Taking Five: January-February

Henry Stickmin: Posted a new series of poems for 'Weaving the Threads'! 

Universal Phoenix Corps: I'm gradually writing this story and it's coming along a bit faster now. I'm not done yet, but progress is made. 

Sonic Dahlias: I'm starting to write a profile for one of my stars. I won't be saying who it is to keep it as a surprise. 

Other Fanfics: I posted a one-shot crossover between Redwall and The Silver Brumby. I'm aiming to make it a goal this year to post more outside of the HS universe, and complete more of my other projects as well. A crossover one-shot is as good a place as any to start. 

Also, due to how short the one-shot is, I don't think I'll do a 'Special Features' post on it. If I want to mention it offhand in another post, I will do so. 

That's it for now. Wanderer out! 

Through Smoke and Bitter Distance, Chapter Three, Special Features

Chapter Three

References:

* In all the pathways in 'Completing the Mission', there are many Crewmates from Among Us making cameos, hidden in many nooks and crannies. There's only one Crewmate here, but I felt it was my duty to throw it in to keep in the spirit of the CTM pathways. 

General:

*The wind can be a devious force of nature, especially around wildfires. The fires here in conjunction with the wind are used to represent the urgency and the value of time. Time is a precious resource, but it's running out fast and everyone must act fast before time ends for them. It's the same principle I'm using to describe Dave's headaches - the more they worsen, the more he has to hurry and get to safety or else he'll perish. 

*A reviewer of this story guessed that the Toppats' train would play a part in this story. They were proven correct. 
Initially, I had no plans for using the train. I couldn't quite figure out why the train would be used if all the Toppats either would be out fighting or out expired, but then came the bounty hunters to solve the problem. As I outlined in the special features post for the first chapter, I like the bounty hunter trio and wanted to utilize them for longer than a segment. 
They came along and wanted to go looking for Henry, Reginald and/or the RHM on the train, and then that's when it hit me that I could write in their search as a mystery-solving venture. That is, while they're trying to find the men, they're also finding clues as to what happened. Obviously they don't solve the mystery right away, but they do have to start somewhere and what else but with a classic trail of footprints? 

Also, Galeforce and Rupert seeking Dave in the same building complex he just exited from is a means of irony, but it also served to tie into the bounty hunters' own hunt for important personnel, only with Henry. Now that I think about it, it's also ironic, due to the bounty hunters once working with Henry in 'Master Bounty Hunter' . But here, he's a Toppat to them. 

 *I shortened this chapter's word count with the intention of building up suspense between the fanning of the flames and the wind blustering in speed before it all came to a head in the next chapter. 

*More deer associations with Dave were a must to continue on the Bambi pattern. 

Random Facts:

*The Big Three is not a reference to anything, but I did want to call the main leaders of the Toppat Clan something important, so Big Three came to mind for Reginald, Henry and the RHM. 

Wanderer out!

Character Spotlight: Thirty-Thirty, Part Two

 

Say hello to my not-so-little friend!

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                       4. INSPIRATION 

Like Christine, Thirty-Thirty comes from a relatively quiet fanbase in the literary circles so I don't have much material to use for my writing style. However, there is one exception - the fanfiction Stompin' is Magic (thank you for showing it to me, OLU!). There are some things in the fic that I will be using for Thirty-Thirty to flesh his background out, but besides this fanfic, I just go by what I observe in the episodes, although how I wrote him back then is not so good. I can do much better now.

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  5. FUTURE PLANS

Oh yes, do I have plans for him! Spoilers, but he will be in various crossovers, but I'm not saying when, and he'll get involved in quite a few scuffles with characters - both heroic and villainous. 

In a non-UPC story, he'll be involved in an AU I'm still trying to develop that recently popped into my head. Still working out the details, but what is definite is that he'll serve as an officer of the law in the world I'm creating. 

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6. HEADCANONS

*He dislikes some bugs, which I'll go with beetles in this case. This bit is an ironic inside gag that comes from Thirty's voice actor. When Mr. Gilbert was active, he was not only a voice actor and television actor, he was also an entomologist; he discovered new beetle species. Who knew?

