What comes next- Moving ahead into the future, and some neat little tidbits · 6:05pm Aug 29th, 2016
So, umm... Wow. I'll admit there were times I was really worried I'd never reach this stage. She's Gonna Kill Me! is actually over. I can hardly believe what a crazy trip it's been, having started the story almost 13 months ago. It's been a much, much longer ride than I meant for it to be, a waiting period made longer by the fact that I enlisted in the Army and that ate up a huge majority of my time. Do I think that if I hadn't joined then maybe this would've been done faster? Possibly, but I don't think it would've been anywhere near as good. I've done a lot of maturing in the past year and I believe my writing can testify to that.
So, as the title suggests, this is a discussion of what lies ahead in the future- as some of you have deduced, yes- there are plans for a sequel. That's part of the reason I'm here, as well as to drop answer some questions I've gotten as the story has progressed over the past year, as well as some interesting changes I made whilst writing it.
So, first thing's first- sequel, will it happen? That I leave up to you, my friends. It's easy for a good idea to get run into the ground from overuse- something I feared I'd done more than once in this story! My intention with everything I write is to write something that can be enjoyed. It doesn't have to be a serious drama like this story turned out to be- one of my favorite things I ever published on here is For this Happy Friend of Mine, which is just a short simple piece about Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy that I conjured on a whim.
However, this story was a little different, not just because of its size or scope, but also because- well, I liked it. Like, really liked it and that's saying something because most everything I've written in the past I look back on and cringe because of all the mistakes I made. This one, though? I think I nailed the characterization down where the choices people made in this were believable- and sometimes cringeworthy. Never before have I been so embarrassed by a character's stupidity, and never have I been so excited for a moment when MC and Sunset finally had their kiss. I'd literally been waiting for that for months and I was a slap-happy little idiot the moment I wrote it.
Rambling here, sorry. Anyway, like I said, if there's going to be a sequel, and I sincerely want there to be one, I believe I can pull it off. But it would be, in some ways, much darker. This is a world at war now, and you better believe you'll see a part of it. Military life has a lot of perks and blessings, but it can be a very harsh world to be part of. It's all but guaranteed that the sequel would have to be rated 'Mature' for me to properly tell the story ahead.
Also, on a more technical aspect, I don't believe I'd be able to pull off by writing in this sort of perspective again. I kept it purely in the MC's perspective, but this limited the dialogue somewhat and could be rather frustrating. I want the sequel to have more room to roam around and nothing to hinder it. That, and Sunset would get a fair amount of the story from her perspective as well. I don't want to be switching perspective's as that'd be too difficult to keep up and it would hinder the writing.
Before we get to the sequel, though, I'd like to explore the world we've been a part of a little, through the eyes of characters that were right there in the thick of it with Sunset and our MC. Some characters had more spotlight than others and I believe there's potential for these souls to have an impact on the world in their own way, or at the very least give us their perspective on the world. And who would they be? Well, how about we start with a minor antagonist- Octavia. Last we saw her she had just begun her journey, and I'd like to see where she goes next. If I had a list up, it'd look like this:
- Octavia's story
- Rarity's story
- Rainbow Dash's story
- Applejack's story
So before we return to Sunset's life, these four are the first up.
Now, on to some neat little bits of information!
Does the main character have a name?
Yes. Since I'll be heading into a third-person perspective pretty much here on out, there's no way to avoid the fact that this person must have a face. The name I've had in my head for a while? Marcos Reyes. I wanted to write the story via an OC but the stigma against an original character on here is tremendous, so much that I think people bury stories simply because it has the OC tag attached to it. You'll never see it on any of my stories again because of it, but there you are. You've seen the story of Reyes and how he came to fall in love with a girl who has the strength of the sun.
What's with Jester? What's his deal?
I came up with Jester a long time ago, his very first mention being in the third chapter of this story- WAY back. As the story went along, I wanted to start building up his status until he became synonymous with the word 'terror' and he delivered, though only receiving a snapshot of what he'd done throughout Reyes' life. I left a lot of his backstory and details of his life deliberately unknown because I thought it added to his mystique as a character and made him all the more chilling. Particularly when it comes to the questions of his age and what powers he possessed. He could sense Sunset full well- as to how, that is up to you. I'll let your own theories abound.
Where are the MC's parents from?
Hmm... I know his mother was a true immigrant- she's an actual Spaniard, while his father was Latin American. MC's mother came from Spain to Mexico when she was a child, lived there until she was in her mid-twenties, got married to a douchebag and came to the states.
His Mom made me laugh. His Dad was just an asshole. Like, seriously. F-ck that guy.
Where do they live?
I based the entire locale of where the story took place on my hometown of Louisville, KY. It's not the first time the city has made it into my work before, and it won't be the last. And yes, everyone who lives there knows about the West End- which does exist and does have a lot of crime, but isn't always as bad as shown here.
What was Octavia's deal?
Octavia is a character that I originally was going to use for only a few chapters. I thought of maybe having she and Reyes date for a bit, but I tossed that out early on in the story's lifespan. After that, I was going to have her be replaced by Trixie as an antagonist but the more I worked with her the more I wanted to keep her around. Octavia is a character in the MLP fandom that's been fairly one-note, and I liked the idea that there's more complexity to her than what we've been led to believe. We only see hints of her story near the end -divorced parents, parental issues, you'll see more later- but most intriguing to me was how she was a shadow of both our heroes- Sunset and Reyes, as Octavia possessed the bitterness, spite, and cruelty that had marked their early lives, and a lot of the same problems and desires. She'll lead an interesting life.
