Fallout Of Itself · 8:26am Nov 3rd, 2019
When Nov. 1 hit, I was thinking of having another go at a 50k word story for the month. I decided against it, however, as my recent, unforeseen break in writing has put my upheaval output at an all time low. I want to crank out at least a chapter before Christmas.
So I’ve decided to just to throw out the idea and, at the same time pose a question.
I was thinking of doing my own take on Fallout: Equestria. The plot would be very simplistic and follow a well tread path. Someone is taken from a vault, and their friend ventures out to get them back. I would take my own liberties in the setting. There would be no past Great War with the zebras or even a nuclear holocaust. It would still be a post-apocalyptic setting but I was thinking of making it more magical that nuclear. Something happened in Canterlot at the height of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s reign, which was a time of great advances in magical technology. A terrible explosion of magic devastated the land, indeed the whole world, rupturing not the terrain, and killing a large percentage of the population, but also disrupting the very essence of the magic that suffuses the world. Massive chunks of arcane crystals have burst out of the ground, and even out of thin air, irradiating the surroundings with uncontrollable and dangerous magic. Necromancy-laced areas are not only devoid of life, but exposed travelers are subjected to a severe necrosis of their bodies, rapidly zombifying them while Enchantment-laced areas will quickly create all sorts of psychoses. Canterlot itself is shrouded by a thick fog of magical power and no one knows what lies at the heart of it.
Instead of ghouls, there are the infused: ponies and other creatures that have these arcane crystals embedded unto their hides. They are immune to the effects of the rampant magic and have gained some longevity at the cost of looking like a hideous amalgamation of flesh and mineral. Some of the infused have turned craven, attacking others on sight as if trying to feed on them. They appear attracted to magical objects and abilities. There would be other wildlife out in the wastes, all corrupted by magical infusion one way or another.
There will still be guns, but they are more like refined arcane crystal devices that fire telekinetic bolts. More like lasers that strike with concussive pellets of force. There’d be weird shit like conjuration grenades that temporarily summon a swarm of deadly hornets on detonation.
I don’t know if these things have been done. I’ve read only a few actual Fallout Equestria stories. I do think that I’ve taken a bit too much liberty with the setting. So the question I pose is this. What do you think is at the essence of a Fallout Equestria story? Does it have to have radiation and nukes? Although it was megaspells in the original. What about conventional guns and power armor? Does it need stupid perks at the end of every chapter? Does it need a lot of fucking and drug abuse among the characters? What do you expect of a Fallout Equestria-type story?
The drug use and abuse is central to the setting, most of what makes some of the generic raiders fun is them using stuff like psycho as they try and murder your face.
The sex is secondary really, a romantic subplot, perhaps the reason this friend followed them out of the vault, can be fun to play with. Dont let it distract you from the major issue however.
Nukes, or megaspells, ARE Fallout. They are the reason for the whole shebang. As is the Great War. Its necessary.
That said your idea has merit, lots of it, perhaps try a new area of equestria instead of canterlot to do the crystals. The setting of the world and condition of Canterlot is established in the verse, same with the Ministry Mares and their parts in the verse.
Perhaps use Sunset or Starlight as a jumping off point for the crystals, an interaction with the mega spell perhaps and their particular unique skill set caused the infusions and magical zones like you were talking about. Maybe set them up as generals set to guard a major city, trottingham, Manehatten, Las Pegasus. Or even an entirely new area...call it Los Alicornes. (I'm not sorry, closest thing to Angel's in this show lol)
Maybe even have it be a unique redemption for those two, given a purpose, they choose harmony and Equestria over their petty schemes and rise from conscripts to battle Magus to ArchMagus General. Honestly the Infused could take some inspiration from the Scorched from Fallout 76 and have it be a hive mind like the false alicorns but controlled by giant beasts...Dragons come to mind, and other than Spike are not touched on in the main story.
No the stupid perks at the end of each chapter aren't NEEDED persay but, they do add immersion since picking perks is central to character improvement and survival. That immersion is what makes Upheaval so amazing. The blog posts you make about the artifacts and the main characters of that universe, the agony they dealt with, the powers of the artifacts and different races. They aren't NEEDED either...but it sure helps.
Small addition to the drug use, while little pip dealt with a minor mentats addiction, some of the other drugs have hardly been touched on. What about the withdrawl effects of psycho? Buff out? Jet? It's quite a list, and if you start playing with the effects it can be fun.
