A Little Thank You · 1:17pm Jul 18th, 2016
Hello!
So, I’ve been told it’s a tradition to make a post when you hit 1,000 followers, but when I sat down to write this I came to realize that I really don’t have much to say aside from the standard “Thank you for reading!” that you usually hear from most writers. I have no announcements, no surprises, nor anything exciting to note, but as cliché as it sounds, I do sincerely mean it. Thank you so much for reading and following my work here, especially those of you who’ve left comments. Even if I didn’t reply to every single one, I did indeed read them all and there are so many among them that I hold dear because, if nothing else, they’re proof that my work was able to brighten someone’s day. Looking back on my time here, there’s really not much I can ask for other than that. You guys made my horse words career (HA!
) fun, and I’m glad that I could entertain you with these stories.
That being said, I don’t think a short little blurb like that is really enough to justify a blog post, especially if this is supposed to be a special occasion, so I came up with the idea of using this space to do a little bit of retrospective author commentary on my work. I don’t know if this will be interesting to anyone or not, but if you’d like to hear my thoughts about the stories I’ve published, then read on. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)
The dastardly duo take to the seas. But not before putting on their life jackets, of course.
Pirate Hats and Whatnot
Short Story
Time to Write: 1 Day
So, funny story – this short was inspired by a dream I had after seeing the sketch from LeStrange that appears as the story’s cover art. It was a very vivid scenario that stuck with me after I woke up, so I knew I had to write it down no matter what.
This story is very near and dear to my heart, and not only because it features my favorite characters! The slight feeling of melancholy at the start is washed away by Pinkie’s antics in the strong comedy section that follows, almost to the point where you forget it even happened, only to have things brought around full circle in the end. I think it’s a great example of a short story that’s no more or no less than what it needs to be.
Not bad for something that was basically written for me by my subconscious! If only every story came together so easily…
Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night will stay this courier from finding her way into your heart.
Performance Review
Short Story
Time to Write: 2 Weeks
This story was actually a writing exercise I devised for myself. The challenge? Write an AiE story where Anon doesn’t say a word!
As a result, we get a little opportunity to see the world through Derpy’s eyes, and what a sweetheart she turns out to be! This one was really fun to write and it came out much better than I expected. Due to the limitations I was working under, the ending came about a little abruptly, but I had to cut things off before the reader started to question why Anon hadn’t said anything yet.
As for what happened next? Did Derpy find the courage to confess her feelings? Did Anon reciprocate? Well, I usually like to leave things to reader imagination, but let’s be honest – who could resist that adorable little pony? There’s no doubt in my mind that they lived happily ever after.
A certain Princess watches her master plan come together. Or maybe she’s just watching another one of your lewd dreams.
It’s really tough to tell sometimes.
I Dream of Luna
Novel
Time to Write: 3 Months
Can you write a story with no plan to start with and no idea where you’re going on a chapter to chapter basis? Of course you can!
Would I recommend it? Hell no!
My, what a wild ride IDoL turned out to be. While the end result is far from perfect, the jokes— and the story’s comedic timing in general— can still get me to crack a smile to this day. Each and every chapter has a gag or two that’s just dynamite, and if reader comments are any indication, they had some people howling with laughter. Perhaps my favorite is the Midnight Train parody, which actually fits the song if you sing it over the backing track. I did a lot of singing myself to come up with it (the recordings were destroyed, so don’t get your hopes up) which was a blast in and of itself.
These three. Need any more be said?
On the flip side, IDoL is also a story that really shows its age when it’s re-read. It was most definitely written for a specific audience at a specific time, so I can only imagine what it’s like for a new reader to stumble upon it all these years later. Even though Flutterrape stories are now far more prevalent on Fimfic thanks to the efforts of Flutterpriest and others, those who weren’t around during /mlp/’s Golden Age of the Applerape, Flutterrape and Rainbro trifecta will likely miss the reason behind the story’s ending— to allow these three adorably goofy characters to all win for once— and would rightly view it as a cop-out. Others were probably miffed that the three stole the show at the end, and Luna herself, despite being in the title, was more of a driving force behind the main plot than a star character.
