An Announcement · 3:21pm Dec 30th, 2013
An announcement!
Hello, everyone! You might remember a story I wrote a while ago, called: The Empty Room.
To those who don’t, or never read it; it was the first story I wrote for ponies and was published in EqD. Some people loved it, some hated it and I might even venture to say it was one of the ‘big ones’ back then, and for sure one of the few stories at the time that was not afraid of making things progressively darker or playing with a bit of twisted humor.
Well, it’s being rewritten! My objective is to go through chapters starting now until June, posting them so that the last, updated chapter will be published on the date when the original was first published in Equestria Daily back in 2011.
Now, to clarify: This revision has absolutely nothing to do with ‘making it closer to canon’, rather, it will address some issues the story has, cementing more the mood, going deeper with some characters and overall making the story more readable without completely changing the plot.
There might be a few surprises, but don’t expect the thing to suddenly include Shining Armor and/or Cadance, or even dear Chrysalis. (Much less that wannabe, Sombra.)
Remember when this was written: back when Season 1 was almost finished. Twilight was still a unicorn, and yeah, there were no plans of making her an alicorn back then. Trixie only had that one appearance in "Boast Busters" and Luna’s personality was being mostly created by the fans, with no “Luna Eclipsed” for reference or Royal Canterlot Voice.
While I respect the adherence to canon (at least to begin with), I don’t want to sacrifice what The Empty Room created: it’s own universe with it’s own world-building and possibilities. The one thing I might play with a little is the Guardian’s origins, not to change who or what he is, but rather so that it actually makes more sense with the ending than that tenuous connection I used to, well, connect the character to a certain villain.
I wish I had saved the 700 to 800 comments I had in EqD… Seth’s uphaul did erase all of them, sadly, and some of them were very well thought-out, but other than that, nothing has really been lost.
When the story first came out, there was a lot of doubt about it, I mean, [Comedy][Adventure][Grimdark] is an unusual combination even now, and back then, Grimdark/Dark had a bad connotation of equaling gratuitous amounts of gore. While The Empty Room was never truly gory, it was definitely dark.
Some reviews outside of EqD were fond of saying: “The Empty Room earns it’s Grimdark tag!”
The thing is, I did something that was NOT done often back then: I killed a main character and some beloved secondary characters. Obviously, I was accused more than once of doing it for shock value at first, until readers started to see that nothing was happening without purpose… but because I didn’t spell it out for them, they had to wait and see and that threw off a lot of people at the time.
It’s complicated. I’ve compared this story to “what happens when a little boy gets bored of his action figures and steals his little sister’s ponies” before, and I think it’s an apt metaphor. Ponies die in this story.[...]
I will also quote this next line for entirely selfish reasons:
Wanderer should get a medal for this insanity!
Anyway, back to Ezn’s comment about the little boy. I feel there’s some merit to it, especially because I could have handled shifts and plot devices better without giving away the story. However, I’m not stepping back from shifting POVs in one chapter, since I don’t like Tolkien’s approach of writing one half of the story first, then seeing what’s happening at the same time, afterwards.
No story is perfect, of course, but perhaps I went through it so fast at times that some development suffered and some messages didn’t necessarily get through as they should have, (i.e. Spark & AJ) and in some cases delved too much into conversations or situations that could have been covered better earlier or with better tempo.
There are several things that need to be polished and corrected and I think it’s high time that happened. Don’t expect too much change at the beginning though.
I hope you guys like the new version, though. Let me know what you think!
~WD
I'll give it a read sometime.
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYYESSYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYEYESYEYEYSEYESYEYESYSEEYESYE!!!!!!!!
I've been intending to read that, and now you've given me a reason to procrastinate even more while you rewrite it.
So, good luck with that. I definitely recall it being a significant story in the early days.
This has been on my read later list for donkey's years! Guess I'll wait a little bit longer to read it
Yes, I can't wait to read this story for something like the 20th time. This is my favorite fanfic and I can't wait to see how you revise it.
I liked the Empty Room when I read it quite some time ago. I agree that there were some issues, especially with the four enemy Alicorns at the end. They weren't developed at all, and could have been replaced with practically anything. The use of the Guardian was also a little out there, and could be redone to make him a more natural (or better yet UNnatural) part of the world. As it is his purpose is kind of... weird. I get what you were going with, but as a villain whose very presence causes Alicorns to go nightmare, well, you could have done a lot more with him.
