Last extra one for a while. Ruby Palace Announcement! November 2021 · 3:12am Nov 15th, 2021
Hello all! I have been getting questions about how Ruby Palace is going. In short, it is going well. It is a very big, deep story with lots of fun. I've gotten 30 linear chapters written, with a ton of non-linear chapters done as well. My editor, Void Runner, and I are working on ensuring they are the best quality. Grad school has slowed my writing down a bit, but the semester is almost over. At the moment, the story also has 7 "pilot episodes". I don't have a publication date, but the goal is to be far enough ahead, that even when grad school slows writing, I still am releasing chapters on a weekly basis, just like I did with Aincrad.
BUT WE HAVE SOME GOOD NEWS! To hold over the time between then and the future, I am writing some vignettes. Very short snapshots of the girls getting ready to go to Japan and do the whole foreign exchange program. I don't have a total number yet and the releases will not be at specific times. The will come out when they can, but stuff will be published. You will be hearing from me (thanks to everyone who checked in with me, asking how I was since I hadn't been online in a while) more often because of the vignettes. The first one will come soon.
I do have one more announcement. Below will be the timeline I've established to merge the worlds together. As always, I love to hear from you, even if it is just to chime in and say "hi" in the comments of this blog.
- Info Post
- Teaser One
- Teaser Two
- Vignette - Exotic Horizons
- Vignette - Twilight of a New Era
- Vignette - Deep Dive
- Vignette - Flash Cards
- Vignette - Stress Sewing
- Vignette - Sister Time
- Vignette - B.B.S.C.H.H.
- Vignette - Creating Chords
- Vignette - Favors
- Vignette - Schoolhouse Rock
- Vignette - After Party
- Future Vignette links will be posted here.
As I am merging the two timelines, I have to 1: establish a locked in orientation of the canon events that are vaguely oriented in the EQG Universe. 2: Mesh it with Sword Art Online’s canon timeline. The main story will utilize Aincrad’s junishi calendar, but I am going to orient the years for the precursor events to SAO’s dating years.
TIMELINE:
Pink are canon EQG events
Yellow are important events in the girl’s lives.
1995-1996
- Kayaba Akihiko is born.
1999-2000
- Tsuboi Ryōtarō (Klein) is born. He enters Aincrad at the age of 22.
2001-2005
- Sunset Shimmer is likely born.
2005-2006
- Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle (SciTwi) are born.
- Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy are 18 when they enter Aincrad.
- Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight are 17 years old when they enter Aincrad.
2006
- April 8 — Nochizawa Eiji (Nautilus) is born. He enters Aincrad at the age of 16.
- July 29 — Shigemura Yuuna (Yuna) is born. She enters Aincrad at the age of 16.
- November 13 — Shinkawa Shouichi (XaXa) is born. He enters Aincrad just shy of turning 16.
2007
- May 18 — Shinozaki Rika (Lisbeth) is born. She enters Aincrad at the age of 15.
- September 30 — Yuuki Asuna (Asuna) is born. She enters Aincrad at the age of 15.
2008
- October 7 — Kirigaya Kazuto (Kirito) is born. He enters Aincrad at the age of 14.
- After October 7th — Kazuto is adopted by the Kirigaya family after his parents’ death.
2009
- April 19 — Kirigaya Suguha (Leafa) is born. She is Kazuto’s blood cousin but legal sister. They are raised as siblings.
- Asada Shino (Sinon) is born.
2010
- May 23 — Konno Yukki and Konno Aiko are born and, due to a batch of contaminated blood, their family is infected with HIV.
- October 4 — Ayano Keiko (Silica) is born. She enters Aincrad at the age of 12.
2016
- Kazuto gives up on Kendo.
2018
- Spring — Sunset Shimmer goes through the portal, from Equestria to Earth. She is judged to be 13 years old.
- Kazuto finds out about his birth parents’ death from the citizen’s registry on the internet. He is 10 years old.
2019
- Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie start high school at Canterlot High, officially becoming Wondercolts.
- Twilight Sparkle Starts high school at Crystal Prep.
- Sunset Shimmer breaks up the friends and begins her reign of terror over Canterlot High.
2020
- Fall — Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, (Sci)Twilight Sparkle, and Sunset Shimmer start their sophomore years at their respective schools.
- Late Fall — The portal opens, Sunset Shimmer steals Princess Twilight’s crown. Twilight Sparkle and Spike go through the portal to retrieve it. Three days later Sunset Shimmer is defeated, ending her reign of terror and beginning the era of friendship in CHS.
2021
- The NerveGear is announced.
- Japanese Self-Defense Force (JDSF) and the U.S. Army start developing training software utilizing the NerveGear together.
- Spring — The Battle of the Bands takes place. The Rainbooms, with the help of Sunset Shimmer, defeat The Dazzlings.
- Spring — The girls decide to take advantage of the study abroad program.
