Stories I'll (Probably) Never Write, #8! · 8:13pm Nov 24th, 2018
Been a while since one of these, huh? Over a year since the last plot bunny dump, two years since the last of the type detailing a story I never really tried to write in earnest. I'm not sure why I'm keeping track of that.
This one requires a bit of explaining and has big, fat, Melvin Underbelly-sized spoilers for the first Overlord game and perhaps the series in general, so if you'd like to get straight to the story part and are already familiar with the series, please scroll down to the next purple Bananas.
If not and you've been meaning to get around to that title for about 11 years now, you might want to give this post a miss.
Anywho, I'd like to say I'm a fan of the Overlord games. I'd like to, but having recently played through Overlord 2 again, gotten the impression that the latest Overlord (Fellowship of Evil) is deep-fried garbage*, and the only other one around (not counting whatever that Minions thing was supposed to be) is exclusive the Wii of all things, the first game is the only one I can rightly say I liked. Its full-campaign-length DLC, Raising Hell, wasn't bad either, but I could have sworn I wasn't having a great time with it on my first playthrough, many years ago, so pinch of salt. 
*I couldn't even find a story summary for it, which suggests to me that among the few who played it, none of those that finished cared to tell the rest of the world.
If you're not familiar, then allow me to rub some acid in your eyes; Overlord is a series about taking control of a big, stompy, armored, Dark Lord Sauron-looking guy and commanding a small, but growing army of imps (color-coded for your convenience) to join you in murder, mayhem, and taking over the world in the name of Evil... Or not, as is your choice in the first game, which is basically what this story would be based on.
The nameless player character never speaks in more than the occasional grunting noise, so filling in for him and giving the player direction is Gnarl, a very old minion that effectively serves as your 'adviser,' but it's pretty obvious that he's the one calling the shots even as he refers to you as 'Master,' because the player can only follow his plans (give or take the opportunities to do something good, which he still reads as the overlord being practical in some way, like guaranteeing live servants by not slaughtering villagers) throughout the game. The closest this ever comes to being made explicit in the games (that I know of) is at the very end of Overlord 2, which implies that Gnarl just uses various overlords to fulfill his own ambitions, even if that's just in an utterly insane devotion to 'Evil.'
So, freshly pulled out of a coffin some time after a heroic assault on the dark tower, Gnarl brings the overlord up to speed, how the heroes killed his predecessor and made off with most of the wealth and magical artifacts of the tower, looters and the ravages of time pretty much taking care of the rest. The overlord's mission becomes to go out with a band of psychotic imps and reclaim what once was theirs, killing everyone and everything that gets in their way. In doing so, the overlord finds that the band of heroes have pretty much gone their separate ways, all falling to one of the seven deadly sins (for those not familiar with Christian dogma: Lust, Greed, Envy, Wrath, Pride, Gluttony, and Sloth) as they rest on their laurels and get comfortable. The halfling thief is now a corpulent monster implied to eat people as he constantly indulges his appetite, the dwarf now enslaves elves to mine endless amounts of gold for him, the paladin now runs some kind of depraved sex cult while zombies infest his city, etc.
You can probably see where I'm going with this.
Bananas.
The premise is set in the human world, maybe a decade after the events of the Rainbooms' adventures around Canterlot High. I was thinking that, in years of magical mishap after magical mishap, Equestrian magic and possibly that of other worlds has spilled into what was once a realm pretty much devoid of magical energy, monsters and sorcery now being an every day sight in most parts of the planet. Same as in the first Overlord, the heroes of the realm have gotten used to always being on top of things and grown complacent, not caring so much anymore if people are killed (hopefully played for laughs, if only through sociopathic comedy) as they enjoy the benefits of having saved the world so many times.
Naturally, I picture Pinkie as the one to go for Gluttony, now much heavier as she parties and pigs out on pastries all the time, demanding everyone around her party and be happy too.
Sunset and Rainbow are pretty interchangeable as Wrath and Pride, so I'll do theirs at the same time. The one who took up Pride* would be sitting in their own palace somewhere, soaking up endless praise (and possibly crowning themselves Princess, if it's Sunset) from their sheep-like followers (which we saw as recently as Roller-Coaster of Friendship) for all the good they've done even as the rest of the world around them slowly goes to pieces. Whoever took up Wrath would acknowledge that things have actually gotten pretty bad, but blame everyone else for how their group pretty much fell apart** and that they're not really heroes anymore. Rather than talking things out or trying to bring everyone together again, however, they lash out, killing any big monsters (along with anyone they personally deem to be a 'bad' guy) they can find in an effort to still be The Good Guy™ at the end of the day.
*The closest thing to a Pride boss in the first game was the wizard, who, possessed by the spirit of the old overlord, whispered into the heroes' ears to corrupt them ("Have another roast pig, Melvin! Have two! You're a hero now!"), sounding quite pleased with himself when he recounts doing so. More on this detail later.
