "worst thing Sleepless has ever written, bar none"). But in a long story that changes focus as often as "RR" does, it didn't quite fit.
A wonderful story by one of my favorite authors. The degree of world building, character development, and simply beautiful dialogue in this story set is apart. It inspired me to write my own, ahem, 'risque' story. Take that for what you will.
Isn't this a bit late for being on here?
>>389177
That's pretty much the same way I approached Romance Reports. I was intensely skeptical that what I understood to be an erotic fan fic stood much chance at all of being good. I eventually checked it out based on all the praise and discovered that the sex is very much secondary to the characters and their stories. Pony sex scenes do nothing for me from an arousal standpoint*, and yet I still found plenty to like about the story. He expands on the characters, their world, and their culture in ways that are both interesting and feel like a natural fit with canon.
Even the sex scenes end up being worth reading, because Sleepless doesn't drop the ball on characterization and story advancement while writing them. During the sex scenes there are several moments that reveal something about the personalities of those involved, elicit a laugh, or tug at the heart. You know, kind of like what happens during real-life sex.
I'd definitely recommend you (or anyone) give Romance Reports a look. I'm less fond of its follow-up short stories. With the exception of the good-but-sad "Need," they read more like straight-up clop to me and have less of what I liked the most in the original. That said, RR's full-length sequel -- Up in the Clouds, Down to Earth -- is shaping up nicely so far. It's already significantly enlarged my head canon for Fluttershy.
*For those looking for a sexy read but who, like me, get nothing from pony sex -- Sleepless has also started a humanized fic side-project that's hot like whoa.
Wow, an interview with the prince o' ponies himself. Sleepless single handedly is one of the most well known fic authors out there for the FiM genre. Romance Reports is as much a recognizable name in the fandom as other heavy hitters like Cupcakes or My Little Dashie. To see this interview and look inside his mind for a moment, my respect has grown tremendously. RR was one of the first hardcore fics i read, and the feels... oh gods the feels that the story can convey is truly awe inspiring. Likewise his other works are amazing (Even though to a smaller degree but I'm watching Up in the Clouds to see where that goes
)
To those who haven't read his work yet, I suggest you do so. It will change your outlook on the explicit genre.
Easily one of the best stories in the fandom. A memorable piece of work!
>>390223 Ah, that's fair enough. It's just that since I saw comments such as yours that criticised the fic, I thought you might fully dislike it. It's a blog post dedicated to talk about how the story is good, but then I saw some people were talking about why they think it's bad. I don't tend to negatively criticise a fic on a post that's supposed to celebrate it, but evidently some people do. I'm not saying you were wrong to do that, I'm just explaining why I was a bit confused.
Also, I thought 'Like Fine Wine' was alright, but for whatever reason it wasn't quite as moving to me compared to some of Sleepless' other stories. Maybe I wasn't quite paying attention. I tend to (unintentionally) do that sometimes with fics that are supposedly very good. I haven't read 'It takes a Village' but I've heard nothing but good things about it, so I probably will some day.
Romance Reports was the first big, 100k+ words, fanfiction I ever read. And I have to say that at the time it completely disgusted me. But it was so well written, the story so well developed, and the characters and their interactions so spot on that I couldn't stop reading. I'm pretty sure I read the entire thing in a single night. I've since re-read it a couple times, and have come to appreciate the sections I could barely stomach before. Really fantastic stuff.
This is stupid. Romance Reports gained its popularity for being one of the first of its kinds, and probably the first that was well written. It's popular for the same reason My Little Dashie is, not because it's a great story that stands out above the rest, but because it was the first a lot of people read. It shouldn't be so glorified when there are plenty of fics that came after it that are infinitely better in every way, and I don't mean in my opinion, but in terms of quality. (2)
Honestly, I have no love for this story. I can't exactly elaborate on the many things I disliked about RR without massive spoilers, so I'll have to highlight them.
Some aspects of characterization were off, the plot had issues, the initial set up and reasoning for why everything happened was idiotic (and vindictive), pacing was horrid, tense was awkward, and to hell with the entire ending.
The one thing I will say that Sleepless did competently was creating an emotional connection with the reader. Unfortunately, at least for me, he pulled on the wrong heartstrings for too long.
[This next paragraph is rather ranty and is saturated with my personal 'dislike' of the fic. Read it with a grain of salt.]
