New DS Chapter, and Bugsy Plan Update · 11:51pm Feb 4th, 2020
First, let's get excuses out of the way: Horrible roommates at school, worsening migraines (I'm taking care of those now), internship, family chaos, general laziness, alpha-reading an epic novel (seriously, check out Max Florschutz (aka VikingZX)'s Colony trilogy, currently two books in) getting into City of Heroes (one or more decades late, and making up for lost time), occasionally writing snippets of CoH fanfic, and there just being too dang many awesome things to read here.
But that is not dead, which can eternal lie, yadda yadda...
Anyhow, I've got some announcements and a small amount of commentary on the new Desert Spice chapter after the break.
Announcement I:
Next chapter of a fic I release will probably be fore Monster Hunter: Equestria. I've recently had some ideas for a new chapter there that have been burning a hole in my brain, and that's generally a good way for me to get words out the metaphorical door. There's gonna be Dinky, there's gonna be combat, and there's gonna be zombies. And maybe there'll be more there than meets the eye...
I know that this conflicts with my previous plans to only release new chapters of Desert Spice until it's finished, but that can lead to some serious, nearly-a-year-long droughts in content if I get stuck. And besides, I love all my stories, and Monster Hunter Derpy needs some more time in the Sun.
Announcement II:
I'm considering branching out a little. Specifically, into recording myself reading fics, complete with character voices.
I've always enjoyed reading things I like to people, whether it's passages of scripture or game patch notes. When I started playing CoH with some friends, we started running a weekly RP team (think a D&D party, but facilitated by a video game rather than a tabletop ruleset). Now, City of Heroes is a very text-heavy game, with almost zero voice acting, and only the party leader can actually read the mission and related story bits conveniently, so I started reading these aloud to the party when we'd get them. Even did different voices and accents for the various contacts.
To my immense surprise, my friends loved it. Apparently I was kinda good, and they asked why I didn't record audiobooks. Now this may have just been them humoring me, but I found it to be pretty fun anyway.
Well, it turns out that I already have a suite of recording equipment (procured for a Magic: the Gathering podcast I was going to do with a friend that just didn't pan out), and a basic understanding of how to use Audacity, so maybe I could try my hand at this. What do you think? Would anyone be interested in hearing me read stuff?
Starting out, I'd just be recording my own fics, and probably keep it to just the short/complete ones.
If I do this, I'll have to make a couple of choices that I'd like some input on:
- Should I upload the recordings to YouTube, SoundCloud, both, or someplace else?
- Which story should I start with? The Crystal and the Mirage, Unbalanced Scales, or Ember, Hoardsmelter?
So yeah, that's a thing I get to be nervouscited about.
Light Chapter Commentary:
For starters, thanks again to SirNotAppearingInThisFic (you should read For the Benefit of Yaks) and HawthornBunny for editing this chapter. It's those last-second bits of polish that really make this fic shine.
This chapter's title picked out for so many years. The chapter that finally told the story of Fairy Tails's kidnapping would be titled "Can't Go Chasing Fairy Tails." For an idea how long that idea has been taking up shelf-space in my brain, the chapter title is only slightly younger than the idea of calling Rize's old fiance "Fairy Tails". So, yeah. That's a thing.
Sometimes my characters surprise me with what they want to talk about, and I have little choice but to shut up and listen. For example, that scene where they're talking about how stable Unicornia actually isn't, under the surface? I had no idea that was going to be discussed this chapter. But it seemed to fit the time, tone, and situation, so I rolled with it. And as a bonus, you all got a glimpse at the logical consequences of my world-building, and perhaps a glimpse of the future!
Fairy Tails has been a character for a long time in this story, but only gets to appear on-screen this chapter. I wonder how much of her character shines through in that small window...
Well, that's about all I have to say right now. Go enjoy the new chapter if you haven't already. Or tell me what you think of my ideas/plans/ambitions/personal hygiene if you feel so inclined.
Later!
You should definitely do The Crystal and the Mirage before Unbalanced Scales. I think both would be a bit more intuitive than the timeskip-laden Ember, Hoardsmelter, though I can think of several ways to edit it into comprehensibility. And I'm all for putting them up on YouTube, and SoundCloud-neutral.
What 5197511 said. Crystal and the Mirage and Unbalanced Scales would be lovely to hear aloud
Ah, sorry about the roommates and migraines; good luck!
And good luck with the writing and recording!
...Oh, dear, I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of input for you at the moment (I mentioned it in the story comment, but if you read this first: I'm fairly tired at the moment; I'm not sure how much help I'd be here otherwise, but that definitely isn't helping), though; sorry!
re the chapter commentary:
Neat; thanks. :)
5197751
Thanks for the well-wishes. Rest well.
5197542 5197511
It sounds like the consensus is leaning towards The Crystal and the Mirage first. I suppose I'll have to brush up on my pseudo-Scottish dragon accent...
Sorry to hear you had lousy roommates. Finding a crew that clicks can be pretty hard, and very hit and miss. Looking back, I got pretty lucky with some of my roommates (less lucky with others, and with some for all I know I was the "bad roommate").
VA work though, that's cool! I don't have an opinion on which short you should start with, but I wish you the best with it, because VA work with audiobooks and the like is growing field right now. If you enjoy it, keep at it! Do all your stories and see what comes of it!
5198003
My luck has, overall, been pretty good with roommates, with a few notable exceptions. That semester was one of the notable exceptions.
And yeah, that would be cool if something came of the VA stuff! Thanks for the well-wishes.
5197757
You're welcome, and thanks; I did indeed sleep well. :)
And The Crystal and the Mirage sounds like a good choice!
What 5197511 said.
Sorry about the roommate situation
. I lived in dorms for a while, followed by an apartment with friends; both had their ups and downs, really. It seems like luck of the draw is a big a factor as anything else.
Just think of it this way: you're a writer, capable of molding whatever good or bad thing life throws at you into story fuel if you so choose
.
5199299
Thanks for the input, and the condolences.
There's an old, circular joke you reminded me of, though:
And you had better believe I want to mine my experiences for all they're worth.