2012: The Lemuracolypse - Part Ten: The Dark Lemur Rises · 3:11am Jan 23rd, 2018
2012: The Lemuracolypse
Part Ten of Twelve - The Dark Lemur Rises
You'd think that the LOEG experience would have been humbling enough to teach me not to rock the Fimfic boat too hard. Alas, when you have the ego the size of Godzilla's prostate gland, you'll find yourself stumbling into the same old thornbushes. Or something. F'naaaaaa. I'm thirty-four years old and I'm starting to run out of self-deprecating metaphors.
But in this case, I most definitely deserve the deprecation. Read on to find out why.
In 2005, when readers of These Black Eyes demanded a message board, I found myself having to switch very quickly from an aloof fanfiction writer with null personality to a somewhat sassy and entertaining host. With the exception of a few friends at the time, I almost said nothing whatsoever in comments and digital exchanges. I was more or less a complete mystery. Part of me wanted to keep it that way. Another part of me--naturally--wanted to soak up the attention.
In establishing a persona, I recalled a professor I had in community college who taught creative writing. An old distinguished fellow who obviously had better things to do than teach Literature Farts 101, he'd roll into class spouting random quotes and utilizing cryptic tongue-in-cheek vocabulary. One thing he'd like to do was refer to random objects as "animals." When he was passing out syllabi, he'd refer to the sheets of papers as "animals." So it'd be like: "Pass these animals along to everyone, please." Something to that extent.
Well, as I became increasingly interactive with a fanfictional community, I felt that if I couldn't reveal more about myself... I at least could be a weird and eyebrow-raising as possible. So I'd refer to everyone who read my stuff as "marsupials." I had a vision of Grouch Marx crouch-walking in my place as I did so. The word "marsupial" is obscure enough to make most Americans squint, and it ever so absurdly hinges on sounding like some sort of convoluted insult. I lurve it.
As for myself... I've always been hairy, squirrely, lanky, and physically unattractive with a proclivity for dad fat. I felt like I had to encapsulate the "hairy" factor somehow. Keep in mind that 1) I do not in any way identify with furries and 2) I find monkeys to be insanely gross. So what was left to adopt?
Sure. That'll do, pig.
So... years and years later... as I took part in the Brony scene, I already had an arsenal of silliness to erect around my squishy, otherwise invulnerable center. I began establishing a persona on Ponychan. And--as I eventually found Fimfiction to be a "base" for making comments and writing blogs--I sketched myself out before the marsupial alumni, so to speak.
It had the desired effect.
In that it had no definitive effect.
People--marsupials had no fucking clue what to make of it... what to make of me. And that's the way I preferred it. That's the way I've always preferred it. For the most part, I consider myself an intensely private individual. Sure, I may have opened up about some things in recent times, much to my relief. But I still prefer not to get too "intimate" with the online community. Much better, safer, and more entertaining to throw up enough facades that you can somehow control what people perceive you as.
Yeah. Something like that.
The drawback about doing this, I suppose, is that you start believing in the illusion that you've helped establish. This allows for a certain disassociation... which can lead down a pretty dangerous path. Especially when you perceive yourself as "horsefamous" and allow such attention to get to your ego.
At some point during summer of '12, I came up with a pretty cruddy idea. I'm not sure what spurred it on. Maybe it was losing two fanfiction contests in a row. But I took a look at the feature bar and I thought to myself: "What if someone managed to fill that entire dayum thing with stories from one author alone?" And--for whatever putrid reason--that evolved into "Well, who else on this site could even remotely come close to accomplishing it?"
-->>>Insert Ponified "Odysseus" Fan Drawing Here<<<--
I think I knew right away that--deep down inside--the idea was dumb. But curiosity and ego got the better of me. "What if someone could dominate the feature box entirely? Has anyone ever tried to do it before?" And as devious as this sounds (and it was devious), I knew I wasn't about to go at it half-arsed. What some marsupials seem to think about L-Day is that I whipped together a bunch of utter shit overnight and just slapped them onto Fimfic. In truth, a lot of heart and soul went into this idea I was cooking up. I think it's been said before: "When SS&E shitposts, he does so gloriously."
So, around the time I was first talking to Ponky and while the LOEG was being formed, I focused on an idea that more or less energized me. I think I write best when I'm manically charged... when I feel like I am egotistically competing with other people... even when those other people don't exist. Looking back at some of my best times of planning and creative brainstorming; they were moments when I envisioned myself a genius and pretty much worshipped myself like an utter douchebag. What's the old saying? "Write drunk and edit sober?" Well I propose a newer, more honest one: "Write 'asshole' and edit 'saint.'" Perhaps, as this year culminates, I'll have hopefully adopted a new one: "Write 'horny' and edit 'celibate'."
F'naaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Whatever. I needed a concrete goal in my head back in mid '12. Whelp, this "Lemur" thing seems to have stuck. So why not...
Yeah. That won't launch a thousand ships or nothing.
If you need any greater proof for how much Background Pony was boring me back in mid 2012, it was the L-Day project. I only told a tentacle-full of friends about it--chiefly SATGF. Props, Raz, Brian, Warden, Worsty--they all knew. And... for what ever reason... nobody gave me any lip about it. I felt encouraged... and maybe that was the first of many holocaustal things.
So, as the month of August rolled around, I got to work on what would be the first major salvo of shitposts to come out of SS&E's account. And it was a slick and easy romp through horsewankery, right?
Wrong. That month was stressful as fuck. I told myself that--by the end of August--I had to get 6+ stories written and a chapter of Background Pony. What's more, I had to actually put some work into them. I didn't wanna just write utter crap. Horribly motivated as this project may have been, it was at least an excuse to work out several one-shot ideas that I had floating around in my head. While most of 2012 was me working on one thing at a time (End of Ponies, Doorwalker, Background Pony), the month of August was all about tackling as many different concepts as possible. I had been working on Austraeoh since May, so I was starting to understand the challenge of literary persistence... not to mention juggling more than one story at a time.
So, in a way, I was prepared for the challenge ahead. The question was--would Fimfiction be prepared? Nietzsche knows I teased the ever-loving shit out of them.
Via blogs and tongue-and-cheek meming, I let the marsupial alumni know that something was coming. For the most part, everyone was completely and utterly baffled. Perhaps this was a good thing. If they literally knew what I had planned, they might have taken torches and pitchforks to my user page.
