A couple of things. · 6:57am Jun 16th, 2013
Firstly, there is one more piece of artwork added. For those who have read 'A Voice Amongst the Strangers' they will know who they are, for those that haven't they will at least recognize Dinky!
Secondly the next chapter will be out soon as in, whenever it is done being prodded so I can send it to my editor. It's a little... big, I might have gotten a little carried away but I wanted to get something’s out of the way before I went into the ending chapters. Two to three more chapters, and there will be an epilogue; of course there will be a sequel in time but worst case scenario I wanted to let it end on a note where I could walk away from it content.
So... where does it go from there? Well, um... I really, really want to read a lot of stories, I feel kind of bad not having even looked really at several. Some have been recommended, Past Sins, Cultural Artifacts, Oh to be old again, The return of Nightmare Moon, Project: Sunflower just to name a few. I was wondering if there are any highly recommended stories out there for me to delve into. Obviously this means my updates after a few weeks will be a little more lackluster than weekly, well that's not entirely true but I like to give the warning out. I might not go so high a word count to keep the schedule though!
I also want to redo the first few chapters of AVAtS, not re-write but at least tidy them up presentation wise. I can see where I have learnt many things while writing and wish to at least apply them back to the original attempt.
And now I'm rambling, I get good at that when writing I guess.
Ah, yes... the rest of the post... the third thing, or is it fourth... hmm... onwards!
The story ideas have been slightly updated, once AVAtS has been finished I will be uploading the first chapters of each to let people look and see which they like most. Or alternatively I might put them on Google Docs I keep hearing about and people can decide which they want me to do most of all from there.
They are as follows:
1) A sequel to A Voice Among the Strangers. This hasn't changed much, the ending for it has. I will reveal a few more details though that won’t spoil the current story. There will be a slight genre shift, along with a time skip of two years at the beginning. The POV will be divided between two people, and there will be a proper antagonist within no longer just the situation. It will still stay teen however and avoid gore and the like, given I am somewhat squeamish. The truth be told I am actually hemophobic, so even writing about the small amount of blood in AVAtS made me a little blargh. True story!
Again if you really must know specific details you can PM me, but I won’t put them here as they are rather significant spoilers.
2) Ponyfication story, a girl into a pegasus who winds up in Equestria. I am still entranced by this idea for some reason, I really wish to explore how someone would cope having their whole body changed, their senses, their instincts, everything. Would they still be them, or would they be someone completely different?
It will have a slight 'through the looking glass' feel to it, but my original intent to tie it into AVAtS 'universe' probably won’t be included. Or maybe it will be who can say! There is certainly potential if a certain unicorn wizard had tried other ways to get home and left a few unfinished experiments about. Anyhow, the story will focus on her learning everything anew again, exploring a strange world. Language barrier won’t be an issue in this one I don't think, but she will need to learn how to talk again with a new mouth.
The story will revolve around her getting used to her body, meeting equestrians and trying to get her old body back or at the very least, trying to get a new life for herself. Plus as I said in a previous blog, learning to use her mouth and wings for things would be amusing.
Also learning how to fly would be awesome to write about!
3) An equestrian on Earth, this one I am most hesitant on for... several reasons. I could perhaps explore a certain unicorn on Earth, and how he spent the time before meeting a certain girl. It would also have his perspective of things as the story played out. Otherwise I would be leaning on mayhap Celestia or Luna finding themselves on Earth, or alternatively a filly or changeling. I really am hesitant about this story as human nature is... different. I wouldn't expect of course them to be taken in for experiments with a dark government conspiracy, but I also would find it difficult to contain the story.
This one I feel would explode very large, it could be fun but ultimately it would be a very broad story and significant repercussions given. On that note... again I am hesitant on this one for a very specific reason, hint... hint... hint.
