Need some input! · 1:06pm Jul 11th, 2012
This is my first time using this feature on the site, so let's see if this works.
I've basically ran into a rather luxurious problem: I have too many ideas for new fics. I want you guys to help me decide which story to write first, as it's likely that if you're reading this now, you are one of the people I write for in the first place. First, let me go into some details about my current project.
A while ago, one of my proofreaders dared me to write a clopfic. Seeing as I want to be an author capable of tackling all genres eventually, and I don't back down easily, I rose up to the challenge. So I started writing it, but when I told the same proofreader a week or two later, he had no idea what I was talking about anymore, until I refreshed his memories. Turns out he doesn't like clopfics at all, and he has really regretted his little joke since then (since I didn't stop writing it, and I haven't allowed him to stop proofreading it :p). Somewhere along the way though, it stopped being a clopfic in the purest sense of the word. With Cheerilee's Garden and Scarlet Harvest I tried to do gore with a story, so with this new fic I wanted to do clop with a story. However, somewhere along the way the story took over, to the point where it is now more accurate to say that it is a "fic with clop" rather than a "clopfic". If I had to make a rough estimate: about 7k of the current 29k words are a bit cloppy.
This fic is called "Of Maids and Mistresses" and it mainly stars Twilight and Trixie (my favourite pairing). You can expect to see the first chapters soon. For every clop-scene, I will add a non-clop alternative, so that people that are sensitive to that sort of thing can still read it if they want to.
Once that is over, however(and it'll be a little time still), we have two options(I have more than 2 ideas, but these two are the most mature). I have already fleshed out the storylines for both in my head. Well, not completely, but I have a very good idea of where I want to go with them. Vote in the comments!:
1) The sequel to Scarlet Harvest. It will be placed a short time (at most a month or so) after Scarlet Harvest, and centres itself around Celestia's creation of The Solar Empire, which goes heavily opposed by Luna and the general populace. It will not be a gore fic, but it is definitely as grimdark as they get, as I suppose people have come to expect from me by now. There is no doubt in my mind that you will find plenty of emotional moments, even if we aren't including 7 or so torture scenes this time around. I've listened to some of your feedback, to what touched you most deeply in SH, and what you wish could have gone differently, not because you thought it was written badly (not all of you, anyway ^^) but because you felt bad for the character(s) involved. This sequel fic may surprise you and take away some of the pain. But beware: When people screamed for Cheerilee's blood after CG, I gave it to them in SH. But the price was high. Expect no less this time. One major difference: I'm aiming for this to be the last instalment in the series, so we'll try to give some closure that was lacking from the previous 2 stories.
Also, since it's not a gore fic, I'll post it as a separate story, with a short story-recap for people who did not read CG or SH. This way it'll be able to reach slightly more people. I'll add a chapter to CG which links to the fic in question as well, so all of you who are following the story but not following me will get an update notification, no worries.
The title I have in my head right now is "Sins of a Solar Empire". It just so perfectly describes what the story is about, but sadly, if I use that name people will assume it's a cross-over with the game of the same name. I don't want that to happen, but the name is so gooooddddd! What do you think? Tell me in the comments, or suggest a different name ^^ (which will be hard without you knowing exactly how the story'll go, heh :p)
2) A new one-shot, in the category psychological horror/grimdark.
Fluttershy is having a nightmare one night, where dark shapes chase her through the woods, though she knows not why. She wakes up with a scream, only to notice she's in an unfamiliar room and covered in bandages and casks. Twilight quickly runs in and explains that she's been in an accident, but since the hospital's been hit with an outbreak of the pegasus flu, she couldn't stay there, so Twilight volunteered to care for her instead. Fluttershy doesn't mind; she secretly has a bit of a crush going for the librarian anyway. When she goes back to sleep, the nightmare starts again, but strangely enough it doesn't repeat from the start, but just picks up where she left off earlier! On top of that, strange things start happening in the waking world as well, and Fluttershy is increasingly convinced something just isn't quite right... She decides to explore the world of her nightmares in order to find answers, but is she really ready for what she may find?
As said, this is a dark and somewhat tragic grimdark story, slightly more psychological in nature than my previous work, with a very small element of romance to sweeten the deal.
I had planned the one-shot first, but there's been some demand for the sequel, which has gotten me excited to work on that again. So, what do you guys think? Mind, I may not cling onto the vote 100%, but it will help me make up my mind.
Thanks for reading!
(P.S.: Do you think it'd be at all interesting for me to write a blog post about the creative process that goes into writing a fic for me? I'm not sure it'd be at all interesting, but maybe the writers amongst you would like to know what we do differently.)
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The Twi x Trixie one has to be finished before I start on either of these ideas, so don't worry about that ^^ You do seem to have a lot of idea up on your page, that's for sure! The "revenge" one is very similar to the first fic I ever started writing, although I got rid of it long before it finished since I was really lacking a lot of practice back then ^^ I also started a Beyond her Tomb fanfic once, but it just didn't flow very well at one point, so I abandoned it too... Ah well, we move on with the ideas that really capture us ^^
I think allot of people will want the SH sequel (me included
) But I must say,
you're other ideas sound great as well!
I really think that any one of them would be great seeing that they're all sorta on the same level of possibly being awesome stories.
Like I said, I think that allot of people will want to see the SH sequel, but if you go with any other story from these ideas I think they'll still be happy
PS: You said that with SH that everyone wanted cheerilee's blood and you gave it for a high price right?
,
I really liked that part
I mean the whole looking like it's going to be (sort of) okay but just when you think: alright good ending lets stop.
You kick the Grimdark back in the story and leave you hanging with that last part with twillight.
I really liked that sudden twist!
Where's the option to pick both? I really can't decide for either of them, they both sound so fantasticaly awesome.