**More on this later, too.
Rarity, canonically having issues with envy, works pretty well as the equivalent here. I was thinking that her wish to become a major fashion mogul wasn't completely dashed, but impeded somewhat by up-and-comers who do their tailoring with the help of all that magic in the air, not just to make their clothes, but to make them magical. Waterfalls appearing to flow down and form a dress without getting anything around it wet, changing, flowing colors always complimentary of the wearer magically woven into one-size-fits-absolutely-all articles to be wearable and sharable by anyone at any time, morphing bodysuits that turn from bikinis that don't leave tan-lines to formal wear with the adjustment of a slider, all things Rarity could never hope to sew or stitch without magic.
The thing is, others had mastered this before she even knew it was possible, and while her designs were still popular with certain demographics that 'preferred the old ways (h'oh, yes, mhur, quite),' she could never get as popular as those who learned to make shoes that could change from comfortable sneakers to glittering high heels (that don't even pinch the wearer's toes) in under a second.
Jealous beyond description at the 'unfairness' of these upstarts using the magic SHE (and also her friends) let into this world to outdo outsell HER, Rarity takes to cat burglary, stealing designs and money from those far more successful than her by night and driving herself insane with the effort to copy their work in her workshop by day, never quite able to make things as good as what those who started with magic tailoring before she did. (That part may just be in her head; thinking her work has to be not just good, but completely blow everyone else out of the water, and none of her ideas (let alone the ones that she can actually get to work) are anywhere near good enough.)
"Yea, yea, just tell me which one is Lust already!"
Fine, keep your shirt on. Or don't, as the case may be.
I picked Applejack for that one, though thinking about it, I guess she's interchangeable with Twilight as Greed (spoiler; I chose Twilight as Greed). Applejack sick of making a farmer's wage, demanding more for all the hard work she's put into saving the planet, becoming a robber baron type in Canterlot while Twilight eagerly learns all there is to know about carnal delights. That would sync up with the paladin character in the original game, actually; "I thought fun was just something that happened to other people!", sick of studying her whole life away, wants all the hands-on experience she can get now that she's older, prettier (Rarity: "You're WELCOME, you ungrateful little-"), and famous enough to have her own entourage to take full advantage of.
But no, I picked Applejack for Lust, though I guess it's still similar to the "I thought fun was just something that happened to other people!" paladin fellow. Tired of working on the farm all the time and not feeling like she's getting the most out of life, she takes up a new meaning of 'cowgirl' as she now spends all her time pleasing herself as a combination of circus strongman and dominatrix. She started by realizing how much easier life is when she relies on her powers for as much as possible, how hard she was working before while Pinkie and others lived it up as heroes, eventually coming to think "Why should I keep working hard? Haven't I done enough? Let the rest of the world work for me now!"
I didn't have any specific thoughts for where her family is in all this... and that's how I'd prefer it to stay. 
Twilight ended up being my choice for Greed, but for knowledge rather than currency. In the Friendship Games she wanted to understand and learn everything, no matter the cost to anyone else, her actions back then having been inherently greedy, so I could kind of see her going back to that when offered the smorgasbord of magical opportunities flooding into her world, holing up in her lab, conducting experiments on the energies she'd never seen before no matter the consequences on the world around her (her domain would probably be a surreal hellscape because of this) dissecting previously impossible creatures, and possibly even Frankensteining them back together to serve as obstacles for our Overlord (will get to them soon) and their minions to overcome.
And finally we reach Fluttershy as Sloth. Just like the nature-loving elf in Overlord, I pictured her going off to the woods somewhere to live in harmony with the animals, staying out of all conflicts and refusing to do anything but frolic. Whether she ends up corrupted because the endless pollution and devastation of the environment, sending her into the very rage she hoped to escape, or she turns into a tree or something due to her 'The Nice One' status gained worldwide after they got famous and she got used to people fawning over her as being sweet and perfect, her wish to protect that label settling into her mind and twisting like gnarled roots, no matter how deeply she denies that she wants to be remembered as good and serene no matter what happens to the rest of the world.
I didn't think I'd get this far without mentioning the sirens, but the fallen heroes' side of this really is the more interesting bit.
Remember that bit about the magic of other worlds flowing into this one? From there, I pictured the Minion army tunneling into the human world in search of a new Overlord, something Gnarl (appearing in this story as himself!) has a knack for. The thing is, the games suggest to us that he doesn't just go for a brilliant or capable leader or even someone necessarily evil, he looks for a general, someone to lead the minions in the field while he gives the 'suggestions' on how the overlord (who really just functions as a big minion, hopefully smart enough to direct the rest for the games' slim RTS element) might better expand 'their' evil domain.
