You Gots Questions? I Gots Answers · 6:19am Dec 29th, 2013
Answers to the questions I got last week. You're still welcome to ask more in the comment section here, if you like.
Be forewarned, fair reader: here there be mild spoilers Nothing in this post spoils the fic, though some may spoil the book the fic is based on, The Last Unicorn.
The K Man asks
Was there anything particularly difficult when build the story lore? (G1 to now, pony's human myths, etc.)
Not really, no.
The hardest work was connecting G1 and building exactly how I was going to do it. I had about a week of rewatching certain episodes to see how the connection between the rainbow bridge worked, to figure out how I was going to do the overlap of the Old Worlds and how much a a precedent I could build on. Another was figuring out the layout for the Volcano of Gloom could feasibly be Mount Sill. I found that usually when I'm stuck somewhere there's something in G1 I can use. Sill being Gloom was a last minute change, decided on in the middle of writing the final draft of chapter 13.
The gens of ponies being connected has been my headcanon since the FiM premiered though, so it wasn't all that hard. G1 with all its adventures and surprisingly dark turns gives me a lot to play with.
The myths of humans in the eyes of ponies and such is actually the easiest part. It pretty much writes itself. The springboard for the entire story was the concept of the human being to unicorns what unicorns are to people.
Worldbuilding and lore in general is the most fun part of a story for me, so even when I hit a rough patch it's still fun.
LaVallett1 asks
How can you recommend us to read the Last Unicorn? Why?
Yes yes yes a thousand time yes. It's my favorite book for a reason: it's beautiful, it's profound and it just seems to get better and better the older I get. I'm sorry I don't have a better answer other than "It's awesome" but... well, it's awesome.
A-Hardie asks
Are there any gifts you would like?
Fan-art and more comments
Actually, I could really use some new socks. Some nice simple pattern socks. Maybe also a copy of Leaves of Grass and well made Pokemon plushies. Or well-made pony plushies. I should have jumped on that chibi BonBon at Canterlot Gardens when I had the chance. Oh, well.
Oh! And slang dictionaries! I love slang dictionaries.
Nothing Is Constant asked
No updates for HOW long?
Miiiiiight be longer than I originally said, too. I had some terrible writer's block this week. This is such a terrible time of year for me to write. Winter just kills my productivity, cold weather makes me want to hibernate. (Meanwhile in summer it's just making words all day everyday. ) But I think most of the problem was just getting started, since once the chapter got rolling it stayed rolling. If I play my cards right and I keep to schedule like a good Patch I SHOULD be back to uploading around the middle of the month.
Do you hate me or something?
Aw hon, how could I hate someone with an Applejack avatar? c8
Why choose The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle to do a homage(ish thing) for?
I actually have the moment where the entire story was conceived and inspired. And by moment I mean Skype chat.
Saddlesoap Opera: I kind of like Humans as a weird, mythical thing. Either extinct or legendary.
Patchwork Poltergeist: I like that too
Patchwork Poltergeist: Humans are the unicorns' unicorn
Saddlesoap Opera: Exactly
Patchwork Poltergeist: Oh man you guys! What if... like... The Last Unicorn, except... like... with humans instead
Saddlesoap Opera: O8
Patchwork Poltergeist: That is probably a dumb idea, but I'm digging the idea of Schmendrick being Starswirl, the Not-Yet-Bearded
Fifteen Minutes Later:
Saddlesoap Opera: Also, Lyra: Human theorist? Ex-Human? Just sits funny?
Patchwork Poltergeist: The more time goes by, the more I like human theories- OHMYGOD MOLLY GRUE
Patchwork Poltergeist: Darn you Saddlesoap, you're gonna make "The Last Human" a reality. Lyra being Molly is just too perfect
Patchwork Poltergeist: Though that also majorly screws up the pre-Equestrian timeline idea I've been running with
Saddlesoap Opera: Well, it could be its own continuity...
Patchwork Poltergeist: True, it could. Likely would have to, since I just refuse to drop Starswirl. I like it too much.
Saddlesoap Opera: hee hee
Saddlesoap Opera: "You should grow a beard -- folks would take you more seriously."
Poltergeist: Heehee, exactly!
Saddlesoap Opera: Yeah... some ancestor of Lyra's. She would work in there.
Saddlesoap Opera: "Fantasy era" Equestria is a neat setting.
Patchwork Poltergeist: Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan. Saddles, you jerk. I'm gonna end up writing this, aren't I?
The opening lines were written on a spare bit of notebook paper not an hour later and the rest is history. The whole concept was so awesome I had to go through with it and it's all Saddles' fault. I later got him back by making him write History Repeats
What is your favorite fan fiction story?
Oh Horus in heaven you asked for favorites. Well, I'm awful at picking overall favorites, so I'll give you have favorite pony fics by major genre.
Comedy: Diary of a Store Clerk subverts HiE cliches with gleeful aplomb and manages to do the hardest thing there is to do in fanfiction: keep the feel of the show. The tone is excellent, and the main character is quite possibly my favorite human in all ponyfic.
Romance: Let the Silence Sing is wonderfully paced and very sweet. The descriptions are vivid and tactile, as it should be, since through the majority of the fic the lovers don't talk. I normally don't like shipping, but this is my prime exception.
Dark: The Heart Thief This one's so good that I actually kind of hate it for being so good.
Adventure: Paradise has been one of my favorites since 2011. I will drop almost anything I'm doing when it updates. Now if only it'll update...
