Cubic Zirconia Status and Rambling · 6:07am Mar 3rd, 2015
Alright, I suppose I really do owe you all a status report on Cubic Zirconia. Was the last update really released Dec. 6th? Three months, and not much to show, I'm afraid.
First, I had Twilight's Library blow up. For a while, I was doing absolutely nothing but Twilight's Library related stuff in my free time, and was stressed out as all hell. Then I was urged by everyone to take a few weeks off after a closed the doors, and I did. A few weeks of nothing involving Twilight's Library, and certainly very little writing. Several lengthy personal blogs about events going on, and getting sick. I vectored and colored drawings and screenshots from MLP, and similar things.
Then I started working on Tag-a-long's Book Club for a couple weeks and rolled that out, and again, very little writing done then. And by that point, I wasn't in the habit of putting time aside for writing, and I've been finding it hard to get going again.
I was having trouble finishing the scene I was on, so I started in writing the next scene to get going again. A few weeks ago, I started rewriting what I'd already done, and got through most of that scene. So I've got an older document with 2.6k of text divided between two scenes, and a 2.1k document with the rewrite of the first scene, which is further into that scene and is what I'm going to keep writing with.
I was going to write more last weekend, but bought and assembled a new desk instead. So, unfortunately, it'll still probably be a bit. Hopefully I'll manage a writing spree, or at least to write a little bit every day or two.
What else have I got to show for that time period?
Well, you get the idea.
I'd like to give you something Cubic Zirconia related, at least, so why don't I ramble about the chapter titles I've used for a bit, and talk about the chapters a little as well?
Initially, I was basically choosing the chapter titles haphazardly, and just making sure they had something to do with the chapter. I changed schemes in a few chapters, of course, but that gives us number one.
1) A Push and a Shove - What Diamond did was what started things off, so it seemed a natural for the title as well. This is also the one chapter I later did major revision on. It has hints and foreshadowing for things that haven't come up yet (and did even before the revision), and sets up our premise, as well as Filthy Rich brutally shattering Diamond's tiara, and her psyche as well.
This chapter's probably the one that's gotten the most criticism, mainly for Filthy Rich being OOC. The trouble, naturally, is that he is OOC in-universe, and I haven't been able to reveal why yet. Fortunately, if people make it past this point, it seems like they normally keep reading.
2) Finding Her Place - Silver Spoon seemed to be the one place she would head after all of this, and the chapter title hinted that she was going to find where she was going to stay, and then sent her in the wrong chapter. Early on, I had the idea that Silver Spoon would turn on Diamond now that she was no longer rich, and actually start picking on her.
Then I started writing, and Silvy didn't like that. She told me that she was Diamond's best friend regardless, and always would be, but I needed her not to be there for her this time. A characterization I like much better emerged. This Silver Spoon is torn between her parents, her passion for smithing, which is her special talent, and her friendship. She doesn't want to abandon Diamond, but feels she has no choice. Yet she won't entirely...
This also gives you a better look at the Rich family butler, Greywithers, a character I'm very fond of. He is extremely loyal to the Rich family and to it's head. Usually they aren't in conflict, but now they are. And he's spent more time with Diamond then her father has. He can't help her directly, but as you can see, he's willing to bend things pretty far. I took the opportunity to hammer in the broken tiara metaphor while I was at it.
With the ending, I couldn't help but make things worse for Diamond, while establishing a character dynamic which has served me well through the fanfic.
3) Détente - A simple and to the point chapter title. I rewrote this chapter several times before I was satisfied. Either Scoots was too nasty, or too forthcoming. An important thing was that Scootaloo will not spill her whole life story to a stranger, and she didn't here. Of course, by the current point in the story, they are no longer strangers.
I like the characterization that Scootaloo wants to fight with Diamond, but she's too broken, too pathetic, and too in need of help for Scootaloo not to take her in. She may also remind Scootaloo of her own situation. Also, this was one of these spots where I reused show dialogue and made it come from exactly the wrong character. "You're lucky I'm nice." is Diamond's line, and Scootaloo got to use it here to good effect.
