So another year passes... · 8:49am Jan 9th, 2015
... and while I look forward to a lot of things this coming 2015, I looked back at 2014.
To sum up... not my busiest year when it comes to writing. Maybe I finally grew complacent. After all, I got 1000 plus followers. One of my story broke at 2000 likes. Others are reaching the 1000 like mark.
And now that I said it, I jinxed it. Oh well.
2014 was a bit more busy for me in real life, with almost no progress in moving forward. Hopefully, this coming year will be kinder. Most of the time, I spent looking at my stories once more, trying to still get the feel of the 'verse. It's easy to lose yourself when you are expanding it the stories, stop, and get back into it again. I had to re-read the last few chapters of Feathered Heart to make sure I had the names correct, and the sequence of events.
So, 2015. What should I be looking forward to, I wonder?
Like I said earlier, I have been looking at old stories and chapters. I wondered if it would be productive to submit The Last Stand of Arnau to Equestria Daily. After the bullshit rejection of Feathered Heart (for being too mature (adult) for their audience), I went to a period of time realizing that the site was basically horse-apples. Do I still want to have anything to do with the site? Honestly, no. However, as a fanfic writer, it's nice to have works published on other sites to get a wider audience.
So, maybe Last Stand of Arnau would be considered more toned down compared to the ultra mature (
) Feathered Heart. Maybe the pre-readers are now different, and have different agendas. Who knows, really. I've half a mind to contact my pre-readers, and comb through Last Stand to see if we can correct any grammar mistakes. Now that I'm no longer constrained by the word-count, maybe we can get it improved.
I've spotted an interesting group called Rage Reviews, and I wondered if Gentlemanverse is actually worth doing a Rage Review of. Granted, so far the review requested on those stories have been mostly positive. The Equestrian Review Society had mostly liked them, and WRITE is 2 out of 3 (with the negative review something of a contention for me. I felt the reviewer pulled most of his noted criticism out of his ass, and made wrong and rude points [which he apologized for. For being rude. No one really apologizes for being wrong in an opinion piece, which is fine I guess]). Also, most of the public has spoken, which—no offense—doesn't mean much because you guys are generally too kind.
You know what, I'll ask a member if it's worth the hassle. I don't want to waste someone's time on this, especially since it's more of an ego-stroke than anything.
Dear Spoiler,
In your opinion, are the stories of the Gentlemanverse worth having Rage Reviewed at?
... and sent. Let's see.
As my previous blog, I have stated I'm a vaper. Well, a rookie.
What's vaping, you ask?
Well, it basically means I like (misnomer) e-cigarettes. It consists of atomizing flavored juices (that may or may not have nicotine), and has been a pretty good alternative to the real thing.
No, I don't like cigarettes. Tried it thrice, and I am not a fan of tobacco taste. Yes, I was trying to be cool during those days. Vape, though, I find rather pleasing. And slowly, I'm finding it to be a nice hobby because I bought my first rebuildables.
What's a rebuildable? Well, it's an atomizer that you can make your own coil and wick, unlike other atomizers where you can buy it ready made and ready to use. I used to have three of the latter, and a rebuildable atomizer was a big step for me. I suddenly stepped into a world that has now a lot of factors on how you can vape. Do you like to have a lot of cloud/vapors? Do you like to have concentrated flavors instead?
I found out I am a flavor chaser. I have two rebuildable clones (Magma and Plume Veil), and a simple mechanical mod (something that holds a battery to power the atomizer). And boy, I've had to re-learn some of the things I learned from physics classes. Different coils have different resistances, all which have different surface areas. And those coils? They have different types of wires. All those can affect how your juice will taste like, and honestly, it can be overwhelming. Then, someone pointed out to me that how much power you feed to those coils will also affect how the flavor goes. Sheesh.
