Jun
18th
2014
Ask Me Anything · 7:43pm Jun 18th, 2014
What you see is what you get folks. I'm bored, I'm still shaking off a nasty bout of sickness, so you all get an AMA. Fire & Rain, In an Instant, Feathers of Blue and Gold, Wind and Stone, Saraneighvo, future stories, art, movies, music, sex advice, COME AT ME BROS! This thing will go on for as long as you guys got questions to ask me, so don't feel shy or not say anything because you're worried it's "too late". There's never a such thing as too late.
What would have happened if Rainbow had met Rapidfire at that cafe and not Spitfire in Fire & Rain?
2216943
She would've gotten his autograph, fangirled, and possibly would've hung out with him. Rainbow, as far as Fire & Rain canon is concerned isn't interested in stallions from a romantic perspective.
Alright... big one here. What if Rainbow's mother had never died?
2216953
Everybody's favorite Wonderbolts return in FoBG's next chapter which is about 70% complete.
What does it feel like to have one of the biggest fictions on the site?
- extra question -
How do you write out the world around you in your fictions? Do you write it from memory of a similar place on earth? Do you look at pictures from the show?
~Alex
Do you plan out your stories to a chapter-by-chapter basis? Or do you normally go in with just a great idea and a free afternoon?
Do you know what Fristi is and if so, have you tried it?
First, did you expect the backlash that Fire and Rain got for the fake out with RD's death?
Secondly what would you say are some ships you could just never understand?
Finally for you, did you agree with Rainbow Falls demonising the Wonderbolts so much? Personally I felt it was sloppy writing to force a conflict.
What are your thoughts on the attitude of "OTP"s?
Personally, I judge a story based purely off quality and enjoyability, without letting any of my personal pony-pairing preferences get in the way. Some of the best shipfics I've read have ranged from Spike and Lyra to Rarity and Derpy.
On the other side of the spectrum are people who would outright refuse to read (for example) RariDash, regardless of story quality, because if conflicts with their own characterization when it comes to the romantic sides of the mane 6. When in fact none of them have ever been even slightly romantically characterized, and any shipping pair would be equally canonically valid.
Okay, so maybe that was kinda biased towards my side of things....
Still, which do you prefer?
TL;DR
Does the pairing make the shipfic, or does the author make the pairing?
What is your opinion of the soldiery of today?
Not the american ones. They suck. I mean real soldiers, everywhere else?
So... with the way things have been going in Wind and Stone, HOW, not WHO, HOW is the next character (character that will make me cry to see die) going to die? I know you won't be satisfied until you've killed off most of your creations.
~SolidFire
2216955
Had Firefly lived is an interesting excercise in roads not taken. One can reasonably assume Rainbow wouldn't be an only child as Bifrost and Firefly both wanted more than one (Bifrost in particular wanted a son). While Rainbow would still be the same character at her core, there would be an infinite number of largely superficial differences brought about by a two parent home as opposed to being raised by a widower. It's an interesting concept and one that would be fun to explore in a story sometime.
2216960
Fire & Rain was a special story to work on, and one I cherish despite its flaws. The fact it garnered so much attention is a truly special honor, and one that I can never thank all my readers enough for. I'm always surprised and humbled when Fire & Rain breaks its milestones, and it is truly one of the best feelings in the world.
For the worldbuilding I start with locations in the show and then try to place myself in that context. However since the show often gives us only limited views of these locations (this was way before we had an episode set there) I had to rely on other means to fill in the details. For some locations (The Stonewall Bar and Grill where the Bad Seeds played, the hospital, the park) I drew on memories I had of places I've been. For other aspects I would read books, watch documentaries, and also sketch out locations to inspire me and fill in the details.
2216970
A little bit of both, honestly. My writing usually starts with a scene I really want to write. For Fire & Rain, I wrote a 700 word scene that was Fleetfoot accidentaly frying Rainbow with the thunderhead. Everything else was written to build to that moment. Along the way I created subplots and planned those out on a chapter by chapter basis, but most of the time I wrote in a more freestyle "lets sit down, pour a scotch, and write" manner. Wind and Stone is similar, but has much more planning in it's execution.
2216972
You can't teach that kind of badass
2216974
I have never heard of Fristi
2216985
I did expect it, and to be perfectly honest I got a good laugh from it. Still, I realized that the joke was pretty much only funny to me and ultimatly was in bad taste and out of character for Soarin'. I don't regret changing it.
