Human cancelled, due to reasons of severe cranial trauma · 5:56am Sep 9th, 2014
This is a blog post to discuss the cancellation of Human, my first ponyfic and my most popular by far, because I know that many of you are wondering what's going on. I guess I should begin with the explanation.
Flashback to 2011. Around Christmas, if I remember correctly. I was already an avid reader of MLP fanfiction, and I'd made it a point to read a lot of HiE and learn everything about why it was so commonly criticised. I was inspired to challenge myself to write an HiE that I thought could meet standards of quality and be thought of as an exception to the rule, taking the basic concept of a real person in Equestria being able to manipulate cartoon physics to become a powerful and feared being from one of these many stories that I'd read recently at the time. Although Human was never exactly high art, it was intended from the beginning to be a genuinely good story.
Even though it was a comedy, a genre that I personally try to give a lot of leeway and suspension of disbelief to when I read it, I jumped on every piece of criticism that I received in the earliest days of the story in an attempt to improve as best I could. A few of the serious critics gave me their attention for a time, but I quickly lost them. I like to think that they just weren't interested enough in the story to continue, rather than that I made some massive fuck-up that drove them all away, but I eventually stopped getting especially meaningful critiques; at least, I stopped getting any that pointed out the story's flaws. All the while, I would continue to write, taking ever greater risks and pushing my boundaries as far as I could. At the same time, I would become more integrated into the fanfiction community.
Like the hapless protagonist of Lovecraft story stumbling across forbidden, maddening knowledge, I would read review blogs and rant blogs and discussion threads and all sorts where I'd see other stories that did a lot of the same things as me, and I'd see people explain in exact detail why it was wrong and why that author shouldn't have done it. In the back end of the comments, meek little DannyJ would awkwardly laugh and agree with them, "Y-yeah. Heh. What kind of retard would do that, right?" And then I'd slink away while nobody was looking to cry and eat some ice cream.
What I'm basically saying is that I became a better goddamn writer and a better critic and I suddenly couldn't ignore how bad Human really is. I know that many of you are fans of the story and are thus inclined to disagree, but nothing you say will make me stop seeing it. We are our own worst critics, at least if we're objective, and I have become much harsher on my fics and and fics in general as I've grown older. If Human were written by someone else and I stumbled across it today, and I had to read the whole thing and comment on it, I could write a scathing review six pages long if I wanted, and no author would be able to disagree with me on it, because that's just the objective flaws, not the ones that are a matter of opinion. You might not notice it, but I notice it. I notice it every day.
I've written new stories since starting Human. Stories that are short, and which relatively few people (even from my regular audience) have read, but which are so much better by any objective measure. Stories without plotholes, stories with a definite and consistent tone, stories that actually feel like they fit within the show's universe, stories with characters who actually illicit the audience reaction I intended, stories that don't potentially alienate certain readers, and most importantly, stories that I can take actual pride in. They might not have a thousand upvotes, but Decomposition got in Seattle's Angels, and Discord: End of Empires was given a decent review by Chris of One Man's Pony Ramblings, as well as Inquisitor M (and anybody who knows him knows how hard that is to do for most writers). These I feel are my true greatest accomplishments as a writer. Those stories might still be flawed, but I can look at them and say that I think I did a good job.
Human, on the other hand, makes me ashamed. I'll freely admit that it had its moments and it's got positive qualities, and I had a lot of fun with it over the years. It caused me to meet some good friends, and you've all been awesome, with your supportive comments, fan content, and your great patience through long update waits and my other bullshit. But I just can't stand the thing anymore. It's only because I know how much the story means to so many of you that I gave it a send-off chapter and am keeping it here. If I'm being brutally honest, I would've liked to quietly delete the whole thing and let the internet forget it. The only reason that I didn't is because it'd get noticed anyway and, like I said, because I know that many of you did genuinely enjoy the story. It was many people's first story, or favourite story, or the story that got them to sign up to FimFiction to comment on, and it is out of respect to those people that I'm keeping the story up on the site and still attatched to my name, even though I'm sure it'll do me no favours in any potential future presidential elections if my name is ever linked to this account.
Perhaps many of you might be upset about this, but those are my honest reasons, and I can't help that. I'd like to keep writing the story for all of you, but I'll never be able to get over the story I've already written. If wrote Human today, knowing what I know now, it would be very different. If Human were a better story, and I didn't cringe every time I looked at even just a few chapters back, maybe I would still be writing it. But there's nothing we can do about the past, and speculating on what-ifs does us no favours here. For what it's worth, I'm sorry it all ended the way it did.
