• Member Since 18th Jun, 2012
  • offline last seen February 16th

Rarity Belle


A Dutch gentleman of leisure, living for pleasure, since mirth is my measure. Writing stories that are (mostly) unique and psychological of nature and visiting conventions whenever I can.

More Blog Posts35

  • 393 weeks
    Expanding my horizon

    The time is now finally there. Finally there to do something what I've been saying to do for a long time. If you remember a previous blog of mine, I said that I was kinda done with MLP fanfics. Hence why I expanded my horizon of writing gibberish. The first story to see that light of day, is the story that I wrote to

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    4 comments · 836 views
  • 397 weeks
    Galacon 2016 aftermath

    So here I sit in my 23rd year,
    How I wish I was at a con right now,
    It's been five days since we drove away,
    and I just made home yesterday,
    Celestia damn them all!

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    6 comments · 770 views
  • 403 weeks
    Done with MLP:FiM fanfics?

    Well, kinda, sorta, maybe, not entirely... This needs a bit more explaining, I'm afraid.

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    10 comments · 682 views
  • 414 weeks
    BronyFair 2016

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    2 comments · 602 views
  • 420 weeks
    Hearth's Warming Con 2016

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    11 comments · 606 views
Jun
27th
2016

Done with MLP:FiM fanfics? · 8:30pm Jun 27th, 2016

Well, kinda, sorta, maybe, not entirely... This needs a bit more explaining, I'm afraid.

For the past couple of weeks have I been doubting myself whether or not I should continue to write fanfics for MLP. There's no definitive decision yet and with a couple stories still in mind, I'm not going anywhere, anytime soon, hopefully. But the reason as to why I have began to doubt it is because lately, I haven't been producing that many stories as I would like to. Inspiration has kinda ran dry and nothing managed to crank it up.

To me it feels like everything has already been done over and to death. Every story that wanted to be told, has been told at this point. Given just how massive the brony-fandom is and the sheer creative spirit behind it, it's no wonder. I come to FiMFIctions perhaps more often than I should on a day, and every time I see either the feature box or the recently added stories list, something inside me just goes 'meh'. I'm not that big of a reader (as in, absolutely not for online work) and a lot of fics in the fandom just don't do anything for me and I'm not the only one with that thought.

But where does the idea come from that I might want to stop writing MLP fics altogether? That answer is in fact a much more difficult one to give and is going to require a bit of a lengthy explanation, so here we go again. In my early days, I used writing fanfics as the excuse to get the constant strain and train of thought to focus on something. I've kept on doing that ever since actually. But now we're four years past that point and my life has seen changes as well. Nothing remains the same, no matter how much we want it. I've grown both older and wiser in literature, my wording got better, my stories got more depth and overall, I just because a better writer. I wanted to use that knowledge for a better right than writing fanfics of a show that's not even intended for the demographic that it managed to get.

So over the course of 2015 have I been writing the first story in a fantasy-series that I want to have published by an actual publisher (although that plan is a bit on a backfire), if that succeeds, the decision is easily made of course. But since that plan isn't pushed through yet and with the writing of BCB's sequel (designated BCH from this point), I hit a block. Not a writer's block at all, but a block of not wanting to continue writing it. It was in that moment I realized, I had fucked up, royally. What I usually did for fun and distraction had become a chore. And in order to work myself out of BCH, I decided to take four random words and write a story around them. Turned out to be a steampunk crime-novel, one of which I will talk about later.

But yeah, everything considered after four years, I've been debating whether or not I should continue writing fanfics for a show that's, basically nearing its end or continue to just write solemnly original stuff. Now bare with me here for a moment, as I will tell you a story of my mind here. Usually I do not tell people these kinds of things, especially not on the internet, but if you read through my fics, you can always point out around which season and which episodes they take place. It's basically the way how I've always done it. I took the show up to a point and diverted from there, with mixed results to say the least, I felt comfortable doing so, it gave me a sense of security and safety while writing.

Original stuff with MLP is not a thing I am mentally able to do, because I always feel that I'm restricted by the show itself. Not even Journey is safe from that even though it looks like it... Suppose that's the curse of fanfics in general, you're always bound to source material where you have to work with, in and around. Not to mention that in this fandom, the strange, awkward and downright insane (looking at you there, clop-fics, fetish-fics, cross-overs and so on, on which I also had my fair share written) are doing it a metric ton better than stories that are truly original by nature but set in the MLP universe. Which is a downright shame when you look at it. To me, it is about the same as going to the bookstore and instead of actually taking the time to find the hidden gems, you pick up the books that appears to be most popular, no matter how terrible its written.

Just let me have that little rant, okay? Good, with that out of the way as well, my own mental disabilities prevent me from writing true original stuff for a show I like. So...why do I like writing original stuff then? What's better about it and what could be a better way to handle all of it? Again, the answer isn't that simple as it would seem at first glance.

Writing original things gives me a freedom that is unparalleled by anything. I'm not tied to already established characters, nor stuck with environments that need to be recognizable to a reader to some degree. This is the reason why I write (and want to keep writing) true original stuff. I can go full on me with it and not be bounded by something. Over the course of 2015 I've of course written what now has become known as Gauntlet of the Demons which is the first in a series of four planned novels for my fantasy series and I loved writing it! So much even that the characters introduced in the second novel are even more over-the-top (I hope in a good way) than the ones you meet in the first novel. And in just the first few months of 2016 I wrote a story that's nearly 80.000 words with a steampunk setting which also is a mystery/crime/thriller novel that, is just truly in my style. I loved working on that story (and many more will come to follow it up)!