My next aim is to make the best flavor chasing build on my Magma clone (which was specifically built for flavor) with a regulated mod device (which has variable volts/watts to play with, and also a ton of safety features mechanical mods don't have). Of course, trying to find a cheap one is going to be a journey, but hopefully, it'll be worth it.
Any vapers in this community, please don't take offense if the vaping descriptions were too simple. Like I said, I'm new to the scene, and learning. Any help is also appreciated.
I have finally started writing Feathered Heart. Here's the first chapter.
It had been just after lunch when they finally moved out, something Gilda felt was pretty annoying, especially when the delays were on the Gryphon side. It was pretty embarrassing to see the human Marines already standing ready with their modified wagons, while their griffin counterparts seemed to scramble around trying to finalize the assigned soldiers for the scouting expedition.
Spoiler for those that don't want to read it. Also, do know that this can change during pre-reading process.
Okay, happy 2015 everyone. I hope you guys enjoyed the new year!
NIce to see you on site again. Happy santa day, merry new year, and all those holidays that passed. Hope you have a nice year.
2710800
Thanks. It wasn't so bad all in all. Yours?
Ok, thanks for asking. Dropped out of college again but got a new job so i'd give it a solid 7/10.
2710811
Cools. Hopefully, I'll get mine as well.
Do you vapor you know the green herb.
Feathered Heart is a HIE.
Of course it will get rejected.
Yay for upcoming feathered heart update.
2710896
Can't. It's illegal here. XD
Besides, I'm rather liking root beers and sour fruits.
2711009
Heh. So I guess Last Stand has a better chance. Good to know.
2711027
Yeah. Took a while to actually write it, but there you go.
2711053 LOL! Like it being illegal stops anybody from smoking it.
Don't sweat it Gilda. Those Marines were up six hours ago and have been standing around waiting for most of that time. 'Hurry up and wait' is standard operating procedure.
Fallout Equestria: Once you get past all the pony guts, rape, torture, and death it's not so bad.
Feathered Heart: Sorry too "mature."
Equestria Daily, you have no credibility whatsoever.
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True, but it's more of not knowing who to ask to obtain said herbs.
Plus, I'm not too sure if I'd like the herb flavor. XD
2711094
Heh. I'll have more written soon, and have it ready for an alpha pre-read.
2711162
The reason why FOE is there is because it was probably submitted before the whole 'let's bump up our quality' phase. If not that, it has a very big audience. FOE is like a gazillion hits. Feathered Heart? Chump change which they can get from anyone else they like. *shrug*
I think I need to make more obvious mistakes. Make the plots more confusing and nonsensical. Inspire the rage of others. Make my characters more generic 'has obvious faults and can be a video game character' and 'bat-shit insane'. You know. Make Harry an emotional manipulator, coz that fits with his character, eh?
"At least the links are nice."
2711239 Really I thought everybody tried it at least once.
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I haven't yet.
2711281 Well yet is a good sign.
2711239
I actually think FoE is the best thing ever written by a brony and is my all-time favorite fanfiction. I only read through it once — without even any concept of what Fallout is! — and I understood the politics, the characters, and the all-around misery the ponies were living in, and how it got that way.
While people could quibble over the ethics of violence in ponyland, it's also significant to mention that, with a few notable exceptions, it rises organically from the situation, and is treated with empathy rather than played for fetish fuel. Basically, it was a crossover between MLP and a shooter game, ponies died, and some of it overdone to maintain the atmosphere.
I can't believe you're making me defend one of the most depressing, awful to read stories ever written...
Well it is based on a video game. As far as being generic, that wasn't what I brought away from the story. The Mane Six of that world were based around the actual Mane Six, but were re-interpreted rather well in my view. There were three different villains that each had their own unique motivations, characters that wanted to improve matters and didn't know how. Characters that just wanted to put themselves in a better place, and if it helped Equestria, so much the better.
