A Solid Foundation: What Comes Next? · 8:47pm Jun 19th, 2022
Hey everyone!
If you’re reading this, then it means you’re done reading the last chapter of A Solid Foundation. If not, then you should definitely go do that first. Go on. I’ll wait.
I have some thoughts I want to share about writing this story and what comes next but, it all can come after the line break.
Back?
Cool.
So! What did you think?
I would love to hear your overall impressions. It was a bit of a different take on Maud, afterall. And yet, it wasn’t wholly original.
My main Maud headcannon, and the reason I absolutely love Maud, comes from MLP Friends Forever Issue number 29, where we can see the contrast between how people see Maud and how her actions and feelings play out in her head through Rarity reading her diary.
It is an amazing piece of media.
Between that and the fact that I pretty much ship Maud with Rarity, Glimmy, and (especially prudent for the context of those scenes in this fic) Trixie, the ideas were just flowing.
I was also really wanting to show the various family dynamics between the sisters. Maud would have a different relationship with each sister and I took special inspiration for each one—my own sibling being the inspiration for Limestone.
That and I saw this as an opportunity to continue the Trixie and Pinkie storyline through a different character, which I thought was worth exploring.
With all the ideas in place, I began writing the fic. That was over a year ago, however. But then, I just stopped and it took until Krickis essentially bullied me into writing again for me to be able to finish it. Fitting since it was her bullying that got me to start writing again in the first place last time around.
I’m glad to finally have been able to share the finished idea with you all.
Which leads to where do we go from here?
Well, Krickis and I have been talking and we came up with a pretty good concept we’re excited about. She actually got giddy. Can you believe it? Giddy? And given how she treats her readers, you all can infer what you want from that.
Now, the plan always was that I was supposed to be writing these side stories as set up for a mainline story from her. As far as we’ve discussed, that's still the plan.
As it currently stands, she still has to finish Life in Equestria, the next Main Line story. Then the payoff of what I’ve done would come into play in the next Main Line story after that, either woven as part of a larger story or as its own thing.
There’s also the option of me continuing to write this set of stories, as they’ve been sort of my work up to this point and the next story in line for them was kind of my idea. I wouldn’t be opposed to this. That said, things are kind of fluid right now since I would be involved in the writing of the next stage either way, so I don’t really have a preference.
But yeah, that’s all I can share right now in terms of that.
I do still have other story concepts I could write and I’ll let you know about those as I decide on them. Krickis is also pushing me to write a book, so we’ll see how that goes.
So! If you haven’t followed, this is your call to action to do so. That way you don’t miss those blog posts when they come up.
For now, I just want to thank you for reading my work. For any comments you may leave.
And, as always, for your time.
-thedarkprep
Dunno if you linked my name enough here
Whatever happens with the next story, it's gonna be great!
5666112
Krickis, Krickis, Krickis, Krickis, Krickis, Krickis, Krickis, Krickis, Krickis, Krickis, Krickis, Krickis, Krickis, Krickis, Krickis, Krickis
There!
I haven't read that particular issue of MLP Friends Forever, but at a glance that is pretty close to my head cannon for Maud. I've always kind thought of her as expressive as Pinkie in her own head but other ponies just don't see it. I definitely felt like your portrayal of Maud was that she was pretty normal. Her thoughts, interactions, insecurities and anxieties all came across as pretty normal. Frankly, in this Maud perspective story it can be pretty easy to forget that she doesn't emote very well since she doesn't focus on it much in the story. It mostly came up in the beginning(with Sandstone) and when she was grateful that Trixie could read her emotions. I'm honestly curious to see if future stories will end up focusing on this any more. Maud kinda treats her stoicism as a bit of a disability, but I'm curious to see how much of an impact it really has on her life... In MLP I kinda assumed she was comfortable with who she was but here Maud seems a bit wistful...
In any case, I know my opinion wasn't SPECIFICALLY requested, but since I've commented so much recently I figured I should make it a complete set for the week. I can honestly really struggle to write even comments like these. The words come easy enough but sometimes the motivation to start just isn't there... So please don't take a lack of comments in the future as lack of interest. You caught me on a good weekend and I was very pleasantly excited to see you post a new story.
Speaking a bit frankly, I'm excited to hear that there is more in the works for this continuity and I would actually like to see these characters begin to take their insecurities and issues "on the road" so to speak. Seeing them confront new issues and people could be a neat change of pace for Trixie and Pinkie (not that I haven't really enjoyed these stories and would be happy to just read more about them struggling to cope... Aw man.)