Things came down to the wire. The last two and a half weeks of August were madness. I had maybe six stories available for posting, and I decided to throw in an additional one at the last second. That combined with the Background Pony chapter made it feel like I had conjured eight whole oneshots for the explosive debut. In my heart, I kinda sorta wanted to do more... but I had reached my limit. I had put off updates of Background Pony just to arrange for this dayum thing, which meant hungry readers for psuedo-philosophical Lyra were forced to endure a drought.
Alas, the time had come, and very late on the evening of August 31st, L-Day transpired.
Seven fanfics in a row... all lined up and submitted at once. Keep in mind, this was long before Auto-Approval. Moderators still had to check each fic and they'd go up within ten minute intervals of each other at the quickest. I always had the habit of responding to the obligatory "uploaded(!)" PMs with "thanks" and "much appreciated." By the seventh "thank you" in a row, I had moderators sticking emoticon tongues at me. They knew this was bullshiet... but it was allowed anyways.
The reactions readers had in the comments section was an Evolution of Interesting. At first, they were all "Woohoo! More Skirts stories!" A few more fics in, this turned into "Whoah, easy there, duuuuude. Get ahold of yourself." Then, by Fic Seven, a good chunk of them had morphed to become: "Okay. What the fuq. This is stupid."
I suspected that I would get a negative reaction. Perhaps--though--I hadn't thought it out concretely. As time went on, people put their two cents in. All things considered, everyone was pretty civil about the matter:
Almost immediately, members of SATGF rushed in to play defense. Please keep in mind that I didn't ask them to do this. As a matter of fact, I never ask for anyone to argue against my detractors. I say this because it's happened a lot over the past seven years, to the extent that I imagine certain people on the Internet must think that I have a "cabal of Pro-Skirtsian fanboys" whom I somehow summon with the press of a button. That is not the case. I'm just a lucky bastard.
And--all in all--this led to a very interesting and provocative debate within the comments section of the L-Day Blargh. I'd say it's definitely worth a read if you wanna see well-rounded Fimficcers discuss the pros and cons of literary expression and the impact it has on others when taken to the extreme. You'll notice that I didn't make any comments at the time--as I rarely do. I think my prevalent attitude over the matter was something to the extent of "You can't get into the feature box? Well, have you ever tried NOT being unpopular?!"
Late summer 2012 Skirts is a very special kind of douchebag. This is the Skirts who toyed around with Ponky's art farts and bitched and moaned about the simple fact that the LOEG experience revealed what an untalented attention-grabbing clod I am. I vacillated between feeling very selfish and very bitter. Overall, I was just really ugly. Around this same time, Spotlight had very casually criticized me for a weird mechanic I had employed in Background Pony. My reaction was to give him the cold shoulder, and then the very next day I wrote a twenty-page essay in Google Documents insulting him and accusing him of a million inane things.
Yeah. I'm kind of a huge dick.
So, all things considered, anyone I ever insulted or threatened with the very substance of L-Day had good reasons to suspect me of foul play. My goal was to dominate the feature box. If there's any "positive" to perceivably be had from this experience, it's that--from a broad point of view--this was an experiment that someone needed to do. If not me first, then perhaps someone else.
Wanderer D's LOEG thingy sought to find out if subscriber counts would erroneously affect a story's chance of being featured. Turns out he was right. So--how else could you tip the scales of this thing that everyone on Fimfic both loved and hated? Could you blitz it and expect to show it for all of its faulty holes?
Well, as it turns out, no. You couldn't, really.
Of all the stories that I put up on that day, only one of them got featured. And it lasted on the bar for half-a-day at best, if I recall. The rest simply didn't make the cut. So--if L-Day was an attempt to completely control the entire Feature Bar, it was a spectacular failure.
As someone in the L-Day blargh commented, I more or less sabotaged myself. Here I had put up seven stories (and a chapter to Background Pony) that amounted to nearly 100k words. High subscriber count or not, nobody could be expected to read that much bullshit to bump up my stories to any collective height. It was just. Too. Much.
In a way, this relieved people who were afraid that the whole L-Day fiasco would completely suck up all attention whatsoever. Many were still less-than-enthused about the motivation and execution behind it, but it more-or-less felt like a crisis-averted.
For others, however, this was the Rape of Nanking in horseword form, and I was receiving the blame for their weeks and months of hard writing not receiving attention. Is there truth to this? Well, I certainly can't deny it. And looking back, I most definitely cringe at the fact. I've had times of heavy uploads and submissions since August of '12, but nothing quite as heavy-tentacled as L-Day. If anything, I find that I get far more satisfaction from uploading one story per week and seeing how long I can keep at least one fic in the feature box before shooting up another. In a way, it's a little silly to imagine anyone getting super mad over horse words--but that's just laughably easy for me to say. Once upon a time, I was the dude getting frustrated over how little attention my epic work was getting in the pathetic comments section of Equestria Daily. My fame was ultimately a product of good fortune at a relatively "early" time in the brony fandom. Background Pony cinched me the fanbase that lots of aspiring writers struggle to achieve... and it's difficult for newer gladiators to chip away at the feet of titans, even if their noble weapons are constructed entirely out of gold. It's unfair, and the callousness with which I threw L-Day together showed that I really didn't give a damn.
Then there were the vote bombs. Don't tell me that there weren't. Within twelve hours of posting, I noticed that all of my L-Day fics were collectively receiving an equal number of downvotes. How did I notice such a number? Because I Met a Pony In Hell and Never received the same amount of thumbs down... and they were the last two stories posted before L-Day. So whoever got super-merry-go-round-pissed-off in some grimy message board somewhere sent his cabal of downvoters after two extra fics too many, not taking the time to realize that they were older uploads (lulz).
Art by McSadat
But... f'naaaaaaaaaaa... whatever. Between the LOEG experience and L-Day, I was forced to eat crow twice in a row. But it didn't seem to shake my fanbase that much. Marsupials were still itching for more Skirts stuff; I had come out a neutral weirdo instead of a completely despised villain. And while none of my L-Day fics were particularly legendary, I was still proud of slapping them all together in time. It was like the White Album of Skirtsian Oneshots:
For months, I was kicking around the idea of "_____ Meets the Punisher." After all, it had transpired in popular media before. Also, I had read lots and lots of Marvel comics in the two years leading up to bronyism, so I was sorta itchin' to tackle something within the universe. The enthusiastic result was a disproportionately-weighted story that felt like it had no need for Lyra at all. Also, my version of Frank Castle was waaaaaaaay too talkative. Still, I got to write a cutesy!Innocent Lyra rolling around in blood. And there's a "Do you know Howard?" line by the Punisher that still makes me lol to this day... lol
This is the only story that got featured. Even to this day, it's one of my highest ranking stories. Too bad it's a subpar saccharine emo fest at best. Still, it seems to mean a lot to the marsupials who read it, and it was nice getting to pair up Applejack and Rainbow Dash without... pairing them up. Still... eugh... 9k words? Who was I punishing more in 2012, the other uploaders or myself?