List of Priorities:
1)SH sequel
2)Flutter-nightmare
3)Fic with Clop in it
Do the Scarlet Harvest sequel!
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Thanks, that was exactly the thing I was going for!
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I will do both, we're just talking about the order here.
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Well, the third one is nearing completion, so :3 (although i use the term lightly, since I always seem to make stories longer than I set out to do...)
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It sure is starting to look that way :p
225940 Well, that's a relief. Knowing that, I'd say Fluttershy-nightmare stuffs. I got a weak spot for psychological horror stories and this is sounding like a pretty good one at that.
Not that I'd mind SH sequel, but it just seems better somehow.
CG and SH sequel NAO
Seeing as Scarlet Harvest only /just/ came out, I would delay CG's third installment for a short time longer. Your other readers might not like me for saying this, but the longer you allow SH to simmer in their minds, the more they will desire a sequel. I've always found psychological stories to be interesting, albeit unsettling. If it hasn't become apparent yet what my choice is, I pick the one-shot psychological/grimdark!
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I sure hope so. Let me just say that I've read Cupcakes, Le Petit Four, and Rainbow Factory. None of those even made me flinch. Scarlet Harvest, however, did. A lot. The point of reading horror is to be horrified, and I sure as hell was. My face contorted when I read Fluttershy's scene. I was sick to my stomach at Applejack's scene. I was at the verge of tears when I had to watch my favorite pony suffer as she was cooked alive. It was disgusting, tragic, and horrifying, and I loved every second of it. Scarlet Harvest is probably the most horrifyingly brilliant horror story I've ever read. I can't wait to see more, even if it won't be gory, I'm on the edge of my seat to see what happens in the aftermath. Hit me up if you ever need someone to proofread for anything.
As much as I enjoyed reading Scarlet Harvest, I'd still rather have you take on the second story you had in mind. I enjoy psychological horror more than gore, anyways.
I would be excited to see the SH sequel simply because i loved the story a lot.
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Well, the sequel to SH will not be gory, so it will be more on the psychological/emotional side anyway.
Haven't been on this site for a bit, so I'm a little late in commenting~
Me personally, I'm excited for the Solar Empire story. But the one with Fluttershy sounds pretty wicked crazy, and it actually sounds like it would make a great horror videogame! So really, it doesn't matter to me which one you'll post first. Maybe if one is really shorter than the other, post that one? Unless they're both roughly the same size.
I'm wondering if "Sins of a Solar Empire" will be confused with the game. As far as I could tell, it's not too popular a videogame. Maybe most people won't recognize it? And if they do, they might see it as a cool coincidence or gimmick or something. I don't know. ^^;
As the person who does Dramatic Readings, I demand you finish the CG/SH saga first
If not, no more fanart for you! Hmph!
I honestly cannot wait for all these stories you're writing. You're easily my favourite grimdark author
I still need to read Scarlet Harvest, to be honest.
And I'd certainly be interested in your blogging about the creative process
As a writer myself, it'd be interesting to see how much your developmental style differs from my own. Plus, the more help, the better! 
Scarlet Harvest sequel definitely. However, I'd still like to she the Fluttershy one-shot story happen. It reminds me of a sort of Silent Ponyville story, which is why I'm excited about that one. My vote is still cast for Scarlet Harvest sequel though.
Also, yes, I would love to read a blog post about the creative process of you writing a fic. Sounds very interesting to me! I also vote for that to happen.
First off, I must make this very clear: I will follow your stories to the edges of the earth, the universe, Equestria, and any other places I neglected to mention. Now, on the subject of which story.... I would say the final installment of Cheerilee's Garden would be best. You know, finish what you started sort of thing. However, I would say you should call it Sins of a Solar Empire, but emphasize in the description that it is NOT a crossover. But that's just my two cents' worth.
I think I shall indeed finish "Sins of the Solar Empire" first. If I shall call it that, not sure yet...
I just now realized that you're writing Of Maids and Mistresses, and that has quickly become my favorite TrixieXTwilight fic. *Facehooves at my stupidity* Anywho, I had a friend that used to write fanfiction over on fanfiction.net and he had like nine different stories running at the same time, the amount of pressure quickly overwhelmed him and he gave up. So my advice to you is to try and have at the MOST, two fics running at the same time.
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Yeah, Cheeriliee's Garden is the only thing I ever plan to have incomplete before I move on, really.
As much as I'd love to read the "Scarlet Harvest" sequel, I would actually like to check out that Fluttershy one first. That one has me interested.
Oh yeah, I'd like to see that blog post too.
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Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes! Yesyesyes! YES! ALL MY YES!
Hmm... I'd love to see the final installment, as I'm expecting you to make it the last, as a long, story-arc fic with maybe... would 100k words be asking too much? I love quantity with my quality.
Hmm... alternative names... -starts thinking, while staring at my newly blood signed Cheerilee doll-
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It'll be as many words as I need, not a single more or less ^^ Probably at the very least the size of Scarlet Harvest, though... So, we'll see ^^
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This is going to sound insane but I have to ask if I can play any part in the planning or prereading or proofreading process. And yes, I'm totally asking because this is one of the best-known fics in the fandom.
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yay.
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It is.
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Well, if you want to be a part of it, I can allow you to, just so long as you realise you'll pretty much be "spoilered" months before the fic ever formally releases :p If that does not bother you, we'll be in touch.
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Wait... so there is more?
*dies*
It's the gift that keeps on giving.
I love you man.
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There's still a long road ahead of us before it's in any way ready to ship(or before I'm ready to start, even), but yes :p
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First off, I love being spoilered as long as it's coming from the author. Second, really? GREAT! PM me whenever...
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>Need some input
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Oh you~
249143 Oh me~ dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Octavia_plot.png