Looking Back · 9:31am Nov 12th, 2019
Been a long time, hasn't it?
I know a lot of you have probably moved on, but I figured I at least owed it to the longtime followers - and continued readers - to finally check in.
For the first, I have good news. I am finally working in a career in my field of choice, and I have finally found a job I truly enjoy. It has been a revelation this past year, working in my new place of business, to finally realize I don't dread going into work. (Not any more than anyone who has to work for a living does, anyway.) The last year has been incredibly intense, as my new place of employment uses highly proprietary software that I am expected to know the deep ins and outs of. This has, as you might imagine, consumed much of my personal time as I work hard to keep this job that both pays well and does not drive me insane.
This has not, as you might imagine, left much time for *writing*.
With the passing of Generation 4 (For those of you curious: Yes, it made me cry. A lot.) I find myself at odds with things I want to write. Unquestionably, the ending of the show and the final dispensation of characters has left me with at least a few stories I'd want to write before leaving the whole fanfiction behind me. Several ideas, such as "The Midnight in Me", "The Pinkboot Paradox" and "Twilight Sparkle Runs Out of Patience" have been sitting in various unfinished Gdocs for years now. Once the holidays have passed, I have resolved to try to finish at least one of these short-stories, in an effort to see if I still have the creative spark in me after 2+ million words of horsestory.
Maybe it will spark a revelation, or maybe it will prove that it is time for me to truly move on to writing other things. I don't know, to be honest. But I do know that I owe all of you thus:
Thank you. For your support, your comments, your love, your cheering me on. The times I wrote for FimFiction were among some of the most difficult I've dealt with. And the years of darkness that followed, I took heart knowing I had made such an impact, (If indeed impact I made) on this small slice of the community. I was never horse-famous, I never wrote a truly famous story of any kind, but I believe at least I made a few smiles, and now, with perspective, that was enough.
I know this will come as some measure of disappointment to many of you who continue to wait - ever faithfully - for promised third-parts and finishers, but to date I have not been able to bring my brain to bear on these monumental tasks of finishing up stories I began 6 years ago. Perhaps this will change, but I cannot say for sure. If enough people who still follow this account (Now unpublished for more than 3 years) want, I will be happy to share my plot-outlines and final-fates for Codes' Apprentice and the Shadowverse stories so as to give you all some closure. (Though to this day, I would like to point out, I named my villain Tantalus and called him the Pony of Shadows before the show did by several years, so NYEH.)
For those of you who wish to continue to hope, well, I cannot say one way or the other yet what my next writing task will be, but I can say this: The Code's Apprentice still forms the foundation for the true original writing novel I wish to make, and if I find myself gaining momentum on that project, the original will have to remain unfinished. It will likely, eventually, be pulled from circulation in order to use the title and other major writing concepts without getting into trouble with publishers.
I've rambled enough here. Know that I love you all, I miss you all, and I wish both time and brainpower allowed for a swift return to the realm of fiction. Regardless of what may yet happen,
I remain, as always, humbly yours.
Lapis-Lazuli.
(P.s - I do spend a lot of time on the Discord chat these days. If there is a big chatroom where many of you live, I will be happy to drop in for a friendly word and other stuff. I'm always in need of more people to talk to.)
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I'll be interested in whatever you have to write these days, honestly. Don't really remember enough about The Code's Apprentice to say if I would even understand the closure for it, so I think I'll vote no on that (though by all means share it if you want!) and Shadowverse.
I'm not really in any big MLP servers except for the FiMFiction one (there should be a link at the bottom of every page if you haven't already joined it), so I can't give out any invited unfortunately, haha. Unless you're interested in Fallout: Equestria, but I don't think most people are these days.
Still, it's good to see you're alive and kicking. Far too many pony authors just up and dropped off the face of the planet.
I would very much like to see what you had planned for the Shadowverse. Been waiting on that conclusion for 4 years.
Good to see that you're still around and congratulations on the new job!
I Wish you good luck at your new job and I am glad you found something good to do. I hope you are able to finish some or all of your stories. However I understand if you don't or can't even if it will make me and others sad.
Good to see you. I'll be honest you were one of the first writers out there that I did follow. Also one of the ones to convince me to actually make an account so I can save the stories I'm reading. I'm happy that your life is on the up swing enjoy it and do what you must to keep it.
I would love to see where you had planned to take The Code's Apprentice, hell I would love a copy of it. (Better get my ass in gear to get a copy off of here before it's removed) Still good to see you are doing good and I hope the stars continue to shine where ever you walk
I have enjoyed many of your stories. Thank you for sharing them. Wish you all the best for future endeavors, whether or not they contain horse words!
I believe your stories where among some of the very first I read on this site ages ago.
The Shadowverse and Code books being among my favorites.
