Let me answer your first question. No, I'm still not aiming to continue the story. There would have been two more chapters to close out the story. That out of the way...
Where do you begin with this? I dont really know. It's been three months and I still haven't fully recovered. I really don't want to whine all the time, so let's begin with how and why the ending fiasco happened.
In short, the good ending was the planned ending since the beginning. After the climax, I planned to have Twilight wake up at Celestia's castle, free of Sombra's influence but still loving him. Tia would arrive, and Twilight would grow ashamed over her actions. But Tia would push those fears aside and said she still loves Twilight, knowing that Sombra deceived her. She promises to help Twilight heal from her mental scars.
Then three months later, Twilight has now recovered a bit, but its later discovered she's pregnant with Sombra's child. She swears her child will not grow up to be like his father, and rather be more like his mother.
But that was my game plan all along, and I'll explain why this all happened for those who don't know yet or haven't read my blog posts. If you have, skip down a while.
So I wrote along to what I was planning to do and such, until I read a comment explaining in great detail why my original ending was not a good idea, and why doing a darker turn would have been better. And then I realized I had nothing to argue.
I don't think I realized it as peer pressure for a long while, because I certainly didn't see it that way. It was more like wondering how I missed that and feeling dumb for not seeing it this way. So in my head, I wrestled with the two endings, and ultimately felt like the bad ending was the better choice solely because the sequel plan sounded awesome to me.
But once it was uploaded, I felt guilty about it for two reasons. One, while I don't think dark fiction is bad, I realized quickly that i don't like to do dark endings. I like happier endings, even if the good ending would leave Twilight scarred for life. And two, I realized it wasn't really my ending that I just wrote.
It wasn't my intention to just switch endings like I did, it was a quick change of heart. And I knew some wanted the dark ending to stay.
That's why the final version happened. I figured that if I kept the dark ending up but wrote the finish my way, it would make everyone happy. And yeah...didn't turn out like I thought it would.
I think the thing that pushed me to cancel the story wasn't only the backlash, but how the guys who supported me were getting six to ten down votes. I didn't want anyone else to go through a backlash I caused.
And in retrospect, when I think about what that experience did to me, it broke me for two months. By July "a walking zombie" described me well, and I had to fight just to be sane for a while. Writing was pretty much the only thing keeping me up, and the reactions to it and the fanbase i was getting.
I want it to be made clear that I blame myself for what happened. The ending fiasco was my fault in the end, and if I had stuck to my original plans, this could have been avoided. And I paid the price for it big time.
Do I plan to write again? I already have, but its nothing pony related for the most part. I got a virus on my PC that's forced me to stick with a tablet to this day, so even if I did write, I couldn't really upload it here for the time being.
I don't think I'm going to write pony fan fiction for a while, but you never know...
I just hope to God, above all, that I'm forgiven one day for this, and that writing this apology of sorts can put this story behind me forever.
You know, I would love to see you coutiune writing. I didn't care of how this story would have ended, good or dark ending.
I was just along for an amazing ride and it was indeed.
Regardless it is your decision of what you want to do things, so I wish you best of luck in your future envedaors; hope to see you back in here.
appology is fine but dude...the endings weren't even considered an ENDING to me. seriously? you ended it on an action scene. not only that, you left leway for the story to continue. left quite a few points untied and...it was just a big mess. you make a story that's REALLY great until you get to the end....this was just like most animes or more commonly....some stories. good start, GREAT GREAT story, but...you end it off on a point that just lets the reader down. you pull our hopes up just to drop them
while it's harsh...it's true. i accept the appology. tho
well good luck with everything i personally thought both endings were awesome your a great writer
3178677
If i kept going, there would have been two more chapters as a wrap up.
3178686 makes sense. would have liked to see them but atleast i know there was more to it than just the alternate endings
You don't have to be sorry, the story was GREAT through and through
3178689
Yes. Twilight would wake up in Celestia's castle, free of Sombra's influence but still loving him, and Tia would arrive. Twilight would show signs of mental scarring, and apologizes for what she has done, but Tia days she'll help her through the healing process, knowing that Sombra had used her.
Then, three months later, Twilight discovers she's pregnant.
