I'm Surprisingly Grumpy Lately -- Also, A Hell of a Time Commentary · 9:12pm Jun 22nd, 2014
This is the third sleepless night in a row I've suffered since my I finished my exams, which is kind of hilarious, because my face really shows that fact. Like, for starters, my eyes are completely red. I look like a badly researched pony musician (HER EYES ARE MAGENTA, GUYS). Also, I have bags under my eyes, and I'm not talking about small bags. Oh, no. You can fit a baby kangaroo in there. Believe me, I have proof.
Now I can't enter the zoo ever again, but it was for science so I did nothing wrong.
What is the purpose of this blog post, then? You might be asking. To which I reply: shut up. Don't talk while I'm talking. I'm suffering some serious sleep deprivation and have a sharp object with me. I will cut you, man. You don't mess up with me.
In case you're still wondering why I'm writing this blog post, even though I just stabbed you (in case you're not stabbed yet, please, stop reading this blog and wait till I get to your place and stab you in the leg; I'm probably busy stabbing somebody else right now), then I'll reply with this: I'm writing this blog post to ramble about my latest story, A Hell of a Time. I usually do that after a story of mine leaves the Featured Box, because I'm a horrible person who absolutely adores talking about himself. If you need more proof for my horribleness, read the stabbing part again. Thanks!
Anyway! A Hell of a Time. What can I say about that story? Do you guys know the term "Magnum Opus Dissonance"? It's a term that refers to what happens when the work you spend days and months working hard on is eclipsed by a thing you wrote in less than two hours for shit and giggles. Kind of what happened to Tolkien The Lord of the Rings, which shadowed The Silmarillion, or with God and the whole "human race" thingy, which wasn't that big of an idea (the Earth was clearly designed for the platypus). What I'm trying to say here is that I'm basically God.
And also, that... Well, how do I put this? Usually I like to write either blatant satires of the show that create a mirror image of the characters, showing how friendship works between horrible people while completely ignoring the "canon" fanon personalities of the background ponies, or carefully crafted comedies that use Wodehouse-like humor with some heavy inspiration from Monty Python to create something absurd and dark at the same time.
A Hell of a Time got way more popular, and it's about Cadance ramming her head against the ground so hard she defies the laws of physics.
Yeah.
Which is not something bad, mind you. I wrote A Hell of a Time on a whim: I was in the middle of Finals Month, that marvelous time of the year where there's no hope or happiness, just exams and studying. I'd been studyign for my last final exam fr five hours, but I was more efficient than my normal self, and by seven o'clock p.m., I had nothing to do.
I'd had this idea of the three princesses trapped in Tartarus and Cadance hitting the ground very hard, and I thought that, what the hell, I could write that. So I did! In like two hours, with absolutely no plan whatsoever.
I was really inspired, because I only rewrote the ending once (and that was because I was tired the first time I wrote it -- I woke up at 5 a.m. the next day and gave it a quick rewriting to polish things up, and that's it) and the result wasn't that bad. I don't think it's a bad story, it's just that I wasn't expecting it to be such a hit. As I said, I was pretty tired while writing it, so at some point I just thought "eh, whatever" and wrote what I thought would be funnier, instead of trying to keep it in character. I don't really like OOC stories, but to be honest, sometimes a slightly OOC character gives you a much funnier story. A worse fanfic, of course, but maybe you'll end up with a better comedy. Seeing how this story had only one purpose, and that is to make people laugh, I thought it was a fair trade.
Celestia ended up being the straight mare because Cadance had her face rammed against the ground pretty quickly (I really like that character, don't get me wrong, but I also liked the idea of her greeting the ground with more enthusiasm than expected, if you catch my drift). I also enjoyed the thought of Luna acting like a prison veteran and using the terms "new meat".
