Unexpected Expectations and the Future for IWSiIC · 3:57am Nov 15th, 2012
Ok, this is nice. My first ever blog. Ok Haku, you can do this... deep breath...
So first off, I just want to say thank you to all of you people out there. You're all amazing for actually liking, commenting, and even favoriting on "I Would Smile if I Could." Seriously, I did NOT expect it to be this popular, it really was unexpected. Thank you all so very much, you all are now the greatest of the great.
And this now leads me to future stuff. As I just said, this was all very unexpected. When I started writing the first chapter for "I Would Have Smile if I Could," something that took me between 2 or 3 weeks, I never would have imagined it being like this. That is why I am sad to say that I only started the second chapter the other day. I am terribly sorry for this, believe me! I wish I knew it would have been this popular, because then I would have known to have the next chapter or 2 finished as to update faster. But I did not, so I now must ask all of you to please be patient, as I promise to get the next chapter out soon.
Next thing on the list; comments. I have been gotten quite a few comments telling me how Slenderman(e)/Slenderpony is suppose to be and how he is suppose to act, but I'll get to that in a moment, and I have also had people asking me where I got the idea for "I Would Smile if I Could," which from now on shall be called IWSiIC to save time, and I shall answer; I got it from the story "The Unexpected Love Life of Dusk Shine." This is true, I got the idea from another story. For those who do not know of this story, let me tell yo9u, it is indeed very... different, in a positive way. It is within this story that Scootaloo is the love-child of Slendermane and his wife, Slendermare, who both live in the Everfree forest like they're in some 90's sitcom.
I know what you're thinking; it's a silly idea. And I agree, it is a very silly idea that wasn't very well accepted when it was revealed. I thought it was an ok joke, but yeah, it wasn't great. I even told the author in a comment that the way Slendermane acted didn't seem very... slenderman-y. It was very different than how I perceived Slendermane(pony), and it just didn't sit very well with me. But then I started doing some thinking, and realized that this person's Slendermane WASN'T my Slendermane(pony), it was theirs. And so I decided to make my own Slenderpony(mane), and I also decided to use their idea of having Scootaloo being the daughter of Slenderpony(mane), but I wanted it to be different from the one in "The Unexpected Life of Dusk Shine." And thus, over the course of a week, the idea of IWSiIC was born!
And that's where the people saying how Slenderman works comes in. Before I say anything, let me just tell this people thank you. I read you're comments and I will indeed try to make Slendermane(pony) a bit less gory and more horror, but again, this is my perception of Slendermane(pony). Here's how I see it; Slendermane(pony) is indeed a mystical creature, made of magic and darkness and fear, but in a world full of magical creatures, something like Slendermane(pony) wouldn't be all that magical. He's just like every other magical or mystical creature, something that's been alive for a LONG time that's really only trying stay living. The fact that he would have been alive for centuries, maybe even millennia, would mean that he has hunted millions of sentient beings, which mean's he would have heard them speak , which in turn would have allowed him to learn speech also. This would also explain how he would know pony terms like "it cut through as if its butter" or ever how the term goes. And how he feeds is indeed a true mystery, which is why I felt that if I would have a PoV story with Slenderpony(mane), that I would have to somewhat show how he eats.
If you read all that, then you get some prizes in the form of one of my favorite Slenderman type things:
I think that's about it. So to recap: Thank you all very much, I got the original idea from "The Unexpected Life of Dusk Shine," this is my Slendermane(Pony) and I'll have him act how I want him too, I'll get the next chapter out as soon as possible, and SERIOUSLY THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH.
Woot!
Hey, congratulations on all that.
Never a problem brother, though your video you posted had me laughing my ass off I loved it
Like your story, this blog is brilliant. I must say, keep up the good work, okey-dokey?
I was wondering if "The Strange Love Life of Dusk Shine" had anything to do with your story's canon. You should feel free to take you time updating (not too much time, though), if that helps make good chapters. As an aspiring writer and current student, I recognize the effectiveness of last-minute panic as a writing motivator, but it's not something you want to rely on for creative writing.
Interesting back-story! I never did read Dusk Shine's story, I now have something new to look forward to
I never was into the whole Slenderman/Pony stuff. I'll admit, never found it interesting. So I can't see why those people complained about a version of Slenderman, a pony version from another reality all together with only similar traits to our own reality's Slenderman, as not being in character'ish or slendery enough? I thought the pov of a Slenderpony was a unique look and attempt at character building. The little tangent he went on for being laughed at did throw me back for a bit, but it got me cracking a smile.
In short, grats on the hits. If 2-3 weeks is what made the first chapter so appealing, then take your time. I mean, I am still waiting on The Ballad of Twilight Sparkle for moons sake, so 2-3 weeks for quality is hardly a wait compared to what? 8-11 months? XD
Grats on the favs and follows!
Make chapter 2 extra "COMPLETELY AMAZING" for us ok?
Don't force your story to be something it's not. I spotted my comment held a fair bit of influence in the comments section and the issues addressed here, but don't make the mistake in believing I was telling you how to write a story. Let me explain myself.
Slenderman already has an establish story behind him. Sure, great pieces of it, especially his exact origin, are shrouded in mystery, but there's an ordered chaos to the madness in 12Tribes and MH. They are the progenitors of the mythos, and there's nothing you can do to rip that fact from the minds of others.
Put yourself in my shoes. This is a Slenderman fic I'm reading for the first time. I know nothing about crossovers with other MLP/Der GroBman material. So when you deviate from known source material, as you do, I can't help but point out those discrepancies. It was your first chapter and you gave your audience a crash course in the Slenderman mythos. There wasn't enough time to elaborate on why your Slenderman was different from the norm. Think about it, this is still "our" Slenderman, not "yours."
That's the problem with all over saturated crossovers (Fallout) and those with a mythos lacking in details (Slenderverse). If you stay too close to the rules, people are going to pick out discrepancies. Stray too far, and you no longer have a work that recognized as possible of happening. You need a happy medium containing equal parts loyalty to the source material and originality, otherwise you'll get flak from both sides. Everything I said: the blood, the horror, the language, was all due to your Slenderman straying too far from the norm without an adequate reason why.
Now you are making a good effort. He feeds on fear, thus explaining why he kidnaps people, especially children. You also gave a canonical explanation for Slenderman's signature head tilt. This is a start, but more is needed.
Create your own mythos and Slenderman character. that's the important part. Actually, having fun is the important part, but you get the idea.
This makes sense, but has Two flaws. Well, one and a half flaws, because it might be explained later on. The first one is never, ever assume facts or assume your readers know them. Show, don't tell; all authors everywhere in the universe heard that line. If you want this to occur, don't assume your audience knows facts or invoke the Handwave of God to explain things.
Secondly, this might break that cognitive dissonance I spoke of before. Like I said, it's okay to do this PROVIDING: you can explain it in story. Slenderman has always been this entity that's beyond our understanding. Doing this humanizes him, but that's alright; this is fanfiction. That shit's allowed. Hell, I'm writing a crossover with Minecraft. BECAUSE I CAN.
I digress.
My point is you may be humanizing Slenderman too early, too fast. As I stated, we can't help but recall our own knowledge when Slenderman comes up, so seeing him act this way goes against the grain. Again, this is fine, as long as you can write it well. Keep a careful record of what you make Slenderman say and do. Every time, ask yourself, "Will this complicate future matters? Does this make sense? Is this OOC?"
Do what you want, but be careful. Changing a mythos is a slippery slope.
Now that I think about it, what is it about your story that makes me write epicly long comments?