All its flaws aside, IDoL was the first pony story I ever wrote—hell, the first fanfic for anything I ever wrote, and I learned so many valuable lessons from it that I would later apply to its (literal) big sister story that was already in the planning stages as the last few chapters were being written.
Protip: If you let a horse sleep on your couch for 3 months it’s pretty much a lost cause. You’ll never get the smell out no matter what you do.
Exchange
Epic
Time to Write: Main Story – 7 Months, Bonus Content – 4 Months
To this day I’m utterly amazed at the success of this story, which seems to have so clearly captured readers’ imaginations. I’ve gotten many comments, emails and PMs from readers who read it from start to finish in only one or two sessions, sometimes sacrificing sleep or even failing assignments in school later because of it! It’s inspired people to do book reports on it and even spawned a Russian translation.
And after going back to re-read the story myself for the first time in a while, I think I’m finally starting to figure out why. Exchange truly is an exciting story in a way that I didn’t fully understand as I was writing it. In part, it’s probably because I knew I had an audience at the time and wanted to mess with them a little, but the “big reveals” of the plot as it shifts between story arcs are truly shocking and really compel the reader to keep going to find out what happens next. Really, I’ll be lucky if I can write an adventure novel someday in the future that’s as exciting as Exchange turned out to be.
I think another reason why the story took off is due to the style in which it’s written. Being originally a greentext story, the prose is very simply structured and to the point. It allows a lot of action to take place in a relatively small amount of text while asking the reader’s imagination to fill in the blanks, and it also makes it far easier for readers who don’t use English as their native language to get into. It’s truly astonishing how many non-native speakers have contacted me to say thanks, and I think the simple prose is a big reason for that. Were the story structured in full prose from the start, it’d probably be 100,000 words longer without conveying any significant additional content, so the fact that it started off as greentext in the first place is likely one of the key reasons why it even got finished in the end.
She’s not just another crazy horse, she’s your FAVORITE crazy horse.
A reader once e-mailed me and asked how I came up with the idea for the story. The simple answer is that after my big Luna adventure story I wanted to do a Celestia one. But the more in-depth answer that I sent him is quoted below:
So, this is a Celestia story. But who is Celestia? There are a lot of different opinions about that, which can be seen in the various versions of her presented by different writers and artists. You have Tyrantlestia, Molestia, Patlestia and Momlestia, just to name a few. You have this character that some think is truly a Goddess and others think is just another ageless alicorn who just happens to wear a crown.
I wanted to present my own answer to this question with Exchange, and I wanted to do so partly by telling an origin story. I decided very early on that since there would be so much headcanon involved (since we knew next to nothing about her origin or the origin and nature of alicorns at the time) that I'd have to throw strict canon out the window and label the story an "Alternate Universe". I understand this really rustles some people's jimjams, but that didn't really weigh on my mind all that much. After all, you can't please everyone.
For this story, I wanted to write Celestia as "Cutelestia". Far from being this unfathomably wise, ageless, nigh-infallible benevolent ruler, Cutelestia is secretly a bit insecure about certain things (particularly in the area of relationships), sometimes emotionally vulnerable, and almost heart attack-inducingly cute. This is a variation of the character I picked up directly from AiE, and more specifically from the story "Just a Bet" by Unpunny which I had read about half a year prior to writing this one. She's my favorite interpretation of the character by far, and I couldn't wait to write my own Cutelestia story.
Of the various -lestias out there, I'm not too fond of Molestia, but I dislike Tyrant Celestia the most and there are many, many stories about her, and specifically about Twilight having to either defeat or reform her. I decided very early on that I wanted to flip this formula around, with an "evil" Twilicorn as the primary antagonist that Celestia and Anon would have to struggle to defeat. I liked Twilight as a choice because, while I view her as a completely ridiculous antagonist (C'mon... this is our little Purplesmart we're talking about here!), she does have a tendency to become unhinged, and she does have a LOT of tools at her disposal. It was easy to pepper comedy into scenes with her to prevent things from becoming overly serious.
