State of the Lemur - 08/14/2015(?) · 5:23am Aug 16th, 2015
So I had a really, really good week: several oneshots, a Disney trip, Dr. Pepper all around. It was almost too good of a week, and I came out of a three-day mini-vacation feeling mind-fried, which is both good and bad. It's good because I felt remarkably de-stressed. It's bad because... I've experienced a savage drop in motivation and writer's ethic. Maybe it's shown in the goddamn three dailies I've schizophrenically committed myself to as of late. If so, I apologize. It's not like readers of Austraeoh aren't used to noticeable dip in quality. But for those following The Things Tavi Says, it must come across a tad bit bizarre. All I can do is apologize for future decay, but there are always bound to highs for every low as well. So... just roll with it, I guess.
I could have done a blargh earlier, and a better one at that. But sometimes I think that I'm the only one who feels the need to put so much weight into these weekly things. So, f'naaa. Better something than nothing, right?
In case you haven't noticed, I'm a selfish bastard. A direct result of this is that I rarely notice artists until they produce something at least remotely related to my literary drivel. That's how I first came across Luvlessi. A few blarghs ago, as you all might know, I provided a link to a super-crazy-awesome animation done on Background Pony. Though I may not be the hugest fan of Linkin Park, there's no denying that this thing is an incredible accomplishment by an incredible person, and I'm truly flattered beyond belief.
At the time, I noticed that they had several videos under their belt that were--essentially--dramatic readings of various pony novels, but I didn't look much further than that.
Lo and behold, about a week ago, I was doing a random Google search for "shortskirtsandexplosions" (as I usually do, cuz I have no life), and I discovered that someone had done a Dramatic Reading of my super purple Derpy fic, Talking Ponies Syndrome. Ten seconds into listening, I assumed it was some... uh... joke. I mean, the voice reading is legitimately fantastic, but to the uninitiated it initially sounds like Total Biscuit on Valium being commissioned to read unreleased Monty Python skits.
After a few minutes, I realized that the youtube clip is--in fact--a work of superb quality, with great audio, background music, and an overall cohesive work that'll massage the ears into quiet orgasm.
"Well, cool," I thought, and swiftly favorited the clip. "That was a nifty find."
And then I glanced at Luvlessi's youtube page and realized that--hory shiet--the dude has like a dozen of these dramatic readings. Not only that, but they're all of the same awesome quality with background music, ambient effects, and the same deep bass voice that makes all my insides wanna drown in tea and cartwheel down the left side of the road. I mean, each video has what appears to be an original accompanying work of fanart, for Nietzsche's sake.
And you know what the worst part of this awesome stuff is? The videos only have a few measly hits each! Like... less than five hundred! That's a mother bucking crime! Someone get ObabScribbler or Nowacking in on that shiet cuz bah gawd, my comprehension is broken in half!
So, long story short, this is not just a regular, self-gratuitous plug for a work of art related to one of my stories. I'm seriously entreating all of your Marsupials to check out Luvlessi's stuff. If you want your ears to have a good time and bring acclaim to someone on the Internet who deserves it for all of their tireless effort, then hop on over to the dude's page and give it a listen! We could all use a bit of ritualistic story-telling in our lives, so why the fuck not?
F'naaaaaaa.
So, who here's ready and waiting for more Clueless Reader this week?
Hmm? No one? Me neither.
Let's answer some fucking questions:
A picture has never before been so fucking relevant
Anything special planned?
~Skeeter The Lurker
Oneshots. Lots and lots of oneshots.
But that's not very special, I suppose. I could pretend to talk about long-form stuff that I have in mind, but every time I do that, all I do is let down the marsupials. So I don't think I'll bother.
As for the lardinous manchild behind SS&E, there's most definitely nothing special planned. I came into 2015 expecting a lot of things, but events went differently. For better or worse, my existence is currently as normal as normal can be. I suppose that's overall a good thing... until the ice caps melt in the next few years and makes going to Disney relatively difficult for most Floridians.
F'naaa.
Which cookies do you think are better?
