Spring and Spanner, a new Who We Become story! · 8:17pm May 28th, 2021
Howdy, y'all! Got something cool today. Spring and Spanner is a new Who We Become story written by the talented CodenameOne, and the prologue and first chapter are out now! It takes place three years after Acts of Love, and follows Spring Blossom, Morning's friend from the orphanage. Sales pitch below, as well as some rambly thoughts on WWB canon!
(art by applejackofalltrades)
To begin, I don't know a lot about this story as more than a reader. I got given a very small concept pitch to make sure it was a story I would be okay with being in my universe, and I've read the prologue that's public now, and that's it. So I can't get into things like the themes and where the story is going, but I can say I love what I've read. Spring and Spanner focuses on its titular characters, Spring Blossom and Spanner Wrench. Spring Blossom appeared in the first act of Acts of Love, but it's already apparent she's much more fleshed out and realized in this story. She's also a bit older, age nine, as it's been a few years since AoL. Still, she's young and optimistic about the world, and I speculate she'll have a lot to learn over the course of this story. Spanner Wrench meanwhile is a foil to her, being old and a bit world weary. We're given hints at something dark in his past, likely military related, but for the moment we're left to guess at those details. Both characters are engaging to read about, and I can't wait to see where they go in this story.
It's early to say for sure, but this does also feel like a WWB story, since it seems to focus on realistic interpersonal relationships. There's some nice touches like act titles and chapter headers in the same style as I do them, adding to the WWB feel. As for other connections, Morning Glisten keeps in touch with Spring Blossom via letters, and I believe she'll appear through letters over the course of the story but not actually show up in person (in pony?). That said, I've given CodenameOne full permission to use any character in any way that benefits the story, and I don't know the exact plans, so maybe we'll all be surprised haha
As for the story itself, I was told it would be approximately 12-15 chapters (though that was an estimation before it was finished, the total count may have changed) so expect a fairly good sized story here. I believe it's all set to update every week, the same way I usually do my fics. That's notable because it'll be the first WWB story not written by me to get past chapter two, so I'm excited for that!
Now, some of you might be wondering, "Is this canon?" It's officially considered "expanded universe", so lemme explain the four levels of WWB stories real quick, since this might be becoming more relevant in the future as I've had four authors express interest in writing WWB just in the past few weeks!
First off and pretty self-explanatory, there's non-canon. This is stuff that uses WWB as a starting point but doesn't mesh with what I wrote or what I have planned. This could be because people obviously don't know my plans or because it's an intentional AUs. Like if you wanted to write a story about what if Bitchette had gone nowhere causing Rainbow and Fluttershy to move back to Everton after a year of touring. That could be extremely interesting, and I have so many questions (Would Shy develop the same bad habits? Would she try to patch things up with Sunset? Would Rainbow struggle with her failure? Could she ever do a standard nine to five?). Like seriously, someone who isn't me, write this. I came up with the idea just as an example of what non-canon looks like, but man, I genuinely wanna read this fic lmao
Secondly we have "extended universe". This is essentially what EqG is to FiM. The references generally go one way (EqG references FiM, but not vice versa) and it's sorta as canon as you want it to be. These are stories that in no way contradict what I have planned, but I probably wasn't involved with them. Spring and Spanner is an EU fic because I had no plans for Spring Blossom, so she was fair game to work with. That said, it's unlikely that I'll make a lot of references back to this fic because I won't know whose read it (and like... I still have no plans for Spring Blossom lol, so I probably won't do anything with her going forward anyway). I might make a small reference here and there, just for those who've read everything to see a cool cameo, but it won't punish anyone for not reading. Also, I won't make myself beholden to any EU fic, if I ever decide to do something that contradicts Spring and Spanner, I'll do it. I have zero plans to contradict it, and I very probably never will, but I won't let the EU limit me. Anyone can write in the Extended Universe!
Then we get to "core canon side stories". These are mostly written by me, but they don't actually have to be. Weathering the Storm is actually the second ever WWB fic, and that's written by my wife, ArchAngelsWings. It only got two chapters in before being unceremoniously dropped, but that's neither here nor there lmao. Anyway, side stories don't need to be read to understand the big picture, but they will affect the universe. This is more like focusing on a specific character or relationship in greater detail (By Blood or Choice), or closing certain open plot threads that aren't important to understanding the whole story but which are characterization moments (Empty Sky). All "core canon" stories need to involve me from the ground level (though I may only be approving the ideas) and I'll at least proofread them. Also to ensure tone and vision of the core series, only a select few authors are allowed to write their own core canon stories.
Finally, "core canon main stories" are probably only ever going to be written by me, and as the name implies, those are the main stories that carry the plot along. If you just read the main stories and nothing else, you'd get the full big picture of the series without issue. These are usually long stories and involve major changes to characters and relationships to advance the overall story.
Now, I've rambled a lot, but the two main takeaways here are if you want to write a non-canon or EU WWB story, do it, and that you should read Spring and Spanner because it's very good! I hope to see y'all down in the comments there 
DAMMIT kricks now I want to write this
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Do it, nerd!!!
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fucking bet i will
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and i want read it so you better uh just uh YEAH YOU WALK AWAY :diamond_tiara: