The Content Blog · 4:33pm Jul 12th, 2012
Some time ago, when the custom text post was added to FimFiction, I used it as a sort of supplementary material guide for The Immortal Game and Sparkle’s Law. I’ve since cleared that out to use it as a current activities bit, mostly so that people stop mailing me asking when the next chapter is coming, but also so that I can make batman jokes.
But the amount of reader-generated content for The Immortal Game is considerable, and I of all people like having my ego stroked. So back it comes, very much the same as it was before. I’ll link this blog in the story description and update it when someone makes me aware of new fan content.
The Immortal Game: Tv Tropes page.
This thing is huge, and very well cared for. I can’t imagine how many hours Tv Tropes has taken away from my writing thus far. Linking me there is like stealing six hours out of my day.
Cyberbanjo, on Youtube has done "Colt versions" of several scenes in the Nihilus arc. You can check these out here, here, and here.
Raven Feathers, also on youtube, does The Immortal Game’s dramatic reading. Check out his channel here.
You can find The Immortal Game in an eReader format here. I've written an eight hundred page novel already. Sweet Celestia, what has happened to my life...
The only three pieces of fanart I know about are this, this and the cover image. Please stop sending me emails asking me where I’m keeping it. What, do my words not paint you a good enough picture?
And while I’m at it, my interview for Sparkle’s Law and links to download the story in many file formats are here. There’s a reading here.
Try to keep your comments on this blog either A) concerned with its content or B) pointing out something I need to add. I know that many of you are awaiting the finale; please keep comments regarding that or anything else on my user page or the story itself (though if it's a question, I'm more likely to respond on my user page.)
Now that you mention it, I haven't seen any Immortal Game fanart...
*Looks at pencil and sketchbook.* Time to get busy...
I tried commissioning an artsy friend to draw some characters from the series, rather, how they appear in the series. I wrote a nifty proposal and everything. He decided to be a lazy schmuck though. Shame.
Stroke... Stroke... Stroke... Stroke... Stroke... Stroke... Stroke...
By now it doesn't look like a word...
Stroke... Stroke... Stroke...
196799
I drew something once.
It was horrible...
196833
Really, as much as fanart makes me dance, I ain't even mad. Also I have not been on League for a game in over a month. Feel free to yell at me next time you see me, or I'll miss you.
196873
Having fun stroking your elipses there, are you? I won't judge.
New profile image. I'm going to miss uber-magic Twilight.
196889
Lol, you should see some of the pony lines Device Heretic posts on his blog, if i wasn't sure that he was bipolar and inebriated most of the time i'd be sure he was a shameless person. Some of those drawings...
But now im conflicted on what to draw from Immortal Game.
196889
Different folks different stokes? Hehehe...
Also, what do you mean by "new profile image"?
Also Mr. B. You should totally play Diablo 3. I'm rolling with Koba and Dagger Tounge, but we need more dps for inferno. This lousy demon hunter just isn't cutting it...
Edit: Unless you already play and have your own lil group of friends that gladly follow you into the depths of Hell... While also trying to get you killed. Teamwork!
196889
Sure thing dude. Next time I'm grouping up with some fellas I'll hit you up. We've got a good mix of ponychan people and some RL friends of mine. We're kinda loud and joke around a lot in skype, so we forgive any mistakes and shit. To be fair, we're pretty far from perfect.
Two things to say here and only one is relevant.
1). Raven Feathers does some good shit
2). [The relevant one] I found this on Reddit and I thought you would enjoy it for some reason.
This makes me feel like recording more of Sir Unimpressive's lines, although I doubt I'd find any that speak to me like that one. You know the one.
196967
Not gonna lie; reading your comments in an Irish accent has a certain charm to it.
Some bastard just had to link a tropes page to some godawful (Or awful gods!) fic I've been taking the piss out of all this time...
Damn you...
I may be some time.
I am sometimes amazed at how long these fanfictions can be and forget that they are long enough to be Harry Potter sized novels.
197064
I think my actual voice acting of Unimpressive's lines would leave you somewhat disappointed, then. Unimpressed, if you will.
196904
I'm certain you used to have a pic of Twilight from the scene where she puts the Ursa Minor to sleep. Am I wrong?
196967
I'd find a place to host that file and like it here, if you don't mind. Also, Raven Feathers reads Unimpressive with something of an Irish accent. It's certainly somewhat different from the way you read him.
196920
I will test your capacity to forgive.
197201
The final chapter will actually make it longer than Order of the Phoenix. That is not a good thing.
197865
Considering that you are comparing it to Harry Potter... no, it isn't a good thing.
