So I've had this idea swimming around for a while now... · 8:01am Jan 2nd, 2013
An idea for a sidestory, specifically. Like an ancillary to Outlaw. This sidestory would be just a series of short stories (sub 10k words, maybe around 5k-ish) and have no real plot, because you'd already know how it ended. How, you ask? Well, the main character would be none other than Razorbeak, telling his audience, Mach and Greaser, stories about his life as a mercenary before they all met.
I like Razorbeak, he's a fun character and his playful banter with Mach is one of the things I enjoy most about their interactions with each other. He also has a checkered past that I've left rife with gaps to be filled, and I think it lends itself well to a little spinoff. Now, naturally my primary concern is Outlaw, so I wouldn't be able to give it much, if any attention yet, but my plan for the future is as follows:
- Finish Outlaw
- Take a long break during which I get caught up on all the fics I paused on or would like to start reading
- Begin writing my next project
This seems like something I could do to keep from getting rusty during my break, while simultaneously fulfilling my itch to write whenever it crops up. With the format, there would be no real reason to force myself to adhere to an update schedule, as the stories would not be dependent on one another to form a cohesive plot (although I do intend to at least put them in chronological order from Razorbeak's younger days to his more recent ones). This works out for everyone, as it gives people a little something to read, and on the off chance that I don't get something out in a timely manner, they aren't left hanging waiting to see where it goes in the next update.
As far as chapter 21 is concerned, I am ashamed to admit that I haven't gotten all that far into it yet, which is made all the more embarrassing by the fact that I've got all of its events planned out already. After working on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day however, I now have three straight days off which I can use to work on it, so hopefully I'll be able to get it out next week!
I like the sound of this plan. Razorbeak is one of those characters you want to know more about, having him talk about himself in his own story would be good. Plus we could get to meet so many colourful characters of his own past, like maybe friends he had within the Dead Boys, griffins/slavers he met in Fillydelphia, other talons he worked with and many more. You could even work in a few great villains, like a minotaur that uses a tank cannon for a weapon like this one...
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Or you could go more into the Fallout/Warhammer 40k weapons like Autocannons, a balefire flamethrower or maybe more Dead Space-esque weaponry if you wanted to expand on your inclusion of the Grapple Beam, like maybe a rivet gun like the one in Dead Space and Bioshock.
You could show so much, like what the wasteland was like at an earlier point. Include content you didn't want to include or couldn't justify in Outlaw, like encounters with Changelings or adventures in more exotic locales like Hoofington, The Far North, Ponave/Moohave or even Hornsmith. Maybe you could even arrange a crossover with authors who have stories set pre-Littlepip, like Adder1 with The last Sentinel or maybe FuzzyVeeVee & FallingSnow when talking about Razorbeak's time in Fillydelphia, perhaps mentioning Razorbeak meeting Snow's character Ashred or his father & one of Fuzzy's slavers. My point is, this little side-story of your main fic, has huge potential for original content and a maybe a few plugs here and there.
Okay, I think I have gushed enough about the potential you have here
. Out of curiosity, have you read much of The Last Sentinel yet? Or do you plan to read it once you finish Outlaw?
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There's definitely a lot of freedom inherent in the premise that makes a lot of what you're throwing out there doable. A series of individual plot-based chapters instead of one long, inflexible plot spanning 30 chapters is a whole lot easier to work with as well. The reduced size also allows the chapters to be quick and concise, allowing me to get more out in a shorter time if I'm feeling particularly productive as well as reducing the need to conform to the standards I'm constantly setting for myself.
I've yet to start on TLS; I like to read through stories all in one go (unless they're FoE or PH-size), so I've been waiting until I've finished with 21 to get going on it. Of course, the fact that I've been slacking makes that a wee bit of a problem. I'm definitely not going to wait until I finish Outlaw to start, that's just cruel. By my reckoning, I won't be done writing Outlaw until April at the absolute earliest. Once 21 is all squared away I'll definitely be picking it up.
Hey Tofu, made a bunch more Wiki pages, including a Perks page.
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Goodness gracious, you've been busy. I must've tickled you pink with that plug.
705791 Heh heh, yeah. Funny how Mach has only acquired two Quest Perks total. As for the other pages, well I made one, then another and after that they kind of just spawned themselves as I kept finding pages I could make.