*He can store Sara Jane and other items in his fluffy mane, but this only happens when he’s in his bipedal form, when his mane grows longer and bigger. When he's on all fours, the items stay tucked in his mane until it's time to bring them out.

*Sara Jane can destroy a boulder and stun opponents based on her settings à la Star Trek phasers. 

*With all the technology Thirty-Thirty has on hand, such as his radio to Bravestarr and whomever else is within range on New Texas (seen in "Rampage"), his specialized communicator implemented into his snaffle bit to contact military branches/official government organizations (I don't remember the episode), and his scanner (seen in "Ship of No Return" , one wonders where he gets those marvelous toys. I think asides from either having some of them literally built into him like his communicator or naturally belonging to him like Sara Jane, he regularly likes to keep on ordering gadgets to better improve himself or to aid him in his work. He's like an IT worker except he's a horse and we can actually understand what he's up to with his tech.

This headcanon comes from a piece of unused Thirty-Thirty lore, in that he was originally a hypochondriac robot who enjoyed ordering new gadgets to attach to himself. This brings me back to my point about his attachment to his salary - I theorize that the more he gets paid, the more money he can spend on obtaining whatever tech he fancies. Knowing his personality, he likes to go for things that can help him fight, yeah, but he's pretty practical on what tech he sees fit to acquire. Maybe the latest tech on occasion, but in Thirty's case, I see him obtaining technology that A) is not complicated to use and easy to fix and B) something that can benefit him or others, which doesn't always have to be the hottest must-have item. 

*At one point in the show, Bravestarr taught Thirty-Thirty about constellations and in turn he taught Fuzz about those same constellations. Since then, Thirty has obtained a fascination in learning more about them and the different names they go by on other worlds. 

*Thanks to One Lucky Unicorn, I've also adopted the headcanon that he can't swim for very long due to the weight of his cybernetic limbs. 

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7. PERSONAL

*Thirty's a fun character to write. He's not your typical heroic character - he's heroic with an edge, but does know to when to cool it. He has a cool concept that can touch upon a number of archetypes all at once - the noble and loyal steed, the wild stallion, the impulsive partner who loves jumping into the action, the adventurous gunslinger, and the techno enthusiast (which in retrospect is different than other technological characters - he doesn't build them like Disney's Gyro Gearloose or hack into computers like Ed from Cowboy Bebop; he uses his tools and when they have to be fixed, he either gets someone to help him or he fixes them himself). It's not really a combination one commonly sees, but it's a welcome combo of traits that makes for a compelling and well-loved character among Bravestarr fans. 

I kind of like the fact that we don't know that much about his backstory. Even though it's hinted to be a tragic one, due to his position as at the last Equestroid, it does allow us to use our imaginations to fill in what happened and go off of what was clarified in the movie: the Equestroids settled on New Texas after an Equestroid named Equus led a revolt aboard a slave ship and Thirty somehow later acquired Sara Jane after the fact. And according to some sources, the film script compares the Equestroid civilization to the Vikings, and if this is true, then that could open up a world of possibilities for the kind of lives the techno horses had by incorporating bits from various Viking aspects to build up the history left behind by these horses. 

*This point is kind of moot, but I declare ''Spoilin' for a Fight' by AC/DC'' as his theme song lol. I'm tempted to throw in "A Horse with No Name by America" as well. I love this song, but that's not the only reason. Thirty has his moments when he's quiet and reflective, and I like to think that before he met Bravestarr and the rest of the crew, he spent a lot of time thinking about things while guarding what remained of his home in the middle of a vast desert. The song's very much like that - it suggests a lot of contemplation about nature and one's life while walking through a desert where our thoughts are either our companions, our traitors or our passive observers. But knowing Thirty-Thirty, he'll take it on with all his might and never back down from a challenge. 

As a meta joke, I might also try and find songs by David Lee Roth of Van Halen fame, due to the common observation fans and commentators have made on Thirty's mane and attitude coming from the man.  

But now I can consider this post conquered like a Viking!  Thanks for reading. 

Wanderer Out!