Weekly Update Blog #8 [minor spoilers for anyone not fully caught up yet] · 6:13am Mar 19th, 2014
Haha! It's finally Spring Break! Now to write and read to my heart's content!
... or just... play more Warframe. Mreh.
Anyway, progress is sadly... still slow for Reflection Twenty, sitting at 2.5k words. That's mainly due to early finals, but I'll do my best to have at least something out by the end of break for you guys. I know I've been neglecting TLS, and I'm eager to get some work done on it.
Now for the mailbox question! Shattered Skies asked, "What have been the largest inspirations or influences on your story? This includes characters, locations, and plot."
Ohhhh jeez. Now, before I started writing The Last Sentinel, I actually worked on another fanfic series, kicked off with "Star Fox: Contact." The premise behind it was flipping the roles of humans and aliens. Normally, humans would be portrayed as the primitive victims of invasion by a much more technologically-advanced alien race. In Contact, I changed it to humans invading the Lylat System with a dizzying array of high-tech weapons that outpaced Star Fox and their new allies for a good time. It's still my only completed novel, and... to be honest, it was kinda meh.
To answer the question, though, the influences behind many of my characters, including Frost, Soraya, Silas, and many others who you'll soon be meeting, comes from my original characters from Contact. I could try to narrow it down, but to be honest, my characters incorporate many facets and archetypes of my old ones- Frost, for instance, is probably at least five of them in one. You could say that I'm breathing new life into old ghosts, and in a sense, you could very well be right. I still think fondly of the Star Serpent crew when I think back to the Contact Saga, and while it was short-lived and went through a sequel that got killed by over-complexity and a reboot that ended before it really even got started, those were good times. TLS, though... much better times in my opinion. If you've (re)read the earliest installments of TLS, you might also notice I added "voice actor" clips for Frost, Rig, and Soraya- and later Dawn Treader. Barring Rucks from Bastion having that storyteller feel to him, I really don't think, say, Amy Pond had an influence on Rig.
Now, locations... Stalliongrad is pretty easy. Just look at the history Stalingrad during World War II. The others, though? My rendition of Manehattan, Canterlot, Avalon, and Roam? Well, believe it or not, I came up with that on the spot (though it's probably a days-long spot for each of them). Many of the concepts came from what I learned in my research writing class, of which the topic was "Urban Studies." Between that and anthropology, it's surprising how college courses have become relevant to TLS!
Plot. Um... I actually can't remember anything too close to mine? Sure, some facets such as Rig needing a water talisman are a direct reference to the original Fallout, and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness was a huge influence for Frost as a narrator, but I can't really pin down anything that has influenced the plot in general. The actual plot, by the way, continues to shift as new ideas pop into my head.
Whew! That was a long one! Hopefully you got some good info from me out of that. Anyway, should also mention that the next Wasteland Weapon Guide is up on the Ask Frost Windchill tumblr! It's explosive!
And before I bid thee all farewell... a little musical preview of next installment.
Until next time,
Adder1
