State of the Scribe: September 2022 · 7:01pm Sep 1st, 2022
Hey pones, welcome to another month's calendar! A month of endings, and a month of beginnings. Lots of stuff coming to an end here, but new stories always arise. As usual, I'm hugely thankful for my patrons and story sponsors who make this continued content possible. Without you, I wouldn't get to write any fanfiction at all anymore, so I'm extremely grateful for each of you.
Now, let's hit the endings first. First, my Recursive Iterations print ended. I've got a large shelf in my dorm here with a stack of extra books, so if you missed it you're welcome to try the indiegogo link. I have a limited stock though, so when these are gone, there will be no more books until the next print run. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/recursive-iterations-hardcover-print#/ There it is if you're interested.
Alright, stories. Return to Sender finishes this month. This unexpected sequel to Message was a ton of fun to write, so thanks to Lithl for commissioning this. It was a ton of fun to turn the tables and make ponies the unexpected explorers who had to transform to save the day.
Then there's the Tall Tale of Sweet Sauce. That story was a real challenge to write, since it was an entire zip code away from my usual writing wheelhouse. Writing it was a learning experience for sure, and reading the comments has been another learning experience about setting expectations and genre conventions. If you've seen that story's comments you know what I'm talking about.
Myths Like Us is also ending this month. Anyone who was holding off on this awesome story of unexpected (but perhaps deserved) transformation into legendary pokemon, including the returning Lane from Mew Like Me, you'll probably want to tune in. As usual this story has been for free on my Patreon on account of Genfic not existing. However, once it finishes, I'll be able to produce a PDF/epub for those who would rather just binge the whole thing. Keep an eye out for a blog at the end of the month for that.
We also have a new, and final, chapter of "Machine Learning", which transitions us perfectly into the new stories. This brief little adventure will be coming to Fimfiction at the end of the month, probably getting posted in a quick few days. A fun and probably a bit serious sweetie bot story that began as a monthly minific and grew a little out of control. Great cover comes from an existing piece of fanart by the same patron who asked for it, you'll see.
Next we have Diplomatic Solution finally coming to fimfiction! Since many of you won't have heard of that story--it's a science fiction AU, wherein Equestria is discovered by a spacefaring humanity that's fighting a desperate, losing battle against an overwhelming enemy. What makes that enemy so powerful? Their magic, of course.
Now the Young Six are the key to finding a diplomatic solution to this galactic conflict, one that will require them to travel far from home and confront a specific of xenophobic, hostile, magical aliens, with the whole of the civilized galaxy depending on their success. Grateful to Vilken666 for commissioning this story.
There's another new story, starting on Patreon until it gets its cover. Tentatively I'm calling this one "Words of Power," though that may change before its final fimfiction release.
This is a ponies-on-earth, TF adventure. An ancient kirin artifact imprisoning the spirit of an ancient evil is accidentally set loose, ending up in the middle of a small town. Its unfortunate discoverer is soon thrust into the center of a kirin conflict at the heart of their Equestrian disappearance, and the evil queen who once led them into war with Equestria. She'll have to team up with an injured nightguard and anyone else who gets too close to its corrupting magic, in the hopes of sealing away the ancient evil for good.
This one has been a ton of fun to write so far, fairly heavy on the usual TF tropes people ask for from me. I hope that means there's still a good-sized audience for this kind of adventure. Guess we'll see.
Last but not least, the story that's taking the place of Myths Like Us, which doesn't quite fit onto this calendar since it starts next month. No name for it yet, but I can tease a little of what I'm doing with it. Thanks so much to Lightfox for commissioning this one!
Imagine a pokemon world where your soul was on the outside of your body. It took the form of a pokemon, one that reflects your nature and personality. It would remain close to you throughout your life, a true part of you, sharing thoughts and desires and emotions with each other. This creature is called your daemon, and yes it is shamelessly ripped-off from His Dark Materials.
But this is fanfiction, baby! Far more of pokemon than HDM, though. This story will be exploring the idea of a pokemon world ruled by Great Families, who are the only ones with legendary daemons, and use their incredible powers to dominate their regions. Except of course, our protagonist. He may've come from a family of eevees going back generations, but things take a turn when he settles as something far more powerful.
Really excited to write this one--about a world where everyone is also kinda a pokemon, a world where battles take on a totally different meaning, and evolving has literal, physical consequences. A world where the ancient creation myths now take on human meaning. HDM and Pokemon were together two of my most profound childhood influences, other than Stargate, Star Trek, and Asimov. Pretty excited to mash two of them together and share it with you all. No ponies though, that would just be a disaster.
One final thanks to each of you who contribute on my Patreon, making this writing possible. Another to everyone who comments or reads my work. The money makes it possible, but the interaction keeps me going. Without either one, I'd have stopped a long time before now.
I don't know how much longer my fanfiction will last. But in the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy the stories I have left to tell.
-Starscribe
Nice to hear about new stories coming to Fimfiction! I have an idea for a story but I'm not on Patreon so I don't know if it would be possible for it to be done.
I'm thinking of taking a look at Myths Like Us once there's a PDF available. Patreon doesn't really provide a good reading experience if you want to get fresh into a story that's already well underway.
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Yeah, I feel that. Hopefully knighty gets his head in the game with genfic one day, so I can just have everything here.
Can't wait to see how Tall Tale of Sweet Sauce ends.