This is the fic that I was probably most proud of at the time. Back when I started End of Ponies, I had nebulously planned for Rainbow Dash to reveal herself as a lesbian later on in the fic. To me, it felt boldly edgy and provocative. I guess I just hadn't surfed Ponibooru that much. As time went by and I became acutely aware of the massive fanon support for a rainbow Rainbow Dash, I felt that she deserved to have a story that analyzed the emotional and psychological nature of "coming out" without turning into a stupid, moist, two-dimensional ship fic. This was the result of it. It's a very bloated fic with a whole bunch of nothing taking place... forcing the reader to be patient and overly-interpret everything Rainbow Dash is doing or seeing until the inevitable confession to Lyra and Bon Bon happens. I remember thinking Vimbert would appreciate the fic. I asked him to pre-read it. He made it about 1/6 of the way through before giving up. "Where the Hell is this story even going, dude? Just not my thing." Ha.
This is the longest and most epic of the L-Day fics and blessed Nietzsche is it stupid. Much like Austraeoh, it's a revisit to my old pulp days of writing These Black Eyes... only literally. The characters of "Myrk" and "Choral" are direct references to "Noir" and "Ana" from the old Teen Titans fic. Only true devotees can make the connection. The story amounts to nothing more than a stupidly long action sequence with explosive sound effects and gratuitous violence all centered around a perfect Gary Stu who simply refuses to fucking die. F'naaaaaa. Whatever. It has some snazzy world-building and I threw in an "End of Ponies" crossover tag 'cuz why the fuq not.
Here's a story that I'm still pretty proud of... but is ultimately defeated by a really really really horrible synopsis. It's a fic that I had been wanting to write for a while. For those of you who want to be in the know, it's a series of POV switches cycling through the Mane 6, in which each of them has an unrequited crush on the next mare to narrate. It goes in a complete circle and then features Spike and Derpy at the end for punchlines. More than anything, it was an experiment in narrative tone--not to mention to find out if it was possible to legitimize lesser-known ships like Applepie and Flarity. Out of all the stories, this was most rushed... which is a shame.
Bon^6 was an outlier... not to mention cheating. I had written it long before L-Day became a thing. It was a failed submission to a Ponychan contest where artists drew up a bevy of fanart and writers got their chance at making accompanying fics to them. Being lazy and impulsive, I made a trippy hallucinogenic nightmare fic within the span of hours, and this was the result. Curiously, it has since garnered the most infamy and commentary out of all the other L-Day fics. People still chat about it to this day. Also, for a while there, I mulled a crazily trippy and convoluted sequel to the fic... much to the chagrin of those who stood along the shore to observe the burning, smoldering failure. I guess as long as I'll be writing Skirtsian stories, this will always be sitting in the rafters, making weird grunting sounds in my direction.
Here's the story I remember most fondly from the L-Day massacre. Its references to DC Comics are paper-thin. In reality, the fic is a grandiose attempt to capture all of the endorphin-conjuring memes, references, and inside jokes that had come out of my early-early chats with Ponky. While preparing the list of fics, I randomly asked Ponky in chat to "come up with a story idea." Not knowing what to expect, he asked that I get Pinkie Pie from MLP:FiM to crossover with Discord from the .mov series (which I still loathe to this day), and at the same time he requested that I used the time-travel plot device from S2's It's About Time episode. Somehow, I decided this meant I was supposed to write five alternate universe Pinkie Pie's being instructed to go on a trans-dimensional mission to save Equestria from cataclysmic doom. While this is a kaizo crack-fic to the core, it was the first time I wrote Pinkie Pie and enjoyed it... namely because I was doing everything within my power to make it fun and amusing for Ponky when it came time for him to eventually read it. I threw in tons of references to the fuzzhead into the narrative, and there's even a moment where Pinkie Pie crosses paths with God and Lucifer from his devil fanfic. I'm also proud of the story's silly reveal--that all of the Pinkie Pies are the exact same mare, only from different timelines that have been grossly threaded together... and the fic ultimately does its best to unravel that thread to comedic effect.
As for Chapter XIV of Background Pony--it wasn't very well-received. And I can't rightly blame the marsupials for feeling "meh" about it. The chapter dared to be "experimental," featuring a bunch of vignettes narrated by seemingly random ponies. In the end, it turns out that the characters have been gathered around by none other than Lyra herself... who attempts to lasso the plot back into something more relevant to the main story.
It was a noble attempt, but I think it came across as though I was wasting time and just performing a bunch of prosaic self-fappery. Fans of Background Pony had gone for an entire month without an update, and now that they got one it was... subpar.
I think all in all, people were starting to share my relative ennui with the nature of Background Pony at that point. Aside from the typical knee-jerk praise, stand-out comments were stating their impatience with it... while others wrote full on essays about how much the story and its writing absolutely sucked.
Needless to say, I had almost entirely run out of enthusiasm for the fic. But I knew that I had to get it done. Praise Nietzsche I had chosen only twenty chapters, because a nebulously ongoing Lyra fic with no end would have killed me. It was hard enough just crawling to the Chapter Twenty finishing line. I realized that I had to go big if I was to knock this out once and for all... and that's what led to the insanely huge chapters that--ironically enough--only made the experience more daunting for me. Then there was the foreknowledge that--more than likely--people would not like the story's less-than-cheerful ending. I had that weighing on me for the entirety of Background Pony's run... which is probably a huge reason for my increasing lethargy.
I still mostly look back on 2012 as a happy and positive time in my life... but man did the one-two-three punch of LOEG, L-Day, and Background Pony back-to-back make me feel like a fraud, a dick, and a corpse all at once. What sucks about receiving so much happiness and attention in a sudden burst is spending just as much time--if not twice as long--doubting all of that and attempting to hate yourself just as hard like some sort of equalizer.
However, aside from Ponky, there was one particular event that transpired in late 2012 that I always look upon fondly... and it makes for my absolute most favorite anecdote from my brony experience ever.
While I was angsting away at Background Pony and making a public fool of myself with the LOEG experiment and the L-Day fiasco...
...off in a little corner, happy and carefree, an Imploding Colon was quietly chipping away at Austraeoh.
However, as the months went by, it stopped being so quiet...
