#scholarlyzelda

[scholarlyzelda]

behind the scenes

💙 true colors

good news, everyone! the sequel is progressing quite nicely, if i do say so myself :) the issues i had with the opening scenes have been smoothed out for the most part, and in fact i've already got practically all of the first day written (basically everything we see in s4e1). there's still a lot more to go obviously (my current thought is that the first chapter is going to cover the events of e1-3), but i'm genuinely so happy with the progress i've made. it's already at 13,000+ words!! :3

that being said, what i really want to talk about in this post is true colors itself! see, there's this one part in the third chapter, something i haven't mentioned or pointed out until now mainly because i was really hoping someone else might pick up on it. but that hasn't happened and i don't want to keep my mouth shut about it any longer. so here it is: there is actually a very minor reference to one of my favorite horror movies of all time in the chapter. but first let me show you the part i'm talking about before i reveal what the reference is:

last chance to make a guess as to what the reference is!

drum roll, please... 🥁🥁🥁

so yeah if on the off-chance that part happened to give you lake mungo vibes, then here's your confirmation that that was, in fact, intentional! i love love LOVE lake mungo. if you haven't seen it before please take this as your sign to go and watch it as it was very much a huge inspiration for me when i was writing this chapter. no spoilers but imo there are a lot of parallels between alice's and will's stories and i just wanted to pay homage to that in my own small way :)

anyway yeah, just a fun little easter egg i wanted to share with you all!

❇️ bonuses

surprise!!!!!!!!!

guys i'm literally so obsessed with this song, it's SOOOO good and i really feel like it fits the theme of the sequel surprisingly well despite how upbeat it is. like they're literally out of touch, out of time....... 😔😂 also can i just say despite how simple it may look, creating this cover took literal hours off my life that i'll never get back but i am VERY happy with the results. i literally downloaded photoshop (as opposed to using the shitty photo editing app on my phone, which is how i've made all my other fanfic covers up until this point) simply because i wanted to do this cover the justice it deserved <3

that's all for now! go watch lake mungo!!

[scholarlyzelda]

behind the scenes

💙 true colors

the sequel is officially a go :)

note: everything here is subject to change in the final draft ‼️

so far:

this story is looking like it'll have four parts in total, though that is also subject to change. depending on how long certain scenes end up being, i might be able to consolidate it into three parts, though i'm hoping that won't be the case. idk why but for some reason i'm kind of attached to the idea of the s3 story having three parts, s4 four parts, and s5 five parts 😄

we'll be getting a lot more of mike's POV this time around (in fact the first scene is from his POV, we see his reaction to el's letter). as of right now, i don't think we'll be getting any scenes from el's POV, which i do think is sad but i don't want to force it. besides, there's plenty to cover with just will and mike.

speaking of will, i'm having some trouble with his opening scene. there's so much to cover, and i don't want it to feel too expository even though it kind of has to be. idk, hopefully i'll be able to work through that block soon.

and finally, i have a working title! though i'm not sure if it'll actually be the title, so i'm not going to reveal it just yet. i will say, it's the title of another song from the '80s that i've kind of been obsessed with lately 😄

that's all for now. will hopefully have more progress to speak of soon. i've sort of been going out of order with writing scenes, so i actually have more written than this might make it sound, but obviously those other scenes won't matter if i can't nail down the opening... idk, we'll see! 😭

happy vol2 day!!!! oh and merry christmas or whatever (but that's less important) 🙏🙏

[scholarlyzelda]

behind the scenes

💙 true colors

note: contains spoilers for chapter 3!

the nots

in regards to the two scenes i mentioned in my first bts post (the ones that got the major overhauls), that would be the confrontation in the woods between will and what i affectionately refer to in my notes as "the nots" (not-jonathan, not-max, etc.), as well as the scene from el's POV immediately after. the scene with the nots was definitely the hardest to nail down, i REALLY struggled with figuring out a) how to make the flow of the encounter feel both natural and genuinely unsettling, and b) how to build the psychological horror in a way that felt personal to will specifically.

to be more specific, (and this might not make any sense but i'm not sure how else to put it) i kept finding myself straying toward a more general psychological horror vibe where more of the focus was on "what the hell is this thing talking to me? why are its eyes so empty? how does it know all of this stuff about me????" when the real horror of this scene comes from how deeply personal it is to will, a way of exploring some of his deepest insecurities and all those uglier thoughts he normally never lets himself touch. it's the monster knowing your mind inside and out, and using that against you. basically the focus shouldn't be on what the monster is or how scary/wrong it is, it should be about what it's actually saying and how that's making will feel.

idk, hopefully that makes sense. 😅

el's POV

in regards to the scene from el's POV: well, it actually wasn't always from her POV! originally we stayed with will as he went back inside the house, changed his clothes, found the D&D books, etc. all the way up to the fight with mike. genuinely though this scene changed so much even when it was still in his POV, it's really not worth going through every single iteration. i'll just say i'm VERY happy with where it ended up. i'm so glad el got a moment to shine, and i'm glad we got a little more insight into her life specifically during those three months between what happened at starcourt to them leaving hawkins. i was so concerned throughout the entire story with keeping her as in-character as possible, i NEVER wanted it to feel like she was just the annoying girl getting in the way of my gay ship (lol). el deserves better than that, so getting to flesh her out in this way really ended up feeling like such a breath of fresh air. 🩷

i'm also just now realizing i think the main reason i was struggling so much with the previous version of the scene was because sticking with will's POV would have meant having to write a definitive ending to his arc, even if that ending was never going to feel satisfying regardless. like..... his story isn't over yet. not by a long shot.

