State of the Unicorn, February 2018 · 11:52pm Feb 15th, 2018
Come on, who could resist that title? Anyway, although this is the sort of thing I generally put on Louder Yay, I thought a brief update might be in order for those of you who are kind enough to follow me here. Don't expect this sort of thing every month, nor for me to go into great detail. It's just a quick summary.
Writing The Danger Within is proving an interesting experience. It's actually my first attempt at discovery writing where ponyfic is concerned; with my only other multi-chapter story, Where They Understand You, I knew where I was going from the start. I therefore wouldn't recommend TDW to anyone wandering in here and wanting to see the stuff I'm actually proud of. For that, try the likes of The Book of Ended Lives, It Doesn't Matter Now or We Who with Songs Beguile. Nevertheless, with TDW I'm finally writing again, and that counts for something.
As far as Ponyfic Roundup (also on Louder Yay) goes, I'm finally getting back on an even keel. I aim to review five fics every week, but with a great deal going on in that dreaded thing called Real Life lately I've sometimes fallen as low as two. I've managed five for the past two weeks, though, and with a fair wind I'll do it again next week. There aren't as many regular reviewers around now as there used to be, but I still enjoy writing ponyfic reviews and I don't see myself stopping any time soon.
Over on the Flashfic group, the monthly no-prizes Flashfic 150 contest continues to attract a small but cheerful posse of entrants each month -- though it could do with a few more this time around, so if the idea of writing 150 words on "A Lovely Night, Ruined" appeals to you then you'll be very welcome. As far as entering contests goes, EFNW Scribblefest is the one I currently have interest in, though I don't know whether I'll actually get anything written and submitted by the early-March deadline.
I remain thoroughly enthusiastic about Friendship is Magic itself, however unfashionable that may be these days. I can't imagine ever being one of those people who doesn't get round to watching new episodes of the show for weeks or months after they air. I haven't seen any of the leaked S8 episodes, so please don't spoil me on those. Also, I picked up the Blu-ray of the movie the other day and I'm glad to own it, even if getting Blu-rays to play on Linux is a pain in the rump.
As far as social stuff goes, the twice-monthly Worcester meets are still going strong. I wish we had enough writers (or avid readers) in the UK for there to be a fic-centric meet, but at least I get to talk about the stuff sometimes at the meets. UK PonyCon probably won't announce its location for a month or two yet, so I can't decide whether I'm going as yet, though I hope I can. The new smaller-scale Griffish Isles con interests me, but it's awkwardly timed just before I go on holiday. So we'll see.
That's about it, I think.
Right there with you!
I hear Galacon is having lotsa cool cats attending.
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I wouldn't be at all surprised, and I hope everyone who goes has a fantastic time. Unfortunately, for various reasons (lots of health issues, for example) I can't really manage a con outside the UK. I'm not bitter about that; it's just the way life goes sometimes.
4798067 Entirely valid, I'm making a lot of allowances for my own issues to permit this trip. I hope the UK stuff is fun too.
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Thank you. I hope you have a great time there!
Not me...
Oy, that's not unfashionable, man...
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I sometimes think it is around this place.
There are plenty of people around, including some very fine ponyfic authors, who are not at all fans of the show that airs today. Some of their comments are very interesting and thoughtful ones that I just happen to feel differently from -- JawJoe's long "How Twilight's Kingdom Killed the Show" video series may be the best example -- and some of them are just of the "I hate Starlight Glimmer" variety. But there are plenty, and Fimfiction seems to have more than most places. It's the only site I regularly visit where a substantial number of people actively disliked "Crusaders of the Lost Mark", for example.
But me? I don't really care if the show has changed. Of course it has. I also don't really care if the writing-as-writing is not of the standard it once was. I watch the show for cute pastel ponies doing silly and/or awesome things, and I've got that from all seven seasons so far. I'm in this for the long haul, probably into G5 as well.