Why Isn’t ‘Redeemed’ Coming Out? · 1:51am Jun 9th, 2023
Here we go again.
Well, I promised that it would be coming out today. That’s probably not happening. Let me explain. So it’s been established already that my ban from the site threw my release date schedule completely out of wack. Not only could I not post chapters for two days straight for The Fall of Opaline, therefore ensuring that the last chapters would get lesser numbers as a result, but tons of other stories were taking its spotlight as I ended up releasing the story during a very busy time for the FIMFiction algorithm. And this brings me to what might be the biggest reason why Redeemed is taking so long.
The Fall of Opaline underperformed big time.
Yeah I know, you hear that a lot from me. Now I’ll be the first to admit that the amount of traction it got comment wise in its first 6 chapters was fantastic. It really felt like the Misty Saga was finally back on track after such a long hiatus. People were commenting, theorizing, spotting the Easter Eggs, analyzing…it was a whole vibe! The problem comes with the numbers after I got banned. I don’t know if this is a glitch on FIMFiction’s end or what, but the rest of the chapters just…didn’t get the same amount of hype. It’s like by the time the story was completed, it had been totally eclipsed in the algorithm and people outside of you guys (as you guys are absolutely fantastic as always) didn’t care when it was updated. I literally had to rely entirely on promotion just to get it somewhere. It’s like my comeback went completely under the radar and I had to live with the fact that my massive fuck up cost me a well-performing story.
As a result, I am under intense pressure to get Redeemed right. I struggled a lot with TFoO in a lot of areas and I’m sure that comes through in the writing. The plot isn’t as airtight as I would’ve liked, the structure is a mess, we constantly switch narrators each act…heck, I literally had to mark these chapters as acts to have it make sense. Evil Sunny was also something I pulled right out of my ass. I’m impressed with the fact that I was able to make it work so well emotionally, but the turn just kinda came out of nowhere, I’m not gonna lie, especially after Interlude #3. I wanted it to be this sort of nod to both Ashley H’s Remembrance and Zack Snyder’s Justice League storyboards, but it does feel a bit contrived for my standards. I also…don’t know where to go with her character from here now? I mean, I got her to this point. Now what? Does she just sit around in the castle until the Misty and the others show up?
Not to mention, I went with the ending I did because I had to sideline Sunny somehow. This was something that was beginning to become a problem in Forgiven and it’s only amplified here. Sunny had stolen the show. Her arc ended up being so much better than Misty’s in that story and that’s a huge problem. This is Misty’s story arc and I placed far too much emphasis on Best Pony to realize that. The Misty Saga had gone off the rails and I didn’t even realize it until midway through writing. Heck, I didn’t even plan on writing a third interlude. I literally had to force a Misty chapter in there just to say: “Uh hey, remember Misty? She’s our protagonist, sooooooo…” Luna dammit. So now that Sunny’s off conquering Equestria with Opaline, I feel like I can now shift the focus back onto Misty. This story needs to be about her, it needs to be the culmination of her arc, with Sunny’s resolution coming as secondary. I need to recapture what made Worthless great and such a hit with readers. The focus has to be on our favorite blue unicorn and I think that dark and depressing ending (as out of the blue as it may be) provides the perfect template for a satisfying resolution.
I’m committed to ending the saga on a high note. I think with this story going back to Worthless’s headcanon roots (as Opaline is still around and we haven’t yet gotten our final confrontation with her), I really have the potential to make a huge splash with this one with readers. Literally nobody has attempted this kind of story yet, so I need to pounce while the time is still right. I think after this one, however…I’ll need a break from writing. I’ve had my vision for the Misty Saga cooking up for over a year and now that it’s finally ending, I think I need to just take a step back and see how things are. I want to focus on my defense video and get it out on time.
Of course, Izzy Moonbow: Beyond the Multiverse of Randomness is still happening, but it’ll likely be quite a ways away. I really consider Redeemed to be the true finale to this overarching story and the former more of a bonus chapter in this series that restarts the continuity of the MLP universe without disregarding the events of prior stories. You’re not missing anything by waiting for it, there’s no cliffhanger to be excited about, no nothing. The main story pretty much ends with Redeemed and Beyond The Multiverse of Randomness is pretty much the beginning of a new, larger story down the road.
So…yeah. I’m keeping the new release date ambiguous, but if it’s not out by next Tuesday, then I think that’s when we should hit the panic/damage control alarm. That’s all I’m gonna say. Also, I’ve finally seen “Bridlewoodstock” and I can confirm that it is amazing!! Definitely better than “Winter Wishday” for sure and the addition of the troggles was a nice G1 callback. “Iconic” slaps hard and everything was pretty much on point.
