Beyond the Borderlands: The Quest So Far · 6:36pm Jun 23rd, 2015
Hey everyone! Another chapter up today, bringing us to number eight of [REDACTED]! I've been enjoying the comments, how have all of you been enjoying the story thus far? How's everyone enjoying Blade and her cohorts? Any favorite characters cementing themselves yet?
Anyway, updates and news. First of all, as some of you may have noticed, a few of the chapter updates have been an hour or two later. This has mostly been my fault, though on occasion it has been equipment failure (such as this morning). However, I'm not seeing a distinct advantage to keeping to the earlier update schedule I've had. In fact, it would seem to be the opposite: Later updates tend to do much better at drawing in new viewers (who then in turn go read Rise so they can get caught up). I light of that, I have to admit that I'm thinking of shifting Beyond's update time to something a little bit later. Same days, but around 9:30 or 10:00 rather than (for me) the 7:00, then 8:00 AM update time I was holding myself to.
Second, I have to ask. A recent reader contacted me and inquired after where they could find fan-art, then seemed surprised when there wasn't an abundance of it to be found. So I have to ask you, dear readers: Would you be interested in me holding a fan-art contest of some kind? With either copies of my books or Steam games as prizes? How many of you would be interested in participating in such an event?
Speaking of events like that, what else would you readers like to see tied into Beyond? Q&A sessions? Character art? Interviews? Let me know!
That does it for news and updates. Now for some more general stuff below the break concerning active versus passive reading. It's tied into Beyond, but not necessary. It discusses the timeline, and a bit of the "style" behind my work.
So, what I'm about to discuss here will not be spoilery, but is intended to clear up a few of the more curious readers who are new or haven't managed to put the pieces together. Currently, as of chapter eight, Beyond is, timeline-wise, somewhere just past The Definition of Strength and before Old Habits (there's an exact date, but I don't want to add the days up at the moment). There are several readers who, judging from the comments, haven't put this together or are new readers, and have wondered where the Dusk Guard are. Back in Canterlot, doing DG things. This isn't a plot hole—the dates and days present in the story have been laid out. Beyond's opening chapter (Northgait) starts six days after the ERS incident, while Remembrance and Trust take place months later (and yes, there are small mentions of the events happening in Beyond in the Rise side-stories, or at least the effects ... so now what many of what seemed to be throwaway "filler" lines are now turning out to be somewhat different).
This isn't spoilers, it is something laid out already in the stories involved text. So if you're trying to figure out why you can't get the timeline to add up in your head, you probably just missed the dates given or didn't know them.
Now, in conjunction with this, for those who are new, here's a note on why what you see here may be different than what you've read before (at least on FimFic): I don't hold the reader's hand the way some authors do. I'm from the school of creation where I give the reader the pieces, but then leave it to them to actively think and put them together. There are passive reads and there are active reads. I do the latter. I'm not insulting anyone who's been confused, I'm just laying the terms out. You can read Rise and Beyond in a passive mode, but you're going to be left in the dark on some things (such as Never gonna give you up, never let you down! Never gonna run around and desert you!) as both works require active mental participation to get the fullest extent out of them. I don't grab the reader by the face and shout "Pay attention, this part is important!" That's a passive-read trait. Some authors do this, and that's fine, because that's the kind of story they want to write. On the other hand, some authors (such as myself) give the reader the pieces, but as the story is based on character viewpoints, you're only going to get what the characters discuss and debate, and you're expected to put the pieces together on your own the way they do if you want to go further (or figure things out before they do).
This isn't meant to insult anyone, nor am I trying to. All I'm saying is that if you come in with a passive reading mentality versus and active one, there will be things that you will not piece together. Granted, you can probably figure some of them out by checking The Dusk Guard's TV Tropes page, which does do a good job of summarizing some of the details (though it hasn't been updated in a while, since before Beyond the Borderlands came out, actually), and others you can figure out by reading comments, but quite simply put, if you want answers to some of the questions I've seen, the real answer is going to be that you're going to have to think about it and pay close attention to the details the series gives you. Maybe debate those questions with other readers to see if they noticed something you might have missed.
Now, you can still read all the way through and be passive. If you're looking for a fun ride, you'll find it. I promise, and the core plot will be satisfying. Everything we've faced so far? On a scale of one to ten, most of the action is a one or a two compared to what's coming. You will be entertained (this Friday ... oh this Friday is fun).
