Roger334

10 Years of DeviantArt (2013 - 2023)

Ten years ago I was struggling into getting in college. Private tuition was never an option, and while I awaited for my last attempt's results, I stumbled upon a couple of screenshots of MLP while sailing the endless pages of internet. After hemming and hawing for a couple of days, I decided to watch the first episodes and they blew me away. The designs, the plots, the characters, and the overall appeal of the show won me over.

When I decided to join DeviantArt formally on that fateful summer I never imagined that I would spend the following decade of my life thinking and drawing about these characters I have come to love. My first submissions were plain, and after getting sniffed at by several fan groups, that's when I decided to perfect my drawing skills on the computer. I always had used MS Paint to draw stuff, so it was only natural to continue with what I already knew. It was hard, and it cost me hundreds of hours to master the software despite what many still believe.

Three laptops and two desk computers later here we are, in 2023, still discussing why Lauren Faust's vision is so appealing to thousands of fans like me. I have between my disk drives and folders hundreds of sketches, as well as mini-scripts, about those characters that inspired me to become better. I learnt how to write, draw, and even express myself through this hobby. I graduated from UNAM in 2018 with honors, and now I am heading towards my next big adventure.

My life hasn't been easy, but I feel lucky in the sense that I have this space to where I can always seek shelter from the otherworldly horrors that lay outside in the real world. One must simply look outside a window to realize that things aren't working out as they have been telling us. As the world approaches the middle of the 21st century, we ought to change the things we have been doing for the past 70 years if we wish to continue onwards to the next century. When I started with this adventure never in my wildest dream I thought that I would spend 10 years dreaming of ponies. But that's how life is sometimes. One never knows where it may end up taking you.

This decade-long adventure helped me discover myself. Now I have several plans and hopes for the time to come. I arrived from nowhere, and one day I will be forced to return to the stars, but until that time arrives, I only have one more thing to say to all of you. Thank you.

Thank you for spending your time looking at my submissions whenever I published them.

Thank you for following my work throughout a decade.

Thank you for your kind birthday wishes while I was gone.

Thank you for sharing my work.

Thank you for thinking about me.

Thank you for your notes and messages.

And thank you for believing in me.

2013 - 2023

See you all in 2024!

-Roger

Happy New Year 2024!

🎉🥂🥳🍾

Now that that's out of the way, hi, and welcome to this update. Once more I am granted the opportunity of continuing being in here for another year. There are some specific topics I wish to discuss, not to mention that my workload outside the tight boundaries of DA are beginning to overcome me. Therefore, here's an update about what you can expect from me for this year. Let's get started:

I) Friendship Family (Final Update)

For as enthusiastically as I was just a couple of years ago, I have delayed the final chapter of Friendship Family for far too long and I am sorry. In my defense, I currently have it at 75%-ish percent finished, but that has not been the issue to be honest.

My issue, if there's such a thing, is that I no longer feel comfortable of releasing my ideas out to the Wild West that is internet for free. Not that my ideas are that great, because they aren't, but still makes me feel uncomfortable. I realized this while writing the book I have been working on for the (almost) past two years, which has nothing to do with MLP, or with what I do in here (it's a Social Science book).

Anywho, that doesn't change the fact that there might still be someone in FIMFiction waiting for me. Moreover, considering that I have never liked leaving stories "unconcluded", I have decided that I will deliver on the promise I made in 2021. You can expect the final chapter around Spring.

The final battle between the Friendship Family vs. Arcani at the heart of Alicornia is going to be a great one. I guarantee you that, since I also took the liberty of rewriting the whole brawl under my current worldview and knowledge. Just be patient for a little more.

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II) New Folder (MLP)

After brewing it for a couple of months, I proudly introduce you to Space Exploration:

The access route is:

Gallery → MLP → Space Exploration

(Right next to "Seasonal")

In there I will be adding all the drawings I have made to commemorate the Lunar missions that took place in the 20th century, plus one that I'll be making from the Soviet Union that I somehow totally forgot about it. I will not spoil what I have in store when July rolls in, but it is also going to be great 🌑

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III) Gallery Cleanup

As the title implies, I will be deleting at some point in the following months a number of drawings that unfortunately didn't fare as I was expecting. No blames to anyone here, since they all have been available for years now and still performed poorly. This is one I have in mind, for example, and I based my decision solely on its numbers:

Since I am currently too busy to handle that, I'll do it later when my workload lowers, or after I had published the last chapter of Friendship Family. Whatever happens first, I guess. The only reason I am telling you about it is to justify, in case someone ever notices it, why my gallery's tally ends up somewhat lower than last year's. "For the record", if you will.

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IV) The Longest Night: Nightfall Edition (Update)

As it was announced last June, I have been working to release yet another version (possibly the last one I'll ever do) of Longest Night. This one in particular has proven to be more challenging that I previously anticipated, since I will be including new scenes and dialogue that wasn't included on the other versions (both "Classic" and "Extended Editions").