So, to recap, am I done with MLP:FiM fanfics? Both a yes and a no to that. At one end I'm done with it because there's just not much left for me to explore for my own mind. On the other end, no I am not. There are still a couple stories that I want to write (and one being a massive collaboration). So the knife really goes two ways on this one. Maybe that after the movie (or even the 6th season) I'll be definitely saying I'm done with it, saying it was a nice run and just be done with it. Only to then focus entirely on original work in genres that I want to work in. Any original work that I will publish publicly on the internet shall go to FIctionPress.net of course.

All I can say with certainty is that the debate is still going on in my mind and no true answer's been given to the matter yet. It's difficult to say that I should stop or not though I'm leaning towards the stopping after having written the stories I wanted to write. I'm just doing this for fun and all, but the fun is slowly running out for me. Or has been for a long time, but I never dared to look at it before, until it really hit me with a freaking sledgehammer. And yes, I had to get all of that off my chest for the moment.

On a complete and different subject, in case you're wondering to that steampunk novel I wrote/writing and spoke about a couple of times. So here's a rough bit from the first chapter itself.

A single, crunching thud made the snow move again. Then a sinister and almost quiet laughter filled the air of the alleyway. Whatever had assaulted the girl, it left the scene of the crime just like that. It came back in the light of the street, revealing itself to be a figure clad in a black cloak while a thick hood covered all the facial features while the snow only crunched slight underneath its feet.
Blank footprints came from the figure when it rushed out of the street in silence. The girl had been deceased, killed by it and then it just went away. It left the scene of the crime and went off into the darkness of night to disappear. The moon was hidden behind a thick pack of clouds that released their snow. Snow that went down all the way to the ground.
The figure stuck out a hand and some flakes came to the leather glove, melting as it came in contact. A single, deep chuckle was given by the hooded figure, the hand balled into a fist. “And people say you can’t get away with murder, even the weather is coming to my aid tonight,” it spoke before it walked again through the darkened streets of Amsterdam.

Comments ( 10 )

Whatever you decide to pursue with, just know that I will always still be a huge fan of all that you have written and a friend that I am proud to have. I will always be behind you, to support you in whatever you do RarityBelle! I will finally get around to writing stories (I kind of have some definitive rough ideas now...) and I have to say that you inspired me to want to try the writing thing again.

Take care my darling!!!

-Frost:raritywink:

I get where you are coming from, it's where eventually everything goes. No matter what you try here it always seems to either get buried under old and overdone ideas or just kind of falls apart when you keep trying to do the same old stuff over again. It's why i don't update a lot and it's why a lot of the bigger names on here don't write fan fiction anymore. It's kind of inevitable.

But i am definitely glad you aren't done with writing in general and to see that you might have a couple of pony related stories every now and again makes it even better. But we'll all be here supporting your original works and looking forward to them as well.

Take care my friend! :pinkiehappy:
Count Derp

4052172 Your words warm my heart, my dear, truly. I'm glad to have been able to provide the stories I've managed to write, but I'm even more glad for the fact that I've managed to inspire you, to at least try writing again. Whatever decision I do make (although it's fairly clear to my mind at this point already), I'm glad to have been able and given the chance, to build the friendships that I've made on this website.

4053331 It comes down to the fact that everything has been done and given the amount of stories on this site alone, you can't stand out anymore. That realization, might be the cause of it, by us both, I think. Though it is curious to see how you manage to write for one thing easily, while the other you are stuck. >-> Had the same thing with that steampunk tale and BCH, actually. I wrote that first story in what... a week? And that's 80k words.

But yeah, not writing is going to affect your skills in a hard way, whether you like to admit it or not. It is what it is indeed, and all you can do is just try to get back in that comfort zone and style you feel like is your own. FictionPress seems like the next logical step for me to take my writing anyway. Who knows what's going to happen on there and what other tales of madness will be produced from my mind. We're both standing at the verge of a new adventure, a new chapter, if you will.

4055274 Thanks for your words dear, and it is way too true unfortunately. It's really the old, overdone ideas that get all of the attention while the true gems are hidden. Looking at the feature box and 'popular story'-list and see all of those ideas merged together in one way or the other... And true on that point, a lot of people leave the fandom even to do their own things and become great at it, which is awesome! Me and done writing though? Not by a long shot, not by a long shot. Again, a massive thanks for your words!

4056360 That's...actually a point I hadn't considered yet. Heh, funny how your style of writing (and therefore settings and themes) make the nice transition from one thing to the other. Although in my defen...no, wait, even that fantasy series is dark. It's a curious side-note indeed.

4056334 No problem my friend!

My my. I know I'm reading this late but this is quite alarming to hear. Alarming but not unheard of. After a time of writing fiction based off of a kid's show I'd say it's only natural that you would feel this way. You've got quite amazing ideas and even more amazing themes for each one! Wanting to stretch your wings and aim for the proverbial horizon, I see no problem with that.

I can see all of your points and even agree on them. And by what I've seen/read of yours, anything you plan to make will be another amazing read to take in! Just don't forget the little ponies (*COUGH*wolf/draconequus*COUGH*) when you get your famous tales published and launched! :pinkiesmile:

4066975 And, that's basically the very thought that I have. I want to spread my wings and try something new, see where it end up. Having done this for four years, I do agree with your point on the matter.

At that same time am I also glad that you understand my arguments on this matter. I just hope that you'll enjoy the tales coming next just as much as I had while writing them, hehehe. And tell me, in all honesty, how can I forget the amazing ponies (and other beings) that...basically gave me the opportunity to do this? To make all of this possible. I'll never forget it, and credit's going to be where credit's due. :raritywink:

if you get your book published or you start writing elsewhere please tell me.
I have always had a good time reading your stories and I would like to see more,
and well i spend 4 or 5 hours a day on this website so need something to fill that void and it well it seems like fimfic is well sinking

Best of luck to you

Stopwatch the Evermore

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