4) This one has changed the most. The option now is a story exploring Dusk, Scar and Stoic (Their real names will be revealed at the end chapter of AVAtS so no spoilers here!). How they became guards, why Stoic is so... Stoic, and what makes them all tick. Their position in the royal guard and their interactions with specific cast members. Twilight and Spike, Celestia and Luna of course being key players in the story. I don't know, the three have grown on me and the Celestia/Luna war thing was, well it would be an alternative universe and that would burn me out after what I have just done. I can still have interactions with them, plenty in fact with the guard aspect as Dusk and Luna seem close. and Stoic, or Scar at least seems very high in the rankings. ^-^
So those are the updated options, so there we go! Again thank you for whoever has been updating the TV Tropes link, I get really excited seeing the new additions. ^-^
Once more, thank you everyone for reading and for the welcome into this wonderful community. I hope to keep improving my writing and at least delve into different genres! Every bit of feedback is welcome, good and bad, they both allow me to develop and hopefully make some attempt at increasing my ability!
Oh and for an update on my health, I am currently undergoing physio for my shoulder which impacts my ability to write. Two partially torn tendons and a muscle I forget in my shoulder is significantly swollen pushing on the bone and nerves. Also sorry for the large amounts of mistakes in this blog, medication makes me tired and hard to focus. ^-^;
~The incredibly accident prone Tystarr.
Edit: Forgot to mention that the retelling of A Voice Among the Strangers from the Equestrian's perspective is still going ahead regardless. ^-^
Yay. I actually changed my mind in terms of what I want most, I'd love to get some more background on the guards before a sequel. And the retelling with different perspective will be awesome.
Also in terms of other great fics, Quantum Castaways is great, so is Colours of the Heart and finally The Golden Armor.
I highly recommend "Freeze Frame", it has very intereting characters, great world building, and a great story. as for which story I would want most I think that I would actually want it to be about Dusk and Stoic, I think It would be pretty awesome. and you are awesome for persisting in writing this story even though you have a injury, you've out a lot of work into it and it really shows, I eagerly await the next chapter of your story.
Overall, there are good reasons to look at each of these. I really find in questioning, none of these seems to appeal more than another does. They all sound fun. The pony in our world, there is a group or two that covers that aspect in varying ways.
Huh... heh heh.
Nice list there but not really ideal.
Past Sins gets a lot of hate for some of it's plot and it's OC.
Cultural Artefacts is written in an extremely opaque fashion where it seems the author does not bother noting that his readers do not see from his perspective.
Oh to be Old Again is good but has a very strong headcanon based on tropes from certain other fics that have put readers off in the past.
Return of Princess Nightmare Moon is entertaining enough but you need to accept that everypony is OK with having a cannibalistic monster as a princess. Also there is no Mane 6.
Really Project: Sunflower is the only one I would consider accessible and good.
One of the problems is that the fics are genuinely too numerous to read indiscriminantly from the "good" pile.
I honestly do not know your personal tastes or preferences in genres, or how deep down the rabbit hole you feel like going. But if you want some strong resources for finding whatever you might like, recommendations, or information on the ficdom, feel free to ask and I promise to provide such unbiased, or at least identify bias where I fail to avoid it. I can also point you to other resources for finding and identifying good fics. And I plan on getting back into regular recommendation blog posts again soon.
1147412
Hmmm, add that to my read later pile too!
1147415
The next chapter might... be a little polarising. It was the bane of my existance to write the damn thing but I don't think I will ever be happy with a majority of it. ^-^;
1147417
Hmmm well we'll see what people think when I actually throw up the 5k or so chapter one's of them!
1147423
All I have heard so far apart from a few is how great Past Sins is. I will still read it, but now I am nervous!
As for the others, well... hmm, I saw in something that someone linked me that Cultural Artifacts did I guess a homage to Jessica in a dream? The context was completely lost to me but it was nifty. As such I feel I owe it to the person to read the story. :3
At least Project: Sunflower is getting the thumbs up! Will still read the rest though. As for genres? Anything that isn't horror or gore I guess. Tragedy can be done well, but if done poorly it just feels... like, well I am sure you know. I tend to avoid it myself as it makes everything up to the end point kind of... pointless in a way? Hard to articulate when brain full of medication.
