Welcome to TPOH! · 4:46am Aug 5th, 2015
My name is CyborgSamurai, and you will not remember me I’m the author of The Powers of Harmony. If you’re reading this, it means you’re a prospective new reader! Welcome!
I’m writing this little introduction because I knew that, due to this story being gone for so long, there’d be a fair amount of people who don’t know anything about this story. Granted, it’s been gone for quite a while, so I feel like some explanation is in order.
This blog is essentially a FAQ. I figured I’d try and answer the most obvious questions about me and the story, and hopefully that clears up some of the confusion. If you have any other questions that aren’t addressed here, post them in the comments, and I’ll try my best to answer.
So, then…
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What is The Powers of Harmony?
The Powers of Harmony, or TPOH for short, is a slow-paced adventure story with a lot of emphasis on worldbuilding and character development. It takes place two months after the purification of Nightmare Moon, and has moderate deviations to the canon that ultimately leads to the need for the Alternate Universe tag. It starts off slow, but the action eventually picks up into a full-blown, sweeping adventure… thing. I began writing TPOH in April of 2012, shortly after the Season Two Finale, and continued writing it for a little over a year until I stopped in June 2013.
That was two years ago! Why’d you have to stop?
I got hit with a string of nasty medical issues that wrecked my arms, wrists and hands, left shoulder, and neck. I’m going to assume most people don’t want to know (or care) about the specifics, but if you’re a curious sort, here are some links for more information.
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It’s been a rough couple of years. It’s taken three surgeries, and two years total to get things under control. And on top of all that, I also returned to university to pursue my second undergrad. I was unsure that I’d have the time (or physical ability) to devote to TPOH, so I put it on hiatus until my life straightened out a bit.
Why are you coming back to it now, then? Are you all better?
Some disorders and conditions merely come and go, and the only thing you can do is manage their symptoms. However, thanks to a lot of medical advice and care, I’ve learned what my limits are, and as long as I don’t overstep them, I’ll be okay. In addition, I have a good grasp on what my workload here at college is like. These two things have made me confident that I can now give this story the attention it deserves.
I see that you worked on another pretty story in between 2013 and now. What’s with that?
The Last Crusade was essentially a test. It was a smaller project that I used as a benchmark to see what my hands were still capable of. The idea was that if I could write and finish TLC, I’d be good enough to continue TPOH. This turned out to be a good thing for me, as it had less stress, it allowed me to learn and I could go at a much slower pace. However, even that wasn’t enough, because while I was writing, it, my right wrist shit out on me, and I had to stop writing altogether for thirteen months.
Losing that time while working on TPOH would’ve been a big blow to morale, and I would’ve hated to put the story on hiatus for a third time while I recovered. I imagine readers would have, too.
How close is TPOH to completion?
As of Chapter 30, the story is about 60% done. I anticipate it to be around 600-700k words when the curtains close. I currently have all of Act Two outlined, which will bring the story up to Chapter 45.
Can you tell me a little bit more about TPOH? It’s a pretty long story, and I wanna know what I’m getting into.
The first thing I’ll recommend is to take a look at the blogs I’ve written here to try and gear people up for the story’s return. In addition, you might wanna check out the TvTropes page. It’s very well filled out (over 200 entries), and it may answer a lot of the unspoken questions you may have. Obviously you’ll be running into spoilers, but those are the breaks.
I’ll talk a little about my perspective on the story. As I said before, TPOH is very slow-paced. It takes its time with the worldbuilding and character development, and since each member of the mane six features prominently, this takes some time to do. The excitement does eventually pick up, and things start happening with all the established stuff, but… yeah. It’s a slow burn. If you like that kind of a story, you might like TPOH. If that’s not your bag… probably not so much.
I read your story up to *insert chapter number here*, but then stopped because of *insert reason here*.
I love feedback. Please, feel free to tell me what you thought about the story in any way you like. I’m sorry that there was something in the story you disliked, but if you elaborate on your viewpoint, I might be able to fix whatever issue you had in my future projects. Probably not so much for TPOH, though. This story’s kinda been set in stone for a while now.
You also might want to look through the old comments to see if other people felt the same way. Some people wrote some really interesting stuff there, and I greatly appreciate the criticism. Also, (again) if you don’t mind spoilers, you can look through the blogs and TvTropes page to see if there’s anything in the story that isn’t your cup of tea.
The story takes forever to get anywhere.
