Fanfiction Reading Update #174 or The State of the Regency · 6:49am Oct 26th, 2017
It's been a very, very, very long time since I talked about Regent in any meaningful way. There wasn't really anything worth talking about. It wasn't being written, I was burned out writing it, and there were no new chapters. No point in dragging the dead horse out for a useless blog post that does just as much as the hiatus tag does at informing readers about what's going on.
If I'm entirely honest, the burnout really faded over a year ago and more of a bitterness and dislike crept in. I couldn't even look at a chapter of Ascend without wincing at a poorly done reference or a line of dialogue that didn't quite work right. I didn't even bother opening Regent's document for fear of the same feelings bubbling up.
Another large part of it has to do with fanfictions. Ascend and Regent were inspired by other fics—Ascend with the classic “Twilight becomes an alicorn” fics while Regent delve into the Twilciorn adventure fics—took a great deal of humor out of poking fun at those stories' plots, and fanfics helped to keep my energy and enthusiasm going. But I got out of fanfics. I stopped reading updates, stopped looking for new stores, and (as a result) stopped doing these reading updates. The very thing that provided so much gas for Regent fizzled along with the story.
But, emboldened by the Winningverse fics, by updates, and by new fics to read, I opened Regent's document for the first time in three years and was shocked by what I found. I chuckled at the references, found the OCs pleasant and likable, and all those old plot points, long forgotten, sprung back into my head. My plans for Flight Deck, for Morning Star, for Twilight. It had been so long, it was like I was reading the story for the first time. And I liked what I read.
The next day I opened the document again and, two hours and 1,200 words later, I saved and closed it. The next day I did 1,100 words (and will probably toss them into a deleted scene since I'm currently feeling like they reveal too much of the big twist). But don't go cheering yet, because you're still many, many months from seeing an update—if seeing one at all.
Why? I want to finish Regent. I want to have it completed, fully done and polished, before a sentence goes onto Fimfiction. This is partly because I've come to love fully writing a story—being able to go back and change a scene or a piece of dialogue to fit a new plot point at my leisure. Something very important with a story like Regent that has several subplots at play; but it's mainly because I don't want this to happen again.
I don't want to write three chapters, get everyone back into the story and going again only to sputter—for the plots to overwhelm me, for my rusty characterization to frustrate me, or for that bitterness and dislike to subtly creep its way back in like a cancer—and it once again wind up in people's deadfic bins, this time likely for good as the cynicism would probably overwhelm me.
So I'll write and edit and frustrate myself trying to do the impossible and bring the dead back to life. Please, go on assuming Regent's dead. Don't get your hopes up. Don't hype yourself up. Don't reread Ascend and Regent to remind yourself and get yourself ready for the next chapter, because if the dozens of half finished stories I have lying around are any indication, it's going to be a very, very uphill battle. One I'm very likely to lose, but one I'm going to fight none the less.
Enough about my old story, onward to others'.
I finally get up to date on Through a Glass Darkly and things seem to have slowed quite a bit since the whole “commit suicide” thing Fluttershy tried pulling.
Restrictions apply. Not available in Possible Trackings.
Equestria's Secret Service envelopes me with its use of one of my favorite headcanons—Equestria's special forces keeping shit from hitting the fan. The conspiracy kept me involved for the duration of the story, although the motivation for the villains is probably the most retarded I have ever seen in a fanfic (let's start a war to show how great Equestria is and bring about peace!) Still, anything that holds my interest for 150,000 words is getting tracked, even if it updates at a similar pace to the the tectonic plates and the author hasn't been seen since the 4th of July.
For some inexplicable reason, I never mentioned that I cut [url=Daring Do and the Lost Tome of Shadows]Daring Do and the Lost Tome of Shadows quite a while ago after getting two chapters in. This was primarily because Dash and AJ were acting way way younger than they should have been—I'm talking it felt like they were the CMC. And the shattering of my suspension of disbelief at the notion that Twilight could conjure up a massive abandoned temple a few miles from Ponyville without anyone questioning where the hell it came from.
I remember being quite disappointed that such a great premise—especially the “Twilight's the evil mastermind and likely suffers a comedic breakdown at the end” part—was spoiled by poor execution.
Beneath the Sun's Surface is cut after two chapter and I must confess to being incredibly saddened to say that. I had been quite looking forward to the story and the synopsis really drew me in, only for the entire plot to be revealed by the end of chapter two. We know who the villains are. We know their big evil plan is. We know Celestia won't be dying. Pretty much every mystery, every suspenseful item, every good part of the synopsis is crippled by the time you end the second chapter. Dramatic irony can work, but I really think it killed this story before it really even had a chance to begin.
And that's all I read for the week.
# of story updates remaining: 608.
# of “Read Later” stories remaining: 1,188.
You got a little busted markup in the last few paragraphs.
Good to hear a pragmatic but still slightly hopeful update here.
That is not dead which can eternal lie. ;p
Anyway, good luck to you in your very, very uphill battle. Hope you will find all of it enjoyable.
It'll be quite the battle, but I hope that it stays an enjoyable one for you. PM me if you're ever in need of an editing assist, I'd be only too happy to help out in this endeavor.
No matter what happens, I'd put to say thank you for writing the stores in the first place. We're here for you buddy.
Publish them in some "unfinished ideas" compilation. With the Regent if it doesn't make it. :)
Now this is a name I've not heard in a long time.
You write it, I'll be there.
I love it when an update comes back from the dead. It's rare that a story comes back after being abandoned for this long, so the fact that you're even considering this is worth celebrating.
Reagent is still in my tracking list. If it updates I'll probably end up rereading the prequel and sequel over again.