Thus ends the tales. · 4:11am Sep 24th, 2021
Yes, it's up early. Sue me.
Anyway, now's as good a time as any to discuss something related to this story, and one that I fear didn't get properly discussed within it - racism. No one is going to argue that racism isn't bad, but something that I fear people are content to ignore is that racism is a lot more than just horrible nasty white people being mean to black folk. That particular street isn't one way - white people have historically been biased against other white people just as much as they have against people of color. It's little different for folks of other ethnicities, though nobody really likes to talk about that.
Still, as I mentioned previously, the zebra guards were inspired by the Dora Milaje from Marvel's Black Panther (the film version rather than the comic version), and one thing that struck me about that film that no one has raised a fuss over is how openly hostile Okoye was to Everett Ross (at least at first), even outright calling him 'colonizer' with all the venom of a slur. Her distrusting him is reasonable, but the venom was, at least to me, pushing it too far. That said, it inspired a lot of Aziza's characterization, combined with some valid criticisms of Equestria from the perspective of an outsider looking in. Her appearance here was meant to help soften the character, and make her come across as less of an outright jerk. How effective it was, however, I will leave up to my audience. Regardless, it's safe to say that if someone can look past their preconceptions, they aren't a completely terrible person. At least, in my eyes.
And going from one non-pony character to another, I go to Clypeus. For those familiar with the comics, he's meant to be the changeling general that Chrysalis abandoned when she and the rest of the hive escaped the volcano in the comics (as depicted in FIENDShip is Magic #5). I'm not going to pretend that he still played the same role in canon that he did here, but a part of me liked the idea that said changeling survived and came to turn against his own kind. And much of what he talks about here is my attempt at establishing my own headcanon for changelings that one, draws from the fandom's ideas without contradicting anything shown in the show or comics, and two, doesn't make them too powerful. And yes, I did have their species-wide reformation in mind with what I established here.
Speaking of the comics, what they established regarding Zecora's homeland was a godsend in terms of inspiration and ideas, as mentioned in previous journals. And I think Horaia's reasoning behind not strengthening ties with Equestria will ring true with at least one of my readers.
Finally, as I was writing this story, I felt the need to explain a few details, at least for the Quiververse's version of events. Why Blueblood wasn't present at the Royal Wedding, for one, and how they were tipped off in the first place. And since I was at it, why not toss in some hints of things yet to come with Stormfront's fate?
Oh, and one bit of trivia - I mentally cast a couple actors in the roles of Stormfront and Curt Marshall, Flash's stepfather. The former I imagine being voiced by J. K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson in multiple Spider-Man films, among other roles), while the latter I imagine being voiced by Michael Ironside (Darkseid in the DCAU, Ultra Magnus in Transformers: Prime).
Anyway, I hope that folks enjoyed the story. Next month a Vignette, and hopefully the next proper installment in November.
It was a nice surprise to see this update in my feed, that's for sure.
No complaints here!
Thanks for the overview about the story and what inspired and influenced elements of it.
And as for the casting choices named at the end here... I approve. Especially of J.K. Simmons as Stormfront. Given his role as Omni-Man in Amazon's Invincible series, it does definitely fit. (Though I'd personally argue that Omni-Man is a far more conflicted character than Stormfront... though there's definitely still that layer of supremacism to his personality and nature too.)
5585945
Honestly? I needed some cheering up after a bad day at work, and posting the new chapter seemed the easiest thing to do.
I still need to watch that at some point. I mostly picked him out because I wanted a voice that sounded gruff and authoritative and didn't automatically call out "BAD GUY!", and his voice seemed the best one in my mind, especially considering every role I associate him with has either been generally benevolent (Tenzin in LoK, Commissioner Gordon in the Snyderverse) or flawed if having a measure of moral backbone (J. Jonah Jameson himself).
5585949
Well, I am sorry to hear that you had a bad day at work. But I will say for sure that this update *did* make for a most welcome surprise on my end - and for that, I thank you.
I actually wouldn't mind trying the show myself. I've not as of yet, but that's not out of any personal issues on my own part. (I understand that the show gets pretty gory at points, but I'm not bothered by that. Frankly, I'm just glad to have an Amazon-promoted superhero show that's NOT "The Boys".) But yeah, that's a fair criteria for choosing Simmons to fit the role. Though he can definitely play a real bastard when he wants to--from what I understand he's terrifying as an abusive music instructor in the movie "Whiplash".