I couldn't imagine a story of over 600,000 words to ever be described as perfect, and having read it once I will never, ever read it again. It's a long, emotionally draining drag through one scene of savage violence to the next where Kkat is constantly changing the horror to keep the whole experience as unpleasant as possible. But it is extremely well-written, with colorful characters and an interesting take on friendship in a fallen world. I don't know if "like" is the right word, but respect somehow doesn't go far enough.
As far as G4M, I'm glad you didn't make it violent. It is wonderful how it is.
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I was talking in general. Apparently, to get hits, you have to do something pretty bad. Haven't read FOE, nor am I interested to.
Though your defense is noted. Unnecessary, but noted.
Welcome back, DEL! And thanks for the feedback on my latest Five Star Service draft. I stopped following ED some time ago, and FOE is a story I simply wouldn't care to read, mostly because I don't like being depressed by my reading. I would say, though ,that out of all my faved and active stories, Feathered Heart has always been the one I've waited on the most. I'm a sucker for a good military crossover, and Feathered Heart pretty much pushes all my buttons. I'd love to do a side story off that myself sometime.
Best wishes for you for the new year, and good luck to all your writing endeavors. Comparison to a behemoth like FOE probably isn't a fair comparison to anyone. You've spawned your own fanverse, and there's precious few authors that can ever say that. I'm just glad to get to play in your sandbox... and you're so good and willing about allowing people to expand on your own works.
2711392 Seeing as downvotes count as traffic, you could say that bad writing contributes to an increase in a story's visibility. As far as not wanting to read FoE, that's fine. Does anyone really want to read that shit? If I had known what was coming I wouldn't have either. It was a funny story actually involving downloading mods for Civilization V and finding a comment by some anon saying that it was good.
I will never consider its defense unnecessary though. Even if it was a result of a misunderstanding.
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I can understand the appeal, and honestly, I'm not going to harangue anyone for wanting to read it. We like what we like. Why bother others for their tastes, right?
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XD I'll still consider it a defense.
In all honesty though, glad you found some enjoyment in it. Take what we can, right?
2713439 It's the kind of story that takes something from you even as you take something from it. If I had never read it, I wouldn't have ever visited a fanfiction website, and read all of these cool stories here. I came into that story a fan and I came out of it a brony. I'm sure you can appreciate that.
Hope the new year goes well for you and thanks for being so cool about letting people write in your universe.
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Sorry if I came across as criticizing readers of it. I fully agree everybody's got their own tastes, and just because I don't enjoy something doesn't mean others wouldn't.
I've never really used EqD for finding my stories in the first place.
Also, I've seen a ton of mature stuff on EqD. Videos with fairly mature themes, suggestive art, etc. There was even a clopfic buried in one of the Fallout EQ posts.
Holding my breath for the next update.
Have you considered looking into a Dark Horse RDA? Because I absolutely love mine. It has several air flow options, squared posts and large post holes which makes it even better if you need a bit of forgiveness with sloppy coils
Since I've gotten mine, I've found that I really love the adaptability of it for any coil build or type of chaser you are. I'm a cloud chaser myself and it provides absolutely amazing flavor while putting out the clouds 
2805814
Haven't seen the Dark Horse, original or clone. I have however created a good flavor build with my Magma. 28g Kanthal, 8 wraps in 2-2.2mm drill. Nice warm vape and flavor at 15 watts. iPV Mini II is my regulated mod on this. ^_^ I'll experiment on a flavor build for my plume veil v1.5 clone soon.
Unfortunately, with budget concerns, and availability, I'm mostly stuck with clones of American RDAs. Filipino-made RDAs are available, but are pretty pricey as well. So, yeah, don't mind me being a clone buyer.
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I use clones myself, so I don't have anything against them. As far as your v1.5 Plumeveil goes, might I recommend the dual coil nano dragon? I think you may enjoy building it and discover the joys of dual coiling
2807213
My first coil was dual coil, but I really like flavor, so I stuck with singles. Though never did try a nano build. XD
2815838
I think this nano coil will bring all the flavor you would ever want with the smoothness of a dual coil