The End of Forever and a Strange Moon Rising · 1:51pm May 1st, 2017
Hello everyone. This is the post in which I talk about We Can Do This Forever; where it stands and what's next.
Let me get a bit of gushing and reminiscing out of the way; feel free to skip to the bold text if you want to get right to the important bits.
I want to thank you all for your interest, your discussion, and your criticism. It took more than a little nudging from a friend to get me to actually write this idea, and I've been overjoyed by the reception it's received. I know, I'm sure everyone says "I never expected to get featured" or that sort of thing, but I'm both humbled and pleased that you've enjoyed it as much as you have.
It was a fun story to write. The first chapter wasn't originally going to end at a cliffhanger, much less a fork; I intended to figure out an ending and stick with it. But when my prereader suggested that it worked well to the point I'd written it, I agreed and published that as the first chapter. I was torn between trying to put an ending together or leaving it standing on the cliffhanger, and with suggestions towards both sides ended up going the multiple endings route. To be honest, I saw it as a way I could eat my cake and have it too; by not making any of them the "real" ending, the cliffhanger still stood as such, and yet I could fool about with writing more!
At that point, I figured I'd do two endings; a "yes" and a "no". What is now But at What Cost started as part of the omake and consisted of just the first section to the break. Amusingly, the final section was originally an omake of that, which I eventually realized I liked too much to leave out; the middle was fleshed out afterward. So the plans for one chapter became four (and change).
There were larger delays than I expected before the second and third chapters were put out, which makes me especially glad that I could set aside some time to get the following two out more rapidly. And with that, let's talk about what comes next.
I present a hypothetical Q&A (because FAQ is presumptuous; no one asks me things "frequently").
We Can Do This Together is listed as complete. Will there be more chapters?
Right now I have no intention to write additional chapters for it, no. Perhaps I'll revisit it later if I think of something, but I think this is a good point to call it complete.
Is there going to be a sequel?
Possibly! Several people said that they'd like to see more following the third ending, and I am fond of fics involving immortality-seeking. The idea for a sequel to that ending at least is growing on me, but it would not be the next thing I write.
So what are you going to write?
There are two other fic ideas I've wanted to write since before I put together We Can Do This Forever; it was actually something of a proof of concept, to demonstrate to myself that I can indeed write fiction. With that bit of confidence established, I'm moving on to the second oldest idea, though I'm admittedly nervous about what folks are going to think of it. Oh well, let's find out:
The next fic I'm working on it titled Dr. Strangemoon or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Megaspell. It is to be a crossover with Dr. Stangelove (and the book the film is based upon, Red Alert), as you might expect. More properly, it's going to be a fusion crossover; the characters and events of the film/book will be portrayed by the ponies (or zebras), and as such the entire thing will have a decidedly silly twist on nuclear warfare.
For those of you not getting out the torches and pitchforks just yet, the first comment under this post will contain the long-form story description as it presently stands; the twist should become apparent by the end of the first paragraph.
I hate it/love it; is there anything I can do to convince you not to write it/to write it faster?
You could let me know how you feel; while I'm not likely to change my mind drastically, I'm always open to criticism and knowing folks enjoy my stuff is motivating.
There will be regular updates this time, right?
I will try. But I have a rather more scientific publication I'm also drafting right at the moment, and that takes time. My avatar's cutie mark isn't just for show.
I want X; will you write X?
With regard to Undertale crossovers, I think I've done more than enough harm there already.
As to everything else, there's no harm in asking; knowing there's interest is, once more, motivating. I can't make any promises in advance, of course.
Hasn't a Dr. Strangelove crossover been done?
There have been pictures, and lots of people borrow the "how I learned to stop..." title format, but I haven't seen anyone write an explicit crossover, much less one with my particular twist.
Right, I think that about does it. If you've other things to ask, ask away! And to repeat, blurb of the next story is in the first comment under spoiler text (to save space).
And here's the description of the next one:
Dr. Strangemoon or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Megaspell
These are troubling times. Two great powers, the Kingdom of Equestria and the Zebra Empire are locked in a cold war. It began “hotter”, with smaller exchanges and minor incursions along allied borders which grew rapidly into larger merriment. Tensions rose between the two nations, small gifts and celebrations met by larger overtures in turn as each did their best to respond in kind. Their contention spilled over into full-blown partying in allied countries, war by proxy, but the two were reluctant to engage each other fully. This is because of the recent development of Megaspells, frameworks that allow lesser spells to be amplified far beyond the work of any single wizard or alchemist. Such potent magics could unleash celebration on a scale beyond anything that came before, a scale only witnessed at the end of the last Great War. The economy of the two Neighponese cities struck still has not recovered, and it is expected that the glitter in the surrounding areas will take years to fade.
Armed with ever-growing stockpiles of these Weapons of Mass Distraction, Equestria and the Zebra Empire could decimate each other’s GDPs a hundred times over. The war has become a matter of brinkmanship; neither could disarm, neither could strike without being struck in kind, and so what is left is posturing, espionage, and hooves poised on the button. Hooves such as those of General Rainbow Dash.
When she sets into motion a plan that may end all life as they know it, it is up to Princess Celestia, her political and military advisors, and their zebra rivals to prevent a very sugary end of the world.
Presented with homage to the late Stanley Kubrick, respect to kkat et al., and apologies to economists everywhere.
4515660 Sounds exciting! I'll keep my eye out for it.
4515660
Is General RD going to be concerned about the integrity of our rainbow fluids?
4516288 Fluids, certainly, as explained to an unamused Group Captain Fluttershy - but I'd forgotten that liquid rainbow is an option; I'm going to have to use that!
4516348
Go ahead. Weather has all kinds of other fluids to worry about purities for, too. Perhaps we need to launch a megaspell at Celestia to keep them from polluting our sunlight.
They don't need apologies. You're just encouraging them.