//------------------------------// // Q&A // Story: Wild Card // by Barrel-of-fun //------------------------------// So here we go, a small Q and A session between you guys and myself. This makes me feel quite important really, like I should be at Bronycon announcing my various thoughts to a roomful of devoted bronies.   Before I go mad with power, let’s get this underway. Red Moon Levee asks: ‘What would you suggest to help a new writer keep writing when there is no inspiration?’ Firstly, welcome to the business to words, you can collect your free Pen-gun over there and just remember: Pen-gun: Mightier than the sword. I would also advise against forcing yourself to write, as you tend to come out with disappointing results to say the least. If you are having trouble with the story you are currently writing then maybe try writing something different for a bit? I have often gone off, wrote a one thousand word drabble about something silly and then come back to Wild Card refreshed and ready for round two. It can be quite a useful little tactic.   Furthermore, I’d put it to you that there is never ‘no inspiration’ for a story. It’s simply a matter of finding the inspiration. Whether it is something you read in a book, see in a movie or witness in the outside world, life is full of little inspirations that can help push you forward.   And now I sound like a member of the Dead Poet’s Society. Brilliant.   Aggro Viking asks a bunch of questions: ‘What is your favourite sweet?’ Cadbury’s Eclairs. I’ve eaten whole bags of those at a time in the past. ‘Nick Cage?’ Only when he is photo-shopped onto other things. Like Miley Cyrus. ‘Laptop or Desktop?’   I’ve been a desktop man for years and the first 40 or so chapters of Wild Card have been done on a desktop. However, now that I’m at university I find a laptop to be far more convenient. ‘What is your least favourite card game?’ Anyone that doesn’t take place on the back of a motorcycle. Honestly though, probably poker. Despite me writing an entire story about a gambling thief, I’m terrible at card games and don’t know my flushes from my facedown trap cards without consulting the internet.   Keairan asks: ‘How will Lady Luck and Até react to Oponn’s attunement to Equus?’ IE Oponn is now another Luck God that can openly affect Equus.’ Hmm, difficult to say to be honest. Lady Luck would probably be fairly ambivalent towards another god of luck, providing they didn’t mess with Ace or muck up her probabilities too much. Até, on the other hand, would probably be furious at another god that specialises in luck, a domain that she feels should be hers entirely.   _Checkmate_ asks: ‘What kind of plans do you have for the sequel; i.e. forming a new (possibly permanent) team, working for the Equestian Gov./Dairy?’ A difficult question to answer without revealing too much. About all I can say is that the sequel will involve two figures from Ace’s past who feel that they have been wronged by our hero. There might also be a possible love interest, providing if the paramour in question can pin down our slippery satyr. That’s about all I can say. Ikiostar asks: ‘Will Ace ever find new companions? What will happen to his friends from this part of the story? Marriage? Kids? ...Oh...and for the actors in this wonderful play...What was your favorite part in this story? Ace will definitely be getting some new companions for the sequel. As for Summer and Iron, they will be staying in Manehatten and settling down together. Marriage is probable, after a certain amount of time Swift Storm would probably force a nervous Iron to pop the question. Or Summer would ask first of course. She isn’t exactly the kind of pony to let someone get away once they’ve caught her eye. As for the final question, let’s hand it over to the actors themselves.   Summer: I really like finding my dad and rescuing him. It really gave me the chance to show off some emotional depth as well as a little bit of magical flank-kicking. I usually enjoy being the calm one of the group but I confess, being given the opportunity to go completely insane on someone was fun.   Iron: I PUNCHED A GIANT SNAKE IN THE FACE! Seriously, what else can top that?   Ace: Well, this is my story so I’d say that any scene with me in it is not only my favourite scene but is also the best scene of the story. I’m just that awesome. What’s that? I have to actually pick one? But how?! There’s so many good ones. Fine. I guess I’d torn between the emotion-heavy part where I found out Lady Luck was really my mother and that one scene early on where I danced on Iron’s head and showed how much of a little bitch he really is.   Iron: You little sh-!   Ace: Yeah, I’m gonna have to go with the Bull Dancing scene. That one was fun. I would say that the bar fight scene where I punched Princess Luna was my favourite but I’m about 80% sure she would hear that and throw me into the Shadow Realm.   Summer: Ace, Princess Luna does not throw people into Shadow Realms!   Ace: And I don’t even know how to play children’s card games!     …moving on.   