Final 'Retcon' Story Blog, and Farewell · 1:20am Mar 31st, 2021
So, after three months of posting following twelve months of quietly writing, Retcon is finally considered complete! I wanted to do a proper wrap-up here with this final blog post, which will probably be the last blog I write for FiMF. Before we get started though;
This blog contains major spoilers for the entire Retcon story. If you haven't read the whole thing including today's Prologue, CTRL+W now!
Righto...
So yeah, as I said in the initial blog post, Retcon is my last contribution to FiMF. From an idea from 2012, to leaving the fandom around 2013, to an email from the Royal Canterlot Library in 2019, to starting writing the first chapter last January, I can't tell you how it feels for this story to finally be completed. Not 'over' exactly yet, but we'll get to that.
Firstly, it's really cool to have seen so many of the comments be around solving the ciphers! It seemed like a neat way to add a little extra layer to the mystery, since the primary mystery is solved around a third of the way in. There was some speculation about what links the ciphers together, so in case anyone missed it, the common theme between the ciphers was: all of them were Retcon's memories. In the story we would occasionally see bold italic text, which denoted a recent memory. Sometimes we would also see italics separated by ellipses and line breaks, which were most prominent in Chapter Ten and the start of Chapter Two. These are fragments of memories from before she was retconned, shards of memories that weren't quite wiped. The ciphers on the other hand were also memories from before the retcon, but these are memories Retcon can't access, memories she doesn't remember. All of the ciphers are either things she said, or more commonly things she heard other people say.
I had planned out all the ciphers ahead of time before Chapter One went up. However you guys were just ploughing through them! Starting with Chapter Seventeen I went through and redid all the encryption methods from then on to try and make things a little more difficult, and hopefully more interesting. While I won't spoil them, as of writing there are four ciphers yet to be solved; Chapters 22, 25 (yes, this one's only half done!), 28 and 29. Oh, and of course the Prologue which isn't live as I write this of course. If you're a completionist, that's where you'll need to start. These were some of my favourite ciphers, BTW. Good luck!
Incidentally, no one appears to have guessed one of the inspirations behind the story from all those years ago, an inspiration I decided to carry forward for old-time's sake. There are several easter eggs throughout (did anyone get the references in Chapter Four?), but rather than stating it outright, how about one last go, though you'll want to have completed the other ciphers first: GKU1RJGEMVUWPTQJNBIRGO32
I have to say I was pretty worried how the story and characters might be received, Retcon herself in particular, but I really want to thank you folks and for your kind comments throughout that were very reassuring. I don't really know how I managed to get through 30 chapters of a story, as I've said I don't really consider myself much of a writer, my brain just isn't wired for it, language and communication are very much my biggest weaknesses. My natural word choices are unusual and I end up focusing on weird things. I decided to lean into that to try and create an uncomfortable, slightly uncanny environment at the start of the story, since we're seeing the world through the eyes of a being with no memories who's secretly a changeling. I could imagine it as if it were filmed since I'm more of a visual person, with on-shoulder camera shots rather than on tripod that move and tilt in a way that make you feel subtly ill at ease, just a little 'off', even when everyone on screen appears to be having a good time.
This also extended to the way Retcon speaks. She begins to settle into a more regular speaking pattern by the end of the story as she becomes more comfortable around other ponies and begins to match their mannerisms, but since changelings are educated at the Hive separately from ponies I gave her my brain's internal monologue as her speaking voice early on, mainly the way she tends to start sentences by cropping the first word or two out to make her speaking structure feel slightly stilted and clipped, while still keeping it grammatically correct.
Our cast of original characters were seriously a lot of fun to get to know, I hope you enjoyed them too! I won't go into it here and leave it to subtext, but some of the characters, Sky in particular, have a fair bit of imagined backstory that a few scenes scratch the surface of. I'd have loved to do a Sky-centric origin story, but that's way outside of the scope of things I can manage.
There're other things I could say but I should probably leave it there. Feel free to ask if you are curious about anything, consider this blog an ongoing AMA for the story.
So where do we go from here? As I say I consider Retcon to be complete, but there are actually a few extra chapters still to come! I have some plans for a couple of epilogue chapters to try and tie of some loose ends, and to give a somewhat more satisfying conclusion and send-off to Retcon. These chapters will be more slice-of-life style, may end up being a little shorter than our current average, and will usually entail a time skip between them. I have a few written out already, but I'm afraid this will be where the consistent three days between each chapter ends. That said, the plan is for each epilogue chapter to conclude with the notion that it could be the final chapter of the entire story. Once my remaining backlog is uploaded we will be in the realm of the next chapter going up when it's finished, but we won't be dealing with cliffhangers unless the cliffhanger-resolving chapter is ready to post as well. I want them to feel like bonus chapters rather than the ongoing adventures, so that if I'm unable to continue writing it doesn't feel incomplete. With each epilogue chapter, I'm hoping for it to read as if we could end the story with it. I hope that makes up for the lack of backlog and consistent updates we've enjoyed thus far.
So yeah, that was Retcon, and this is pretty much it from me. I just want to end by saying how much your responses, reading and sharing your thoughts have meant to me these past three months. I was terrified no one was going to see the story or it was going to be received unfavourably, I had no idea what to expect for the level of activity on the site since I'd been gone for so long, so the response to this little story has kind of blown me away. Thank you so much for being so kind!