Chocolate Chip or Oatmeal Raisin?
~Dragonman461
Chocolate Chip, Plz. Gtfo oatmeal hipsters
Also, we will not talk about peanut butter...
Hagar or Roth?
~Wolfram and Hart
Now that I've read nearly 90% of the Book of Mormon for purely educational reasons, ya chuckle-fucks, I've been thinking that maybe I should check out other religious texts. I figure the Quran should be next, seeing how culturally relevant it's been as of late. I was raised Protestant with a deep respect for Judeo-Christian ideology, and although I've since meandered off into Sartreville during my adulthood, it doesn't change the fact that I've always sorta unfairly sympathized with Abraham's wife, Sarah. It wouldn't hurt to learn more about Hagar's side of the story, and how she and Ishmael survived in the wilderness.
Unless, of course, you mean this fucker:
In which case he gets my vote straightaway.
Would you mind briefly explaining the meaning of the universe? Thanks in advance!
~DrEggnog
If you ever tried to write explicit erotica what pairing would it be and why? Would it even be pony, or perhaps one of your myriad former fandoms?
~CarcinoGeneticist
Heya, Furby.
If you're referring back to the TT days, the answer is no. I never would... and I never did.
That's not to say that I haven't tried literotica in the past. There were once dark days where, for the fuck of it (literally), I tried my hairy hand at smut. The result was self-gratuitous and laughibly horrible, and I'm glad that it no longer exists on any hard drive anywhere.
I really don't see myself writing erotica in the future. To me, it's simply not story-telling. If you read erotica for erotica's sake, then it's just pr0n in text form. I can, maybe, understand writing a steamy romance between characters that I lurve and feel for, but I would much rather the mental camera "pan to the stars" when things get saucy, because the meat-and-potatoes of such a narrative would be the characters and how they reach such a point of understanding and intimacy with one another, as opposed to the physics involved in cartoon cunninglingus. Meh.
Hey, your a popular author. Do you take requests, or are you like Rated and people have to pay?
~ButtonMash
I once tickled with the idea of doing story commissions. It bombed horribly, and I've been turned off to the idea ever since.
Occasionally, the comments marsupials leave will inspire me to produce spontaneous stuff, but there's no logical pattern to it.
Plus, I'm a selfish bastard.
Why is it that you write millions upon millions of words on a consistent basis? Why do you spread yourself out so much and do so much for something you only get enjoyment and other people's enjoyment to take home with you?
~JustAnotherTimeLord
I don't.
As in, I don't write millions upon millions of words "on a consistent basis." At most, I write maybe 2k or 3k words a day. I'm sure that's just a drop in the bucket of what actual, legitimate, hard-working, money-earning authors do.
I'm not a writer. I'm just a pretender who likes making horse words. Doing the daily thing with Austraeoh and Appledashery has formed self-contained communities (mostly with Austraeoh). Being able to connect with marsupials on a daily basis through intimate wordsmithery is an experience that's hard to come by in any other fashion. MLP: FiM has given me a platform by which I can bridge such a gap between me and other beings who like to share mirth with the horse-horse.
So, in a way, I guess you could say it's a combination of ego-stroking and social contentment. It certainly beats being a troll in message boards, and I'm not smart enough to have a Twitch.tv. account... soooooo... there ya go.
If a cat fought an alligator/crocodile, who would win? Cat or alligator/crocodile?
~Telaros
Why is Applejack so perfect?
~Telaros
If you threw all the Disney Princesses into an arena. Who would come out on top? I'm talking Mortal Kombat levels of Disney Princess death matching here.
~Telaros
Akuma wins.
Are there a stories with Diamond Tiara and or Silver Spoon you wish others would write more of? Something you haven't seen much of or would like to see?
~Telaros
"Ponies on Dinosaurs." Wait for it.
Favorite fantasy city that you've come up with and featured in any of your stories?
~Shipmun
Probably Ponymonium, featured in both End of Ponies and Saros.
