Shadows Blog - Some Facts and Background Info · 8:05pm Nov 17th, 2019
So, I get messages, discord requests, and quite a bit of buzz about Shadows, its creation, and various other questions regarding the story and the ShadowsVerse. So I'm going to kind of condense a lot of it here so people can get some juicy side information while we are on a slowed update schedule. Consider it a "reward" for continued patience with the story.
Why is Shadows so long?
This is one I get a lot, and many people even feel the story has "dragged on" for too long, but I assure you there is an ending planned. Originally, the story was only going to be a single act, and then it was moved up to three acts. After Act III though, I decided that the events that would follow were too "connected" to the original story to justify a sequel as the sequel would be very far from "stand-alone". This meant that it would be very challenging for readers who were not familiar with the first story to follow along. I made the decision to make it all one story then, and then split it into seven acts.
How much longer is the story?
We're at the tail end of Act VI, but Act VII is right around the corner and it will be longer than most acts. I'd say we have a minimum of perhaps... 25 chapters or so before the story is done. That's a guesstimate though.
Will there be more side stories?
Currently the only one I am "actively" working on is Silence of a Siren, but it is not the only one I have had planned. If I ever find more free time, I may work on some of the other side story ideas I've had, but I will gladly reveal info for stories that "may" or "may not" come into existence. I am actually trying to see about doing a crossover story with another author, so stay tuned.
Okay, seriously, what happened with Rarity and Applejack's parents!?
Rarity is one of the more elusive (no pun intended) characters in Shadows. You'll notice she has a different approach to Sunset and her behavior than her wife Applejack.
What happened on those mountains? Well, the short version is Rarity went on somewhat of a journey to rescue them that involved stealing weapons from Sunset's armory and leaving our redheaded protagonist handcuffed to a radiator. One day the story of what happened up there will come out, but it's split into two parts, the first showing the flashback of what happened when Pear and Bright got lost in the first place, and the second showing Rarity almost a decade later rescuing them.
However, this isn't all of Rarity's "secrets" so to speak. There is more going on that you don't know about yet.
So is magic or supernatural stuff exclusive to Equestria and what the Equestrians brought to the human world?
To answer this simply: no.
See, the universe of Shadows actually has supernatural phenomenon in existence of its own. While magic is introduced via Equestria, there are other things that exist in the universe that had nothing to do with Equestrian involvement. It is all very possible that much of it simply exists in the shadows in seclusion from normal society. It's a lot like our own world: we don't know what we don't know.
I can at least confirm there are other supernatural beings that exist in the human world that have no relation to Equestria at all though. So like mythical creatures can exist in the human world as well, they are just not "known" like they are in Equestria. It's sort of like how it goes in horror movies: the monsters "exist" but no one would believe you if you saw one. They are not a universally accepted thing. People mostly live in denial.
Are we going to see some of these creatures?
Yes. Though I can't say where or how.
Why is Serenade such a bitch?
There is a lot of mixed reception of Serenade. Many people despise her as a villain, but I stand by her simply because I am confident that as time goes on and people start to understand the TRUTH behind her and what she is really like, she will grow on people. You can't win them all, but Serenade definitely starts to grow as a character as time goes on.
gonna hold you to it with Serenade. though Im still wondering if Shimmer will eventually come back from the dead... and still wondering about the scene where Sunset and some other chick wake up somewhere in some well or something where Sunset is a doctor and was doing a check up on AJ, neither of them remember each other.
I have been saving chapters since January and so far have 33 chapters saved up. Going to keep going till the story ends and go on a mad binge.
Personally, I love how long the story has gone on; a good story with a long word count is a little hard to come by.
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True, but you have no idea how taxing it is to write though. Especially as you set personal goals for yourself. Like because my readers are so loyal I don’t like giving them less than they expect. When I started chapters ranged from 4K to 6k words, but now they are about 8k minimum. So meeting this requirements can be a burden.
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4-6k is perfect for me. There are a few stories where I get ultra spoiled and receive 10-20k, but those are few and far between and the exception. Those authors are also a little insane lol.