In order to bring out the real Celestia and show her true character (in this interpretation at least), I wanted to pull her out of the sterile and boring environment of Canterlot and its associated politics as quickly as possible. Next, her crown and authority would be removed, and later in the story her power itself would vanish, leaving just the core character-- this vulnerable, yet silly, brave and amazing pony. From that point, we (as Anon) are allowed to re-walk, alongside her, the path that made her who she was while also allowing her to grow even further as a pony. It's a pretty common storytelling trope but it really seemed to resonate with people, much to my delight.
Following their unexpected journey together was quite a treat for the readers. Considering I’m not that great of a writer, it’s a miracle that my ideas were able to be expressed so vividly in the story. I still credit it to dumb luck more than anything, but I’ll take it. As I mentioned above, to know that I’ve brought joy to so many through my work is a joy in and of itself.
The mating habits of Liber Equus are not well understood, but many scholars believe that extensive magi-mathematical formulas are often involved in the courting phase.
Speaking of Twilight as the antagonist, this appears to be where the story fell flat for many people. It’s always a big risk to take a beloved character and make them the villain, but I think what upset a lot of readers was the fact that she gets redeemed in the end. This was always my goal, and the entire structure of the story from the very beginning is guiding us to that epilogue where everything comes together, but it breaks my heart that some people never made it that far to see why things unfolded the way they did. I can’t really blame them, but I find it a shame nonetheless. There were also sporadic comments wondering why I didn’t kill Twilight off or just have Anon commit suicide to escape his predicament, which were both utterly baffling to me considering the story was tagged Comedy and also missing any of the dark or depressing tags you’d usually find associated with character death. This probably indicates a problem with the tone of the story in places, as those same shocking events that hook the reader may have ended up being too extreme for some.
There’s not much more to say about Exchange. Despite some bumps along the way, it surpassed all my wildest expectations. I suppose my only real regret is that as the writer, I’ll never get to experience the same twists and turns that someone reading it for the first time would. But reader feedback allows me to get a glimpse of how others enjoyed their time with it, so I suppose I can’t complain too much.
“I have so many questions right now, I don’t even know where to start.”
Birthday Present
Short Story
Time to Write: Several Hours
In the eternal war of dogs vs cats, I’m firmly in the dog camp. Dogs are the best pets you can have and truly live up to their title of Man’s Best Friend. Given that, what could be better than having a cute little pony as a friend? A cute little pony that acts like a dog, of course!
I can’t take full credit for the concept because the story was born from a prompt on /mlp/, and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to write it.
Not much to say about this one; it’s as straightforward a fluff piece as it gets. But it’s a cute story that even has a little life lesson that I learned myself many years ago— even a gift that you don’t think you want at first can sometimes turn out to have a new significance when you least expect it.
A completely unrelated picture of a pony who’s definitely not writing something naughty.
The Lusty Human Butler
Short Story
Time to Write: 1 Hour
No, I’m not gonna write the whole 130+ chapter book! I didn’t even write what was there! It clearly says “Mistress Notfluutershai” on the cover, not me! I don’t know who she is, but she certainly can’t be the timid pegasus pony Fluttershy who would never, ever write something so… so… r-raunchy…
All kidding aside, when someone asked me what her fictional book would be like, I didn’t even have to think before my fingers were typing away. I’m particularly proud of Luna’s Foreword, which gets a chuckle out of me every time I read it. Yeah, there’s a little self-deprecating humor there, but considering my claim to fame is writing horse stories, I don’t exactly have much room for pride.
My apologies to those going in expecting an actual clop fic, but trying to emulate the style of your standard grocery store romance novel (not that I’ve ever read one) was a lot of fun. I was a little disappointed that no one commented on the cover art, which was made as a parody of Fifty Shades of Grey’s cover, but then again maybe it’s for the best that most of my readers have no idea what it looks like. I certainly didn’t until I had to look it up to make the parody image.
The best ponies.