Now, to address some of the obvious questions brought up:
No, I'm not retiring from writing. I'm not even taking a break. The end of Human does not signify the end of any of my other projects, or at least not the end of any that are published on this site. If anything, struggling to work on this beast should help my production rate. In fact, I have a new story about to go through editing right now called Just Dodge!, which I won't say anything about for now other than to look out for it soon. I also have my non-pony writings to work on, for those of you that read those. I sincerely hope that many of you stick around to see my future projects.
On the side-stories, no, neither Human: Shades of Grey nor Van Helsing are cancelled for the moment, but stay tuned for news on this.
Draven sort of knows about the cancellation, but he hasn't expressed any interest in ending Shades. If he wants to keep going with it then he can, and he'll still have my help. His update rate being what it is, I can't speak for when the next chapter of it will be out, as Draven has a lot of personal issues that hold him back from getting it done, but we'll see what happens.
Van Helsing is a different issue. At present it has been on hiatus for well over a year, and with only one chapter. That's because the first chapter is still pending revisions for Equestria Daily even a year on, due to some slow writing on my part and some slow editing help on a friend of mine's part. The thing is that even though this vampire-hunting story is one I always wanted to tell, the whole reason for it being set in Human's universe is that it was going to be set-up for Secopolis, the planned sequel to Human. And obviously, with no Human, it's doubtful that there will be a Secopolis. So Van Helsing may be rewritten as a purely stand-alone fanfiction once the revision is done, compliant with current canon and a lot less restricted in terms of what I can do story-wise. I'm sure that this is wonderful news for all four of you that read Van Helsing.
And finally, yes, since the story's over and I have no plans to finish it or hand it off to somebody else, I fully intend to spill all the details about how it was going to end, what happens to everyone, the sequels and side-stories I had intended, and I'll answer any other questions you may have been wanting to have answered since the story began.
With that in mind, I'll be making a second blog post sometime over the next week or so that will reveal everything I had planned, and then I'll conclude it with a Q&A. If any of you had any questions for me, ask them in the comments of this blog, and I'll answer them in the next one.
Other than that, I want to thank you all for a good time, for putting up with me for the past several years, and for waiting until I was done making this blog post until you crucified me.
Aww...
Human may not be perfect, Danny, but it is by far my favorite crackfic I've ever read.
I don't know how long I was reading human but it had to be at least sense I join the fandom (around Season 2), but I will say it sucks to this get cancel, but I live. Good Luck on your later projects.
I just woke up and now I see this?!
*punches wall*
ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!!!
No!
It's literally too early for this!
I didn't even get to read the last chapter before THIS!
Fuck it, I'm going back to sleep.
...
But seriously.
1st of all, fffuck
2nd of all, sshitt
3rd of all, am I upset? Yes, slightly so. But it doesn't stop me from being very disappointed. I could list several reasons why you should continue it to the end, but I have school to attend to. I wish someone else takes their precious time and lists a full-blown essay why you should not have done this.
In all honesty I kinda expected this to happen sooner or later, the amount of chaos and plot holes within the story seemed like a giant hurdle to leap over. It's good to see it have an ending and it's rather fitting all things considered. Let's all just be glad it lasted as long as it did and has an actual ending (of sorts). Beyond that I personally am interested in "Just Dodge!", going to keep my eye on that for sure. The ride on the Second Crazy Train was fun, but it's time for something new.
Wow. It's cancellation season in full swing around here. September is the anti-Christmas.
Sounds like you've got a bad case of the creator's curse. I feel that a lot too; personally, I like to keep my long stories around as a visual timeline of how much I've improved over the years. I never did finish Human, but as far as I got it seemed to have the makings of a grand epic, so you evidently had a good grasp of a few things. Best of luck in whatever your future project may be now that you feel that you know what you're doing.
Also, finger-waggle for using the r-word.
Also also, don't scare us with talk of cranial trauma. I was in full panic mode for a second there.
Also also also,
Well, off to hang myself.
2440377
September is the time of year we all go back to school. Of course it has an atmosphere of general misery and despair.
Shame, I remember this being one of the first fics I ever read. I kept telling myself I'd catch up with it, and a year and a half later, it's ending before it's really over.
Damn shame, Johnson.
Damn shame...
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Really? You read Human? Shit, I never knew that. I thought you first came across me when I first posted Manticore.