I really like the "straight man" routine in comedies. I believe it gives you a lot of possibilities to play with, if you know how to use it. It's also the easiest way to write funny pieces, at least for me. I enjoy absurd humor and parodies, and it really shows, when you look at my stories. Isn't it fun how I really don't read a lot of comedy fanfics myself? I enjoy reading shipping, but writing comedy is way more interesting. It also makes me feel like I accomplished something whenever a guy tells me that my story made him laugh (although I imagine all commenters typing the words "OMG I DIED OF LAUGHTER" with a completely straight face. And everything is in black and white. And there's depressing music in the background.)
By the way, I really liked the season finale. The comedy isn't a critique on the episodes, it's just me goofing around.
Anyway, shortly after writing it and having Octavia Harmony the Bonebreaker editing it (him and Selbi the German are my most usual editors, although I have a couple more I rely onto very often too) I submitted it, and it got rejected. I was kind of shocked there.
Why, you might ask? Well, it was kind of a honest mistake, something minor. The guy who approves stories rejected it because a story can't have cusswords in its title without being rated [Mature]. I thought it was weird, but after all, I'm Spanish, so I thought Hey, maybe "hell" is a big deal and I don't know because being a Spaniard I'm genetically designed to be an idiot. Extremelly handsome and good-smelling, yes, but also the mental equivalent of a very fat toddler in a car race." So I just logged in Skype and asked my go-to man when it comes to titles/cover arts/description/hiding corpses: Selbi the German.
(It's his title, you gotta call him that all the time).
Now, my intention here was just to ask for an alternative title, because I really liked "A Hell of a Time" (it was my idea for once!) so I obviously couldn't think of an alternative.
But then, Selbi the German got pissed.
Like Jupiter showing his wrath via shooting rays and thunder (and turning into a goose to mate with good-looking ladies), he went and talked with the Important Guys on Fimfic, because apparently that's something he can do. He asked politely, and with "politely" I mean he went into that chat while screaming like a dog who just got castrated, capitalized letters being his weapon, and then asked the Important Guys to a dance-off to show who was the true What-Kind-of-Words-Are-Cusswords-Fu Master. The Important Guys tore off their suits (they're always wearing suits, right? With ties and the like) to reveal a set of different suits, especially made for dancing.
Then they danced majestically to "I'm a Barbie Girl", by Aqua. After breaking into an impromptu battery solo that rocked the Important Guys' socks off (we're lucky there was a battery hanging around there for no reason), Selbi the German was declared the winner, and then he told me to resubmit the story because it would get approved * .
And then the story went live, and it was kind of a hit.
I mean, holy crabapples, guys. It got like 59 likes and zero dislikes in less than an hour. It got to the featured box while still being number three on the "New stories" list. I was kind of overwhelmed.
Funnily enough, look the way it got featured at first:
Now, I'm not an expert on this website, but I'm preeetty sure those last three spots are only for updated stories. What's even weirder: as the likes went up, the story would go up and down in the box randomly. One moment it was the third story from the bottom, the next it would be the last story of the box, then it would be the second from the bottom...
A wild ride, if you ask me. I have absolutely no idea why did that happen. Eventually, tho, it got to the first stop and there it stood for a veery long time.
After that, the comments and likes and stuff came. That story stood in the featured box for four days and a half (if you count the non-mature box), which is a personal record, and it's still getting favorites. It's my highest rated story, taking a like/dislike ratio approach, and for a while it was the highest rated story in the site (then it got two dislikes and now it's like number twenty or something).
Plus, people I really admire favorited that thing, and of course I reacted proffesionally (I ONLY PEED MYSELF TWICE). John Perry reviewed it and gave it a "meh", which is kind of a huge deal for me. My biggest dream now is to have Present Perfect, City of Doors, or Chris to review it and give me more "mehs". Man, that would make my day.
It also gave me a lot of new followers, to the point where I'm two followers away from having 700, which is a huge number. I guess I'll explain my guidelines for writing a funny story when that comes around or something. It involves me eating a clown's heart to absorb his powers and then crying for three hours until something midly funny comes to mind. Then, I cry for another three hours and write while blinking hard to get the tears away.
