The Immortal's Endgame · 5:04am Aug 12th, 2012
The more I frolic around with my League and my horror story, with my serial comedy and my six thousand word blogpost talking about high school art class, the more I can't help but feel I've forgotten about something. Like, you know that feeling when you know there's something you were supposed to do, or maybe said you were going to do, but you can't remember what it is? I've got that, but I just can't quite place—
I've often wondered about the relationship between the writer and their readers. What do I owe you? What do you owe me? I think the most popular answer to both of those is nothing; Neil Gaiman once famously remarked that "George R R Martin is not your bitch."
I used to think that I could hold myself to a higher standard, and that's where the weekly release dates came from. I wanted you, the reader, to know that I was close by. That I wasn't going to abandon you all with only half a story. A man finishes what he starts.
Chapter 21 of The Immortal Game, The End of Harmony, will be released Monday, August 13th.
But I also wanted to keep myself going, to stave away that dreadful rot that we call writing fatigue. A deadline can put me in the chair and force me to find the motivation. Does that sound terrible? It isn't. The need to be finished, a desire for attention—these things seem bad by themselves, but in reality all they are is thrust. You point yourself in the right direction and things will take care of themselves. Yes, it's easier to write only when you feel like it, and you can even afford to do that with a story like Twilight Sparkle Gets A Free Salad, but this isn't a 9k word comedy one shot. This is a 300 000 word fantasy epic, and it deserves—no, demands—a real commitment.
The release dates failed in more ways than one. Not only did I fail to meet them on several occasions, but I even rushed to meet one once. Mayday, mayday, we've lost engine control. The first draft of that chapter was a complete disaster. I don't regret failing to meet the release dates as much as I did. Did postponing chapters make me dishonest? The answer to the question is an emphatic and resounding yes. But honesty is cheap. There is no virtue I would not sacrifice for my work.
Chapter 22 of The Immortal Game, The End of War, will be released Wednesday, August 15th.
There are other sources of thrust, other ways to keep to keep yourself holding on when there is nothing in you save the will. My bag of tricks has more to it than naive inspiration and dreams, than the selfish need for attention. I've always had an ace in the hole.
You.
I can't express how I feel when I see the excitement generated by uploading a new chapter. There's more to this than a number of comments or likes or favorites, than the star rating I thought was all I wanted in the world. I know that there are people who want me to write The Immortal Game, because they tell me so. I get emails, wonderful emails, telling me that you appreciate what I do, that you think I'm doing a good of it, and above all else, thanking me. They make my day. I know authors with over a thousand followers whose readers don't give them that kind of care. So thanks, guys, for helping me write The Immortal Game.
Chapter 23 of The Immortal Game, The Immortal's Endgame, will be released Friday, August 17th.
I suppose now you'll want to read it.
Want.
Well there goes any plans I had for getting anything done this week.
Very eager to read this.
I think I love you.
Huh, I thought we had only one chapter left. I guess we'll just have to make do with three in the same week instead.
I am very much looking forward to this. :D
I will name my children after you.
Wait, our children.
Our children.
Damn. And I had so much planned for Monday!
Thank you.
well. atleast i will have something to read when i get back from Gencon. ... wooo!!!
This story is number one in my favorites for a reason.
I don't just put random shit in my favorites. You have to literally kill for that spot. And you made number 1.
1. Not 2, 3, 4, 5, or 1,234,678....and a half.
1
I intend on re-reading it once the conclusion comes out if that's alright. A few months ago I read all the way up to 'God' and I stopped because you weren't finished and that's as far as you've gotten then.
Yup, that's right! I've been around since it was 'Ponies Make War'.
I'm still proud of that.
You're story has almost a quarter-million (we all know that number's gonna jump to a ridiculous amount), around 700 likes, countless favorites (including mine), 823 comments right now, and hundreds of readers that lying in wait. You did something great here man!
Be proud!
Punch a taco, I don't care!
Silver out!
Holy flaming alicorns.....
SO MUCH TO READ!
I'm glad I could do something, even something so small as enjoy your work, to help such a magnificent piece of literature get written. The Immortal Game is my favorite story on fimfiction, the standard I aspire to, and by far the best story on here in my humble personal opinion.
Simply by announcing this, you've made the coming week the highlight of my month.