Also, the magic guns could be the replacement for laser weapons and plasma weapons, have it be a prototype tested by these trusted generals, maybe developed by them, due to their magical prowess and intellect and only issued in the immediate area as a trial until mass shipments could happen once trials had been passed.
I've read a few Fallout: Equestria stories, and between different authors, I've seen a lot of different takes which use the setting as a springboard for a lot of different themes and ideas. The original was just a traditional dark adventure story, the main appeal of which, I would argue, was the world-building, and seeing how Kkat incorporated the crossover elements and blended the two franchises. Horizons explored darker and heavier themes, was more character-focused, and had elements of mystery and horror. Pink Eyes was an extremely silly comedy whose protagonist was named Puppysmiles. Speak is a character study, and didn't have much adventuring at all (or at least it didn't early on).
All of them feel like very different stories, but if you were to ask me what is the one unifying element that makes them Fo:E stories, then... well, it's the setting. And if you're not interested in using that setting, then it's not a Fo:E story, but an original creation. So I would say take as much inspiration as you want, but don't feel obligated to shackle yourself to Fo:E's setting and trappings if that's not what you want to write.
The concept of a great magical accident that starts the end isn't new but it could be interesting, the problem is your timing. The great war took a lengthy period of time to break down the culture. The vault and military industrial complex weren't built in a day so how would that all get built so rapidly in face of a magical armageddon?
I had a similar idea though I'd of made it an isolated valley off the traditional wasteland that got hit with a different sort of bomb.
What you're describing is a interesting idea for a story setting but isn't Fallout Equestria
Fallout Equestria at its core is a crossover with Fallout so if you're not inspirational from the games or basing it off of the original Fallout Equestria then I'm going to say you shouldn't call it Fallout Equestria
One of the core essences of Fallout: Equestria, as with any other Fallout stories, is war. A large part of the appeal of F:E (in my opinion actually the bigest) comes from the tensions of the conflict both peri- and post-war (the Enclave, the Steel Rangers, etc.), the moral dilemma, the mistakes and regrets of the characters for the things they committed during and after the war, and the strive to surpass the hatred. If your story isn't based on war but just a magical nuclear mishap with zombie creatures, it wouldn't technically be a F:E story but would be more of a Resident Evil crossover.
That being said, there is nothing wrong with that setting you came up with and you can just use it to make your own FIM apocalyptic entry. You don't need to adhere to the Fallout format. There are many FIM apocalyptic stories that are not F:E ( The End of Ponies, End-Fade-Falter trilogy, Among the Ruins come to mind).
Actually I have my own idea of an FIM apocalyptic story based on The Matrix. However, considering English is my second language, I doubt a full-fledged fic will ever come out of it. So if you are interested, I am more than happy to share and discuss that idea with you via mail. Considering the job you've done with Upheaval, I am confident that you can turn it into a great story. Personally I don't like the notion of sole ruler Princess Twilight in season 9, as it really goes against the foundation of FIM and has many problems with logic behind it. But it's up to you if you want to stick to canon for your story. I think my idea can swing both ways.
PS: I hope you won't drop Upheaval. It's actually the story I am most invested in and consider the best after F:E. I am writing a review for Reckoning now, hopefully will finish before New Year with my laziness.
Haven't started reading Journeys yet as I don't like reading half way because it takes away the feeling. But I may as well just start it.
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I already said that I’m not writing this hypothetical story. I just put out the idea as a springboard to the question of what makes a Fallout Equestria story. All of my stories, save for Undone by the Blood, are Upheaval. The only reason why I would drop Upheaval is if I decide to stop writing pony fiction altogether.
Successful merger of 2 universes the audience liked. Also, FoE world makes more sense than Fallout 3 world. Kkat took all those immersion-breaking game conventions like PipBoy managing your backpack, VATS, magical (energy) weapons, still working terminals and
orcssupermutants and made them fit in more elegantly. So favorite setting + cute ponies = New experience.Yes, because this subset of post-apocalypse genre is already well-established and has a lot of fans with certain expectations. Megaspells and Balefire bombs are technically speaking not nuclear bombs, but because FoE is a crossover and not a stand-alone writing it gets a pass.
I think they were left untouched because it's a crossover and people reading it have certain expectations. For me, battle saddle grenade launchers, magical weapons and magically enhanced melee weapons make more sense than rifles, revolvers and sub-machine guns. It was bad enough for me getting around the mental image of an earth pony swinging a battle hammer in his teeth without instantly shattering them on an impact, but accepting ponies shooting revolvers with their mouths is a little bit too much.
