Four Scrapped Ideas for High Seas of Adventure · 2:25am Jan 30th, 2024
When I first started writing High Seas there were a number of ideas and concepts that ultimately didn't pan out and I've forgotten most of them, but here are Four I do remember;
The Outcasts were the Villains
This Idea was one of the very first but other then an epic final battle it never really developed, as for the final battle: It would have been the Outcasts in the Dragon of the Depths vs the Equestrians in their own freshly-built version of the ship to stand up to the Dragon's sheer firepower, the two ships facing off in the middle of a raging storm complete with giant waves including rogue waves and maelstroms as if the sea itself was fighting against the two ships, ending the Dragon defeated and sinking below the waves with all hands (as no Outcast will ever allow themselves to be taken alive) and the Equestrian one retreating victorious... but not unscarred.
The Equestrians had won, but at extreme cost; most of the ship's crew would be dead or dying while the ship itself would be afloat with what remains of the crew having to pump just to keep it above water. Meanwhile the Mane Six would be looking over the water, having survived he battle though not without wounds of their own, with a feeling of dread deep within them.
After all: Pirate Lords are not defeated so easily.
While I didn't go down this path, it did lay the roots for something that's gonna happen towards the end of High Seas. 
Iron Horn was the main antagonist
Those who have read High Seas to the latest chapter will Know Iron Horn as both a friendly rival and a brother to Razor (since in the current lore Iron was part of Razor's first crew since they met as teens), when I started writing the story i had intended for Iron Horn to be the main antagonist, basically a rival Pirate Lord to Razor. However as I developed Iron Horn's character I couldn't decide on what sort of villain (I do know I wanted him to have several layers) I wanted and eventually he was removed as the antagonist with the current closest being the Northern Trade Union, and even then they're not exactly a main antagonist.
Alicorn Head Officer
During the early drafts of the second chapter where I introduced Razor's Head Officers, I had the idea of one of them being an Alicorn but ultimately didn't end up happening.
The Ironic thing about this one is that JNKing's OC, Star Wing, is an Alicorn and we are working on a story called "Star of the Sea" which is where a Filly Star Wing joins the Outcasts and eventually becomes one of the Head Officers. So in a way this concept did end up happening.
Outcasts as a Submarine-Based Faction
This idea would have completely changed how the story was written if I'd used it; The base concept was that the Outcasts of the Abyss as a whole were completely based in submarines, centered around a massive "Mothership" type sub in a similar vein to the Homeworld space strategy games, complete with the Mothership sub being able to build smaller subs of various classes like the Homeworld Mothership.
However I might use a variant of the idea in the future, like having an entire fleet of the Outcasts being submarine-based.
And those are the ideas I had when I first started writing High Seas, what do you guys think?
Personally, I'm glad you decided not to make the Outcasts the villains.
It definitely felt like they were going in that direction when I first started reading the story, but having learned so much about them and knowing what Star knows about them, it makes me happy that they are getting a chance to be more neutral at the very least - not full Equestrian level good, but not bad either.
And while Star is sort of fulfilling the 'alicorn head officer' bit, I'm kinda glad you decided not to go that route.
I've heard some people say that it's hard to take alicorn OCs seriously since their power and status make them prime Mary Sue material. It was something that really bothered me when I started considering making Star into an alicorn instead of a dragon like she was originally, though I'm happy to see that despite being an alicorn, Star has still managed to feel like a fleshed out character.
Thanks for sharing these, Silver.
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Indeed, a little switch-a-roo on the reader. That's why the first chapter was done in second-person; make the reader think the Outcasts are the villains, only to reveal that the one we were seeing the POV from was the villain, or at least the first one, all along.
And I think it worked out well for the story.
So am I if I'm being honest, but it did ultimately happen thanks to Star Wing. Funny how that happened, looks like that idea wasn't ready to let go just yet.
I think part of that was because in the earlier years the fandom was flooded with poorly-made and overpowered Alicorn OCs, which lead to that mindset.
Well to me at least Star Wing is an Alicorn OC done right! Another one done right that I can think of is Lightning Bliss, who didn't reveal that her OC was one until a few years in.
Always happy to.
What are your thoughts on the "Outcasts as a Submarine-Based Faction" idea?
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Yeah, I absolutely loved that twist; getting us all worried for this POV character, only to find out that he deserved every single bit of torment he got. Really great bait and switch.
I've heard it said that some ideas need to 'cook', like baking. Give them time, and they'll flourish into pretty great stories.
Agreed. Which makes me really happy that you think Star Wing is an alicorn OC done right.
Then again, I feel that it helped that Star was originally a black dragon OC, since in that case, the personality remained the same, and the only difference was appearance.
It's caused me to get confident enough to make a few variations of Star - from the cow version of her that you might have seen in one of my posts, to one that I've lovingly dubbed a 'bat-outta-hell-hound,' where Wing is a cross between a hellhound and a bat demon from the Helluva Boss universe.
In a way, I feel that this still sort of works with your canon idea, since the Outcast faction still uses submarines. Unless you mean that they relied entirely on the submarines and lived mostly underwater rather than sailing on the surface.
In which case, I think that gives them an extra layer of terror for anyone that isn't allied with them, since they can pop up almost like sharks wherever they want, and people may rarely see them coming.
Though an entire Outcast fleet being made of submarines feels more than plausible, given Razor's influence and resources.
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Thanks, really appreciate it.
Very true, and they sometimes come out in ways that are different from the original but better.
Okay, that is both really funny and awesome at the same time, and fits Star so well.
Fully agreed.
it sure does, now of course they would have to surface eventually, but taking into account the fact the subs could have airlocks and the members able to breath both air and water means they would be able to resupply underwater and not have to surface very much at all, and considering the Outcasts would still be protecting the waters of the SOL means they'd have plenty of friendly ports to dock.
Agreed, and considering something I have planned for the third arc of High Seas... well I wouldn't give away to much yet, but I will say it involves the Steel Yard (which holds either the last or second-to-last crystal they need, haven't decided yet) and the Outcasts don't leave empty-handed.
It also involves Razor, the Equestrians, Shiva's Pack, and former NTU Ponies working together to escape.
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I've been experiencing that writing my 'Of Scales and Fur' books.
Did you know that in the original draft of 'Of Scales and Fur', Wing was going to be a full dragon? The idea I had was that she and a family of dragons lived in secret among humans, but Wing wanted to let her dragon form free. And when she found out about superhero comics, she tried to pass her dragon form off as a superhero, with all the resulting responsibility and stress that comes with being a hero.
But, I couldn't quite figure out how to make her different from other superheroes like Spiderman or Batman, and after trying to give some characterization to Kodo - who was originally going to be one of her rogues gallery - I ended up going down a rabbit trail with Kodo's mother Shiva, leading to the books I've got now.
Thanks.
Part of me wants to make the bat-outta-hellhound their own character, but I feel that Star's personality fits so well with it, so for now, I'm keeping her as an alternate Wing until I can figure something else out.
Sounds like quite the adventure. I'll look forward to when it's ready to be read.
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Funny how sometimes ideas end up going in completely different ways then when we first plan them out, but no plan survives first contact and from what I've seen and experienced myself the different directions from the original often end up being better.
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True.
Though one day, I do hope that I'll be able to return to my idea of Wing being a superhero, and find a way to make it work.
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Here's hoping.
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