Postscript: Light Pollution · 3:38am May 25th, 2018
For as long as I can remember (or maybe just a year), I've had four series in my mind. Premiere Nebula, the (tentatively) renamed Actress Square: the ambitious series looking for the big time. If You Give a Little Love: the first hit series, the FiMFiction magnum opus. Paging Doctor Sparkle: the wild card edged with drama, comedy and everything in between. And Light Pollution: the troubled production fighting to stay alive, and stayed alive it has.
I feel as though I gave so much attention to my other series that, somewhere along the way, I forgot about little Light Pollution for a bit. Maybe it was because, out of the three FiMFiction series I write, it was the idea that came most on a whim. Or maybe, just maybe, it was something else.
Flash back to the summer of '16 with me for a bit. Can you already imagine all the iPhone screens out, playing Pokemon Go? It seems so far away, but that was the environment that gave birth to Light Pollution. Or, as I called it then, Diamonds Before Seeds. It was to be a culmination of things I'd been wanting to do for a while. Have a large 'verse associated with my story, like the big FiMFiction authors? Check. Finally do something with Crusaders of the Lost Mark, one of the episodes that blew my mind like no other? Check. Do a travel-related story where people explore new things and become closer as a result? Check. Finally work on improving my slice-of-life writing skills? Uncheck.
Therein lay the issue. You see, while I was very used to writing things like drama and fantasy, slice-of-life was an area I hadn't explored quite as much. The whole concept of making a story fun to read when not much really happens was one that I didn't get back then. That's why Light Pollution was such a huge experiment for me--every once in awhile, I still felt tempted to add some drama or mystery elements back in, but this time, I made sure they were only elements. I love drama, but I feel like it became my crutch a little bit, so things like this really did wonders to improve my dialogue and my more mundane scenes. I feel better off for it now, but believe me--it was a struggle.
And then there was yet another issue on the table--scheduling. Back then, Paging Doctor Sparkle hadn't been "born" yet, so it was just Light Pollution and If You Give a Little Love. Since the two series tied into each other, I figured I'd alternate stories every week, so eventually, Light Pollution would complete itself in 28 weeks. I recognized early on that these standards were far too harsh, since I was struggling to complete both series and finish college. And I recognized that IYGALL would have to end--soon. So I'd update Light Pollution once in a while, until those weeks of waiting turned into months.
That, you see, had been my other mistake. I've always told myself that there are only so many stories I can work on, and yet somehow, my brain doesn't always listen. That's why IYGALL has a body count--depending on if I ever resurrect What Comes Before a Butterfly, it's killed 2-3 series I could have completed. That's because, deep down, I knew I wanted to tell IYGALL more than anything, and I just didn't have the time to do anything else. So eventually, a year into Light Pollution's run, I had to sit down and ask myself: is this story going to be another casualty? Would it be better to just take that one extra piece of stress out of my life?
All I can say now is this: I'm glad I didn't. I don't want anyone here to think I hate Light Pollution. I'm proud of it just like my other series, even if I didn't always invest the time I could have into it. I am totally open to writing a oneshot with the characters. But let me just tell you this: sometimes love for a series doesn't always save you from that urge to cancel. That happened to me, too. So, for anyone who's on this same fence, wondering if their series really matters in the grand scheme of FiMFiction, here's some advice.
First: watch Toy Story 2. Watch it for the first time, rewatch it, watch the whole series, watch the whole series and The Incredibles while you're at it, I don't care. But pay attention to a particular little scene, and think about it whenever you're tempted to make that decision. (The decision to cancel, not the decision to rewatch The Incredibles. Because the sequel's coming out, and if you like it, you totally should. More power to you.)
But anyway, for the sake of convenience, this is the scene I'm talking about:
This scene got to me, even before I wanted to be a writer. (Yes, even more than "When She Loved Me." Am I allowed to say that as a Pixar fan, or is that blasphemy?) For years, I had no clue why this one stood out to me when the whole movie was just that good. But now that I'm the one behind the stories, I know why. Because, on this site, I have complete control over whether or not (going back to the analogy) I let "Woody and Bullseye" cross the divide. If I was writing for TV or books, it would all be up to the powers that be. We all have a few cancelled series under our belt, but what matters is that cancellation is not inevitable. If you believe in a series with all your heart, and believe you can finish it, it can end.
After a while, I started putting myself in the role of the person watching that little Woody's Roundup episode. To the executives behind that fictional decision, it was probably just a matter of money; Woody and friends weren't getting enough merchandising, so the show's out the door. But the person watching (presumably) doesn't care about how popular it is--they just want to see the story. So no matter how unpopular your story is, I can always guarantee that there is someone waiting for it, wanting to see the next scene. That means that whatever devastated kid watched that Woody's Roundup episode will have the exact same reaction as someone reading your story.
None of this is to say not to cancel--sometimes, it's just the only thing a fic writer can do when they're starved for ideas or have too much going on in their life. (Or, as a frivolous example of mine, cancelling a series because you just cannot bring yourself to ship TrixieMac anymore, goshdarnit!) But it's always good to remember that your stories have an audience that will care if your characters never make it to the other side of the canyon.
Anyway, I got a bit off-subject about something I passionately believe. As for the actual Light Pollution stuff, I really enjoy the dynamic I set up between Diamond and the rest of Babs' family. While Coco will never outright adopt Diamond, as some readers hoped, I believe their relationship will last into the years. And it's that relationship, I believe, that saved the series. So, while Light Pollution didn't go as smoothly as I hoped, I like to see it as a testament to my determination. I hope you all enjoyed and I hope you can take this advice into your heart. 
I can relate to the part of Love axe-murdering your other stories. Blonde Moments completely enveloped my writing time for the past year. I took a pause here and there to write some one-shots, but I completely shut down any and all other long-running stories in the process.
It was worth it when I finally got to hit that complete tag, though. I also got to use it on my resume for a promotion at work. Our director was impressed I finished a 100k word story, fanfiction or not.
4868989 At one time, I determined that anybody who could successfully run a Molten Core raid with 40 characters in World of Warcraft would be able to manage *anything* including Congress. It makes herding cats look easy.