Not because I'm sad, mind you. I'm just very allergic to cypresses (they make my eyes itch) and my house is surrounded by then. It gets to the point that, in summer, when the allergy really kicks in, I like to listen to Adéle songs while I'm walking down the street, because seeing how I'm gonna cry anyway I like to at least look like I have a reason. Add that to the fact that the lack of sleep is reddening my eyes, by the way. I think that's what scared that baby kangaroo. Kangaroos don't like red eyes.
So more or less, that's all the meta-info on A Hell of a Time. I really appreciate all the love that story has got, and I've read every comment at least twice because I'm very pathetic.
And now I go away, because there are stories to be written. They're probably going to be less popular than this one, but then again, you never know till you try, right?
See ya, guys!
P.S.: Oh, yeah, and Daring DONE! has a Russian translation now, and Today is a Good Day to Die is in Polish! I've also seen Daring DONE! in Spanish and Chinese somewhere around the web, so you can look for those too if you're a spaniard or chinese (the translators didn't ask me permission first, so I don't link their work here : P ).
* I might have dramatized the events a little bit here. The battery solo thing totally happened, tho.
EDIT: Lo and behold, City of Doors delivered!
EDIT 2: And so did Presentperfect! Man, what a week.
EDIT 3: Chris delivered too (he didn't say "meh" out loud, but we all know he was thinking that word while typing), and this officially gives this story the official "THIS IS A PERSONAL RECORD WHAT THE HECK I'M FREAKING OUT" seal of approval to the story.
I freak out quite easily, I'm afraid.
Pratfall humor never gets old.
2226717
Which is kind of funny, seeing how I'm horrible with slapstick. I'm amazed I could pull that story off, to be honest. I was actually wondering if it worked while submitting it, and I guess it kind of does, seeing people liked it.
No mod was hurt in the production of this story.*
Selbi Enterprises™ reserves the right for that statement to not be actually true.
I'm not entirely sure what I just read, but it was certainly amusing.
I actually said "what?" out loud when I read Octavia Harmony the Bonebreaker. I am confused where bone breaking got involved. Sounds like the name for the lead singer of a death metal band.
I'm really surprised that your stories have been translated into so many languages. If I could read Chinese, I would reread Daring DONE in English because finding the translation for Chinese would take more time. Only other language I could possible read would be Latin... Gee.
Still waiting for the stabbing.
You are correct.
I should get around to reading this. Apparently it's pretty popular.
2226830
Highest ranked fic on fimfic for five days or so, brah.
You want to know why 'A Hell of a Time' is more popular?
Very simple. The other stories you wish were more popular are not recognizable as MLP setting stories. The humor is not reliant on the MLP setting. It does not make use of the characters in a relevent manner. And in the end, you could remove the characters and it would not change the stories.
By contrast, A Hell of a Time work specifically because of its connections to the setting, because the characters act in an in-character manner, and because while it's by no mean using the tone of the serie, it is still recognizable.
Considering those stories are fanfics, this is pretty important.
This is also why I really, really liked the '-DONE!' trilogy while the two stories you named that you wish were more popular did nothing to me. Yes, the '-DONE!' serie is absurd... but it still describe a catastrophic serie of events in which you can still picture the show characters and the way the absurdity grow, by the time things get really out-of-character the reader has been eased into the surreality of the situation.
This is by no mean criticism ; I really like your stories as a whole. But I am simply giving my opinion as to why you're suffering from 'magnum opus dissonance'.
2226853 That's an interesting causation I've never noticed. That's actually really cool to think about, thanks for pointing it out.
2226853
That... is actually a pretty fair point. Huh.
You made me think about how to write my stories, man. Maybe I'll change a thing or two, then.
(Today is a Good Day to Die needs two immortal princesses to work, tho).
