10,000 Later, and Here I Am · 2:37pm Jun 15th, 2013
So that happened. Let's talk about it.
February 22nd, 2012. You all know what day that is. It's the Church of Scientology's Celebrity Day!
Wait, no. I mean, yes, it is, but that's not what I wanted to talk about.
February 22nd, 2012 is a very special day for me. A very important one. It's the day my life changed immensely. It's the day where I woke up one morning, opened up my laptop, and saw my name and my story on Equestria Daily for the very first time. I still remember that day. What a rush. What a numbing, exhilarating rush. And it didn't even stop there. It kept going. The attention it garnered on Equestria Daily was beyond my wildest dreams. It blew my mind. I was getting emails from complete strangers telling me how emotional I'd made them, complete strangers praising me, complete strangers telling me I made a difference in their day and in their perception of something once so simple.
February 22nd, 2012 is a very special day for me, because it was one of the happiest moments of my life. All from two, strangely simple words, and a little pony named Canvas.
White Box. Man. What a ride, guys. What a ride. And here I am, ten thousand FimFiction views later.
In just over eight thousand words, I've been given something that often I've wondered if I either deserved or wanted. At times it scared me, surprisingly enough. I thought it might be the only thing I'd ever have. My own fifteen minutes. But it never left me. Not once, and it's given me so much that it's humbled me with how purely generous and thoughtful every single last one of you has been to me. There are those who tried to represent Canvas despite the fact that I never described him even once created art. Others donated with incredible dramatic readings or tried to pick it apart. Still more created music that I still listen to to this day. Some even took it upon themselves to bring it to life, while others poked fun at it! It's been translated into French, Polish, Russian, and German. It has even a TVTropes page. So much has stemmed from those eight thousand words that it completely and utterly blows my mind. You've all been so immeasurably kind to me, even those not mentioned here. You've given me something incredible that I never once expected or asked for.
It doesn't stop there. White Box threw me into a world I'd never expected. I've met and exchanged words with some of the greatest and most talented individuals I could ever hope to meet. I've gotten a chance to participate in progress and even lend advice. I even became a pre-reader for Equestria Daily. I've created posts for the most influential website in the fandom.
I don't swear much in these journals, guys, but holy shit. That's way too much for just one story.
So what is this journal, then? Just me tooting my horn? Dear Lord, I hope it isn't. It's a thank you, to you guys. You guys who've given me a foundation to plant myself upon, a place from which I could grow and when I tried something, people actually gave a damn. That right there is the greatest thing anyone could ever have given me.
But it's more than just that. This is closure. This is me officially giving myself a pat on the back and closing the door on something pretty magical.
I may never top White Box. It might just have been my magnum opus, my trump card played far too early. That might have been the pinnacle. Sure, stuff like Anno Domini may have happened, but it'll never truly top the place White Box holds in my heart. Maybe that thought scares me, thinking I may never top myself ever again. It could be wholly possible. But that's why this journal is here, to say that I suppose it just doesn't matter now. This is my way of saying out loud "that was then, this is now". I'll remember you, White Box, but I think it's time to move past you. And it's only fitting that I do it in the most pretentious way possible, isn't it?
I suppose that also extends to all of you folks, to an extent. So if you've ever had a question about anything pertaining to White Box, I'm not hiding anything anymore, and I'd be more than happy to answer it for you. It's the least I could do, I guess. Well, aside from prove to you that I can only improve myself as a writer, and I hope you'll be by my side for that.
Right, well... That's all there is for that, I guess. I'll talk to y'all once Pinkie Pie is Dead has completed. Because dayum, do I have a bunch of news to share with you guys. I was gonna keep a journal blackout until then but... Well, you see how well that turned out! That's just me, I suppose. Never keeping my gob shut.
See y'all on the flipside.
Even though you say White box is your magnum opus and they you most likely never will be able to top it, don't stop trying. Never doubt that you can improve.
Clap clap.
I tip my hat to you, sir. Congratulations and I can't wait for your next great endeavor.
To actually hear from a complete stranger how important your work has been to them...well who doesn't want to hear that they mattered?
In your mind, did the story of Canvas end when the White Box ended?
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I think it did. I feel like it had always ended on a note of finality, what with his suicide. Canvas is a pony who was never really meant to be happy. Not because he necessarily deserved it, and not necessarily because it was fair. It was just the way it was. If anything, he finds victory in the fact that the one thing he did get to choose was how and when he decided to go.
"I'll remember you, White Box, but I think it's time to move past you."
See? Told you you'd go back and listen to me sooner or later. Now go forth and conquer, or... whatever the writer equivalent of that would be. Monopolize the coffee shop and throw stirring straws at loud little kids. I don't know.
You are a good person. You have done good things. Never forget :V
It's certainly why I followed you. And worshiped you. And fell under your vast, magnanimous shadow.
It may not be so much that White Box is you magnum opus (though personally I do think it is), so much a the keystone of who you are as a writer. I think it summarizes who you are as a writer quite sufficiently and prepares anyone reading your material for what's to come, and kind of a look into your head. That and because it is damn good. Loaded with the feels.
I'd say more, but I need to find a better place to sit first. Because right here, the lights hurt my eyes.
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Damn, until you said that, I didn't connect the ending to a suicide...
Now the ending has just hit me again.
What do you think of this song in terms of how it relates to yourself? Also, what do you think about the song itself?
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzxAp7GGu8M]
1146162 Yeah, the way I read it the first time I felt he was escaping to the world of paint, sleeping on a tree where no one could hold him anymore. The realization for the other ending came later, but I still hold to the initial interpretation.
The sequel was okay, too.
Did you draw inspiration for the ending from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World? That's what comes to mind, now that I think about it. In its own way, White Box was just as dystopic and sad as Huxley's work, albeit on a much smaller scale.
Another question: did you fully understand, when you wrote White Box in the Googledocs version, how insidious using a black background with white text is? That move was freaking genius! It actually physically hurt to read it, just like it hurt emotionally. What's more, I felt like I was in Canvas's place. The light (from my computer screen) hurt my eyes.
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You know, a lot of people have drawn that comparison, but truth is, not at all. I have the book, but I've never actually finished it, so... I guess it's unintentional! As for the white on black formatting, that actually wasn't my idea at first. It was actually suggested by the reviewer I got from EqD, EbonMane. Along with seriously helping me fix my story and encouraging me to make it as good as possible, he also suggested putting white text on black to make the whole thing look better overall. I took that advice, and as a result I started tweaking with the presentation of color in the story overall. So yeah, I did realize that there was a physical impact to the coloration of words, and one of my favorite examples is when color is alluded to in the dream sequence as just a very faint shade of purple, so faint that the reader can't quite determine what it is. Just that something is there.
Congrats on 10k! You more than earned them.
Never ever stop believing, man. You have a gift, and I am immensely happy to see you using it. May you write for a long while yet.
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Never could've gotten them without you, mate. Thanks for the help, and glad to see you're still hanging around!
Can't beat the White Box?
Well, never know until you try.