Anyway, I don't know if I'll read the re-write until it's all finished, but I wish you smooth writing!
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1664276 Or! You could read it chapter by chapter now!
Ah, yes, one of the early greats. A redo after an extra two seasons and change of canon should be most interesting. Though I imagine this will slow The Sweetie Chronicles even more, but it's your writing. You get to prioritize it how you want, and I'll just sit here and enjoy.
I'm gonna have to read it again. YAY!
Yay I get to read one of my favorites all over again!
THE GREATNESS RETURNS!!!!!
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I'm not sure why you didn't simply create a Director's cut version and leave the original up so people could compare and contrast the two.
*Reads the blog* Oh me oh my! An excuse to reread one of my favourite fics!
I think this was the first fic that got me into some of the darker stories out there, and I couldn't be happier with this as a gateway! And this will make it better? I could only dream what is to happen to it as I loved it before, will you make my head explode by bettering it?
You're fic The Empty Room, and http://www.fimfiction.net/story/14590/the-cupcake-chronicles [plus Cupcakes] where the two fanfics that introduced me to my first ever look into Fanfiction. Of anykind.
Originally I thought all fanfics were sex fueled, balls of madness and wasn't canon. But I thought if I was going to give MLP a chance and learn from Dashie's lesson of not judging a book by its cover. Then I might as well start with a fanbase that was born from a show with reat morals, and I felt an emotional connection to. All thanks to the TVtropes Fanwork page.
You're fic was amazing. There were parts that I admit confused me when I first read it. Like how Dash remembered her parents being part of a secret organization and being evil (while still being herself /different) felt off. But when I learned about the talismans they made sense.
I loved without a shadow of a doubt what you did with Nightmare Moon. You transformed her from a 2 bit villain. To something much greater, and your introduction to Solar Flare was something that to this day I find inspirational and amazing. Although I'm sad that there are so few stories with her in them.
All through out it. You had parts that were emotionally hitting, deep, and really showed me how great fan fics can be. Even though I still am partial to MLP Fanfics. And you were one of the authors who inspired me to make Journeys (Which I still need to finish one of these days.) And get me started to write fanfics.
Best of luck to your re-write. I can't wait to start this journey again, and see how things turn out.
Arright, I'm not much of a fan of dark stories (at least not in the context of MLP)... but since it's you D, I'll give it a shot.
I think this was actually the very first (or maybe the second) story I favorited on this site. I think I'll take the offered trip down memory lane and reread it with every rewritten chapter
Just one question...Will the April Fools chapter still come back
Ah yes, The Empty Room. That story that made me snort tea out my nose one minute and feel like crying the next.
I'm definitely up for reading that one again. It'll be interesting to see how you plan on changing it.
I'm very happy it's being rewritten. I really enjoyed it until about 2/3 of the way through,and then it became the poster boy for including everything and the kitchen sink. With just a bit more editing, I can recommend it to people.
This makes me too happy.
Go on.
Oh, I liked the original story.
Here's to a successful update!
Well, this should be interesting
And hey, at least you finished The Empty Room while it was still pretty close to canon... I've been having to remind people that Shining Armor and Cadance don't exist in Sharing the Night
Ooohh, now this is an interesting development. Empty Room was certainly one of the earlier fan fic I read and probably about half the reason I started following you. On the other hand, there were some bits that could have done with a little editing (though much was great). It's been a long time since I read the awesome insanity, and this seems like a good reason to start a reread.
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Because such things are disallowed by the site rules
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No, I meant doing exactly what you just posted, but doing it in a way that would mean putting the rewrite on the same submission, just with the original chapters still being there and listed as 'Director's Cut'. That way people could read both versions.
Awww, but I don't like change
But seriously, I loved the original and I'm sure the updated version will be even better..
Can we still find the original somewhere?
The Empty Room v2,
Words will fly as Wanderer D returns to his classic story, The Empty Room. Which in it of itself is sort of misleading seeing as the room isn't actually empty, at least not from an object standpoint. Stay tuned as the author wanders further into the universe in which he created in hopes of someday finding the D which sent him wandering in the first place.