It would seem that my long-standing theory concerning the exponentially-increasing weight of attention to an ongoing long-form narrative was proven true yet again. Just like back in the TT Fanfiction days of These Black Eyes, I was accumulating followers faster and faster. Granted, due to the nature of the Feature Box, the title "Austraeoh" would be dropped once every 1.5 days. So it was exposing itself frequently to the denizens of Fimfic through sheer perseverance. Nevertheless, the synopsis did nothing to advertise itself and I... or in this case Imploding Colon... made no attempts to communicate directly with the slowly-growing readerbase.
Nevertheless, those who happened to stumble upon this unassuming epic-in-the-making found themselves pleasantly surprised, and as the months rolled into the thick of 2012, what was once a simple carefree side-fic started gaining more attention and gathering more regular comments than most of my SS&E shiet.
I even started gaining followers from those whom I knew.
And those whom I had yet to know.
And yet, all throughout, the fact that Imploding Colon and shortskirtsandexplosions were both one and the same was a complete secret.
Although, on a few occasions, someone or another caught a glimpse through it:
While SS&E--with Background Pony--was a very "public" affair, complete with an author who made frequent and manic blog posts to communicate with his fanbase... Imploding Colon followed the proto-Skirtsian rulebook. There was absolutely no communication to be had. IC would eventually create an "Austraeoh Group" on Fimfic but that was that. Everything else: plot contrivances, mystery threads, narrative theories--they were all up to the readers themselves to discuss in the comment section.
As a result, the review slots for Austraeoh became very... chatty. Marsupials made a habit of tossing comments directly towards one another... even going so far as to perform "RPG" memes and running gags in order to keep up with the non-stop pace of the horse literature.
As I gained more and more followers and commenters, the temptation to respond to them grew and grew. However, I absolutely refused to break Imploding Colon's silence... at least for the time being.
So, instead, as a means of showing that I was 1) conscious of the readers and the reviews they left and 2) I was extremely grateful for their attention, I began throwing obvious references to the comments into the narrative itself. Rainbow Dash would repeat a line stated by a commenter or make some off-the-cuff joke that name-dropped an actual user. It got to the point where I tossed my tentacles and went "Fuq it. It's an AU Random Fantasy story anyways... just go hog wild on the naming!" And then I proceeded to name actual characters and places and factions and landscapes after frequent users in the comment section.
Now what had started off as a casually intimate relationship between commenters had turned into a legitimately chummy relationship with the author as well... albeit facetious and tongue-and-cheek. I like to think that made a special read even more remarkable... and something that can only really be achieved in a casual fanfiction forum.
What began as an accidental fanbase was now gaining traction. It got to the point that those clinging desperately to the review section were starting to take notice.
And this was how something very, very special was eventually born.
Contrary to popular belief, I do in fact read the comments section of my stories. Lo and behold, in Autumn of 2012, I caught wind of marsupials having created a Skype Message Board dedicated to the reading and discussion of Austraeoh. More to the point, it was a means for the people who happened to have met each other over Austraeoh to chat about anything they liked... as if the eastward winds that brought them to that one particular niche on the Internet had accumulated a group of like-minded individuals with common interests.
There were two prominent ringleaders responsible for the creation of the very first "Austraeoh" Skype group. I, of course, speak of Mom and Dad.
Her Majesty Csquared08, most radiant and fair, gracious and ladylike in every estrogenical quality, has been a constant and endorphin-conjuring presence since the primordial days of Fimfiction. Also, Csquared used to have a super pretty Fluttershy picture as their avatar, so I've always accepted the fact that they're a female... and a regal one at that. This had come to be a source of debate as perceived by others, but it is in fact merely amorous courtship.
A long-time member of Seattle's Angels, I do believe Csquared08 was the actual individual who created the Skype group, even if she was never the outspoken mouthpiece of the group. Perhaps it's just as well. She sucks at preserving settlers.
Don't panic, it's the fecking zebra.
By far the more vocal creator of the Skype Group, Pilate (or pilot) invested a great deal of thought, intelligence, and fan-theories into the early-early narrative of Austraeoh. This led to several relevant conversations within the chat... but ultimately Pilate's maturity, experience, good will, and sincerity led to a golden rule that would shape the group for all time: "Don't be a dick."
And let it be known that I find it very... very difficult to imagine life without having known Pilate. Eventually, as time rolled by, he would become one of the greatest friends I have ever made. In the turbulent, Ponky-starved years to come, I would consider him a solid foundation of sanity, mental health, and introspective contemplation. I chatted more with him than anyone else in the span of 2013-2016, and we even went to Disney World three times together.
We have a lot of liberal values that we share in common, and I've always admired his sense of righteousness, justice, and goodness to all fellow men. I like to think we all require a certain moral compass in our lives, and Pilate was that times one hundred for me. I owe much of Austraeoh's legacy--if not SS&E's--to him.
But, back in late 2012, he was a virtual stranger to me. All I knew was that he was very good at leaving analytical comments... also that he and Her Royal Majesty Csquared had created some sort of Skype Group concerning Austraeoh. This could only mean one thing: I was going to see less and less of the readers' thoughts, because most of their two-cents were about to be dumped upon a chat room that I had no access to.
While that last bit may have been slightly irrational, one thing was for certain. Between the tell-tale writing style of Austraeoh and some goofy antics performed on SS&E's account, the cracks were starting to show... and people were catching wind to the loosely-guarded secret that Imploding Colon and shortskirtsandexplosions were both the same lemur.
I knew I wanted to reveal myself eventually, but this "game" was too dayum fun. I wanted to continue the "mystery" for as long I was able, but between the pace of the fic and the gargantuan amount of followers it was gaining, the task was getting more and more difficult. Long story short, I needed in on that shiet. I had to find out exactly what the readers were discussing inside this mythical chat room... or else I would lose control of the entire Imploding Colon phenomenon as a whole.
Problem was, the Skype Group invitations were being given through a very old-fashioned, intimate manner. If you wanted "in", you had to PM the right people involved on Fimfic. This mean that I couldn't just invite myself in as "shortskirtsandexplosions" or "imploding colon."
It was time to get sneaky...
"Blue Harvest," for those who don't know, was the secret industry code word for Return of the Jedi. George Lucas needed a way to work-around grossly huge price scams when setting up the third film in his trilogy. Via a stroke of genius, he decided to give the production an insanely boring name that was completely unrelated to Star Wars, that way he and his crew wouldn't be over-charged in supplies for the initial phase of work. Eventually, people caught on, but the legend of the fake movie name endured in pop culture... albeit obscurely.
