This is a little rambling... · 6:14am Feb 20th, 2018
Ok, so a lot of people I spend an inordinate amount of time talking with do this and I’m going to give this a try. I’m not used to doing retrospectives, so bear with me here. I’ll be keeping this retrospective to the major stories more than the one-shots.
Homecoming.
This is more about the first story than the actual AU. When I sat down in November of 2016, I had no idea where I was going to go with this idea of Sunset going back for a funeral. I had planned on each chapter centering on one of the stages of grief, but as the story developed and SciTwi became a tagalong on the visit home, things changed greatly. It grew and changed (the current posted version is actually V3.1) and the launch of my SciSet was born.
I kind of glossed over the Mane Six in that story, because the focus was Sunset and her feelings being back home, meeting Celestia post-reformation, dealing with her grief, and dealing with an unusual twist to her magic.
The creation of her sisters were a part of me wanting someone to sympathize with her as far as the pain but also to counter the trope of Sunset’s family being furious with her. I’ve seen that a few too many times. I wanted something a little happier because she’s already dealing with a major blow emotionally.
Dawning Dew is based on one of my good friends who is the older sister of the circle of my IRL peeps. She’s with it, keeps just enough of an eye on fashion that she knows trends but doesn’t get swept up in them. She’s married now, something that by this point in the AU hadn’t happened yet, but it’s one on the queue.
Morning Glory, on the other hand, is based on one of my actual sisters. Fashion expert, gossip hound, and overly energetic. I love her to death, but I usually try not to let her stay with me on holidays. I’m up somewhat early most days, but she’s up before the sun rises some days and singing whatever Katy Perry or other artist has gripped her mind lately…poorly.
And I was not prepared for the response the story got. Now, I’m not saying it was an overnight success. Far from it, in fact. But over the last year or so it has garnered such a loyal following of readers and I have formed some pretty tight friendships with them and those that comment each time or message me a question for clarity make me smile that they enjoy it that much.
The Wooing of Sunset Shimmer
This is kind of a double meaning. It means both the way Sunset is Wooing Twilight but also how Twilight is wooing Sunset. I wanted this to be a long story of fluff and world building with Hearth’s Warming Eve and the way the Sparkle family does their holidays.
It also dealt with an important question: how would Twilight’s parents react to Sunset’s real origins? It’s something that gets touched on only on occasion. With the fact that Sunset seems to have decided against returning full time to the world of her birth, I can understand having it be a non-issue. But eventually, it’s going to come out, be it a slip of the tongue or an honest question.
It’s also a legitimate inevitability of the ship that (with a few exceptions) it will end in marriage. Which is why I had the ring set aside for it, something old fashioned that would fit the supposed age of when Sunset’s mother would have gotten proposed to by Sunset’s father. Rings have fads that come and go, and really old rings had filigree that did more than secure the gemstone. It was the fashion of the time.
But no relationship goes perfectly smoothly, and I wanted to peek in at one of the arguments that would likely have come up in this point of their lives: Twilight trying to figure out how magic works scientifically. And sometimes building devices to help. I may have taken it up a bit of a notch, but I stand by my choice. It was less about Twilight being upset with Sunny trying to hobble her quest for knowledge, but the feeling that Sunset didn’t trust her to be careful now that she is more familiar with it.
Raison d’Etre
Siren redemption is something that can go either way. Jay David has a pretty good AU with the Sirens being redeemed but not exactly good. His Adagio is just WONDERFULLY sultry.
But I had three girls that had to journey out of the darkness to being capable, especially for what I had planned for them. And each had their own challenges to overcome; Adagio had her guilt as the eldest and leader, Sonata had the loss of her cheery nature, and Aria….well, Aria was spiraling out of control and down a path that might have gone so wrong.
And with a simple acquisition of a job based on her wanting to help her sisters, Adagio took the first steps. And with a curiosity borne from something she doesn’t understand, she goes to the portal probably for the first time since she was banished here and kicks off the wave of healing for reasons that I’ll come to later.
Sonata finds out and is afraid because she tried to cross through once years ago, and she suffered a pretty bad burn. But in her exchange, she runs into Pinkie who offers her the first hand of friendship between the two groups.
Aria. I dipped my toe into really edgy territory that I don’t feel good facing. Aria has a lot of anger and resentment, and I had them turned towards herself. Dangerously so, in fact, as she goes to a lot of lengths to fill the void inside and sliding into self-harm. I had a lot of shocked responses to that revelation. I feel that it has formed a good base for her new outlook and her new relationship and while she hasn’t lost a lot of the grump, she’s moved into a better place.
Cruising, There’s More That’s Out There/Canterlot Holiday
These were for two reasons. Fluffy Senior trip and some development and world building of characters. Some of the notes on my board at the time were referencing “The Love Boat” because of the begining of the other major ships, some development of two of the Shadowbolts which I began working on their individual stories in the last six months. But the most significant addition is a change of Sunset and Twilight’s Bond, going from an empathic reverb to a full-blown mental link.