Starring:
Wanderer D as Wanderer D
Voices are contributed by:
The Geico Gecko as the fashionable Rarity
Morgan Freeman as the ever random Pinkie Pie
Zach Galifianakis as the quick flyer, Rainbow Dash
Chuck Norris as the cowpony Applejack
Gilbert Gottfried as the quiet Fluttershy
And Chewbacca as the magical Twilight Sparkle
Coming this Summer to a FIMFiction page near you!
Hey while your at it write a sequel with a Wiki page
This and Dangerous Business are the only 2 older fics I regret not reading yet. But with the rewrite I shall have a new opportunity. So thanks.
Ah, okay, it's being rewritten! I saw it in my favorites list as having updated, got excited (and puzzled), saw that everything was gone and panicked, but now it makes sense.
Here's hoping it turns out even better than the original!
Now, if only I could remember how the original went, I could make determinations about whether it actually is better...
1664891 This, so much this. I remember the basics of the story, but none of the details. I mean, this was the 53rd story on this site. Is there anyway to save the originals to see the difference between them?
I got a question: Will Sweetie Belle from the Sweetie Chronicles make a cameo appearance?
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there's a certain scene with a certain pony (I would add who, but I don't know how to do that spoiler blackout thing) towards the end that made me both sad and confused, simply because of how the situation was handled by all who were there, I know you aren't going to change it, but it's one of like two things that happen in the story that really took me away from what was an epic read. Still loved the first run, every minute of it.
This is the shame of being new here.
Mr Grimdark misses a famous grimdark story by sexy goatee man
I shall read, i am certainly intrigued and cant wait for the revised chapters
Well! This is pretty excellent news. The Empty Room has been on my reading list since approximately the dawn of time, so I'm pretty hyped for this.
Bring it on!
Ah, the days where writers were writers and didn't bandwagon off whatever the other did because it was 'in' and Vinyl and Octavia still weren't a fanon couple because people were too lazy to do a thing with their individual character but to sew them at the flanks.
The days when Pen Stroke would get yelled at because he wrote an emotional and stern Celestia that all the lesser minded ones called "OUT OF CHARACTER" and Equestria Daily accepted Grim Darks and didn't have to bottle-feed the masses their baby food because fics like Blood is Thicker and Sunset among many others were just part of the fandom's expressive nature of actually creating works that allowed them to stretch the imagination beyond what the show gave us at face value.
i.e. The days when EQD was a HUB for pony fanfiction and links to Gdocs and Fanfiction.net and DA were the norm.
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Well, shit, I'm glad to see you sprucing up the old story for a newer generation of readers. Nice to see you're not going the redo the fic to fit 'ALL THE CANNONS'. Long as you can hook people in those first two chapters, you're golden.
Totally wanna see a side story once you finish this with Jade and Sweetie Belle though. That's been a LONGER time coming. ;3
1665194 [spoiler]words go here
1665475 oh, thank you ^_^
1665500 You're welcome
I was talking about Lyra and Bon Bon dying
So that's why TER is suddenly in my unread faves list.
Well, I'd love to make a copy of the original for my own viewing pleasure, but you know how things are in the docs. Permissions and all that.
Hopefully, you won't give us all the dissatisfaction of seeing that version die. After all, some people might actually want to read it the way it was before it got re-written!
1666163 I'm keeping a whole copy of the original one here.
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Not on this site you're not. Your own gdocs folders, perhaps, but you certainly don't have it here.
1666170 it's not published ;)
You know, I saw this popping up in my notifications list. And, like many others, my first thought was "Good lord! I've traveled back in time!"
Now I find out that it's just a re-write. Dammit! Now what the hell am I supposed to do with all these lottery tickets?!
Good luck, Wanderer D! I loved the original story, I'll be sure to read the heck out of the updated one.
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Always so secretive, D! Well, I guess I can't complain; after all, I did get to contribute a bit towards TSC. I gotta wonder: where would TSC get without AHoC...? That'd be pretty fun to see. Maybe we fans could brainstorm over the idea of what TSC would have been without 'X chapter', then see how Sweetie Belle fares in that timeline.
...And that could actually lead to some interesting depth to the story.
Two requirments.
One! The joke ending must be reuploaded or reuploaded/Redone.
Two! Make the original work available for Reading comparison and just documenting.
That is all I want D I don't think it's asking much :/
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The original is still on EQD. Your requirements have already been met.
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Who uses EQD?