Full Disclosure · 4:49am Aug 19th, 2014
You've been waiting a long time for Ep2, and it is with the greatest sadness that I have to confess that progress has been... delayed. A lot.
I know that's old news by now, but there's a more relevant, uplifting, and irritating side to this.
I now know (more or less) what I need to do to finish this section of narrative, as well as how to link it to the rest of the story. I think, this time, I've figured out how to deliver a truly grand piece of work, and I think I know how it's all going to work out for the first time since I started.
However, there's a price. That price is a retcon.
A really, REALLY big retcon.
Enacting this change will fix a glaring plot hole that's been present ever since I started OLH almost a year and a half ago, and it will flat out REMOVE the largest hurdle I've been facing to this point. However, it will also drastically alter the currently published work.
Quite simply: I need to completely erase Applejack's intro chapter. As in; that scene never happened at all. The reason why will become apparent during Episode 3. Golden Harvest will still exists. Big Mac will still be a closet geek. Applejack will not be getting a perspective piece.
As I said, the reason why will become clear by Episode 3. I know this is a huge disruption, but this is the sort of thing that—was I creating all of OLH before releasing it—I would have discovered and fixed in revisions. As it stands now, this is simply the best way I can find to deliver the best story I can—as a whole.
This in no way means I don't like Applejack. This in no way means I want to write her any less. What it means is that I screwed up horrifically in portraying her, forced her into a role which she was never meant to touch. Fluttershy and Rarity's changes I can excuse by simple necessity. Applejack's I cannot, and thus I find that the only way I can remedy my mistakes is to... well, remedy them. Decisively. Perhaps it doesn't seem like I'd committed as grandiose a crime as I'm making it out to be here, but trust me... there is no reasoning behind what I've done that justifies it in comparison with what I'm going to do instead.
Now, onto other business... there are going to be a few more changes. Most notably, "Before These Mighty Skies" is going to change. As much as I love that piece, (and the beautiful song which inspired it), it simply doesn't jive with what I need to convey. My splendoriffic editor and I are still working out what to do about it—and it's not impossible we'll keep it—but chances are there will be a replacement chapter. Hopefully, that will make up for my previous missteps. In that case, this change will be an additive one, as the idea I have in mind will give me a great deal of opportunity to develop the world and characters that I squandered before.
Finally, my aforementioned brilliant editor and I have been talking, and we're considering pulling in additional help. As I've alluded to before, OLH is HUGE, and as a two-man team we've made frankly dismal progress. We're both busy more often than not, and when one of us is on the other usually isn't... et cetera.
Thus, we're debating opening OLH up to additional editors. Yes, that means you guys.
Do not underestimate this request. We're looking for people willing to commit to this monstrosity, who'll be willing to stick with it possibly for a year or more. This isn't your average fic. I dreamed this up as my Fallout: Equestria, and damn it, I intend to see that through, one way or another. If you're interested in an editing position, message me and we can talk. Extensive knowledge of the Homeworld universe would be extremely welcome, as that's one of the few things the magnificent Benny doesn't bring to the table. Having another person who knows about the Shimmering Path and the Heresy Wars would only do us good.
TL;DR: Retcons, delays, editor applications.
...
...But before we're done here, I need to make something clear:
Does this look bad? Yes. perhaps it does. The chaos, the lack of updates, the difficulties... they aren't good signs, I know.
But see, I've written long stories before. There was NGMM when I was a younger, more foolish child, and Utopia when I was first standing on my shaky, authorial legs for the first time. Both of those are gone now. One cancelled on a dead account, the other erased from this site for rewrites that were never completed. Both of them were worthy ideas—naive perhaps, and flawed, certainly, but had I been a more skilled, more focused, more dedicated author, they could have been great.
And this? This trumps both of those stories COMBINED. This is something more. This is something I refuse to let die. This is personal. It's flawed, it's difficult, but it is mine, and I will not let it go quietly into the darkness of cancellation or endless hiatus. The death of this fandom would not stop me, nor would the purging of this site.
You will receive your update, and by the stars above me now it will be the best I can make it. You're my readers, my followers, some of you my friends—and I owe you nothing less than Epic. Mind-blowing. Perfection. I may not make it there, but it's my job to get as close as I can.
Thanks for reading, all. We'll talk again soon. Until then, keep dreaming your star-sprinkled dreams.
Your tenacity is refreshing. Too many good fics get closed too soon in their span.
No stoppy!
Also, I volunteer for editing. I've loved the first Homeworld ever since I started playing it a few years ago. While I lack an encyclopedic knowledge, or even a decent one, I've no compunction against doing research in my spare time. I doubt I'll be a perfect editor, and... I'll also confess to having missed the glaring plot hole, unless you're talking about how difficult it may be for AJ to interact with the others since she's in a resource collector.... I'll have to read the story again with holes in mind.
2383062 Glaring plot hole isn't glaring AT THE MOMENT because it has to do with things that haven't discussed yet. It's the kind of thing you first spot from the inside, but which—unaddressed—could completely kill AJ's character. It's not so much a "plot" hole as a "characterization/backstory" hole.
As far as being an editor... well, sure. My Skype's the same as my FimFic. Send me a message, and we'll get together with Benny and talk it over.