Going to bed but got progress on the chapter · 2:41am Sep 10th, 2018
Wrote 3000 words these last few days during my time off from work so nearly 7k in the chapter.
No it's not done, but it's going to a head point. And I don't want to look up how often I'll use the words "red" "clot" or "blood" in this chapter cause I think that might come off as edgy, but it's a fair bit.
Ironically the title of the chapter is from the soundtrack of Hair, so I don't know what exactly made me think a musical reference would be necessary. But that's to be expected since the original title of one of the chapters during the Canterlot portion of the story was going to be "Sword of Damocles" and that's both a literary allusion and a song title from the Rocky Horror Picture Show- which is yet another musical I do enjoy.
But yeah, not done in the slightest, but nearly 7000 words in and I can see the endgame and it's not going to be pretty at all.
I feel like to make up for the whole work situation, my mind is trying to create a chapter that makes up for it in length. Cause this is far from finished and already it's surpassed my shorter chapters and only about a few thousand from the longer ones. And I'm nowhere near to the devastation that Moondancer planned out, or the big Tempest Shadow scene, or a lot of dialogue between a lot of characters. I want this to feel like an ending that, even if I could have problems with in in the future like every project I have ever done, it would feel like I accomplished something and with chapters upon chapters of buildup, I need something to cap off this arc and say at least for a while that edge and darkness will be lessened- still present of course since I can't and will not be able to wish away all the stuff I've written due to that feeling lazy and cheap, but the next arc won't have the cloying taste of violence all over this.
Cause I wrote this arc like Starlight was a cult leader barely holding it together and cults usually implode spectacularly and full of violence. For example, the Branch Davidian cult or what about Jonestown? Aum Shinrikyo? Or Heaven's Gate? Those were some cults and they did some messed up stuff. I took the idea that the show had with the Want It Need It Spell and made it into a really messed up thing. Of course this ends horribly, partially cause I don't want to use this town for the foreseeable future and well, it's a way to cap off this arc almost permanently. This doesn't mean that either Moondancer or Starlight dies at the end, cause I've grown to like how I've made those two, but this caps off their story and extreme plot relevance for a while. Like how the show does with moving from intense plots to lighthearted stuff this will be the same idea. Though less lighthearted cause I'm acting like the show continues on and plot stuff happens all the time. Not primarily in the season openers and closers.
I hope I get this out at some point, but I won't be hinting when this drops. Cause this might take a while due to life and complexity issues. But when I do I'm taking a short break from this story cause I'll need a break to recharge and plan out the next, hopefully shorter, arc.
But yeah this is tiring but rewarding cause finding time to carve this out of my mind space after work when I can is relaxing even if the imagery of the chapter is far more violent than my norm.
And looking back at how I'm characterizing Tempest Shadow in the few times I've written her, I feel like I'm writing the female pony version of Darth Vader which I guess is weird, but Open Up Your Eyes in the movie with the set piece song looks like a scene out of Star Wars. So I guess I'm channeling Darth Vader here. She's definitely going to have different armor than the movie cause why not?