The fic left me in one of the worst depressions I've ever had. Not just the ending, though that felt like kicking a guy in balls who is already passed out, but pretty much the entire thing from Twi's second attempt until the end. One particular bit of the ending made me honestly sick with disgust in how it was handled. That specific piece of resolution stands out as the only message I took away from the fic. For me at least, the intended message of "Love is hard. A crush is different that true love." took a back seat for the entire fic after the set up.
/rant off
>>390595
How so?
>>389344
>>389499
I'm confused by the idea that an author can't present two different themes or messages in two different stories.
>>389633
Possibly the most level-headed comment I've read, well, anywhere. Well done. (No sarcasm here - it really is.)
>>395255
>This is stupid.
Well, no, it's not. Actually, your post is still an excellent argument for including Romance Reports in the Vault, as the first well-written, well-developed clopfic.
>It shouldn't be so glorified when there are plenty of fics that came after it that are infinitely better in every way, and I don't mean in my opinion, but in terms of quality.
Quality is, in fact, a subjective opinion. In my subjective opinion, RR is quite high quality. So name some names! Which stories do you consider to be infinitely better? That's the point of all this, really, is calling out really great fics, and I don't want to miss out on any.
>>398571
Why, thank you, good sir!
>>398571 >Originally posted to the Vault on 5/18/12
>>398571
I'll admit that at the time of posting that comment, I hadn't realized the substandard grammar had been fixed. "Quality" isn't entirely subjective.
I can think of three fictions that deserve to be recognized as outstanding, none of which are completed yet. Two of them will likely never be completed.
Mature Relationship =/= Having sex with every pony in town.
>>398571 He can, no doubt. But diametrically opposed viewpoints in two stories set in the same universe, involving characters that are very close to one another? "No, your first love was just a crush, but his first love is the real thing"? That is just strange, especially considering that working out the difference between "real love" and "just a juvenile crush" was the entire point of RR, and the story pretty much made it sound like your first love is never the real thing. That's one of the messages in RR I take issue with, because it's patently not true, and it's the reason I like LFW far better than its mother story.
>>399063 Okay, two things: First, incomplete works don't count. As more than one work has proven (yours included), a bad ending can completely derail even the best-written story. Second, I'm tired of constantly reading that Twilight "has sex with everyone in town" in RR, because she most patently does not. The number of partners she goes through in the story is still way above what she should be able to get (off the top of my head, Rarity, Braeburn, Cheerilee, probably Rainbow Dash...and I'm pretty sure I'm missing out on one or two), but depicting RR!Twilight as some kind of nymphomaniac slut really doesn't do the story justice. (Also, having an accusation like that leveled by the author of The Scootaloo Diaries is pretty damn ridiculous, but we're getting a little ad hominem here...)
>>399187
I'd deny allowing The Scootaloo Diaries being added to this collection. And those stories being incomplete is the reason I didn't recommend them.
>>399199 Okay, all hostility put aside for a second: why? Because you don't feel it would make the cut compared to the other stories on the vault, or because you dislike the concept? (Incidentally, I just came to this after reading about Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snubs over the decades. Serendipity!)
>>399206
Like most of stories added to The Vault, it isn't that great of a story despite what a lot of people seem to think. The Vault was a really good idea, but its additions only hurt the collection. Sure it's true that there are plenty of amazing stories in there that have greatly impacted the Brony Community, but plenty more like RR that turn that collection into nothing more than a group of decently written fics. I don't believe any of the things I've written deserve to be in there simply because I'm not that great of a writer.
I wrote a chapter a day for The Scootaloo Diaries for the first half of the entire story, so it has little thought put into it. Give it a very thorough grammar edit and it would be equal to Romance Reports. Neither should be so glorified.
The point of my original protest is to say that in my opinion this collection has lost its original purpose.
>>399265 This, again, reminds me of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You can't deny that there are "average" stories (just as an aside: who exactly decides that? By whose measure do we go here?) that have had a massive impact on the fandom, and considering its notoriety, "Romance Reports" is one of those. Similarly, I hate "Cupcakes", but its undeniable influence would make it a candidate for the Vault if it had better editing.
You'll never get everyone to agree on what belongs in a collection like this. Every single story in it has its detractors out there, beginning with "Common Sky" (14 downvotes on this site as of writing) and (currently) ending with "It's a Dangerous Business, Going Out Your Door". What you feel belongs in there, others will boo out the room. Even "Citizen Kane" has a few naysayers somewhere.
Just wanted to pop in here and thank everyone for reading and commenting - even if you disliked the fic, I appreciate that you gave it any time at all.
And to those who haven't read it, but expressed interest - welcome! I hope you enjoy it!