It's also the name I use for my pr0n folder.
So when the time came that I decided--yes--I needed to invent a third friggin' alt, I went with "Blue Harvest." I continued the tradition of using pictures of my waifus, and utilized Supergirl to complete the "holy trinity." At the time, Blue Harvest's only purpose in existing was to give me a platform to surreptitiously contact the creators of the Austraeoh Skype Group. It would later be used for excessively sappy ship fics... casual and cute. A nice little alt.
Hopping on Skype was no problem. I had acquired the program at the start of the year as a means of chatting with Spotlight and others while I attended his livestreams. I created a brand new account: "blueharvest1701." And, without wasting much time, I contacted those in charge via Fimfic.
At long last, the zebra added me, and everyone's fate was sealed.
So there I was... a lemur in marsupial's clothing... gazing upon a chat of 20+ people rambling about Austraeoh, Rainbow Dash, Imploding Colon, and--to some degree or another--SS&E. Oh, they chatted about other things as well, but whenever a new chapter went up there would be a link and then a gradual pause as everyone read the tiny installment... followed by oodles and oodles of commentary, debate, and discussion. It was pretty surreal... not to mention ego-stroking. As "blueharvest1701," I decided to hang quietly in the back and just lurk. Occasionally I would throw in a comment or two, but I would do so with the grace befitting a quasi-illiterate middle-schooler with numb fingertips: "that chap waz neato" / "do you think rainbows gunna dye?" / "whats wif all the sound effects lol."
And the horrible thing is that it worked. I was essentially performing a masterful play as the TF2 Spy behind RED Base. Nobody knew or suspected who I was, and I was able to devour the interior commentary while simultaneously writing the fic that this chat was centered on.
I soon realized that the readers were worried about the same thing I was: fanfiction length and Austraeoh's eventual end. Back at the start of the series, I knew that I was going to go in for the long-haul. However, the length of chapters didn't become an issue until I was about 50 installments in. For whatever reason, word got around that a single fanfic could only be a maximum of 200 chapters (turns out the maximum is in fact 1000 chapters... as first discovered by me on my alt Just Essay with Appledashery). At the time, I allowed this assumption to affect my writing decisions, and I had crafted a plot for the first book that would end it around Chapter 200 (Rainbow Dash confronts Axan at Silvadel and seemingly dies at the hands of a dragon). By the time I joined the chat as Blueharvest1701, I had a plan for the sequel and how things would proceed. But now I could see the reader reaction on an intimate level, and it allowed me to manipulate and alter the narrative even further to twist and torture their senses with a new level of suspense. Blessed Nietzsche, it was glorious.
At last... on October 19, 2012... a date which would live in infamy... one of the greatest moments of my life happened: the climax of Austraeoh.
The story was swiftly approaching Chapter 200, and everyone suspected that the end was in sight. Sure enough, about ten installments away from the goal, the chapters started getting rapidly posted within minutes of one another. It was super obvious by then what was going on... and lots of marsupials sat on the edge of their seat, waiting for the conclusion to this mysterious epic that had so subtly enthralled them over the past five months. I went between hammering the dramatic chapters out and alt-tabbing to the Skype group to see how the fans were reacting. Live. In white-knuckle-real-time.
Alas, this went on for a long period of time... like five hours, and it had gotten to five o'clock in the morning. By then, only two members of the chat remained: Pilate and Reignbow Dash. I was still present as "BlueHarvest1701," but I wasn't saying much... mostly just watching their reactions as Austraeoh ticked off Chapters 197... 198... 199...
Finally, the last chapter happened, with Rainbow Dash's supposed martyrdom and a bleak ending that left 900x more questions than answers, and a collective silence fell over the thoroughly-exhausted chat. What happens next is pure gold, and I knew it at the time--which is why I preserved the transcript:
[5:15:17 AM] pilot: update complete
[5:15:25 AM] Blue Harvest: for realz?
[5:19:31 AM] Reignbow: Uh, shit?
[5:19:43 AM] Reignbow: Is she dead?
[5:23:16 AM] Reignbow: so what say you? The end?
[5:23:26 AM] Blue Harvest: seems like the end to me
[5:23:34 AM] pilot: it says complete
[5:23:37 AM] Reignbow: wow
[5:23:38 AM] pilot: chapter name is story name
[5:23:42 AM] pilot: QED
[5:24:09 AM] pilot: er, alone
[5:24:10 AM] pilot: oops
[5:24:11 AM] Reignbow: I wonder if there's a sequel
[5:24:13 AM] pilot: eyes, betray me
[5:24:52 AM] Blue Harvest: was it worth staying up for lulz
[5:25:04 AM | Edited 5:26:26 AM] Reignbow: Right now, I'm leaning towards dissappointed with the story. So long spent reading trying to figure out what's going on. So many loose ends that should have been explained. Then she dies.
[5:25:27 AM] Reignbow: Idk what to think right now
[5:26:36 AM] Blue Harvest: well it was a fun adventure I guess
[5:26:38 AM] Blue Harvest: then dragons happened
[5:26:57 AM] pilot: maybe we should have been more optimistic
[5:27:04 AM] Reignbow: No shit
[5:27:12 AM] Blue Harvest: what does that mean?
[5:27:15 AM] pilot: if we had all said "yeah, she'll totally survive" then she would have
[5:27:24 AM] Reignbow: Honest answers. Am I the only one not satisfied with this?
[5:27:30 AM] pilot: nope
[5:27:33 AM] pilot: but we never could be
[5:27:35 AM] pilot: scope is too large
[5:27:44 AM] Blue Harvest: you thikn IC really takes that stuff into acount?
[5:27:52 AM] pilot: On 10/19/12, at 2:27 AM, Blue Harvest wrote:
> you thikn IC really takes that stuff into acount?
maybe, maybe not
[5:28:19 AM] Reignbow: He could easily do it with a sequel. Else, why bother making the scope that big, if you just leave it hanging
[5:28:28 AM] Blue Harvest: would a sequel be a good idea?
[5:28:49 AM] Reignbow: It's like he took the story, cut it in half, and tied it up to that point.
[5:29:01 AM] Blue Harvest: maybe it's like the end of a season
[5:29:10 AM] Blue Harvest: ever watched smallville lulz
[5:29:31 AM] Reignbow: Ok, lets review. the worlds ending for unknown reasons, we have hints at some grand machine thats stopping, and so much more...