Homemade Kites and Whatnot
Novella
Time to Write: 2 Years
Did you know that there’s a feature in MS Word that’ll tell you how long you’ve worked on a particular document? I didn’t until recently, and boy, that is not information I wanted to know. smdh fam…
Yeah, this was a long time coming, but I think the final product is unquestionably the best thing I’ve ever written. I know most will disagree with that, and I certainly understand why; often times I’ve found that what a writer perceives to be their best work and what their readers perceive to be their best work usually differ. But when it comes to the process of taking an initial block of ideas and chiseling it piece by piece into a finished product, this is beyond question the story that, when it was ultimately written, most closely matched my vision for it. I can say without a single doubt in my mind that it turned out exactly like I wanted.
And speaking of envisioning stuff, the reception it received was exactly in line with what I expected, aside from the fact that it actually got featured. The subject matter has a lot going against it—a long, slow paced, drama-free slice of life story, starring generally unpopular characters (AJ+AB), while being half-written in second person, featuring the dreaded character “Anon”, and the sequel to a relatively unknown story to boot! It’s certainly not something I’d bother reading were I to see it pop up somewhere, and it seems the same was true for most people.
But I like to think that those who decided to give it a chance found something special, because there’s definitely something special there. It’s a true sequel (in fact, the only sequel for anything I ever bothered to write) because it continues the development of the characters from the first story, albeit in a way you might not expect. But most of all, it ultimately does something unique that you could only really get away with in an AiE story. As maligned and disliked as AiE stories seem to be on Fimfic, they have been and always will be my favorite thing to come out of all this pony nonsense. I’m so happy I could write a few of my own and give a little back to the community that worked hard to produce the tales I loved so much.
Well, I guess that’s it. That’s my library after all these years— 7 stories. It’s certainly not much, but it is what it is. Thanks once again for reading and commenting on my work; it was a pleasure to write for you guys. Though I am retired as a writer, I have no doubt I'll stick around here for a while to come to follow the efforts of the many other talented writers in the AiE/HiE genre.
Y’all take care now!
GMOH, you're an inspiration. Really and truly. While I could have screamed to the heavens before about the injustice that was the shadow that hung over your work, hiding you from the world, I find myself overjoyed to see that no shadow of such exists. Exchange, no, your collective works live in infamy now. It's up there with the ranks of Xenophilia, My Little Dashie, in terms of it's sheer monumental significance to the HiE genre, and I'm honored to not only know you as a friend, but to have came from the same roots and beginnings as you.
My most heartfelt and sincere congratulations go to you, but I'm sure you don't need it. It's because of writers like you I've gotten half as far as I've gotten on this crazy website as I have.
May Applehorse hold you and gently sing you to sleep, you glorious writefag.
Exchange was a great story.
When I started reading pony fics I was in a state of heavy depression, just have left most f****ed roommate (he was worse than the roommate who set my hair on fire while I was sleeping beacuse he was bored) I ever had who caused some irreversible psychological and emotional damage. I also had to write a thesis, none of the applications I have written worked, everything was terrible then I read your story ''Exchange'' in one sitting it helped lot and I am very grateful for that.
I also hope that you write more heart warming stories about the sunbutt but you decided to retire and I respect your decision.
If I had even half of your skill/motivation, I'd probably have more than just one completed story myself.
I only came into the MLP fandom at the end of season 2, so I'm not sure if that was around the "specific time," but while most newcomers gently test the waters of pony fiction, I just sorta...cannonballed.
Driverbang's Flutterrape story, With a Little Help was the very first piece of pony fiction I read. Needless to say this kinda...warped my intrests when it came to horse words from then on. Which in hindsight is probably how I can stomach all of Priest's stories...
What I'm trying to say is that IDoL (killer anagram) resonated with me slighty more than Exchange did.
Speaking of Exchange...
i.giphy.com/xT5LMr2WfUtXyS1hPa.gif
So many unaswered questions....
So many sequel hooks...
But you've made it clear (several times) that you are retired, so I won't ask again. *teeth grinds*
However I will say that, the likes of Driver and Priest drove my intrest in pony fiction to reading H/AiE's almost exclusively, this story ignited my love for the Adventure genre. While Ponyville is nice, there's just something about a human travelling an unknown world that just draws me almost everytime.
