Fan discussion: The Golden Armor · 1:12am Aug 19th, 2014
Dear followers,
As suggested by one of my good friends on this site, I am going to try something a little unorthodox.
I don't want to bore all of you, but I have been feeling a bit like a failure recently on this site. I've had RL beat me halfway to death before coming here and being too tired or uninspired to write, as made clear by my Voice of an Angel blog. I won't sit here and throw myself a pity party, though, as I am not that desperate. Instead, I decided to try something else to expand my horizons on this site.
Now, this is only a test, so please forgive me if I don't know what I'm doing, which happens quite often.
Introducing my first ever discussion about my stories, kicking off with The Golden Armor! I will be answering almost any and all questions about the story, regardless of context, including dropping some spoilers if asked. However, this is not just for my entertainment. You all can tell me anything about the first story or Part II, whether it is something you like about it, something you hate or even suggestions. I will be as active and answer all the comments I possibly can.
Now, I do ask you to please respect that this is me opening up a lot more than I normally do. I will not blatantly tell you the whole plot or character arc simply because it was asked, but I will answer questions about their quirks, misgivings and irregularities, including the plot. I also ask that you please respect each other's opinions on my story, since I will be responding to both praise and critique. My last request is to please have fun. This is meant for me to understand what you all think of my writing and to improve where it needs it, but I also think it would be a great way to make some more friends.
Alright, I'm ready. Are you?
Regards,
C.B.
Never even read it so who knows, though you still have the challenge I gave you
2381217
You mean the bat pony joining the Day Guard? I still have that one's outline lying around somewhere...
What influenced you to come up with this story? Just for fun?
2381218
Yep, and one I should try myself even if it just for her to chew out Luna and have whats left of the bat ponies not liking the Moon Princess
A question that has been burning to be asked for months...
Is the stallion on the cover of the original TGA supposed to be Comet? If so why is he that color? If that was the original description in the story I have since forgotten it.
Another, more-impatient-asking-for-spoilers type question, when will Comet and Angel see each other again?!
2381221
Believe it or not, a long bout of Fable III inspired the inept Royal Guard idea and some of the witty jokes in the first chapter. Monty Python and the Holy Grail poured on the unneeded stupidity and a couple episodes of Clannad gave me Angel and Comet's personality blueprints.
Kinda strange how they all came together.
2381228 If it's crazy and it works, it's not crazy! And by the looks of it, it worked waaay too well
2381224
The stallion on the cover art is my original depiction of Comet as described in the first chapter. His color scheme came partly from Dragonball Z (you can guess who) and my own personal image. I also thought it was unique for there to be an orange pony OC since most people chose outrageously bright or weird colors.
As for your second question, yes, Comet and Angel will reunite with Comet learning about a special secret Angel has.
2381238 I really do like the original color scheme, especially how it works with the colors in the rest of the cover.
Hey, since you asked for opinions, too, I'll start with that:
Golden Armor was probably the longest story I read on fimfiction. What captivated me was the interaction between those two (later three) very different characters. The whole changeling thing actually felt tacked on, those three were stirring up enough trouble on their own.
Hence now my question: How did you design the characters? Did you write pages and pages of backstory or did you just wing it? Someway in between? ^^
I guess I would like to start off with the fact/reason your story made it to my Top 5 overall stories. As one of the first handful of really long stories that I had read on the site, it had such interesting developments in characters. Considering these were OC's and not the Mane 6 re imagined as some had done, I was happy to read about these two opposites as they continuously crashed into each other. It helps I am a sucker for romance and their relationship entertained me greatly.
On that note, you stated that Clannad helped you create the templates for their characters. After their initial design, what made you decide on the development route that they each took. Was it just 'let things happen' or was it more 'plan and plot based on a predetermined ending'?
Golden Armour and Golden Armour II are very good stories. That is all.
Will you ever go back and go more in depth on training to get into the royal / night guard, that bit seemed a bit rushed in my opinion
The Golden Armour is by far my favorite story on fimfiction and the first story I read on this site. Angel Beats is and always will be my favorite oc. Though I have always wondered what was your inspiration in making Valyrie? Don't get me wrong I love her and I'm glad she appeared, but I am curious.
