Another year. · 6:04pm Dec 31st, 2012
Man, it's been quite a ride so far. I remember, back in 2010, not saying a word about MLP to anyone when I attended Youmacon in November that same year. The brony movement had just started thanks to that... lovely little article that got 4chan all fired up. And we've come a long way since then. Sure, the community has changed from what was to what is, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the old days, but it's the end of the year, a time to look back and appreciate the good.
I didn't write that much this year. The experiment that was The Literary Appeal has gone off with rousing success, but my "sparring" partner has sense been consumed by life, which has made crafting the story difficult. If anyone sees Gravekeeper around, give him a shoutout and an e-hug from me. If it weren't for him and his lovely back and forth with me, TLA would never have been a thing.
I suppose between work, school, and maintaining friendships through what is often called a 'social life', I've let my writing fall to the wayside, especially when this year I have been much more prone to getting sick than previous years(this I attribute to losing 70 lbs since last year in order to not embarrass the brony race on the Fanfiction Panel at Canterlot Gardens. I... sort of succeeded). However, I have begun to explore my town a little more and have found some nice places for a writer to settle down and put some words to a page. Or in my case, fingers to a keyboard. Say what you will, writing elite, but I grew up with my hands on keyboard, and a pencil just feels foreign to me.
So we come down to the final hours of 2012, and I have to laugh quietly to myself. I'll be spending many of these last eleven hours at work, feeding and cleaning up after scores and scored of drunken gamblers at a casino. I don't doubt I'll be seeing my own family members come in, quoting how they've come to see me(and not because we're serving Prime Rib and Crab Legs tonight. No, not that). It's been a pretty pony year for me, and next year is shaping up to be my busiest yet in the fandom. So I guess I'll leave you all with a couple of shoutouts to Brony Writers I respect, whom you should all consider following as your New Year's resolution. Personally, my resolution is to get back to pre-reading for EqD. It's been too long, and I subside on explosive properties of badfic and crushed dreams.
You all need to follow, if you haven't already, Patchwork Poltergeist. She's an amazing writer who puts in a ton of emotion into her fiction, and she's working on a story called The Last Human, based on the classic, The Last Unicorn.
Another writer who you all should have been following is Saddlesoap Opera, the owner of one of the more nonsensical names I know. It's probably a reference to something, but all I can think of is something Sleepless might write. Saddles is near legendary for his in-between seasons stories and chapters, such as the much acclaimed Pony Psychology Series, and it's season 2 followup, Secrets and Lies. If you want real characters treated with respect, look no further than this chatty Canadian.
I'd round out the list with ROBCakeran, but... okay really I don't think anyone on FimFic isn't following him because of a certain story of a pegasus in a cardboard box. However, I will still pull for the guy and ask you to read a story I have not yet read, but I hear is quite good, which is The Replacements. Nothing hurts an author more than watching one story shine so bright that his other words are tossed aside.
And lastly, I want to pull for an author you might not know, who has a very original idea that you might soon see on the pages of EqD, Sethisto willing. The Garden Beyond, written by one of the Slumber Party's Ficterns, Autumn Wind, is very interesting tale about the turn of Nightmare Moon from a new perspective. It's definitely worth the read on imagery alone.
And thus ends my shoutouts to close the year out. There are more bronies out there that deserve praise, so feel free to give them a shoutout in the comments. I've got a couple days of work ahead of me still, so I can't promise any new fics down the pipeline just yet. However, I will say one thing.
ALL FICS ETA 2013.
Happy New Year, Hidden.
Good luck with the drunks, Hyde.
Happy New Year HB. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the old days too, Season 1 was amazing, and Season 2 drove me from the fandom. With Season 3 bringing me back, I noticed almost all of the writers I used to follow have either disappeared completely or only written a couple of things in the past few months.
Sometimes, I really regret not just being a better fan through Season 2 and sticking with the fandom. With Season 3 being rumoured all over the place to be the last one, that's a regret that will probably only grow. I guess I just have to hope that Hasbro wants a year off to make all the pony molds they need and for the studio to come up with more ideas for episodes.
Hit me up on Skype sometime, it's been ages since we talked.