Site Post » The Day of the Dead Anthology · 3:26am Nov 3rd, 2023
The Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) is a now-famous tradition from ancient times that has been a huge part of Mexican Culture through the centuries. Like so many things in Mexico, it's influenced strongly by certain aspects of the Aztec people.
It has shaped the way those of us with that heritage look at life and death in many ways, and most importantly on the remembrance of, and honoring the deceased. We traditionally decorate little altars dedicated to the memories of those that passed away… but it's not a somber occasion.
The marigold flowers are bright; the music festive. The food is tasty and candies and bread are made to honor the occasion. We write "calaveritas" little poems that tell a quirky and funny end to living friends and political figures. Tongue-in-cheek epitaphs if you will. We make candies in the shape of skeletons… I'm sure you've very likely seen the famous sugar calaveras on TV if not in person.
We have a special bread, called Pan de Muertos which legend has it was originally made with ground bones in the mix.
And this is all around celebrating life. We celebrate the life of those who left us. Their memories and their teachings… the funny stories of their lives long or short, their dreams, their adventures… and this helps their memories live on far beyond just a simple picture that you'd need Ancestry.com for additional details for.
So, why all of this?
Well. We've all lost people. Family members and friends… and also members of this community. Authors and writers and artists and fan creators of all sorts. We don't often have something to remember them by… so I thought it would be a great opportunity to remember them. Even the ones that might not be mentioned below in this blog, if we could write a book between all of us centered around this tradition.
A Day of the Dead-inspired anthology where we dedicate a story to someone that's not with us anymore. Whether a family member or community member, writing a story, or a poem, compiling them together and with the help of the good folks at Ponyfeather Publishing, creating an actual physical copy of these stories.
The stories will be curated by myself and a few other authors of note, and the aim would be to have it ready to be sold at the next EFNW, in a similar way to the For the Love Of Faust anthology .
That means that anyone that wants to participate has from today to until May 1st next year to write a story with the Day of the Dead theme.
Once you write your story, you can add it to the Day of the Dead Anthology Group. You don't have to limit access or anything, post it at your own pace and let's celebrate the lives and creativity of our friends who went on ahead of us.
And tonight, since we celebrate the Day of the Dead usually on Nov 1st and 2nd, I hope we all can have a moment to remember the good times with all of our friends and authors here who left us with wonderful stories and touched us all with their creativity. MythrilMoth, RarityEQM, NinjaDeadBeard, Level Dasher, and many others.
I don't know everyone that has passed away, so I can't name them all as they should be, so toast to their lives and their memories in the comments, and if you want to join us in celebrating their lives through a story or two, you know where to find us.
Good luck! I hope this goes well.
I knew Ninja a little bit. Not close to him, but we've talked a bit on Discord. He was a great guy and I still think of his passing from time to time. On the server we were both in, he'd give daily updates on his health until one day he just... didn't.
I know there's a lot going on in this post, and there are many others well worth remembering who have passed themselves. But reading this and seeing Ninja mentioned, that's just where my mind goes. He may live on in all his friends, but he's still gone far too soon...
It’s always sobering when a loss happens in this community. Remembrances like this are a great comfort.
I was never close with MythrilMoth, but I remember being struck unusually hard by his passing. It was weird to think that someone who had been such a prominent figure in the writing community could just not be there all of a sudden.
NinjaDeadBeard and I ran in some of the same circles, though, so I knew him a little bit better. Well enough to know he was sick, but more importantly, well enough to like and respect him. He was decent.
Thanks for putting this project together. I’ll try to write something for it.
Happy day of the departed
I can think of several authors who deserve such a tribute. I'll have to see what I can come up with.
I miss Ninja terribly. He was part of the Reviewer's Mansion I ran for a few years, and he would always be in the background supporting me, and helping to shape the Mansion into what it was for so long. If I could come up with a great and powerful enough idea that would represent what he meant to all of us I would, but nothing comes to mind. Rest in Peace.
5753499 Well, it doesn't have to be now! That's the beauty of it, you have until May to submit a short story. Why not join and see how you feel about it as you go?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DkealdimTTQ
Could you write sort of a continuation to a world that the author developed in their style? By continuation I don't mean "finishing" or picking up where they left off. I mean more to celebrate their characters and world they built in a way anyone could follow without having to have read the original work that it's based upon.
If that's not something that should be done I'd like to know what would be more appropriate as although I may have not known the authors personally I'd still like to contribute in some way if possible.
5753524
As long as it is a stand alone story that covers the theme of Day of the Dead in some way, I don't see why not.
24 hours.
the movie Coco on 5 timelots and 3 diff channels.
1 purse dog that wont shut up unless said movie was running.
=
1 migraine.
I will never dogsit again.
Reading Ninja's story The Return of Sunset inspired a core piece of an ongoing story of mine. So much so I chose them to have a guest character in said story. Ninja generously accepted. Their character who, though appearing only every now and then, will continue to appear. Unfortunately, the story is not themed for this, nor is it short enough. It will be my little continuing memoriam to them, a character who I had fun writing and I hope will continue to bring a fraction of the spark Ninja unintentionally caused for me for others to enjoy. Maybe even spark in others...
Excellent idea. So a story about/commemorating anyone who's died, using the MLP universe? Specifically with a Day of the Dead motif?
This is a beautiful idea. I have been very fortunate to have not lost any close community friends, but if there's a way to donate to this project I'd love to help!
5753586
Got it in one!
I'm really intrigued by the theme, might try my hand with this one!
A toast then, to our fellow writers and friends who have departed us too soon.
And personally from me, I shall raise a glass to my good friend Loyal. He taught me more about writing in a few months than I could have ever taught myself. I miss him terribly.
Yesterday I baked some hojaldras for my family, we bought some Moco de pavo to decorate the graves of our relatives and we ate some mole and rice.
I loved this post, it reflects the joy of this holiday, and I am definitely in love with the idea of a Day of the Dead-inspired anthology, I think I'll write something for the group. But there's just a detail.
"El pan de muerto" or "Hojaldra" had its roots in human sacrifices in pre-Columbian times when a bread of ground amaranth mixed with blood was prepared to offer up to their gods.
Legend has it that when a princess was sacrificed to the gods, her heart would be ripped out while still beating and placed in a pot with amaranth. The priest performing the ritual would then take a bite of the heart to offer thanks to the deity.
5753640
There's a lot of legends surrounding Pan de Muertos, and one blog won't cover them all :) But thanks for sharing that bit, I hope others that read your post realize just how much lore, legends, myths and facts this holiday has behind it.
I may be just a young one, but I made a list of the other people I can think of
Darth Link 22
InsertAuthorHere
GreyGuardPony
Warren Hutch
The Myth
Coffeebean
RIP
I can't think of any piece or story that I could make that would do him justice, so I suppose I'll just make a post here remembering Nintendoboy1000
His stories are actually what brought me to mlp in the first place. I had read a story of his about the paper mario universe, and then moved on to read an mlp fic of his. I didn't know the characters then, but decided to look into the show to visualize them better, and I've never looked back since.
He also inspired me to write my first story, and even helped out a bit with the first chapter. I don't think it would be a stretch to say I wouldn't be on this site today without him, and certainly not with my love of writing as well as reading mlp stories.
I didn't know much about him on a personal level. As with many, I learned about him through his works, and what little he had posted on his pages here and on deviantart. I don't even know what really happened to him. He could well be alive today, but given his lack of updates, and the troubles he was having irl... I'll just say I'm not very optimistic.
I might not be able to write a story worthy of honoring him and all the things he indirectly did for me and others like me, but I still remember him. That's what this holiday is about, after all.