[FMP] A Nonsensical Comparison to Better Works

I’ve been making a little progress on FMP over the last couple of days. I figure I might as well share a little behind-the-scenes drivel. Ever wonder what inspired my decision to split the chapters into different perspectives? I can cite two sources: The Immortal Game and a certain book series.

I read all the way through AestheticB’s masterwork a few years ago, back when I had secured my first apartment. I seem to remember expressing my regret at not having started it sooner. Readers of both Immortal Game and FMP can clearly see a direct inspiration: the shifting perspectives that are signified by each character’s cutie marks. I’ve taken it a step further to help solidify the adaptation with Fullemtal Alchemist by...well, adapting certain cutie marks with symbols from the anime. It’s why Twilight’s mark has an overlay of the flamel, and why Shining Armor’s mark has a blood rune over it (first seen in the upcoming chapter 4.3.)

But more recently, I’ve been going through George R. R. Martin’s series A Song of Ice and Fire, and I’ve been enjoying book three this year. Fans of that series will also know that he tells his story through differing perspectives - one chapter will follow one character as events unfold, and the next will follow another character when the next set of events take place. I confess that I had read through book one long before I had begun to write for FMP, so the idea was long-implanted in my head. Being able to follow each event in the story through the perspective of the affected characters was really enjoyable.

The design of FMP is my tribute to both stories. It also helps (as I’ve said in the past) that dividing the perspectives allows me to also split up extra-long chapters where necessary, especially as I follow certain characters for longer spans of time. Chapter 4 will show this off, although I doubt it’ll stay that way for the rest of the story. In fact, I expect to have shorter scenes with various characters, like what is seen in Chapter 0. It will largely depend on the direction of the story.

To stay on topic, I will also add that some of my current style is a direct cause of me reading through Storm of Swords. It’s not exactly intentional, and I don’t mean to imitate blatantly, but it’s helping me to get rough drafts down at the very least. That, in turn, will help to prune away unnecessary details during future drafting stages. I can only hope that I don’t go so far as to describe the environment too much. Nobody needs to know the specific geographical coordinates of Canterlot, after all. I mean, I’m not saying that Martin does such things in his writing, but sometimes things get too detailed.

Other times, though, things are done just right. Anyway...

I’ll never claim to be as good as either author. Martin and AestheticB have both crafted excellent stories that I have enjoyed, am enjoying now, and will enjoy for years to come. I can only hope that my choice to shape each chapter in this way shows my appreciation for them and their works.

Splitting up the chapters into segments was all mine, though. Hey, if I can keep actual updates on a weekly basis with word counts that don’t scare away followers, then all the better.

~Leo