Musical relations and The Two Between are another pair that I really loved as well.
Oh and cant forget Dinky's stories, there just adorable.
All in all I would love to see more of some of these.
Its good to read that things have turned around and are heading in better direction for you.
Best of luck in what ever future endeavors yo do decide to persue.
Glad to hear your satisfied with your life and work.
Would certainly be interesting to see what you had planned for Code's Apprentice.
Congrats on the job, and good luck on eventually getting published!
He lives...
While I’m disappointed at the closure of the stories, I’m glad life has been treating you well, and I hope your new career makes you happy
It's good to see you back. Regardless of whether those long awaited stories are written or not, the fact that you came back, it's nice. As someone who makes an effort to remember the authors who have left, to see one return is a pleasure I don't normally get.
Putting aside my ramblings though, I look forward to any future writing endeavors you may decide to put yourself towards.
I'm just happy that you're happy to be honest. Glad your still kicking! If you ever see yourself on Steam, throw us a message and i'll toss my ID your way.
I tend to keep following authors forever just in case, I would have to re-read your stories for me to figure out what was going on so I'm not too worried about you forcing yourself to grind out the endings.
I followed you because I liked your writing. Writing that you did because you enjoyed it or the challenge. If you write more I would probably read and enjoy it, but more than anything it sounds like your life is good right now and that's my favorite thing about your name popping back up in my feed.
I came back after a few years to read your Tavi&Vinyl fics, then hopped to your author profile just to see what was up. I'm glad I did, or I would have missed this post.
Congratulations on the job. I hope it gives you the financial stability and emotional energy needed to not just work, eat, sleep, repeat but rather, live in a fulfilling way.
And heck, if part of that means more writing (which is some of the best quality writing on this whole site, as a note), I'like still be here to read and support your wonderful works!
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I had never thought of artists and their works as relating to their maiden-mother-crone progression, looking at it from that perspective, I think that makes a lot of sense. Many (if not all) artists including myself tend to make art that is a heavy reflection of their own experiences and current mindset. There are works I could only have ever created in the dead of night, others that only came to mind in other's company (like the middle of a rave), and yet others in the shadows of nature.
I may need to experiment with conscious manipulation of those factors to see what comes out of it. Thank you for the refreshing perspective.
I have for years loved the code stories, and I will likely be one of the first to buy its spiritual sister if we know of its name and where publishing, just a thankyou for all the time and stories
Disappointed that we will never get a real ending to some of these larger epics, but I'd gladly pre-order whatever book series comes out of these mad horse writings so make sure to give us the skinny on the books details (title, release date, etc.) when the time comes. Also, make sure to give us the details here on fim fiction, since this is the only place I (and I imagine a fair few others) have any point of contact with that information. Every sale counts after all. Best of luck, and have fun.
Well, I'm certainly late to the party...
I had The Code's Apprentice in my Read-Later folder for years, somewhat hesitant to finally start reading it because, for some unknown reason, I ended up expecting it to be a more grimdark take. No really sure why, but I think it reminded me of another story that went that route and ended on a somewhat...meh note?
Anyway, I finally started reading it one or two weeks ago and just finished Code of Harmony a short while ago. I'm hooked and agree with all those lovely people above my post: It's sad that it will probably never get that third part we're all craving. C’est la vie, I guess. But I'd really appreciate that summary of the finisher's plot to be released.
Anyway, I hope you'll have fun attempting to finish some of your shorter stories and good luck with your original novel (would be nice, though, if you'd give us notice before you take down the Code series)!
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Don't worry. There will be at least a year of notice, since getting published is not easy in the best of times.
I'm putting together a final plot synopsis, anyway. I hope people will at least find it entertaining.
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Loved your code series thank you for those.
Here’s hoping book 3 one day comes forth.
I know im a bit late to this blog post, but i know i would love to see the plot points and finals fates for the Code and the Shadowverse series. Awesome writing in both cases :)
I just read First Seconds and All in the Making today, and it leaves me wondering because you mentioned the other stuff in this post, I was wondering if you will be continuing that series of stories as well, if you ever find the time, or are they just done, with no further updates?
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Those works were written by my chief editor and former Partner In Crime, Stitch, who has since stepped away from content creation in the fandom. In respect for their former work and for all of the help they gave me during the later part of my career on here, I have left their works untouched as they left them. Should they decide to continue content creation at some future date, I would discuss restoring account access with them.
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Thank you so much for the reply, and sorry for my ignorance on that. I love good fiction, original or fanfiction...and I get really absorbed into what I read sometimes, and I really hate it when I start reading something or watching a show only to find the story unreolved because it was cancelled or something.
Another year. Another story. I hope life is treating you well in this strange new tale...
Just spent another nice couple of days reading the code stories. Still as brilliant as before!