Things I am considering for a Waking Nightmares rewrite · 7:40pm Jul 17th, 2017
The truth about Waking Nightmares...
...is that I'm burned out on it. I'm sorry. I just... don't like my work on it anymore. Looking back, I am just less and less happy with the story. Too many references, too many things just stitched in as new seasons cropped up... I started this story back in SEASON FRICKIN' TWO. It's cobbled together, a mishmash of this and that and the other thing... I just don't like it anymore.
But I don't want to abandon the story. I still want to make Waking Nightmares.
Which is why I'm considering a total rewrite. I KNOW I can do better. I can make it a stronger story.
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Things that will be kept:
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Barricade and Teal Sea (formerly known as TL Care). I like them too much as characters. They may change to an aunt and uncle who adopted Fluttershy, though.
Gem Sentry. She’s an adorable little crystal-based AI and I love her so. She may appear sooner in the story.
Magic Lives. I THINK I can keep Magic Lives as is without changing too much of my plans.
The shipping. I like the couples I set up too much. Especially Soldier/Derpy.
Most of the traumatic backstories.
Rarity becoming a cyborg due to a traumatic injury.
Evil transformations. They’re going to be done differently, mind you, and have different names, but they’ll all appear.
Slendermane. I have a different idea on how to work the big guy, make him a bit scarier, but he’ll remain a big bad.
Celestia being mentally tortured.
The ‘Sandvich and Me’ chapter.
The chapters where everyone’s stuck in an illusion of a mental hospital.
Hoody pony: I know what I want to do with them.
Sunnytown characters: Their chapter will be redone, but they’ll still have the same roles.
Pyro: I ain’t changin’ a damn thing about her. She’s too damn cute as is.
The mercs: I’m still using the BLU team. I like the BLU team.
That one chapter where RED Medic owns Slenderman with a Kindness-charged Minigun: 99% Unchanged. That is too damn cool a moment.
My plans for the Doctor: Unchanged, barring adaptions to the new plot.
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Things that will be abandoned and/or changed:
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The ‘Celestia & Discord hate each other’ angle. It’s a relic of when Discord was a villain, and at the point I’m at in the story I realize I’m struggling to continue to justify it considering how much of the earlier seasons I tacked on. I like ‘good Discord’ too much.
Discord accidentally injuring Fluttershy. I’m too much of a Fluttercord shipper at this point.
Smooze as an evil MacGuffin. I can do better, I know it. It’ll most likely be abandoned entirely.
Ms. Pauling. With her increased prominence in TF2 lore, I really want to do more with her. I’m thinking of having her brought over with the team initially.
Nine Elements/Dark Elements. I just… no. Just, no. Too plot device-y, too MacGuffiny. If anything, the new version of the story would have just one new element. The Element of Trust. And Sunset will be its bearer.
Fusions. They won’t be removed, but how they happen will be changed. Plus, there will be the possibility of more than just the regular nine.
The role of Derpy, Zecora, and Trixie within the story. They’ll remain important, but for different reasons.
Starlight Glimmer. I dismissed her as being locked up at first, because I wasn’t fond of her. She’s grown on me, though. I think I can use her.
Sunset Shimmer. She’s going to be more important in the story, and will be used in the Ambassador role I have to her in Friendship is G.I. Waking Nightmares and Frendship is G.I. will not be connected, though.
The Mane Six. Looking back, I’ve come to realize something - Twilight and company were borderline useless. The mercenaries did most of the legwork. I want to change that.
Comedy. I think I’m better at writing funny now. The story will be a bit lighter-hearted, with less risk of Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy.
Gray Mann: I think I can make him a stronger villain.
The Classic Team: May actually get used.
Saxton Hale: May actually get used.
The Administrator: I have a horrifyingly delicious idea for her. I ain’t saying what it is, though.
Merasmus: His role may change in the story.
Medic: I’m rearranging a lot for him. He’ll be closer to TF2 canon, but some elements of what I want to do with the good doctor will change.
Masky ponies: May be removed entirely, may be changed. I don’t know what to do with them.
References: Will be reduced GREATLY. I look back on older chapters and cringe…
Bright Mac and Pear Butter: Alive. A mention will be made of a health scare for them, but… Eh. I want to do something with them.
The families in general: Canon families for the Mane Six will be worked in. Pinkie Pie will no longer be afraid of her father. Spoiled Rich will not be connected to Topsy Turvy (I mainly did that because I was inspired by Alex Warlorn’s Pony POV series), but I will make her a bit nicer.
In general: It’s going to be a complete AU, albeit with several elements from the show preserved.
Spy: Will be a full new-type changeling, not a half-pegasus.
Scout: Will be a full new-type changeling.
The Mercs: Will be officially known as Team Fortress.
RED Team: Their role will start small, but increase. My plans for them are not happy ones…
Twilight not being an alicorn at the start: With the removal of the plot point of Discord accidentally injuring Fluttershy, Twilight would have no reason to seal her powers.