196889
Drawing Rarity's tail while hopped up on caffine is a no no.
fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/178/e/6/immortal_game_bladecaster_rarity_by_bladezeromus-d554yj2.jpg
197865
I... Don't know. Not a clue. Oh well, another mystery.
198514
That look of contempt as she adjusts her mane is absolutely perfect.
200031
Honestly with what she's been going through I honestly can't think of any other way for her to look.
While I was drawing the picture I was listening to The Fray - How to Save a Life and thought it was a good song for her. Then as my playlist continued on through i found my mind wondering to the other characters and what i ended up with was.
Twilight: Three Days Grace - World So Cold
AJ: AX7 - Tension
Rainbow Dash: Breaking Benjamin - Without You
Terra: AX7 - Nightmare
The Mane 6 Team: Into the Nothing
200175
Great taste in music you have there. I have a few fitting songs as well.
The Final Battle: Epic Score - Prepare For The End
Titan: Two Steps From Hell - Dark Ages
Luna: Two Steps From Hell - He Who Brings The Night
Unimpressive: Twisted Jukebox - Rising Phoenix
Fluttershy: Sound Adventure - Celtic Myst
200445
Thanks, Got some more.
Pinkie Pie: Two Steps from Hell - Zen Killer
Return of Titan: Coheed and Cambria - The End Complete
Esteem: Disturbed - Warrior
Wrong: Linkin Park - Part of Me
Discord: Black eyed peas, Jay-z - Flip Flop Rock
Celestia: Two Steps from Hell - Ironwing
Nihilus: We are the Fallen - Tear the World
200856
Discord as sung by the black eyed peas? Naw man, try this:
Discord: Kid Rock - Devil Without A Cause
Luna vs Celestia: Battle from Hell - Epic War Battle Mix
At this rate we are going to have an entire soundtrack... movie time?
202036
Id pay money to see this as a movie. quite a pit of money.
I'm quite glad to see you refer to the early chapters as the Nihilus arc. I'd been calling them that in casual conversation with a friend of mine for a while now, but I was hesitant to do so anywhere else since the Immortal Game was clearly plotted as one long story with the Nihilus stuff just taking place at the beginning. Then again, it does have its own distinct beginning, middle and end even in the context of the whole story, so "arc" is probably the best way to describe it. I really should stop worrying so much about this sort of thing.
On another note, it makes me happy to see all this Two Steps From Hell in the comments. By now, I always end up listening to at least a couple of their songs whenever I read a new chapter.
May have found a better Celestia
Celestia: Two Steps From Hell - A Hole In The Sun
Applejack/Pinkie Pie/Rarity vs Esteem: Two Steps From Hell - Power of Darkness
Twilight breaks the barrier: Les Friction - Louder Than Words:Instrumental
The three mane arcs and their suggested movie titles just for kicks.
Betrayal of the Lost (from He Has Returned to She's Alive!): Zack Hemsey - This Is Our Legacy
The Return (from My Name Is Twilight Sparkle to The Battle of Canterlot) : Audiomachine - Young Blood
Follies of the Gods (The Power to Destroy onward): PP Music - Harpa Maledicere
(I have stumbled unwittingly across the single greatest genre of music ever created)
202374
I love arcs. I use arcs for everything because I care more about the story being cathartic than anything else. A good example is Twilight's godslaying superspell: after she fires her giant beam of molten death, she ejects a bunch of garbage into the air around her. That's totally unnecessary to the story, it's just there as a way of bringing the arc to a close. The buildup is her step-by-step spell construction, the climax is obviously her firing, and the ejection is that falling bit at the end. Even little things that take only a couple paragraph in the story, I make to follow an arc. Just a fun fact.
200175
200445
Music! I won't cut in and offer up songs of my own, because everyone has different tastes, but I will offer up another fun fact. I listen to music while writing sometimes, but here's the thing: it doesn't need to be mood music.
While coming up with an action setpiece in my head, I'm often also listening to mood music. Not that my action scenes are all written music videos or anything, but there are certain kinds of song that will help gear me up for some good old fashioned fighting.
But while actually writing, it doesn't matter what I'm listening to. I have a very wide range of songs, and sometimes I just want something playing to help me focus. Case in point: Six thousand words of chapter seven were written to Selena Gomez's Love You Like A Love Song on repeat. The rest was to either silence or the main theme from Crisis 2.
Pretty much the same here, i like having music playing to drown out distracting white noise.
Selena Gomez? Eh, not sure if want, but nonetheless, we would still love to see your song input. They are your characters (for the most part) after all.
