Or Something · 5:11am Feb 3rd, 2017
I’m terrible at writing blog posts with any sort of regularity, so this one is going to be a two-fer:
1. The Secrets We Keep won first place! How about a brief afterward?
2. That does happen to be the story that pushed me into 500-follower territory, so how about I consolidate the answers to that AMA?
AMA answers first:
AMA Followup
Thanks for all your words of support! Knowing somebody has enjoyed the words I’ve written has bailed me out of more pits of self-doubt than I’d care to mention.
There will be more Spike stories.
My favorite color is context-dependent. I’m partial to greenery, so let's go with that.
I rarely play video games anymore. I just don’t have much free time, and I’m far more motivated to spend what free time I do have writing.
Will I ever write HIE? I’m not inherently opposed, but I don’t have any burning ideas for the genre. Time will tell!
I love readings of my stories. There’s one or two in particular that I’d love to listen to.
Favorite friendships?
Celestia + anyone, partly since I have my sights set on doing some exploring there.
Favorite ships?
Need you even ask?
Some less common ones too:
- Thunderdash, simply because I like the idea of Rainbow Dash getting involved with the guy next door instead of a Wonderbolt, since it feels a little like how she balances her big dreams with her more down-to-earth friendships (even though they might occasionally involve her getting to save the world)
- …maybe Soarinfire, because I’d like to explore the complications of a relationship developing in the midst of the Wonderbolt’s presumably complex lives.
Why Spike and Rarity?
A. I’m enamored to underdogs (and dragons) winning in the end, and Spike is often the seventh wheel. His getting what he needs or wants is rarely important in any given episode.
B. No pair of characters have quite the same onscreen relationship as Spike and Rarity… his feelings clearly haven’t gone away (although I’d argue they’ve matured along with him), and her reaction to him is as unpredictable as ever; it all depends on what the episode’s story requires. The difference is that their onscreen relationship varies from dismissive, to familiar, to warm (ie as strong as any of the other main character’s friendships), to what feels like the show actively teasing us. I don’t expect the show to ever confirm or deny this or any other would-be relationship, and that’s fine with me… unless Big Jim ever owes me a life debt, of course.
C. This didn’t occur to me until I was nearly finished with ’Til Sunday Do Us Part, but there’s a certain alignment to their characteristics. Let’s be clear: arguing that any two characters are ‘right for each other’ is a fool’s errand. Sometimes opposites attract, sometimes they explode. What I mean is Rarity is/was the element of generosity, something she occasionally struggles with; Spike has an inbuilt problem with greed. Rarity’s special talent and cutie mark are related to finding gems; Spike eats gems. Rarity is the only member of the mane six that's expressed some interest in finding love; Spike has an unending crush on her. Is all that really just coincidental? It’s like Faust was teasing something about these two from the start, even if she didn’t intend to ever capitalize on it. Again, this doesn't mean they're 'right for each other,' but it does make writing about their getting together extra interesting to me.
D. People trashing the ship and anything and anyone related to it. Not liking any pairing is fine, and saying so is fine too. When someone goes out of their way to be downright caustic about a character or relationship I enjoy (and that includes simple friendships too), my usual reaction is to write, and when it comes to Sparity I’ve clearly done a lot of reacting. But hey, based on the story view counts and vote ratios, I must be doing something right.
Secrets Afterward
I think I can safely call The Secrets We Keep a success 
Unlike most of my other stories, I didn’t have Secrets fully planned out from the outset. I actually wrote a much rougher version of the opening scene months ago just to get myself out of a funk, realized I didn’t know what came next, and filed it away for later. I’d think about it on occasion, wondering how Spike’s simple declaration would pan out, and what sort of trouble he and Rarity would face along the way. Obviously Ember was going to be involved too… somehow.
Then a contest came along, and my mission became clear: flesh out that story in a hurry. Things unfolded from there, starting with the simple realization that my rough draft of chapter one contained the very core of the story I wanted to tell:
Spike asks Rarity the question that starts the conversation that drives the connection that just might get them out of a profoundly sticky situation.
As mrk noted during his pre-read, this is a simpler romance than some of my others, and honestly I’m okay with that. For all the ways in which ’Til Sunday Do Us Part was about surviving one’s own crazy schemes and Water Pony was about finding happiness amidst adversity, Secrets is about Spike asking a fairly simple question that takes Rarity a long time to properly answer.
Getting Secrets published before New Years took some speedy and incredible work from these fine people:
Pia-sama drew the beautiful base cover image, and did so extraordinarily fast. I’ve dreamed about commissioning cover art from her for ages, and I probably will again. Artists like her make me feel downright talentless.
Novel Idea has revamped the cover art on a number of my stories, and was once again willing to help me out with lettering and whatnot. This guy doesn’t get enough credit for what he does, beautifying fimfic one story cover at a time. Go look at the portfolio on his user page; it’s gorgeous stuff!
mrk was kind enough to do a pre-read of a near-final draft, and within a very tight deadline too. I can’t seem to do anything without a sanity check from a pre-reader, and as always I’m very appreciative of the comments and suggestions. He helped make Secrets into a much better story than it would’ve been otherwise.