PinkieDash. I don't get it, I don't like it, and I don't understand what anyone sees in it.
I had high hopes for Rainbow Falls, and honestly I hated how they handled the Wonderbolts. It seemed like they wanted an antagonist for a story that didn't need antagonists and shoehorned Spitfire and Fleetfoot into that role. Soarin' was nice at least, I also hated Fleetfoot's voice.
Forgive me for a moment of arrogance, but I think I write much better Wonderbolts.
2217046
Short answer: The author makes the pairing.
Longer answer: I've seen good TwiDash and I've seen bad TwiDash. While we all have ships that for whatever reason we like or dislike (my hatred for PinkieDash is a secret to nobody) I do not subscribe to the idea of the "OTP". It's ideas like that which drove me to write DashFire as I got tired of seeing the same dynamics play over and over again in other shop fics. With a little effort you can bring any pairing of characters together, though some characters are more complex of a bond than others.
2217062
There are some good men who believe they're fighting for a noble cause, there are some bad men who are just thugs with a uniform. It doesn't matter what country they're from, they're all pawns in someone else's game.
2217076
Stabbing with a sharp pointy object is probably a fair guess.
2217151
Trust me mate I'd agree with you. Rainbow Falls pretty much killed my interest in the Equestria Games story, the utter lack of oayoff was really just insult to injury compared to derailing my favourite characters (though personally I like Fleetfoot's voice well enough).
2217187
Ugh, don't get me started on the clusterfuck that was Equestria Games
2217191
Indeed. DHX were DAMN lucky they had that finale tucked away because there wasn't much else to recommend this season outside that and the premiere.
2217202
I loved Daring Don't as well
What do you do to break the log jam of losing momentum while writing a long running story?
2217267
Sometimes I have to just sit down and brute force it, even if that means only getting out a few dozen words in a day. Most of the time I'll just grab a book or watch something on netflix and find inspiration that way. The West Wing was a show that helped me shake off a lot of writing blocks I had in Fire and Rain.
2217151 I actually liked the way they handled the Wonderbolts in Rainbow Falls because while it was very unexpected and was not really necessary to the episode, it did a great job of tying up a lot of hanging oddities from previous seasons. Before that episode, Spitfire seemed like a nice pony overall, but she subtly pulled some nasty shit on Rainbow in nearly every appearance which seemed out of character. She stood Rainbow up at the Gala, she watched as the tornado fell apart twice when she had more than enough wingpower to make it work, and encouraged reckless and dangerous behavior at the academy while simultaneously failing to keep track of what was going on. I liked the new take on her personality because it makes all those little dick moves make sense in retrospect because they show her true personality while the pleasantness is just a mask she wears to stay out of trouble. Given how many people there are who seem nice but are secretly assholes are in the real world, I think it is a very mature and interesting direction to take her character which contrasts nicely with the rest of the cast.
2217209 That was a very good episode, although I am still not entirely sure how I feel about the meta aspects of the story and the implications it has for canon in general.
2217294
I'll agree with you on that, but still it didn't quite sit right with me. I think half the problem I have with it is that they never give these characters room to breath. It's always "here's a problem, now wait 20 minutes for Twilight to show up and solve it."
Whilst completely unrelated to Fire and Rain, I have to ask...
What's the origin of the name 'Ruirik'?
Did you just want something that no one could pronounce properly?
2217326
A night of drunken Wikipedia browsing led me to "Rurik" and when I eventually made a fimfic account "i" is next to "u" on the keyboard. Long story short it started as an oops that I kept.
2217151 I may be a pawn now, but one day, I will at least be a rook.
2217346
I wish you the best of luck.
2217307 I know what you mean, although I found that it felt more and more natural the more I thought about how it reflected on past appearances and what we can extrapolate from our limited information. I have actually gotten to the point that I suspect this was actually planned from at least season 2 because it all fits together perfectly in hindsight which makes me think the earlier behavior was deliberate foreshadowing of the issues with Spitfire and the Wonderbolts we are seeing now.
So, Ruirik, what is your favorite color?
2217497
Blue
2218219
I couldn't name one
Here's one for you: Will FoBaG contain any more Vinyl and Octavia? Or are the two storylines seperate now that the couples aren't in the same city anymore?