4) Morning Is Broken - This is obviously a riff on Cat Stevens "Morning Has Broken".
"Morning Has Broken / Like the first morning. / Blackbird has spoken / like the first bird."
Except Diamond had roosters to deal with instead, as she wakes up to the unpleasant realization that last night wasn't a dream. I'm very happy with her anger and emotions here. I was trying to go through some of the stages of grief early on, though not in order and going back and forth a bit, as they aren't really going to be in order in real life.
We also get some nice Scootaloo characterization here, and some wing exercises and molting and such. And Sweetie Belle finds out that Diamond slept with Scootaloo. Okay, I couldn't resist.
5) Water Flowing Underground - The song is "Once In A Lifetime", by the Talking Heads, though I used one of the lyrics instead. Diamond is in denial, trying to find some trace of normality, while Sweetie Belle threatens Diamond and buys her breakfast. And, yeah, apparently Pinkie knows Scoots is homeless and now knows Diamond is too, and hasn't said anything. I revisit this later.
Relevant song bits:
"The same as it ever was..."
"Letting the days go by / Water flowing underground / Into the blue again / After the money's gone. "
"And you may ask yourself / Am I right?...Am I wrong? / And you may say to yourself / My God!...What have I done?! "
6) Twist & Shout - This is one of my absolutely favorite chapter titles. Obviously "Twist & Shout", by the Beatles. And the chapter involves Twist and shouting, and ends in a twist. Poor Twist, but Diamond was in a bad way and was ready to take everything out on the first person who crossed her path, and she thought Twist was stealing her only friend from her.
Also, the pack of foals picking on her here was interesting. Snip and Snails were after her because they were upset about Apple Bloom, as is Archer. Rumble, OTOH, likes Twist, and was upset about her being yelled at because he has a crush on her. And once the group turns into a mob, individual intentions are moot.
You can also see Diamond using her brain and thinking her way out of this. She isn't dumb, and this isn't the only time she does this.
Her breakdown at the end, well, she's still in a bad way, and has been through way too much recently for someone that's lived such a sheltered life. And it only gets worse next chapter.
)7) Another Day In Paradise - Ah, Phil Collins. A depressing song for a depressing chapter, and one that has lots of lyrics that fit the story well. It's ironic, of course. This is another day in Diamond's personal hell, where everything goes wrong and everyone hates her.
They don't, really, of course. She just has bad luck and word has been spreading. While I don't spell it out, that vender that's so nasty to her is Twist's older brother, and he heard about Diamond's yelling match the previous day, and he's rather protective. This was also one of his first few days on the job, and his last.
In fact, he got fired while she was leaving - the strident female voice that was yelling at him was the stall owner, who had just gotten back. If Diamond had stayed, she'd have gotten her lunch right then.
Then comes the graveyard scene, which hurts so much I can't reread it. This is the scene I was having trouble not being overcome with emotion while writing. Diamond needed a kitten and a hug at that point, and I decided to give it to her. The kitten also has the benefit of acting as her dead mother comforting her in proxy. Cats tend to be psychic anyways.
And she's no longer too proud to eat grass. She's already starting to change.
8) Cleanup Time - John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Double Fantasy. I love this song. It's such an upbeat, positive song after the depressing last chapter, and the same goes for the chapter itself. The fact that the chapter is about Diamond cleaning herself up the last chapter with a little help from Scootaloo makes it even more appropriate.
The bath scene between the two of them plays off their major differences, and is one I enjoyed writing thoroughly. Oh, and I had to throw in a reminder of Apple Bloom.
"No friends and yet no enemies, / Absolutely free, / No rats aboard the magic ship, / Of (perfect) harmony, "
"However, far we travel, / Wherever we may roam, The centre of the circle, / Will always be our home."
9) Breathe - Embarrassingly enough, I'm not sure which song named Breathe I was thinking of, since there are multiple. Probably Pink Floyd, but it could have been Anna Nalick. Diamond needed a breather, and this chapter was all about showing her things weren't as bad as she thought, while reinforcing that she absolutely needs Scootaloo at this point. I was also trying to build up gradually a picture of how Scootaloo has managed to survive all this time on her own.