I originally planned to release it last month, but I couldn't mainly because I ran into troubles out in the real world. Therefore, I decided to move it to 2024 to have more time to do a closer version of what I originally envisioned all the way back in 2013. As before, it will be released weekly as comics. Don't expect it any time soon, though, but I'll do my best to release it this year. Which brings me to the next topic...

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V) The Future

Lastly, there's that all-time annoying topic about "the Future", or what I will be doing in the years to come. All I can say for now, considering this is already a long journal, is that I will be discussing it publicly by the end of the year and not before. There's no case of worrying about something that is yet to come, or at least that's what I think.

Right now there will be some big changes coming to my life, including the publication of my first book that I do wish to sell officially at places like Amazon or a local bookstore, in case one of them is interested in a social theory from an unrecognized author like me. In any case, all you have to know is that I will be publishing new content at least twice each and every month. I will be covering all major holidays, including a couple of new ones.

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Bottom line is that this is going to be an extremely busy year to me, so don't expect me to hang around that much. If in 2023 I published 24 drawings, for this one I am planning somewhere between 30 to 32, in addition to the 10 comics of LN and the last chapter of FF. Nevertheless, I always read your messages and kind comments. If for some reason someone wishes to write to me, feel free to do so as always. Just don't expect me to disclose personal information, or my exact drawing method in MS Paint. That's not going to happen, regardless of how jolly the note might be. Alleged "work offers" will also be ignored because, honestly, who in their right mind is going to click on a dubious hyperlink sent from an account that was created merely 8 months ago? Not me, that's for sure!

That would be all for the time being, and thank you so much for reading in case you made it all the way here LOL

See you in a few weeks with the first submission of the year.

Kind regards,

-Roger

Hello, everyone and welcome to this update!

I tried my best to publish this last Sunday, on the 1st, but I got distracted with Skyrim and the Lego Minecraft sets I was not able to build in Christmas. So, yeah. Just important stuff.

Anyway, I designed this update to be divided in sections so you can read only what interests you. That a-way, this makes things easier for everyone so here I go:

About Commissions (Currently one is available*)

If you happen to be one of my oldest followers, then you already know that I historically have never offered commissions. Yet, the ones I did, were strictly made as payment (and twice as gifts) for the invaluable help some fellow fans gave me.

Currently I am developing a special project to commemorate the 10th anniversary of my arrival into the MLP fandom, so I need someone to help me translate some dialogues from English to Italian. Nothing big. Just a couple of dialogues and in exchange, I am offering a full commission as payment for said help.

It worries me that I published my offer almost 2 months ago and no one has contacted me so far. So, if you are from Italy, or speak Italian and have a decent level, please consider helping me. The deadline is February 28, 2023.

For further details, check my original ad (Italian):

https://www.deviantart.com/roger334/status-update/Cerco-traduttore-Inglese-Italiano-Ciao-937546272

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About 2023 (Plans for this new year)

As I wrote, this year is the 10th anniversary of when I started with this ongoing adventure.

It has had its fair share of ups and downs. But most importantly, this decade has given me the opportunity to reflect on my life on a personal level, as well as the time to grow as a human being in this mad reality we have created for ourselves.

I thank everyone, and I mean everyone, that has helped me one way or the other over the past decade. From groups to watchers to Equestria Daily and Canterlot Comics, all of you, regardless of borders, have gifted me something that I will never be able to repay.

And that is why I, believe it or not, decided to return in 2021 after my self-imposed exile. I always knew this moment would come and now that is finally here, I have many, and I mean MANY, special drawings/contents to celebrate this milestone.

I will work as hard as possible to finish all my projects in time for each holiday. That means that I am not going to be around as much, but in case you need me for something, please be patient. I always read your comments and notes.

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About the promised fanfic and Friendship Family

Last year, at some point, I mentioned something about a new fanfic. So, this is the update to that comment for the few people that were interested (or remember about it).

Nowadays I am writing 2 books that I intend to sell on Amazon, so my spare time has been cut by half. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying these projects and I am making a decent progress every day. The thing is that I could develop that mysterious fanfic I mentioned, but considering it would be based on one of my most unpopular drawings in recent times, I have to consider if it is worth it before I invest more time on it. Bottom line, it's "pending".

About the final chapter of Friendship Family, it is 80% finished. Currently I am more invested in writing my books, but I will get back to work on the project so it can be properly finished. Trixie deserves that.

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Questions for the community (***SPOILER ALERT***)

I am aware that probably not many people actually care about the topics that I am about to ask, but I will try to remain hopeful and ask them anyway:

1) In Skyrim, what is the deal with Castle Volkihar? I finished the Dawnguard storyline after Christmas and I still can't believe that the humongous castle that contains hundreds of rooms is now completely useless if you sided with them anti-vampire knights.

