Open Q&A! Answers here! · 2:20am Jul 7th, 2015
Okey dokey! I got all your questions, and thanks to those that sent them in! It’s been a pretty slow day at work, so I managed to type up answers here pretty quick. I hope they explain some things!
-What inspired you to write this? Aside from, of course, 5s/4.
I wanted to do a project where I wrote a story based off of someone else’s work within the fandom, i.e, a fanfic of a fanfic. I wanted to see what sort of challenges an author runs into when they’re trying to closely follow the source material, as I’d never done that kind of project before. Later on, it also turned into an opportunity to see what it’s like to do a collaboration.
-Why did you pick Sweetie Belle to be your main/POV character?
Primarily because Sweetie is my favorite CMC, although, I also thought that she’d be the easiest to write. Her relationship with Rarity pretty well explored in the show, and as someone with siblings myself, I felt that I could relate to that kind of interaction. I turned out to be right.
-What made you pick American-Spanish as Mage's ethnicity?
Early on, I knew I wanted to have Sweetie be some kind of ethnicity, as I felt like it was something that hadn’t really been explored much. I went back and forth between a few possibilities: Italian and Native American being the other two I considered, but the deciding factor wound up being that I was more familiar with the Spanish language and culture, as I took a few years of it in high school.
-What did you think of the original Five Score? Giving what The Last Crusade is I assume you read it.
dafuq is this Five Score you speak of i know of no story with this name
Seriously, though, I liked it! I particularly enjoyed the beginning segments as the characters are first turning into ponies, and the ways in how they deal with it. I felt that it led to some really interesting dynamics, and it was something I hadn’t really seen before in another story.
-What's the deal with the Duct Tape?
I could tell you, but some things are best left to the imagination.
-Was Sweetie invited to the wedding?
Yes! She was there along with the rest of Rarity’s family. She was the prettiest thirteen year-old human girl there.
-Would Apple Bloom and Babs go back as AB and Babs or as Mike and Phil?
They would go back as AB and Babs, which is to say, they would be ten year-old human girls. The thing that made them males in the first place was Discord’s curse.
-Were you intentionally hinting at interest between Mage and Dylan or do I read too far in with rainbow vision?
You’re reading too far into it.
-How did you first get in contact with Twisted Spectrum and how did you agree to make The Last Crusade the EQD linked fic?
Hoo boy.
That… was a series of misunderstandings that almost blew up in my face. It started when I sent the story to EQD on a whim, not even thinking it might have repercussions. I didn’t know the rules for submitting side fics of stories to existing stories that hadn't been submitted to EQD, and later, when I asked the pre-readers about it at Bronycon, I didn’t phrase it well, and they misunderstood what I was asking. They said that side stories would be accepted if they could stand on their own, but they would be posted on EQD under the original fic's name with the label 'Side Fic.' You can see examples of this in stories like the Winning Pony series. I thought that the name and cover art of the original story would be posted, but the link would be to my story and labeled as a side fic.
It turns out that that’s not case. Side stories will be posted in that format ONLY if the original story has already been approved. If it hasn't, then it's listed as it's own separate fic.
Whoops.
Meanwhile, I sent TS a PM telling him that I was trying to get TLC onto EQD, and asking if he’d be willing to include TLC in the list of Five Score side fics that he had on his profile. I was trying to increase exposure for my story, and I didn’t know if he was even aware of its existence. Well, not only was aware of it, but he’d recommended it several times to readers whenever he got questions about the CMC. He wasn’t aware, however, of my submission to EQD, and he wasn’t happy that I hadn’t gotten his permission first.
And on TOP of that, I’d ALSO forgotten that I’d removed the link to Five Score in TLC’s description, because I’d figured everyone who'd read the story was going through Five Score, or by finding it in the 5s/4 group, and thought that having a double link was redundant.
It basically looked like I was trying to steal his fic.
I managed to scramble and do damage control. I got in touch with EQD and froze the fic in the submission queue. I apologized profusely to TS for the mix-up, put his story link back in TLC’s description, and asked him what he wanted to do. At that point I was completely willing to go with whatever but then, we both learned that the original Five Score wasn’t ever going to get up on EQD due to its mature version. The only thing that COULD get up on the site would be a side fic that was rated Teen or lower and met EQD’s standards. Well, TLC was pretty much the best candidate for those requirements, and since I’d already gotten the ball rolling, we decided to go ahead and see how things worked out. If TLC got on the site, we’d do some collaborating and try to sync up our stories as best we could. If it didn’t, no skin off our backs.