Okay, so put a pause on that previous thought. I'll come back to it. Probably. But I just had a thought. I don't know if it's intended, but I was thinking about a pithy way of describing what Pinkie and Trixie were both coping with and I realized... Aren't they both kinda struggling with the same thing in a way? Pinkie is struggling to figure out how to find happiness in a world where her friends and family have moved on. She has thrived on being needed... Being relied on, but without anyone to rely on her she's kinda without purpose... Without an outlet for the things she is most passionate about. Trixie, on the other hand, is striving to find happiness in a world where the thing she was most passionate about has proven, as she aged, to be smaller than she thought. More childish. Not as grand as it felt when she was young, especially in the face of "real big-boy Magic". See gets to see all the people who DIDN'T have her passion get to live out a life she thought was ONLY a fantasy... And she not only doesn't get to join, she's straight up DENIED entry.
While both of these stories definitely feel "coming off age" they specifically feel to me like "left behind" stories. Both of them are coming to terms with their childhood passions meeting the ocean of adulthood and them realizing how small those passions feel in the broader scope. How insignificant they can feel when lined up against the successes of their friends and peers. They both react differently (Pinkie is happy for her friends and seems guilty for being unable to "move past" who her childhood molded her to be. Trixie is envious and thoroughly disheartened that the reality of her childhood has proven insignificant when compared to the possible.) but I think they are possibly both suffering from similar problems... Perhaps why they understand each other so well?
Of course, I could just be reading into it. It's the kind of story I sometimes most identify with myself and I like them. Stories about characters struggling with feeling like they are only supporting characters in their own lives...maybe that's why I like Trixie’s character so much in theory. In reality, she is probably of middling magical power but she is surrounded with the truly extraordinary magical. Perhaps she is delusional, or so arrogant she refuses to think about it... But it must be frustrating to see something you are so passionate about owned by someone you don't think appreciates it.
Anyways, enough of that for now. I was talking about how I'm interested in seeing more in this continuity. I think I've said before that I was vaguely aware of the overall universe these stories take place in. It's unfortunate, however, that my passion for point reading has flagged to the point where only half a million words makes me reluctant to start. Maybe it's a hyperfixation, but these days I'm mostly just browsing Trixie stories in the hopes of finding something that scratches my very niche tastes.
All this to say, if either you or Krickis posts a new story with these characters, I'll be over the moon. But I can't promise I'll be able to catch up on all the precious lore for the "Who We Become" universe. Krickis seems to be pretty thoughtful in writing their stories to be read without much context, though, so I'm not worried. And while I might miss your particular flair (like your choice art) or your characterizations, I would also be excited to see a new writer's take on these characters. I'm excited either way! I'm a fan and I'm dying to read more.
I hope I ended up coherent and with as few grammar mistakes as possible. I refuse to reread this comment before posting!! I also wish you the best of luck in all your writing endeavors! Pony or non-pony. Trixie or non-Trixie!! Good luck and I hope you earn the attention I think you deserve.
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I have a hard time not talking when this series is being discussed, so even though I should maybe be leaving Prep's commenters alone, I had to say just a few things lol
So with the Trixie-Pinkie story we have planned, you shouldn't need to know too much about my stories; indeed, the main stories you'll want to be familiar with are actually Prep's stories. And any time I write a story that leans on past stories, I write a blog post that serves as a "previously on..." thing. So you'll be fine even if you don't read any of the earlier WWB stories. Which is also understandable, as the whole series is a fair bit over a million words long
I hope you'll enjoy what we come up with, even if some of the decisions will be different (like the cover art, I get the same artist to draw all my WWB covers) and of course our writing styles are somewhat different, even if I decided Prep's was compatible enough with mine to share this universe with her a bit. Looking forward to getting to that story, and whether you comment on it or not, I'll be happy knowing you're reading
Is the implication in this story (and the comic) that Maud isn't Autistic but suffers from a seperate issue? Or is it more "She's autistic but we're seeing behind her eyes"
5670173
It is definitely that we are seeing behind her eyes and from her perspective. Also, definitely some form of neurodivergance is implied, though I don’t want to make a case for stating which kind as I am by no means an expert.
The idea is that she IS feeling things, and is emoting in her own way. It just doesn’t translate to the way most people would pick up on it.
5670243
yeah Neurodivergency is probably the better term since the creators never actually stated if Maud was autistic, even if they gave her many stereotypical traits.