That may not be a totally fair answer, because I once wanted to write an entire fanfic titled after the place: "Ponymonium." It was to be a super-long depressing grimdark fic centered on Twilight Sparkle that, back in 2011, was planned to be my follow-up to EoP. But then Background Pony happened, and now with Season 3's turn of events I doubt I could ever write the story as I originally planned it.
Ah well. Tron-esque city in the center of the moon, populated by bat ponies and xenophobic unicorns. I'm down with that.
Does this mean that we can expect the final entry in the Background Pony trilogy sometime soon?
~Arkbird1000
I'm not sure what this means.
Will I be writing an epically long sad!fic that'll be on par with EoP and BP?
If that's what you mean, then the answer is... er... yes? That is to say, I have the idea for a fic that could be of the same quality. But, as previously stated, I don't think I have it in me to promise the delivery of longform fiction with 100% absolute certainty, so why bother? (Even though the fic that I have in mind would probably be 150,000 words at most, but f'naaaa).
In the Darkness Where I Seek You and Person Mare were also stories that I had hoped would rival EoP and BP in terms of quality, but I never got to finishing them. Both simply crashed and burned, despite over 50,000 words of slaving-away at them. Meh.
As a marginally more serious question, do you have a favorite one-shot that you've written?
~Arkbird1000
I'm considering a special blargh once I reach 100 submissions that'll count down my top 10 favorite oneshots. Maybe by then I will have earned the right to textual self-fappery.
Oh, and have you ever had any of your readers tell you that they had a friend read some of your drivel ejaculate stuff, and that it got them into the fandom?
~Arkbird1000
Kinda. Lots of people say that about EoP and BP.
One of my favorite type of comments ever--and one that I've gotten more than once--is when people message me, telling me that they created a Fimfic account solely for the sake of commenting on my stuff, instead of just remaining as invisible lurkers. That, I find highly, highly flattering.
Have you considered to make a Patreon accounts?
~nerevars
Hmmmm...
A possible future blargh in the making...
How are you handling the hiatus? I'm slowly going insane myself, but I was wondering how you feel.
~Piecemeal Pony
We've all been in a hiatus since 2010.
Why is humanized Fluttershy so perfect?
~Piecemeal Pony
It's all in the skirt
What doth life?
~Sam the Anti-Ninja
How's Ponky doing?
~Twi-Fi
He's healthy, fuzzy, edumacated, and he's got a girl.
Has MLP, the show first, the fandom second, helped you out of any ruts in life? I don't necessarily mean depression. But do you use it as a stress ball? Does it actually hit you and make you feel? Is that what made you want to write?
~Primrose
I've made several good friends through the fandom. Them, the J00ry, and the marsupial alumni as a whole have given me a great deal of contentment and newfound self-respect. That's not to say that bronyhood has somehow saved me from red pilling on the mortal coil or some melodramatic shiet, but 2011-2012 were some of the happiest days of my life, and I'm glad to be affiliated with the likes of Ponky, Pilate, Props, Tweak, Zaponator, Robored, Scampy, Swan Song, the Noble Jury, and the rest of the little dwarves around the campfire to this day.
The early SS&E works--especially the miserable grimdark ones--were, I think, me exorcising many nasty and depressing ideas. Perhaps it was therapeutic, or perhaps it was just me wringing my imagination of all the nasty bile and gunk. Whatever the case, it's a lot easier (and more appealing) these days to write happy, fuzzy, silly stories that more or less go nowhere. Take that for what it's worth.
What are you most proud of on this account?
~sauceguard
Everything.
What do you regret most on this account?
~sauceguard
Everything.
How do you tell friends/family/roommates what you do? Are they generally aware of how big Austraeoh books are?
~sauceguard
My best irl friend knows, and he thinks it's awesome... but he doesn't have the time (nor the interest) to get into it all, and that's fine.
My family know... in theory, but I leave the details out.
I used to tell my co-workers, but then shiet hit the fan and I relocated and now I just... work where I'm at. I have pony buttons on my lanyard, but aside from that I don't share much.
Horsefame is all in the mind.