I had never actually heard of the City of Doors before until about 8 hours ago. Super Trampoline asked me if I was a part of them because of my own reviews and I gave a big fat NOPE to him. So he linked me and (to my great surprise) I actually found that three of my own stories have been reviewed, one by Presentperfect (who seemed to like These Flowers Never Bloom, surprising the hell out of me) way back in December. Must have been the day it was EqD-featured.
Anyway, yeah, your story kinda blew up, didn't it? I know it must feel amazing to have a fic get such a high rating, although I know exactly where you're coming from with Magnum Opus Dissonance. I actually made a blog about that myself a few months ago, until I decided that it sounded whiny and pathetic (and subsequently deleted it). I wrote a short comedy story about Pinkie and AJ getting drunk and the fallout of accidental innuendo passing between them, which bloody skyrocketed, while my main series (Which Flowers is the beginning of) continues to languish in the relative unknown, despite the entire series now being on EqD. Hundreds of hours have gone into that series, yet "Mah Barn Door Don't Swing That Way!" has more views, likes and faves as those four put together.
This fandom, man.
2227001
I'm really glad it made you think.
I hope it helps but I also want to stress that a story not turning out popular does not mean it isn't superior ; if a story doesn't work out or is ignored by the fandom despite being great in your opinion, try to see if swapping the setting for either a different franchise or an original one allow you to retain the story's feel. If it does, then try to submit it that way.
The thing is, though writing a fanfic give you a setting to work with, it also create a serie of expectations and many fans will read stories of that setting looking for a certain feel. Though it can really help at times, it can also make it difficult for themes, ideas, premises, and story arcs to be accepted or appreciated by the fans.
In short, if a story concept is really worth it in your opinion but didn't click with your fans, try and experiment with it.
Oh, another important thing...
It may seem arrogant but let us be frank: the smarter and more in-depth the story, the more you run the risk of confusing, boring, or intimidating more common fans. This is not necessarely a bad thing ; different audiences want different products. When you create something that is especially obtuse, do not expect it to hit mainstream appeal ; that's setting yourself up for disappointment. Instead, try to see if you can hit it with the fans who tend to gravitate toward stories of this style.
Writing, say, a theorical temporal paradox genre story that mainstream fans aren't interested in and getting every reader interested in the genre to like & favorite your story is a success even if it doesn't get as many likes as, say, Mane Six shipping fic #452020.
In short, do not rely only on popularity ratings. Though it is nice to be appreciated (ego boost after all), it is also important to be aware of your audience.
Oh and of course, the most important point: if you hate what you write, you're probably doing something wrong.
Hope the comment prove interesting!
Boom. Fast tracked to tomorrow's review post. All the popular stories get the VIR (Very Important Review) treatment after all.
Now finish up the next Long Story Short story already!
Why have I been summoned?
Also, how?
I'm in exam week too and won't sleep tonight because of THE STUPID JUNK IN MY NOSE THAT IS CURENTLY MAKING MY FACE HURT!
After reading that post I will let you know I'm carrying a knife around too, because I'm an insanely odd person and like carrying knives around
I hope you're happy.
2231576
What the
I just commented there! We're synchronized or something?
Anyway, yeah! Made my day, as I said.
2231576 Is it time to put this on trial?
2237098
Only if the bro asks for it. :B
2237098
2238410
Wait, what? Really?
Well, I already have the Holy Quaternity, so let's add one more to the sack so I can have the full package.
I'm so gonna make a blog out of this. A blog for the blogs that blogged about my story. Let's close the circle!
2238458
You'll hate yourself, just take my word for it. :V
2238518
He's going to destroy my story and everything I hold dear, isn't he.
ISN'T HE
2238522
Don't say I didn't warn you. :V
2227461 Meh, I do too. Hell, I usually have two or three and a flask.
I think this blog post is the perfect example of why I'm always such a killjoy when I show up in the comments. I'm not saying you have bad ideas when it comes to comedy, some of the premises are in fact quite brilliant, but you force it way too hard once you actually get to the execution bit. It becomes physically exhausting to read just this blog post, let alone any actual "comedy fic" you wrote, when every other half-sentence is yet another "OMG SO RANDUMB AND FUNNI AMIRITE?" outburst.