Maskedferret asks…a whole bunch of questions really: How does Iron live with his hand? Wow. Well, let’s start at the beginning. Iron’s hand works in a similar way to a prosthetic limb in that it is not strictly speaking a part of him. When the hand got turned into iron, the spell cut off the blood vessels leading to the hand by turning the end of them into metal. It was essentially like the limb had just been perfectly amputated and cauterised in one fell swoop. I’m not sure of the effect this would have on the cardiovascular system as I’m no doctor but I’m pretty sure Iron could survive such a thing…though I wouldn’t recommend anyone trying it at home. Was Até responsible for Melody falling onto the glass? Our goddess of misfortune certainly does work in mysterious ways, and has a terrible tendency towards meddling. Is she responsible for Melody’s wounds? Well, I’m not telling. I leave all speculation up to the audience. Though I warn you of the dangers involved in idle speculation. Até has ways and means, and is not too fond of those who talk behind her back. Take care, lest you become her next game. Any chance of a short story about how Fate fell for Ace’s dad? I confess, I haven’t really thought of doing a story about the two of them. If I did, it would probably be in a bit of a different style to my usual writing. Perhaps even poetry? I know not. Darn, now I’m thinking, a dangerous hobby at the best of times. The best I can say to this question is…maybe. Does Ace have any characteristics that differentiate him from other satyrs? A confusing question for my confused mind. I’m unsure of what the baseline satyr is like, since I’ve read several different interpretations of the species and their abilities. Other than the obvious things, such as his wits, his luck and his skills, I wouldn’t say Ace has anything exceptional going on. But then, as far as I know, he is the only satyr in Chessverse Equestria, so that’s fairly exceptional in itself. Do the cards in the deck regenerate over time? The deck of cards does regenerate over time, but it does so in relation to the power of the cards. For example, a one or a two card might take a week or so to regenerate whilst a face card would take a few months. As for the ace cards, they take up to a year to be used again. Is it possible for a minotaur and a pony to reproduce? Can’t say I’ve ever considered the question. Hmmm, I believe that they should be able to, but only with the assistance of a magical medical profession. Specialised magic must be used to properly mix the two species’ genes without causing any deformations in the child. These hospital visits must happen at least once a week throughout the pregnancy so that the child’s natural magic can be properly developed.   Anonymous asks: Who inspired your characters? Any other fictional characters you drew from? People in real life?   One of my inspirations for my work was actually one of the works on this site, a wonderfully entertaining piece by the name of Machinations of a Trickster. The protagonist from that story, Karen, identifies himself proudly as a trickster, which was something I quite likes. A rogue who was confident in his identity of who he was. Summer was slightly inspired by a friend of mine with an extra dollop of sass thrown in. I won’t name any names here but let’s just say that after 14 years of doing martial arts, she can kick a lot of ass if she wants to. And yet, she is one of the most polite and kind people I know. The sassiness was added pretty much just because I like sassy women… Iron, despite being an actual canon character, is a bit different in this story. The retired badass aspect comes from an NPC I made up for a D&D game. Basically he was a retired adventurer that used his money to buy a noble title and sit around drinking fancy wines whilst telling everyone about his adventures. The one time he was actually forced into action ended with fifteen skeleton warriors in various pieces around the room with him barely breaking a sweat. He immediately sat back in his chair, stroked his impressive moustache and carried on drinking. That’s what I imagine Iron Will be like in a few years. He and Summer spend most of their time being calm and respectful except for when they have to bust down walls and knock heads together.   Gcwg57 asks: Will the events of your visions of the future chapter appear in the sequel? Any more crossovers planned?   A good question. The visions of the future chapter was kind of a spur of the moment thing that I mainly did because all the other Chessverse authors were doing them at the time. So, like the little sheep I am, I also did one. Even though I do like the chapter itself, I regret doing that now. Plans change as I’m writing so I doubt Ace will actually end up doing what happens in the visions chapter, even in the sequel. At the moment, I’m tentatively declaring the visions of the future chapter to be non-canon to the story. I say tentatively because I’m still not sure of a lot of things. Ace may very well end up doing that at some point.   I don’t have any crossovers planned at the moment really. I’ll admit, it’d been a while since I’ve been in touch with the other Chessverse authors. My life’s a bit hectic at the moment but I’ll still try and get back in touch with them. I doubt I will do a crossover in the sequel, since I’m planning for it to be a fairly linear adventure, unlike the sprawling mess that was Wild Card. I may even have a plan set out for the sequel, as opposed to Wild Card which I wrote on a week by week basis with only the barest of plans in my head. Fugly duckling asks: When the sequel is out, will you make a shout out chapter on Wild Card?   Yes, I’ll make sure to do that in addition to the blog post. I’m not sure what will be coming out first though, the sequel or a side story featuring Wild Flower and Quick Sparks. I think I'll be doing the side story as I have that more planned out, so you may see that in a few weeks time, hopefully.