2217151 Better than me, then. I can't write anything without first spending at least two sleepless nights mulling over details that I eventually never use. -_-;
Next question: Is there any musician/group/band who is your go-to artist for writing music, or inspiration? Two of my favorites are Jakob and sleepmakeswaves for when I want to get a good scene out of my head.
2218276
They may show up at some point. It falls into the category of things I'll include if it makes sense.
2218311
I am 100% less capable of naming two
2218337
Honestly it depends on the scene and the mood I'm going for. Instead of a single artist or group I make playlists for stories with songs that fit the moods and themes I want to hit upon. I'll listen to that playlist more or less obsessively, often garnering ideas while I'm walking around with my iPod. When that happens I pull out the little notebook I always carry in my pocket and write them down.
2218374 Care to go into details on what groups/genres you like for certain scenes? (I admit, I'm looking to expand my library, and mood-music is always at the top of my 'to-find' list.)
Has In an Instant been left by the wayside in favor of FoBG?
Do you ever listen to songs that don't have guitars in them?
What is your favorite book?
What is your favorite anime?
What is your favorite manga?
Do you speak another language beside english?
Does Spitfire has a fear of dragons after the events of secret of my excess?
What is your favorite Spike shipping?
2218378
Buy me dinner first
2218387
For a darker story or scene I'll find music with a foreboding quality so, for example, Wind and Stone is written to a song like this:
Whereas Fire & Rain I'll typically look for romance songs, often with lyrics that I can use as hidden references to future plot elements:
(gee, I wonder what I was hinting at there
)
If I were just breaking it down to a list of artists though:
Bon Jovi
Van Halen
Sister Hazel
Gin Blossoms
Midnight Oil
Bette Midler
Johnny Cash
Liam Clancy
Flogging Molly
Drive By Truckers
The list goes on and on. Every band has a few songs I use for inspiration..
2218415
Instant has not been abandoned, it's just a hard story to write.
2218429
Of course, I have a playlist of symphony for various stories and scenes.
2218578
You should link to more symphonies.
2218610
Have you read In an Instant? Methinks you'll find a few
2217151
Never heard of Fristi? Consider yourself blessed, that stuff is disgusting.
Have you ever heard Benny Goodman?
What color is your underwear?
What is your opinion on TwiShy?
2218842
No
Black
TwiShy isn't a ship I've really had much of an interest in. Fluttershy (sorry to say) is second to last in terms of my mane6 rankings. Now, as I've said earlier in this AMA, any ship can be done well if the author takes their time to do it right, so I'm sure there are a couple fantastic TwiShy's out there. It's just not a ship I'm terribly interested in.
2218846 Yeah, we all have opinions. And I respect that. It's just that these two are at the top of my favorites list (especially after Dash decided to become a complete ass. To be honest, you write a better Dash than most of the show's writers) and it's not really a substantial ship, it's more of a giant fluff fest. And sometimes, you need to read a giant fluff fest.
2218857
Aw, thanks for the kind words! I certainly enjoy a good bit of fluff, as I recall I wrote a whole chapter of Fire & Rain for nothing but a pillow fight. My irritation with Fluttershy comes from her constant whimpering. She's gotten much better over the years, but it's a speaking cadence that drives me crazy after a while.
Still, give me Fluttershy over Pinkie any day.
After you die, you find yourself in a room with two doors. One leads to heaven and one leads to hell; you don't know which is which. There are also two robed men who are all knowing. One always tells the truth and one always tells lies; you don't know which is which.
You can ask one man one question, and then they both disappear for ever. What question to you ask in order to get to heaven?
2218885
I point to one and ask "Can you please open the door to heaven?" Depending on what I see on the other side of the door, I either go in or take the opposite one.
2218887
If you ask that, he will either say yes or no. He doesn't have to do any tasks you request, he just has to answer your question.
2218892
I open both doors to take a look before deciding. And really, it wouldn't matter which one I pick either way given that where I ultimately end up is dictated by how I lived my life, rather than an arbitrary decision that is based off of a philosophical exercise. So really what does it matter what door I pick as my fate has been determined before I got there. In theory then if I lived a good life whichever door I pick will lead to heaven, whereas if I lived a sinful life whichever door I pick will lead to hell.
One question and one question only. Do she got da booty?
Hmm...
If you had to pick one pony that would follow you and live with you for the rest of your life, which would you pick? And it's not like husband and wife, but the pony literally following you everywhere (within reason, so he/she won't be there during toilet breaks or fun-times).