Crossover: A Mighty Demon Slayer Grooms Some Ponies Davidson has an amazing grasp on G1 and welds it to G4 masterfully. The connection between Twinkle Eye ponies and the Crystal Empire is so genius and so obvious I'm kicking myself for not thinking of it.
Sad: Oh, sheesh, this one is hard. It's between Helix Aspersa and The Man With Two Names
The former is quietly sad, but very sad none the less. Poor Snails, man. The latter... well, I think the latter has made me more emotional than any other ponyfic has made me. I can't recall the last fictional character I wanted to kick in the throat as much as Lucky. While the story isn't perfect and at times the narrative clunky, its over all very good. Agh, I'm so worried for the protagonist. I don't care about jerks being brought to justice, just please be okay, Jerry. Please please please get out of this story okay.
Aside from Pony fanfictions, my favorite is certainly Pedestal. I literally couldn't put down until I had no more of it to read. I also might have cried a lot.
Non-Fan-Fiction story?
Aside from The Last Unicorn?
Do movies count? If so, then it's Princess Mononoke by a long shot. That movie leaves me in awe every time I see it and I think actually made me a better person. I'm fairly certain this movie is where I got my love for long, quiet conversations from.
Are you an author who stream-of-consciousness writes or are you a stylized outline user?
A bit of both. I have a vague outline in my head, since I brainstorm ahead of time. I'll have bullet points of stuff I want to cover, just so I don't go in totally directionless.
It'll look something like: Character X Does Y, Character Z Has Talk With Q About Stuff. For some scenes I have the entire thing planned out in my head already, sometimes it's totally stream-of-consciousness and I just let the story do whatever. But most often I have a very broad guideline and let the characters do as they will. But I never really know what's going to happen until the pen hits the paper. I never planned on Sunshower to have the "what's the matter with your eyes" thing, but Sunshower turned out to be one of those characters that just up and does whatever the hell she wants. She's as bad as Star Swirl, I swear.
The chapter I'm working on now hasn't been planned at all, everything going down now is raw spur of the moment words, no real planning on this one at all. Except for maybe the last scene.
Why ponies?
Because reasons!
Why is the Father of our protagonist never mentioned?
Canon Reason: He died in the protagonist's early childhood, so he's not on his mind, so he doesn't come up much. His mother says a dragon or a bear ate him, but our protagonist strongly suspects his father actually fell off a roof.
Real Life Reason: I really just didn't put any thought into his father until around chapter nine. My image was always of the human's mom and her kid out alone in the world. Usually in these situations it's a man and his daughter, but I kind of like the idea of a mother and her son, too.
What is the Humans name? (you dont know do you)
It's in the last chapter. c8
And I totally know what it is! Sort of! I.... just can't decide between my two choices for his name is all.
What I can tell you though, is people in his family (and to a greater extent, the nomadic group his family came from) tend to name their kids after something in their line of sight. His mom's name, for example, was Sconce.
Will America do your soundtrack?
Man, I WISH I had a soundtrack. That would be amazing.
On the subject of the Last Unicorn soundtrack though, Man's Road is seriously a great song. Moon rising, disguising lonely streets in gay displays is a line that fits right in with Beagle's prose.
Fun Fact: If you listen, the score reprises Man's Road when the unicorn wakes up as Amalthea. I was so excited when I found that out
Will you ship my OC?
Only if you'll cover the postage and bubble wrap.
How big a role will the other Humans play in time? They certainly will not just emerge from the mountain and walk away. The Unicorns were rather fast in fleeing the scene, the humans would be quite slower...
?"
Like some Ponies just walking [or flying] up to them: "hey weird dudes... what was that emerge from the mountain business all about...
or do they bild a secret spaceship... and just spaceship their way out of problems? That can not be healthy!
Spoiler Country
1659908
Hmmm. I think I lean more towards the latter.
The unicorn isn't currently capable of love, but instead she remembers love, and that memory is regret. She certainly does still feel something for Lir, that much is obvious from facing the Bull, since it's the reason only she an no other unicorn could have faced the Bull, because no other unicorn felt so much and had something to fight for. How much she feels, or it is what she feels I don't know. But it's something. You see some of it in the coda to Last Unicorn, "Two Hearts", in the small window where the unicorn appears. There's a reaction she has there that is so strong and full of hurt that... well, it's as close as love is going to get.
(In unrelated news, Two Hearts kind of broke my heart in half. I hear it's a common reaction.)
1662483
That depends entirely on how much time I decide to spend with them.
For now, I can certainly tell you that yes, they have a much, much bigger role here than the other unicorns did. Unicorns are solitary creatures without much use for others of their kind, so when they leave they go their separate ways and never look back. Humans are very much the opposite, especially considering the state they've found themselves in. They're going to leave more of a mark.
I read that and thought Days of Grass by Tanith Lee, who also wrote a book called Black Unicorn (and also Gold and Red, but I only have the first). And then I though, man, Patchwork really likes his post-apocalyptic worlds. Then I realized that you meant the book of poems by Walt Whitman (at least, I assume that's what you meant).
img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire2/5b80988f25aabefecfae5d3fc658a43e1279965448_full.jpg
1662740
I TRIED to read Black Unicorn in middle school. Tried three times and failed every time.
I also never knew Walt Whitman made the Grand Canyon. However, I am unsurprised by this revelation.
1662755
I'm pretty sure I've read it, but I can't remember what happens. So many books, they all blur together....