And with a wedding coming up brings the issue of explaining things to Sunset’s sisters of just where she’s been the last fistful of years. It also gives me a wonderful chance of SciTwi and PriTwi interaction with Cadence (Girl’s Night!) and establishing further evidence of difference between the counterparts. They end with the early signs for Chaos Theory, but the familial interactions are a really great part of this to my mind. These are all V1.0 or 1.2.
Chaos Theory
I had quite a bit of buildup to this one, because I had to set up the Siren’s redemption and the minor disruptions of magic and the portal of which played a major part in the third major story. I keep ideas and story fragments on a dry-erase board and it was so packed in the couple months that it took to bring CT to the light. I had done lead ups and hints and behind the scenes planning that weave together in a way that I hoped would look Sandersonian in result. Probably didn’t quite work out that way, but some strings still haven’t been tied off yet, so……
In the year or more the story has been up, only one person has latched onto the fact that the Harpy of legends tortured a Seer. And that was the reason why Sunset was being called Seer by Acerak so many times. It was more than a reference to her Geode power.
Sunset going Alicorn was something that didn’t occur to me until I was already in production when I decided on the geode cave being the same cave that the Tree of Harmony was in Equestria. It received some flack, as did the attack that Acerak stripped some of them of their magic, where Sunset likens to being raped. Part of it was the fact that her magic was mental in nature, part of it is her finally having a sense of something she had to do without for years and is an integral part of her heritage. It wasn’t a needed thing on his part, but another wearing down of her hope. It was about power over her, and arrogance. In V2.0 I may tone that down or omit it entirely. Not sure yet.
But as far as a reason for the Alicorn transformation, I had never really liked SciTwi being an Alicorn just because PriTwi was one. It’s why I originally made her pony form different from Princess Twilight. She hadn’t earned them yet, considering what PriTwi went through to get hers. But the showdown in Friendship Games and the short My Past is not Today were rife in wings, Alicorn allusions, and phoenix imagery and up until Mirror Magic aired, that was where we drew the idea of Shimmercorn. But since I had brought out a seson finale level fiend (and I really need to change some of this in V2.0) I figured that this would be where the ascension occurs. I also would have the loose magic be kindling the growth of the concurrent source of magic in the world proper.
The scene with Star Swirl the Bearded was not originally in the draft. I had Sunset and Acerak facing each other in an extraplanar realm where Acerak was slowly bleeding back into the weave of the gateway and Sunset wandering an alternate world trying to find her way back to Twilight. I’m glad I scrapped that idea, though I may use it in something else later on. I did touch on it in the final disposition of our villain from Forgotten Legacy, but that’s for a different retrospective.
I really put my girls through the wringer at times. Sunny wound up with some pretty bad physical scars here and SciTwi with some mental ones. But, with each other and their friends they should be able to recover.
Final Thoughts
Looking back, I’m sure I could do some things differently. The canon universe has been expanded since back then - everything in Homecoming is pretty much limited to Legends of Everfree as far as canon, though in the process of writing I did sneak in things from the shorts that I felt wasn’t too big or requiring too much of a retcon; the girl’s canon jobs, Dance Magic, and referencing season six and seven events when we snuck a look through the mirror.
Am I proud of what I’ve done so far? Yes and no. I’m glad that I’ve created things that people enjoy, but I also know there are bigger fish out there with more presence or actual degrees behind their writing. And from time to time I find something that induces so many feels that I look at my stuff and say “Well, it was a good run while it lasted.” But I don’t know if I could stay away for long unless I was just so overwhelmed with original fiction stuff. I’ve also got a handful of authors who have contributed their own expansions to the verse, two of which are actually considered canon now. I also - and I want you to understand what this means to a girl like me - fan art.
Most of it is from later stories, but the sheer existence of it is really touching. Chaos Theory’s diveder and cover were done by a good friend and coauthor, and I’ve had character art done, like my reformed Siren’s or Sunny’s daugher, and I doubt I could ever truly express my feelings that I get looking at them.
So where am I going forward? Interesting question. I am, as an associate has said, a Discovery-type writer. I like letting my stories evolve organically - or develop mutiny - as opposed to being rigidly scripted. It’s caused some problems and some awkward events, and some of those I am kinda embarrassed by now.
But a big thing that I have now that I didn’t have then is a handful of friends willing to proofread and/or edit my works before they go up. I’m also slowly being infected by the Fashionhorse/Bookhorse ship because it’s got some dynamics that would be interesting to explore more. I’m also looking at the Luna/Twi ship, seeing some genuine potential.
But those are tales for another day.
I have to say, that you've done a wonderful job weaving this universe together. You take things not just from the show, but from mythology, you know your stuff. Homecoming has a natural flow to it, not just in single books, but throughout the whole continuity. You explore things that many have not even thought of, and you take popular things, and you make them your own, special in your own way.
I also particularly like the fact that you are an organic author. You do not force things upon your story. I first learned about organic writing when reading The Fire Within by Chris D'Lacey. Going organically almost seems harder than rigidly, but there are pros and cons to both. But, you pull it off, writing organically AND weaving everything together. The fact that you also based some characters off of people who are close to you is also great. They have inspired you, and thus have helped shaped the story, from an author perspective and a character perspective. I also enjoyed the the way you dealt with the Sirens, going one by one, and each having a different struggle to overcome. They have different ways of overcoming their guilt and pain, until they have gotten better, showing that there is more than one way to do something and overcome your pain.