speaking of which...

looking to the future

as for what's to come, now that the story is over... well, to be honest, i'm not sure yet. i do want to write a sequel (covering the events of season 4 of course), i just don't know if i actually will. i suppose part of what would help me to decide is if people really want to see one. now, this isn't me guaranteeing that if enough people say yes, sequel please! that i will for sure write one, so just keep that in mind.

if i'm being completely honest i think the main issue is that, while i do have some ideas for how to continue, i don't have a lot. which is... obviously a problem. at the very least i'd need to map out how i would want the third story to play out (because if i do do s4, then i'm almost certainly committing to covering s5 as well), particularly the ending. like i said, i have some ideas—in fact, i even planted little hints here and there in this story for certain future twists, just in case. but i refuse to commit if i don't have a solid ending planned, it seriously would break my heart to leave this series incomplete. honestly this is where i think season 5 will most come in handy, helping me plan towards a satisfying ending (in regards to the supernatural side of things, at least). so yeah, i guess we'll see!

tldr: i'll have to see season 5 first before i decide if i can commit to writing a sequel.

FUCK ALL THAT I'M WRITING IT LMAO. HAPPY NOVEMBER 6TH 🥳

❇️ bonuses

new/revamped individual chapter covers!! you wouldn't believe the amount of time it took to make these, and only for tumblr to eat the quality?? like i swear the third one doesn't actually look that shit normally lmfaooo i'm so annoyed 😭

that's all for now but if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask! i could seriously talk about this story all day long :)

[scholarlyzelda]

behind the scenes ✍️

i know hardly anyone likely checks this blog aside from me, but i thought it might make the publishing side of things a bit more fun for me if i started writing little update posts about what's going on with whatever i'm currently working on. so that's what i'm doing! and for this particular post, we'll be focusing on...

💙 true colors

no, chapter 3 isn't out yet but i am working on it, i promise! it actually was sort of already nearly done when i was struck with new inspiration and decided to do a major overhaul of two key scenes. i'll discuss it more once the chapter is actually out (because spoilers, obviously), so all i'll say for now is that the first scene especially is a doozy but that the new changes will definitely be worth it. :)

❇️ bonuses

as an added bonus for those of you who might actually see this post, i'm including a couple little teasers for what's to come!

first, we have this short little excerpt from the very first scene of chapter 3:

🤔

second, an alternate chapter cover:

no chapter title yet, but that's totally just to build up suspense and definitely NOT because i haven't actually decided on a title yet. nope not at all, nosiree! 😅🙏

anyway, that's all for now! hopefully the next time i post, it'll be because i'm bringing you the third—and final 😭—chapter of true colors!!

[scholarlyzelda]

But then came the War to End All Wars, also known as the Blood Rebellion, when the fifteen provinces, led by the Sheikah of Province 3, the Dueling Peaks Province, decided to turn on the Central Republic. The people waged a war that culminated in the brutal assassination of the beloved Queen Zelda XIII—and subsequently her child, the unborn heir to the throne. After this, the Central Republic proceeded to completely obliterate the Sheikah—“to ensure the safety and security of the rest of our people,” the history books say—and the rest of the provinces were quickly routed and pacified, allowing the Central Republic easy access to take back their control over the kingdom.

The finalized world map for The Lost Children.

The Central Republic. Consists of Hyrule Castle Town and Hyrule Castle. The ruling city.

Central Province. Consists of the majority of the Central Tower region, aside from Hyrule Castle Town and Hyrule Castle. Specializes in manufacturing luxury goods.

Hateno Province. Consists of the Hateno Tower region. Specializes in military affairs.

Dueling Peaks Province. Consists of the Dueling Peaks region. Specializes in weaponry. Defunct. Destroyed 99 years ago in the Blood Rebellion.

Gerudo Highlands Province. Consists of the Gerudo Tower region. Specializes in espionage.

Akkala Province. Consists of the Akkala Tower region. Specializes in everyday technology.

Great Plateau Province. Consists of the Great Plateau Tower region. Specializes in healthcare.

Faron Province. Consists of the Faron Tower region. Specializes in fishing.

Eldin Province. Consists of the Eldin Tower region. Specializes in mining.

Lanayru Province. Consists of the Lanayru Tower region. Specializes in water.

Lake Province. Consists of the Lake Tower region. Specializes in agriculture.

Tabantha Province. Consists of the Tabantha Tower region. Specializes in textiles.

Ridgeland Province. Consists of the Ridgeland Tower region. Specializes in electricity.

Woodland Province. Consists of the Woodland Tower region. Specializes in lumber.

Hebra Province. Consists of the Hebra Tower region. Specializes in livestock.

Gerudo Province. Consists of the Wasteland Tower region. Specializes in smithing.