Taking A Stand · 12:15am Dec 10th, 2015
Sorry folks, but due to all the debates on my story "Solar Sovereignty", I have taken it down. My stories are designed to bring a little joy and positivity to the world, but sadly it seems that, despite the positive view I was trying to portray the story in, it still ended up causing unneeded conflict, because a bunch of people brought their personal headcanon and opinions to the stage.
The reason I took my story down, despite being one of my most popular stories, is because I have a belief that everyone in the world should do their best to understand others and solve problems kindly and politely. Yes, sometimes debates can get heated, but arguing it in the comments of a fanfiction isn't going to change anything. You end up convincing your friends and boring your enemies. As the fanfiction seemed to bring more conflict than it was worth, I decided to remove it.
This is a statement. I would have left the story stand had I thought that there would be an eventual resolution to the debating, but sadly, I saw only more to come. There are too many angry theophobes, pessimists, anti-establishment people, and people who hate their parents taking their bitterness and fear out on figures like Celestia, and I don't want to attract them.
In future, I may upload the story once again, but considering it was one of my most viewed stories, if not my most viewed, I wanted to make a statement by clearing all of that away, and show that I care more about kindness and peace than my popularity. After all, I think that's what Celestia would do.
Thank you to all of you who supported me. I'm sorry I removed this story for your sakes, but please understand that my goal, my raison d'etre, my Cutie Mark so to speak, is to make the world a better place. I choose my battles carefully, and to fight on a fanfiction comment board does nothing to help the world, and only adds more conflict needlessly. I know some will accuse me of backing down, but then, like I said, I choose my battles carefully. If I am to debate this matter further, I will do it somewhere where I can make a difference, rather than just settle my petty desires to engage in an endless attempt to disprove the opinions of others. (Believe me, I've been tempted to go there many times.)
I hope to do a less controversial story about Celestia in future that hopefully will bring her more down to earth without removing what she is.
Again, thanks to all who supported this story. And please, everyone, make the world a better place. We all know the world is full of darkness; we don't need to be reminded. Shine a little light into the world, and remember, fight fire with friendship.
Friendship is magic, after all.
... fuck those guys. They were just pissed because they didn't see a good story when it was in front of them.
Crap
I've been a follower for a while of your stories, and I don't remember if this is one of those that I've read. Now it looks like I'll never be able to read it...
Personally, I don't agree with taking stories down unless they themselves are damaging in their own right, as it is unfair to you as a writer because it removes feedback, and to the reader, as it removes a potential or ongoing source of knowledge or entertainment.
In the end though, do as you will.
They're called social justice warriors and they need to be culled. So many suicides have been committed by stupid people because of them. Already enough bullshit going around.
3606434 I feel that if it is a source of conflict, it can be damaging even if the story itself is meant to be positive.
If comments could be disabled, I would upload it again. I might miss out on the supportive comments, but hey, what's important is that the reader enjoys it.
Also, thanks for caring!
3606573
Well, to be fair, no one can enjoy it since it was taken down.
3607230 True. I was meaning if I could upload it without comments. Frankly, I think those "comment commandos" ruin it for everyone. (If "comment commando" isn't a term, it should be.)
I do have some more stuff in progress, but it may be a while until I have anything complete. Nothing political, but the one does involve Celestia, and I just hope it doesn't draw the haters again. A lot of the arguments about why people hate Celestia seem to be based on headcanon and projection of their own dislike for authority figures, rather than the character herself, and that has unfairly made Celestia a rather unpopular character.
3609971
Looking in my calibre library, it looks as though I've read it already, and at least liked it enough to download it for posterity. After reading through it again, I still have yet to see the issue that has incited such disquiet among commenters.
It's not as if Celestia is ruling as a tyrant, she is taking the approach of shotgun, rather than driver. She is there to navigate and occasionally slap the driver if they fall asleep/suck at what they're doing, but for the most part, as far as relations with other species, she's more or less along for the ride.
3610017 The issue was, to my surprise, that Celestia wasn't a jerk. The one guy was talking about how he hated when Celestia was depicted as kind, or incompetent, or anything but evil. I clearly got that the guy had some authority issues, and possibly religious ones as well, so I knew better than to try and tackle that powder keg. Some people just hate anything about authority, and if authority is depicted as good, then they get all mad. Which is silly. Calling Celestia a Mary Sue, at least the one I portray, would be unfair, because I put myself into the (horse)shoes of the character I'm writing for. If I was trying to be a good ruler, I would make all of the decisions I make Celestia make, (although I admit, it would be hard). And while I do try and be selfless, I would be lying if I tried to pretend that my choices are anywhere near perfect. I'm no Mary Sue, and neither is Celestia. Just because her major flaws don't include being cruel or selfish doesn't mean she doesn't have them.
In the story, I told how Celestia had released a bunch of prisoners from Tartarus. (Keeping a close eye on them so that they didn't hurt others; I may have needed to elaborate on that more.) I never thought it was a smart move, but it was a kind one. If I were to say one of my version of Celestia's flaws, it would be that she's a pushover, if anything. The point is, the story wasn't about pointing out Celestia's flaws, but rather what makes her a good ruler. The pushover stuff may be something I cover later, but it would have been a tangent in the story itself.
Funny thing about Celestia and Cadence. People just hate them for being so nice, while Luna, who can do no wrong in their eyes, would likely be the first one to suggest punishing them for slandering her sister. (The show has shown her to be rather strict actually, on herself as well as others.)
Oh, and nice to see you liked my story so much! Thanks for caring!
3610082
So what have we learned today?
People have no chill, and need to chill out.
Personally, I would have just deleted the inappropriate comments and blocked the commenters if they persisted. Unconstructive criticism isn't worth worrying about.
Man, I'm going to miss having Solar Sovereign in my bookshelf. That story really captured the image of Celestia as a good ruler who learns from her mistakes, especially in her backstory; I always liked to imagine that in her youth, Celestia was far more arrogant and sure of herself before Nightmare Moon served as a wake-up call.
Aw, I liked that story, please repost it, or put it up on fanfictionDOTnet at least....
3978944
Yeah, I agree...
Hello, Dream Bolt? Are you still alive? If so, are you planning to re-release Solar Sovereignty anytime soon? Or maybe put it on fanfiction.net, or archiveofourown.org? I do miss that story... Could you let us know, please?