Another strong point in your universe is your original characters. Am I talking about characters such as Azure? Why yes, yes I am, as well as Sunset's sisters. You made them small enough so that they would be easily introduced without there being people questioning why they were not brought up before, but big enough that they each had their own story and background, and that they had a background that didn't always involve the main characters. Also, yes, ponies with rapiers, my life is complete. I am heavily involved with my school's fencing club, which focuses primarily on Italian Rapier. We study Capo Ferro. Sound familiar? He should, Wesley mentioned him in Princess Bride. I go to multiple events and I rather enjoy using it. I also dabble in Longsword and a couple other weapons, but rapier is my primary focus.
Yes, there may be "bigger fish" out there, bigger authors with more views and such, but your works have been a great inspiration for my own writing. You make your audience feel for your characters, and you put your characters through hard times. You have so many original ideas that even those "bigger fish" haven't tackled. Your villains are well formed, and are by no means shallow. This universe is one of my favourite universes I've read. So thank you for writing this. I am looking forward to where this universe is going!
I heartily second everything Lightning_Striker said above (below? I can never remember which it is...). I'd also like to add, that unlike some of the 'bigger fish' out there, I find myself returning and rereading these stories again and again. Often finding new things that I'd missed on previous reads. I too am eagerly waiting to see where this Universe goes from here.
Just don't get too caught up in the idea of a rewrite that brings current canon into the story. I've seen others do that and it always screws up the story line and makes it worse. At some point, you just have to say, "Okay, canon to [here], then it's my universe." If you can re-do some newer canon things and get them to fit, that's cool, but some have to be ignored. For instance, how would you work the Memory Stone story into where the Homecoming-verse is now? How could you make it plausible that Twilight forgets her wife? I can't think of a good way to do that, so it's probably best to not even worry about that mcguffin.
I dearly love this version of the pony-verse you've created. It's been one of the highlights on my last year or so to read the various stories (And the others not in this 'verse), even more, it's been my honor that you allowed me to contribute to it in a small way. I thank you for that.
I totally agree with Lightning_Striker about the original characters. All are well done, nicely introduced and, while important, don't take over in any way. Sunset's sisters are great and if I do any Pony fics of my own I'm totally borrowing them (with full credit, of course!). One of the best thing you've done with this story line is to make sure the EQ girls are individuals. That they are not just copies of the pony versions. Both versions of the Mane 6 have had completely unique experiences in life, so it only makes sense that they would have different Cutie Marks. It even makes sense that they are slightly different colors it each others worlds, though I admit, that does make for easier IDing them. Sunset ascending while SciTwi (mostly) hasn't is something else I'm very fond of.
One thing you should be proud of is how you handled redeeming the Sirens. I know I can't be the only fan who really doesn't like them, for the most part. I was perfectly happy with them wandering off and never coming back. You changed that. I genuinely like them in this 'verse. Even I'll admit that Sonata is near impossible to dislike and her coming back solo was fine with me. However, you made me like Adagio. You made me feel sorry for Aria and want to help her and pairing her with Pinkie?! Absolute genius! Especially since so many others would've used Pinkie and Sonata being in business together as an excuse for them being a couple as well. Well done!
All in all, I can't think of anything in the story line that truly needs to be changed, tweaked or, as you said, toned down. It all works nicely, reads well and it has been a genuine pleasure to read and follow along. I look forward to what comes next!
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Most of the changes I’m thinking of are tightening up the writing and filling holes. Similar to the updates Homecoming and Wooing got. No more canon stuff will be introduced in Homecoming outside of characters. Juniper and Wallflower’s Equestrian counterparts are already slated for appearances and Juniper does have a titled role in Remedial Studies.
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Not the first time I misunderstood things.
I enjoyed the touch-ups in Homecoming and the others, so pretty sure I'll like what else you do.
A little Rambling? You mean deer are being added to... Oh, you're just talking about your Homecoming universe.
Kidding, I knew what was coming, and enjoyed every word of it, thought that's no surprise, considering how much I've enjoyed your stories. While there are a lot of EQG stories, few come off feeling as well though out as yours, which is why I not only continue to follow it, but enjoy every addition you make. I will admit to not having read any of the edits, I'm just not the sort of a person that goes back and reads something, especially something as good as this. Sure, I've no doubt that you've polished them, removed a few rough edges, but I can't see any reason there'd be any major changes considering how well they are already.
Speaking of artwork, I just had the previous one fixed, and got a new one made for you, this blog entry has both and include credits as I'm very picky about crediting the wonderful artists who put up with me (so much so that my Tumblr themes are carefully picked to insure you're redirected to the source for all images when you click on them).
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Yeah, mostly polishing. The further on I gonthebless im finding. Homecoming and Wooing both got some new chapters and Chaos may as well when I get to it.
And thank you for the arts, I really appreciate them!
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You're quite welcome, my way of saying thank you for such great work. Shame that no one has offered to draw these, they'd make a great comic.
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Ooooohhhh......
That would be nice.