Next Gilda chapter coming slowly · 8:10pm Nov 13th, 2020
I've been quite distracted lately by work and other things, as some of you know, and my desire to write has been low because of it. I've also got an exploratory knee procedure coming up in two Mondays, to see if I can finally solve the leftover pain and stiffness remaining in the joint after I had torn cartilage removed from it last December. That'll lay me up for Thanksgiving week.
But I've put some work on it, even if it's just a couple hundred words every couple days. I will have 5,000 words of it written by day's end, and plan to see if I can get a finished draft this weekend. As seems to be typical with my writing, some side scenes popped up I hadn't been planning and I rolled with them, involving the other patrons/employees of the pub Gilda and company had been in. If nothing else, those might be scenes I could flesh out more later if folks would like.
One of the things that makes this tricky is trying to make a fight sexy. I think I did that in fine form over in Nightmare Night, involving Rainbow vs Night Owl in chapter 32, so now I'm trying to do the same thing here with Griffon Gilda vs Human Rainbow. On the face of it, that shouldn't be a contest, given griffons are lion-sized (I do NOT subscribe to what seems to be canon size of ponies being pygmies, because if that's true, then half-lion griffons would be no larger than lynxes, buffalo would be German Shepherd-sized and Yaks a fifth of their actual size, etc.) But given this Rainbow is as awesome as the pony one, and her Gilda isn't all the different from the griffon one, I'll find ways to make it work.
I've also decided I'm going to give the whole of Midnight Rising a thorough editing pass and address a few things I've been meaning to, including some stuff others have pointed out. That'll include some changes to later chapters to make it more closely mesh with the new Gilda entries. There will also be some retcons to the first Gilda chapter, to give Applejack more of a reason to really dislike Gilda. I have a pretty good idea of what that is now, and I'll let folks know when it's ready as well as if there are meaningful changes in the main Midnight Rising story.
One more update will follow before the new chapter releases. It may or may not include a teaser but regardless, thanks for following and for being patient.
Given the much more slender bodies of EqG humanoids compared to us, this may not be a matter of dwarf ponies so much as enormous humans. That's definitely a build for a lower-gravity environment than our Earth, especially when you consider the adults. That Celestia would probably shatter her ankles if she tried to walk on our planet.
Or I'm thinking too much. Also possible.
I never considered the dilemma of a humanoid and a pony grappling before but now that you mention it... yikes! That is going to be a finicky bit of narration.
I hope the procedure will go without a hitch. And don't overload yourself with writing. You already wrote about 350 000 words for this unverse already. Real Life has the priority (unfortunately).
Honestly, hoped Gavin would get some. He seems to be in need for some good time.
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Hmmm.... well, I've seen renditions of what humans would look like after enough generations on Mars, and since the gravity is lower, the result is very tall and slender with large heads. Likewise, I've seen concepts of what humans would look like in general after a hundred thousand years of additional evolution, and the answer was basically anime characters, with larger heads and much larger eyes--perhaps not unlike EqG.
Regardless, I'm not really using strict canon here, as this is an unabashed and adult-rated AU. As far as EqG goes, I'm willing to keep the EqG skin tones and such, but just as I envision ponies larger, a bit less toony and more realistically depicted, ditto for the Equestria Girls humans being at least little less cartoonish.
Think away! I don't mind. Thought provoking comments are always welcome.
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You're right. As I recall, we saw a series of actual fights between humans and griffons over in Feathered Heart. They were well-thought and well-constructed scenes, where a Filipino guy uses some of his native martial arts to eventually figure out how to properly duel and submit a griffon. Praise be to the immortal and sorely missed Demon Eyes Laharl for it.
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Appreciate the well-wishes. But for the fits it sometimes gives me, writing is still my escape, and I imagine I'll be doing a fair amount of it while laid up next week.
I think you'll be quite pleased with the next chapter, then.