You know, I seem to
recall me saying once upon a time that I was going to stop celebrating these
“milestones” so blatantly. The number of
posts -- and by extension, the number of anniversaries -- doesn’t matter too much
in the long run. I’d prefer to measure
success and value in terms of quality.
But I can’t judge that for myself.
That’s going to come from the people who read this blog, AKA the way it
should be.
So I want to start this
post by thanking those that are reading, whether you’ve been drawn in for the
first time by the prospect of a milestone, or you’re a long-time reader. I know I’m not the most popular blogger on
the internet (and certainly not the smartest or best), but just knowing that I
can make one person happy with what I write here means the world to me.
But I’m still not
satisfied. I want to do more. Offer more.
Excite more. Be more. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
And it starts with
this.
That’s right. Coming soon -- well before year’s end, I hope
-- I plan to launch a special crossover event:
It’s going
to be another bout of web fiction, but this time with a twist: the plan (such
as it is) is to make it a more concise tale.
Not the sprawling beast that I
Hraet You has become, but something much more digestible. Leading man Lloyd is going to be thrown into
a world well beyond his own, and he’ll have to face no shortage of challenges
in “the city of broken dreams”. Does he
have what it takes? More importantly,
who is “The New Line Ace”, Arc Siegel?
What’s his story? Well, I’ll get
to him in a minute, so sit tight.
It’s worth noting right
off the bat that this is NOT going to take the place of I Hraet You. It’s going to
be a bridge of sorts -- a noncommittal, easy-to-process story featuring several
members of that story’s cast. That means
that when it’s done, you can look forward to more IHY chapters. That way,
those who have been following the main story from the beginning can see Lloyd
and company take on some shocking new enemies, and have fun with that. Those who are new to IHY or the blog in general can dive in from the beginning, see who
“The Prince of Love” is, and get interested in the source material. Easy, right?
But wait. I’m not done yet.
I know how this story
goes. I get really excited about some
new project -- post, feature, or otherwise -- and it ends up stewing here out
of harm’s way unless some random blogger/Redditor catches wind of it. I’m not going to let that happen this time,
though. And that’s exactly why I’m
making an announcement: not only will Heat
of the Dead chapters go up here on Cross-Up, but they’ll also be going straight to sites like
Figment and FictionPress. And they won’t
be going alone; the crossover chapters will go up there eventually, but first
and foremost, I Hraet You is going to be available to read elsewhere. No hassle for you, no charge for you.
The fatal flaw of this
blog is that it doesn’t have nearly as much exposure as I want it to have. I’m taking strides to fix that (there’s a
reason why I’ve had a link to my newly-minted subreddit for weeks), but there’s
always more that I could be doing. And
right now, this is what I think I need to do; if the problem is that I can’t
confidently get people to come here and check out my wares, then I need to get
to the people and offer my wares to them.
Granted I haven’t fully figured out how I’m going to work out the kinks
and particulars -- setting aside the task of implementing edits, I’m wary of
how much of a hassle it could be to post the same segment three times,
especially if it’s a formatting hassle -- but I don’t want the fiction stuff to
be the weak link of this blog. I want it
to be just as noteworthy as when I whine about video games.
Speaking of fiction,
let’s answer the question at hand: who the hell is Arc Siegel? And as such, I’ve got to point to this little
fixture:
Arc is actually a
character who (along with his story of origin, D.O.X) actually predates Lloyd by a couple of years. Indeed, once upon a time D.O.X. was set to be my first step toward becoming a writing
hero. But after giving it a good hard
read -- times about eight -- I decided that even if it (i.e. all of its
installments) was good enough to be published, I couldn’t let it go out with a
clear conscience.
It had some gaping flaws, some shoddy work,
and despite its cumulative length of all
of the words it wasn’t nearly as dense -- in plot, characters, theme,
whatever -- as I would have hoped. To
put it simply, I had to choose between putting out something good enough to get
published (however high or low the bar might be) and putting out something
genuinely good…at the cost of YEARS of effort damn near torched.
I think I made the
right choice. By rebooting the story (or
Xrd’ing it, if you
don’t mind the phrase), I made it much, much, MUCH better than it was
before. The pace is faster. The themes are stronger. The setting is clearer. The characters are bolder. The action is punchier. The comedy is funnier. The drama is heavier. The story is darker, but I can
guaran-damn-tee you that it’s my interpretation of “dark done right”. Pretty much everything has been supercharged
by way of getting new life, and the prospect has me absolutely ecstatic.
That’s part of the
reason why I started doing those D.O.X is
Dead posts -- because in order to see how I got here, I need to see where I
came from…and I thought I’d bring readers along for the ride. Likewise, that’s why I’m doing -- or if
nothing else PLAN TO DO -- a crossover with Lloyd and IHY. I see potential in the
character, I like writing him, and I think he could really be something
special.
But if that’s all true,
then there’s another question that needs answering. If I’m so excited by this new story, then why
hasn’t there been a D.O.X. is Dead post
in months? Well, part of that is because
I’ve been sidetracked by other stuff (up to and including posts on terrible
games.) Part of that is because I want
to save the next post for when I have something substantial to say. And part of that is because it seems like a
better idea to peck away at the actual story than a behind-the-scenes look at
the ashes of some long-reborn phoenix.