You've been in my life a lot longer than I thought.
2440388
I lol'ed.
Long time no see, and by that I mean, epically long time ever see because we don't know each other but from the beginnings of human where it was three chapters long.
I guess I was in between the good critics, or at least the consistent ones, when like you at that time I was on the reading spree of HIE where nothing escaped my sighted, which included your story for better or worst.
The best way I can say it is that you pretty much hit the nail on the head when it came to the area where most were pushed away, at least on the basic, but I guess the big deal was that on that time most people were on the stage of internet understanding of "If you don't like it, don't watch it" mantra which extends to reading.
And having mean people believing your critic was an attack against the author and it was their sworn duty to PM the hell out of them away to keep the comments full of happy faces and simple distinctions of "MORE" plastered everywhere. Just understand that, it wasn't because of the story in fully, it was because the critics themselves were yet stone skinned against the retaliation of their critic.
But back to happier words, or sad depending on which perspective you see it. I as you have grown somewhat mature as a writer--reader mostly, and have found the joy of a decent construct of a story. And I inform you both those stories you mentioned I gave my like, but given the sad part I didn't comment.
This reason comes from where most of those critics when I was on head into the FIM had gone to: Either dead, missing, too sick, getting their lives on time consumption where FIM'ing is an impossibility, or simply got sprigged away like a leaf to a fan when Hasbro showcased things they didn't want to be a part of anymore.
TL;DR Still here giving a damn, liking up good writing and spirit. Understand your mature reasoning, don't complain free content, and wish you luck on those future projects.
Like many others, Human was one of the first fanfictions I ever read. Along with Silent Ponyville and Past Sins. (Plus another I can't remember the name of. It had to do with Twilight actually being a Golem created by Celestia.)
Sad to see it go, but I honestly believe it's for the best.
Silver Vein attempting to murder an altered Ze!zar was my favorite scene, by the way. I was giggling like a madman reading that part.
2440479
Well, hey, thanks for still being here all this time later.
2440488
I believe you're thinking of Sunset, my good man.
2440492
You didn't have to do that, but you went and did it anyways.
2440468 You probably didn't remember me from then, because it was long before I was the irritating manlet everyone grew to love and hate
Well, at least I've got Van Helsing to look forward to.
2440497
2440502
Hey, I didn't actually know you before your comment on Manticore either. I was just like, "Who the fuck is this dude?" and then I went to your userpage and was all like
Long story short, that's how I became a nun.
2440511 haha
oh god
you could have been spared that terrible fate...
2440514
It's all good. I reached enlightenment at least.
Also the mother superior was a kinky bitch.
I eagerly await devouring your "Just Dodge!" in the very near future. (or else. Tired of waiting for your shit, goddammit.) This is exactly what I figured was the reason for the cancellation. When I read to the end of the end chapter I even held a finger up and said out loud. "DannyJ is embarrassed by the beast that is Human and can't stand to look at it, but understands that a lot of people really like what he considers his worst writing. Thus he released this self satirical pile of disappointment as a sort of finisher." I am glad to see my prophetic powers are coming in nicely.
Also, I am probably one of the five people to read all of your horse words. I may have to go back and make sure I favourited them though.
2440528
Are you Jesus?
2440534
Yes DannyJ. I am actually Horse Jesus.
So, any hints as to what Just Dodge! is about? and also is Siliske looking for work? Cause the idea of Siliske being in ponyville after the reset with no memories and a lot of confusion is REALLY tickling my fancy.
2440538
Well, I'll say that this story answers the question of why Discord didn't get out of the way when the Elements of Harmony were coming at him.
Ill be honest, Human is one of those "Id like to read so Ill fave it but probably never do it" fics for me. I did read a few chapters and the plot seemed scattered and the story was all over the place. Thats not to say that it was bad, it was just like one of those art pieces where the artist just splatters paint all over the canvas and calls it a day. Point is, I can see what you mean by it not being perfect and, while I dont think that necesarilly means it should be trashed, I can definitely respect the decision to do so.
Well i hate to agree Human had it's issues but most grate things have their flaws. It's just the story, the characters, the jokes!
were so creative and complex that i just had to keep reading.
I've actually re-read it five time's already sense the cancellation of your fic. I will say this one is only second to "the diaries of a mad man By - whatmustido" in my opinion. and as i said at least you gave it an ending (not exactly what i'd call a proper burial mind) it's still more than what most fanfic writers do.
Slap the big C on it and leve it with out so much as a " screw that noise! " at any case i said my piece i hope only for the best for ya.
