TheIdiot Regarding: Revamp of Chapters · 6:58pm Jul 27th, 2020
Hello, everyone! TheIdiot here once again to provide you, our readers and watchers, an update on what's going on.
Or rather, I’m not alone this time. Because I have someone else present. Say ‘ello, Vox.
Hello.
Mhm, yes. So, it was felt and decided that there should be some efforts done for Chapter 13 (as well as some other chapters in Act One). Thus, we here at Spectrum decided to proceed thusly and give Chapter 13 (and some other pieces of other chapters) a bit of a revamp. So, to walk you through matters, I’ll turn attention over to Vox to get into.
Thank you, TheIdiot.
Now, I’m sure that many of you who’ve been reading this, and have been with Spectrum from the beginning – or at least, the rebooted version which started in May 2017 – must be looking at this post’s title and experiencing a familiar sense of dread.
“Oh, no, can’t the Team Spectrum guys ever publish something and stick with it? How much more often will we have to face revamps, republications, or reboots?”
Well, allow me to open up by seeking to lay such concerns to rest; we’re not planning to massively overhaul anything this time, beyond a couple of scenes in Chapter Thirteen. When TheIdiot refers to a revamp in other chapters, we’re talking here about subtle tweaks to fix typos and small continuity issues, which I’ve no doubt won’t have evaded the eyes of our most attentive readers, but that we can address without needing to go through extensive rewrites.
The exception which confirms the rule here is, of course, Chapter Thirteen, a.k.a ‘Concordia Maxima’. Being the largest chapter in the story bar none, it was maybe inevitable that it’d strain at the seams – although the reception upon its publication last year was greatly positive.
The changes made to Chapter Thirteen are as follows:
- The shortening of the Concordia’s duration to three days, not four.
- The removal of an unwieldy exposition-dump by Sint Erklass, which became my primary factor in wishing to revamp Chapter Thirteen, out of feeling shame for having written a lengthy segment that brought the chapter’s flow to a grinding halt.
- The addition of an extended cameo by TheIdiot’s OC Spell Nexus the Headmaster of Celestia’s School (loosely based on and inspired by the original character created by Pen Stroke and featured in the story Past Sins). Whom, we decided by agreement, is also the Archmage of Equestria. Yep, the Solar Empire didn’t invent the title, though it’s ceremonial at the time of Sunny Equestria.
- The addition of a new scene featuring the Element Bearers overlooking the newcomers at the Hall of Unity, providing further world-building as Twilight shares some knowledge of the world outside Equestria. This is intended to lay the bases for future arcs in Act Three.
- The repositioning of Alexander Reiner’s flashback to the circumstances which sent him to Sunny Equestria. In the previously published version of Chapter Thirteen, this followed on directly from Reiner’s encounter with Sint Erklass, further weighing down the flow at the point in the narrative.
- Intercut with the above flashback, the Concordia delegates ask Reiner a few more questions than in the previous version.
- Lyra Heartstrings’ presentation on the myth of Dream Valley was purposefully kept off-screen in the previous version, which has been retained in this updated version, but the setup has been altered so this is now where Lyra’s exchange with Galatea takes place.
- Lastly, as a technical detail, the passages where Luna reads out the Solar Tyrant’s message have been recoloured cyan, to match the colour scheme for Luna’s dialogue in other passages where she uses ‘ethereal’ speech.
Act One was a two-year learning curve following the reboot of Spectrum, where we sought as we could to draw from the example of OG Spectrum on what had worked and what hadn’t, and we were still working it out as we went along. In testament of that, many of the odd details that’d qualify as ‘Early-Installment Weirdness’ will be maintained even after the revamps brought to the Act – most notably, those references to characters and plot points that presently tie in with Jed R’s Reduxverse. As this Spectrum continues to progress, it’ll seek to continue to adapt.
And I believe the revamp of Chapter Thirteen shall be our last major overhaul. Here’s to meeting again in Act Three.
Cheers, and happy reading,
~Vox
Oh, we’ll meet in Act 3 soon enough. So, thank you our fair readers for your patience on our little pony story. At the very least, the revamp will give you something to chew on for a moment while we resume progress on our work. Ideally, the next chapter will come sooner rather than later with plenty of fun and great character bits that make Spectrum enjoyable (despite the lengthy readers).
Till next time,
Sincerely,
TheIdiot
Seems like good changes all-around. Especially 6, I really wanted to see more interaction between the delegates and Reiner.
Though, about 2, is the removal complete or just repurposed? As in, can we still go by what was said, even though now it's not said there anymore?
I feel another re-read is en route.
5323469 No, my version was inspired by Pen Stroke's in a loose sense. If it weren't for Past Sins then there'd be no Spell Nexus.
5323486 I'd argue repurposed given that there is some exposition still given.
5323760 That should do it.
I have a question. How much of this story is Actually Planned? Or is some or most of it Just made up as you go? Like how many acts will there be?
5324462 Well, while seats are nice and all, we tend to have plenty planned in advanced that way we can figure out pacing and ideas. It's meant to be flexible enough though so that we aren't chained to something and miss how characters have changed along the way and aren't suited for a destination they were originally meant for.
5324462
Our working plan is that there will be five Acts, though their individual lengths may vary greatly. A list of the chapters outlined for Act Three can be found on the story group's forum.