3178702 ohhh sounds like it'd have been a great ending . thank you
3178702 that does sound like a great ending to the story
3178705
A sequel was planned where the child, Dusk Trail, was about eight and earned his cutie mark. But its in dark magic, hinting that Sombra has more influence over him than Twilight wanted.
This begins a tale of self discovery for Dusk.
3178720 w00t
3178702 so when will the sequel be posted if at all?
This going to be AWSOME
3178750
I canceled plans for a sequel once I canceled the story. By that point I wanted to be rid of the whole thing, and I'm still trying to get rid of the demons its caused me to get.
That's actually why I'm saying all of this, in hopes I won't be haunted by it anymore.
It sucks that you blame yourself for something that wasn't your fault, the backlash of comments was the fault of the people who wrote those comments, not you. My years on the internet have taught me something about comments, something I hold with me to this day.
They're all absolute rubbish.
Am I annoyed that you cancelled the story?
Yes.
Do I blame you?
Not now, not ever.
The amount you wrote was fantastic, and you should be proud of how great your story is. And you shouldn't feel bad because random people of the internet said, "Ur wy iz ron! Do it mi wy!"
I think you had a gem of a story here, and it sucks you won't be continuing it, however I understand your reasoning behind canceling and wish you the best of luck in future endeavors.
3178759 um if u don't mind explain please?
Jeez, lighten up
3178832
I was going to write all the ending to KOTD then write the sequel,'but when I canceled KOTD, I canceled the plans for a sequel too. By then KOTD was causing a lot of pain so I tried to drop everything related to it.
3178858
It was and still is a traumatic experience for me.
Still, after reading this, couldn't help but think of a certain scene from Batman Begins...
I'm so sorry all this happened. I was so looking forward to seeing how it played out+the interesting sounding sequel(I actually got a bit excited when I saw that it was this fic that had updated thinking maybe you'd decided to go ahead and start writing it again).
I still don't understand why people had to be such entitled jerks about it all. I mean, they got their dark, 'Twi goes bad' ending. So it wasn't canon, who fucking cares? If ya'll want to read an AU of the story where Twi goes evil, well write it yourself instead of basically forcing the author to write something they do not want to do at all. Because that is just wrong. You're readers, you don't decide what happens in a story.
Also, this is totally why I never say anything about what I plan on having happen in a story to anyone reading it, that way if it turns out they don't like the way something goes/the ending, well tough shit it's already written and out so I ain't changing it(I did rewrite a chapter and a bit once though after several readers pointed out how something didn't make sense. And they were right, and I ended up liking version 2 better).
You just gotta be strong and say 'screw those guys', because honestly, readers who are going to be entitled jerks about something and insist their ending to a story is better are readers you can do without. You should be writing because you want to and because you like it.
And I hear ya on the liking happy endings bit. My stories generally end with happy endings, cause I can't do sad either(and the one time I did do sad, I wrote a shorter 'good ending' after because fuck it why not? And I'd suddenly thought of a way to make it work as well xD). I can do a sad/dark story, and have the character go through hell through out the whole thing but damnit I'll end up giving them a happy, or even bittersweet ending by the end of it cause they deserve it. (And yet two of my favourite Shakespearean plays are tragedies with happy endings for, no one really)
3178677
If you'd read what was just posted, they explained why they'd done that.
The tl;dr version is, they had an ending planned out (the 'good' ending, which was several chapters longer), but people didn't like that idea, so they wrote the 'dark' ending at the behest of a commenter who, it sounds like, told them 'your nice ending is bad, make it a dark one'. Only after writing did they, the author, realize that they didn't like the dark ending at all and wanted to go with the original idea. They started to(by posting the canon ending, only for people to lose their shit over it.
And that's a really dickish move on the readers parts tbh. The author gave them the 'Twi goes evil' ending that they(the whiners) wanted, as well as the canon ending that they(the author and other readers) wanted and they still threw a tantrum.
So the author said enough was enough and just cancelled the whole story before it was even finished(hence why it seems like they just stopped abruptly with no proper ending, because there isn't one, it never got written).
3178898
The guy who suggested the dark ending has since apologized, so I have nothing against him.
