Behind the Story: Scaled and Icy

I’d never considered myself a Twenty Øne Piløts fan. I was a girl who liked their songs but hadn’t bothered digging into Blurryface and Vessel, both apparently fantastic albums.

But I do have to admit I was a huge fan of Trench, and when I kept hearing Shy Away, the lead single to TØP’s recent studio album, on the local Alternative station, I have to admit, I was rather excited for Scaled and Icy.

How’d that turn out? Well, we’re here now, aren’t we?

My interest was piqued when the fanbase of TØP (who I believe are called ‘The Clique’) decided that SAI needed a deep examination into what possessed the usually dour band to release happier and dancier tracks. It turns out that Scaled and Icy apparently has a concept that’s tangibly related to Trench. This was also compounded by the implications of SAI being Dema propaganda, the Livestream Experience (which I didn’t catch), and down to the title even being an anagram of “Clancey is Dead”.

The Livestream Experience hadn’t happened yet, so I was just left with the propaganda implications.

You can search up the rest of the story if you really want to. TØP has very deep lore, and it’s very interesting to read about.

Of course, upon hearing about the propaganda implications, I thought that was high time to release a sequel to Trench which I realized kind of ended a little open. If you want a deep insight into my planning, the tropes I used, or whatever, I’m sorry. I had an idea (Prancey tries to take down Lema because he had unfinished business, and Lema have become skilled propagandists in the meantime). That’s it.

It may be a shocker to find out that my stories have very little planning put into them, Scaled and Icy was probably 75% done on the fly, as are most of my stories. It’s never failed me (except for the story we never speak of), and that’s probably going to come back to bite me someday, but hey, I do this for a hobby and I needed something to do over Summer Vacation.

Notable on-the-fly moments would require an entire list, but I’m willing to give it.

The first one of note is the idea that Wingless is alive. I decided to make use of the ‘He’s Just Hiding’ trope. I figured that Ocin might’ve wanted to keep Wingless around for information, complete with torture. However, that was just easily rectified when I learned that Dema and the Nine Bishops were vialists in the official lore. Which is totally a real thing, by the way (both the official lore and vialism).

If that’s a spoiler to you, you might want to read the original story before checking out the explanation behind it. I’ll give you a second.

I later came up with the idea that Wingless was hacking Lema’s broadcasts. I figured that she’d be one to do that, and the explanation given (they gave you a computer loaded with propaganda to make you join their cause, and she was bored), was basically putting tarmac in the plot hole.

Also, I have to talk about Pebble.

Pebble plays a pretty important role in the story, she saves Prancey, serves as a ‘love interest’ and a possible way for him to develop by giving him a sidemare who was a fangirl, basically. Prancey is nervous about being a good leader, and Pebble is there to reassure him.

A pretty important character, no? Well, the only thing I had for Pebble when she first appeared was that she was based off of Candy Chip from the Sunjackers ask blog, at least in personality. She became a major character because I loved her so much.

The other ponies of Prancey’s regular raiding group didn’t get that same treatment, though for the curious, Cold Fire is cold and aloof, but incredibly smart, and Iron Hide is a no-nonsense fighter, basic archetypes, but still. At least, they would’ve been if they got any screen time.

Solarius being a military leader was also something that happened in the story as I was writing it. One of the most annoying tropes, I feel, is when a protagonist sneaks into an antagonist’s base despite being obviously the hero. So, I didn’t do that.

It also explained how he knew how to teach Trench to use shotguns (which was actually the weapon that everypony used in Trench).

Solarius being Wingless’ dad was also an idea I had, but I thought that it was too much too late, as the plot had just went absolutely buck wild. It also would’ve created a plot hole, so it was merely a “One Steve Limit” situation. We’ll see if Wingless’ parents make an appearance in the next story (she said knowingly).

Before I get to the final on-the-fly writing thing, I wanted to write a third one because TØP are writing a direct sequel to Trench. It’s probably best to think of the three Trench stories as “Act 1”, “Act 2”, and “Act 3”.

However, as for how much the next story will relate to the album it’s based off of, that’s up in the air, because I already have ideas for the next one.

Now, back to the final on-the-fly writing change, the entirety of No Chances. I had a lengthy debate with myself over what pony to kill. No matter what pony I killed, I’d be able to use that death to make a different story. If Prancey was killed, Wingless and Pebble would have to get along and rectify the miscommunication. If Wingless was killed, Prancey would have to start leading like a leader and not relying on a pony who might be dead, because she’s actually dead now.

You can see which one I went with.

If all that makes me seem like an incompetent writer, that’s fine, I never claimed to be competent.

That’s really all the ones I can think of.

The final chapter is titled the way it is because “Cyanide Spared” is an anagram of “Prancey is Dead”, just like “Scaled and Icy” is ”Clancey is Dead”.

I’ve never done one of these for a chapter story before, but I think that’s about it.

And until next time; be awesome!
-Dashie