An NMN Update and A Concern · 9:20pm Oct 7th, 2020
The next Nightmare Night chapter is well underway at already 4000 words long with one section completed. I'm aiming for a release within a week, and this next entry will be all about Luna. It is my intention to take her to the very edge of temptation and conversion to see if she can withstand it, having a lot of fun along the way. By direct request of Redmar--who I thank greatly for always commenting on each chapter--we'll also be checking in with Twilight's old classmates (Lemon Hearts, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Moondancer) to see how they marked Nightmare Night and how they're perceiving some very odd activity around the Castle. You'll also learn a few things about them and how they're doing in general after reconciling with Twilight previously. As usual, expect a twist or two!
All that said, I admit I'm a little worried. I lost several tracks after releasing this last chapter, and I certainly didn't expect that given I thought it was a suitably wild chapter for the fall of the Canterlot Castle Command Center (say that five times real fast!)
My guess is that folks found some of the early scenes offputting or too close to foalcon with the five stallions on one colt. If so, that puzzles me a bit, because the story has already had a strong measure of foalcon in the forcible conversion of the CMC. Granted, I finessed that by having the curse turn them into adults, but this is different because some thestral conversions are to basically what can best be described as, well, traps. The funny thing is, I don't even really like the concept of traps as a rule, but for some reason, thestrals make it click for me.
I've made no secret of the fact that I'm drawing on the superb thestral lore of AJ_Aficionado, and part of that includes a willingness of older Nightborne stallions to screw younger males during Callisto Call hunting rituals. It's cultural with them and perfectly believable to me; there have been plenty of analogs for that throughout human history. They also worship larger ears because Luna has or had them, and they thus see them as signs of the divine. I have no problem with including this lore or paying homage to him with it, given how much he's contributed to my stuff over the years in terms of prereads and comments and too-good-not-to-use thestral headcanon. This scene was a gift to him and I'm keeping it.
And besides, I really liked that scene. I wouldn't write this story or these scenes unless I enjoyed them.
In a story like this, where I'm unabashedly using it as a means to explore some very exotic ships and fetishes (Spike and The Cakes, anyone?) it's impossible for every kink, pairing and scene to resonate with every reader. My hope is that there's enough there for everyone to find stuff to like; that the worldbuilding/side scenes, like the one in this last chapter between Delta Requiem, Juniper Neptune and Sunset Shimmer, can carry a reader's interest when they're not interested in a particular chapter's clop.
However, I've said it before and I'll say it again: when I don't get comments, It's very hard for me to tell how a chapter is being received except indirectly, or what I might need to fix or address. Currently, I have only three readers who comment regularly on this story (or Temptations & Transformations, for that matter): AJA, Redmar, and Implausible Deniability. I thank them all profusely for it--I really do appreciate it, guys!--but I would also appreciate more overall feedback, whether good or bad, folks.
You can't please all of the people all of the time... but this is pretty lousy behavior. Wish I could tell you what they're thinking.
(The worst part is that unless they're following you as an author, the people who stopped tracking the story won't ever see this. Darn Catch-22s.)
More and more by the year, I feel like there's an unwritten rule that if you write your own fetish/interest, the readers will hate you for it and stay away. It's a karma mechanic like Fallout 3's that makes little sense but almost always seems to bite you in the ass.
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The Scent of Prey - NA (I was a new writer with no set interests, story did the best of all.)
A Gentleman's Price - I only barely got turned on by my own writing most of the time. Actively resented writing it by the time I was halfway through. Positive reaction from readers and my best-rated fic. Also has the most thoughtful comments.
Movie Night - I hated most of my sex scenes and resented writing it so badly I cancelled it and vowed never to write human on pony sex again. Not only did the story do well, it gained me the most followers of any story submission. It also has an outstanding rating.
Fertile Ground - I wrote it to explore new fetishes and give my take. No desire to serve my own interests, story does well. Even Clopficsinthecomments calls it my best work! (To be fair, it is pretty damn good.)
Social Distancing - I wrote for a contest, by definition for other people's fetishes - specifically Ocalhoun's. Great success if rather a lot of downvotes.
Don't Feed The Bats - The only exception to the rule. I wrote this for me and it succeeded. Although, I did write it specifically in third-person limited to try to emulate Cloppy's style so the internet's Fallout 3-style karma gods may have shown me mercy.
Earthmother - I wanted to do ear fetish, story bombed hardcore parcore. Story cancelled. Ancestor cry.
Fulfilling Pinkie's Dream - A whole lot of fetishes, all of them mine. Worst bombing of all time. Almost as bad as the Marine barracks in Beirut. Over 100 hours of writing wadded up and thrown in the trash by the site despite heavy promotion. AJA BTFO.
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I never did mention Loving Submission. It was written by request and did extremely well even if it didn't feature. Over 100 likes. For a zebradom fic, that's pretty outstanding given the lack of demand for it. This story also fits my narrative as it wasn't a kink at the time.
Some of us just haven't gotten to it yet. Saving it for when I have the time to appreciate the chapter fully.
Sorry for not commenting. Work been hectic lately.
Personally, even if if I'm not much interested in stallion on stallion action but I read it anyway because... it's pretty well written. If you want to write something then just write, can't plese everyone.
About foalcon, yeah I wanted to point out you were against Dinky chapter when there was whole chapter for CMC and even Spike could count for foalcon for some. Slight hypocrisy.
Unexpected but very much welcome.
I don't understand why anyone would stop tracking the story just beause of the latest chapter when they;ve followed long enough to reach this point. I certainly am eager to read about Twilight's old classmates.
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If they don't comment, there's no way for me to know. The proportion of lurkers (readers who don't comment on anything), unfortunately, is much higher than it used to be.
Nothing I can do about that except make my feelings plain here. But the story goes on regardless. Thanks again for following and being a regular commenter.
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Very cool. Hope you enjoy it when you do!
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For you and me both.
It pleases me greatly that you read it even if you're not into it just because it's well done. I consider that a great compliment to my writing.
Well, there's a difference to me. The CMC were teenage and already sexually active, so I don't consider that foalcon. Underage, perhaps, but not foalcon, which I more or less define as involving pre-pubescent ponies. Dinky falls in the latter category, so I'd be a lot less comfortable with that. As for Spike, he's older than the CMC but starts out less physically mature than them only because of much longer dragon lifespans. So I don't consider that foalcon either. Am I hair-splitting? Maybe. But that's how my thinking goes.
The section is already written. I think you'll enjoy. Just need to finish the rest, now...
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I don't understand either, but there you are. As for Twi's old classmates, you'll be reading about them in the opening section of next chapter.