Or, to put it simply: I
don’t want to do another D.O.X. is Dead post
until I’m done with the new story. And
the way things are looking, I’m going to be done pretty soon.
So I’ll go ahead and
announce its tentative name: Dead on Prime.
Er, not quite. But if you know Guilty Gear -- the likes of which helped make the story possible --
then you totally get the idea.
Guys? I’m gonna be real here. I’m so close to finishing up Dead on Prime. SO CLOSE.
As of this post, I’m effectively on the final stretch. Admittedly that “final stretch” means
bringing the first draft to an end -- and that’s setting aside all the
proofreading and editing that needs doing -- but still. I’m seriously within
arm’s reach of the ending. I need to
chisel out a few more chapters, and I can already visualize exactly what needs
to go in (I’ve been making my “just as planned” face for a while now).
I’m in a strange position where, unlike times
past, I don’t feel like I need to go back and add in scenes to retroactively
boost the quality/plot. What’s written
is -- and I hope I don’t jinx myself with this -- good. I like it.
I actually think it’s pretty good.
And think about what that means coming from me. The only thing I can do as easily as
breathing is self-deprecation; for me to actually call something I made “pretty
good” stands for something.
So I’m calling it now. Dead on
Prime is going to be the one.
It’s going to be the
story that I try and get published.
Ideally, it’s my definitive, no-holds-barred step into the writing
world, and the start of something truly magical for me. For everyone.
I’m doing my best to make something that people would want to read, and
while I know that A) it’s not a perfect story, even now, and B) there’s still a
ton of work to be done, but I can feel it.
This is something that needs to go forward, whether it becomes a tour de
force, or peters out a couple of steps from the starting line.
…It’d probably help if
I wasn’t sick of this canon and wanted to move on to my dream projects, but
whatever. This’ll do it.
So there you have
it. Let the records show that if nothing
else, I’m a wellspring of ambition. And
thus, you readers have a road map as to what sort of story-based content is
going to come to this blog. D.O.X. is Dead posts are going to come
up first, because they’re a lot simpler to put out. Once Dead
on Prime is done (whenever that’ll be -- life being what it is,
interruptions abound), then I’ll start working on and putting out chapters for Heat of the Dead. And THEN, when all that’s cleared, I Hraet You will make its triumphant
return -- here and elsewhere. Just
according to keikaku.
Now, I’m going to work
under the assumption that some of you have glazed over these last few
paragraphs by virtue of reading about mounds of fiction (and/or you’re looking
to make me feel bad about myself), so let me be the first to say that, yes,
there are still going to be video game-based posts, and movie posts, and all
the rest. They’re not going anywhere for
the perceivable future. So while I’d prefer for you to get hyped about the
present and future content, I’m not going to force anyone to buy in. I’ll only suggest it. And I’ll offer up something else as needed.
So for starters, you
can look forward to more of those short open-ended question posts. That’s an opportunity for readers to get
involved and voice their opinions without fear of getting chewed out, and given
the responses to it I’ve seen so far, I imagine it’d be a good idea to keep
that up. (You can look forward to a new
one this Monday.) And like I said, more
video game posts incoming once they’re ready…though I should probably use this
space to make an inquiry or two.
If you’ve taken a look
at the Let’s Discuss page, you might have noticed that there’s quite a backlog
built up. Blame Watch Dogs for that. I’ll
need to get through them in the weeks and months to come (though Ni no Kuni’s going to get something
separate), but for now I want to see what you guys think. That is to say, I want to see what you guys
want me to do a post on first. If you’ve
got a request, mention it in your comment.
If not, I’ll just use my best judgment.
So here’s the list of
games that are eligible for posts. Take
your pick from
Tokyo Jungle
Pikmin 3
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Wind Waker HD
I feel like that list
should be longer, but whatever. That’s
as good a place to start as any. Granted
there’s one game in particular I want to do a short-ish post on first, but
after that? Your choice could help
decide what takes top priority. Though I’ll
warn you up-front that if there’s a game, movie, or subject that pops up out of
the blue, then there might be a shuffling of topics.
I’m only saying that
because there’s something that I REALLY want to get into.
Among other things,
assuming the planets align.
That’s gonna need some
explaining. But I’ll get to that.
And that’s about all I’ve
got for now. Again, I want to thank you
readers for taking some time out -- whether it’s just this one time, or on a
regular basis -- to check out my blog.
It’s thanks you fabulous (and irresponsibly handsome/beautiful, I
suspect) people that this blog has not only avoided being an utter failure, but
also reached a solid 1500 comments. If
you ask me, that’s the real milestone. It
genuinely means something to me -- something that warms my heart every time I
load up the Blogger dashboard.
But I’m still not
satisfied.
I want to be a writing
hero -- a hero in general. How exactly I’m
supposed to do that is up in the air; it’s true that effort that borders on the
superhuman will help (and if my guess is right, will ultimately see me to the
end of that journey), but what matters is that I do everything I can. In order to be what I want to be, I have to
be more than what I am now. Same goes
for this blog. If I’m going to be a
hero, and if this blog is going to be a platform for that -- for laughs, for
insights, for thrills, and more -- then we both have to be willing to go
farther than we’ve ever gone before.
And that’s just what I
plan to do.
That’ll do for
now. See you guys -- oh, wait. One more thing.
Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…I’m
gonna have to do a post on this.
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