I think this was asked before, but why don't you do adult content stories? I'm only asking because you've covered a lot of ground on FIMfiction with pretty much every other subject, and I'm wondering if you have a specific reason or philosophy on that.
~sauceguard
Unless Fimfiction turns into DisneyPrincessFiction overnight, I doubt that I will be reading--or writing--any "adult content" stories.
But I have and will continue to write Rated M stuff when I feel that the tag is appropriate. And, on the topic of clop, I've technically written one. And though it doesn't go into any vivid detail, it still makes me laugh my butt off when I go back and reread a certain scene.
How do you set up your writing time? How do you align that with work and any other responsibilities that you have? What is the optimum writing environment?
~sauceguard
Meh. To be honest, I usually shove a lot of stuff up to the last second of the last hour. My three daily chapters take about two hours to do. Maybe an hour and a half if I'm not distracted or if I'm writing on Sedna.
If I want to write other stuff, then I usually "buffer," that is to say I write two days' worth of chapters and set them up for upload so that I'll have free, uninterrupted time for writing something with greater gusto... like an SS&E oneshot. That usually requires a day off, instead of writing after a given workshift.
You post a lot about WDW.
~sauceguard
Eeyup.
What's with all the Country Bear Jamboree hate?
~sauceguard
I can only assume you follow my Twitter account. That being said, I don't recall haiting on Country Bear Jamboree. I just think it's supremely outdated. It even broke down when I went to see it the other day. The audience was grumbling and bothered, and the Cast Member on the mic is literally like: "Hey! Cheer for A/C! At least you've got A/C!" It was great.
Still, there's something timeless and charming about old classic Disney shiet. One thing I noticed--since it was the first time I tried watching the show in nearly twenty years--is that the wooden floor panels of the waiting area was covered with clawmarks, as if to suggest that a bunch of animatronic bears just lurched out of the bush to come attend a hillbilly show. That is a great artistic touch, and I'm happy to witness it. Hell, I'm happy to witness all things Disney, and that's speaking for my upper lobes as much as my lower ones. F'naaa.
Ooops. Whelp, so much for that.
-SS&E
Oh hey, is that a Truman Show thing at the top? If so, that's incredible, and I must go hunt down Zap and shake his hand.
I gotta say, I don't often read State of the Lemur, but after this I might have to revise that line of thought. Shit's gooood.
Oh god we would all go broke. I would say shut up and take my money but the problem is you wouldn't shut up and hence would take all my money. Also, from now on, whenever you end a weekly update on a sad note I'm going to say "I hope you find your princess soon"
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I figured that you get a lot of questions about The End of Ponies, so I thought I'd take a reference you made to it and make a joke about your Background Pony 2: The Re-Backgrounding blog post. Your answer was significantly more informative than I expected, so thank you for that.
Speaking of thanks, thanks for answering my and so many of the other questions you got! Your ask-blog style posts are a pleasant mix of casual chat and borderline seriousness, making them a joy to read when I catch them before I turn in for the night/morning.
Outros are hard; maybe someday I'll have a really neat one that doesn't read weird. Today certainly isn't that day. I look forward to whatever it is that you intend to do next, Skirts.
My brain exploded trying to decipher that. I blame lack of sleep.
And, y'know, me being a giant dumbass.
In which case: needs more skirts.
Where the hell do you get all those princess pictures? You're like a white hole of Disney awesome.
Haha even though I have no means to contribute to donate via patreon (I don't have a credit card), I just wondering how much people would love to donate to you as a gratitude.
But, if I can, I would love to support you because your story literally change my view/perspective in life.
And yeah, another Sadness Trilogy would be great.
... I feel smarter and stupider for having seen the answer to my question. This is good.
Would you make your hypothetical patreon dedicated to commissioning artists to make fanart of your work?!?!
I DEMAND MORE AUSTRAEOH FANART THERE IS ONLY 24 HITS ON DA!
Maybe you could even use the funds to pay artists to read your stuff and pick something that strikes them with the inspiration club!