This, I think, is a perfect fit for Aria Blaze.
Rainbow Rocks shows us that she absolutely wants power and control, but isn't really all that bright on her own, takes orders pretty well, and can definitely be used as part of someone else's schemes, especially if it's one where she benefits. Gnarl, seeing this (one way or another), would likely decide "A little on the scrawny side, but I've worked with that before."* Then he'd direct the minions to 'happen upon' Aria discovering a planted magical object (either the big, metal overlord gauntlet with the light on it or the pointy helmet), declaring her the new overlord, and explaining what that means, Aria more than happy to wield power again after years of working some mundane, human job.
*The guy in the Wii game looks kind of shrimpy compared to other, burlier overlords.
I pictured Aria taking Gnarl and the minions home, meeting the other sirens, and brief, comedic chaos unfolding as Sonata freaks out, thinking they're being invaded by pixies again and Adagio ends up talking to Gnarl before the browns* start looking at her like she's some kind of orange sheepie. Minions love killing helpless animals.
The following scene would probably play out like this:
===
Browns: "Sheepie! Kill?"
Adagio: "What?"
Gnarl, to Aria: "The Browns do love a bit of carnage, Master, but tell me; who are these, heheh, shapely women to you?"**
Aria: "They're, uh, I, they're-"
Browns: "Kill, KILL!"
Adagio: "EEK!!"
Aria, raising her gauntlet: "STOP! That one is, uh, my mistress!"
Adagio and Sonata's jaws drop.***
Gnarl: "Ah, well, it wouldn't do to butcher an overlord's Dark Ladies, so-"
Aria, unamused: "Wait," she says pointing to Sonata, "that one is not my mistress."
Browns: "Kill!"
Sonata: "HELP!!"
Adagio, brows furrowed: "Aria."
Aria, sighing. "Fine, she's... my court jester?"
Sonata: "WHAT."
Gnarl: "Oh, very good, Sire! Hearing tales and songs of one's own greatness rarely loses its charm. But if it should, beating the jester is always good fun!"
Sonata: "Eek."
===
*I forgot to explain, those color-coded minions? Browns are psychotic brutes, basic warriors, Reds are fireball-throwing, ranged damage types, Greens are foul-smelling, back-stabbing rogues that can turn invisible when stationary, and Blues are fish-things that revive dead minions, can hurt incorporeal creatures, and don't drown in knee-high water.
**Gnarl's comments toward evil mistresses suggest that he is a fucking creep, and possibly on the masochistic side, which might be part of why he insists on being the adviser rather than his own overlord.
***In this story, Aria has very secret feelings for Adagio. Neither of the others have any idea. Aria might actually have a thing or two in common with Gnarl, now that I think of it.
So, Aria takes the reigns (under Gnarl's direct guidance) as the overlord, Adagio is kept in whatever ends up being the Dark Tower as her mistress, not allowed to go anywhere or do much of anything but work on the tower's interior decorating with the gold Aria brings home after a long day of pillage, and Sonata is similarly stuck in the tower as the jester. To her relief, Aria hardly slaps her around at all, though she is expected to dance for her amusement. Sonata still prefers this over being used as one of the Browns; a brute whose only role is to die fighting 'in the name of evil.'
Part of this is because Gnarl comes to suspect that, if allowed more control, Adagio might well and truly take over, so he might urge Aria to replace her with a younger, prettier evil mistress later in the story. This would backfire on him when Adagio, seeing what he's trying to do, fires up her own siren routine to make the possible replacement (whoever it ended up being) look plain and possibly even ugly in comparison. If Adagio/Sonata/Both know that Aria likes Adagio by this point, she'd find a non-verbal way to remind her of this.
The significance of this in the game is that the player is given a choice between a fairly composed, no-nonsense type (Rose) that isn't above what the overlord does if it keeps things neat and orderly (there being the thorns), and a vapid, buxom golddigger who is at least honest with her disposition, really just pretty to look at (Velvet). As Adagio is pretty level-headed and still... Adagio, I thought it'd be funny to have the Rose-like character bring out her Velvet side to make the choice redundant.
Part of the reason for that is that if I were writing this, I'd most likely have had Gnarl killed by the end (if only by old age finally doing him in and his attempt to mold a replacement falling through). It's not that he doesn't have his own loathesome kind of charm, just that I wanted to see a definitive end to the cycle and I doubt the games will ever give me one. Actually, if they keep making Overlord games and he does finally croak, I wouldn't be surprised if he came back as a ghost or something, or possessed someone in the exact same way as the overlord that inhabited the wizard in the first game. He's speculated to be an overlord possessing a minion in the first place, which might explain why, despite clearly being a Brown, his skin is purple, he's lived this long, and he's much smarter than any other minion yet seen.
