May
30th
2021
Random Ramblings CDXIII · 3:45am May 30th, 2021
IN WHICH I'M NOT DEAD (yet)
Greetings. It's been a long time. Or at least it feels that way. Sorry. Enjoy a sort of teaser for my latest story idea!
No, I haven't started writing it, but I am outlining it. Below the jump I have a bit to say if you'll join me…
Soufrière, why did you disappear for so long?
- Several reasons. My interest in Pony has been waning for years (I'm still buying the IDW comics but have built up quite the backlog). After my girlfriend dumped me 4½ years ago, I was able to use the experience to create some of my very best stories, but I stopped watching the actual show -- she had become more of a regular viewer than me by that point even though I got her into MLP. I cared more about my own Sunset-centric universe(s) than whatever was happening in canon. That's still true.
- Moreover, thanks to my ex's love of cosplay getting her (and me) into Ladybaby, which for me soon spread to other Japanese alt-Idol groups, I had fallen hard down the Babymetal foxhole, which led to the even deeper Sakura Gakuin rabbit-hole that I'm still in. Even during my time writing stories for you, I was importing more and more concert Blurays and merch from Japan.
- Most importantly, my dad's death last August caused a chain reaction of real-life events requiring much of my time and emotional energy. While I technically have time more often than not to write, my heart simply wasn't in it, still isn't, and I won't half-ass my work just to get it out there. I'm not talented enough most of the time to barf out a good story in a day, or even a bad story in a day. I take my time and I want to believe it pays off in the quality of the final product. It probably doesn't, but a man can dream.
Have you run out of ideas??
- Hell no! Y'all have no idea how many Pony story ideas have been floating around my head for YEARS. The irony is most of the things I have posted here aren't the truly big ideas, though I've certainly hinted at a grander storyline for Sunset in several of my works. You might have noticed I've never posted a "Crossover" story. It's not because I hate the genre, it's because I haven't been able to make the insane crossover ideas I've had into workable stories. Among the franchises I've wanted to cross MLP with are Lupin III and Urusei Yatsura. The UY idea is a hot mess, but mixing MLP with Lupin could be interesting given Equestria is full of gold and precious gemstones.
Are you going to finish your two unfinished stories?
- Yes. Eventually. I've said many time I hate unfinished stories and do not want to leave any. As much as I love the EQUESTRIA GIRLS parody series, I lost the will to keep working on it, but I've always known how I'm going to end it. And my annual Mayor Mare story, well, I've had to wait for the real life news to catch up so I can write the epilogue. The wheels of justice turn slowly, but Trump is slowly going down.
Will you ever finish your Sunset Shimmer "magnum opus" the way you DIDN'T do your Pinkamena one?
- I don't know. We'll see how my newest Sunset idea -- an AU spinoff -- goes because it has narrative beats that are very similar to how I want to set up my Sunset universe finale, which I've almost completely sketched out years ago but still don't have a good title for. As for the Pinkamena story, it's been years and well over a hundred blog posts since I gave you what I'd outlined. It was the very first Pony story I wrote waaaaaaaay back in 2013 -- I think next month (June) will be exactly eight years from when I first started it. Even though changes in the canon (mostly regarding Pinkie's family but also AJ's) since I created it retroactively force it into AU territory, I could still make it work if I rewrite the whole damn story from scratch. The most difficult thing, amusingly enough, has been finding a workable anagram for "Pinkamena Diane Pie", because the entire story hinges on that and I suck at anagrams. Well, that and finding any will to work on anything at all.
What if you just give up and stop writing Pony altogether?
- Unless I literally die, I won't leave my two readers hanging. I'll do for Sunset and Apple Bloom what I did with my aborted Pinkamena story and simply post my outline and/or summarize what I had planned. Unlike the Pinkamena story (where I created most of its ending while writing its summary), I've had the entire ending of my big Sunset story planned for a long time. Then, like the Pinkamena story, y'all can be upset over What Could Have Been. If anyone cares
That's all for today. I hope to not be so much of a stranger in the future.
Peace out!
Good to hear from you, sir.
I think I'm vibing on a similar wavelength. I still have stories in me but they ain't coming out much lately. In my case I've been focused on RL stuff like home renovations, but also going from clinically depressed to much-much-better. This past year's been a bear.
I hope to see us both back in the trenches at some point here. I feel a certain optimism these days. Though that could easily just be the meds talking.
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I'm actually working on home renovations as well, both at my dad's house (soon to sell) and my own. Rather, I've hired people to do it for me because when it comes to grunt work, I'm either too weak/lazy or incompetent. And some things require professionals for code compliance.
As for my mental state… a lot of stress & anxiety as the clock ticks towards the sell-date on my dad's house -- it's a big house on a fair amount of acreage out in the country. He said before he died it had become too much house for him. He only used the downstairs (the upstairs was my domain). It's too much house for me, plus I don't want to move back to my hometown. I still oversee my dad's business there and that's more than enough. On Friday I hurt my back at his house while lifting boxes o' stuff that we plan to keep.
I'm not really a fan of yards, but I came up with a project that makes me care about my own. I'm in the process of turning my yard as much as possible into a 100% Native Plant property. Sadly, because the hill I live on is naturally heavily forested, I have no place to plant milkweed (my area is on the monarchs' migration route) and other butterfly plants because they like full sun. This is a multi-year project that will involve planting as many new native tree species, flowers, & bushes as I can get away with.
Glad to see you again. :)
As someone who fell down a different idol hole by way of Love Live the last few years, hecking mood
KLK is awesome~