2381277
Honestly, their development was really all on their own. When I initially wrote them, they had no backstory or planning and I made it up as I went. Comet came more naturally to me than Angel did, but I always liked Angel's story better.
2381290
Their developments really came from their personalities bouncing off each other. From fairly early on, I did decide that Comet's character needed to loosen up while Angel's needed to mature, but Valyrie's development was mostly on-the-spot flaws I thought needed to be addressed. As far as the ending went, it was more of an 'I knew where I wanted to go, but not how to get there' thing. Angel and Comet would ultimately end up together, but I did want there to be that nagging thought of Comet and Valyrie ending together.
2381449
That is actually one of my roadblocks in rewriting the original. I've never been to a boot camp or even seen real soldier training, so I know next to nothing about it. Secondly, it really messes up Angel and Comet's development into a relationship unless they're in their own world, like Calvin and Hobbes. I will eventually go more in depth into their training regime, but it has no set date.
2381497
Valyrie actually came from a girl I knew back in high school. While her intro was very poorly done, it was easy to put in the tough and cool exterior with a very fragile inner self. She is not that girl word for word, but a lot of the emotions and personality traits are from what I remember about her.
2381343
Thank you!
Two more questions
How many sequels (if any) do you have planned, if your willing to share
Will the remainder of the story revolve mainly around Angel and Comets relationship or will there be some sort of 'Conflict' that will grab the attention of the story.
I really love your stories and I can't wait for more!
I know this isn't exactly what the topic of the discussion is, and this may not be the time and place for it, but your recent blog posts have been making me worry, so I want to tell you something important: you're not a failure. You're not stupid. You're awesome, like a majority of the people I've met on this site, and if you don't believe it any other time, believe it now, when some ridiculous pseudonymous user that you probably haven't ever conversed with before tells you: you make a difference.
You may or may not have read any of stories, but I've drawn a huge amount of inspiration from your work, specifically when it comes to bat ponies. The Golden Armor is one of my favorite stories on this site, to the point where I've actually had Comet Burst and Angel Beats make cameo appearances in several of my own Royal Guard stories (you may remember me asking your permission for this; I, sadly, do not, but I don't think any harm came of it). You also opened me up to the idea of making my own OCs, something I still rarely do, but absolutely love doing when I come around to it. I have you to thank for a lot of my work here on FIMFiction, honestly. I know it sounds kind of silly when you consider the fact that it's just a site for ponyfiction, but it's still totally true.
I also see you as one of the few people on this site I wouldn't mind meeting in real life. I'm a pretty secretive guy when it comes to this sort of thing ("you never know who's really your chat partner," and all that), but I still think it'd be great to actually meet some of the people from this fandom I've grown so close to. Of course, I'm not going to say, "Give me your address and phone number, we can hang," but still, I'd like to offer you my digital hand and say, "It'd be a pleasure to be your friend." Or at least, I could be someone you can complain to. I owe you that much.
Whew. That was dramatic. I meant it, though. I really did.
Oh, and since this is technically a discussion board about TGA, I figure I might as well ask a question that's been on my mind for a while:
Are Angel, Comet, or any of your other OCs based on people you've known IRL? I know I draw from the people around me and from personal experiences when I write, but do you, too?
2381711
After Part II, there is a scheduled Part III that should wrap everything up nicely. Other than that, I was thinking of doing some side stories, but nothing major to the plot. As for the plot itself, the remainder of this story focuses more on Comet and Angel overcoming their worst fears before reuniting as more mature and well rounded characters, but the third one will bring the conflict between the Gryphon Kingdom and Equestria to a conclusion.
And thank you. If everything goes well, I will pick up more of my forgotten stories once this finishes before moving onto the finale.
2381712
Thank you so much for that. It does always make a difference to know when you do something that inspires others. As for asking to use them as a cameo, I generally do not have a problem with them being used by others as long as I know what they are up to with them, so I will have to check out the story in question.
