Random Ramblings CLXV · 11:58pm Apr 19th, 2017
IN WHICH DUMB IDEAS CAN YIELD GOOD
So, one of my readers randomly commented on my user-page, suggesting a story about spiders. Naturally, I responded by posting the live cut of They Might Be Giants song "Spider". I felt it was appropriate.
I thought the idea was really stupid. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized how I could make it work, and how it can help me tie up some loose threads in the "Recovery Arc" before moving on to its last two installments. If you would be so kind as to click on the big green button for more stuff past the jump.
This completely new, totally unplanned story will take place in between Rarity Pays For Burritos and The Photoshoot (which I just finished), meaning Photoshoot will need to be delayed -- something I expect to happen anyway as my followers who graciously offered to look it over have, y'know, lives and kids and stuff. Also, one of them lives across the Pond, and the time difference means it's difficult to communicate at a moment we're both awake. Photoshoot is a very important story to me, so I'm willing to take more time to get it right.
The downside of adding a story is that the "Recovery Arc", which I currently say in THE GUIDE is set to end at ten stories -- a nice even number -- would have eleven stories instead. As an unplanned fic, I don't want this one to be very long or time consuming on my part. I also want it to be sort of comedic like some readers found (and how I intended) Highs & Lows.
This also gives me the chance to work with a character dynamic other than Sunset+Rarity, so it should be interesting.
Although I had intended to mention Pinkie Pie's "Welcome Back to the World, Sunset!" party in the penultimate story, I realized it would fit better in this one that just popped into my brain. I can't really write parties, so I won't bother. You will, however, see its aftermath… at least what it did to Sunset. I already have it about 75% outlined. I'm tired now, so I'll probably get to work on this story tomorrow. My writing speed tends to be about on par with loose molasses, meaning who the hell knows when this interlude will get done. (I wrote the 3000-word Where There's Smoke in just a few hours, but the 1600-word A Day In The Park took weeks)
The story is tentatively titled: Sunset Shimmer: The Spider Queen.
That's all for now. Peace out!
I like that title idea. Sounds good and cracky.
I also totally get the concept of needing to chase weird inspiration on the way toward more serious accomplishments. I've contemplated doing a blogpost about this at some point, but my stories tend to belong in pairs together... at least in my head. Probably the clearest example is Heavy Rock and Rise of The 420: The Musical--after all the emotion and effort of getting Heavy Rock out there, I was left with a head full of Limestone and a bad need to decompress.
But while I'm thinking about it, my #1 quick feedback thing on Photoshoot is that "Photoshoot" indeed might not be the most fitting title. It's not bad as a title but I'd been thinking this whole time that a photoshoot would take place as part of the story, whereas what we see is its aftermath: an envelope of photos.
Naturally, my first proposed alternate title would be An Envelope of Photos.
4502513 - It seems cracky. The proposal was cracky -- this same reader told me he thought the arc should end with a pie fight so Sunset is finally forced to bathe (he forgot she did so in between L&H and RVSS@4). But it might have a bit of a serious edge to it, as Sunset's friend who shows up -- won't reveal who yet -- thinks she's backsliding in her recovery as her behaviour is bizarre. I just finished outlining the story, and it's definitely weird. I still have to do some research to get a specific detail right before I can start.
I'm glad you agree with me that the title I sent you is weak. Pretty much all my Recovery stories have, I think, pretty strong titles. "Photoshoot" is just a placeholder because, like I said, it's the name of the piece of suggestive art I found on Derpibooru that inspired the story. It certainly wouldn't be the first time I've changed a title late in production -- A Day In The Park (from the Beatles song "A Day In The Life") started out as Little Birdie before I realized I had to reference more than Vince Guaraldi to make the idea work.
I actually like your alternate title, but it may need a bit more tweaking.
I regret to say that, although I began Maud Pie Inspects A Burrito, I haven't quite figured out where I want to go with it, so unless I have a breakthrough, it's going to have to take a backseat to the other stories on my plate. I don't ever outline Burrito stories; they just happen.
4502565 I don't think it's a weak title per se; I just don't think it fits the story you're telling.
Speaking of minor continuity things, I went back and re-read L&H, RVSS@4, and Rarity Burrito to check on the ship tease setup. Turned out that Sunny had mentioned it was a burrito place in one of the first two but Rarity had forgotten by the third. (Honestly it's a minor thing compared to the meat of what I was looking for but it was there.)
4502616 - I've been ship-teasing those two from the very beginning. Here's a passage from Highs & Lows, written 25 months ago (posted 17 months ago):
This, admittedly, is right before Sunset tells Rarity basically "I have a problem", but I meant for that blush to hint that Rarity had started to develop a thing for Sunny… but Sunny was and is too preoccupied dealing with her own issues to notice. Of course, I never planned to write a sequel to H&L, let alone ten of them, but here we are.
I think a minor continuity blip like that can be forgiven. Many weeks (and EQG:RR) happen in-verse between when Sunset mentions Beulah's to Rarity and when they actually go - several months passed between my writing those stories. It's not beyond belief that Rarity would forget.
I like to believe that, starting with L&H (once I realized I had a series on my hands), I've been leaving a trail of breadcrumbs that'll ultimately lead to interesting places.