Having only just learnt of 'clop' I think I would also prefer to... er, avoid that... at least for now. ^-^; But I am always up for good romance or adventure, or anything really. As long as it lacks excessive gore and isn't horror I am all up for anything. I'm not fussy as long as the story can pull me in and keep my attention. ^-^
1147450 Ignore the Past Sins hate. All fanfics get hate, but it is well deserving of its position in the top 10. Plus its side stories rock which you should read right afterwards.
I derped in the story department in comment it seems.
Project: Sunflower I rather liked. It had a good way of doing the HiE element, with minor, at best handwaiving.
Harmony Theory. I'll be honest, i'm not much of a dash liker in most stories, most people just get the wrong side of her in my own likes and dislikes. But this, they manage to keep her fresh, fun, and everyone very very cloak and dagger, but it works. It is dark, it is a world half empty in warning, but I love the updates. Even if they are slow....
Line's and Webs/Dusk's Dangerous Game. This story is brutal, uncompromising, huge, it has parts not for the squeamish, but paints such a vivid image of celestia, luna, cadence and everyone that it really makes you go 'woah...' . At currently 363k words and near now, 100+ chapters between them, its long, but one of my personal favorites.
The return of nightmare moon, eh, had its moments, i liked the nature of one character in particular for how they did it. But overall, it was, different, and settles oddly in reading it. Most of that authors stories do.
My little marriage: Mary is a Mare, is a unique view of a pony in equestria, its a little slow on the update, but worth a read, done by a good person I need to repay for his kindness.
An unknown story that I have gone to like is Triptych. Story Link It is, unique, in asking, what happens when the trifold aspect fails.
But still, I do recomend sunflower overall as a good and solid read. The side projects are nice too.
1147450
Well I have read way to many fics to not reference them by specific genre. The list would be enormous. I might as well tell you to read all my favorites.
For starters I would recommend browsing my page and my blogs for the stories I most highly recommend.
They probably will not all be to your taste, but the ones that are, you will surely enjoy
I would recommend the Seattle's Angels group and One Man's Pony Ramblings for fic reviews and recommendations and The Pony Fiction Vault and Equestria Daily's Fiction Archive for (mostly) higher quality fics of the types you might enjoy.
I would specifically recommend these 4 fics:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/3513/keeping-it-simple
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/2593/the-sweetie-chronicles-fragments
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/13565/naked-singularity
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/19641/through-the-eyes-of-another-pony
For a nice variety of genres and styles. Especially The Sweetie Chronicles which actually crosses over with a different popular fic in the fandom each chapter.
And checking out these 4 authors:
http://www.fimfiction.net/user/The%20Descendant
http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Wanderer%20D
http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Cold%20in%20Gardez
http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Kwakerjak
Because they are some of the most consistently quality authors in the fandom and highly accessible. As well as some of the wisest voices.
1147502
Thank you, I shall add them to my read later thingie-ma-bob. ^-^
1147473
I will look into those too, not the squeamish ones... but definitely the others!
Project: Sunflower is a must-read.
1147505 I hope you might consider trying some of the darker ones, its tricky to get the lighter ones, but it really offers a kind of view that is refreshing, in an odd way. It still has the lighthearted and touching moments, yet, for all that, worst of the dark, it shines so much brighter for it. Its hard to explain in why it is, but that nature of them being able to be who they are, even after the worst, the harsh, shows their nature in being so much the greater.
In a manner much like you did with flim and flam, to show that ponies can be cruel, you show just as well how they can rise above. No matter the species and type.
But done wrong, and its horrible, just nothing but a bad slash fic sadly.
Still, the nature of dark and sad really varies between people, its a subjective term, and hopefully helps.
1147524
Dark is fine, gorey and stuff not so much. ^-^
a few things:
with the story about a girl being turned into a Pegasus and being sent to Equestria, is that going to be Jessica again?
I can also understand your hesitance at the pony on earth story, It probably has the least potential.