I’m sad to hear that the smooze and the masky-ponies may no longer be a thing. But I look forward to the rewrite.
Ah! One of very few neat crossovers with TF2, gettin a very nice bit of attention... I believed in your writing and its quality before, I'm sure your improvements will really polish it up, however you choose to distribute them. Only problem...
Kinda hard for it to be that fresh, brand new content when the real plot has been unveiled, and are we not a good couple 100k+ words in? That would be a pretty hard reset. On this topic, I have to say I'm pretty neutral, but I think the decision you come to yourself will be best.
Edit: yeah, nearly half a million words, with that many likes and views... It really is all up to you. But, I'd consider EVERY angle first.
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I'm well aware of that. And truthfully, there's going to be some very significant changes to the plot. The list of changes is not complete. It's just that some of the changes are spoilers.
In addition, we were barely at the halfway point with the plot of the original version of the story.
Great to heard that you will going back to the story and redesign it from the ground up. Good luck on that. Also, I hope Blueblood get enrolled as Cadet sooner in the story, I just love to see him suffer and humiliated too much.
Whatever gets you writing it again, I guess. The current version is still among my all-time favorites on this site, but if you say you can do better, I'll trust you on that. Very curious how you'd reincorporate Trixie, Zecora, and Derpy without them being Element bearers. And I still quite like Spy being the Dark Element of Trust. It was a great bit of irony.
There is one planned change that kinda confuses me: Why make Scout a Changeling? Spy makes perfect sense, but Scout? He's a Pegasus in the current version, IIRC, which I thought fit him perfectly with his speed and double jump.
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It's related to current facts in TF2 lore as it pertains to Spy and Scout.
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Have there been more comics or something? I haven't played or checked the TF2 website in a long time, but I remember there being a couple comics where the mercs are fired and scattered then I think Miss Pauling goes to gather them up again to get a bunch of Australium or something, but the updates were rather infrequent.
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... Damn! Is this Calm Wind's alt or somthin?
Its your work to change as you see fit. That being said as someone who followed since about chapter 4. I think you did a great job tying everything in as it came up as show-cannon. Even going back now to do rereads it tracks well.
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Oh GOODNESS have you missed out on a lot. Gonna link you to each comic... You've read the first couple, it seems, but it's best to read them in order.
Issue 1: Ring of Fired
Issue 2: Unhappy Returns
Issue 3: A Cold Day in Hell
Issue 4: Blood in the Water
Issue 5: Old Wounds
Issue 6: The Naked and the Dead
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*chuckles* I appreciate the compliment, but no. I'm just an average writer with too big ambition.
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Going off names.....I think I read the first three? I'll go catch up. I may be burnt out on the gameplay so much so that I won't even play other games in the same genre (sorry Overwatch), but I've recently gone back to rewatch "Expiration Date" just because it was hilarious. My memory of the comics is vague anyway.
Hmm, interesting changes. While I find the new changelings an eyesore, as long as we don't lose Chryssie in the story or delegate her to not matter at all, I'm fine.
will we see anything about heaveys sisters, and will you ise things from the tf2 comics like demomans blood being nearly pure scrumpy? anyone who has read the comics knows something about the Administrator I wont spoile what here but I am ecstacic to see what you do.
Surprised you're keeping Slender-mane, to be honest.
Always rolled my eyes a bit at that tired old meme but mildly ponifed being presented as... Well, actually scary, to be honest.
Mostly accepted it as a 'grand-father clues' type deal. IOW, that when you first wrote him in Slender-man hadn't been so comically over-exposed and was still fresh, but you were still stuck with him when the magic faded.
So, yeah, genuinely surprised your dropping the rather under-explored Smooze stuff but keeping him around. Personally I'd gone the exact opposite route, and tried to tie it into a new, fresher villain.
Still, glad to hear you're doing your best to keep the story alive. Warts and all, Waking Nightmares have been a hell of a ride, and I'd been quite sad to see it end with the whimper of cancellation.
I think this is a good choice, overall. Things got convoluted, and while a lot of it could be justified with the AU tag, other parts, not so much. Things like the lighter chapters that seemed to be solely there for a cheap gag.
Damn it, it's too early for me to try to present rational thought. Either way, I wish you the best of luck should you go ahead with the rewrite.
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Chryssi will still have a noticeable presence.
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I honestly had no plans for the Smooze beyond it being an evil corrupting purple sludge. A plot device. I can still get work out of ol' Slendypants.
Gonna be honest, haven't seen this story in a LONG time. I know that a full rewrite can be difficult, but I've seen 1 or 2 stories go through and just delete the original one completely (Lineage <-> Redux: Lineage come to mind), and let me tell you, they're a lot better now.
If you're planning on doing a full scrap, I won't be of much help, since I don't remember anything from the original, but I'll definitely support you all the way.
