So, I'm giving Pages of Harmony a rewrite with a rating change · 10:56pm Sep 4th, 2018
So, I know that my Mature Grimdark fanfic Pages of Harmony gained a bit a notoriety for being a grimdark gorefic (albeit with a plot) similar to the vein of Cupcakes and Rainbow Factory. And I'm here to say that I'm completely doing it over in a rehaul. It will likely be called Pages of Harmony Redux or something along those lines.
Why? A number of reasons.
1. I've vastly improved in my writing. It's been several years since I wrote Pages of Harmony and I've learned a lot since then, both from having more writing practice and familiarizing myself with aspects in different genres. Horror included.
2. Looking back, it was kind of ridiculous. Particularly the Fluttershy chapters. Really the fic, that segment in particular, was trying to pack as many horrors as I could to sow people just how many scary things were out in the world. Obviously even with magic in all likelihood they would have died long earlier.
3. I didn't expand on the plot near as much as I could or should have. The early chapters focused on strictly gore, pretty much The plot and motivations came about later in the fic. If I had been smarter in plotting rather than just "Can I write a fic filled with gore? I'm going to try it!", it would have likely turned out better than it did.
So seeing as the original is an old shame for me now, it's going to be rewritten and reworked. Please consider it to be the canon events to the sequel Empress of Harmony (which I need to get to updating as well), rather than the original.
With that said, what will change?
1. It will likely be Teen-rated rather than Mature. This will allow it to reach a wider audience, and be in line with the sequel's Teen rating giving it a better sense of continuity.
2. The gore and horror will be toned down and (I hope) more realistic (well, magic inducing causing them to live longer aside). The inflictions of extracting the Element essences will likely be more magical-caused based. There will be some gore and horror, but not the drawn-out 4-chaptered gore alphabet levels of gore. I've grown out of that.
3. The plot will be more cohesive and focused on. Rather than strictly focusing on gore-scares and nothing else, Twilight's motives will be explored more and more of a psychological thing.
TL;DR, Pages of Harmony will be heavily reworked to be better, since the original is an old shame for me now.
I remember the days back when I’d PM you about the fic and throw out suggestions, some slightly cringe in hindsight. Awesome to see you’re giving it a redo. It was amazing for my younger self, but I understand maybe it didn’t age so well. I eagerly await it.
4931433 I remember that! Heck, if I recall correctly I think you were the one who introduced me to Death Note. :) Still one of my favorite anime. :)
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I'm not sure if that was me but I'll take the compliment all the same, lol. With a potato chip, of course.
PoH was my preferred "I am angsty at the world I need grimdark stuff" story so I'm looking forward to seeing how you rework it.
4931879 The new version will be less "I'm angry at the world and need grimdark stuff" and more "hey, this actually has a concise plot to it with horror and not complete gore."
I hope you'll post this as a new story instead of overwriting the original. For what it attempted to do, I thought it did really well.
I remember having some misgivings about the Fluttershy chapters, but it can't be understated that I actually read all four of them in one sitting. If nothing else, it was engaging as hell. I'll be all over this reboot the moment you post it.
So, how's it going with the redux? The old story was pretty good (yes, maybe an old shame for you, but good nonetheless). Can't wait to see how you write the new one with out having the gore it's become famous for.
I can't wait! The original Pages of Harmony was one of my absolute favorite fanfics. Cupcakes and Rainbow factory were big and mainstream, but yours was always a lot more interesting. I still can't believe it all started decade ago!
I'm very excited to see a rewrite :)
Hi! I no I'm super late to this but I wanted to say that I look forward to the new redex of POH. THe original itself is interesting and would love to see what your plans are for the reboot of first story.