I DREAM OF A DAY WHERE EVERY CHAPTER OF ALL 12 BOOKS HAS ITS OWN FANART DEPICTING A MOMENT IN THAT CHAPTER, CREATED BY FIRST COME FIRST SERVE ARTISTS CLAIMING A CHAPTER OR COMMISSIONED TO A CHAPTER, WITH ANY QUALITY ACCEPTABLE EVEN $5 COMMISSION QUALITY!!!
I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. In a book on writing Stephen King stated that his daily goal that he forces himself to achieve is 2k words. Shakespeare's complete works clock in at 884,647 words, which Austraeoh alone has already doubled.
Either way, as a guy who loves to read but couldn't write his way out of a wet paper bag, 2-3k words per day still seems pretty damn impressive to me.
Also, hating on peanut butter cookies?? What heresy is this!?
3323152 always had this Idea to do an animated storyboard to 'Arcade fire - wake up' I believe it was book one to book three. I have everything planned out. I just never asked the author for their permission.
Near had a heart attack upon seeing that vid up there. Near having another one cuz I can't figure out how to say 'thankyou' without devolving into fangirlish sappery.
... Oh, wait. Too late. <3
My understanding is that even prolific, full time writers like Stephen King only write, like, 2k a day?
Considering you do this as a hobby... well I'd say it's more than a little impressive. 
[EDIT: ninja'd]
Yet there was always a sense of optimism to those stories. "[...] It took a great deal of hell to introduce me to heaven" being one of my favorite SS&E lines. Is it exorcising depression? Or seeking to accept happiness? I guess that'd be one of those 'half-empty' 'half-full' things. Regardless, it's a journey others may undertake through those same stories, and that, to me, is a legacy of fuzziness all on its own.
i was
But Q&As are awesome, too!
(also i ain't brittish gorramit)
I'd pate you on.
Can't argue with the results. AJ is most cuddliest of ponies. That was some fine chart and explanation on the how and why AJ is so perfect.
Ponies on Dinosaurs? Now I'm picturing Diamond and Apple Bloom on giant raptors and waving assault-rifles in the air before charging towards some big epic battle to save all of time and space. Or, at least that's the excuse they tell Cheerilee as to why they didn't get their projects done. Darn Kung Fury, anything Dinos gets me thinking about that super short movie. lol
Akuma wins all the fights. Except when it's against Zangief.
img.desmotivaciones.es/201111/72192FightershyFlutterzangiefHarryStreet_Fighterartist3Anyerpybearfluttershyparodyzangief.jpg
For Mother Equestria!
Keep on keeping on, Skirts.
3323670 Skirt on Skirting on, Keeps?
Yay my question got answered. I expected Disney. I did not expect panties. Skirts took this Q&A more serial than I expected. Maybe I should've come up with something good but whatevs.
Oh, that sounds sucky. I'm semi-closet myself. I yap to my best friend about it constantly. My friends at work know, but I only occasionally bring it up. If my parents know, it's probably because of the crap I keep around my house. My Pony Monopoly is pretty blatant.
Colgate is Best Pony darn near broke my brain, in the best of ways, particularly the "clop" scene.
Skirt on Skirting on, Shorty. (Have I mentioned your name is one of my favorites ever? Up there with James Sunderland, Twilight Sparkle, and Mike Bastard.)
Edit: Excited for top ten list. I like lists. I make lots of em.
I'm still working on BP.
Does anyone like anything about Florida besides Disney world? I've lived in Florida forba couple years now and I gotta admit, I kinda hate it. Though maybe I just don't like Orlando?
Interesting stuff. I've always enjoyed reading these. I'm not much for asking things, but the questions others have are much more interesting. Oh, and whatever you decide to spill out onto the page.
Now this is something I'd very much like to see: for your own thoughts on them as well as how you would rank them.
Speaking of oneshots...
As much as I've enjoyed your long epics, I find myself enjoying your oneshots even more. Can't wait to see what you have planned.
How about Ponies as Dinosaurs? For example, this fic I started:
Lost in Time