For all things, there is a last time…
Life is made up of these last times, but we can't know when they will be. There will, for each of you, be a last day that you walk out of your apartments or dorms. There will be a last day you see someone who is now a friend.
There will be a last day that we all meet here, on this odd little slice of the web. There will be a last day that I write a blog. There will be a last story that I submit... there will be a last day that I sign on. The same goes for you.
Six mares. Fifteen pairings. One (insane) fanfic.
Inspired in part by Ringcaat's The Combinatorics Project (and Quill's overwhelming love of all things Joyce), each chapter of Last Kisses takes one possible mane six ship and explores themes of endings, loss, and finality through their very last kiss. There are only two rules:
1) Each chapter is written in a style that reflects the couple's dynamic, or the story being told.
2) Each chapter must end when the kiss is over. No aftermath. No time to think it through. End of the kiss, end of the chapter.
Last Kisses is written as a loving tribute to the works of James Joyce, and was supposed to be written as part of the celebrations of Bloomsday 2015.
For Doseux
(Who wrote Lunnas Ache before I could finish Pinkies Wake)
For SS&E
(Whose work on .out.of.character. convinced me to give this crazy idea a try)
And, as always, for Robbie
(Who has by now read enough pony fanfiction that he really should watch the show)
What beautiful writing this is.
6052315 Thank you! Your comment really did bring a ridiculous smile to my face. This chapter is based stylistically (and structurally) on Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Joyce was certainly a much better author than I am, and if you enjoyed this I can heartily recommend that book, for of all his books Portrait is the one that is both innovative and actually readable.
Are all of these going to be vaguely heart-crushing?
Not that this is a bad thing. Not if they're this good and/or interesting.
Is this supposed to end in the middle of a sentence?
6053065 I'd say not all of them, but that would be a lie
6053737 Yep! One of the restrictions I've given myself for this fic is that no matter what happens, each chapter will end when the kiss does. If that means cutting off mid-sentence, that means cutting off mid-sentence. (Luckily, though, most chapters are less blunt about it than this one
)
oh my godddddddddd
AAAAAAAAAUGH I LOVE THIS
QUILL YOU MADMAN
6057065
This. This is word for word the exact response I've been hoping for, and we haven't even gotten to the weird bits yet
Until I saw Fluttershy I was convinced this took place during "Suited for Success," with Twilight teaching Rarity about the stars she wanted on her dress.
I love the word 'darling,' but the problem with it is that it makes me think everyone is Rarity.
Lovely. The format reminds me of a strophe and antistrophe in a Greek chorus.
I love all of this so much. So, so much. Take my favorite. Take my like. Take my follow. Take my pants
6057092
All the sapphic stanzas probably don't help. Also maybe the mythology. I don't even know, this took far too long to write per word
Glad you're enjoying it!
Oh, a redo of the Combinatorics? I loved that story.
Never mind. By chapter two, I've gotten how this is different from The Combinatorics. It is nice.
I loved this take on a classic myth.
One of my favorite myths too, poor Daedalus.
I did enjoy the story. But there is much room for improvement, the writing could be more creative, and not so repetitive. Though, I'm sure time will fly and it will slowly work its way up.
A great start though
6057201 Combinatorics was actually the first MLP fic I ever read. While this story is meant as a homage to Joyce, in a lot of ways it's also a little bit of a thank you to Ringcaat.
6058497 It was among the first for me, so I'm there with you.
Quill, has anyone ever told you that you're too creative for your own good?
6064136 I couldn't agree more, ol' chum.
I really like what your doing with the story it nice and sweet, but I have a question
WHERE DA RARIDASH
this is pretty good. kind of leaves me wanting more.
Well, this is fascinating. Four down, eleven to go. I look forward to more character-appropriate sunk ships.
lol dat article ending...
Best disclaimer ever.
I'd forgotten about this project. This makes for one heck of a reminder. Very well done.
6430397 Thanks. I'm finally ready to pick this back up again. Hopefully I can get all the way to the end without another long break like that!
>Last Kisses
*cue sharp intake of breath*
6431863 I was just about to comment that I don't see the kiss in the chapter, but you just clarified. Don't most people do "xox" or "xoxo?" IDK, just weird.
I have no idea how you came up with this one but I think I l
ve you for it
this is amazingThis is an interesting concept for a story. You could have built the companionship between Fluttershy and RD a bit more, but I did enjoy the way the events progressed in jumps in time and flowed as a narrative.
I also ship eternal nothingness with itself! In all seriousness though I need to remind myself to see this chapter again when it contains something.
For the longest time I thought that 'x' was the symbol for a hug not a kiss because it looks like a person with arms outstretched reaching for a hug while the 'o' is the lips for a kiss. Even though I know that I'm wrong and the real meaning is derived from hundreds of years of history I can't help but feel like the inverse is more logical.
Conserning the chapter itself and not just the last character I am really enjoying all of the different styles employed and unconventional ships like this one.
7142289 Hi! Glad to hear you're enjoying this (painfully slowly-updating) fic.
Just a quick note to let you know that both images so far (in ch. 2 and 4) have been re-hosted on DeviantArt and should now be visible. Hope you enjoy the new (old) content, and thanks for reading
Good stuff so far. Looking forward to more!
“This could’ve been one of the greatest stories of all time if Quill Scratch had gotten off their ass to finish it.”
-Dubs Rewatcher
11115309
THIS WAS QUOTED OUT OF CONTEXT ALTHOUGH IT'S TRUE