Jed On: AOA Ending + Announcements · 4:50pm Feb 4th, 2015
Hello gentle readers.
So - The Avatar of Albion is finally finished. It's been a fun ride and I'm really proud of it. However, as you may be aware, it occurred to me a while ago that the story in and of itself could never hope to adequately contain all of the stories that world contained. After all: it's an entire world, a conflict that spanned what was left of that world. There are stories to tell within Equestria, on Earth, both during the war and, perhaps in many ways more so, afterwards as well.
As you should already be aware, there is an expanded universe Anthology of sorts calledThe Avatar of Albion: Tales of the War (formerly The First Anthology, before I realised that was a boring name) that is open to submissions from just about anyone who wants to have a go, and I would urge you to go check that out, since a lot of the big moments from AOA's history are chronicled there. If you have any short stories you want to put in the world of AOA during the war period, that's where they go. If you have longer stories... well, I'll get to that in a moment.
Further to the Tales of the War Anthology, I'm happy to announce a sequel to AOA (of sorts) - The Avatar of Albion: Bittersweet Victory is another Anthology of sorts that will cover some of the key moments of the post-war period for both Earth and Equestria, including consequences for just about everybody (and everypony) major that we've seen survive the conflict. Again: if there are any short stories you want to tell during that period - and maybe some longer ones too - then that's the place they'd go.
Now, I mentioned longer stories, and sure enough, there are in fact longer stories in the works: those stories are not set in the “canon” AOA verse (is that a thing?) - instead, they are AU’s, stories that branch off from the original at certain points of divergence, each one being written by one of the individuals who has helped me create AOA’s universe. These AU’s will hopefully become even longer than AOA, as they are telling grand, large scale stories in their own right.
The first of these is The Avatar of Albion: When We Needed Him Most, written by RoyalPsycho. RoyalPsycho brings a level of grimdark to an already grim universe that almost beggars belief - when he approached me with this idea, he literally described it as “a darkfic of Avatar of Albion”. That being the case, this story sees an alternative universe where David Elliot died in London, never retrieving the canon Mane Six. The resulting age is one of brutality and oppression, where even the ostensibly “good” go to extreme lengths to achieve their goals…
The second AU is The Avatar of Albion: The Morningstar Dawns, written by The Void, which has a very simple premise. Astra Solamina Maxima and her Empire vs Lucifer the Morningstar and all the dark forces of hell. The Void, RoyalPsycho and myself spent a good long time collating this AU, and what we’ve come up with will certainly be… interesting.
The final AU in the works is an as yet untitled spinoff, written by Doctor Fluffy of The Other Side of the Spectrum fame, although others have contributed to it as well. Doctor Fluffy expressed great enthusiasm for the AOAverse in general, and so I offered him the chance to write this AU based on one single idea - David Elliot being dropped in Boston in the Spectrumverse, right before a rather critical moment. That’s right folks - it’s a crossover between AOA and The Other Side Of The Spectrum. Be afraid. Sparta - and a few other places - will burn to the ground!
These longer stories are leading somewhere else, of course. There's a movement in the dark space…
Anyway, that aside, there’s always the possibility of longer stories - either AU’s from specific points of divergence, or stories that occur within the world of Avatar of Albion - that you may find yourselves wanting to tell. In which case, I say - sure! I’m happy to talk with anyone about the possibility of you writing AOA spinoffs and side stories, providing you’re ok with me keeping an eye on things (don’t worry - I hate stepping on toes, I’ll be sure to keep my nose out as much as possible). I may have created AOA, but it’d be selfish of me to keep the playground all to myself. :-)
Anyway: announcement over folks. Hope you’ve enjoyed the ride with AOA: I know I have. I also hope you enjoy what’s coming.
Jed.
