Sunset Stories, 1k, and the Glorious Future · 7:25pm Sep 21st, 2015
It's been a month and a half since the last blog post, hasn't it? And it was just a pic dump too. Well, big things have definitely happened in that time; some for the better and some for the worse. I've got a lot I want to talk about right now. More specifically: Scratch One Off, 1k, and what I'm going to do after this, hopefully in that order if I can manage it. Also, I have a few questions to ask you guys at the very end.
Let's dust off this old blog and fill your head with useless information about my life and stories, shall we?
First up is Scratch One Off. With this story recently finished, I think I have a little explaining to do about what went down in its conception and creation. Major spoilers for pretty much the entire story ahead. If you haven't read it and want to, stay away from this section and move onto the next one.
So, this fic is honestly a mess of intentions. My idea for the ending and storyline changed so much throughout the entire thing, it isn't even close to what it was supposed to be when I first decided to write it. I wanted to write this story pretty much exclusively for Liger, since his waifu is Vinyl and all that, so I decided to make up another one of those silly maid fics like I used to do with Vinyl and Applejack. My initial plan was to make a 10-20k story about them and a whole lot of sexual hijinks: threesomes, random sexual acts with AJ being very uncomfortable, you know the drill. But after a large portion of time where this story did nothing but sit on the idea shelf, things began to change.
The first mess started when I decided to replace Applejack with Sunset. The plan was for the fic to stay exactly the same, but with Sunset taking the side route instead. You can kinda see this intention in the story description, where Sunset only takes up a small sentence at the bottom.
If you've completed it, then you know how far off track this plan actually went. I pulled a massive bait and switch with Vinyl and ended up going against my original plan almost entirely. This is where some confessions have to come in.
I don't like Vinyl. Liger, if you're reading this I'm sure you already know this too well (I'm sorry but it had to be done), but she's up there with Trixie when it comes to characters I really just don't enjoy writing about. That crass, party-animal, living-in-the-moment lifestyle is the exact opposite thing that I enjoy, so it comes as no surprise that trying to properly characterize her in such a manner ends up with me subconsciously pushing her away.
This is only made worse by the fact that I included Sunset in the story. In the very first chapter when I wrote the first exchange between the protagonist and her, I knew I fucked up. I didn't necessarily know that I was going to end up having them together, but I knew this was definitely going to complicate things far beyond my original plans. I couldn't just let a character that I really enjoyed writing take the backseat on this love story. I really couldn't just write her out like that.
So, as much as I hate to admit it, I completely failed at being impartial in this circumstance. As the story progressed I wanted to make it a hard decision between the two, but the choice in the end was obvious. The protagonist had feelings for Sunset he didn't fully understand, and Sunset's burning desire for him demanded the story be tipped in her favor.
As I wrote more and more of Vinyl though, I saw what emotions I had really fostered in her. I don't think she really loved the protagonist. Like she said in the last chapter, she just wanted a better life, and this was her gateway to it. She fought with Sunset to keep hold of the hope that she didn't have to end up like her ex-boyfriend, sad and a lone, living in the filth of his own making. I think once the protagonist pushed her away, she kinda realized this, and even moreso once she realized the emotional damage she'd done to Sunset. This mindset made it really hard for me to ever consider her for the final option. I know I asked you guys what you thought, but I knew what the answer was going to be by chapter five. If you're a Vinyl fan, I'm sorry, Sunset just top waifu.
Even though I feel like I messed up a lot of stuff, I'm really glad you guys enjoyed it so much. I'm definitely still working to refine my characterization and romance skills. Your in-depth comments and reactions to the chapters always make my day, so thank you so much for giving me your time to read and comment. It really does mean a lot to me.
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Now, for something a bit more personal. One thousand followers! Woo! When I first started writing I didn't even think I'd make it to one thousand story views, let alone that many followers. I didn't post about this before because honestly, I don't really have a lot to say about it. I don't plan on doing anything special for it, but seriously, thank you guys so much for following me. I'll do my best to keep providing you guys with quality content.
Now onto the hard part: the future.