The last idea about Scar, Stotic and Dusk seems interesting.
I personally would most like to see the sequel to AVAtS more then the others.
Also I do hope you still plan on doing the equestrian retelling, I am really looking forward to that.
Well that's my thoughts, look forward to the new chapter and I hope the physio goes well, get better soon
1147528
The girl would not be Jessica, she would be a french or german, or perhaps even an indian girl... unsure!
Just not sure if I will tie it into the AVAtS 'universe' so to speak with Scar, Dusk, Ebony, Stoic, Ledger, Rebate, Jessica etc, etc.
1147529 ah ok that clears a few things up, thanks.
By the way you are still going to the equestrian retelling though aren't you?
1147530
Check the bottom of the post. ^-^;
1147535
Thank you for being awesome!
Oh I just must say this, even if it's kind of in the wrong place, AkuOreo is one talented artist for making those pictures.
Secondly I see you have gotten quite a lot of recommendations for some very long stories here in the comments so I was thinking I might give some smaller ones at <10k words for you to browse through. All taken from my Favourite List, I made sure to leave any with blood and most romances... but looking at this list. Damn the [Sad] and [Tragedy] tags are my best friends apperantly. Well if you don't like those tags you might want to skip reading these.
[Sad] and / or [Tragedy]:
It Never Happend
Why Pinkie Pie Smiles
Gift (This one is actually 17k words but oh-so worth it.)
These ones may have the sad / tragedy tags but I would'nt count them as such myself:
Just Another Party
Quiet Night
Reading Rainbow
Useless Things
My Limitless Lily
Tummy Ache
Minuette's Lesson
Oh God what am I doing... I feel so ashamed doing all this.
Oh well, if you don't want to, I suppose there is no harm done in linking some stories even if it makes me look like a douche.
// Sphex
1147571
It's fine! And it's the right place to comment on the picture since I mentioned it in the blog afterall. ^-^
I will nose through the stories, I don't mind sad/tragedy but I'm not as big a fan as tragedy. I just don't like gore/horror.
Will have a look in a few weeks!
First Pony View deals also with the "human suddenly is a pony" similarly as your approach, but considering your styles are different I can't wait for your take on it. Hmm, her nationality could be even German? There aren't enough stories with Germans here. I can remember seeing only one so far.
A few recommendations: Mass Effect 2: The Equestrian equation and its sequel; The Powers of Harmony; Rites of Ascension, Petriculture and it's sequels, the Tears of Gaia, Twilight the Terrible, Myths and Birthrights, Under the Northern Lights, Scootamom,, The Immortal Game (Warning: grimdark), Earth and Sky and its prequel, The Stranger and Her Friend (on a two-year hiatus), the Jewellery Box, Higher Fligher, Long Live the Queen (oneshot), Better Living Through Science and Ponies.
Links will be available on request.
The Austraeoh by Imploding Colon.
It is an incredibly long series because it updates at least once a day, so you're never left with long update times. It paints a beautiful and mysterious world in which Rainbow Dash has to explore for reasons that are revealed through progression of major events.
It blends mythical mystery, adventure, major emotional moments, and tragedy, all without going into too much detail.
There are currently three stories in the series.
....where IS the art? Is it integrated into the chapters? If so, which one(s)?
1147709
It's to the side of my user page. There is Jessica, then Ebony, and finally Jessica with the foals.
1147711 Yeah, I just found it. Derp.
1147714
^-^
Oh my god, that picture is just too adorable. It manages to make Dinky the least cute thing in the picture which I thought was impossible for that adorable little ball of fluff.
As for recommendations, here are mine in no particular order:
My Little Dashie I am not sure how this has not come up yet, but it is one of the defining stories of this fandom.
The Thessalonica Legacy This is a BattleTech crossover, however you do not need to be familiar with that universe to get the story. That said, the first chapter is set entirely in the BT universe and is a bit on the violent side so you may want to skim or skip it because the rest of the story is mostly character interaction which you would probably enjoy.