[5:30:17 AM] Reignbow: I mean, I guess it really could be considered finished if all he ever wanted was aa story about the journey rather than the conclusion
[5:30:50 AM] Reignbow: I mean it all fits, maybe he wanted her to die and we assume that it all ends.
[5:31:07 AM] Blue Harvest: I wanna know what pilate thinks he always has good things to say lulz
[5:32:02 AM] Reignbow: I really hope he didn't just head to bed after he finished
[5:32:06 AM] Blue Harvest: rage sleep?
[5:32:10 AM] Reignbow: Pilot?!! You there?
[5:32:31 AM] Reignbow: fml
[5:33:11 AM] Reignbow: Well, this story fucked closure over. i'm beginning to regret starting it. I think I'm just gonna rage-sleep now myself
[5:33:23 AM] Blue Harvest: where's Pilatttte
[5:34:39 AM | Edited 5:34:58 AM] Reignbow: Well, optimistic side, with the way he's been posting his stories, if he's doing a sequel it will be up within a couple days
[5:35:07 AM] Blue Harvest: makes sense to me
[5:35:12 AM] Reignbow: Here's hoping
[5:35:44 AM] Reignbow: Anywho, g'nite. I'm gonna go feel depressed (not really)
[5:35:55 AM] Blue Harvest: good luck at work lulz
[5:36:08 AM] Reignbow: haha. Was it worth it? Thats the question
[5:36:12 AM] Blue Harvest: I'm still hoping Pilot shows up before you sleep
[5:36:21 AM] Reignbow: thanks -_-
[5:36:26 AM] Reignbow: why?
[5:36:37 AM] Blue Harvest: Eh, I guess it could wait
[5:36:54 AM] Reignbow: fuck it, Ill wait 10 more. maybe hes doing a bathroom break
[5:37:04 AM] Blue Harvest: flushing away all his tears
[5:37:11 AM] Reignbow: But yeah, his opinion would be interesting
[5:37:21 AM] Reignbow: he generally calls it right, it seems
[5:37:38 AM | Edited 5:37:46 AM] Reignbow: Maybe... he's the author? Bum Bum BUUUUUM...
[5:37:44 AM] pilot: wut
[5:37:45 AM] pilot: sorry
[5:37:48 AM] pilot: was editing my comment
[5:37:51 AM] Blue Harvest: There you are
[5:37:52 AM] Reignbow: goddammit!
[5:37:55 AM] pilot: what did you need?
And, at long last, the glorious reveal:
[5:37:56 AM] Blue Harvest: Could I ask you two something?
[5:38:05 AM] pilot: sure
[5:38:32 AM] Blue Harvest: What if I told you that not only is Austraeoh going to have a sequel, but it's been in planning to end like this and lead off into the next installment for months now?
[5:38:51 AM] pilot: i'd believe it
[5:39:14 AM] Reignbow: Ah shit, blues IC
[5:39:16 AM] Blue Harvest: Good. Then wait a few days. And Pilate, you're gonna be a zebra.
[5:39:20 AM] Blue Harvest: Cuz I'm horrible at keeping secrets
[5:39:22 AM] Blue Harvest: f'naaaaaaaaaaaaa
[5:39:22 AM] pilot: hahaha
[5:39:28 AM] pilot: epic
[5:39:35 AM] Reignbow: f'naaa?
[5:39:59 AM] pilot: nothin' man
[5:40:03 AM] pilot: hahaha
[5:40:05 AM] Reignbow: Take pity on me
[5:40:31 AM] pilot: so BH was IC
[5:40:33 AM] pilot: who is SSE
[5:40:36 AM] pilot: and was in the chat the whole night
[5:40:39 AM] pilot: and has been for a while
[5:40:45 AM] pilot: while updating every chapter
This led Reignbow to state that if IC/BH/SS&E were all the same person, he would "eat his sock." So, naturally, I went online with Imploding Colon and PM'd him with: "I hope it's a tasty sock."
[5:40:59 AM] Reignbow: If BH is IC, I'll eat my sock
[5:41:49 AM] Reignbow: If IC posts that, i'll buy a freakin camera and film it...
[5:41:59 AM] pilot: i knew something was off about him
[5:42:15 AM] pilot: thought he was just a kid at first, reading his comments again though
[5:42:16 AM] pilot: oh man
[5:42:22 AM] pilot: i'm dying of laughter
[5:42:22 AM] Reignbow: You can't be serious?
[5:42:46 AM] pilot: i chose to belive it regardless
[5:42:56 AM] pilot: because it's much more fun that way
[5:43:24 AM] Reignbow: I choose to not believe it, because i don't want to eat my sock.
[5:44:07 AM] Reignbow: looking back though, BH wasn't exactly the most talkative of the group
[5:44:13 AM] pilot: nope
[5:44:15 AM] pilot: and he kept goading you
[5:44:21 AM] Reignbow: with strange timing
[5:44:25 AM] Reignbow: goading?
[5:44:45 AM] Reignbow: I think you all goad me.
[5:44:57 AM] Reignbow: But I don't see anything specific from him
[5:45:25 AM] pilot: he was asking if a sequel would be a good diea
[5:45:26 AM] pilot: idea*
[5:45:29 AM] pilot: kept questioning you about the end
[5:45:30 AM | Edited 5:48:50 AM] Reignbow: SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!! Fimfic Message
[5:45:37 AM] Reignbow: Imploding Colon:I hope it's a tasty sock.
[5:45:49 AM] Reignbow: FUCK YOU TO BUD!!!!
Reignbow, as it turns out, wasn't just blowing hot-air, which led to perhaps the best picture from 2012:
With a deep-throated "F'naaaaaaaaaaaaa" I vanished into the night. The secret was out, and the chat had some stuff to talk about the next day:
[10/19/2012 6:30:54 AM] arithianflame: Thanks
[10/19/2012 6:35:54 AM] arithianflame: Oh boy, reading all I miss on Skype after work tomorrows gonna be a blast...
[10/19/2012 7:50:01 AM] lively.manta: It's...
[10/19/2012 7:52:27 AM] lively.manta: Wow.
[10/19/2012 7:52:44 AM] lively.manta: Some stuffs.
[10/19/2012 7:55:59 AM] lively.manta: BH was IC?
[10/19/2012 7:56:03 AM] lively.manta: Well then.
[10/19/2012 9:20:30 AM] silvadel: Heh -- FIVE more Austraeoh updates
[10/19/2012 9:44:10 AM] silvadel1: Heh when I saw austraeoh in the thing my thoughts went to jumanji
[10/19/2012 10:14:10 AM | Removed 10:15:57 AM] zaponator: This message has been removed.