It was thanks to Exchange that I found some of my most loved fics on this site, and it will always be in my top five.
TL;DR: You thank us for reading your stories, but I want to thank you for writing them. And if you ever do end up writing an adventure novel, come back and tell us. I'll still most likely be here even after FiM has run it's course.
Probably still trying to find some motivation...
I still am heartbroken that you did not continue exchange, everytime I re-read I cry. ;(
Basically it was that feeling you get when you receive such good news that you can't stop smiling even when you force yourself too. That was me for that whole story. There were a few moments when I cried too. But I get like that with all your stories, because you're one heck of a writer.
I will say that Exchange and I Dream of Luna were two of the best reads I came across. Great adventure, comedy and a whole lot of mischief. I enjoyed it to the fullest.
IDOL and Exchange are by far my two favorite anon stories. I've read and re-read both multiple times because no matter how many times I do, it's always fun, always exciting and always a riot to read. I only wish you had written more!
Thank you so much for your amazing stories!
I wish you fair winds wherever you go and good luck on the path!
Exchange is one of the best and my top 5 favorite stories i have read. I dream of Luna was a runner up but it was the twists, turns, randomness, and surprises that grabbed my attention. There were some cliches that always have to be followed but, the story always kept me guessing. And since "I" was technically the main character I actually felt chills run up my spine, i was scared when Twilight kidnapped me, i laughed at the destruction of Luna's bedroom and i was happy when I ate the alicorn orb. I really felt as though I was standing next to my "roommate" even though i was sitting at a table between classes. I truly enjoyed that story and i recommend it just about everywhere i go. Thumbs up my friend.
I can never thank you enough for Exchange, It's beautiful
Exchange is my favorite Anon story. At first I thought it would be a simple and fun story, Anon dealing with Celestia's and Twilight's antics. But the the orb of ascension was actually important. The story became a fun and interesting adventure. The scene with Twilight telling Anon about the big rape thing was trully unsettling. It was an amazing story.
You are superb writer and i can honestly say you are my favorite author on this site. Your writing is just so amazing! to this day your stories are as amazing as i remember them when i read them again! i don't cringe and be like "how could i possibly have liked this?"
Sadly it is true that you as an author wont experience the story in the way we the readers did, but at least you get to experience quite the sense of accomplishment at making so many people become so invested in your story that they simple could not wait to see what was next!
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I was just in the right place at the right time, I suppose. If I could have one wish granted related to all this stuff, it would be to make the Scruffening never happen and preserve the way the community was beforehand. So much fun, so much creativity... it was really something else. Even if we can never go back, I'm happy I could be a little part of it.
Awww, that so nice of you to say. I don't think I'm quite at that "everybody knows your name" level, but "infamous" is probably the right word here!
By the way, I had a lot of fun writing this post. I think it would be neat for you to do something like this as well. (Though make sure it doesn't delay Office Love... or else.) I think it's always really cool to hear what a writer has to say about their own work. Take it into consideration... you're about to hit 1500 yourself, after all!
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Oh, if you started with Driver, then you're definitely the target audience. Hell, I started with Driver! He was a big inspiration behind IDoL. In that case you were already acclimated to the goofy way these characters act in these types of stories, so I'm sure that made it all the better for you. Looking at it from the perspective of someone who has no exposure to that, Fluttershy's behavior probably comes as quite a shock. Then again, it's so shocking that maybe it worked to the story's advantage to draw people in, too.
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Thank you, that really helps me to imagine it better. It makes me so happy to hear stuff like that.
And thanks to everyone else who commented, too. I'm so glad to hear you all enjoyed my work.
Why this was certainly a pleasant surprise, your author commentary is most insightful and appreciated.
Months ago I told you that Exchange really hit me hard, and I certainly don't regret reading it. The fact that it originated as greentext and thus, as you said, had such a high content-per-word ratio is something I didn't even notice, but perhaps that occurrence is something other writers should take away from this as well. More often than not long stories have good quality to them, but I always thought that an abundance of prose was usually a given...but here it was like you stripped away what was not necessary and filled the blanks in with pure content. Writing abstractly like that and leaving a fair amount of the details to the imagination not only helps the reader picture how things go almost on a personal level, but perhaps is also easier for you to write.