Now, this doesn't mean that all the other questions that have been asked are already answered. No, we're still pretty early in the story. I've seen some comments asking or talking about the Necropolis, Dusty and Stal, and other aspects of the story. Don't worry, you'll get your answers in time. And keep talking! You might figure some things out before the characters. I'm not making this up as I go along—Beyond has been finished for about a month now, already Alpha read and now just being beta'd for typos and other small stuff—so don't worry. It's all been figured out. You're just at the beginning. Keep asking questions. Keep digging into what's been given so far. I can say with absolute certainty that there are plenty of mysteries in the saga so far that have not been solved by anyone—though most of the pieces and hints are there. As more pieces come, some will figure them out.
As I said, no spoilers. 
Now, about that map mentioned in the story description. The person who is working on the nice version of the map hasn't been working that quickly, lol. They keep forgetting (it's a commissioned job), but I've been bugging them so hopefully it will be along before many more chapters go up, and at last everyone will have a view of The Ocean of Endless Ice. Given that the characters keep giving distances and travel time, most could probably figure out (roughly) where things lie, but a map is nice to have. Once I have it, I'll make a post for it. No worries there.
In the meantime ... keep reading. Keep puzzling. I'm glad so many of you are enjoying the story, and I look forward to seeing the reactions as things continue moving forward.
Like Colony, this one just doesn't stop. In the paraphrased words of one of the alpha readers, it's like a roller coaster that never stops topping the last big thrill and just keeps picking up speed.
Hey, does that mean that the forum area I made, specifically for gathering all the fan-art, will actually get used besides me toting around my (terrible) work? I'd like that to happen.
I'm not sure if I'm a passive reader or an active reader, probably a bit of both. Honestly the author shouldn't have to hold your hand throughout a story. It's not interesting if it's spoon fed to you.
As one of those alpha readers, without spoilers, I can say that if you do manage to piece some of the puzzle together ahead of the characters then it just makes an already really wild ride even more wild.
I would be quite interested to see a fanart contest. I may not be a genius artist, but it'd give me a sweet excuse to pick up my vector art program again.
I'll probably get back to reading the rest of the blogpost later, when I don't have a migraine.
I guess it's been too long since I've read the other DG stories. If this is while those other side stories are taking place, well, no wonder the Dusk Guard hasn't been there. I like Blade, but I miss my favorite characters from Rise. I guess I'm just itching to see them again... Rereading should do that. *sigh* I'm probably one of those passive readers who you've been noticing
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It could. I'm seeing some positive support for this, so I may charge ahead with it.
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Well, it depends. Some people just want to be entertained without effort, and there's nothing wrong with this. Unless, of course, they start criticizing works that require active participation for not catering to them (which happens). But escapism is fine and fun, and there are plenty of mediums that work fine for that purpose. I'm just not one of those creators (and I tend to be a consumer of "active" as well).
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Isn't reading the comments fun when you know what's coming!
Pre-reader privilege, lol. It's a thing, and there will be no checking here!
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And another for the idea. Okay!
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Don't worry too much about it. But don't be too afraid to make new favorites. After all, with this much screen time, they're bound to be around for a while ...
As far as passive vs active, read in the way that makes you enjoy it most. There's always TV tropes and discussions to pick out the details (like this post). You might even find some fun surprises and end up contributing your own theories!
In essence, I do want all my readers to have fun, whether they're digging into the lore or just cheering at an action sequence.
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Well consider me very positive support. (If you couldn't guess...)
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Thanks. I'll try to keep enjoying
Just waiting because I like to read stories all in one go, so gonna be a while until I dip more than a toe in. Looking forward to it though. Compared to, say, The Quantum Thief, your stories are a walk in the park. I mean my brain is pretty good at putting things together and I probably missed some details, but in general I tend to assume the author knows what they are doing and just roll with things until it all makes sense. Looking forward to that map though. Something else I'll probably steal for my game setting book.
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Yep. Like watching a great movie with a friend when you've already seen it and they haven't.
I took a look, the 'check' booth has a big 'Closed GO AWAY' sign on it.
Ok, finished reading the blogpost. I'm interested to see that map, once your commissionee comes through.
I'm not really sure whether I'm a lazy active reader, or if I'm a passive reader that mysteriously gets things he wasn't handed from time to time. Either way, it does feel really nice to figure something out before the characters do.