I know. I tended to be very wordy when I first started writing, and it’s something I still struggle with. This was the first story I ever posted here on fimfic, and while it’s gone through several edits and rewrites, I acknowledge that there are still problems with it.
There are no conflicts in this story.
This was the first real criticism that TPOH got, and it was given when the story was on Chapter 12. There are conflicts in the story, but they take a while to surface. The first act is primarily focused on slice of life stuff with worldbuilding and character development. Things pick up in the second act.
When does the story get to the super powers? That’s the main reason I was interested in your story.
It starts in Chapter Six, and picks up proper in Chapter Seven. If you’re here for just that, you might wanna think about starting there.
I hated one of the big reveals.
As I said above, you might want to go through the TvTropes page to if there’s anything in the story that’s a dealbreaker. I understand it can be frustrating to invest a lot of time into a story, and then something happens a good ways in that turns you off of the whole thing.
So what’s the plan, now? Are you going to try and finish the story?
I might write a few one shots here and there when I need a change of pace, but yes, that’s the plan. I’m not going to set a definite date on when I think the story will be done, but hopefully, it’ll be done within a year or so. It’d certainly be nice to finally get all of this done by then!
You misspelled Apple Bloom’s name.
I know. I feel bad, but I really don’t feel like going through the entire story to change it. Dealwithit.jpg
Yay.
I completely forgot the story's plot.
Not changing Apple Bloom's name, fine.
But you do proof-read right?
3295998
Check my blogs. I wrote a recap.
I admit, im sorta shocked to see this story rising from the dead. But glad it has, though time to reread with whats been forgotten.
I'm surprised to see this story has updated but I'm glad to see you and it back.
Meh, when this is finally complete I'll go back through my epub and find and replace it. The plan is in place, dealt with.
Oh now I get it. I understand medical issues all too well... I may have to re-read though, not a new reader but man it's been so long!
It's good to hear that you are doing better! I'm going to have to re-read everything because frankly, I can't remember much outside of the basics.
Ironically, I just reread everything maybe two weeks ago.
Ooh, getting your arms, wrists and hands, left shoulder, and neck all hurt because of what I think? is a virus must have been bad. My big brother lost his shin to a nasty unknown virus. So, yeah, I am glad you made recovery!
-Starry
Have you considered getting a speech recognizer? Once you get proficient with it, you can usually go as quick with that as actually typing. The good ones are a bit on the pricey side, but very useful if you can't use your hands. My aunt uses Dragon because she's got crippling arthritis, and trust me, she has no difficulty posting on Facebook forty times a day.
*Faints*
I was here before the long break! You kids get off the lawn!
Ok fine, it's not my lawn and we want the whole neighborhood here.
This is one of my all-time favorite stories. Stick around folks, I think you'll find it worth the ride.
I'll just.... go over here.... and fanboy in the corner.
Super glad to see you back in the saddle Cyborg.
i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa362/SmoothPower/Young-Frankenstein1.jpg
now on to the recap!
Oh fuck dude, I thought you just left the story for dead. Medical issues suck massive penis and can cause a whole lot of other issues and stress, hope your doing okay!
I loved this story when I first read it, looking forward to re-reading through it all now that you are looking to be able to start it up again :D
Best of luck to you!
Ooo this story.
Hope your body doesn't give you much more trouble.
That's been gone FOREVERRRGlad you're back
Was thinking about this one fairly recently, and I like it quite a bit.
Made my day when I saw the update.
I still remember writing that little message thanking you for not cancelling but merely putting the story on hiatus. Though my drive for pony reading burned out quite significantly, I will still find the time to reread your story and get into it. I promised that and I intend to keep that promise.
Though I see it as a victory that I didn't actually need that "this story has updated" email function. Set that up in case I left FimFic altogether.
Just don't harm yourself writing this. That's all I dare ask.
And, of course, have fun!
Always enjoyed your Pinkie Pie and I hope to see her more. I especially like her healing bent and working with Zecora.
That's fairly easy to fix nowadays. Copypaste the chapter into Word, search for (mispelled name), and have it replaced with (correct spelling). It's all on one menu. Granted, you'd have to do it multiple times, but you won't need to search out every instance of Apple Bloom in the story.
Hey my dad and grandpa have Charcot-Marie tooth but they still lived happy lives. My grandpa even served in the military before his body wouldn't let him. I'd say take advantage of the time you have and if you need exercise, try swimming! My dad could no longer run but he took up swimming and it has done wonders for him. Don't let it set you back, there's a lot of life left to live.