What about the Crystal Empire?
It's huge, spanning 24 countries from Spain to Iran. Born from the 1970's when the USSR suffered an economic collapse and had to abandon overreach of European territory in order to survive, leaving the countries it had once ruled pretty destitute, and they banded together in order to live and not be invaded all over again. In a twist of irony, the former Soviet Union became massively powerful and frighteningly large at the end of the 20th century. It wasn't really until the financial crisis of 2008 hit and Spain entered was the Empire seen as a threat, no doubt due to King Sombra taking the throne just a few months before. The political climate went downhill from there.
As to what it looks like:
It's a horribly shoddy image, but it gets the point across. I hope. Anything with a red border around it is Empire territory.
I've said this one before, but this story was meant to be pretty short
I meant for this thing to be -at best- ten chapters long. As you can tell by the title, it was supposed to be pretty light-hearted, more comedy and fluff-based, a 'cute' story. Instead, because I let the characters dictate the terms of this story instead of myself, the story suddenly found its soul and the potential of the entire thing opened up. I've never had a story surprise me like this, and this one did just that multiple times. I was just as much a guest onboard this trip as you were.
And speaking of changes, Rainbow's role in this...
... Was originally going to be Rarity's. Rarity, after all, has the history of being more of a romantic and that was what I was going to tap into, but as I wrote Reyes' character, I realized it wasn't really going to work. The funniest thing about Reyes' personality is while he can be a good guy, he still had a pretty rough personality early on in the story, and too many issues for Rarity to possess any attraction to him. She's a lady in search of a gentlemen- he was, well, capable of being a Biggus Dickus.
Rainbow, however, was plenty rough and tumble herself, and their personalities made for a good clash that would've triggered arousal in her. Reyes was an athlete just as she was, and possessed that competitive spirit that would've endeared him to her. I think AJ was right on the nose about why, too. Someone able to best Rainbow at anything and match her wit punch for punch would be something she'd take notice of.
Come to think of it, I'm surprised some of y'all didn't make more notice of Rainbow in this thing. She's not the kind to get a clue- which could lead to trouble for herself down the road. Out of all the stories I have planned for this universe, hers might intrigue me the most.
And that's all I've got to say! If you have any questions about anything, feel free to leave them below and I'll answer as quickly and as thoroughly as I can.
And also... thank you. Thank you for your wonderful patience and enthusiasm you've shown towards me and this story, as well as the support and kindness to help me excel in my craft. What began as a simple idea to spite the people who would praise mindless shipfics instead became a sweeping, complex story of love, loyalty, and growth into real adulthood. I've been nothing but humbled by the success this story has had, and extremely grateful for the many of you who stuck with me the entire way. What a long, extraordinary journey it's been, and I'm very glad to have shared such a wonderful tale of true love with you. No matter what comes in my life, whether this is as big as my writing career gets or I finally get to experience the dream of making this a full-on profession, I am beyond thrilled to have had this experience, and to have the blessing of creating worlds in such a magnificent art form.
Yours truly,
~ Echo 27
The next story could be in the lines of three years later, Marcos is coming home, the war is now over, and he has seen some really messed up shit that left scars on mind. Story covers life after the war, and school for Sunset, for the power couple and where that road takes them. And maybe a trip to a 'magical' place for a week or so to recover from a world recovering from madness. Old stomping grounds, Vegas, cabin in the woods, dimensional transference, ect.
4180016 Already planned ahead, don't you worry.
Although you may need to worry about the story's length, as it might be even bigger than its predecessor. I'm willing to bet it'll be massive.
4180068
how massive? Fallout: Equestria massive?(600k+) or Project Horizons MASSIVE?(1,7 million words)
It's wonderful to see how a story evolves and changes over time. Thankfully, those changes are often for the better.
Oh, and something's wrong with the image there.
4180388 probably not that big. I don't want it getting uncontainable or ludicrous.
4180475 hmm... I'll get it fixed.
4180475 There, should be fixed.
4181034 Ah. Thanks.
And yeah, these guys are screwed. World War II can tell you that much.
Looking forward to the sequel
4185616 Yay! Hopefully it'll live up to your expectations,
I'm honestly kicking myself for having not read this story earlier. I had started on it months ago but for some reason or another I couldn't get through the first chapter before losing interest (through no fault of your own). Yet, for some reason I kept it on one of my bookshelves to come back to later.
The other day I was looking through and organizing my bookshelves and I found the story again and decided to give it another shot.
I read all 200k+ words of it in a day and a half, it was that good.
I'm sincerely looking forward to any and all future stories that are in the works for this.
Also, funny thing about the MC's name, Marcos Reyes.
One of my coworkers is named Marcus Reyes.
4207779 Thank you so much! It always means a lot to see someone so wholy enjoy anything I work on, and thanks so much for the kind words!
Since ya forced me to join the army in the story, I really want to know what, now my alter ego, Marcos Reyes will do in the war. I hope we dont have to wait long for the sequel, I want Marcos to go back to Sunset safe and sound. It is the least he could do after breaking her heart at the end.
However, I also know he likely wont come back unscathed. Soldiers hardly ever do. Maybe he developed PTSD and most of the story can be Sunset helping him deal with it while we relive the flashbacks he suffers to tell us what happened in the war.