Airborn This is another take on HiE which also has the language barrier, although it is much shorter than most so the barrier is never overcome which is kind of interesting.
The Dresden Fillies: Strange Friends This is a Dresden Files crossover and could be a bit violent, but it is still an amazing read and I do not recall their being much actual blood.
Xenophilia This is explicit, but I am still recommending it and I have a strong dislike of clop.
Rainbooems and Royalty This is an interesting AU with Rainbow as Celestia's student.
No Longer Lost
Wild, Sweet & Cool
I also highly recommend reading The Life and Times of a Winning Pony because it is shaping the fandom in a significant way, but it is not complete like the others I have listed here.
A Foul Light Shines Is also great, but it is a Warhammer 40K crossover which somehow manages to remain faithful to both sides of the cross so it is probably going to be too bloody for you.
I suppose my thoughts haven't changed that much, I still would be happy to see #1.
You certainly have the skills to pull off #2 or #3, though I think #2 would be more compelling.
...And I still want to learn more about the Guard Trio the most.
As far as good fics go, I don't think anyone's recommended "It Takes a Village", and I will second "Under the Northern Lights".
Have fun delving!
I would shy away from this one simply because there are flank tons of stories like this. Almost everyone wants to visit equestria and be 'ponified', and as such it kind of shows up a lot in fanfics. I'm not sure why, but pegasi are the most commonly found pony personas too... (heh, like yours)
For other fanfics, I personally have a soft spot for scifi... there are a few really good ones, but overall there is kind of a lacking of it. I guess there are not that many really good scifi books in general (unrelated to ponies, like Enders Game)
Anyways, have a few scifi fanfics...
The Dread Chitin
and the sequel Outside the Reaching Sky
Uncompleted one, but the author is extremely active, probably slightly more than you are when it comes to writing...
ID That Indestructible Something
Finally, a short 12k word one that isnt scifi, but _Extrememly_ cute, and full of dawwww and awww and related emotions
Scootaling
There are a few other good scifi fanfics, but I dont know if they will ever be finished, such as this one
Melodia Apparatus
As far as ponification goes, you might want to try P-Theory. It has some really good... stuff in it that you could draw inspiration from. (drawing a blank on any bettor words atm)
1148918
Might have a look. ^-^
1148069
My avatar is actually just Ebony, not a pony-fied version of me. I wouldn't look quite as nice. ^-^
I wanted to avoid Unicorns as magic is... well, not sure on that. Truth be told it's all about her learning to fly eventually! I can't help it, a person afraid of heights learning how to fly. ^-^
Will add the stories to my read laters too!
1147996
Huzzah, shall look at these later!
1147969
Glad you think they're cute! Shall add those to my read later too, mmm lots to read when I am done...
1149244 I know how that goes, I currently have 555 stories in my read later list and 325 unread chapters of various stories (although a huge chunk of those are a RVB crossover that has hundreds of 1k word chapters).
Well you are most certainly bubbly.
1149244
Seriously read the series!
Austraeoh: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/25966/austraeoh
Eljunbyro: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/57450/eljunbyro
Innavedr: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/88713/innavedr
Here's a link to the author's profile: http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Imploding+Colon
1149279
Don't worry, I will murder them indiscriminately when I get a chance to read. I love reading.
1150272
Is that a bad thing? o.o
1151079
Shall add to the list! Thank you. :3
1151780
Are you so insecure to think it a bad thing? Just stating an observation, Bubbles are fun! and they have a certain beauty to them the way they float freely in the wind, the way light would refract from their surface, and in a good grouping, they can create a most elegant display of light. Their soft gentle touch when they land on your skin just before they pop is relaxing!
Nothing wrong with being bubbly, one's attitude towards life is always a choice, and you have chosen... wisely.
What? All these suggestions and no All-American Girl yet? That's a fantastic story that certainly deserves to be read. It gets pretty dang dark in some of the later chapters though, so you might prefer to read some of the sidestories instead since they cover a pretty diverse range of topics (including one of the only depictions of a romance between a stallion and a woman in this fandom), or even the prequel.
