Fanart, Fanart, and Fanart · 5:23am Mar 16th, 2017
And I guess some Chapter XII chat, too?
No no no, but look.
FANART
Scroll down if you're impatient to see it. I've got a story to tell with this first.
It's always been a bit of a struggle for me writing Rarity. This is because she's really into fashion, and so pretty much every chapter that involves a Rarity scene necessitates that I describe what she's wearing because, y'know, that's really important to her. It's the sort of thing she thinks about often. As someone who both a) doesn't know much about fashion and b) is a dude, I find it's often a challenge to come up with an interesting variety of outfits that I imagine Rarity herself wouldn't gag and scream at upon sight. Already I feel as if I'm wearing myself thin on this matter. What colors have I used now? Purple, white, blue? I need to branch out, but what the hell else goes with Rarity? Don't ask me! Do I look like a fashion designer to you? And it has to be fancy, too!
To be honest I've never been quite satisfied with the outfits I make up for her. I spend some time on the description, wearing my backspace and delete keys down, and then eventually decide that what I have is good enough. "Rarity would probably let herself be caught dead in this, I suppose," is a good way of putting it. I give myself a pat on the back, thankful that the written word lets you readers do all the hard work of making her look good, and carry on.
But then I got a PM.
Back in Chapter VI, Crazy Rich introduces Rarity to his guests at a big party. They aren't impressed at first, and so she takes it upon herself to steal all their clothes and make herself a dress fit for a countess on the spot. Again, I was not wholly sold on whether that scene was a good idea, but it seemed fairly Rarity enough and my editors seemed to like it, so I put it out. I was surprised to find that Rarity fans really adored the moment. I've never considered myself much of a Rarity fan—if the plot allowed it, I'd have used Rainbow Dash as my 2nd protagonist—so it was of great relief to hear that I had apparently done well on the matter.
One particular reader, jeffh4, was such an avid fan of the moment that he went ahead and commissioned some artwork for the scene. Would you believe it? This guy went out and dropped some cash on fantazyme, a DeviantArt artist, and had her draw up the scene. He gave her the description straight out of the story, right from my keyboard to her mind like the purest telepathy. When good 'ol jeff (who for some reason never talks in my Discord server), sent me the piece I was quite amazed to find that the dress actually looked good. It looks like something she might actually make! She's even got a neato hat! And I compared the text to the image and found that it's pretty much a 1-for-1 depiction of the dress I described, which is what really shocked me. I made a good dress! fantazyme didn't even have to embellish! I'm a fashionista after all! No no, look, really!
See that? I might as well change my name to Rarity and take up a career in dressmaking!
So of course I had to rush on down here and make a blog post. Because what the hell kind of author would I be if my story got some fanart and I didn't recognize the valiant souls responsible? Thanks, you two!
Now besides all that, I'd be a total dick if I made this big blog post and didn't give you guys any update on Chapter XII. I'm working on it, plinking words out at a disjointed and erratic pace like the corrupted remains of a fashionable magnet. There won't be any Twilight here, because what kind of cliffhanger would it be if I gave you immediate resolution? No, this chapter shall be set solidly on the soon-to-be-underwater settlement of Fellis Island. It'll be split between a shorter part written from the perspective of Gava's second-in-command and "sister" Anatami, and a longer part from the perspective of a rather harrowed Rarity. There's gonna be a big reveal coming up, too! Chapter XII and the subsequent Chapter XIV (which will be wholly a Twilight chapter) will include the first hints of what has happened to Princesses Celestia and Luna. Then we'll have a brief respite before I wrap up the first act of the story, and things start to really get interesting.
I can't make any solid promises on when Chapter XII will be out, but I don't think it should take me more than another week. I'll print out this fanart, get it framed, stick it right onto my monitor screens to inspire me. I'll put a copy in my wallet, show it to my friends and family, send it into the art gallery at the office, and petition it be immortalized in my local town hall. It shall propel me onward to new heights of fabulous dressmaking. When I falter in my draft I'll just take my fanart body pillow and cuddle with it a few hours to get the creative juices flowing. So you all can rest easy that the chapter will probably be out in a week. And if not... well, then I'll feel very disappointed in myself. Draw me more fanart. I'll feel even more guilty.
Alright, enough time wasting. Another big thank you to jeffh4 for commissioning the piece, and fantazyme for doing such a fantastic job of it. Thanks also to all my other readers that give me fresh reasons to feel guilty when I slack off in my writing and fill my soul with the same cocksure joy I love Rainbow Dash for having.
I'll see you guys eventually!
Golden
Congrats all around!
That's a strong piece of fan art right there.
I blame it all on Goldenwing for making what I consider to be Rarity's strongest scene in the whole of FimFiction. I mean, are there any other examples where Rarity outshines Pinkie at a party? Rarity shows off her high society skills to wheedle information from the upper crust plus shows off her special talent.
Too see all the detail fantazyme put in the piece, go here and click on the image for the full size artwork of Rarity.
That's a great piece of art from what is indeed an amazing scene.
nice lol they did a great job.