At the end of the day, I like so many others are sad that you have retired from writing MLP stuff, but it seems that it is not the end of writing in general for you. If you ever do write more things, please let us know. I know that I will continue to go back to your stories and reread them or parts of them as the mood strikes me, I have already. I remember when I first read them, how lifelike it felt, the world you weaved, the emotions you sowed...I recall scenes as akin to my own memories. And that, is something special.
Thanks again.
Take care.
And Godspeed.
I'm really angry at myself for not discovering your works sooner as I'm a massive fan of 2nd person style stories. When I finally discover Exchange I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the writing and the depth of the characters. I really wish I could give more feed back and discus why I loved it so much, but I really can't. It just gave me an absurdly warm and nice feeling as I read through it, and occasionally (Like Celestia's talk with Discord) brought a tear to my eye.
More than anything, Exchange felt like an experience, one that I am thankful that I got to read.
Pirate Hats and Whatnot & Homemade Kites and Whatnot have been some of my favorite stories since i first laid eyes on them. i enjoyed how laid back stories were and how it flowed so naturally . I wish you well and thank you for the Stories .
Exchange is hands down the best story I have ever read on this site, up there as some of my favourite literature of any form of all time, and to this date the only written work to make me cry of happiness.
I remember reading Exchange way back when it was an epic length greentext story, back before I even had an account on here. It was definitely my favorite story at the time and I came back to read it again on here for the prose version.
It was a fun ride.
...This is a variation of the character I picked up directly from AiE, and more specifically from the story "Just a Bet" by Unpunny...
Could you give a link to this story, please? I could not find it on FimFiction
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It took me a while to find it as all my old bookmarks are gone. Here's his pastebin: https://pastebin.com/u/No_Punny_Bizness
Scroll down to the bottom and you'll find it. Have fun!
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Thank you!
Just storing good fics for future reading. MLP fandom quickly collapsing and there is no confidence, if these stories will be available online for long
Thank you for this lovely Blog Post!
My friends all mock me about my obsession about a mlp fanfiction. *sighs* I simply can't help it. I truly cant...
When I think back to 2016 and early 2018, when I read 'Exchange', I was a mere mess. I read the entire thing in two or three days. And in the end I was always so sad that any future fic's I'll read will not even be worth comparing to this piece of literatiure.
But do not fret, the sadness is and was also mixed with a huge amout of joy. The story had it all. Joy, cuteness, epic battles, romance, comedy and even spine-shivering sadism (autismo). It wasn't even filled with boring and useless filler-material like most +100k word stories are.
In the end, I decided to stop my dilemma and started to write my own fic. It's quite a task but it also fills me with joy!
You have been and are a inspiration for many other authors out there.
So thank you, for your contribution to this amazing fandom!
"I suppose my only real regret is that as the writer, I’ll never get to experience the same twists and turns that someone reading it for the first time would."
This... This is exactly how I feel when I write for my story.
Ps: Sometimes, when I stroll trough the lonely paths in my village, I gaze towards the skies and wonder. I wonder if 'get-me-outta-here' will ever again use a keyboard to produce many many more amazing horse-words. Or even non-horse-words...
Cheers,
Marmo
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Aw, thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it! And good luck with the writing. It's an often difficult but rewarding pasttime for sure.
Regarding my future writing, for fanfiction I'll most likely write something small for TFH if the full game ever gets released, if only because the characters are super cute. But other than that I'll be focusing on some original fiction projects that I've been slowly developing for a decade or so. Everyone's got one or two novels in them, it's just a matter of getting them out and on the page! I have not idea when I'll finally be able to write them but it's definitely something I want to get done someday.
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Ohh cool game. and I think I have seen a link to a character of TFH in a previous blog post of yours :D
Anyways, do make a blog post here if you write something about TFH, or any other horse-unrelated-words ^.^