Now i'm off. on my way to go punch some wild animals to death!
Fanfics are often at their best when they're flawed, its part of the reason why I read them. If I wanted to read 'perfect' literature I'd go buy a book.
While I did enjoy the story, I really think it started actually going downhill once Celestia was brought back as a Zombie.
So... anyone here have a large wooden cross and some nails?
Human is good precisely because the plot makes no sense and the tone is inconsistent. Every new chapter was completely unpredictable. The story jumped all over the place, yet I never had a sense that one scene was completely irrelevant to another scene. Was it "good," then? Maybe not, but goddamn, it sure was entertaining.
At first I read the title and was like "Well shite." because writers injuring themselves in ways to make them incapable of writing their stories sort of seems to be a thing around here at times. Then I went and actually read the blog.
I'm not ashamed to admit I let out a sigh of relief.
Regardless, it's your story. What you do with it is up to you and you alone. That said, I'm appreciative that you didn't just go the easy route and CTR ALT DEL it from the internet entirely. Always good to have something to measure yourself against, even if it's a story you find painful. From my own personal experiences with it I will say it's been a fun ride.
Well that's a shame but I had a blood good time reading it all the same, thanks.
As a writer, I'm very passionate about the projects I undertake, both on and off of this site. As such, losing that passion for any of my current projects is one of my worst nightmares (which is odd, since I wouldn't exactly care anymore after losing interest in something). Having faced a similar loss for a past project, let me just say: my condolences for the death of your passion for Human.
Needless to say, I agree with much of what you said. Human had no shortage of problems. The prose often left something to be desired, and some of the descriptions of characters, places and character emotions left me wanting. But Human was not without merit. Because somehow, despite all of the problems, you created a fun and likeable (more or less) cast of characters that I was quite thoroughly invested in. You had some of the funniest dialogue I've ever read in a fan fiction (the line "be my friend you absolute cunt!" is still one of my all time favourites to this day, and then there's the whole "Mount Celestia" conversation)! And, you had an actually very brilliant premise.
And no, I don't mean the premise of humans with superpowers coming to Equestria to fuck shit up. We all know how original that is. No, what I loved was the idea of all of these characters becoming aware of their existence as characters in a story that has long since fallen off the rails. The so-called "meta bullshit" was what made me decide to put this story in my top favourites for a time. You may look back at all of the ridiculous plot threads now and roll your eyes, but to me, the context of their existence - an incompetent team of writers trying to cram as much shit into the Big Damn Movie as they could - was what made those plot arcs brilliant! That, and Second actually trying to outwit the writers in his own ways (creating Thug Lyfe: a character so offensive that they could never show any scene with him in it was a stroke of genius!) Sure, some of those plot threads got a little tiring even in this context, but on the whole they were engaging and funny!
TLDR: Human had many problems, but within the context of the meta stuff it was a satirical masterpiece on the very art of writing itself: something I can appreciate!
I'm going to miss Lord Second and his antics. And I'm going to miss the adventures of our ragtag group of heroes, but I get that you've got to move on. Farewell, Human. It's been a Hell of a thing...
2441239
Well, that just makes me feel all tingly inside.
It's funny that you mention the overuse of humans as superpowered villains, by the way, because I was thinking about exactly that just a few days ago. I can't prove it, but I strongly suspect that I'm at least partially responsible for the LoHAV fiasco. Human was already at the height of its popularity around the time those started, and it was even added to the original LoHAV group before it imploded. I'm not sure if anyone was ever consciously ripping me off, but I kinda get the feeling that someone at some point at least heard about the concept and got inspired.
*self* begins desperately internally denying want for this
Because, yes, you are your best/worst critic, and that would be a rare and valuable learning opportunity, though it might inspire some annoyingly encouraging responses.
If I remember correctly, I was one of those critics who explained rather intimately what was wrong with the story, through I never wished to see the story canceled. I'm a resolute believer that stories are far better off being rewritten than being canceled, so it's a shame that human is indeed canceled. One of the most enjoyable aspect of it, for me, was how absolutly meta it was. The shear zaniness, meta, and insanity was incredibly enjoyable, and I often found myself laughing. Towards the end, I was waiting excitedly to see what the elements were going to do with the new ones, and how they'd interact. Though that own't happen now. Regardless, good luck DannyJ on your future stories.
