State of the Scribe: October 2022

Hey pones! It's that spooky time of the year again, and time for a spooky list of updates. Last month several stories came to an end, which means time for several more to take their place. As one story ends, another begins. Somehow I'm still on this wild ride.

I continue to be incredibly thankful to those who make this possible. I write full time, and your support here or grabbing a book or just supporting the community with your time is what enables me to keep going. I owe you all a ton. For those who don't know, I have a patreon where I post stories that aren't finished yet, and occasional updates and polls for extra chapters. You can check it out here if you haven't seen it: https://www.patreon.com/RealStarscribe

Of course my branching out from pony continues, but I'll definitely still keep writing pony too for the foreseeable future. Somehow I'm not quite out of ideas, impossibly. Not quite sure how that's possible.

First on the new story list is Diplomatic Solution. It was technically posted yesterday, but I didn't make a blog post about it, so I think it deserves a little attention. This is a science fiction story focused on Ocellus and the student six, who have been sent on an important diplomatic mission to the homeworld of a xenophobic, dangerous alien race. Can they negotiate a peace deal that will preserve the intelligent life of the galaxy? Check it out here and find out: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/522236/diplomatic-solution

Next, we have a new Pokémon story, Spirits of Change. This story takes the slot of Myths Like Us, which just finished last month. This one is a little more esoteric than simple TF, but it's an idea I've wanted to write for a literal decade. It has all the passion of my eagerness to finally put these words onto the page, which characters I've been playing with longer than I was writing fanfic to begin with.

Spirits of Change is about an alternate version of the Pokémon world, inspired by His Dark Materials (though I wouldn't call it a crossover). In this version of the world, every person is born with their soul on the outside--a daemon, who remains beside them for their whole lives. When they're children, this daemon can take any Pokémon form they know.

But eventually they reach maturity, and are forced to settle into a single form, not chosen exactly, but one that externally represents the personality of their human. They remain as that Pokémon for the rest of their lives. There are many implications that follow from this, which the story explores--but the relevant one to explain it is that it's the question of what happens when you settle as a Pokémon you shouldn't.

Our protagonist gets thrust into a world he never could've imagined when instead of settling as an eevee like the rest of his family, he ends up as a mythical Pokémon. There's a good amount of TF, but more the catgirl flavor than the usual kind we see around these parts.

I hope you'll give the story a try. For the moment it's only on my patreon--but free to all. I'll link it officially as soon as it gets a cover, but you can check by on Monday when it goes live if you want to start reading right now. A huge thanks to Lightfox for enabling me to create something really wonderful. I'm really proud of this one.

Next there's another Patreon story coming to fimfiction, Frames of War. This one emerged from the observation that there just aren't that many Warframe stories out there, and none that really scratched that itch for me. It's kinda hard to explain if you're not a fan of the games--definitely a crossover story. After fighting and apparently dying in the Sentient invasion of the origin system, a Tenno wakes up in Equestria, controlling a strange four-legged Warframe. Where is she, and can she find her way home?

Hopefully it goes live on the 12th, but I don't have the cover finished yet, so the jury is still out.

I also posted a little short story last month, Digital Effigy. This little story follows Sweetie Belle, who passed away after suffering from an untreatable illness. But before her death an enterprising inventor took a total scan of her brain, which he used in the years that followed to eventually build a mechanical body and give her a second chance. Check it out here if you haven't: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/523935/digital-effigy

Lastly, a little anthology collection will be going up near the end of the month, FiO: Base Case. This story was created to hold the little oneshots and minifics I made as a result of the FiO anthology hardcover print. It's also a place for me to write any future ideas I wanted to explore in the world. Each chapter will be a totally unique short story, probably not connected. But there might be more down the road.

Other than that, the rest of the month continues on pace. Don't Bug Me and Sisters of Willowbrook are both continuing. Only one month of Sisters left before its conclusion at the end of November. Don't Bug me still has some more gas in the tank.

So does Dreamlands, and the brand new story I'm posting on the Patreon, Words of Power. Ponies on earth, Kirin TF, evil Nirik sorceress on the loose, and this story is getting illustrations! By the time it does come to fimfiction, it will be an absolute party. Still patreon-exclusive for the time being. I'll probably have to wait until it builds up a little backlog before posting it here, since it only gets a few chapters a month.

And that about does it. Expect another blog post about Frames of War when it goes live, plus another with the PDF/Epub version of Myths Like Us for anyone who wants to binge it without reading on Patreon's horrendous interface. I'll give it a few days so I don't spam people with blogs.

That's all for the spooky month. Thanks again to everyone who supports me along this bizarre journey I've taken. I know how tough things are right now, and art is a very distant background compared to everything else. But you keep me going, and fill my life with joy. I don't know where I'd be without you.

-Starscribe