End of Act I · 1:32am Apr 15th, 2021
Well everyone, we made it to the end of Act I. I'm genuinely curious as to what everyone thinks of the story so far.
The Dead by Sunset series has become a lot nearer and dearer to my heart than I expected, and I fully expect it to become one of my longest fics alongside Featherfall. I'm sure there are a lot of readers interested in seeing how all of the drama that's been built up here plays out, and I wanted to show a little of my thought processes that brought much of this story about.
First and foremost is theme. I'm sure most of you have cottoned on to the fact that the main theme of Dead by Sunset and Dead by Midnight is Trauma. Not only is it about experiencing said trauma, but exploring in nuance how differently people can experience the aftershocks of said trauma. The biggest focus is, of course, going to be on Sunset Shimmer, since it's her perspective we're getting for the majority of the story, but the Interludes are as important, if not moreso, in getting a more balanced view of the theme as it progresses through the story.\
---Spoilers incoming for those of you have not yet read the whole of Act I---
The tail end of Act I saw the fracture and ultimate end of Sunset and Tempest's romantic relationship, and big part of that was exploring the concept of trauma-bonding. That is, bonding over a common traumatic event. It's not to say that finding people who have experienced what you've experienced and commiserating over it is a bad thing, but basing an entire relationship off of that common ground can be incredibly toxic and at the same time, it can make you feel trapped. For Sunset and Tempest, their feelings for each other were powerful, but ultimately neither of them had ever truly addressed what they'd experienced, and it poisoned the relationship.
In the end, Sunset's constant escapes into the Dreamtime and refusal to engage with the world, citing herself as being 'dead' and 'just a dream', left Tempest alone to deal with the horror of the things she had experienced, and her crippling guilt and loneliness over the fate of Summer Wind as the Hag.
That's not to say everything was Sunset's fault. Tempest was, ultimately, responsible for her own fall, because the hard truth is that no one can 'fix' another person. They can offer an arm to lean on and a shoulder to cry on, they can offer an ear to listen, but the end of the matter is that however much she might have wanted to, Sunset couldn't reach inside of Tempest and heal the damage that was done to her mind and soul during the Trials even if she'd been fully present. Like a soldier after the end of a war, Tempest lost her will to fight, and ultimately her memories, dreams, and despair consumed and destroyed her, killing the person she was and leaving behind a thing of rage and violence, that had no desire to be better than they were.
It's supposed to be a tragedy, because it's something that, to the ones left behind, can feel like a betrayal as much as it can feel like a total failure on their part. And even beyond that, it can leave a feeling of helplessness because 'what was the point if we just die anyway'?
For all of its source material, Dead by Midnight is supposed to be a study in sorrow. With that said, yes, the story will have a 'happy' ending, inasmuch as it can. As has been made obvious by now, not everyone is getting out of this one alive, and certainly not unharmed, because that's the unhappy truth of recovering from trauma. When something horrible happens, some people get out, others don't, and sometimes the people who get out end up wandering right back into the 'Fog' and letting it take them, because it's easier than dealing with constant strain of the present.
If anyone reading this does feel that way, I urge you to reach out. To me if you want to, but to anyone you think might listen. I know that's a tall order. Asking someone who feels like nothing to do something that seems like a burden to others, but please do. We're all trying our best out here, and this story of mine is a way to explore something that's hard to put into words.
I'll say a little more after Act II, and from the bottom of my heart, thanks for reading, and as always...
Cheers,
I-A-M
Oh my heart, why must you do this to me?
On an unrelated note i am super stoked to eventually find out the thief's (spoilers) motivations for what they are doing. Do they seek to become a god. Megolomania perhaps. Maybe they want to transcend death? Or maybe they were broken all along.
I've followed you since DbS and i'm not going anywhere soon. I'm really enjoying this and i look forward to what act 2 and 3 have in store.
P.s. do you think acts 2 and 3 will be of a similar length to the first?
Solid first arc, looking forward to seeing what you come up with to top it in arc 2. I have to say both applejack and rarity’s killer reveals caught me off guard even though they make perfect sense, wonder who pinkie will be, trickster maybe? Not so sure fluttershy will turn tbh. More than that I’m curious to see the entity’s goals explored, neither their desire for sunset nor “the lock” have been explained yet.
On a more serious note, assuming it’s not too spoilery, will we be seeing anything from equestria in this story? Celestia was super gung ho for helping sunset in the first story, and while the portal may be broken I don’t think for a second that could actually stop equestria from making a new one. Plus discord mentioned the only reason he didn’t fight the entity was because he couldn’t mess with the entity’s dimension, which wouldn’t really protect sci twi
Regardless still one of my fav stories that’s being updated on fimfic currently.
Great work!
Well, this fic gives me a nasty case of depression. In a positive way aka it was the point of the story and it worked.
Wish best for everyone. For HuMane, for CMC, Tempest, Sunset and Twilight (High hopes for redemption and friendship between those two). This hurts, knowing that not all of them can make it.
So far they all've been just geeting deeper and deeper into the despair. Must say, Sunset stubborn refusal to talk to her old friends drags a little bit. I understand why and her new friends (Aria) don't like the either, but Sunset saw how much they hurt, so I hoe they'll... "patch up" things soon.
Question, approximately, will Dead by Midnight be longer than Featherfall?
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I honestly do not know how long Midnight is going to be, but I can say it will probably be comparable to Featherfall in the end.
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Thought so. Still a lot of pain ahead of us. Cool.
BTW, have you seen the good news?
"I'm genuinely curious as to what everyone thinks of the story so far."
Weell, to be honest, I think my impression is kind of a mix of "Gripping, interesting story I'm enjoying" and "Argh so many typos!". But the first part's definitely there, I think, and it's not like the second's deliberate on your part. :)
Sorry I don't have more detailed feedback, though.
Oh, and thanks for the spoiler warning; as it happens, I avoided the whole blog post until I finished the chapter, but that's nice to have. :)
Thanks for the commentary! And the offer/request to talk. As with the spoiler warning above, I (happily) don't need it (well, now, and hopefully I won't have events in my future changing that), but it's potentially, on a much larger scale than the spoiler warning, quite a good thing for someone who does.
You're welcome, and thanks for writing. :)