What does "Auld Lang Syne" mean, anyway? · 11:45pm Dec 31st, 2020
So.
2020. It's almost over.
It's funny, as a year ago, I was in a rather optimistic place. I had a new job lined up! I was going to work on my writing! I even had some vague plans to travel abroad once I got settled in at the new gig!
And ... yeah. That new gig? It was at an airline. One that doesn't exist anymore, for fairly obvious reasons. Thankfully, I'm lucky enough that I've been able to weather the last year without too much trouble. And I should be fine for a fair while yet, to boot. So yay on that.
But! If nothing else, all that extra time gave me time to play video games write! Which, uh, has gone with ... varying levels of success? I mean, I had one original superhero-flavored story that I was working on at the beginning of the year, that I kind of shelved after awhile on account of the pandemic and later BLM protests kind of turning me off of writing something in the 'present day.' Then there was a sci-fantasy sort of thing which ... well, PARTS of it were fun, but I kind of ran out of steam once I realized my antagonists didn't have much motivation beyond "they are mustache-twirlingly evil." So I've moved onto a THIRD original project, which ... is going fairly well? I've made it a point to have more defined antagonists with more defined goals, so ... whoo? I'm about 23,000 words into it, in a draft I started in October, so whee. Hopefully I can keep this rolling.
But who cares about that? Y'all are here for THE PONY. And I ... actually did a bit of that, this year? Let's take a look.
We Deserve a Happy Ending: Okay, technically, I started this one in 2019, but MOST of it was published in January of 2020, so yay? Most of the delay was 'cause I was waiting for mostly-non-piratey ways to watch the final Equestria Girls holiday specials, which ... didn't come up at all in the story, but it was important for tone! Or something. Honestly, this was a 'saying goodbye' kind of fic-- a bit melancholy (in a nerdy way) but still fun to write. Plus, it's a sequel Let Me Tell You About My Character, so whoo.
Applejack's Hearts and Hooves Day Hullabaloo: I wrote this one on a whim, as like, a week or two before, I thought to myself "what if I write something shameless and shippy for Valentines day?" Which, uh, I did. Rarijack, of course, because I got a niche, dammit. Probably could have entered it into some shipping contest or something, but I wasn't paying much attention at the time.
En Garde! Another short bit of something fun and fluffy and meta. I honestly haven't messed around with AU's in my fanfic work, so this was a fun change of pace even though I roped it back into the 'main' continuity in the end. Ha ha ha! Still, Rarity + a rapier is always a winning combo. And the fun thing is, I could probably hammer out a sequel to this story without much trouble, buuuut I've got enough on my plate as is. It was a nice change of pace, and y'all should go read it. That is, if you haven't read it already (in which case read it again!). But I could say that about all of the fics here ...
The Good, the Bad, and the Sentry: So I wrote this'un in March, about when the whole 'quarantine' thing started getting serious. Because hey, it was only gonna be like, a month of shut down, and then we could get things rolling again, right? Ah, to be that young and naïve again. Still, it had been awhile since I'd done an entry of the Flash Sentry Papers, and after getting drunk and listening to Enrico Morricone one night, the phrase "The Ecstasy of Gold(en Harvest)" came to mind. Since I wasn't up for writing CarrotSentry clopfic, it evolved into a western called The Good, the Bad, and the Sentry instead. A fun little romp, but (probably) not the last of the Flash Sentry Papers I'll write. Like, shoot, now that I think of it, I've got at least ... two, maybe three more adventures I could hash out. I've kind of been waiting for S9 to hit Netflix so I could re-watch the pony finale for research for Sentry's Last Stand, but that looks like it's gonna be a long time coming. Hm. Though if inspiration strikes me, I may chart out some of ol' Flashy's other adventures before then. Just need to think of a punny enough title. Which, again, may be a long time coming.
After that, I focused on original content, with ... varying degrees of success, as I mentioned earlier. Still, I at least tapped into Jinglemas, which had me writing Holiday Gig. Which, as I've mentioned before, kind of came at me like a curveball, as the requester requested two characters I'd never really paid much (or any) attention to before: Octavia and Sonata Dusk. Still, I'm proud of how the story came together, as a goofy holiday adventure. I mean, everything's better with Krampus, right? Though I suppose having two new (to me, at least) characters was a bonus, as it forced me to write more stuff for setup, instead of just saying 'oh hey look it's two of the mane 6 being cute at each other,' which is something I could write ALL DAY. Still, it was fun enough to make me want to sign up for Jinglemas 2021 if that turns out to be a thing, though I'm not sure if I'll be self indulgent enough to ask someone to write a Flash Sentry/Carrot Top shipfic on my behalf. Ahem.
Still, running some quick and dirty totals, and subtracting the one chapter of We Deserve a Happy Ending I published in 2019, that puts me at 35,019 words of pone story for the year of 2020. Which ... uh, isn't bad, in the grand scheme of things? Around 3,000 words of pony silliness a month, averaged out. Or really, considering I took a break that was only interrupted by Jinglemas, that's nearly 30k of pony written between January and April. Huh.
As for what 2021 will bring, I have ... absolutely no idea. Then again, neither does anyone else, so we're in the same boat? If nothing else maybe I'll write something shamelessly goofy and romantic for February. But we shall see!
So yeah. Happy new year, you nerds. Stay home, stay safe, and I guess I'll catch you next time around.
I think that THIS:
"Auld Lang Syne" Meaning
should help you some.
There's also this:
.
Hope this helps, Tumble.
It's in the Scotts dialect of English and (loosely) means "the good old days."
And huzzah for being so productive in such a crappy year!
Congrats for all the productivity; truly, you are Best at Ponies.
Also, happy new year!
Well if you badmouthed the Legion in front of Arcade, then maybe he'd invite you to hire those old Enclave people.
Ah hell, what if you never played New Vegas at all, lol5427090
Incidentally, I have played New Vegas! First Fallout I ever played, in fact. And it’s ruined the rest of the series for me cause none of the “main” games are nearly that good.
Also none of them are Westerns, either, which is a mistake.
5427173
Nice~