- Fall — Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, (Sci)Twilight Sparkle, and Sunset Shimmer start their Junior years at their respective schools.
- Fall — The Friendship Games between Canterlot High and Crystal Prep takes place. The result is a draw after Midnight Sparkle nearly destroys everything. Twilight Sparkle transfers to Canterlot High to learn friendship.
2022
- Spring — The Girls submit applications for the foreign exchange program.
- Spring — CHS’ 2023 incoming Senior Class goes to Camp Everfree. The girls save the camp and get the geodes.
- May — The NerveGear is released to the market.
- Summer — Second and third Vignette arcs occur.
- August — The Sword Art Online (SAO) Closed Beta is launched. Kirito encounters Argo in the beta.
- August — The girls travel to Japan for their exchange program.
- August 31 — The Closed Beta is closed.
- September 2 — Exchange Student Orientation and Lunch
- September 5 — Start of classes (second trimester for Japanese students).
- November 2 — People start lining up for the release of Sword Art Online.
- November 5 — Sword Art Online sales begin.
- November 6 — 13:00 JST (1pm Japan Standard Time) Sword Art Online servers open.
- 17:30 — Kayaba Akihiko locks Aincrad, successfully trapping nearly 10,000 players in the game.
EQG events that have not happened in this timeline:
Saved for senior year after they get back, except alt-U.
- Movie Magic
- Dance Magic
- Mirror Magic
- Forgotten Friendship
- Rollercoaster of Friendship
- Spring Breakdown
- Sunset's Backstage Pass
- Holiday's Unwrapped
I look forward to posting more and hearing from y'all!
We're actually less than a year until the first day of SAO.
5607416
I know. It was scary doing that timeline and the dates. lol
Happy to hear! I look forward to when it is ready!
And what about the results of the vote on the account of skin color?
Nice, looking forward to it!
Are you going to go through all of season 1?
This is gonna be a GREAT read!
I cannot wait to see whatcha got cooked up for us!
I'm super looking forward to the vignettes and the eventual release of The Ruby Palace!
In your timeline, how do the events of Forgotten Friendship preceed those of Legend of Everfree, as the Geodes found in LoE are present and even somewhat important to Forgotten Friendship?
I loved Aincrad, and have it download on my Kindle, and i re-read a lot of my fav chapters, so I'm excited to read Ruby Palace, anxious to read new announcements!
I'm so ready to see this! I've been waiting, and submitted a character for her to use, so I hope to see her in the story. But even then, I just loved the original, and am excited for the "sequel"! This is going to be fun to read, and I'll be there for it's release!
5607421
So, I am going to go with the natural skin tones. I was using the Fitzpatrick, which is skin tones without tanning. Using the poll data, I settled on:
Sunset: Type 4 - Mediterranean olive/Spanish influences
Twilight: Type 3 - Asian influences
Applejack: Type 2 - country girl, definitely a farmer's tan. lol. Not too noticeable, but noticeable.
Rarity: Type 1 - Scandinavian.
Rainbow Dash: Type 5/6 - darker skin tones.
Pinkie Pie: Type 1 - Irish/Scottish, red hair vs pink hair.
Fluttershy: Type 3 - Unknown ethnicity but basically straight down the center. Probably a darker Caucasian.
It won't be a huge deal in the story. Outside of Pinkie Pie's red hair, the others will be the same hair colors. It is common even for teenagers to dye their hair now.
5607435
Somewhat. This time, they go all the way to the top to the Ruby Palace. That really throws off the fair dance arc.
5607469
The geodes are in Forgotten Friendship? Crap! I checked and thought they were not. Oops. I'm...probably going to have to kick it to senior year, after they get back from Japan, making it not relevant.
EDIT: I moved them and a few other events to not having happened. The three shorts, Dance Magic, Movie magic, and Mirror Magic also use the geodes.
5607536
That's awesome to hear! I'm happy you not only love it, but reread chapters. What are your favorites?
5607663
I'll be doing my best to slip her in!
Ah…. It’s always nuts to see what goes on behind the scenes… well done!
5607785
It gets pretty nuts on my end. lol.
speaking of SAO. I have the SAO DLC for Tales of Arise, it's pretty amusing, it places Asuna and Kirito in an arena in one of the towns and you can fight them, and if you win you get a Mystic Arte that when used has then appear beifly to help XD. you also get some SAO cosmetic outfits
5607851
So these events never happened?
5611009
I couldn't get them to fit before the girls go off to Japan. As this crossover requires some alternative universe twisting, they are scheduled to happen in the second half of their senior year, after they get back from Japan. I would have shifted Legend of Everfree to the summer after graduation or spring of senior year, but I need the geode necklaces.
5611012
Oh so they’ll happen afterwards.
5611016
Correct.
5611017
Honestly if there’s one thing I didn’t like it’s Forgotten Friendship and the Anon a Miss story.
5611018
Then you are in luck because it's not in the equation for Ruby Palace.