Retrograde: The Crystal Problem

Hey everyone.

I wasn't going to bother making this post, but given how it concerns one of my stories, I feel as though I have to take a second and do some clarification on an issue. The issue, as presented by the co-writer of "Retrograde" (RQK) can be found here: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/806899/retrograde-there-has-been-a-minor-removal

I wanted to address the way we handled Crystal's inclusion, as it was a huge point of contention in the comments of the most recent chapter. Now, I'm not going to be speaking for anyone but myself here, as I don't want to twist RQK's feelings on the subject at all. That said, I'm going to frank; the whole thing around Crystal has been a nightmare. As I stated several times in the comment section of the newest chapter, Crystal was intended to simply be a cameo in the story. She was here because RQK wanted to tie his most recent story, "Reflections," with the world of "Retrograde," but not in a way that made it super obvious that it was a sequel. I need to emphasize that "Retrograde" is in no way intended to be a full fledged sequel! It was merely intended to be a story that takes place during the gap between "Reflections" and it's hypothetical sequel (which, for the record, doesn't exist at this point in time to my knowledge), and likely wouldn't have had much of an impact on that hypothetical sequel (should it ever be written).

The idea was that Crystal would be a cameo of sorts, with maybe some incredibly minor role in the plot. The intention was to have Crystal be something of a means of addressing a few things in the story that tie into a greater connection to all of RQK's major works: the multiverse. Namely, she would have addressed the following information:
1. That Sunset's loss of memory was an extremely odd variable, as it has a very, very low chance of actually happening.
2. That Crystal's presence may have had an effect on this reality's variables, as she is a multiversal being of sorts, and doesn't normally stay in one reality for too long.
3. She would more or less be asked to look into it, only to say something akin to "There are no other reference points in the multiverse I can see at this time. I must be getting a little rusty due to this extended vacation."

Upon the third bit of information being revealed, she'd opt to remove herself from the situation, simply citing that due to the uniqueness of this situation (as far as she can tell, due to being rusty and all), she has no clue as to how to retrieve Sunset's memories. It was a pretty cut and dry role, as far as I was concerned.

Alas, due to the frustration I was beginning to feel at some readers comments about her inclusion, and due to my hands off approach to Crystal (as she is RQK's OC, and therefore, his responsibility in my eyes), among other factors, she was removed from the story.

I want to be crystal clear (no pun intended): I had no desire to outright remove her, but I ultimately left the choice up to RQK. Crystal is his creation, so it was only fitting that her handling was in his hands and not mine. Whether or not you agree with the choice is not important. Personally though, I don't agree with the decision to remove her, when we could have made it more clear who she was, and that she had history with Twilight and Starlight, and have moved on our merry way. I do, however, respect the decision, and regardless of my feelings on the subject, I wouldn't be the one writing the scenes with Crystal, so it doesn't affect my role as co-writer that much.

I am not trying to throw RQK under the bus. While I think this whole thing is unfortunate, and that we could have handled it in a way, I left him with the responsibility of dealing with the fallout of his inclusion to the story, and as such, I am partially responsible. I could have stood my ground on the subject, but I didn't out of frustration with the comment section. RQK also didn't want to make "Reflections" required reading (which I can understand), even though I continue to argue that it wouldn't have been, had we approached the topic with enough foresight. Alas, we didn't, and thus she was cut from the story.

Well, until next we speak
Onyx Archer