Random Ramblings CCXCIV · 12:30am Jul 22nd, 2018
IN WHICH I UPDATE YOU SORT OF
So… This neat song dropped early Friday morning. Thought I'd share it with y'all.
If you're tired of my recent MV's, just know I'm posting a FatRat vid next time. Anyway, onto stuff.
First off, I want to apologize for not having Sonata's second Burrito story completed yet. I wrote another paragraph of it today, for the first time in like a week. I haven't looked at the other Burritoverse stories in awhile, but I think this one will be my longest to-date -- it's currently sitting at 3600 words and I still have an entire "act" to write.
A lot of writing, whether we want it to or not, falls pretty squarely into a three-act structure. I blame television, or at least American television, where the format demands it. While SRA didn't always, Burritoverse stories do -- (1) Setup, (2) Internal Rambling, (3) Stuff happens -- I suppose you could say that that the Burritoverse is simply a bunch of variations on the same theme. It's precisely why I was really upset when I realized with "Maud" that I'd created four stories in a row with male chauvinist pigs as antagonists. Since the stories were written months apart, I didn't really notice until readers pointed it out to me. In response, none of the last three stories have a male antagonist (okay, Sonata 2.0 does at the very beginning, but nothing comes of it).
Of course almost everything I do is in service to my larger task of building a world I hope, for me and for y'all, is interesting and worth exploring more. Readers were finally given (and noticed) a hint at some world secrets with my Sci-Twi Burrito story. "Sonata" will not hint at any earth-shattering Truths, but it does give some dimension to the Burrito Barn itself, along with its proprietors. Now I just need to figure out exactly how Sonata's going to screw up her new job on the first day -- I have a general idea of what's going to happen, but I'm still fuzzy on the details, which sucks since I'm the creator.
In hindsight, I should have made the Burritoverse a single story and tagged it as an anthology, since the Sunset original was so popular, readers would have been happier to see another chapter rather than a totally different story (even though the content would be exactly the same). However, in my defense, the "Anthology" tag didn't exist when I started the Burritoverse in 2015 and, due to the five-character limit, I wouldn't be able to name every character who shows up at the Burrito Barn over the seven-month timeline of the universe. So, you're just gonna get one-shots until the final entry, which is the only one I haven't even started. I don't even know which characters will appear other than Sunset and Sonata.
Unlike SRA and some of my other stories, I DON'T want to seek help on the Burrtioverse at all. I feel like these stories in particular need to be 100% unfiltered me, for better and for worse. That said, I'm glad to have found no fewer than two followers with whom I feel I have a good working relationship when it comes to helping me through my writing struggles.
Speaking of struggling, I'm trying to figure out a name for the daughter of the owners of the Burrito Barn. That's where my mind is now.
A new reader who just discovered SRA has been leaving comments. Positive, which is nice. But I feel bad since my stories seem to trigger painful memories in his life. He also said that his "muse has left" since becoming medicated. While my own output is shit at best, longtime followers know this has always been the case with me, and I don't think there's been much of a change pre- vs. post-meds. I'm just slow.
I'm certainly not hurting for ideas. I just had two today, in fact:
- The Apocalypse Ponies from Robot Chicken cross the dimensional void and besiege the EQG-verse. Sunset is immune because she's already gone through hell and back multiple times so she doesn't care. She pisses them off so much they leave.
- Sunset meets Discord.
- Here's one I started a week ago -- Twilight meets the Over-God (i.e. me) because she's upset at how she's depicted in my stories, which apparently have been written down in Equestria itself. More Granny Smith weirdness.
I've already said that probably the most important character in my EQG-verse other than Sunset is Apple Bloom, who has pointedly never made a single appearance in any of my EQG stories to date. Well, the most important character in my Equestria stories is Granny Smith. I wish I could tell you exactly why, but I can't. Not yet. Two big stories I already have completed need to be posted first, and I can't post them until I finish this Sonata story. I'd love to finish the entire Burritoverse before moving on to the important stuff, but I feel like I've kept y'all waiting long enough. I don't know what I'll do.
So, I guess it's back to work. Or sleep. Or the gym. Whatever.
Peace out!
Glad you're still trucking along.
I've had a bit of an internal collapse lately but things seem to be back on the up and up at last.
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I'm so sorry to hear that.
From your last blog, I thought you were doing better after all the chaos you've been going through, so I didn't want to bother you. Glad to know things are improving for you though.
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It’s been a bit of a cyclical thing. I suppose it’s premature to shout from the rooftops that I’m back at 100%. But it’s been trending upward, and a lot, and in fairly concrete ways.
I suppose I’ve got a few more milestones before I’ll know I’m back all the way. But they feel pretty close.
Beautiful song. Take your time, and I'm glad you got a new viewer who leaves such great comments! We all need someone like that. And nice ideas. Glad you're still trucking along.