Still working on Midnight Rising... · 7:47pm May 17th
At the rate of about 800-1000 words a day. That’s my key to getting stuff done that’s causing you issues; just be sure you put at least a little time in on it this day to have some forward momentum. The two chapters are now up to 24,100 words. I’ll work on it more this weekend, at least around continuing work around the maps and battle graphics I’m making for Feathered Hearts.
I want to be sure that this chapter, even if it has an extended coda from the previous section, has several thousand words of Lemon Zest to reveal more of who and what she is even before her actual punishment is imposed. Among other attractions, you’ll also get a special guest appearance by Ms. Cheerilee in the Googly Doc comments section.
I’ll keep that secret for now, but have a small teaser showing the type of conversations happening around the narrative:
Midnight’s eyes then narrowed. “Sorry to disappoint you, Sunset Shimmer, but you won’t get the chance to conquer Earth or Equestria here. As far as I’m concerned, you’re nothing more than another tormentor to experiment on. Though as I now know that your only attraction and desire is to pure power, I imagine that denying you that power is punishment enough.”
“Huh? But I already… wait!” I blinked despite the sensual haze I was still experiencing, speaking the last word softly to myself. Her statement meant two things, as far as I was concerned: first, she didn’t know that I had already tried and failed to conquer the two worlds here, getting reformed in the process.
And second, that the only versions of me she ever saw through the singularity were the ones where I was, and remained, evil. Because that’s what she expected me to be.
Fertile Fields: The hotness of how she was both teasing and tormenting you aside, I think I get it, now, Sugarcube. You mentioned it before, but you’re saying that that nude single-rarity or whatnot wasn’t giving her an accurate picture of events.
Crystal Queen: Naked Singularity, darling. But I am nude and single right now!
Sugar High: Oh! Me too! ME TOO! Here, let me show you!
Fertile Fields: PINKIE! Don’t send us pics of yourself naked! Ah, hell. Dang, girl, you got the biggest boobs of all of us!
Daydream: HEY! Remember the rules, girls—no teasing or dick pics! And as to your question, AJ, the answer is both yes and no. To be sure, the worlds and versions of me it showed her *did* exist. But the thing is, it was showing them to her *preferentially* and not giving her an accurate image of how likely it was I remained a villain, or who I was in *this* realm. And the same held true for everything else she was using it to spy on. In short, she saw what she expected to see.
Crystal Queen: Though I am certainly no scientist, I do believe I ‘get it‘ as well, darling. What you’re saying is that basically, if she had any preconceived notions of a subject which she wanted to use the singularity to explore, then those preconceived notions are *exactly* what she saw. In other words, it had a severe confirmation bias. *That* was the trap of it.
Hyperdash: Now I get it. Then it’s kind of like having infinite cable channels where since everything possible has its own show somewhere, you end up looking it up not by asked question but by your preferred answer?
Daydream: Exactly! Wow, Rainbow. That’s an excellent analogy.
Hyperdash: Thanks, Sunny-D. See, AJ? I’m not quite as dumb as I look.
Fertile Fields: To quote Gilda: still pretty dumb, though!
Hyperdash: And just for that, I’m going to tie your ‘crow-damned’ tail tomorrow night, AJ!
Crystal Queen: RAINBOW!
Fertile Fields: Oh, for—she’s just quoting Griffie Gilda, Rarity! And promises, promises, Sugarcube. Oh, I know! Let’s fight for it! No gloves and no holds barred! Whoever taps out loses and gets their tail tied first!
Hyperdash: Deal! Your place or mine? Or on second thought, better be your place. I really don’t want Mom and Dad to burst in on us and start telling me I’m the best MMA futa fighter in the world!
Fertile Fields: Heh. Since I totally think they’d do that, come over to my place, then. We’ll do it in the hay loft of our barn this Friday night, and I’ll make dang sure that Apple Bloom and Big Mac are elsewhere.
Hyperdash: I’ll be there, girlfriend! Get ready to have your tail whipped and tied!
Sugar High: And I’ll be there with popcorn!
Fertile Fields: Private party, Pinkie! I mean it, so don’t be popping your head out of a barrel or hay pile!
Sugar High: And pizza! And garlic bread! And my special cola! And an entire platter of brownies fresh from Sugar Cube Corner! And my Waystation 5 with an uncensored version of Celestial Sword! And a projector! And a generator! And best of all, the very latest episodes of Copulation College direct from its studios in Japan!
Fertile Fields: Dagnabbit. Since I really wanna play that game properly and watch the next episode of C-C to see that massive winged workhorse stalk and screw Dean Doubledee senseless like Sugarcoat? Fine, you can come.
Crystal Queen: Oh! Well, in that case, it sounds like quite the soiree! I do so love that series for the marauding dragons who mate every girl they see! So I might just stop by too! Just be sure that some of the cola is diet and at least one of the pizzas has ham and pineapple, darling.
Sugar High: EEEEEEWWWW!!!!!
Fluttershine: Oh, um. I’d like to come too. You know, if that’s okay and at least half a pizza is vegetarian. Um, what about you Sunset?
Daydream: Fine, since I kind of like that hot-tempered Kamidere girl who keeps getting her rear reamed by the evil creatures she summons when her plans to take over the school and world inevitably backfire.
Fertile Fields: Oh, yeah? Sounds like you see a bit of yourself in her, Sugarcube.
Daydream: Maybe I do! So yeah, I’m there. But remember the rules, girls—no teasing and no sex!
Hyperdash: Aw, come on! That was the entire purpose of me and AJ seeing each other tomorrow night!
Crystal Queen: Well, don’t hold back on our account, darling! We’ll call that the undercard to the main event of Pinkie’s hentai. But tell me, Pinkie Pie, how are you always able to get your hands on these uncensored games and episodes, sometimes before they’ve even released in Japan?
Sugar High: Sorry, state secret! Let’s just say I know a guy who knows a girl.
Daydream: Uh, girls? Let’s not get sidetracked, okay? It’s finally Lemon Zest time, and I don’t want Ms. Cheerilee dinging me for losing narrative momentum again!
I may have the first part done this weekend, but maybe not given I’ve got two things to work on. Regardless, prereaders, stand by. And may it be better received this time than last. Just to try to make it so it wasn’t all for nothing, I have salvaged some smaller sections from the discarded chapters for use in this one. Hopefully they’ll work better here.
This is the second time in Midnight rising that you've confused Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.
Ah, observer bias. Because even Midnight's mind can't handle true infinity, and there has to be some kind of filter. Turns out going mad with power doesn't do wonders for neutral, rational analysis. (And as The Simpsons observed, going mad without power is just boring.
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Glad to see you're chipping away at it. It's a good approach. One step at a time will get you just about anywhere. Best of luck with the rest of the chapter!
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Oops.
I really don’t know why I keep doing that. I fixed it in both the blog and the chapter draft.
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Where would we be without the Simpsons to point out all our follies and hidden truths of life?
But your point holds. Despite her goddess airs and all her newfound power, she’s not omnipotent and can’t handle it anyway. So yes, there’s only so much information she can absorb and her mind mentally limits what she sees. The only time she gets useful information out of the singularity is when she’s truly neutral and doesn’t have any preconceived notions of what she wants to see. But there aren’t many subjects where that’s the case.
Thanks! Still hope to have it out before the end of the month.