Behind the words: Ghosts, and goblins and ghouls · 3:00pm May 30th, 2018
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It started with a bad coffee
I figured I'd better start at the beginning. I am going to delve into the characters again, but I think it's good to talk about where that opening comes from. I will admit, I'm not the greatest reader - I get bored very easily, if a story doesn't grab and hold my attention in the first five minutes, then I write it off. It's a horrible snobby way of looking at things, but with the flood of writing that is in Fimfiction it's just what has happened.
So this poses the question, how do you grab a reader's attention? How do you secure someone's interest when there is a plethora of other, better writers out there? In my first fic, I used violence and shock - in media res dialled up to 11. This time, I wanted to use something different. First of all, I wanted to establish that this is Hard looking back on the story to give him an opportunity to narrate and deliver a few jokes in between. Second, I wanted the tone settled from the get go: this is supposed to be a light(er) hearted character trying to make his way in the horrors of Fallout:Equestria. Third, I wanted the reader to relate to Hard in some way and the best way to a pony's heart is through the stomach.
The ribs get in the way, else.
So I went through the daily life of Hard Copy before all went to hell. As always, musical influences will be posted below, because I recommend listening to In the Morning by The Coral during the opening sequence - it was always on when I was getting ready for school, and just screams that kind of grumpy wake-up to a cheerful tune. Also stole from Slaves with the mares so sweet they made sugar taste like salt, so shout out to Brit-punk.
I then needed to ramp it up a notch. Incidentally, the original plan had a cold open with the fight that lead on from there. I figured that was almost too obvious, too jarring. I needed something to establish both sides of Hard - the agent and the pony - and how they differed. That said, I really enjoyed the short fight as a little glimpse of the pre-apoc world that Kkat hinted to. The raids were supposed to be ostentatious, obvious and something else beginning with "O", Morale appearing as the herald of doom for the zebra collaborators. The fighting was going to be fierce and fast, brutal and close especially with the heroes trying to make arrests rather than killing them.
It gave an opportunity for earth pony banter as well, given that the gun in the mouth way of fighting prevented a real way of talking during a scuffle. Introductions for Team Frosting were also brought in, though for obvious reasons I didn't want to dwell on them for too long. That's what the snippets at the end are for.
The big moment I wanted was Hard being completely unaware of how everything went to hell. He needed to be aware of the threat, but never witness it else it would be too easy for him to come to terms with what he is when he wakes up. Part of his dynamic is working out how to be himself again, and that is best explored with a whole new world to come to terms with on top of everything else. It's a less Japanese version of isekai I guess... makes me more of a weeb than I thought.
The finale section, where Hard wakes up to a shotgun being pointed at him, was where I needed to bring it home. I needed the hostility, the desperation, the first impression to be as horrific as possible. Hard waking up to Hard and Domino not only surprised they found him, but angry that they did was perfect. The guy has just lost everything and before he has time to even mourn, he's thrown back into the deep end. That's what I like to read, so it's what I write.
Touch wood, the 126 of you that have read it so far will agree.
Chapter 1 Playlist
In the Morning by The Coral
Fuse Box by Simon Viklund, from the Payday2 soundtrack - be prepared, this was a huge influence in a lot of the fight scenes. Also the entire soundtrack is just flat out amazing
The Way It Used To Be by Epic Score
After Megaspell's Blast by Nicholas Dominique - The entire Hope EP and Legends album is amazing, please give it a listen while reading any FOE piece
and to finish it off, have a listen to what I consider to the fic's "theme song":
Manehatten (Instrumental) by Asi Meskin and The Living Tombstone