So I’ll raise that score for Make Your Mark Chapter 4 to a very high 9.5/10. That sounds about right. Anyways, I’ll see you all soon!! Byyyyeeeeee!!
Does this mean star wars is on hold?
5732501
Yes, yes it does. I don’t know when I’ll get to it right now, but it will be picked up sometime in the future.
Oh I was so looking forward to silverstreams tale for obvious reasons?
5732503
I’m sure you are. I am too, as there’s still a lot to go through. But the story’s so old by this point that unless I release a full rewrite version, it’s not going to gain much of an audience. I’d rather focus on the Misty Saga right now as G5 stories are all the rage, than continue an old story exclusively for the little fans it has. Plus, there are some obvious plotholes due to me being new at the time that I’m not eager to revisit.
Rest assured, Silverstream’s tale will be continued. Just not now.
5732506
How close until this saga is over then?
5732507
Two more entries canon wise. The main overarching story ends with Redeemed and then I’ll pull a “Flashpoint” with Izzy Moonbow: Beyond The Multiverse of Randomness to effectively wipe the slate clean and start afresh with the Lunar Literary Universe. So we have two entries to go before I release any news on Trials.
You're making the right choice by delaying this.
Meanwhile, I'm having a little struggle with my story, and yet, I'm willing to still release it on June 23rd :)
Random self promotion aside, I don't see why you need this to be out now. Take your time with your story and release it when you feel like it. Don't just hang to that story just because you promised to give one.
Hey, I can wait.
Although I am curious how you plan to release the two parter? Is it both at the same time? When one is completed then work on the other? Or like I’m currently doing and wait a day in between?
You know, you answered a lot of things that I've been wondering myself. I've wondered if Misty was still playing a role in this series (my best hope was that she'd play a major part in Redeemed). And I intended on asking you when the "Sunny turns evil" plotline was first thought of. Because that part of the story came as a huge shock to me. I never would've guessed that was gonna happen. Combined with everything else that happened after, it turned the story into something much darker than I can normally handle. In fact, if you hadn't already confirmed to Flamewarrior02 about Zipp and Pipp's condition at the end, I certainly would've asked you myself. To be completely honest, it doesn't sit well with me that Sunny's turn to evil was cooked up on the spot.
But I promise you I haven't given up on this saga. I still want to see it through to the end. But still, take your time. Don't worry about us and just focus on getting Redeemed the way you want it. I can wait as long as necessary if it means you're satisfied with your work, and I'm sure your other followers that have stuck with you so far will do the same.
5732536
I first thought of the “Sunny turns evil” plotline when I first started writing this story about two months back. The reason for that was that I wanted to increase Opaline’s threat level in the eyes of readers beyond just having her kill Sparky. Plus, just having Sunny’s arc being the reverse of Misty’s seemed like the most natural way to go about it, honestly, and I could get her out of the way so Misty could take the spotlight again. It was effectively killing two birds with one stone. My problems with the plotline started coming in after I accidentally gave it an easy resolution with the Interlude #3 chapter. Misty had told Sunny the truth, sooooo…then what? My brain panicked at that moment, which is why I had Opaline manipulate Sunny again in the Epilogue. I honestly like the way it ended, but now it’s hard to follow-up on. How do you create a resolution that ties up such a crucial part of the story? I don’t want to give it a quick and easy fix as that’s not realistic, so when in the story does the resolution happen? That’s for me to figure out, but evil Sunny wasn’t in the original plans. I won’t spoil what those were, but originally, the Sunny’s depression plotline was going to end very differently. Then I realized that she had unintentionally taken over the story and I panicked big time.
So it wasn’t a total ass pull like, “Hey, I just thought this up like a day ago. Take it!”, but it was still an ass pull. I had this in the bag for about two months, but when plans for The Fall of Opaline were first in the cards during December, that wasn’t part of my original vision. I do really like how the plotline panned out though, so I’m not dissatisfied with it in any way. It’s just hard to follow up now as this was the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers. You either go big with the final resolution or go home, and I intend to go big. Misty is now a central focus again, so that’s good for me. I never really meant to make it too dark, but that did end up happening anyway. I hope that clears some things up. Thanks for the support. :)
5732537
Ah, gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up
5732516
Each chapter of Redeemed will be released a day apart from the other.
5732917
I saw that in your other post about the prequel story
5732918
Excellent. What do you think about both of my story ideas?
5732919
Seems like you can’t get enough of this saga.
Same with me an my story.
Take your time. I'm happy waiting.