And as to your question, all three of them are based on both real and imaginary characters. Angel distinctly acts like my sisters when she annoys Comet and his reactions are generally my own when I read or am in a silly situation.
So, here's yet another fan chiming in with compliments. Your stories are some of the best on this site, and believe it or not, The Golden Armor was only the second story I read on here, just after Past Sins, which is how I discovered this site in the first place.
Also, you might be interested to know that Angel inspired the creation of my own batpony OC, named Bartoka.
As for questions, how's this one?
In TGA's universe, if a batpony and a non-bat have a foal, is it more likely they'll come out as a batpony, or not?
You may have already received this question, but I'd really like to know what made you want to start writing in the first place, (the way I wrote that almost sounds like I was about to bash you or something) because I really do enjoy your style of writing.
*Edit* You are one SWOOD guy!
I'm very curious about griffin's in your verse, from what I get from the stories is that relations are at least strained. Is Gilda's attendance as a guard unique or has there been other occurences of griffins and ponies working together?
Let's get one thing straight, Golden armor is a great story.
Now for the question: Is Angel (or just her name and cutie mark) inspired from the anime of the same name. And if so why?
2381941
Thank you for all of that. I'm so glad Angel was able to inspire more OCs! And as to your question, the type ratio depends on the kind of pony. With pegasi, it's an even split, but other kinds of ponies have unpredictable birth rates, mostly ending in regular bat ponies.
2381958
The idea of writing a fanfic came to me after a night of work where I could only think of my own version to an episode. I wanted to scribble it down, so I looked up fanfic sites and stumbled across this one first. I'm always so glad I did. Also, horizontal hunger is for GROMMETS!
2382322
Usually, according to the universe I'm building, a female like Valyrie/Gilda is punished within the Kingdom itself. Since her father, who is a well respected veteran, demanded she not be executed or forced to be with the one who attacked her since it was a slight against his family, a new compromise had to be drawn up to prevent a feud. The solution most agreeable to them was Valyrie being punished, but with temporary exile instead of something within their borders, which often mean death. Her being in the Royal Guard was a sort-of parole since she was a guest in Equestria, but was also under their watch for her "dishonorable conduct".
2382533
Love the Makuta mask, by the way. Angel Beats was mostly just an accidental reference when I first wrote her name, since I had never seen the anime at that point. The cutie mark came after I had both watched the anime and found the reference a good fit to them.
Do you have an outline for Parts II and III?
I won't get into the reasons for this question publically, but I'm curious if such things exist.
Having said that: what makes a story interesting, what draws a reader in, is the reader's relationship to the characters. You have done an excellent job with this, the most fundamental aspect of storytelling. Never let anyone tell you you aren't good.
Could you be better? Of course. Shakespeare could be better. But you are better than most fanfic authors already.
Before I get to the question, it comes to my attention that in a previous blog you stated "I have never read the "classics"." Well let me say this, so what! I myself have read several books you could consider "classics" more than a few hundred novels when you include, not so "classics", but the FIRST opinion, I EVER made about you was "Damn this guy writes better stories than 80% of what I normally read"... Also, so far, golden armor remains the best fanfic I've read on this sight.
Also before the question, you also said that you did so bad you scared of editors. Let me say this, only English teachers and grammar nazi's care about the minor mistakes, and I only found a few typos that I noticed at all while reading your story, but I could care less, because it was a great story, and hell, I've found several typos in NEWSPAPERS, written by "professionals", it happens.
Now, the question, why does Angel look so different in the cover art between the two story's, Ive read the first story three times and could find that the Armor didn't change Angel's features at all, so, why does Angel look so different?
P.S. I did a very similar speech in the blog post "voice of angel" just to let you know you are indeed awesome.
As for that dudes profile pic a few comments down, I'm not sure that's a Mukata mask, I don't know what it is, but it doesn't seem enough like a Mukata mask, oh well.
