Frequently Asked Questions about AToTW · 10:17pm Sep 13th, 2019
Good Morning from my Writing Lair! This is Shadow_8472, and today, I'm going to try and explain some of my writing choices for A Tale of Two Worlds so I don't have to reexplain everything when someone new helps me develop my story.
Q: Who are the main characters?
A: Applesauce -- A Unicorn colt from the next universe over where the Apple Siblings had a big sis'. Cutie Mark: Blank Flank!
Windy Light -- A Pegasus mare from Ponyville. Cutie Mark: Streams of wind
Dr. Stone -- An elderly Crystal Pony inspired by elements from MacGyver and Indiana Jones with some military experience resisting Sombra. Cutie Mark: Magnifying glass
James -- Human in Equestria. He's an author and a member of the Texas militia.
[unintroduced character]
[unintroduced character]
Twilight Sparkle -- No introduction needed. Twilight isn't exactly a main character in this story, but she's an important enough supporting character to the story to tag.
Q: Is Dr. Stone from that Anime/Manga?
A: No. This Dr. Stone is my own creation, made before I had even heard of that other Dr. Stone. The oldest surviving reference I have to my Dr. Stone is two months after the manga was first published.
Q: Why present tense?
A: I have three reasons ordered from strongest to weakest.
1. A fellow fanfiction author whom I respect deeply writes her Sonic stories in the present tense. She told me it's a little more flexible than using past tense, and I've found it to be useful for saying when something actually happened in the past tense relative to the narration.
2. The story's "first draft" was actually written as role play.
3. I tried writing my second story for FimFiction in past tense, and kept slipping into present tense.
4. I don't want to go rewriting my whole story so far to be past tense, and consistency is key.
Q: Why are you capitalizing Unicorn, Pegasus, Earth Pony, etc?
A: This one is mostly personal preference. It is accepted in the style guide, even if it's not the most common. I have been called stubborn when it comes to advice, and with good reason. I may change it eventually, but trying to force the idea that I should switch right now because X, Y, and Z will send me into defense mode. I have been trying to be more open to new ideas, but this one is a little more deeply rooted.
Q: Why are you writing a story on a role play?
A: AToTW wasn't a normal role play. We tried to keep the story believable within our understanding of canon established through the end of season 6. While we called it a role play, I think a more accurate way to describe it would be more like this:
A Tale of Two Worlds is a collaboration story originally written by four authors, each in control of one to two main OC characters, with Commander Stryker in charge of the main plot.
Q: Applesauce's accent is hard to read!
A: OUCH! It wasn't meant to be. In fact, it was based on something I heard about in a book Spellsinger's Scherzo. I've never read it, but I hear the author uses creative spellings to portray accents. Writing Applesauce this way brought me a lot of joy while first playing him. It's one of his founding concepts, and I've built other traits on top of it: for example, his accent strengthens when angry or upset; it will weaken over time, just not over any amount of time this story will cover.
Final Question: I plan on updating this list as time goes on. If I linked you here, and I sound like I've changed something, go ahead and let me know on Discord or wherever you are helping me. Otherwise, what questions/answers should I add?
