Y'know, I think Antipodes was the fanfic that kind of got me to consider reading fanfiction in the first place, as fantasy adventure has always been my favourite genre of storytelling (while TSC was what pushed into actually writing). It's a story which I am quite thankful to have read when it was coming out and it has probably helped lead me to where I am today.

I can't exactly agree with the entirety of this sentiment. While I see where you are coming from, I think there is a certain validity to following a story, only to see it fall into hiatus and never be finished. Writing isn't an easy thing, and some people are going to lose steam along the way. And I think that is totally fine. I have seen it happen countless times. If you lose the passion behind what you are writing, then I think it might be more worthwhile to pursue something else, honestly.

Personally, I am quite fond of following stories from the get-go. To see how the story will change, and how the author will grow and learn from writing it; to be left for months on end, waiting on cliffhangers, wondering at how these problems will be resolved. It's a great feeling. I absolutely love reading incomplete stories, even if they will never be finished.

Though I will say that, as an author, finishing a lengthy story certainly is an immeasurably gratifying feeling. To have spent over a thousand hours working on a story, and to finally be able to look back at what you've written and to remember the journey and struggle--every step you took as the author--it's beautiful.

So, to all authors out there, I hope you follow and nurture your inspiration. Write something you want to read, and I hope the journey of an author brings you as much satisfaction as it does for me. Even the stories that never see completion were entirely worth the while. Thanks for all your hard work :)

The Crusaders, huh? They sure are fun to write about.

He makes one heck of a comic though :)

I figure I'll try to find a recent fic to recommend for each of these posts as they come out. For a quick comedic read, this time, I'll recommend this one: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/162053/batch22

It's a homage to Catch-22 (though it is not necessary to have read Catch-22 at all beforehand). It has wonderful and fun wordplay that had me chuckling for the entirety of the story, and it's all held together through a fine narrative structure. If you want to see how I think a Pinkie-centric story should be written, in regards to her as a character, I'd recommend this one. Far too often I see Pinkie being random for the sake of randomness, or breaking the fourth wall for no real reason, and that is the general cause to send me away from enjoying Pinkie fics. This fic however has Pinkie acting with reason and motivation, while still staying true to her character.

While it's not in my Top List of fics, it was still a fine read, indeed.

~SilentBelle

Sweet an opportunity to recommend fics that I feel are under-appreciated. I'll recommend one that I'm certain almost none of you have read. The story can be found here: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/148932/wayfarer

Wayfarer is a story written in very thick, beautiful, descriptive prose. It's a bittersweet story of romance and character exploration, and it's done in a way I have never seen attempted in quite the same way. Each chapter is a picture, a static image told in 1000 words. Through this series of pictures, you discover a story that actually takes effort for you as a reader to get through. But the payoff is visceral and very poignant. I understand this story is not going to appeal to many, but for those who have a love of vivid imagery, a binding theme, a work open to interpretation, as well as a set of two very well explored characters, then this might just be a story for you. This fic left me stunned and thinking once I completed it, and it is to fics like this I can point to in order to verify why life is such a beautiful thing in the first place.

* * *

For those looking for an easier read. I recommend: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/100594/white-coll...

This is a fine story that crosses over with a show by the name of White Collar, but it does the genre proud by making itself easily approachable by those who have never watched an episode of the show (such as myself). It's a mystery/detective sort of story, with a wonderful spin on Sweetie Belle's character, and deep character interactions between the protagonists. It's a story that comes to life when you read it. Enjoy :D

It's a solid story, yes. But there are other fanfics that have been printed off as books as well. All it takes is a bit of effort in reformatting and designing on the author's part. It's a pretty neat process and the end product is entirely worth it in my mind. (Ah, how great it feels to hold my own story that I've spent hundreds of hours on creating!) You know, that sort of feeling :)

Oh, it's pretty easy. It just takes a while to format it properly. I did it with my own fanfic just recently. It's all not for profit. It's kind of like if you were to print off multiple copies of a school project or a picture that you really liked. Technically the story is published online on FIMFiction. Printing off copies of the story doesn't really cause any infringement issues (beyond what fanfiction already causes), because you aren't making money on it at all. I printed off ten copies of mine just for close friends and family (since I didn't want to deal with additional shipping costs or open a paypal account).

The whole process was a neat learning experience.

Collabs are fun. I highly recommend them.

In what way does being homosexual or practicing homosexuality have any bearing on a person's moral compass? There is absolutely no way in which the act by itself between to consenting individuals would be amoral.

I'm certain that you'll just say that your god says it's a sin. But why would it be a sin? There's no sound reason for why.

For one person, more disposed toward alcoholism, staying away from drinking too much alcohol performs a very visible benefit. However, forcing people to abstain from their own sexual disposition has been proven to be a cruel and detrimental act.

But I am pretty sure that arguing this point further would be pointless, but at the very least I have to raise my voice against bigotry when I see it.

Thanks for reading,
~SilentBelle