Also, I never actually read "A Hell of A Time", but spending two-thirds of the blog post talking to me about how it got popular instead of the story itself isn't going to convince me anytime soon.
I'll go with Chris on this one: meh.
Maybe someday I'll give it a read. Maybe not. So far, I still think you do SoL/melancholia better, although the RD fic is giving me doubts about that as well.
Yes, I'm totally gonna go pick on a blog post written months ago. It's not like the story is in the popular box again anyway...
2876244
Blah blah something about comedy being purely subjective blah blah you're not the intended audience but someone else might be blah blah something about Catch 22 blah.
Words you're not going to read, but I'm going to say anyway, because I'm miserable and I wish others to suffer as I do.
*Sigh*
1) He is not entitled to appeal to you. He is not entitled to convince you. That argument is aggravatingly... eugh. Entitled. It's like when people tell me because I write funny stories I'm not allowed to post critical comments on other's, because I'm funny. It's my job to be 'on' all the time. Saying that on his personal blog? That argument irks me greatly.
2) He doesn't need to talk more about the story himself. The story exists and he wrote it. The backstory to the story is stated in its entirety here, and what else could be said is said in that story that you didn't read. Surely your qualms would be better suited for the story itself, maybe in its comments, rather than here, which aims to deconstruct how-
Look nevermind. Just saying;
Inherently revokes your right to criticize it. By default. It is literally the only entry condition to criticize it. It's remarkably tame and more traditionally structured compared to his other works, with a slower, more gradual buildup that develops character as well as humour. I have a feeling that's one of the reasons this story is one of the author's least favourite, too, in spite of its popularity.
#3Edgy5Me
Also, as an addendum to this, Chris did like the story. The "meh" is a running, recurring gag by reviewers for this story.
This is hilarious to me, because I know exactly why he wrote it and what he did while writing it. It's worse than what's transcribed here. Also, because I saw the first draft. Dude. Dude.
2876491
I did.
The whole "this isn't for you" defense (and its extension, "why are you even reading it?") is about as weak as you can get. By that logic, why did the author ever decide to share their story on a platform where... *gasp* other people might read it?
People might not enjoy the same things you do, and they might also decide to express their disapproval. Get over it.
The title says "A Hell of a Time Commentary". As far as I know, a commentary is supposed to be a detailed dissection of the work itself. Sure, you might sidetrack a little and talk about how it made the feature box or whatever too, but here, we spent well over half the time talking about "omg how popular it got", and that just came across as self-indulgent to me.
Yes, he's not entitled to appeal to me. Same goes for how I'm not entitled to appeal to him with my feedback. I don't know why this keeps getting brought up, as though the internet were afraid of negative opinions.
What I said above. One would think this is a good opportunity to share some interesting "behind the scenes" details about one's own work, especially since apparently it was written on a whim (those fics are quite a treat to analyze). Instead, this blog almost comes across as shameless gloating. Not exactly for no reason, mind you, but still...
My opinion: change that part of the title to "commentary on how AHoaT got popular", and it fits better.
I love how you keep jumping to conclusions. Read my previous comment again. At what point did I criticize this fic specifically?
My opinion of Aragon's skill is based on other comedy fics that I read from him. Part of the reason why I'm reluctant about this one is because I would be very unhappy to find the same kind of humor once again, since it clearly isn't working for me.
Cute.
I know why he wrote it. It doesn't help, and I'd rather not say how I feel about people making pony-related tributes to such subjects, but it's not my decision anyway. And even if I take that out of the equation, the fic just didn't do it for me. I won't go into detail, plus I already expressed my opinion at length in the comments section of that story.