2382547
See, that's cool. My little Barbat is secretly wishing for a foal of her own one day, so knowing the averages of batpony births, that makes writing the story a bit easier.
Of course, I still haven't figured out if she's infertile or not.
2382766
Outlines only exist in my head, so I do have a plan, but nothing in writing. And, once again, I thank you Blagdaross (I know your real name is jmartkdr) for that. It's always uplifting to know people do notice the effort I put into the characters.
2383084
I do remember that comment, Raul, and I do deeply appreciate the kind words. If it wasn't for guys like you and the rest of my fans, I would've quit a while ago, so thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. As to your question, the armor does not alter Angel's appearance the same way it does to Comet, but there are two "versions" of Angel, if you will. The one on the cover of the first story is Angel how I originally pictured her with the black mane and dark gray coat. The Angel on Part II is actually Midnight Blossom, the pony Angel was based off of and how the fandom sees her. I do give all credit for the wonderful art to Equestria-Prevails, the creator of Cloud Skipper and Midnight Blossom, and my thanks for his continued allowance of me to use them as Comet and Angel.
2382547
Yes!
Another question! What caused you to start watching MLP in the first place?
*edit* Floating eggplant...
2384670
Thank you for that, now to find the origins of the fan art of Comet, Angel, and Valyrie all at a pub playing..... I forget the name.
And if I can ask another question, I know its somewhere around here
*rustles through papers for 13 minutes.
Aha! here it is.... I forgot.
*looks at paper to find it has gone missing.
Oh well, maybe I'll remember later,
*Rembers.
Oh yeah, it was this "WHAT IN YOUR MIND TOLD YOU TO BRING GORGON BACK!"
So I can find that part of the mind and give a high five for being the first fic to surprise me that much and scare the shit out of me at the same time.
P.S. I actually did forget the question and came up with that while writing this coment.
Now of to read more of "Scootaloo dies a bunch".
2384768
Gorgon was always slated to make an appearance in The Golden Armor: Part II, but her initial role was much smaller. She was intended to try and take revenge on Comet and Angel by posing as an OC guard who would outrank them both, but I dropped that and the OC because I felt it just didn't develop either character or Gorgon enough.
2384738
Believe it or not, iFunny memes of ponies caught my attention. I thought it was a joke on the series, similar to Twilight, and was going to get in on it by watching an episode or two so I could make references. Unfortunately, I underestimated the gravitational pull of the show and became a squealing brony cheering at Twilight's fight with Tirek (I actually started when S3 began, but I like S4 better).
2387398 I started just before season 3 began, didn't watch any but the first 2 episodes of season 4, always been more interested in the community, music, fanfiction, visual arts, etc., but if you're saying season 4 was better, I'll have to take a look.
I remember in the first part where you had a poll it consisted of Valyrie, or Angel, and then you made a comment saying "Comet with his own hoof" as a joke, did you ever think up a scene where he tells both girls that he wasn't interested, like for teh lulz? :p
2387398
2387799
While we are on the topic of explaining how we got into the show, My Turn. Back in 2010 my sisters watched the show and I had to watch it with them, but found myself enjoying it, but did not know of Bronies and was ashamed about it, and soon both my sisters and me stoped watching (apparently the week party of one came out) . Then, fours years later at 2:00 A.M. I'm bored and remembered I used to like that show and said "why not", and proceeding lay watched every episode two days before "Trade Ya" came out. Yay
And comet, I actually agree about the gorgon thing, this does seem more interesting than the other options. Well, I'm dry on questions, bye and Good Morning (it's always morning somewhere)
I think you explained this when you originally posted the chapter way back when...but I forgot what you said. So I have to ask again.
Why? This woman killed probably killed hundreds, hurt 2 love interests, and brainwashed Comet... and then implied incest, but it's not incest in his mind (nothing against it), and lets her go.
I also get that he explains it, but still, it just baffles me.
Honestly, I preferred the calmer pacing of the 1st story. The second one has too many major things happening one after the other. It's like being forced to eat another pan of pie after stuffing yourself silly with one.