No, it's just a goofy way of reminding readers about character's new abilities that were already explained earlier in the chapter. If they weren't explained, than it's just plain lazy.
How else do you get kids' attention these days? But seriously, drugs and sex have their place in the post apocalypse, but not in the way they are usually portrayed in FoE fics. High energy personalities, like the Vault Dweller cannot be habitual drug consumers or sex maniacs. To care about the state of the world, the morality of your fellow ponies and to be prepared to make sacrifices for their improvement, you need serious motivators like Kids, Family, Tribe. If you've ever seen junkies and promiscuous types IRL, they are not the kind that is usually motivated by higher ideals.
Witcher 3 type quests, not Fallout 3-4 type quests. Your take on FoE is in my opinion closer to Stalker than it is to Fallout, because you replaced Nuclear War with Scientific Accident. In Stalker scientists built a machine that could modify the local fabric of reality using human thought (Wish Granter) to create a utopia, but everything went bad because instead it began to manifest human fears (radiation everywhere, monsters from peoples' nightmares, stepping into an invisible terrain anomaly) and human greed (healing artifacts, gold).
I cant wait to see what you will create with the equestrian fallout as a setting.
You asked a question about the true essence of fallout stories, that however is a very intricate question mostly because everyone will have different opinions about the subject.
My personal view is that it is about the struggle of the journey regardless of the setting(great stories like "Murky number seven"perfectly portray this), so you need not to worry about how you are changing things, infact i think it will be even better.
For you see, the other element that makes the pony fallout what it is, is the magic. That includes spells, artifacts, creatures(now that i think of it abominations are a pretty common thing for the fallout, which can be exploited well due to the abundance of mythical creatures) and the land itself.
Magic and Myth are what make the mlp universe good and unique, and inserting the element of strife(something the original show lacks) the creation of a great saga is inevitable.
By removing the human elements of the current fallout you will make magic feel more natural to the world, make it more equestrian than human.
P.S.
Please don't forget about the mythical creatures and the mystery of exploring a location and its hidden history.
Stories i think you can draw inspiration from are:
- "Murky number seven'' for its strife and friendships
- "Daring Do and the hand of doom'' for the myths of the past
and its sequel(i am recommending the hand of doom only because of the sequel)
- "The life of Penumbra Heartbreak" for its unique blend of equestrian magic and technology.
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I see. Sorry I got confused. Anyway, I am glad you're committed to Upheaval. Look forward to the next release.
Mind, I read Fallout: Equestria before I played the video games, so I find a lot of the gamey parts (such as the perks at the end of the chapter) to be unnecessary, though I don't really have a strong opinion on it.
The core of Fallout: Equestria stories for me has always been the world-building and history. It's a post-apocalyptic setting - how did we go from the idyllic S1 Equestria to the wasteland we see now? The details that Fo:E did that I think were especially important are:
I think memory orbs were a really good way to accomplish these; certainly simply using storytellers is insufficient, and holo-tapes and diaries can only get you so far. Having a first-person narrative with an OC main character that hasn't been exposed to the wasteland who can react alongside the reader helped as well, though I don't think it's necessary at all.
Radiation and nukes? I suppose that they're ultimately not that important, so long as it's clear that the land is significantly transformed and not for the better. On the other hand, I've read a lot of such AU stories and they don't feel like Fo:E stories, so I dunno. Guns/firearms are almost certainly a must, and probably something near modern in terms of technology - stuff like steampunk would be right out. Power armor isn't essential, but that level of development seems expected. Firing non-bullets is fine, as long as they aren't like crossbows or muskets, probably. And if you make it so earth ponies don't fire them with their tongues that'd probably be a vast improvement. Drugs and sex... I dunno. Certainly vices, but I don't think it has to be those two specific things.
When I first saw 'Undone by Blood' I decided not to read it specifically because I was afraid if it got popular you would spend more time on it meaning less Upheaval.
Being older and wiser, there have been many times when I've felt the urge to write something great for one of my stories that's some side tangent or 100+ chapters ahead of what I have posted and I forced myself to not write it and instead tried to write whatever chapter was next in line for being posted and this almost never worked. If the idea for Fallout Equestria is there then writing it will probably help rather than hurt your other writings.