There's nothing I can say, really, to all the praise that we haven't said before. It's really meant a lot to me that people have enjoyed my work, and that it's meant something to at least a few of them.
>>389344
Where is this MST3K thing I keep hearing about? Seriously, I would love to see it, but my google skills keep coming up flat. Link please?
> Other Ospero Comments
You're going to have to forgive me, I'm catching up on all the comments after a long weekend. Allow me to summarize.
1. I don't see the message of LFW conflicting with RR. Sometimes, people do stick with their first love. There's no real "right" way to fall in love, which again, was sort of the whole point of these stories. LFW, to me, was more about Rarity coming to accept Spike's love.
2. Indeed, Twilight does not "have sex with the whole town". She ends up having four partners over the course of her adventures - just four. Decidedly average.
3. Being able to tell when you just have a crush, as opposed to being "in love" with someone, is possible, as far as I know.
>>399265
The Vault is awesome, and I love it, but please try to remember that it is just a collection of RBDash's picks. He's doing a great job, and I'm honored to be included, but acting like it's "losing it's purpose" is a bit silly in my opinion.
Still waiting for you to name some fics that can prove that "quality" is an objective ideal.
>>389438
Well said, with a perfect little food analogy in as well!
>>390481
D'aww... shucks. You!
>>399297
>Similarly, I hate "Cupcakes", but its undeniable influence would make it a candidate for the Vault if it had better editing.
I wish Sgt. Sprinkles would respond to my inquiries.
>>398655
I'm still not sure what exactly you're working at... is the confusion over the lag between it appearing at the Vault and appearing here? Knighty invited me to post here months after I'd started the Vault, and I wanted to make sure everyone got their fair share, so when I started crossposting, I started from the beginning, which meant there was a delay between an interview appearing at the Vault and here. I've been increasing how many interviews I post here to catch up to the Vault faster, reducing the lag.
>>401001 Oh, okay then
>>399308
There's a group here with the link or you could ask Ponychan.
Side note: Is there anything else you have to say about the use of present tense in a long fic like this?
>>403647
Still can't find it. Guess I'll ask ponychan at some point.
As for present tense, I don't have a lot to say, honestly. It's how I feel comfortable writing, and that's about it. A few people have left comments explaining that, to them, it gave the story a sense of immediacy and closeness that they felt really worked, while other people have said that it's jarring and awful. As far as I'm concerned, it's a style thing, and it's up to you as a writer.
>>399308 For the MST3K, go look for "Pannic Reads Stuff He Hates" in the TV Tropes search function. Be warned, though, it's not just your story, and he doesn't exactly make it easy to see which chapter riffs on which story.
As for the love/crush thing: I read a psychology book some years back that very neatly deconstructed the whole idea of that particular distinction. If memory serves: There is no difference while you feel either, because the only way of telling which of the two you're dealing with is hindsight - basically, if it ends, you tend to classify it as "just a crush anyway" (mainly because we have a tendency, once it's over, to downplay everything about it that was positive, which leads to "I loved him/her" becoming "I was crushing on him/her"). If it lasts, you obviously don't. Even if there is a perceivable difference, I daresay Twilight and Spike started out at exactly the same level of knowledge and competence in regards to love in these stories - to quote Master Shifu from "Kung Fu Panda": "We now have a level zero" -, so neither would be able to really tell the difference. Nor could Rarity, for that matter; it took Spike telling her about his feelings decades later to make her realize that there was more to it than a little boy's first crush. The only object of affection who really comes across as knowledgeable in these things is Luna, and she damn well should know about these things. (I shudder to think what she would have made Spike go through if his and Twilight's targets were switched...
, for lack of a Trolluna.)
>>427766
Aw, that's it? I'd seen that before. That's not even a proper MST3K-ing. Color me disappointed...
As for love/crush stuff... yeah, it's never easy. I like to think that we get more cautious as we get older and go through it a few times, but... well. It's not easy. Even Luna put her hoof in it a few times, depending on how you look at the story.
>>429516 Well, to be fair, a proper MST3K of "Romance Reports" would require an almost epic amount of dedication. (I'd love to do one of "Like Fine Wine", but I think I like the story too much to make it enjoyable...)
But I agree, that thing on the TV Tropes forum isn't really one - it's not funny, for one; I really have to wonder why the guy subjects himself to all that.
Also, come to think of it, I basically did the same thing I accused you of doing, and within a single story to boot, so I really should have kept my mouth shut, I guess.
I think I'll leave it at that and just finish with the song that started it for me.