4604447 Hooray for best bughorse!
I'll be honest, Waking Nightmares is one of the few things keeping me on this website. I'm at least 4 seasons behind on the show, and don't really read many new fics these days. If what it takes to keep you invested in writing this is doing it all over, then so be it. It's better for you to want to write it than not. I've seen too many fics go unfinished because the author stopped enjoying it.
You'd better include Soldier covered in honey wrestling with an Ursa Major.
Wasn't a big fan of the maskies, honestly, so I'm not sad to see them go. Also okay with the loss of the extra elements. That always makes me cringe a bit. One? Fine. More than doubling it? Nthnx.
...does this mean we get Pinkieman? Drunk demo + reality warper.
I'm okay with a rewrite but can you keep up the original just cuz of nostalgia and it was one of the first stories that got me hooked on this site?
I see. What matters is the direction you want to take with your story, since you desire to keep it alive. I, myself, feel burnt out over my own stories, but I still try not to abandon them.
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I won't take down the original.
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many thanks.
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Just as long as you link to it, I think that's awesome. I really wanna see the fusions again, but considering that for the most part the Elements are stuff in the tree, i hope you have some great ideas there.
New type changeling scout, playing on the 'rainbows make me cry' line eh?
Interesting..Sounds like you've got big plans, Good to see you decided to stick with the story.
Also, what are you planning to do with the original story, gonna keep it uploaded here or are you planning on removing it?
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The original will remain online for anyone who wants to read it.
Well piss.
On the bright side, this new rewrite thing looks promising.
Especially the inclusion of Starlight Glimmer. I like her.
And the abandonment of Celestia and Discord hating each other. Sometimes I ship them, lol
Well, take your time with this and thanks for the news, mate~
As long as you write from your heart, your rewrite will be the successor you wanted the original to be.
I am quite looking forward to where this goes. As time goes on, you evolve as a writer, as does your style. Things that seemed good before now seem terrible, or you gain new insight you were missing initially. Plus, with more content from the source material from the get go, there'll be less just sticking in details when they become known. So, in short, can't wait, stay awesome -Eris Discordia Chaosmind
Am I the only one who imagined knightmystirio reading this out, in the administrators chair, whilst talking in the voice of doctor evil? I like the direction this story is going, grey mann being a better villain as well as the (possible) inclusion of saxton fucking hale just makes it more interesting, also, just something i hope you use in the future of this story, the scene in the new team fortress comic, in witch medic reveals he has 8 souls, and using that to not die (sort of)
I shall follow the new one when it happens. Read and liked the old, and will be hoping you can finish the new.
Will you save the original chapters and place them into a doc at the end of each chapter as a compassion?
I like where this is going based on the ideas you listed and I look forward to seeing how this plays out.
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The original story isn't being taken down.
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I mean for the rewrites-as you replace them; will you keep the old ones on google docs as a means of progress or property from where you were to where you are now?
A rewrite with more comedy?
Well hell, I can't turn my nose up to more potential for laughs. Enjoyed your epic for what it was, though.
But now I can look forward to what it'll be in the future. Looking forward to your changes, KM.
4604782 I think he means that the rewrites will be either a new story entirely, though bound to this one, or will be posted in addition to the old ones.
I am excited for this, it means that I won’t have to go back and reread the original.
Man I look forward to your rewrite. I actually re-read the current one yesterday and still enjoyed it.
I think a lot of these changes are a good call. But there's one thing missing from the original you need to add if you want to go for a more comedy-oriented angle.
The fact that Soldier is not only batshit insane, but also completely stupid.
He wasn't crazy (or dumb) enough in the original, thus lowering his potential for hilarity. And his insistence on the greatness of America would make for some hilariously awkward interactions. I can even imagine a disastrous run-in with Tree Hugger; remember how hippies are treated in the TF2 verse.
On another note, I hereby shamelessly plug a newer story of mine, also partially inspired by you and focuses on the BLU Team: The Legend of Link and the Teufort Nine, a crossover with Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that focuses just as much on the humor of the mercs' offbeat personalities interacting with the various Zelda characters (Soldier in particular gets some pretty hysterical moments) as it does on the adventure. Even if you aren't all that knowledgeable about the Zelda series, I think you'd still enjoy.
Truth be told, I also know how you're feeling cuz I'm a little burnt out over EWM too...
Well. I suppose that makes sense, although I did have an awesome idea for the Nightmare that would herald Twilight Medic. Nightmare Plague, able to appear as their non-corrupted self as camouflage, as well as generating a virus that turns the infected into voodoo style zombies. The other fusions can't do shit without harming innocent ponies, but the Crusader's Crossbow on the other hand is super effective.
By the way, noticed an absence of Jeff, is this cause you forgot he existed, or is he under one of the spoiler changes?
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Jeffjeff is spoilers.
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Oh good, hate wasted potential.
I mean, very few writers have the drive to even hit where you are. To think, you're willing to erase it all for a single idea... That takes guts, and I'd be hella lying if I didn't admire you for making either decision at this point.
If you think you can succesfully manage it, go for it!