The scene with Mr. Breezy and them running the shop also shows they work surprisingly well together, and these couple chapters are really where Scootaloo and Diamond start becoming friends, even if neither really wants to admit it.
Mr. Breezy is criminally underrepresented in fanfiction anyways.
10) The Mare In the Mirror - Hurray for a Michael Jackson reference, and it's a pretty appropriate one for this song. It might not be very subtle, of course. Half the lyrics are appropriate for the story. The fact that my dream sequence had a mirror in it made it even better. I was half asleep when I wrote the chain of events in that dream, but I forced myself to write them down badly and then totally rewrote afterwards. I think the dreamlike feel came across even better for it.
Everyone's OOC, of course, but they are acting the way Diamond's psyche wants them to. The shame is the dream shows that she was already hurting on some level from her father's neglect, and making excuses for him.
I also got in some lovely world-building about pegasi, and Scootaloo can spit oil! Truth is that Scootaloo doesn't know as much as she's acting like she knows here, and there's a reason most pegasi don't do that, but, eh, that's Scootaloo for you..
We also have Opal vs. Diamond, round one, and Rarity plays dress up with Diamond while charging her for it. (I say round one. Remember that 1.7k scene I mentioned?)
11) Fade To Black - I couldn't resist the song title, even if I'm not really that much for Metallica. It was too perfect with the way the chapter ended. We get a followup with Pinkie, showing some of her thinking on not revealing Diamond and Scoots. And she's apparently into pet play between Diamond and Scoots. I can't blame her.
Diamond starts to tell some of what's between her and Apple Bloom here, though not everything. She also has to psyche herself up for the confrontation with Apple Bloom, which goes exactly as badly as she was expecting. You see, Apple Bloom hasn't been around to see the changes we've seen in Diamond in the last couple chapters. She's upset, and mad, and for all she knows, she may be permanently crippled. And Diamond won't leave her alone. She shouldn't have done what she did, but she's in a bad space too.
In fact, I've set Diamond and Apple Bloom up as mirrors of each other to a certain extent. 
12) I'm Only Sleeping - Diamond is in bed the whole chapter, and it was a nice reassurance that she was alive. It's a great Beatles song anyways.
The best thing about this chapter was Granny Smith being the world's best grandmother. I had to fight to make sure she didn't take Diamond in right there. And, of course, Diamond falls back on her usual thought patterns and starts scheming.
We also find out a bit about Filthy Rich's dislike of doctors, and Stinkin' Rich, the role model Diamond should really be following.
13) One Way or Another - Song by Blondie, and seemed an appropriate song for the chapter. Diamond is very reckless here, and it's largely because she no longer feels like she has much to lose. She's on the verge of suicidal, really. She also pinpointed that Apple Bloom wouldn't really kill her, at least not when she's being so cooperative about it. As I said, she is bright, even if the numbers go around her head and mock her. Being good at math and being able to scheme and strategize are totally different skills anyways.
Of course, all things considered, she was actually feeling like she was pretty pathetic right now, but what was important for the next conversation was that it showed. One thing she'd learned from Daddy was that how you presented yourself in public was very important, especially for business transactions and other important matters.
You should always act whatever way would get you the desired result, even if this was totally opposite to how you felt. She had paid attention to Daddy, whatever he might think. It was just that the numbers would all dance around and call her names, and it all slipped away under pressure anyways. But not this time, she hoped.
More insight into Filthy's mind.
Another bit I enjoyed slipping in here -"Farm living wasn't the life for her" - I wonder how many people reading that recall Green Acres?
Diamond is jealous of Apple Bloom here, ironically. Also, people say really stupid things sometimes, and hurt people close to them. Apple Bloom does this to Scootaloo and doesn't even realise it. It's a testament to how close Diamond and Scootaloo are getting that Diamond does.
Crosseyed And Painless - I believe "Comfortably Numb" was considered for a chapter title, too. Instead, I ended up with the Talking Heads. Diamond's had a bit too much happen to her, so things aren't hitting the way they might have. That, and she's telling her story for the umpteenth time again.