Terra vs Twilight/Luna: Breaking Benjamin - Blow Me Away
Fluttershy and Rarity dancing: Andrew W.K. - Party Party Party
(sort of out of story) Celestia's Gambit: My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade
Luna motivates Twilight (ch. 20): Skillet - Never Surrender
Edit: Did I list the main arcs correctly or am I way off?
We're doing the music thing? Aight.
I figure since I preach about the Glitch Mob so often, It's my duty to put some here. Keep in mind, it's electronicy and has a little bit of a wobble bassline. I wouldn't go so far as to call it dubstep, but it has some parallels.
This is probably my favorite Glitch Mob song. If I had to pick a scene to assign it to, it would have to be one of the fight scenes with Rarity and her father.
Warrior Concerto
The strings mesh really well with the grace in Rarity's character, and at about 1:20 it really gets awesome and fast paced.
200856
205546
207074
A couple words on music before I go ahead and post some tracks of my own:
The thing with me posting a track for a certain character or scene is that it’s going to be a song that I like, not necessarily a song that you like. That much is obvious, but I’ll also point out that a piece I find moving, or a piece that I feel is “perfect” for a certain character, might just sound like crap to you.
So really, if I went ahead and posted some tracks, I’d just be showcasing my taste in music. So before I do: I like a handful of Ramstein songs. A handful of Nightwish songs. Four songs by The Glitch Mob—Warrior Concerto is my favorite too, I found it on a car commercial. When I hear a song that I like on the radio I’ll grab that, and so by now I have Kerli, Lady Gaga, Katie Perry, Meat Loaf, Kanye West, Black Eyed Peas, the list goes on and on.
When I study or draw I have this list of tracks that is the most phony pretentious crap you’ve ever seen. Dvorak Sympony 9 in E Minor. The 1812 Overture. Bolero. In the Hall of the Mountain King. Ave Maria. I’m not trying to be classy, it’s just easier to focus.
I love the songs you get out of cartoon musicals—I think Disney’s Hercules has some of my favorites, closely followed by Prince of Egypt.
But most of all I listen to movie music. The trailer kind—Two Steps From Hell, Epic Score, etc—and the actual movie kind. Hans Zimmer is my favorite, as you’ll see soon. Steve Jablonsky comes in second.
When I watch a movie one of the biggest factors in my enjoyment is the score. Great movies have great scores. If they don’t, they’re merely good. The music has to hit that right point where it’s not completely unnoticable (I can’t remember ever becoming aware of a single track from Wrath of the Titans) and not too obtrusive (The prequel trilogy loved to blast the noise during dialogue. We get it. John Williams is awesome. Now turn it down, I can't hear Anakin whine.)
Coming up with a list of songs or tracks for TIG has always rubbed me the wrong way. The only way to achieve the uniformity required of a movie score would be to, well, just copy an entire movie score. None come to mind. While separately these songs appeal to me, all of these tracks together would actually make a terrible soundtrack for TIG. But I've rambled for long enough. Here.
Intro
The only piece here that actually has words, but they’re fitting enough and I like the overall sound. Canterlot is half in ruins. Celestia is dead. Luna is on the run. Slowly, a red shadow creeps its way across the face of the moon.
Titan
Titan, as soon as he is introduced, is defined by Celestia and Luna’s reactions. They’re terrified, not so much of him, but of what they know he can do to the ponies they care about. And he starts talking, treating his victory like its a foregone conclusion, and talking to both of them from what is very much a parent ego state.
So lets give him some music that’s not very obtrusive, but that makes us feel like something is very, very wrong. I’ve always thought that if TIG had a score, Titan and the bad guys would get the deep male ominous chanting, whereas the forces of good would get that sort of high-pitched, eerie female stuff.
Nihilus Corrupts Dash
If Nihilus were to get a leitmotif, it would probably sound something like this. Nice and edgy, a little discordant. I like the idea of unobtrusive background music slowly degrading and becoming her theme as the scene turns into an experience out of nightmare. Dash can say “Hello, Twilight.” And we’ll get something like that hit at 2:28
Rarity
I think in A Beautiful Morning Rarity only destroys a handful of puppets with her blade. We’re going to change that to a couple dozen (Author powers rule!) and have something like this going on through the scene. For me it captures the grace of Rarity and Bladecasting, just like the above mentioned Warrior Concerto, and I love that Buffy-esque idea. You know where the damsel has her back to the wall, and instead of crying out and getting eaten, she surprises it—and the audience—by kicking the shit out of it. This ain’t your daughter’s Rarity. This is TIG Rarity.
