[OOC] STOMP Remembrance Project

[Zamuel]

I'll always wonder what would have happened if we'd gotten the Barometz scene right.

In the original plan, the entire mission was different. The train battle would have been in this arc instead of returning to Nightmare Heights. Granted, the plan was for her to escape so Barometz existing and the slower buildup to Tipsy Tulip might have helped her. Maybe. The physical threat of her was diminished but the implications of her inventions got boosted. Honestly...the train battle never stood a chance of being impressive in a mapless battle system.

 

[GodSentinelOmega]

Scarlet comes in during the fifth or sixth arc. We are currently near the end of the third arc.

Ah, that’s right. I got mixed up in where you are arc wise because of Nightmare Heights.
This reminds me that i should really catch up eith my Mey Hem summaries.

 

[Caldwin]

Oh dear! This part...looking back at this part is so cringe.

It was one of those things where, yeah, Static would love this. But I was IRL panicking because as much as Static would love this, I was having an IRL meltdown wondering how the hell I was going to RP this.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

"Static sighed" is a dangerous drinking game.

I remember having fun with this scene though. Static gave me stuff to work with. I remember Night Cap struggling to get a word in edgewise, with a series of cut off interjections like "I was just thinking-" "I just-" "We've got to-" (a reference to the G1 roundup thread) only to admit, when finally asked for his input, "I got nothing."

It was fun and I regret nothing.

 

[Caldwin]

"Static sighed" is more of a Caldwin writers tick than it was Static. If you read anything else I've done (which I really don't suggest)...

Take a shot any time someone sighs

Take a shot when someone winces

Take a shot when someone rolls their eyes

Take a shot whenever someone says something "with a scoff"

 

[Zamuel]

I mean, it could be "with her magic".

 

[CoffeeHorse]

We should keep a running tally. We'll never know the true number but we can get close.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

According to the OOC thread, "Static starts thumbing through the files." would be edited to "Static starts leafing through the files."


None of Night Cap's posts got quoted this time so they're all forever lost, but the substance of his last exchange with Static can be inferred. Night Cap had a reaction to the document about the Night Guard. It was just like all his other reactions any time the subject of Royal Guards came up. This post:

Static hold up the picture next to Night Cap, looking from one to the other. "It's definitely you!"

was no doubt about their armor.

Night Cap's response is lost, but was followed by this in the OOC thread.

Oh dear! Looks like I missed out responding to Night Cap. Umm...just pretend Static said something supportive in a "I don't know what their recruiting practices are, but I don't see why not. You certainly know your way around a fight." Something like that.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

"That also means this expedition needs to go well."

Ouch.

But it's one of those cases where chaos can be a good writer. In the moment, it was a shame that the expedition went the way it did, and it especially sucked that there was some OOC drama. But when you're removed from it and just reading it as a story, it's a pretty good story. If she says the expedition has to go well, it has to go badly. It's just the rules of drama. If things go according to plan, then the plan becomes a spoiler.

"OH WOW MR. NIGHT CAP LOOK HOW HIGH UP WE ARE!" Maple said.

Misty, who had her face pressed to the window, turned around to face Night Cap. "You should come take a look at this! It's not quite the same as flying in the clouds on your own, but it's close?"

"You can have my seat next to the window if you want Mr. Night Cap..."

Accidental Night Cap bullying is the best Night Cap bullying.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Whew. The pain is over and we're in Nightmare Heights.


Some behind the scenes on the comic. I was originally going to adapt the ferry scene as it happened. Somewhere I have a sketch of Anchors trying the quiche. This plan changed for a number of reasons, and it wasn't just because of the unpleasantness.

It began with breakfast. I was originally going to include the part where we were leaving and everyone noticed Night Cap's injuries. The scene was going to end with this line.

"Seems to me Ms. Rhapsody needs a bit of a talking to." Static growled.

Cut to Rhapsody's morning adventure. But then I decided to save that scene for later. So breakfast instead ended with a more humorous transition from not being able to eat another bite, to donuts in the Documents department.

I like that transition but it ended up creating a problem for the ferry scene. Scripting that scene was immediately a nightmare due to everybody trying to reply to everybody and getting kinda out of sync. But I'd made it worse for myself. Without Rhapsody's morning adventure, I needed to come up with a new reason to bring up COIN and set the whole blowup into motion. Or go back and insert Rhapsody's morning adventure where it belonged, which would have been a ton of work, just to do the blowup accurately. When it was still going to be a pain to adapt due to the way the multi-way conversations happened.

So I gave up and made the flight unpleasant due to the cramped space, and used the Nightmare Heights ponies' treatment of Night Cap as a catalyst for the blowup. That ended up being more fun than I expected.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

I don't know what happened with Static's triple post but I'm reproducing it for old times sake.

 

[Caldwin]

That would never happen now.

 

[Caldwin]

That would never happen now.

 

[Caldwin]

That would never happen now.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

So... the svamp pepper stew.

My first plan was of course to adapt the scene as is. After I changed the ferry scene, I decided to stick some photos of Night Cap with the COIN siblings on the bulletin board in Town Hall, so a revised version of the argument could still take place before the unchanged stew scene. But it wasn't satisfying and I didn't have a good reason why those pictures would still be there.

So I decided to set the argument during the stew scene and let the town's bullying of Night Cap be the catalyst. Originally Static and Rhapsody didn't intend to have the argument right in front of Night Cap, so I booted him off to the kids table to keep him out of the scene. And to bully him because it was fun.

Then I added the newspaper because I still wanted to use those photos.

 

[Copper Bezel]

The timing here is soooooo gooood

 

[CoffeeHorse]

It's funny what you're able to notice when the campaign is compressed like this and you can read long chunks in a few minutes instead of a whole month.

He sighed, "The name's 'Inferno Blue'."

He sighed, "The pegasi vill carry the others down, unless some of you plan to climb."

Static sighed. "If it'll help lighten the burden, I'll climb." What the heck. It was going to be a harrowing experience either way.

We found Static's long lost brother!

As the STOMP team reached the cliff edge, a few pegasi were waiting for them. "We heard about little Maple's plight and wanted to at least help you get to the base of the mountain. We'll carry any of you...except him." The mare pointed at Night Cap. "Don't vorry, I'll carry him."

See, he's even the only one who sticks up for Night Cap!

 

[Zamuel]

It's funny what you're able to notice when the campaign is compressed like this and you can read long chunks in a few minutes instead of a whole month.

One of the things I'm enjoying is seeing the hints Destron dropped about Maplejack. While I knew she was a changeling as GM, it's still fun to reread.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Destron played Maple brilliantly. All those hints, yet we suspected nothing. Every hug now feels slightly ominous.

>_> If Maple had been introduced in Season 2 we might have been more suspicious.

 

[Zamuel]

Craziest thing about it is I originally vetoed the idea of secret changelings. In other words, we almost didn't get Maple as a character at all.