This is awesome news! I have been patiently waiting for the end of this absolutely epic story! I only started and caught up with this story when you got to chapter 21, and it has almost been painful to wait for the conclusion for what has been one amazing rollercoaster of war, epic action, absolute heartbreak, horrors, and gut wrenching emotions.
But I have waited with the expectation you were doing your level best to make this the best conclusion it Immortal Game could be. Ugh, figures you would do this the same week as GenCon. At least I have something great to come back to…
Wait…300,000 words total…*looks at current word count of the Immortal Game.* These chapters are going to clock in at about 60,000 words altogether for the most epic of epic clashes?! I like where this is going! I see I’m going to be losing some sleep.
I was going to have a dignified response, but all that's going through my brain
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I keep begging my friends to read it so I can have someone else to rant to about how each chapter (and heck, often enough several times in the same chapter) keeps breaking my Holy Shit Quotient. I get the feeling the last three chapters will be the same. No matter how many chapters it ends up being, I look forward to the finish of one of my favorite fics.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go jump around and squee in a most indecorous fashion for a minute.
I've re-read The Immortal Game twice in its current release. While I find your one-shots to be incredibly fun, I much prefer multi-parters because of the effort it takes to make them good. When done correctly, the impact it has on readers is nothing short of profound. Can't wait to see it!
HOLY COW YES!
FINALLY!
AND ALL THREE IN ONE WEEK!
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
OH
YES THE WAIT IS OVER I CAN'T
WAIT IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME AND EPIC AND 
BLOODY AND VIOLENT AND COOL AND I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT MY ENTIRE LIFE 
AND THE SUSPENSE 
IS KILLING ME AND 
NOT 1 BUT 3 MORE CHAPTERS 
SO MUCH MORE THAN WE 
THOUGHT *ROAR OF DELIGHT AND
ANTICIPATION!!!* 
> But honesty is cheap.
Them's fightin words.
I digress. 3 chapters over a six day stretch? WORTH. IT.
On a side note: you once mentioned that you were using a dvorak keyboard. I queried you about that and you responded with a link to the wiki page. Since then I have popped off all my keyboard keys (R.I.P. "H" key) and rearranged them to suit that layout. Then I set up the keyboard to actually type in dvorak. That was months ago. Friend of mine I hadn't seen in a long time asked to use my computer. Now, I like the guy, and he's great to have on my team on Xbox live, but I did NOT want him on my computer... His carelessness is LEGENDARY. He took one look at my keyboard and said never mind. You MIGHT have saved me a new laptop, Mr. B, and for that I owe you.
P.S. For real.
281928
I get people who can't use my computer all the time. My keyboard looks like this. And the keys are all out of QWERTY order. It's awesome.
I believe there is only one statement to give in response to this revelation: FINALLY! WOOHOO!
That aside, once it's all complete I'll probably give it a full read from start to finish again (I have way too much free time...)
That was a truly inspiring message, I think I can speak for all of us when I say, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
-Your ever faithful and inspired reader, Minty
Thank you for writing this. As a burgeoning Internet writer I felt guilty that comments and praise seemed to motivate me more than a desire to write. Hearing someone far more successful than I say that sometimes that's what it takes really takes the sting out of it.
Thank you so much for this story. You da bes.
Read the final chapter, or go to Everfree Northwest...
That fact that I am even jokingly considering skipping the first day of the con says something about how excited I am for the conclusion. On one hand, I thought it was kind of cool that the final chapter in and of itself could be classified as a novel, but as a whole I'm glad to see it spread out. I just know I would have a really hard time tearing myself away from the ~50,000 word finale.
i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd101/Kurayami_no_Ookami/Ponies/Pinkie_Pie_Rocket_Take_Off_Animated-n1329765068698.gif
Can't wait!
281832
With a fic like this, dropping a climax, resolution and epilogue in the same chapter will lead readers disappointed.
I can only urge restraint and caution when trying to stick to deadlines for a fantasy epic like [strike]Ponies Make War[/strike] The Immortal Game. You're not getting paid by the word and you're not getting a bonus for releasing on time so make sure it's really ready, especially so since this is the last leg.
Squee!!
I've been eagerly awaiting this, and now to hear that we're getting 3 chapters in 1 weeks!
Freakin AWESOME!!
Best. Week. EVER!!
Oh yessss
My sister's birthday on monday. Dammit dammit dagit nabit. Oh well, waiting will make it all the sweeter I guess.