Wrong Screaming at Applejack
This is one of my favorite scenes. It’s just so evil wins, which is what makes Nihilus’s eventual death so much the better. That said, I’m still conflicted as to whether or not this fits. It might just be that I loved Sherlock Holmes 2 too much. Damn, that was a good movie.
One Month Later
For the little grouping of scenes in chapter ten that re-introduces Luna’s four main soldiers. Needs something long, fast-paced, not too heavy, and with plenty of breaks for dialogue.
Rarity vs Esteem
Okay, this one is actually a joke, but there’s a star wars reference in the scene and I can’t go without posting a little John Williams. I have no idea what would go here, because I have no idea what kind of music to use for General Esteem.
Luna Fights Titan
They land in a square filled with puppets and rebels. Luna is pulling some heroic moves—and then Titan bats her away and just starts killing. Luna gets back up, and commence alicorn action choregraphy. Note that Titan is once again getting that ominous latin chanting, so focus on him.
Twilight’s Back
TIG is not at all subtle when it comes to Twilight Sparkle. From the very get go, we’re talking about how strong she is. How smart she is. And as we go on we learn that she’s not only been versed in the ways of war, but Nihilus taught her half a dozen war spell. And it beats us over the head with these facts again and again and again. Pass the milk, and Twilight is a badass. I think I’ll go talk to Rarity, also Twilight is a badass. This is intentional. It makes her eventual reunion all the sweeter.
So when she first appears in chapter fifteen, let’s give her a new sound. I’d have no problem giving Twilight something so full of synth, because she’s so sciency. I’ve always visualized TIGlight, in her uniform and wielding her blade, as being very bright. You know, covered in the kind of light that’s more light than it is color.
Princess Terra Sings
Not much to say here, other than the fact that unlike the other tracks, this one was not thought of after the fact. I’ve always thought of this as Terra’s singing voice, so maybe that’s what we can give her right before Empyrean I interrupts.
All I’ve got now. But you know what? Have something for Chapter 21
208546
Ah how I do love seeing others tastes in music. It always helps me expand my horizons just a little more. I can honestly say that no music will ever be crap to me unless I feel the sound isn't genuine at all and is just a cash grab attempt.
Well I thoroughly enjoyed, that list tracks and the reasoning behind them. I ended up adding a few to my favorites. Josh09 has me listening to Glitch Mob now, you've reminded me of my love for daft punk, and i might end up with alot of Hans Zimmer.
Speaking of Twilight being a badass...she's actually so badass i cant chose how to draw her...
208761
I tend to imagine Twilight as a mix between this, this, this, and this.
A warning to you, never google 'Twilight Sparkle magic'. You will come across so much porn it isn't even funny.
208546
Those choices are all great. Personally not a huge fan of Terra's song though; I kind of imagined it differently. I heard it to be slower, more fluid. Something resembling this maybe.
208868
Thank you for warning me about that, you have saved me from a fatal error.
Whenever I think of the final battle I always hear Duel of the Fates from the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
am i the only one who reads these with bleach and naruto osts blasting in the background
I just have all albums by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, including Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada, playing when I read this fic.
As well as a generous helping of Kid A... some Kveikur works well too.
Oh, and Swans. If you listen to The Seer when you're reading this fic then you are going to have a good time.
Sorry to suddenly post this here but I wasn't sure where else I should do it. I've recently went through the epub version that fimfiction provided and added in all the cutie mark images in because when I checked, they didn't actually show up on the device I was using.
Here is the download for the epub with the images in them incase anyone wants them.
Click to download. (Mediafire Link)
Is there an audio book of this story somewhere? I can't find anything on
http://www.mlpaudiobooks.net/
I don't know if you already know about these yet, but here's more TIG fanarts for you:
Celestia and Luna engage their father at the final battle.
It may not be TIG verse Titan, but this was based on him. He looks pretty awesome.
Finally! Badass Twilight and her trusty blade, Equinox, ready to kick ass!
another alternative cover for The Immortal game.
764717 I do. My inner narrator even gave Titan Barragan's voice.
It would appear that Raven Feather's reading no longer exists. If anyone has it downloaded to their computer, please share it.
4434067 I have first 3 chapters of it but i'm looking for someone with chapter 4-24
4434067
4856320
You guys still looking? I might be able to get my old computer working long enough to get it off the drive...
I'm missing the back half of "God", though. Download glitch.
4434067
I know it's not Raven Feather. But there is another reading on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXtE43TJdhiTP0BotZxAuVwCIG6m-wjyq