Oh, and about spicy food:
I generally steer clear. Here’s one reason why:
When I was a kid, my parents decided to try a new restaurant, something foreign. I’m guessing it was Indian food, but I don’t remember what any of us actually ordered or even what the restaurant decor was like. All I remember is that my mom ended up with a dish that was way, way too spicy for any of us to eat. She carefully tasted around the plate until she identified the culprit: some sort of vegetable that had been crisped to the point that its skin fell apart like layers of burnt paper. This stuff was scattered all over her plate. I decided to try some, a tiny piece of it no more than few millimeters square.
I’ve had more pleasant experiences at the dentist.
My eyes were flooded with tears, and my mouth was on fire. Swallowing only made the situation worse. Suddenly my throat burned too, so much so that I was wheezing. My only hope was my glass of water, which of course only dulled the heat for a few merciful seconds per swig. I drank the whole glass. I drank until I had forcibly diluted my mouth’s pH to something approaching normal. It wasn’t a good time.
Thank you for reading! A short Slice of Life should be arriving next week…
Ah yes, those peppers can be pretty nasty. A shame nobody had thought to order one of those creamy drinks cultures with a lot of spicy food invariably invent. That would have made the experience a lot less traumatic.
A shame that that ruined spicy food for you.
Cool that you got to 500 followers! And the AMA answers were interesting. I'd have to say that my favorite ships are FlutterBulk and TrixCord. FlutterBulk because they're adorable together, and TrixCord because of the chemistry. Sparity's alright in my book, too, as evidenced by my enjoying those stories you keep writing about it.
Congrats on winning! I'm glad I could help. It was my first time pre-reading, and to be honest, I felt terrible saying I didn't think some parts added up or could have been better. You're my favorite author on this site by far, so it felt strange to critique you. But I recalled some writing tips from a while back and that helped me make apparently good suggestions.
4407656
Don't worry, the prereading thing gets easier. You just need to be more comfortable telling people they're wrong.
4407656
They definitely were good suggestions.
4407650
I guess I wouldn't say spicy food is ruined for me, but the pursuit of something with a little extra kick is. My line between 'spicy enough' and 'too spicy' is well defined and seldom crossed.
I could see the adorable potential of FlutterBulk; I just haven't read much of it (feel free to name some good ones)
TrixCord? Now that I haven't seen before. Seeing those city block-sized egos crash together sounds amusing though!
4407983 Well! That explains that. I'm already very good at that.
4408036
Glad to hear it wasn't as bad as I had feared. I have my limits when it comes to spicy food, too, even if they're a bit beyond a normal person's limits.
I haven't read any FlutterBulk in recent memory, either. I mainly base it off of their cute interactions in a couple of S4 episodes. I forget whether the Built for Power Tumblr ships it, but it might.
They're both easily frightened (Bulk finds butterflies terrifying, at least), and they've both got insecurity issues (if BB's need for Cutie Mark Counseling was any indication), but they seem to be scared or insecure about entirely different things from each other. Having each one help the other deal with their weaknesses sounds like a cute/great/fun idea. I imagine that they met at the spa (Fluttershy goes there a lot, and Bulk works there), and that they each thought the other should try out for the Equestria Games relay team.
Oh dear, I seem to have written a shipfic in your comment section.
Haven't seen any TrixCord? I haven't been looking, myself, but I kinda expected there to be an explosion of it after the S6 finale. Weird. They even gave a good reason for them to be interacting with each other at the end, with Discord offering to spice up her performances sometime.
Seeing their egos collide like icebergs would be a lot of fun, as would seeing grudging respect turn into understanding or somesuch.
Truth be told, I'm somewhat stoked for a followup where Ember clears the air with Rarity & admits she's rethought that 'make a real dragon outta him' angle, mainly 'cause Spike's less archetypal qualities were just what enabled their friendship in the first place. At any rate, kudos to you for not escalating Scepterdrake & Squiggletail's interactions into a Defcon-3 ship war with but one or two obvious outcomes.
...and while I'm at it, one short idea leaps to mind: one of those D&D-inspired roleplay sessions where 'Shmarity' joins the party as opposed to chilling in another castle. If nothing else, I'd love to see just what Discord would make of (y)our favorite pair's dynamic.
4411605
I love that far more than I should
The D&D angle would be fun. I'm guessing Rarity would craft herself an unorthodox but somewhat useful character… and firmly reject the notion that she's the helpless damsel. The problem is I'm not well-versed enough in D&D to tackle this one
I'd certainly like to do a followup/sequel in any case. I'll have to see where my time takes me (the usual answer being "not as far as it should'')
4413743
Honestly, D&D might not have been my best analogy for Spike, Mac & Patchwork Q's little forays. It's really more like LARPing with better SFX. At any rate, *if* you found the time for that angle, no need to sweat said gaming's fine details any more than the show's writers did on that ep.