I'm back? · 5:15am Jan 26th, 2021
Hey everyone. It's been a while, huh?
So I took quite a break from writing, and some of you may be wondering why. First thing's first, I assure everything's been fine during this hiatus. Some good days, some off days. Pretty typical.
So why the break from writing? Well, the answer is simple. I got tired of writing and needed a break. I also exhausted all my ideas, and didn't have much more to write. Frankly I figured I was done with writing.
But I can't just leave things as is. My stories need sequels after all. Right?
Well, I tried a couple of times, but I couldn't. I was quite happy not writing frankly, and found it difficult to pick writing back up again. Most of that might have had to do with the fact that I went overboard in August.
I spent a lot of time writing, especially in August. In a single month, I published the 3 finale chapters to Cozy Chronicles, but in that same month, I wrote 2 separate Cozy Glow stories for the Cozy Glow Short Story Contest.
This was extremely taxing on me. I spread my creativity thin, and pushed my ability to write to its limits. But why?
The deadline for the contest was end of August, so it made sense to get those done. Looking back I suppose I didn't need to finish Cozy Chronicles in August, but I wanted the last chapter of CC to be the last thing I published, which it would've been anyway if I'd just saved it for September I guess. But as I'm writing this, I remember why I did it.
The plan was that after I finished my stories, was that it was supposed to be the end of my, let's just call it my Cozy campaign.
That was the plan. I had spent every day since the finale thinking about Cozy Glow, to the point I thought it was unhealthy. Finishing my stories in August, and calling it quits, and potentially moving on from Cozy Glow seemed like what was best for my mind.
But I couldn't do it. I couldn't let go of her. So I did the worst possible thing I could do.
First of all, A Different Kind of Ending stirred quite the... discussion. I participated in the discussion as you may have seen. Perhaps a little more participation than I should have, as it was quite a stir. But that's child's play compared to what happened next.
Just 3 days after I published the last chapter, someone posted a Cozy themed meme template to Derpibooru. With Cozy fresh on my mind, I just couldn't pass on the opportunity to exploit. So very quickly, I posted this image to Derpibooru: https://derpibooru.org/images/2436859
I made the image, but didn't want to publish it at first. I made the image and contemplated heavily about posting it, but somewhat reluctantly did, because I was curious what the response would be. Why not, right? Can't be that bad, right? Just upload it, then move on as planned. But oh man, I could not have anticipated the complete and utter chaos that would erupt in the comments section.
For the next few days, I foolishly stood my ground, and got in an intense and heated argument with several users, including an anonymous user who absolutely hated Cozy Glow, was extremely brash, and I would say they were downright rude to anyone who defended Cozy Glow. They claimed Cozy was evil, would always be evil, and deserved a punishment worse than what the show delivered. I obviously disagreed, and tried to argue with evidence, something hard to do with a character like Cozy who has a lot of gaps in her story, and while they tried to use evidence too, oh never mind, not gonna get into any more specifics of their tactics.
I tackled them head on, keyboard warrior and everything, along with other steadfast Cozy defenders, but eventually I couldn't take it anymore. Reading every word every, spending HOURS typing up a single response, rinse and repeat, it drove me crazy.
I left my final thoughts, told them they weren't interested in having a constructive conversation, and then never posted another comment to the image again. Of course the comments continued to go wild, up until the point where the comments section got locked, it was so toxic.
Later in the year, a user was uploading screencaps of the show, eventually made their way to screencaps of The Ending of the End Part 2. And as they uploaded screencaps, I took the opportunity to comment on the images posted, and give criticism. Thus proving I can't let go. Then in the end of October, they uploaded the legion of doom statue. I learned my lesson and was in no mood to engage in another heated debate, but I did post my final thoughts in an anonymous comment, calling it "[The moment that] ruined the entire legacy of the show."
So that was about it.
I know I shouldn't put too much stake in this. Derpibooru is... well you know. But regardless, it came to great disappointment to me just how controversial of a character Cozy Glow is. She represents a rift in an already divided fandom. Her ending is perhaps the biggest in-show controversy to ever befall Friendship is Magic. Bigger than Twi-corn, and bigger than the reveal of Equestria Girls.
So where does that leave me today? In recent times, I've formed a newer, more refined stance on the ending. I'm not just disappointed in the ending, I feel absolutely betrayed by it. To have a show about Love and Tolerance, and to cap off a nearly 10 year legacy with an absolutely cynical, hateful, and hypocritical ending, is frankly betrayal to anyone who cared about the franchise. But I digress. I gotta move on from that ending.
All of this is to say, not only did I get burnt out on writing my stories, but I got burnt out by the sheer drama.
You know, writing this reminded me that it was my plan to move on from Cozy Glow in the month of September. I forgot about it until now because, well, here we are in January and I'm far away from that goal.
Let's not leave things on a sour note. There is a silver lining, and that's that some people do care about Cozy Glow, and wish her a better ending. I almost forgot after getting so wrapped up in the drama, but some people are on the same page as me. The other week on Twitter, someone backed me up, and called out the ending, and said it was "messed up". Not to mention the feedback on my stories from you lovely people of course. I'm here to spread Cozylove, and I'm glad that there are people who back me up, and back Cozy up.
I may be guilty of asserting my opinion onto others, sometimes unprovoked. But know it was never my goal to stir drama, insult, name call, or belittle anyone I disagree with. It is my goal to have healthy and constructive conversation. It may not come across that way based on the storm my stories and that image created, but I attribute that again to the controversial nature of the ending. I've been playing with fire. But regardless, I stand that it's my goal to spread Cozylove, and that's what I'm going to do.
Long story short, I got burnt out. So no more stories? Not so fast.
Since, I'm still thinking about Cozy Glow, (for better or worse), I've been thinking about how I could definitely write a sequel to my contest entries for some time now, so...
That is why I'm pleased to say that I am indeed writing a sequel to A Different Kind of Ending! Not just that, this new story is also a sequel to My Boyfriend Pip, because both my contest entries share continuity, so this story is a sequel to both. I've spent the past couple weeks (on and off, and even longer if you count drafts and early ideas), working on it, and I think I can have the first chapter published by week's end.
So yeah. It feels good to be back. But on the other hand, I feel like I'm just readdicting myself to an unhealthy habit I was glad to have dropped. I mean, I've been writing for a few hours today alone. I don't plan to commit to long stories again, which is one of the main reasons why Cozy Chronicles isn't getting a sequel (other reasons include lack of ideas frankly, plus the fact that that story already had a perfect ending)
I suppose that's it for now. I'll catch you guys later this week for the first chapter of my next story: My Filly From Tartarus!(working title?)
While I'm at it, I've thought about doing story explained blog posts where I write about the background to some of my stories. That could be fun, or perhaps it'd spoil the mysterious quality of my stories, or maybe they desperately need context and it could be cool. Maybe it'd be too much effort anyway. We shall see I guess.
Aye m8 I was also on Derpibooru on multiple posts for all of them Chrysalis Tirek and cozy and called out the hypocrisy there some die-hard discord fans just would not see reason but I was surprised to find big support for what we believe of the ending and some really intelligent kind-hearted people put forth justice! But we can only hope s10 will fix this havoc.
If it's any consolation Mark Acheson the voice actor of Tirek hated himself that ending.
Nice to see you back, old friend.