Please don't feel like you have to, but if you're interested in following what I'm doing outside FiMF, I currently do video essays and lore videos on YouTube such as this one, primarily centered around the Command & Conquer RTS series. Other than these last remaining bonus chapters, I just wanted to bid a very fond farewell to the FiMF community, both old and new, whether you remember me from the mess I made with Expectation, from A Tale of a Mountain Clan, or just joining for Retcon. I'll still continue to pop by to read and respond, I'm not going just poof and log out for good, but with Retcon complete I believe I've managed what I'd set out last year to accomplish. I've written a short story that I'm actually pretty proud of. I don't know if I could ever achieve this again, but I've been considering giving it a go. We'll see I guess.
Take care everyone! Thank you so much for reading, and for giving me a chance!
-Beige Monkfish
Stefan
I'll comment on here instead of the most recent chapter to give me thoughts.
For some reason this all makes me quite sad. Feels like a bit of a bittersweet sendoff, both in terms of you finishing writing and Retcon's tale finishing as well. Nice, and optimistic, however.
I'm glad that I caught the story when searching for fics to read so I could give you this feedback you appreciated and follow along as it was receiving updates. I'm happy we could all, as readers, give you a positive response to your lovely little tale you had to tell.
The most recent chapter (Prologue) ended on a pretty sad note I think. Retcon and Lemony seemed to be getting along quite well, so it was a shame to wipe all that stuff away, really.
Regardless, I wish you all the best in the future, and it's terribly sad to see you go, but I understand.
Oh hey, those are your lore vids! I love those videos
We, as readers, await the updates. The code breakers read into it more than the others, but we enjoy it all the same.
I've been keeping a close note of this story, its chapters' ciphers, and the message itself, and it's been really interesting. Having keeping meticulous note, I saw the connection every time I look over the notes. Little whispers, I say.
Alas, the time has come. Although there's still work to be done (I'm not leaving the ciphers hanging), I shall take a break. Small one, little one. Coming back with some fresh ideas on what to mull over.
One thing I'm thinking, though... Twenty-Five. Unless I've been missing something, which... maybe I have... not sure, though. There doesn't seem to be anything out of place. Twenty-Two is a video, I know that much, but aside from that... not much else. Twenty-Eight, while I have a theory as to what it is (Color translates to Hex, and then to normal text), I cannot seem to find a way to crack it. Twenty-Nine is... I don't know. I don't see any hints, clues, anything as to its method, which sets me on edge. The Prologue... I think, is definitely related to those symbols, but how it's related, I have no idea.
Despite my feelings about the unsolved ciphers, it's been great fun. I have enjoyed it tremendously, and the ciphers (well, the ones I do solve) is a nice little addition of spice to the story.
Farewell, and wish you the best. The world outside is calling.
Sincerely,
Scoping Landscape
P.S. One last thing, though. If we haven't solved it within a month, can you give us a nudge?
Oh, how small the world can be—I stumbled upon your YouTube account a somewhat short while ago, didn't have a clue it's you. Either way, thanks for all the good times and fond memories. Godspeed, you bastard!
Looks like I have a story to read :'o
Full circle! Started as blog posted and ended with one.
If you wanted to treat this as an AMA I'd love to know of you had anything planned for the Kelpie to grow as a character. Be interesting having Reton mentor a fellow... convert? Thought made me laugh.
I'll be keeping an eye open for anything you might add to this, but in the meantime I wish you the best going forward my man. Take it easy and I'll give your channel a watch.
5486782
Oh dang, cheers!
5486749
Thank you so much again for all your comments! I guess the Prologue was a bit bittersweet but seemed an apt way to end, we know what happens next at any rate!
Cheers for reading!
5486791
Cheers, really glad you enjoyed the ciphers, and thanks so much for reading along! I apologise I'm not so verbose in response, but your kind words really mean a lot!
Sure thing, give us a nudge in May if you'd like any hints
5486828
Hah, small world indeed! Cheers and take care, it was a delight seeing you around again!
5487092
Hey cheers, apologies for the slow response;
So I kind of don't want to say too much regarding the kelpie, there's not some grand plan in the works and we probably won't see her again since she's not so motile, but I did mean to bring up how she's been getting on in one of the epilogues.
The idea behind the orb and the kelpie were that they'd be two different ways to contrast with Retcon's position, since all three are dangerous magical 'creatures'. The orb is pretty much the only character Retcon could be completely herself around; even amongst Shower and Gurney she was still self-conscious about being a changeling. The orb was her chance to be completely open with a fellow 'monster', which was how I hoped to show that she wasn't one. The kelpie on the other hand was actually properly monstrous, and related to Retcon as if she were the same. It's why the kelpie didn't attack Retcon; kelpies and 'changies' are supposed to be allies in her book. It's why we ended with the kelpie, to remind Retcon of what she is, since by this point everyone else had pretty much accepted her as just another pony. It also allowed us to have that end bit with Sparkler, which I really liked.
I like to think Retcon gave the kelpie some stuff to mull over though
Cheers, thank you so much for reading!
5486791
Hey!, It's been around a month, so here's the hints for the last remaining ciphers;
All three are multi-stage ciphers, where solving what you see points to somewhere else
25: The encoded message that has already been solved is actually a hint for where to find the actual cipher. Where else does the sentence appear?Prologue: The initials of the names of the symbols form a word. Two of the symbols have multiple names, go with the plain English ones. This is one of my favourite puzzles
Bonus in this blog: This one requires a key from another cipher, and uses an encoding method we've used already. The key is her name.
Best of luck!