Ya know, when you posted all the news about your decision the first time, I went on a huge, rage-filled rant. I said a lot of things about what I thought about why it was a mistake, why you were doing it wrong, everything of the like.
I'm gonna go delete that now. Sorry, mate, honest I am. You did a good job, and if it messed you up that bad, you've all rights to take a break from it.
Hey we all have periods like that. Frankly I think it is good to take a break from mlp stories and come back whenever you feel ready. If you don't write mlp again, well that's fine too. I mean from what I have read of KOTD you are a good writer and have drawn in a huge crowd. Frankly I don't think you need to apologize but if it's any consolidation, you seem like a really good guy and I hope it works out for you if you don't mind me saying.
Heck I'd try writing the sequel to KOTD if I had your permission or had the confidence to write a full length mlp fic again. Frankly I like the idea of Dusk Trail and wonder how things would have worked out for him? I mean what would Celestia and Luna think considering they were the ones to kill Sombra to save Twilight, that and I could oddly see Spike being a sort of big brother figure to Dusk.
Anyway good luck
Shame you won't be finishing this up, but your reasons are your own, and I can respect them as well as completely understand.
That being said, this fic was an amazing read, and your portrayal of the relationship between Twilight and Sombra, as well as her corruption from the start, was very VERY well done. Your writing style and formatting was/is great as well (something I could definitely learn from), and both "endings" were very well written (though my preferred one was the good ending).
Take care, and good luck with your future projects, and hopefully you do, some day, make a return =D
You dont need to apologize at all. It's our faults for how this turned out. We forced you to make changes to your story to make the story how we wanted it to be, not how you wanted it to be. Just realize that you are a great writer and have nothing to feel bad about. If you ever want someone to talk to, just pm me and we can talk :3
And this is why I told you to stick with the original plan to only write the Good Ending...
Okay, I've got to respond to this.
I am truly, deeply sorry, as a fellow writer, that you had to go through all of this. The way I see it, it really isn't fair that you write this awesome, captivating story, then get shafted by the fanbase because they want to see what you don't want to provide. That's wrong on so many levels...
I don't see what you have to apologize for. While I haven't gone through what I'm sure is a mess of the comments and, frankly, some sort of fan war, I will say that based on what you're saying, it's not your fault. It's natural instinct for the writer to want to keep their fans happy, and seeing this makes me think you're no different. And in regards to That One Argument from That Guy? Yeah, I had one of those Guys post an Argument on a fic of my own, 'Markings of a King', and for a while he seemed like he had a valid point. And then I realized he was kind of a tool, and I stopped responding to him.
'Don't feed the troll', as they say.
Now, as a fan, I'm sorry to see that this wonderful story will not be continuing. It irritates me to no end to see that it was pressure that forced you to quit, pressure from the fans no less. I hope that you continue to write, and maybe you'll come back to us one day. I also hope that you learn to take criticism and arguments with a grain of salt, because I HATE to see anybody depressed because of a simple paragraph or so.
'Better to write for the self, and have no public, then to write for the public and have no self'.
I hope your life takes an upturn soon.
its all good brother!! jus' relax. No problems dude.
Well wait for you to get through this depression stage that some of us might have caused. PS. I like the sombraxtwilight child. Can't wait to see what you have there dude. Although there is another spinoff currently from the bad ending. I feel like when your better you should continue from your side of things.
Above all though relax. We're not going anywhere
The whole vote system makes cyber bullying on this site too easy. there should just be a thing that says how many people like the story and no voting on others comments. Everyone is entailed to their own opinion.
I love your stories man, sorry you feel this way.
3179525 I enjoy being able to express whether or not I agree with a comment with one click.
3179734
It just that a some anti genre groups rose up. mostly I would if you don't like it don't click, if you do than click. The down vote is to easily abused.
Thanks for the story, I liked it
I hope you get lots of inspiration and that you might someday do another pony story if you get them itchy writing fingers again
I respect your decision to end your story because the fans obviously didn't understand that this is your story and goaded you into making a dark ending. I do hope that you haven't been put off writing altogether as you have a great way to tell a story and I hope to see more from you.