I'd also like to recommend the extremely-hard-to-pronouce-German-word trilogy by Nicknack, and all of Admiral Tigerclaw's stories, DocDelray's as well, and . . . well, actually, if you're hemophopic this might take a while.
It looks like you got plenty of stories to read already though so I shouldn't worry about you getting bored for now.
As for the ideas . . .
1. Yay! Sequel!
2. That . . . well, it's been done a million times before, ponification is often either insultingly stupid, just plain insulting, or immensely disturbing (often with thick Nazi undertones), but . . . you've proven yourself a capable writer, and you deserve a shot at making this concept work. The odds are stacked against you, but I'm not going to be one of those people saying you can't do something, nor am I going to be one of those people praising you for nothing.
3. This one is something that you don't see often in this fandom. Possibly because it's less wish fulfillment than the inverse, possibly because people assume that humans would instantly try to savagely tear the pony apart on sight or some such malarkey (seriously, I've only seen one person in my entire life argue in favor of vivisecting aliens, and he was rightly called out on his crazy by everyone around him), but whatever the reason they just aren't that common. Your theoretical story would be a small group there.
4. Not sure if this concept could work, but, again, I say give it a shot.
Also, nice to hear that the pony perspective story is coming along. :)
As always, I'm late to the party. Jericho, be ashamed of yourself!
I've said my two cents about your future story ideas in my reply to your previous blog, so that hasn't changed. Well, except for the Guard-story idea, that one is new, and just like all three other story ideas, one I'd happily read. It's getting really hard to chose at this moment, all ideas sound good and, if AVATS is any indication, will probably wind up being very pleasant reads in your hands. Can't we just lock you in a room where time has frozen so you can write them all?
Now, seeing as everyone's doing story recommendations, I'd like to join in. I know you already have a long list of stories to read, so I'll try not to add too much to it, but there are some that really have to be recommended.
I definately agree with Project: Sunflower. Read it, it's a very good HiE story (in the top five, I would say, with AVATS beings the clear number one towering above all the competition), and probably the best human-turns-into-a-pony story I've read so far. Highly recommended. If you've read it and liked it, be sure to check out the side story too, so you can read how the Mane 6 react to watching "The Avengers"!
However, I can't believe that nobody has recommended Arrow 18 Mission Logs: Lone Ranger yet! Until you came along and gave us "A Voice Amongst The Strangers", this was THE best Human-in-Equestria story on the site. As of now, due to AVATS, it's the number two, but that doesn't make it any less good. About the only thing I can critisize about it is its slow update schedule, heh. In all honesty, though, it's just a very good story about first-contact between humans and ponies. It even has a language barrier, and Twilight in spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace! Very highly recommended.
Then there is, of course, Children of a Lesser Dragon God Boy Whelp Thingy Guy. This, my friend, is pure comedic gold. It builds on the idea of Spike's "Dragon Code" from "Spike At Your Service" and other dragons learning of its existence and, as a result, seeing him as some kind of divine messenger come to return the dragon race to glory. It's every bit as hilarious as it sounds, but the nicest part about it, is that, even though it's a comedy, there is still a hint of genuine warmth in it as Spike tries to teach other dragons not to be jerks. You'll have to read to find out if he succeeds or not, and I'm quite sure you won't regret if you do. Coincidentally, this author has written a lot of other stories that are well-worth checking out, The Song of Syhlex prime amongst them, but "Certain Advantages" and "Dear Idiot" might be worth checking out too, if you find yourself liking the author's other two works I recommended here.
There, I've added to your ever growing list of "Stories I have to read!", ensuring you'll be seeing nothing but pony for years to come if you ever hope of doing it all, muahahahaha!
I'm also watching you now, because I'm stalkerish like that. And I shall end with a quote from the comedy I so heartily recommended to end this mad-ish post:
...
It makes sense in context, trust me.