Actually, I'm Dead: Where did it came from? · 4:20am Oct 6th, 2016
Oh boy, where to begin?
Okay, I got this one. There are two main triggers for this story. The first one happened after I finished reading a tonload of Trixie stories and rated a personal Top 11 (here). That's when I realized that Trixie was pretty much my favorite character on and off the show and that I really wanted to write a good story with her. My first attempts were... a trip, but I never got really satisfied with the final product.
So, what to do when things don't work as expected?
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY SEVEN TIMES!
Yep. If you check my writing folder, you will find a lot of Trixie. But before Actually, I'm Dead I never really had that story to tell, only a great character I was exercising. I had the who, but missed the why. That's when the other piece of the jigsaw appeared.
That's pretty much from where the original concept came from. If you guys have read the original proposal (here), you will note a lot of similarities. The original concept was around the idea of Trixie, a character that stands out already, dealing with being an outsider and rediscovering life in society. Also introduce a more 'fringe' element to Equestria's fantasy. So, in the same vein griffins and dragons coexists with the ponies, there are also monsters. At first, the intro arc (up to Pinkie's Party) was going to lead to a more mundane story. Slice of Life with Trixie adapting to be Ponyville's (but not Equestria's) first undead citizen.
But then, another element appeared as Nightwalker started to help and I restarted the research stage.
Reading Moore's Swamp Thing and McFarlane's Spawn gave me the idea of deepening into Trixie's character around the whole situation. Being an outsider passed from character trait to plot point. Instead of treating her condition as something she can grow accustomed to, it became something inescapable. Around that we sketched more elements of terror, taking advantage of the momentum built by the first chapter. Progressively, 'Walker and I started to also give more 'character' to the Alicorn Amulet. Instead of keeping it as a plot device to start the premise, it slowly took stage as the main opposing force.
And that's the story how Actually, I'm Dead's premise got an actual shape.
I understood all of that!
So uh...
Where's part 2 and 3 of the finale?
I wonder how Swamp Thing would feel to know that I am incredibly impressed by its nose-moustache.
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The second part is in the works, half done already, while the third is still in the skeleton stage.
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There would probably be a long monologue about the place of the individual in the big scheme of things and how the only true meaning in life is giving it meaning through living. All playing simultaneously in the oneiric and real plane.
Of course, it would also have the mandatory Constantine appearance.
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So the lesson here is: the swamp thing doesn't take compliments well.