[10/19/2012 10:14:41 AM | Removed 10:15:58 AM] zaponator: This message has been removed.
[10/19/2012 10:23:17 AM] zaponator: Woah! I wake up to a blog post confirming that SS&E is IC, and Austraeoh is suddenly tagged 'compltete'?! What the hell did I miss?
[10/19/2012 10:23:26 AM] pilot: scroll up
[10/19/2012 10:23:30 AM] pilot: maddness
[10/19/2012 10:23:32 AM] pilot: sheer madness
[10/19/2012 10:24:25 AM] zaponator: Holy shit!
[10/19/2012 10:24:31 AM] zaponator: He was in the chat?!?!?
[10/19/2012 10:24:32 AM] pilot: THE WHOLE TIME
[10/19/2012 10:24:33 AM] zaponator: Wow...
[10/19/2012 10:36:19 AM] evansaterdalen: ITS OVER
[10/19/2012 11:10:32 AM] evansaterdalen: You have mind blowing to catch up on
[10/19/2012 11:10:39 AM] evansaterdalen: evansaterdalen hands pilot a piece of brain.
[10/19/2012 11:10:45 AM] Csquared08: I read through the chat logs already.
[10/19/2012 11:11:11 AM] zaponator: I just read the chat logs... wow just... wow
[10/19/2012 11:11:28 AM] silvadel1: Now if there is going to be zebra that means BH actually listened to when I made the comment -- it is odd there are only ponies out there and no zebras or griffons
[10/19/2012 11:11:41 AM] zaponator: This is why SS&E is my favorite author
[10/19/2012 11:11:53 AM] zaponator: He just does awesome things all over the place
[10/19/2012 11:12:18 AM] silvadel1: Rainbow Dash suits him
[10/19/2012 11:12:32 AM] evansaterdalen: Guys
[10/19/2012 11:12:35 AM] evansaterdalen: gusy
[10/19/2012 11:12:36 AM] evansaterdalen: gise
[10/19/2012 11:12:36 AM] pilot: pilot thanks evan
[10/19/2012 11:12:42 AM] pilot: hm
[10/19/2012 11:12:49 AM] evansaterdalen: what if Rainbow dash is SS&E?
[10/19/2012 11:12:52 AM] evansaterdalen: 0.0
[10/19/2012 10:34:42 PM] silvadel1: Hi aqua
[10/19/2012 10:34:51 PM] aqua.fortis1: ...what a day
[10/19/2012 10:35:29 PM] pilot: hey
[10/19/2012 10:35:34 PM] pilot: you should scroll back like, 24hrs
[10/19/2012 10:35:53 PM] silvadel1: I went to bed too early
[10/19/2012 10:36:04 PM] silvadel1: That whole convo you had was kind of wild
[10/19/2012 10:36:15 PM] pilot: -ldy epic
[10/19/2012 10:36:24 PM] pilot: dly*
[10/19/2012 10:36:31 PM] silvadel1: Man SSE has the respect of all
[10/19/2012 10:36:42 PM] aqua.fortis1: WHAT
[10/19/2012 10:36:42 PM] aqua.fortis1: WHAT
[10/19/2012 10:36:43 PM] aqua.fortis1: WHAT
[10/19/2012 10:36:45 PM] pilot: i respect things by default
[10/19/2012 10:36:46 PM] aqua.fortis1: THAT BASTARD
[10/19/2012 10:36:53 PM] pilot: ?
[10/19/2012 10:36:57 PM] aqua.fortis1: He was here!
[10/19/2012 10:36:59 PM] pilot: yes
[10/19/2012 10:37:02 PM] aqua.fortis1: THE WHOLE TIME
[10/19/2012 10:37:04 PM] pilot: ye
[10/19/2012 10:37:05 PM] pilot: s
[10/19/2012 10:37:07 PM] aqua.fortis1: GOD DAMMIT
[10/19/2012 10:37:10 PM] aqua.fortis1: WE CANT ESCAPE
[10/19/2012 10:37:32 PM] aqua.fortis1: I'm gettin 1984 vibes from that dude
And yet, as fate would have it, they didn't really let it slip that much. Just like with the actual plotline of Austraeoh, they remained relatively "hush hush" about what they knew. The magic of Imploding Colon's anthology has always been the element of mystery... of discovery. Those who found themselves in that snazzy chat room to begin with did so because they chose to inspect something that was both unassuming and wyrd... and in so doing they were infinitely rewarded for it. That has always been the epitome of the Austraeoh experience.
In truth, I would later do a blargh or two in which I publically revealed SS&E and IC as the same lemur, but that hasn't changed the fact that the group associating themselves with the fic has always felt close-knit and inclusive. Soon, they would even adopt a name:
Art by DarkFlame75
"Noble Jury" is an anagram for "Eljunbyro," which is the title of the second book. As the fic went on, I would adopt the term, giving it to the titular airship that became the cornerstone of the story for four books. In such a way, the whole Imploding Colon phenomenon became a sort of gracious give-and-take of ideas and concepts. So, even if the author was actually revealed, the sense of interactivity and surprise never left... and I would like to think that's kept the magic alive for the installments to come.
The Noble Jury would soon become a community of its own... complete with meet-ups and hoodies and friendships that have communicated through Skype and into Discord and beyond.
It's very surreal to think that over the years I have seemingly affected so many people... just because I finally had the balls to set east on this age-old longform adventure yarn of mine. It started out as just an experiment--to see if I could do it--and now it's swiftly turned into my tried and true magnum opus. Sure, it's had a few setbacks every now and then, especially over the past two years, but there's no denying the fact that--death or apocalypse withstanding--I'm in this dayum thang to the end. And I suspect a lot of J00rists out there are as well... and that makes me feel complete.
And in speaking of completion... I had a new elephant in 2012 to bury... only this time properly.
Along with many tears.
Art by RazgrizS57
To be Continued in Part Eleven: Wish I Could Write a Song
Skirts. Damn you. I can't stop grinning.
This is pure gold!
I felt like i was reading the plot to a thriller- so many inexpected situations and reveals!
The other Journey to the East.
Damn, that was amazing.
I'm afraid to read Austraeoh now, though. I just finished a review of a fandom classic that lots of people have been telling me I need to read for years now; Austraeoh fits into that mold easily, too. But I'm starting to feel like most of what people love about it is that sense of communal discovery, which isn't something you can replicate. I'm gonna go into that story and see references to CSquared and Razgriz or whoever and just be like, "Man, fuck this shit." :/
😘
GUD
Man, I kinda wish I'd been part of the Austraeoh fandom back when all this wild shit happened. By the time I started reading, it was common knowledge that you're IC. It would've been fun to watch the conspiracy unfold in realtime...