Besides rescuing Valerica from, I don't know, Purgatory, is there anything else to do in the castle? According to Reddit it isn't, but is that really true?

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2) In Nier:Automata, wouldn't the YoRHa initiative be a complete waste of time and resources? Leaving aside my love for the new "Dynamic Duo" (2B and 9S) and the always cheerful A2, YoRHa seems to be dumb because, if you really think about it, nothing changes at all. For them is a completely different story (2B, 9S & A2), but for the rest of the folks in whatever-that-place-was, everything continues to be wrecked and moose-infested LOL.

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3) Has anyone bought the Lego Minecraft sets 21166 (Abandoned Mine) & 21169 (The First Adventure)? I did, and I hate how the Danish company no longer cares for consistency and, most importantly, scale.

I swear, the Abandoned Mine set is way, way taller than the first floor of The First Adventure. Considering I paid $75 USD for the latter, against the $23 USD for the first, I was expecting to be able to display them together, next to my End Portal, but I can't. Has anyone also noticed the inconsistencies between these expensive Minecraft-labeled sets?

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I had another question, but I forgot to write it down LOL

If I remember it I will ask it in another post.

Thank you so much for reading and I'll see you all in a few weeks.

Best wishes,

Roger334

Dear followers, MLP fan community,

We are in the final stretch of this year, thus ending another cicle in Deviant. As some of you

may already know it by now, I work all year round. That means that I celebrate Easter on Winter, Halloween on Spring and Christmas on Summer. This has been this way since 2014 and by doing that, I have been able to fulfill years of content in time for each holiday.

Around July, I completed the last drawings I planned for this year and with that in mind, I began working for the projects and holidays soon to come in 2023. Because of reasons, I came up with two more submissions for this year's Nightmare Night and Hearth's Warming Eve.

After considering it for weeks, I ultimately decided to venture into making them and, surprisingly, I was able to finish them in time.

I am so happy to see that the culmination of months of hard work will finally come to fruition in the upcoming weeks (days even), when I begin to publish all of my special drawings inspired by the spooky season of Halloween 🎃 and, of course, Christmas 🎄 .

This is my favorite part of each year, when I get to celebrate these holidays with you.

All those nice comments, faves and the inclusion of new watchers to my list over the last months has inspired me to continue working on this ongoing adventure that began all the way back in 2013. Next year's plans are uncertain, even for me. But it is safe to say that I will publish new content for 2023 and perhaps, if things go my way, one last fanfic, alongside other special surprises like the missing last chapter of Friendship Family.

Thank you so much for reading and I'll be seeing you all in a few days.

Kind regards,

Roger334

Dear followers or MLP community,

For the past year I have been trying to finish writing the last chapter of Good Heart: Friendship Family. However, the development stalled when complications arose last spring.

I spent the following months trying to focus on solving the problem, but I ultimately had to accept my defeat and with a heavy heart, I suspended the project indefinitely.

When The Longest Night: Extended Edition was done, I resumed my fanfictional duties in December. Just like before, I put all my time and energy trying to solve the situation. At the time, the chapter was 60% finished. The missing "sequences" are: 1) The arrival at the Eternal City, 2) Trixie's battle against Mr. Magic and, of course, 3) the ending.

I consider this sequel to be a good one for those kind souls that spent their time reading Good Heart back in the day with all its mistakes. Yet, as for today, my personal and health issues (not related to the pandemic) have been too much of a burden, so I had to make a decision.

For the few people that remember me, you know that I am a very disciplined individual when it comes to publish a story. I do not like to share unfinished works. Never did. But for this occasion, the first one in almost 10 years since my arrival at the MLP fandom, I will have to make an exception.

Instead of me spending the following 6 to 9 months of 2022 breaking my mind into forcing a square peg into a round hole while getting depressed in the process, I took the decision to suspend the publication of the final chapter until further notice.

That will give me the proper time to focus on the project rather than rushing it.

With that out of the way, I will dedicate the rest of this year to drawing new stuff. Furthermore, as a direct consequence of developing the extended edition of LN in 2020 and 2021, I am currently writing a new fanfic for this year too. Possibly my last one. And on top of that, I am also busy with other matters that need my attention too.

I work alone and all the things you have saw/read since 2013 were, in fact, made by me. When it comes to proofreading French (or English some times), I do request assistance. Anything else than that, I do everything myself.

This might come as a disappointment for some people, but please, be patient and bear with me. As soon as my current situation stabilizes, I will resume Friendship Family and, hopefully, the next sequels of Good Heart, free of Lavender Unicorn Syndrome.

Thank you all for your interest in regards to me and my fanfics.

As a bonus for reading all my nonsense (and for being a deer), here is a preview of an upcoming comic, scheduled (if possible) for March:

(I do make my own drawings, contrary to popular belief)

Kind regards,

-Roger