2876603
The "this isn't for you" defense can be weak, indeed. But there's a point in which it makes sense. Dark, dude, I know you can be reasonable, but diving into my blog archive to comment on something that's almost forty weeks old is kind of too much.
Like, the impression I get is that you know my humor is not your thing (which is completely fine, humor is subjective, as everybody knows already) and yet you insist on reading my comedies and talking about them just to say how bad they were.
Have in mind I'm human too, mate. While I'm the first one who asks for criticism, there are many factors out there. Sometimes I get the feeling that people see writers with over 500 followers or a popular-ish story and think "good, I can just unleash a world of hate on this guy" because, hey, he's popular. He won't mind.
No matter how much flattery and stuff you get, if you get a comment that explicity tells you you're shit, it's kind of a harsh move. Not implying you did that here, but it is a problem that exists out there, and people seem to be unable to grasp that.
Being a dick in a review or comment is not funny. You're just ruining the author's day, for the sake of just being a dick in a review or comment.
Mneh, related to what I said up there. There's a difference between "expressing your disapproval" and going out of your way to be rude. Sometimes you get really close to crossing that line, man. Using quotes to say "comedy fics" while refering to my writing is kind of insulting.
Then again, maybe I'm being the rude one in this moment, but mneh. I'm not used to reply to negative comments, but I guess one has to learn to do anything. Ignore any harsh and/or attacking subtext in this comment, just in case.
I literally said everything one can say about how I wrote the story. All the meta information is there.
Like, I seriously don't get why you think I could say anything else on this. There was no planning, no sudden inspiration, no reason why I wrote it. I just wrote it. Words came, I wrote them down.
It's not exactly a treat to analyze, I think. And, like, I'm kind of agitated right now (I'm really sorry if I come off as angry, I'm trying my best not to, 'cause that's not the case, but f'nargh) but:
Holy fuck, dude. Excuse me for being happy when a fic of mine gets way more popular than expected. I'll be sure to avoid to show and/or feel any emotion ever again. How egocentrical on my behalf.
I know that a writer just saying "OMG GUYS I AM SO GOOD" is annoying, but this was a huge hit, and it surprised me. I commented on how it was surprising, after saying literally everything else about the story (from how I wrote it, to how I had trouble getting it approved).
If that immediately makes it shameless gloating, then, well. Okay. This is still a commentary on the story: how it was written, how it was approved, and what was the reaction.
Also, I counted:
Total words of the blog post - 2049.
Words I spend talking about how popular the story got - 329.
So yeah. Not exactly "over half the blog". If you count the part with the hyperlinks as talking about the fame of the story, then we have 429 words total talking about the story being popular. That's not even 25% of the blog.
2876813
Chris' comment brought me here. To be honest, I got genuinely curious once I read the title, so this was by no means the result of any "crusade to ruin people's fun" or whatever. I just read a blog post that I ended up really not liking, so I said my piece.
Also, keep in mind that I say positive things too. Hell, as much as I thought "Daring DONE!" was going to be stupid and unfunny before I dove in, it did make me crack up a few times, which is more than I can say for plenty of other fics in the same genre.
That's actually just a weird tic of mine. I do the same with "dark" a lot as well, simply because... well, I don't really know how to explain it. The words feels like they work as collective terms, but they tend to be too vague to be meaningful as adjectives, so I don't like using them.
Point is: this actually was not intended to be confrontational.
My bad then. The other 50% is just vaguely related to the story itself at best.
Not that I'm entitled to tell someone what they should put in their blog, but since the style you employed clearly implies that you're trying very hard to make people laugh... well, I said that it has the opposite effect for me. That is all.
Also, I have no "vendetta" against popular authors. I guess I'm just a different kind of person. Ask me, I'd be overjoyed if people were to call me out for everything I did wrong in my writing (according to them, that is), especially if they did it as vehemently as possible.
The popularity and acclaim of your work speaks for itself. Is it really going to be my comments -- a few embers falling into the ocean, if I may be so
pretentiouspoetic -- that spoils your mood?