Site Post » All Our Best [Royal Canterlot Library] · 3:48am Feb 1st, 2022
As should be obvious from 15 months without a feature, life has taken the Royal Canterlot Library curators in different directions. While there’s still plenty of awesome stories being written in the My Little Pony fandom, we’re no longer actively working to spotlight them, and it’s time to officially draw the project to a close.
Thank you for all of your support, suggestions, and comments over the years. We’re grateful to have been able to share seven years of exemplary stories with you, and give more insight into the minds behind them. In the spirit of the project, please keep reading and recommending fantastic fics to friends—the community is enriched when we all share what we love.
On that note, there are several reviewers out there who are still active, so if you’re wondering where to find more recommendations, consider following Louder Yay, TCC56, PaulAsaran, and of course our own Present Perfect.
We will keep our features up on royalcanterlotlibrary.net as long as it is feasible, though if there’s a particular feature/interview you want to keep forever, this might be a good time to pull it up from our archives and save a copy.
All our best,
AugieDog
FanOfMostEverything
Horizon
Present Perfect
RBDash47
Soge
Allowing myself just a touch of self-indulgence:
This is the second time I've made this post, and it's surprisingly bittersweet. Bitter, of course, because I'm sad to see a good thing come to an end, but sweet in that there was a reason to make it again—because when I shut down the Pony Fiction Vault back in 2013 a group of authors I had grown to respect and admire felt the need to keep that idea going, and ended up featuring over three times as many stories as I ever did. I was so glad the Royal Canterlot Library came to be, and it was surreal to join it as the freshman curator a few years ago.
My personal thanks to everyone who's served as a curator at the RCL over the years, but especially to the founding curator team of horizon, Present Perfect, Chris, Benman, and Pascoite for getting it off the ground to begin with.
The writing was probably on the wall for a while, but it still hurts to see the end become official. This has been a pretty brutal month for the News column overall, really.
Alas, all things must come to an end someday. Thanks for everyone's hard work over the years, and best of luck with all your future endeavors!
Between this and Seattle's Angels, feels like things on the site are winding down a bit...
--Sweetie Belle
Can anyone tell me what is going on?
It's been an amazing run.
I held out hope for a long time that it was just a pause. But I think we all kind knew it was going down. Thank you all for the effort.
So does this mean that FIMFiction will be shutting down?!
I am being 100% honest when I say that getting the email saying that Under A Luminous Sky was being accepted into the PFV still feels like my high water mark in the fandom. Thank you for all y'all did. Stay awesome.
You guys did such great work for so long. You gave writers here something to aspire to, something beyond the populism of the Feature Box. I've not seen anything like that anywhere else. And it's emblematic of why the writing culture on fimfiction is lightyears ahead of anywhere else. I won't forget the RCL panel at the last Bronycon - it was one little room in a whole convention centre, but for those there it was a glorious affirmation that stories matter.
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I see no reason why it would. The site is still getting almost as many stories as it was during season 9, and is still managing around 50% of the traffic it was getting back in season 5.
Fimfiction clearly has a long tail and will likely be here for a while yet.
RCL set the bar high for quality, arguably the highest in the fandom. Never did a recommendation disappoint me, and it was a pipe dream of mine for years to be featured and interviewed. To this day I consider it one of the greatest achievements of my short but sweet writing career.
Thank you, Royal Canterlot Library. Bless you all, and may the internet remember your deeds for eternity.
I remember when getting an RCL feature was genuinely the #1 goal in my life. I would legit lay awake at night thinking about it. Then I finally got it… and while it definitely didn’t fill the void in my soul, it was pretty damn cool.
All my love to y’all. Absolute shining stars, every one of you.
And I never got in.
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...what?
I never really thought I'd get nominated for this anyway. But I hope the best for all the curator team of the RCL.
And good luck for your guys' future.
Thanks for all the fish, guys. <3
So many high-profile shutdowns in my first few months here. Definitely feels like I got onboard with MLP too late.