So, about the cause of the Rainbooms falling apart? I was thinking it started with Fluttershy, having serious qualms after the Rainbooms are inevitably forced to do something that doesn't leave them 100% squeaky clean in order to save the day. It wasn't like they had to break a window and she just couldn't live with the guilt, but probably some bad guy forcing a sadistic choice on them and they weren't able to save everyone. She has concerns, some agree with her, some are more inclined to think they were just doing what they had to and shouldn't feel the tiniest trace of remorse, they argue, but whatever everyone else thinks, she doesn't have the heart to do what they did again, leaving for parts unknown. The group splintered further from there, until everyone was doing their own thing alone.
I will not write this because:
-There'd have to be a lot of death and violence in anything involving the minion army, even if it's just the people-nobody-cares-about+bosses dying, and I think the reader might have more fun just playing the game themselves* while I write lighter, fluffier stuff.
-I don't have much of a central story in mind beyond "Aria goes around in bulky overlord armor leading minions to eventually confront the former heroes, possibly being given the choice to spare each one once she's knocked some sense into them." And it doesn't even need to be the sirens as the overlord and non-Gnarl crew, I could just as easily picture someone like Indigo Zap wielding the axe,** but then I'd have to find room for the rest of the Shadowbolts in the story.
-If I were reading a story based on an Overlord game, I don't think it'd be nearly as entertaining as just playing the game, if that makes sense, even if you cut out 90% of the combat and (for lack of better word) puzzles.
-And as usual, no clue how it would end.
*But just the first one and maybe Raising Hell. Overlord 2 might not be a bad game, per se (not a good one, either, if you ask me)***, but it's definitely not as good as the first, and Fellowship of Evil, from what I gather, was just awful. This is probably why we haven't had a new Overlord game since, but the series kind of did all it could reasonably do in the first game.
**You usually start with a battleaxe in Overlord, because it's the midpoint between swords and maces in terms of speed and damage.
***And because we're talking about Overlord here, I have to clarify that I mean 'good' and 'bad' as in well-made and competently-executed, not in the moral sense.
Y'know, when I hear Overlord, I can only think about the anime. Which ALSO involves an evil guy who can go around in big bulky armor with a scheming right hand man who is frighteningly clever and a near endless army. And he's our PROTAGONIST.
I loved the first two games. Overlord 1 had the best story, but I thought 2 did a good job improving the mechanics.
I think this would be fun, I'd make Sunset wrath and Rainbow pride though. Rainbow's the proudest character we've ever seen, and Sunset has a heck of a temper.
4972485
True, but ridiculous, blinding pride was pretty much Sunset's only defining trait in the first movie and Rainbow has the shortest fuse of the main 6. As said, they both work for either role, so I'd have probably spent my time writing any scene in which either appeared thinking "But would the other one work better here?", "Doing this would make just as much sense if it were the other one...", "Blaming everyone else for things falling apart suggests pride too.", and so on. Possibly the same for Twilight and Applejack.
4972475
The game came long before the anime (or even the manga), but they are wildly different in terms of tone. I went into the anime expecting something like Konosuba if it took itself so seriously that it came around and become silly, but was suprised that Overlord (anime) was doing what it was doing with a completely straight face and serious, non-parody plot. Where the games poke fun at fantasy tropes and make the point (directly spelled out by the final boss in his last moments) that "The good don't know how close to evil they really are", the anime looked to me like a serious fantasy drama playing out alongside a peek into the mind of a gamer.
That is to say, Ainz/Moroma/whatever-he-calls-himself-at-a-give-time's behavior is exactly like that of a player character; pretty much apathetic to the lives of those around him (those that would be NPCs if he was still in the MMO the story starts in) barring those he personally has some connection to, in exactly the same way a player probably doesn't care about any NPCs that don't directly help them out or follow their whims, content to slaughter hundreds or thousands of (in-universe, I mean) living, breathing, feeling beings if it gets them a shiny new item or fills an XP bar. Ainz's undead status allows an understandably cold, detached approach to killing and such in the same way players ("It's just a game," something that wouldn't make sense for the player to say in-character, making their behavior utterly monstrous from the perspective of those inside the game) snuff out non-existent lives and his bumbling with plots and not really knowing what's going on with his own subordinate's schemes reminds me a lot of how a player, due to the limitations of a game, can't really be the one to drive a plot so much as follow the rails as laid out by someone or something else, even though Ainz making his own choices (given that freedom by not being trapped in a narrative assembled by someone else) is what drives his underlings' actions.
There's a lot more to think about in the anime than the games, is what I'm getting at here, so I completely understand that reaction.
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And Ainz is trying and succeeding in taking over the world.
Well, if you want to try reading an Overlord fic that mostly works, there's always Overlady, which fuses the game with Zero No Tsukaima/Familiar of Zero... but you don't really need to know that setting to appreciate it.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8753582/1/Overlady