Summer Come Louder! a.k.a. Sorry, I'll Try That Again... · 1:56pm Aug 1st, 2022
Blog Number 178: "This Pony's Not Finished Yet!" Edition
By Jove, I actually do have a plan this time! At least, I have a thought of a concept of an idea of a plan. Either way, I'd like to see where it leads.
Impossible Numbers, reporting for (self-imposed, possibly self-indulgent) duty!
I have a cunning plan... 😉
OK, not that cunning. After some recovery time, though, I've had to reconsider my game plan a bit. Since said game plan is that I'm ultimately aiming for novels plural, then instead of impatiently working my way up from short stories and going nuts over the logistical adjustments involved in my overambitious plotting...*
* When you spend most of your childhood onwards drawn to long and complicated stories, it doesn't do your thinking any favours trying to squeeze it all into a thousand words. There's a reason I struggle with word counts.
Ah what the heck, I'm going for broke and tackling a novel. That's my plan for this month. Genius.
Not even promising to finish it. So long as I start it and don't give up after two days, I'll consider that a personal win.
Beats doing this all day.
I figure, since it's the start of a month, I should make a fresh start myself. What better time than August*? Summer's only one month away from ending, so what better time indeed than the month of holidays and vacations (or whatever you want to call your time off)?
* According to my copy of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, "August" was the lucky month of the first Roman Emperor: Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, given the title "Augustus" in 27 b.c., presumably in part because of his many glorious triumphs achieved during said month. "Augustus", in case you're wondering, means "venerable", a proper antiquity word itself (all right, when was the last time you called someone "venerable"?).
The title itself became the title of all successive emperors except Vitellius. I'm not quite sure what he did to deserve that. I mean, "Augustus" sounds a hell of a lot more dignified than "Pontifex Maximus", at least**.
** As in, "Oh gawds, I got cramp in my Pontifex Maximus!"
Incidentally, August was originally called "Sextilis" in the Roman calendar. I can see why they changed it.
And since I clearly wasn't getting anywhere solo, I figured I might as well hit the reset button of my life and try a new tactic, i.e. tell someone. I figure it's sort of like this quotation from Maskerade by Terry Pratchett:
Of course, Granny Weatherwax made a great play of her independence and self-reliance. But the point about that kind of stuff was that you needed someone around to be proudly independent and self-reliant at. People who didn't need people needed people around to know that they were the kind of people who didn't need people.
In this case, it's a novel that's been gnawing at my mind for weeks, and for which I've been so patiently and happily making notes and story plans and character lists that I think I'm justified in having a good feeling about it all. Maybe.
Surprisingly, it's not a concept I made out of whole cloth, at least not this year. It's actually a revival, or revamp*, of an old one I started all the way back in 2017. Originally, the story was intended for the
FlutterDash Contest #4: Nightmare Night, What a Fright! event, but since then it has recklessly developed a life of its own.
* To my surprise, "revamp" actually descends from a 13th-century term for the foot-and-ankle part of a stocking (the vamp), before taking a detour via cobblers and improvement work to the modern relic "revamp". Etymology is certainly a jazzy subject, is it not?
It has nothing to do with femme fatales or vampires, I'm afraid. Blame Hungary for that one.
And if that contest name does sound familiar, or more likely doesn't: I originally intended to submit Eldritch Fun Times to same, though that was technically "inspired by it", as I didn't finish it in time for the deadline. For one thing, I didn't even publish it till 2018.
In fact, I had four ideas bouncing around my skull for that contest. Whiiiiiiiiich might explain a lot... 😅
Also: no, it's not a romance. Sorry, my mind just don't work that way. 🤷
Not even when I see stuff like this, which quite possibly makes me unique in fandom circles.
So what is it, exactly?
What it is - or technically "is planned to be" - is an A.U. project featuring exclusively pegasi (most notably Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash) and with a heavy horror element. Why? Well, I'll break it down:
Why A.U.?
Because it allows me complete creative freedom, which is probably the best thing for me right now. Being too closely shackled to canon means often abandoning ideas that don't map onto what we know but which excite my enthusiasm anyway.
This way, I also get a chance to test some "standalone" skills more clearly. Especially useful, as my long-term goal is to write original fiction, so this allows me the golden mean in the halfway house from the best of both worlds.
Why exclusively pegasi?
Firstly, this is a self-imposed challenge I've straight-up wanted to try for a looooooong time. I naturally think in terms of pony tribal divisions anyway; I mean, I probably shouldn't because of the whole "everyone can be friends with everyone" moral, but it's a conveniently tidy method and I'm drawn to convenience and tidiness and methodologicality. This at least means I can focus on building a specific "culture"*, so to speak, without too many distractions.
* To some degree of surprise, "culture" and "cultivate" share a root. Before the 17th century, "culture" was a cultivated piece of land - like an apple orchard, I guess - a biological growth vaguely echoed in, for instance, "a culture of bacteria". Maybe they're on to something: human culture is a lot like sowing seeds, watering and feeding future hopes, and taking natural time to mature and heal, with the occasional bit of unpopular weeding and chasing those pesky scrumpers away.
Secondly, it cuts down the pool of characters so I'm not overwhelmed with options.
Thirdly, there's such an attraction to flying and the power of flight. Humanity finds the open sky endlessly fascinating, and I'm no exception. Being able to indulge in that passion for a species built for it draws me to the challenge like a moth to the stars.
