RQK's original fiction projects: The Omega Demi, as well as an adaptation of Feedback · 4:23pm Aug 3rd, 2021
Hi all,
I wanted to let you all know what I've been up to these past few months. I've had a storied career here on fimfiction, and although that came to a close with the completion of Retrograde back in April, I'm sure a number of you might have been wondering what my next steps are. Well, I did say something about pursuing original fiction projects that might someday be professionally published. Well, today, I think I will talk about that a little more since I'm nearing completion on one such project (that I have been working on on-and-off since December of 2009).
But I think I'll talk about the other project first since it is something I imagine all of you are familiar with (and also why I've tagged Feedback in this blog post).
Feedback
So I've done a fair bit of thinking about this story ever since I first wrote it. And I've been of the opinion that I could reasonably adapt this story into an original setting that I could reasonably sell as my own product. The story beats which were of my own invention already would remain the same, but I would have to make my own characters and my own setting for it to take place in. I do have helpful hints as to what all of that might look like, though.
I won't be the first author that has ever done this either. There have been some number of modern fiction that have originally started out as fanfiction (an example that does readily come to mind, although your mileage may vary or whether this example of fiction can actually be considered good, is Fifty Shades of Gray which was originally Twilight fanfiction).
I haven't started on this adaptation yet but it is my next project as of now. And while I don't know exactly what it will look like in whatever setting I end up making for it and what characters I end up filling it with, I do know that there will be some unique material for the story including an entire chapter that isn't present in the pony version of Feedback.
If you're interesting in following along with this, I've included a link to my discord server at the bottom of this blog post.
The Omega Demi
This is a story that I've been trying to write for over a decade. It's gone through many changes since I first started working on it, so much so that it hardly resembles the original story. But having developed my skills with my fimfiction career, I finally returned to this, and I can definitely say that this story is looking the best it has ever been. And it's gotten farther that it ever has; previously, I only ever made it 66% of the way through a draft. Now I am just about done with the story; I've written the big climax and all that's left to do is write the denouement. I'm in the home stretch! After all this time!
But what is this story about, you may ask? Well, let's see.
For Arcadius Llynch, the day his brother went mad, razed his village, and left none alive was the most important day of his life. And now a genocidal war, propped up by a fraudulent version of that nightmarish day, consumes the world.
Hatred for demihumans, a select few individuals with unusual abilities, has intensified in the century-and-a-quarter since the Verra Massacre. The stage is set for the most prominent leaders on both sides to collide, leaving bloodied battlefields in their wake.
Arcadius, who has been cursed to walk the land for just as long, now has but one goal: to find the invisible hand who perverted the ruin of his life and set everyone else on one another.
But to do so means walking a fine line where one misstep could turn the entire world against him.
This story is a fantasy standalone set in a secondary world where a small percentage of humans have special powers. It's still in the drafting phase, and is not completely through that even, but I can confidently project that this story will end up settling in at about ~103k words. I imagine I will finish it within the month, and then (after maybe setting it aside for a hot second) it will be onto editing phase.
It's my hope to get this (along with Feedback) traditionally published some day. So that's my ultimate goal for now. But it's going to need work until then.
I'm bringing this up because I would like to extend an invitation to all of you to further see what this is about. I would like to share some of it as I work along, after all. So if you want to see that, again, I've a discord link down below.
I'll probably talk more about these things at a later date on my discord, or more regularly is there is continued interest. In the meantime, that's all I've got to say here. So, cheers!
Good for you! Progress on my own original novel is probably at like 3/4s of the way done, also a fantasy epic. Here's hoping the both of us can punch writer's block in the face and get them out there.
Congrats on the new projects! Best of luck with them!
I have an original work of my own, but alas, haven't had much of a chance to work on it.
There is at least one person who has done this with their own writings here. They removed the ponies and replaced them with other creatures for liability and will be continuing the story in that form. So this isn't exactly new territory here either.
I look forward to seeing what you come up with. I'm really curious to see what the differences will be in Feedback and I'm a bit of a sucker for fantasy stories so I look forward to what story The Omega Demi will be.
Good luck, dude!
Feedback definitely seems like it would fit as a piece of original fiction.
I loved Reflections. I'm gonna read the rest of your time travel series starting with Feedback now. Does this mean you're done with pony fics though? It's always sad to see a quality writer leave.
Ooh, I'm very curious on how you'll transform Feedback to make it original. I guess Substitute and Divergence are a little too reliant on pony material (e.g. the Cutie Re-mark timelines) to adapt.
I'd also be interested in you other original story!
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Yes! Punch writer's block in the face!
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Alas, yes, I am done writing pony fics. But I still lurk around this place, so I'm not completely gone.
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I have actually given some thought as to how I would adapt Substitute and Divergence. You're right in that they would be much more difficult to adapt, but there are still many principle beats that are usable. Actually, an adaptation would give me a chance to really clean up the cosmology. But that will all depend on if Feedback sells, so it'll be a while yet before I give this serious thought.