Thread by @GailSimone

Okay, this is not a full Story Time With Gail but I think it's pretty funny and I haven't been able to tell anyone about it for over a year. It's about how weird my job is sometimes. 1/

I am very fortunate in that I get asked to do a lot of projects, many of which are things outside of my normal wheelhouse. As fans, we often take for granted how long it took to have the deep knowledge we have for the stuff we love. 2/

For example, I know a LOT about the DCU, the MU, LotR, Star Wars, Star Trek, lots of stuff. Not the Mark Waid/Kurt Busiek level, but still a lot, so I can write a project in those worlds with only refresher-level research, right? 3/

And we take that knowledge for granted. But when a writer is asked to do, say, a Teen Titans story and they DON'T know that stuff from literal years of reading, they can feel intimidated and overwhelmed. And the fanbase KNOWS when they get it wrong. 4/

So I have all the space taken up in my feeble brain for the fandoms I already know. :) But I love a lot of properties where I HAVEN'T memorized everything. And when I get asked to write them, it can be very intense learning the topography and history and vocabulary. 5/

So a project that may take a week to actually physically write can take AGES to research, to actually know the landscape well enough to do the property justice and give the readers/viewers/players what they deserve, ie., a proper story in that world. 6/

Normally, I try to balance, there are only so many hours in the day, so I have to turn down a LOT of cool stuff because I'm ALREADY working on a research-intensive project. It makes me sad to do, but it's the only way to respect the readers. 7/

It's all a matter of timing. If my slate is stuff I already know, then I can write Doctor Who or whatever. If not, then I have to pass for the moment. I think most of us in comics have that decision to make at times. 8/

Because loving something and enjoying something is not the same as having deep knowledge, and when you mess up, the true fans know. I got Cass Cain all wrong early in my run and it haunts me to this day, for a tiny example. 9/

Anyway, last year, I got offered a bunch of stuff, and a TON of it would have required vast amounts of research time. So I turned most of it down. Except for two things, two projects that were SO fun-sounding that I couldn't say no. 10/

My Little Pony.

And

Mortal Kombat. 11/

My Little Pony, you may already know about. I wanted to do it because it's a great, funny show that a lot of people truly love, and it has a remarkable fan community. So I wanted to do it. Mortal Kombat, I just love the game and characters, so I said yes. 12/

Now, here's the thing. Both this properties are FAMOUS for having, shall we say, INTENSE fan bases. And both are just absolutely teeming with history. And if you mess up, believe me, you hear about it. 13/

MLP has dozens of characters and sub-arcs and a huge history. MK has the same, I love the game, but until I jumped in with both feet, I had no idea how truly extensive the mythology was, it's just ENDLESS. 14/

Now, two things came up immediately. One was a problem, the other was just hilarious.

The PROBLEM was, both of these projects had to be worked on at the same time. I'll get to the funny bit in a minute. 15/

So, the MLP was an episode of the series.

But the MK project was SPRAWLING. It was for comics, but it was not just a simple series, or even a crossover event. It was MASSIVE. 16/

I don't want to explain the whole thing, but it would have changed a comic universe forever, for real, and involved a huge 12 issue series and THREE ongoing series, which I would oversee. 17/

And it was one of the coolest projects I'd ever been asked to do. But it would be a time black hole. I put almost everything else aside, because this project alone would kill almost all other productivity for a long time. 18/

And it did hit me, how intense the research would be on both projects. The weird thing in both cases?
There is no research out there even CLOSE to what the fans of each have produced. 19/

So, for this to happen, I needed to restructure how I work. I went into my office most days.

Mornings were for My Little Pony research, watching the show (there are over 200 episodes), reading the comics, etc.

And afternoon and evenings were for Mortal Kombat. 20/

Which meant playing the game, reading the online fan research, and scouring the books and comics. It's a huge mythology, comparable to a lot of long-running fantasy and tv shows. And there's not really a single resource, so it was a LOT to learn. 21/

This is why I had fewer comics coming out for a while last year, because I couldn't do these two things and still have lots of additional deadlines. 22/

If you can imagine someone handing you, say, a DCU project that deals with the entire history of that universe, and you had never really studied, that's what this was. It was fun, but STRESSY. 23/

And here's where it gets funny to me. I look back at this and it makes me laugh to contemplate.

Each morning, I am IMMERSED in love and joy and laughs and rainbow ponies.

Then at noon, I am 100% about decapitations and spines being ripped out and portals to hell. 24/

When my hubby would have to call, he would do everything he could to call before noon, because that was my RAINBOW DASH time, and not my GET OVER HERE Scorpion time. 15/

You can't help but feel a bit like you have multiple personalities. It's all, "Let's go, Fluttershy!" and then it's "FATALITY."

Also I messed up my numbering again, sorry. 26/

And it started to materialize, because my office had ponies and MK stuff in equal abundance. 27/

I honestly started to feel like two people for a bit, because I was trying to immerse myself in both Johnny Cage and Fluttershy. :)

28/

By the way, the MLP people were WONDERFUL and the comics company were also awesome. Everyone was lovely, it was just a lot to absorb.

But here's what I think is the funniest bit. 29/

You know how when you get a new job and you have a lot of concentration involved, and it's important to get it right? You know how it follows you home, and you start to dream about it? 30/

That happened to me. Almost every night, I would dream about My Little Pony and Mortal Kombat.

And here's the weird bit. It was ALWAYS BOTH. It was never one or the other. It was always a mash-up. Every night, for weeks! 31/

Sometimes, it was the ponies in the Neatherrealm, and sometimes it was Sub-Zero in Equestria, but it was always a mix. Sometimes the dream stories were charming and pony-like... 32/

But sometimes, it would be ponies fighting Shao Kahn in a graveyard. ACK.

And even weirder, I started to have sub-plots and continued stories. Raiden and Celestia had a little flirty thing going, Applejack and Sonja Blade became friends...33/

AND I COULDN'T TELL ANYONE BECAUSE IT WAS ALL TOP SECRET.

Every night, these weird little mashup movies in my head, and I couldn't tell ANYONE about ANY OF IT.

Hahahahaha, this is a weird job. 34/

So those of you who are convinced my brain is weird, I invite you to reflect upon this. For two months solid, I dreamed of KOMBAT PONY and wrote little epic stories about it.

While I was unconscious. :)
35/

And because I love crossovers, I have this tiny wish in the back of my head that some day, some way...

...I get to write that bastard.

36/

Thank you for listening to this weirdo story of weirdness.

MY LITTLE KOMBAT.

end/

PS. The Mortal Kombat thing didn't happen. The game company was doing MK 11 and didn't feel they could split their efforts, so all that research, while fun, kinda went in the dump. It's sad, I have ENDLESS files. Maybe it'll be something someday. No hard feelings at all.

PPS.

But it woulda been LEGEND, that mash-up!

PPS. I think if there's a takeaway at all, it's that it's okay to love horror and fighting and dark stuff...

...but still think cute stuff is awesome.

:)