And lastly, since the fic's focused on Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, it at least made some kind of cosy sense to home in on their individual expressions of pegasushood as an ongoing theme. Both relative to how "traditional" they are (Rainbow, obviously) and in how "unorthodox" they can be (Fluttershy, naturally).
Why most notably Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash?
😕 Um. I... like the contrast?
Well, it's obvious, ain't it? One has a tail, the other doesn't.
Actually, I'm not sure I can articulate a special reason for this one, beyond obvious stuff like "that's what the contest was about" or "they're the only pegasi among the Main Six" or even "I like them" (that goes without saying). It's kind of like asking why water flows downhill: I'm very much going with the mental flow, as Nature (presumably) intended. The pairing simply seems like the obvious direction to take, or at least the obvious starting point.
I mean, I might give Scootaloo and Derpy something to do, and I've got my eye on other notable pegasi. It just seems like a good idea to have an anchor for the whole thing instead of trying to chain myself to too many docks at once, and these two come naturally recommended.
Sorry, nothing super-clever here. "Why not?" is what it boils down to. It just works for me.
There's definitely a reason of some sort. I'm just struggling to put my finger on it...
Why a heavy horror element?
Well... admittedly, these conditions are also artefacts from the contest that I felt no need to change after the fact. Bear that in mind. I never said I was an original thinker.
That said, I'm increasingly coming to the conclusion horror holds a fascination over me in a way no other genre does. Maybe it's because I find fear, out of all the emotions, uniquely fascinating in itself (it's arguably one of the most powerful yet one of the most revealing of the dark feelings). Fluttershy's presence certainly inclines my thoughts that way.
Maybe it's because I tend to think of writing creative fiction as partly like being a weirdly dedicated torture technician. After all, you're always thinking of how to test, hurt, and get at the heart of a fictional character, with more subtle techniques than just physically threatening them. A lot of that involves crossing over into pain and fear anyway, though they're certainly not the only emotions involved (there's such a thing as being too dark and bleak). By and large, it's me following the callous talon of logic down a tempting, horrifying path.
Or maybe I just think monsters are cool. That counts too.*
* About three weeks ago, I finally watched The Thing (1982), a movie I hitherto had merely known about rather than actually known. It was definitely a thought-provoking experience, making it more surprising to learn this quintessential horror sci-fi film (that wasn't entitled Alien) was so unfortunately reviled upon release. I never would have guessed.
Incidentally, it also put me off malamutes for a while.
Horror's certainly not going to be the only genre I have in mind - given the military flavour of pegasus history, "adventure" would be an easy card to play - but it is an important one I want to try my hand at, if only for this little literary "experiment"*.
* To no one's surprise whatsoever, "experiment" derives from Latin experiri: "To try." Experts agree: etymology is a boring subject, not worth experiencing.
🤐 Ah, but hush hush! I don't feel inclined to share much more than that, as a precaution. Well, I don't want to burn out the fires before I've forged anything, do I? This level of detail seems safe enough, though: gives a general idea without indulging in spoilers.
Overall, the gist of this blog post is: I have plan. Wish me luck.
I might just need it...
Impossible Numbers, out.
In, out, in, out, shake it all about... 🎵
Good luck!
Best of luck! Here's hoping it goes well.
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Thank you!
Well, announcing some aspects of your plan is one way to go about it! Alongside resurrecting an old plan, stating some loose genre and character details about it, and some rationale.
Obviously, best of luck with it all, and balancing it with everything that's going on. Horror isn't really my thing, even to read, and especially to write, but evidently you have quite the interest and knack for it. Go for it, buddy!
Good luck! Also, regardless of what happens with it from here on in, the "Hurricane Fluttershy" screenshots already make it worthwhile. I may be slightly biased there. But seriously, interesting plan, to say the least. Good luck with it. (Yes, again. Why not?)
good luck good luck good luck!! I'm so excited to see what might come out of this!!
This is sort of unrelated, but finding out you’re back and writing again has been the highlight of my week.
I found your profile a while ago and I’ve been slowly working my way through your catalogue or stories, and I’m incredibly impressed by not just your writing style, but the volume of stories, and how they all have a distinct feel to them.
I’m stoked to see what you come up with.
Good luck! It sounds exciting!
Plans are good!
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Many thanks to all for the votes of confidence. 😎
(Now fingers crossed I haven't jinxed anything... 🤞
)
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Weirdly, I got featured in the Royal Canterlot Library for a horror fic, way back when. I don't know: loads of Slice-of-Life and Comedy in my repertoire, and they go for the one lonely Horror fic. 🙄
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We don't have a bias for "Hurricane Fluttershy"; everyone else has a bias against it!
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Ah, you're new!
Pleased to meet you. Allow me to offer the digital handshake of (slightly late) welcome. 🤝
Oh, as a general heads-up: I might pop in and out over the coming days/weeks, so I apologize in advance if I don't reply to any messages immediately (I know a long wait especially can be off-putting). My only excuse is I'm kind of not 100% yet, keeping various plates spinning, trying to simplify, that sort of thing.
Rest assured I do absolutely appreciate hearing from you. If nothing else, I will generally try to do your comments, PMs, etc. justice. As and when I feel willing and able. (Sorry, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
).
I might post an update or so in a few days, just to give a general idea where I'm at. Might lurk or browse in the meantime. Till then, cheerio!