As for L-Day, and I'm saying this because I kinda respect the douchebaggery behind it in a purely Heisenbergian sort of way:
If you'd posted one new story a day over a week, it would have worked. I know this because I accomplished what you tried to do intentionally by accident a couple of years ago. I wrote a string of new fics in a span of about four days, and managed to take up a full third of the feature box with them. If I'd kept up the momentum, I probably could have loaded the bases. The best part? Because it just happened that way, everyone congratulated me on dominating the feature box--which, since I did it entirely by accident, I felt especially humbled by and shocked by.
If you'd spread L-Day out into L-week, you'd have achieved legend. I mean, you know, moreso than you already have. And you'd have been praised for it instead of bitched out over it.
Hindsight. She's a bitch. :P
I feel like I'm watching the Skirtsian LOTR Appendices (you got me to watch those again, btw).
4779817
As someone who came in late? Read it. It's awesome. Just, don't try to binge it. Pace yourself, it's a long journey. Limit yourself to maybe five chapters a day.
4779817
I can at least give you my anecdote: as a lurker who opted for a "read-when-completed" guideline for each book, I've enjoyed it greatly so far - just waiting on Ofolrodi to finish right now. It's still a shame that I chose to not be an active part of this ride as early as... Yaerfaerda, I think, but it didn't detract from my experience.
You've put an astounding amount of effort into trying to convince your fans that you're a shitnut, but I must say that this is the one and only time where I went "Man, that really just sounds like a BAD thing to do." But hey, I've done worse.
Btw, since I'm sure you don't have enough creepy fans, my porn folder is named "bh" because of you. And even though no one else is ever on my computer, I have the videos nicknamed "bh1" and "bh2" and "bh3" etc. :P
Sigh, only two left. I look forward to these blogs, honestly. :)
Reading these blog posts aren't up to me anymore. It's up to SS&E if I'll ever stop, or if I'll keep tuning in every day for the rest of my life.
I still remember that Alts blog you made with links to Skirts and IC.
And then it became a meme on the whole site, because everybody wants to be shortskirtsandexplosions.
4779817
I was pretty late getting into it as well. I think I started around August 2015 and took about 1 1/2 months to catch up at that point. And while it would have been fun to be around for all the crazy stuff of the early days it didn't really diminish my enjoyment or understanding of the story.
I do recommend reading at least a few of the comments along the way. Even tho I still mostly just read and lurk, doing so did draw me into the community feel a bit. And especially in the first book it kind of felt like I was traveling along with Dash and the comments were signposts left behind by those who had gone before. Oddly surreal.
This is a beautiful adventure in and of itself! I'm enthralled!
Skirts, I've got to say that I've loved the Austraeoh series since I started reading it in those more innocent 2012 days, and, despite falling off the saddle more times than I care to admit, I always come back to it because it is THE story that has stuck with me.
From the melancholic and beautiful beginning to the warm of family and sting of tragedy in the middle to the daunting duty of destiny in this march towards the end, it has been an experience I wouldn't trade for anything.
Thank you for writing it and best wishes on future endeavors.
Thanks for the insights into your past sir, I love the way you can track your own personal evolution. And the way that it makes me (the reader) start to track my own.
Oh it's 3 am. This brings back memories of staying up far too late reading your stuff... Though memories of mornings after are somewhat of a haze, so I'm a little concerned.
I'm appreciating these blogs. It's amazing how many millions of a man's words you can read, and yet...
Ever Eastward.
Even though I have the lingering feeling that I arrived late to a party, and the pizza was all gone, you can bet I'll still be here when dawn arrives.
Oh man, I don't know what to say
yaindulgences.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/rapunzel_swoon.gif
I regret I wasn't able to take part in the early festivities due to my own ego and narcissism.
4779882
4779888
4779925
This is actually helpful to know, thank you.
4779817
Late to the party. Still awesome. I frequently let a bunch of updates pile up when life gets busy, then marathon them when it isn't.
durandal.dnsalias.net/Cloudsdale/Pictures/Shops/mystery.jpg
Man, I don't remember when exactly I jumped into the Austraeoh airship, but I remember I was already into the daily wait by the point the melonbomb at the end dropped. Can't know by my comments because I had commented in chapters that weren't the last at that point, and didn't neccesarily start commenting from the moment I started reading (I think).
I remember reading back then Pilate's comment about IC being SS (maybe) and later people treated it as a fact. I was not aware of the revealing revelation in some chat (I never used Skype so I didn't know if I would check it enough to be worth asking in). Now reading how it happened there, I am laughing out loudly.
This thing about naming characters and stuff for commenters is what made me change my username to one that had at least one word that sounded name-ish. I think I was Leftover of Genesis before. I remember a couple stories later (so, over a year, now that I think about it), I had commented a couple of times that there still wasn't a character named after me. I felt guilty because it seemed like I was demanding something of the author, so I tried to stop. Still, some times later I answered comments by newer followers that feared their names would never appear in the story, saying they should have patience and not even all the long time commenters had been referenced yet, and used myself as an example. Of course this made me feel even guiltier, because I felt I was doing the same again, but more passive-agressively, and I hate how easily manipulative behavior comes to me. Thankfully later one +1/3 character was named after me and I could finally shut up.
Holy shit, Skirts is Imploding Colon!!!
...
... now. Do we suspect there may be some kind of connection between Skirts and Imploding Colon?
I wore my hoodie to bronycon this past summer and I got to shake hands with a noble Jurist. It was awesome to have that connection from the screen to real life. I'm so excited to catch up instead of being 2 years behind.
Reading this at a truck stop parking lot after a 16 hour workday (and still 3 hours to get home), and all I got is "huh.... I shoulda been more vocal when I started reading Austreaoh at 15 chapters."
Oh well, I can always jump in headfirst now I suppose.
Edit: and now I see the next one just posted. Sometimes I hate my job because of the erratic hours that I sometimes deal with. Damn it, I need to get home. I'll get to it tomorrow, promise.
When I started reading Austraeoh, I didn't even know there were sequels. I think that was about the middle of Innavedr.
I got to the end and...
was very confused. I started reading Eljunbyro and kept thinking I was reading the wrong story. It truly was an epic journey of discovery, even if it wasn't happening real-time for me yet.
The nostalgia is strong in this one...
i.imgur.com/u2FvT4P.gif