It was a close call, but things wound up working out. I know I screwed up on handling everything, but thankfully, TS was cool about it and we made everything work. I learned a valuable lesson about writing stories based off other people’s content, and everything turned out in the end.
-What were your thoughts when Babs' canon Cutie Mark was revealed in the show (a pair of apple-shaped scissors)?
Surprised, mostly. Didn’t think they’d go and say what it was. I briefly debated on trying to retcon it in somehow, but that would’ve required more work than I was really willing to do, so I just said screw it.
-Regarding that battle at the climax: From where did you get the idea of having everypony (CMC+Shmangie+Daring) earning whatever ability they wanted? Why exactly were they able to do that? Especially after the battle scene in the previous chapter where each of them also developed somewhat diverse abilities thanks to the Elements.
This was primarily a case of me playing to my strengths as a writer. I felt that I’d have more fun with the story if I allowed myself to go absolutely nuts with whatever I could imagine, and sure enough, I did! The only limitation I set upon myself for that section was that I couldn’t do anything from pop culture, i.e., Apple Bloom going Super Sayian and start flinging Spirit Bombs, or whatever. The closest I got was the Lovecraftian-esque stuff with Daring, but supernatural horror is more of a genre than anything else.
-Do you have any particular regrets when it comes to writing the fic?
I regret that it took so long to finish. I never intended this project to last for two years, and even though the reasons why were largely out of my hands, I’m still pretty pissed about it.
-Are you going to write a +5 year later epilogue so you have two like 4score/5?
Nah. I intentionally stayed away from that. That was TS’s thing.
-What was the reason for giving Sweetie the ability to make others remember their previous life?
A person in the comments pretty well hit this on the head. I originally was going to use this as a major plot point for the story, but upon talking to TS and starting to collaborate, I realized that that wasn’t the direction that he wanted the story to go. I could still keep the idea, but f I wanted my story to follow his, I had to come up with a reason for why Sweetie couldn’t use it.
A lot of people called me out on this, as it was pretty obvious as to what I was doing. I wished that Sweetie’s ability to restore people’s memories could’ve made for a more prominent plot point, but it wasn’t to be.
Very informative. Though it's a shame that so little people submitted their questions, this seems like some of the most important spots were covered.
I asked about the climax battle since, in my understanding, Deus Ex Machinas are kinda dreaded in writing. If you feel comfortable with your approach on that scene, then I guess it is okay.
I'm also impressed that the people who submitted their questions avoided asking about... y'know.
Your opinion on most of the main characters in 5score nearly completely abandoning their previous lives?
Ah. Alright.
3213980
I wasn't too enthused about that. Maybe it's because I'm a softie, but I couldn't help but think about how the human families would feel about basically being abandoned. I felt like there was potential for a happier ending, which is what I went with.
3213728 Asking about what?
Glad to see you took my suggestion. I didn't have any questions on my mind, but I bet if I reread the story I'd think of a few.
Come to think of it, who decided who the new Element Bearers were? Was it your suggestion or Twisted's. If his, what was your reaction?
3214161
mm. Lord of Dorkness also had that issue, and decided to just make an entire new universe instead.
I'm thinking of doing the same thing, except for the "Science!" angle.
Not going to bring up that family thing since it already got answered.
I notice you didn't mention Daring much. Is she still supposed to be the same in as in Earning Wings, or did that fall through?
3214255
Twisted and I decided on that together. He was fine with me doing the Elements of Harmony thing, and he didn't care which Element I gave to who. I only had five people, though, so I needed to decide who was gonna be my sixth. I ultimately decided on Daring.
3214539
She's pretty much the same as she's supposed to be in Earning Wings. I'd talked to Strayan a bit about how I intended to use his character, and he was fine with me doing it. I tried to include Daring in the story as much as I could, but I was also aware of how late of an addition she was in teh story.
3215022
Fair enough, thanks for the answer.