Fanfic Writing General

@gasmaskangel  
Draught of Sempiternus Sortis?

@PonyPon  
Problem is none of that means anything dirty, unless google is lying to me again.

@gasmaskangel  
Damn.
 
Probably shouldn’t have relied on google translate.
 
It should have read Endless Sex in latin.

Could be one of those things where it depends on context. You know, where individual words mean something innocent but together they translate into “endless sex.”

@gasmaskangel
 
Mis-translations are one way to go: Twilight might have translated a potion’s effects as “fertility”, thinking it was some sort of farm soil booster, but it’s really a strong aphrodisiac…and it doesn’t care about the gender or sexuality of the drinker, it just incites a raging lust towards anything and everything, but especially other ponies.

how about a mistranslation of the Greek god of love- Aphrodite?  
smudge the letters or use runes or something and oops.

@YetAnotherBrony  
That actually works really, really well for the story.

@gasmaskangel
 
Glad I could help!

Hey guys I’m looking for some thoughts on this fanfic I’ve been hoping to get done, though its a little different. Essentially its about our modern world clashing with Equestria, though in Equestria everyone is human, and their planet just happens to be several times larger than Earth, also magic but that’s a given.  
The difference is that the world of Equestria is essentially a Strike Witches esque kind of world where the time and technology is much like that of the 1930s - 1940s though politically speaking there’s mostly just monarchies and a few republics. Long story short, two very different worlds clashing, and also Marine Corps going in to explore.
 
And I have no idea how the Marine Corps works, or how to sound like professional military, so I am in kind of need of help there.

@Evident Disaster  
If everyone on Equestria is a human how is it Equestria?
 
Or do you mean there’s no “species enforcement” when crossing between planets?

@Evident Disaster  
Not American here. In the Philippines the Marines are a subgroup of the Navy. They handle amphibious landings, that is, from water to land.
 
In a jungle environment, we send the Scout Rangers. Equal parts soldier and hunter. Experts on tracking and searching.
 
Just ask me if you want to know about squad tactics and equipment.

@Albus Fahrenheits  
Okay thanks mate.
 
@CobaltTheMadMage  
No species enforcement, this is purely between humans, though dragons do exist, its a little more complicated with them.

@Evident Disaster  
I’m no Marine, mate. I’m just a Reserve Officer. I just tell what I know.

@Evident Disaster  
Ah, ok then.
 
Kinda funny, your idea of Equestria being bigger than Earth reminded me of a vague old HiE idea I had, except it was the opposite: Equestria had much lower gravity than Earth, so it ended up being a bit like John Carter of Mars except more from the Martians’ (or in this case, ponies’) perspective than “John”’s.

@CobaltTheMadMage  
Well the gravity of Equestria, actually the name of the planet is Novus Solis, the country where the story takes place in is Equestria, though its more of a principality I believe would be the correct term.
 
Any how, the world is actually 1.14 times heavier than Earth, though there are magically infused materials which reduce gravity to an extent, their world is a little heavier than ours.

Currently obsessed with rpg warlocks and the theme of the seven deadly sins.
 
Though of two scenarios: the rise of an infernal organization led by a council of seven, each a warlock majoring in a sin, and ruling beastmen themeatically appropriate to their branch.
 
The other: the elements of harmony each going to a representative of a sin. And I’d like it if who got what wasn’t obvious or eye-rollingly ironic, like giving greed generosity and such.

@PonyPon
 
People always talk about the Sins, but what about the Seven Virtues?

@YetAnotherBrony  
Not nearly as fun.

@PonyPon  
Actually, that reminds me of how one of the White Wolf RPG systems has each player pick a sin and a virtue for their character, which ends up creating some surprisingly well-rounded personalities. If you want to “disguise” each representative’s sin (or make them seem like decent people/ponies/whatever at first), than that could be a way of doing it: focusing on a virtue for each and gradually hint that they’re really a villainous glutton or whatever.
 
My current fanfic project: Transformers: Friendship is Magic, an AU which re-imagines the Mane 6 and company as giant transforming alien robots in sort of a mash-up version of the FIM pilot 2-parter with various Transformers series.
 
The one feature that I’m a little apprehensive about is that Sweetie Drops/Bon Bon, Ditzy Doo/Derpy, and Fluttershy (in addition to several other ponies) are going to be Decepticons. In a reference to her “kindness” trial with the manticore in the FIM pilot, Fluttershy will try to defuse a fight and end up empathizing and siding with the Mane Autobots. Most of the rest, though, won’t be switching sides anytime soon.
 
I hate to use TV Tropes parlance, but I worry casting minor background characters as recurring villains will come off as “Ron the Death Eater”-ish (fandom demonizing “good” characters). The idea here was that the major Decepticon players (Nightmare Moon, Sombra, Chrysalis, etc.) are really good at exploiting the gray moralities of wartime to gain followers. Additionally, while the Mane 7 will still be a team of good guys by the end of the fanfic, I wanted to show how fractured the characters of Equestria would be in the event of an endless Transformers-style civil war, where both sides can indoctrinate their young and wartime can turn normally decent characters into monsters.
 
So, what do you think? Background Six et. al. as Decepticons (with some sympathetic reasons for joining them)…or should I wait until that EqG 3 movie introduces those “Shadowbolt” villains?

@romantiCaveman  
I definitely think you should go with the backgrounders.
 
No offense meant to the writing crew, but those Shadowbolts strike me as shallow as IDW Rarity and Blueblood combined.

@PonyPon  
Yeah, that was kinda how I felt.
 
Granted, there hasn’t been much personality displayed for the backgrounders either (leaving fanon and writers with most of the work of developing them), but at least fans have an emotional connection with them on about the level of the Mane 7, which unfortunately can’t normally be said for any of the EqG-verse characters.
 
It’s also a lot of fun for me to figure out how someone like Vinyl or Time Turner would work on a team of militaristic alien supervillains.

@romantiCaveman  
I can see Vinyl being akin to Soundwave and Time Turner being that eccentric engineer that kinda gets pushed around a bit by the others.

@CobaltTheMadMage  
My idea for Vinyl was to give her the same robo-monotone and skills as most incarnations of Soundwave, but still have the hip slang and easygoing personality she’s commonly portrayed with in fanfiction. It’s hilarious for me to imagine a robot saying stuff like “VINYL: TRANSFORM. OPERATION: WHAT’S THE HIPPITY HAPS?” or “Y’ALL READY? I WANNA HEAR SOME NOOOISE.” in complete deadpan vocoder monotone.
 
As for Doctor Whooves/Time Turner, I was tossing around a few ideas. Mostly Doctor Who references, like making him like his darker incarnations (Time Lord Victorious), the Master, or Mr. Clever from “Nightmare in Silver.” He’ll definitely have a technician bend, though, serving as the sorta Shockwave/Peridot of the Backgrounders.

@romantiCaveman
 
Vinyl having a monotone robotic voice in general would be hilarious, especially since there’s that one headcanon going around that Vinyl is mute.

Rarity being temporally blinded right before a big order is due.