Any backlash you received for that ending was completely uncalled for; it was well written regardless of the dark turn it took.
At the end of the day, when you write, you create your own world, a world in which you can do whatever the hell you see fit. I'm disappointed to know you'll be stopping over something that I honestly consider to be quite small.
But then, I'm not in your situation so I can't really judge your reaction.
Either way, I hope to see you back sooner rather than later. Before this story, Sombra was just a horribly underdeveloped villain to me. But then you made him a character, a character I appreciated, and for that I'm grateful.
I really did hope you'd continue it, but it's entirely your decision.
On another note, I've dealt with a couple of exceptionally nasty viruses on my PC before (one actually locked me out of my PC and demanded money to remove it; it took me 3 days to get rid of the damn thing). There might be a chance that I've had what you've got, so just on the off-chance that you do, could you describe what the virus has done to your PC? (That is, if you want to of course. I'd just like to help out where I can to show my appreciation).
Just move forward. Many writers have that proverbial "Black Book" In their library that they dont really want to talk about. Its all about overshadowing that with future successes.
Good luck with your writing and hopefully someday we might see you back here with the Magic of Freindship.
I've been through this exact same thing. It took me almost a year to be able to look my story in the face again and write more in the vein of what I wanted to do. That's why I hope you can one day look back and rewrite this the way you wanted it. I think you'll find that when you come back and change this story to be the story you intended, you'll feel a lot better about it and yourself.
Keep writing :)
*looks at all the supportive comments*
See, now this is what he wanted the whole time, and what I wanted to see from Soothing's readers. This story was his passion, and he put a lot of heart into it. When the backlash came from the discussion of the endings, I seriously facehoofed many, many times. Then I see he cancels the story, and I go, "Good job, guys. Now look what you did. I don't think Twilight's the only scarred one now..."
But then I see all these comments about forgiving him and supporting his views on the whole subject. About both endings, his motivations, his plans if he were to continue the story, and all of that. This is what I wanted to see the whole time.
I already made my views clear a long time ago, but I'll mention it again:
I prefer the canon Good Version more because not only is that how the story was meant to go, but also the common reason: it is the good ending. And good endings are best endings. Not only that, but we had 2 more chapters to look forward to, as well as a promising sequel. How many of you wanted that? I know I did.
For my previous statements, I know I cannot speak for Soothing about everything, but I care about him and his writing a lot. In fact, he was the one to even inspire me to become a fanfiction writer in the first place. To that, I give a lot of thanks to him. He's one of my closest friends, and you know how the message goes. Friendship is Magic.
So to all of you that stick by his side and by the side of the story, you are all awesome.
3180823 Agreed, my faithful friend.
I loved your story, keep on writing and don't care too much about what canon says!
Putting it out there.
Soothing's just attention whoring now.
Announced hes leaving ~ fine.
comes back later writes another chapter to his story that' isn't even a chapter. (fairly sure theres something in the rules aginst that too lazy to check but w/e fine)
Much as I wanted to support him it all sounds lie a cry for attention to me. then again I felt the same way over his reaction to the haters in the comment box.
3183625
I've done this three times now for two different stories. The second time didn't even get a lot of attention, so I'd ultimately didn't matter if I was attention whoring or not.
And really, you can't say that about me. There was so much I went through and for all of it to be dismissed for attention whoring is crossing the line. This story still isn't my popular story to date anyways--most popular being Pinkie Pie Discovers Coffee.
And I've done Author's Notes before to stories.
While I'm saddened there won't be any more of this, I understand the reasons behind it. At least it's good to know what was going to happen next.
If I had enough motivation I'd write that sequel myself...
I can understand your trauma. I've been through those phases.
Either way, Apology accepted.
I always understood why you couldn't continue. To me, if there was an emergency. I would quite honestly look at my writing board throw it aside, and rush to the emergency. Fan fics are not my highest priority, my priority is maintaining my friends, family, and health. I always looked at people who were in a way pressuring you to finish this story as well, annoyances. To me, I accept apologies. But this one, I accept it because you have done well. And no matter what, it was a good fan fic. Leave it to our imaginations to finish it.
-V-
3183625
2372745
why aren't you wearing your stormtrooper armor?