There was a bunch of dialogue, and a few bits were slipped in here that I can point to later on, which is always nice. Apple Bloom lets go of her anger for a minute to show how broken up she really is, we hear about a bigoted earth pony family that surprisingly isn't the Apple family, and Diamond blows her top for a moment.
"You think that's unfair? I'll tell you what unfair is!" she ranted. "The three of you could be a doctor, a lawyer, or even the next mayor. You could be anything! I can't! What kind of special talent is looking good in a tiara, especially when I don't even have one? How'd you like your cutie mark to be for being totally useless?"
Rewatch Call of the Cutie sometime. Notice how bummed out Diamond was at the end? This has been brewing for a while. Of course, it'd have helped if her father had shown.
And we end with the adventures of the Chairship Enterprise, something I'd had in my head ever since Apple Bloom ended up in a wheelchair. And this was very much a reference to Bloom County hijinks.
Space Oddity - The Star Trek references continued, and David Bowie's classic song seemed a good way to go. I got to poke fun at Star Trek a good bit, and even managed to work an Enterprise reference in. Sweetie Belle seems to be doing double duty as Spock and Data, and apparently'd like to fill in for Troi, too.
Plenty of sci-fi refs. I don't really expect people to pick up on things like the Witches of Karres. "futon torpedos" is just awesome, though.
I seem to have worked Dazzle on in, and even Sonata. Scoots is clearly still somewhat upset with Apple Bloom, and sandwiches were had.
It's been a dozen years or more, but I used to have pretty similar sandwiches to Scootaloo's at Eric's Deli Cafe, and Sweetie Belle's is more like what I'd get from Togo's. I enjoy roasted bell pepper and eggplant panini sandwiches, too, in fact. I got so hungry writing this chapter.
And yes, Sweetie Belle wrote the lyrics to the Ponytones songs, which makes perfect sense to me. Rarity was the one who had them.
"a epic rock ballad about a sunbathing chameleon" is referring to the song "Run Runaway", by Slade. And yes, the lyrics really are that silly. So's the music video.
That pretty much covers the story to date. I don't have a title for the current chapter I'm working on yet, as that tends to be the last thing I pick out. The next one probably will actually be called "Run Runaway", though. I'm still thinking about the best way to handle it, as it's going to involve a lot of talking by Scootaloo, to the point that I might as well just hand viewpoint over to her for the chapter.
No estimated times on it or anything, just know that I haven't given up on it, and I do want to get going on this again.
If you've read all the way through this, anything you'd like to ask about Cubic Zirconia? No guarantees of answers, or at least, straight answers, at least, since there are some things I shouldn't really give away…
What writing process do you use? Are you a swooper or a basher or something in between? (If you do know what this means then you may wish to refer to the quote by auther Kurt Vonnegut.)
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Probably somewhere in between, but closer to the basher side. I've had plenty of times where I've just written the chapter, gone through and made minor corrections, and then published. The dream sequence was very much scribbled down quickly and badly, then beaten into submission, due to being half asleep when I wrote it. and it isn't that uncommon to do a second or third draft.
In fact, the way I usually do that is by bringing up my last draft on one side of the screen and rewriting things line by line. Sometimes I'll straight copy and paste text from the last draft, and sometimes I'll start majorly varying from the previous text, especially if I'm approaching a problematic section or the section that prompted the rewrite. The third chapter actually got four drafts as I tried to get Scootaloo's character down, which is odd because I've written more about Scootaloo than any other character, even before Cubic Zirconia.
It also varies whether I manage to sit down for a few hours and write, or scribble down a few paragraphs here and there. Some of my better writing has been done at work, while being interrupted every few minutes by phone calls! I usually find trying to do that too frustrating, though.
--arcum42
Do you know this one?
(Stupid uploader left a letter out of the title. It is, in fact, "Breathe" and not "Breath.")
2845661
I can't swear I haven't heard it in passing, but it's not one I was familiar with. Seems like a good song, though.
--arcum42