Damn, that's what I get for reading the blog post slowly. I didn't scroll down while I read, so the screen ended on this line:
I almost had a seizure when I read the chapter's name, literally screaming "no, what? No! That can't be the name! There was no Tragedy tag! [Looks at the story page] See?! There's still no Tragedy tag! There's a reason I don't read long Tragedy-tagged fics!"
And then I kept reading the blog post. It's given me some hope
Not too much, of course. I know that not every thread can be tied off nice and neatly at this point, for a perfect happy ending. Too many things have been deeply damaged for that to happen, but that's the whole point. If your characters when the story ends are the same as when the story began, then it's pointless. The characters wouldn't have grown or changed or been affected by the story, thus making it meaningless. And with such an epic ending in store, I doubt that "meaningless" will ever be an accurate descriptor for The Immortal Game.
That said, I'd like to engage fanboy mode now: You're such an amazing author! I love everything you write and can only hope that you won't suffer from burnout. You're definitely one of my favorite authors
on FimFiin this communi... You're one of my favorite authors. Period.Hell yeah! You know, I'm glad this is coming now. All these assignments the last couple of weeks, I never would have found the time to read these new chapters. But here we are, me with free time all week, and you with releasing chapters all week.
It's gonna be good to finally get some closure on this story. It's been running for so long, it's just amazing. I remember reading the very first chapter when you released it, and thinking, "Holy shit."
That feeling still hasn't left, after all this time. This is a fic that was worth writing, worth reading, and will be SO worth remembering. You deserve all the praise you get and more.
I can't wait until the 13th.
I... I... I think I am dying, my body can't handle this much anticipation!
Though it is good to see that you aren't completely brow beating yourself into finishing one story then maybe trying something knew and exciting. 
I'm getting not just one, but three entire chapters in just one single week?
I have just one thing to say about this: Magnificent.
/HadronPony
I love how there's always 3 more chapters.
Week=Made. I can't wait. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_rainbowkiss_flip.png
I gotta say man, a chapter of the Immortal game for my birthday is more then I could ever ask for:p
Just more to look forward to for tomorrow! Thanks for all the work you've put into this, mind has been blown wayyy to man times to count with this story, fucking fantastic.
281936
We love you Aesthetic. D: Thank you so much!
"Chapter 21 of The Immortal Game, The End of Harmony, will be released Monday, August 13th.
Chapter 22 of The Immortal Game, The End of War, will be released Wednesday, August 15th.
Chapter 23 of The Immortal Game, The Immortal's Endgame, will be released Friday, August 17th."
three chapters over period of less than a week...im gonna go ahead and assume that you have nearly finished versions of all of them, otherwise that looks more like a suicide note...
aside from that:
pinkie.ponychan.net/chan/files/src/133976688453.jpg
i can't freaking wait!
281832
It'll be hard, but we'll find a way.
Chapter 22's release date is set on my birthday~ Greatest. Gift. EVER!
The ammount of mixed-feels currently blending themselves together within my brain is un-comprehensible to the mortal man.
One of the mixed feels~ [Joy] For the story finishing. I jumped on at the halfway mark, but hey, whatever.
Another mixed feel~ [Depression] For this titan of a story coming to a close. I think that's just me though.
Final mixed feel~ [Un unbridled anger not seen in generations] For I am leaving for a fourteen day vacation on WEDNESDAY!
i.imgur.com/2w591.gif
Besides that fact, I'm exhilarated for the closure I've been seeking for months.
I'm sure we won't be disappointed!
O.o And I suppose you have not written it yet? Don't push yourself too hard if that is the case.
Otherwise I think my head is going to implode from the excitement.
YES YES YES YES YES THREE CHAPTERS IN ONE WEEK HOLY SHIT
I will be doing no school work this week.
Huzzah! I guess he he decided to break down the 44k+ monstrosity into 3 chapters, of course each part with a lovely cliffhanger that will haunt us for days, IE 2, before the next part comes out.
I thank you from the bottom of my blackened little heart that you finished this. Several other longtime favorites of mine have withered and died without resolution recently. To see a fiction-epic like this finally come to completion is both a happy and sad day. Happy because the story is finally done, but sad for various reasons... namely that the story is done! Still, it's for the best.
This is going to be SO AWESOME!
...
...
*breathless*
281832 Oh, darn. Whatever will we do.
282313 I know, right??
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