Hope G5 can keep drawing in more newbies like me.
Aw, bummer. Getting an RCL feature was on my FimFic bucket list. But hey, when it's time for something to end, it's time. Thank you guys for all the hard work you put in over the years. I know at least some of you will still be hanging around; it's honor to keep watching you.
Not gonna lie, the Royal Canterlot Archive always felt to me like a "Writing Ponyfic Lifetime Achievement Award."
The submissions were supposed to only be for a single story, but with how detailed the interviews could be, it felt like I really got to know a lot of these authors and their works. Reading these posts were some of my favorite things to experience in the whole Brony Fandom.
Sad to see it go, but I definitely understand just how much work this is. Thanks so much to everyone for putting so much effort over the years.
It does make me sad to see this. I think that's largely because I've come here at the tail end of these things, like I've missed a part of history I could have been part of.
But such is life. I'm also glad it's been so well received, and this is an excellent chunk of history to keep around as log as possible. Thank you guys for doing what you have over the years, even if I wasn't there for it at the time!
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I pray that it doesn't, and that it never will.
It's been a ride... thanks for all the hard work and great reviews.
Being featured once has to have been the highlight of my 'career' here on this site.
And I've found so many great stories at the library.
Thanks again and all the best, whatever you do and wherever life takes you.
Really a shame. The RCL was an institution. Thanks to you and all the good people involved for all your hard work. I was really honored to be included.
That sucks, but time is just evil like that. Thanks for everything, the RCL was a wonderful thing for diving a bit deeper into the minds behind the stories, and getting accepted for Discourse on Fillies remains my greatest achievement on fimfiction.
Thank you for all you've done. Best of wishes moving forward.
I just wish I could've made it in.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2018/2/24/1664189.gif
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Don't worry. I felt like that back in late 2013 when I started here and it felt then like Equestria Daily was already hitting its peak (I was so wrong about that btw) and that was also the year the Pony Fiction Vault closed too. Doors close, and doors open. For all we know, there will be a new generation, so to speak, of high quality G5 writers who decide they want to start something akin to RCL and SA.
I was meaning to ask y'all about what was happening. Fuck. I guess the RCL rec club just got massively more exclusive, and it's an honor to be a part of it.
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I know I haven't posted any recently lol oof, but I also do reviews:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEO03ZWPoKOg4RDzhCZqarVL9noCvAanG
And thus the Fimfic Elite fades into the shadows.
Thank you Royal Canterlot Library for being a shining light in the fandom and especially thank you all for helping steer exceptional Fantasy Horse-Punk fanfictions into dead tree format prints. When the plugs have been pulled and all has vanished into vague recollections of what had been, the books I've purchased will gallop still.
No matter how many of my stories get featured, no matter how many followers I accrue, no matter how many incredible readings are done from my works...
...I'll never achieve my dream of getting just one story in the Library.
It's sad to see things change and projects end, but I do believe we still have much more to offer as a community of writers, and although our beloved reviewing groups are fading away, we are still blessed with an engaged community that encourages writing, reading, and finding gems.
Farewell, RCL.
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So now they're the shadowy cabal running things behind the scenes!
wwOO°ooOo°°··....
Thank you for all the amazing work you did. I know full well it's hard to end a project like this, but the good memories will live on.
I still consider getting a story on the RCL to be the highest achievement of my time on Fimfic. The end of an era, thanks for all the story recommendations :)
Wow, alright. Another thanks for the last 10 years is in order, then: first it was SA, and now it's goodbye RCL. Man, bittersweet for sure. Be seeing you.
Can’t say this is a surprise, but it still hurts to have 100% confirmation the RCL isn’t returning. Like many things due to my entry time into the fandom, I only experienced the tail end of it, but it’s always been a pleasure to read old RCL spotlights. Even from my vantage point, the effect and benefit of the RCL to the community was clear.