So, you aren't even considering rewriting it? That's a shame. I really liked the story as it was, and I think a rewriting could have only made it better. But then, I'd guess you'd have the problem of getting so many chapters in, looking back at everything and thinking it's terrible, and then rewriting it all.
Aw man. I had been waiting for it to finish before reading it. Guess I'll take it off my "read later" list. Ah well.
2440767 Same. Wouldn't have minded her staying dead, but nooo. She had to come back as a foul undead. Still I'd felt Human was getting too scattered and labrynthine before that. After that was just....eegh. The whole arc where Explodey became some eldritch abomination made no fucking sense! I know the stories reasons for it, but that's like explaining you know why a murderous psychopath murdered someone. You know the reason but you can't comprehend it.
It was a fun ride, but it needed to end.
*hands DannyJ a shotgun and the story's leash*
You're a man now, Danny. You know what to do.
...Might want to put two rounds in it to prevent it coming back as a zombie. Stories with the undead tend to do that.
2442425 Yeah, rule number 17, double-tap.
2442440 What number is obliterate then desecrate?
While I do feel bad that Human is over, I don't begrudge you the fact you chose to end it for the reasons you did. All the best with your future stories (especially the other story set in the Human universe).
Human has been one of my first stories and the first HiE one i have read here, also the one i was looking forward to the most. I agree that it was pretty bad at times or confusing, but when i now think of Human i only remember all those great and funny moments it had.
Despite the few problems, the plot and characters where interesting and full of potential. Unlike many others stories i was always looking forward to reading more of it, cheer for the characters i liked, wondering where author would take his tale of Human, what it characters would do or even what happened to them in the past. Imagining how First and Second crashed Celestia boat while listening to "I'm on the boat" song, how Sliske first ended up in Equestria, wondering how it could look like if someone animated those or other moments in the story. I enjoyed it all.
I wish it didn't have to end like this and hope a little, that someday you will want to rewrite it, or maybe create something similar but even better.
Well this is sad. I will honestly say, and I mean it, that this is one of the best stories I've ever read. It's humor, all the mindfucking meta, the characters are just awesome. Lord Second is definetly one of the best characters I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
Perhaps you feel ashamed for writing this, for whatever reason, though I know that if I were in your shoes I would be very proud of myself just for coming up with the idea. For once in my life I've actually not had a single problem with a story, and that's not just for trying to get your spirits up. To me, everything was perfect and I want you to know just how happy you've made just by writing this story. It has greatly inspired me to write my own stories.
The only thing I really hate is that I don't get to see how the SIlver Vein/Lord Second relationship would turn out. Hope that you can give some resolution in your next blog post.
The end of Human means that there is one pony that never got to shag her human boss. Poor thing.
2441239 pretty much all of this. I spent the entire time reading this fully aware of the inconsistencies and jumping around, and ignoring them precisely because of the meta meta meta plot thread. Also, Lord Second was the first character from a fan fiction I ever had a desire to dress up as.
Well, guess this is coming off my RiL list. Honestly this was one of the stories on there I was more looking forward to. I suppose you have already thought about and disposed of the idea to rewrite it, or write a story with a similar premise. That was what brought me here after all, the plot sounded interesting. Maybe you could scrap the original fic and rewrite with the same premise? The length would be less of course, 400k is a lot of words. I somewhat understand why though, I've started stories before but my own critical nature caused me to give up. I corrected myself too often and never really got anywhere. Hope you write some longer fics. You are, after all, an experienced writer at this point and all I really read is longer fics.
2502060
I'm not going to rewrite it, because that would be implicitly asking all the readers who've already read 400K words of my crap to read it all again (only with slight differences this time) if they want to know how it ends. It would show a lack of respect for the time investment that my audience already sank into reading the original version, and I would never insult them like that.
2502085 True enough, I was thinking different story, similar premise. But your reasoning makes sense, furthermore, if YOU don't want to do it, it ain't happenen. Well, unless you're paid. Writing for money is an acceptable reason. Well, I keep my eye out for another story with a cool premise of readable length. If you can catch me once you can de it again yeah?
2502095
If you only read the long-runners once they're complete, then you'll be waiting a long time to read anything else from me.
2502099 Yeah, understandable. There is the one you're working on now though. I think it's at 50k once that's done I may read it. Besides, I'm not dead yet. I probably still be hanging around the site in a year or two.
I'd hate to be an asshole when I say this, but if Human was so bad then how come it got featured on Equestria Daily when the other two stories you are proud of did not? Are you saying that you're a better judge of character compared to all the other people who liked the story?