So... who wants to join a cool project for cool kids? · 1:29pm Jun 25th, 2023
I have spent the last few days, among other things, sending out PMs for a very special project, and now, I am reaching out to all of you, my dear followers.
At least the ones of you left that still read these things.
So, a few months ago, I announced that I was going to be part of the Ponyville Ciderfest Storytelling Experience Leadership Team.. Last week, I announced that I and the rest of the team were gonna be speaking on The Barcast, and if you made it - congrats! you know more about my anatomy than most people would ever want to know! - but also, you might have some inkling about what I'm on about today.
You see, the team has been cooking these last few months, and what we've been cooking, is you!
...wait, shit, no. Let me back up, and explain.
This year for Ciderfest we want to make the convention a celebration of the fandom's writers. This community has pumped out so much A-class fiction, we feel it's long worthy of recognition. So how does you and the metaphorical cooking there-of fit in? Well, for one, a lot of you are writers, but more importantly - you can directly help us make this happen.
You see, for the duration of the con, we're gonna be running an Alternate Reality Game, and we need your help writing it.
One of the con's mascots, the kirin Fizzy Glitch, feeling despondent and under-appreciated, makes use of a powerful and mysterious relic known as the Book of All Stories, sucking the con within the pages of the book, where anything written comes true. Of course, while this has turned the con into a wonderland of pony adventure and community, it is the Book of All stories... and many stories have their villains.
During the con, the attendees will be able to interact with the game in two key ways. One will be actors in cosplay, wandering the con in-character. The guests can freely interact with these characters, and if they do quests for them, receive code words to enter into the companion app on their phones. The other form of interaction will be where you all primarily come in; hidden throughout the convention center will be other code words that can be entered into the app. When done so, the guests are given a short story with a choice at the end, which they are free to make one way or another.
Depending on what choices the audience makes, and what characters they interact with, points will be given to one of three factions. You see, not everyone agrees on what to do now that the book has brought them to life. Whatever is written in it becomes true, meaning it could theoretically rewrite the past. One faction, lead by Twilight Sparkle, wants to keep the world of Equestria the way it was, thank you very much. Another faction, lead by Discord, thinks that while maybe rewriting all of history could be... a bit much, history could, at the very least, do with an editor with an eye for more equitable outcomes, and perhaps, a sense of humor. Of course, within the Book is the story of Grogar, Father of Monsters and the Dark Emperor of ancient Equestria, and he certainly feels like his story could maybe do with another pass, as do numerous other villains who have darkened Equestria's doors. Each point given to each faction represents one page of the Book of All Stories under their control, and the more and more pages they have, the more and wider changes they can wreak upon the world - or thwart the changes of certain unpleasant parties. Whoever is in the lead will affect the way the story plays out every day, and, of course, in the center of all this mess is Fizzy, lost and angry, whose personal fate is also up in the air.
Of course, we're gonna need all the help we can to bring this idea to life. So, I am reaching out to you all to make that happen. It's not called the Book of a Handful of Stories, after-all. Given that the con is stuck in a mashup of all histories of all Equestrias in the process of being actively rewritten, you have a lot of freedom in what you write. Every character is someone's favorite, and every story has its fan, and we want to unleash that creativity and passion for this project. Want to write a story about Troubleshoes and Scorpan becoming friends? Tempest Shadow and Derpy Hooves going on an adventure? Octavia and Tirek engaging in a fiddling contest for Octavia's soul? There's space here for that. Your creativity and passion is what makes this writing community great, and given we are celebrating this community, we want that on this project. Commitment for writers can be as low as one story, and the more the merrier, here.
Of course, we don't just need writers, if that's not your speed. We need editors, artists, and cosplayers too. Just like behind every great author here is a team of prereaders suffering their typo-ladden first drafts (okay, that might just be me), we need help making sure every idea we get shines. We need artists because, as bang up as writers are, words aren't the only medium we communicate in. We also need cosplayers to interact with guests face to face and help bring the Alternate Reality to this Game. If you think you can help there - please, sign up! We need it every little bit we can get.
If any of this sounds interesting to you, and you think you can help, here's the link. Sign up soon, though. The cut-off is for July 9th.
If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a PM, or just ask them in the comments! And, hey, if you don't think you can commit to writing or editing or flying out and acting, you can still help us by passing this blog post around to anyone you think can.
We are so excited for this project, you guys, and we want you all to be a part of it.
Hope to see you guys on the project,
Nyronus
Sounds like it'll be a blast! I'll gladly signal boost n_n
This sounds really cool, but unfortunately I'm juggling two huge projects already, plus the Lancer campaign I'm GMing. I wish everyone the best, though!
so what you're saying is, Tirek went down to Equestria, he was lookin' for a soul to steal. He was in a bind, cuz he was way behind, and he was willin' to make a deal.
5734857
Exactly!
This could be a good excuse to blow the dest off my keyboard.
Definitely going to try for this!
Ooh, thanks for the details. :)
And thanks for your work for this!