And like everyone who didn’t already have it, I had “getting a story on RCL” on the bucket list, though as it had been basically dormant by the time I started writing and publishing MLP fics, I knew it was basically never going to happen unless the RCL returned to its prior output level. Still stings a little, it gave one something to shoot for. We’ll have to manage without that motive pushing us, sure!
Both SA and RCL? Aww jeez.
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To anyone who's sad they'll never get an RCL feature, hey, me and horizon never will either. :') You're in good company.
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Just entirely for the record, the decision to shutter the RCL came well before SA's announcement. That it took until after said announcement for our announcement to go up speaks to why the decision was made in the first place, I think. c.c;
Well, so long and thanks for all the fi
shcs5632885
Still, it's quite the blow to see both of y'all hanging up the hat as a collaborative. They were good ways to help bring together the community, which there is a lot less of as the fandom grows older. And the posts always got a lot of traffic. Will there be anything taking its place? Other than yourself, the reviewers listed could possibly be worthy of features in their own right. I'm not sure how becoming a site feature gets selected, but it's probably worth considering.
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I think it's extremely apropos that we had our goodbye post written at the end of December... but we're all so checked out that it took SA's post to remind us "oh hey right we should actually post that."
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Exactly. XD
I remember back in 2014 when I first came on this website, and the RCL stories were the first ones that went into my "Read Later" folder. I always dreamed of being featured in one, but alas, time waits for no man. The fact that most of the stories were home runs in my mind only made me all the more appreciative how careful the RCL curators were in their selections. Even with the stories I didn't particularly care for, I still felt like the selections provided an interesting read and broadened my horizons about what MLP fan-fiction could do. Which was exactly what RCL set out to do.
Good luck to all of you RCL curators, and here's hoping we can keep the spirit of the Library alive in the coming years!
Wish I’d been a fan before all this happened. Shit, now I’m sad. WHY???
THIS FANDOM DESERVES TO LIVE AS LONG AS FECKIN’ SOUTH PARK AND SPONGEBOB! 😫😭🥺
It’s like walking down the street of your hometown, seeing all your favorite places shuttered, or new ones going up in the old storefronts. And one of them is run by Ken Jeong.
Thanks for all that you did, guys. Special shout-out to the best and most prolific author featured in the RCL, jakkid166.
I seth Standmore will always remember the Royal Canterlot Libarry for you're Long Service and Faithful Friedship's................. many are the stores I opene dbecause of you're recommendation's and, many are the story's that have insipid me. I would like to start a Kuckstarter to make a LIBRARY BUILDING for the ROYAL CANTERLOT LIBRARY in REAL LIFE in my HOME TOWN of CARSON CALIFORNIA, please massage me if you would like to cuntribute Fifteen Dollar's to my new prospect.
My Grandfarhter ROY STANDMORE is in heaven right now Playing a song on his Hurdy-Gurdy for you all....... a song of HONOR and NOBLE. GOD BLESS ALL You're SNEEZES, ROYAL CANTERLOT LIBEARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND I WILL ALWAYS STAND MORE WITH YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sincerely Seth Standmore
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It won't be the same of course, but I'm trying to set something up with more of a G5 focus (while not ignoring G4). I'd been planning it for a bit, recent events have just led me to speed things up.
Back on the topic, hopefully the trails lead you all in a happy direction, and thanks for all you did for the site.
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Yeah, I kinda have to worry if the News column's becoming a bit too barren myself. When I joined in '18, its three fixtures were the RCL, SA, and the episode discussions. The first two are gone, and the fact that A New Generation never got a discussion thread makes me fearful for the third's fate as well. For now, all the column really has left are occasional contest announcements and maybe one-off site updates.
I don't think I'm qualified to start anything myself, but it would certainly be nice if we could keep the community ball rolling, y'know what I mean?
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Sounds right up my alley. I look forward to the grand opening of the Zephyr Heights Royal Library (or whatever you decide to call it)!
Best of luck!
:)