Friday Update #5 2018-05-18 (a day late but worth it!) · 1:57pm May 19th, 2018
What a week. Though I got side-tracked by getting involved with some debating with a friend, which threw me into a funk, making me unable to write for the story for a couple days. But I recovered and made some good progress anyway. Lesson learned.
First bit of news: We have new art!! BDK has (just today) finished and posted his comic based on the Black Feather preamble -- the zebra prophecy listed at the top of chapter one. I encourage everyone to head on over to his dA page and show him some lovin.
Here's page one of the comic to give you an idea.
I'm very impressed with how well the four comic pages bring life to the words.
So what have I been doing this week? I made a whole lot more progress on Friends and Nightmares, reaching a couple important milestones in the rewrite. This chapter has been a real thorn in my side for the last three years as it has always held the very poor overall flow and structure that I originally designed into it. That has all been cleaned up and all that is left now is some finishing touches on the current bit I'm doing and then move on to the outdoor scenes where they go flying and encounter the sniper. Everything about this chapter is looking really good now. I can't wait to share it.
I have also updated the front-page description of the story's forum to be more of a description of the project than an explanation of why the forum was repurposed.
Can I propose something for your story and universe? just asking
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Ideas are always welcome. I'll let you know if it fits.
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OK than, i need to know first if you are familiar with the something sweet series by Knakerman, because for some reason i think that nix and the candy mare can form a working duo that will give a pinch of comedy to your story, because any story needs some comedic reliefs
my head canon is that nix had actually created the candy mare, and also that sometime after all the things that happens in the something sweet series the candy mare will figure out that her idea of saving the world is flawed because in the end it will be like it always was: her against the world.
if you feel unable to actually write a story for the two i can jump in and i think there will be more that will want to help with this idea.
also i like the idea of shared universe/multiverse so if you are wiling to change a little your concept of how your universe works and to have someone (either me or other person) to write a new fic or series where we find out that nix failed in her plan in your world and that at least the first variant and the one where the blessing returned to be actual continuity for the original past sins and be the reason why the war in your story started in the first place. If you decide to take this path of creating the multiverse and decide to get the candy mare in this, i hilly recommend you to use the DC model of Multiverse, and just replace the world forge with the candy land (the candy mare layer) and the rock of eternity with a place where nix and her close friends dwell, this includes twilight, and where they are protecting something called the source stone, and that source stone is actually where all the other fictional multiversess (the ones from DC, Marvel etc.) are, and they are just little alveoli inside it and considering that recently dc, broke the source wall... well... we can really see what will happen if you want to get this route
like i said i can help if you want
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Hey there. Hmm. How to explain this...
(Without coming across as dismissive)
Because being open to ideas is important!
But potential ideas must pass the consistency test.
To be frank, there's no way a multiverse scenario would fit here.
And there is a specific reason for this.
The Harmony Universe is very comprehensively thought out. We've got it nailed down exactly how the universe came into being, who the major players are, and a whole elaborate meta-story that covers about 200,000 years of history. What's more is that there's a "parent" realm to this universe which I probably shouldn't describe too much at this time, lest I dive deep into spoiler territory.
The thing is, this whole thing is already intricately planned out, down to an incredible level of detail, spanning quite a few interconnected stories which will be written by both myself and DuvetofReason. We have spent two years developing it. One thing we have realized is that it would be pretty cool to have collaborative authors who are interested in writing some of these scenarios out simply because there's several million words of content here and there's simply no way the two of us are going to be able to cover it all without some interested third-parties willing to write side-stories.
To cover some of your points:
I'm not at all familiar with this. And the idea of inserting someone else's OC "Candy Mare" into the story could have serious complications with the original author, not to mention serious complications with the planned flow of the story. Granted, inserting character ideas is an option, but they'd have to not disrupt the already carefully planned out story.
You mentioned comic relief. At this time, Rumble covers much of this. His interactions with the rest of the cast provide some very important comic relief, and he can pull it off without derailing the tone of serious situations. Additionally, Rumble's role in the story extends far beyond comic relief.
The way the Harmony Universe works is pretty much non-negotiable. I've got pages and pages of intricate notes on precisely how the universe works, including the metaphysics model, how magic works, the limitations of magic by source and by user species (or pony tribe). Also all the different classifications of forms of life, the different realms, such as the Aether, Mirrorspace, and the Lifestream, all separate from Realspace and each of these having very well-defined parameters. All of ponykind's history, including the planet Equus where they live, is well-documented and interconnected with the overarching plot of the meta-story. It's all extremely detailed, and there really isn't room to insert radically different concepts (especially those that directly affect key events in the timeline) without derailing everything.
If Nyx failed here, Equus would be lost. And that would only be the beginning of the troubles. While it would be interesting to explore exactly how that catastrophe would play out, it wouldn't go how you're suspecting it would go. There are unimaginable horrors at play here, and things have been carefully laid out in a specific way because that is the way they must go for the sake of quite a lot of things. I'm only being vague here to avoid spoilers on major multi-story universal plot points.
The thing which Pen referred to as the 'blessing' I am keeping contained within Past Sins. That will not be returning in Black Feather nor the Harmony Universe overall. What Nyx is up against in this story is much, much bigger than this, and it is all carefully documented in our universe notes.
The motive of the zebra war is quite thoroughly documented in our notes as well. We spent some months last year plotting out exactly why the war began, what the opening attack was, how the war progressed (including dates and key events), what kind of effect it had on technology advancement, along with how all of that blends in with the surrounding history, both past and future. What I can tell you (as you may have guessed from the prophecy at the top of chapter one) is that Nyx was a major instigating factor for zebra aggression. But the true reasons all of this played out as it did is one of those long-term secrets of the Harmony Universe which will be revealed in time.
The parent realm to Realspace is already determined in our overarching meta-story. This isn't something we can change without demolishing everything we've already built. There are bigger players here than Nyx and Twilight, etc. Though those two (and Flurry Heart) have very critical roles in how it all pans out, along with quite a lot of other characters.
So hopefully the above text didn't feel like a huge bucket of water on your ideas. I appreciate the thought. Really. But you must realize that the universe we've designed here is already much, much larger than I've had the opportunity to let on. It's incredibly huge. But if you do want to help... there's a whole lot of material to write about. I could very easily let you in on the details that would give you the bigger picture, along with perhaps some ideas where you could write if you wanted to make a side story to fit within the canon of the Harmony Universe.
Also, Nyx's name is spelled Nyx. Just thought I'd mention that.
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yeah sorry to mess with your plans, i din't knew they were that big, still there is something you can do so my plans to work, make sure this version of nix know about the original, past sins version of Nix, the version that had done what i had described in my suggestions also sorry for my spelling of the name but i prefer to spell it like the name of the satellite that was inspired by the goddess that named her so i can distinguish her for the Greek deity of night
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My Nyx is a continuation of Past Sins Nyx. However, she destroyed the 'curse' which was corrupting everyone. One might say that the original purpose for which Nyx was designed was separated from her person (who she was). So what she was originally may have been formed into a complete and evil person, but because Celestia interrupted the spell, that part was not complete yet and thus Nyx was made into an essentially "morally blank" person. And then raised by Twilight to be a good person. The part of her which was left behind in the armor shards was later destroyed (in the Past Sins story). It is referenced I think once, by name, in my story, but it does not come back.
What is happening to Nyx now, in Black Feather, is an entirely separate issue. It is something which happens to all natural alicorns as they reach maturity. She has yet to discover the full extent of what this means.