I recently moved out of my parents house and quit my job. This was for education reasons, so there's no drama going on or anything, but this does mean that I no longer actually have any source of income. I've been reluctantly doing some job searching, and every open position I find I know I'm going to hate, and it's going to eat up a lot of time that I'd rather use for writing right now. So, (here come those dreaded words) I've been thinking about opening up a patreon account and try to at least get some sort of income for doing what I actually enjoy doing. I'm not particularly hopeful that it'll make me rich, but that it will at least pay for some of the things my parents don't want to help with.
So, if I do actually end up opening a patreon account, that means possibly more allocated writing time, and I promise I won't lock out any content you wouldn't normally get. Anyway, it's still up in the air. I might be a pizza delivery guy or work in the bookstore, I'm really not sure yet.
But down to the questions I want to ask: if I do actually open a patreon, what rewards would you guys like to see for those who donate?
And question number two: what is your ideal sex scene length?
That's all I've got for today, guys. 'Til next time.
I don't have an answer for the first question, as I'll never be in a position to put money towards a Patreon.
As for the second, I don't have a specific answer. For the actual sex scene, I'd say between 2k and 5k words, including foreplay. However, I personally feel that for a good sex based story, the non-sex related content needs to be at least the same length as the sex related content.
I would say you're insane for not wanting to work in a book store... But then, Twilight would burst through reality and try to smack some sense into you
I hope it works out for you, but getting patrons is a lot harder then you'd imagine, not to mention the necessary jump in writing skill and length-per-chapter to keep them
I would say try for part time at the absolute least and use patreon as a source of supplemental income...
As far as sex scenes, no less than four thousand words should be used unless you want the readers to feel gypped on grade A+ clop
The thing about Vinyl is that shes a blank slate. 99% of the fandom thinks she should be one of those party girls because of how she looks, but the thing is, we know NOTHING about Vinyl save for the fact that she's a DJ. You can portray her any way you want. I did enjoy the ending but I was also hopeing for a sequel where Vinyl gets her happy ending too.
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Vinyl isn't a blank slate character. The thing about characterization is that every single minute detail can add up to mean a lot. From just four little sections of screen time we've seen her do nothing but dj, create music, and enjoy it with a smile on her face. This can end up making a world of difference when it comes to fleshing out this character. There's a reason a good portion of this fandom portrays her the way they do, because turning her character on her head and making her shy away from music and partying in general would go against what we actually know about her.
That's not to say there isn't breathing room; little variations of her personality and quirks are very open to interpretation. I'm sure you'll notice my interpretation of the intricacies of her personality are much different than someone else's portrayal of her. How she acts is going to vary widely between different authors, but for credibility's sake, certain attributes must be maintained. Imagine a story where Vinyl had zero interaction or even mention of music or creativity in relation to those kinds of arts, where she was some nerdy girl who loved to do math and had never and never will touch a turntable in her life. Most people would say, "Why didn't you put Moondancer or Twilight in this role?". In that sense it would go against the tiny bit of characterization we've seen in the show.
The thing about blank slate characters is that they're literally blank slates: they have no physical appearance, no particular way of speaking, and no back story or personality. You can't even assume anything about them because you don't actually have anything to work with.
So Vinyl isn't a blank slate. I think a better term for her would be a malleable entity. With that you have some baseline to work off of and build upon, instead of creating a new character from the ground up. She's not completely characterized by someone else, so you do have your own options to build on her personality, but the notion that she can be portrayed as anything isn't particularly feasible when you start working with her character. She has already been given certain attributes in the canon, so certain things are limited.
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. Working in an actual bookstore wouldn't be nearly as bad.
I actually meant the university bookstore
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Ok fair enough, Blank slate isnt the best term but I still think shes more open ended than you give her credit for. I read a story where Vinyl was deaf and only liked music for the feel of the beat and another where she remixed music under her DJ-Pon3 alias but never admitted it because she was too shy. Both felt believable, (at least to me). Your right about some things being necessary for her like the fact that she is a DJ but my point is that it doesnt necessarily mean she has to have that personality.
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The personality that I gave her? Of course not. Nobody has to copy my version of her personality. I made her crass, selfish, and competitive because that's the way I envisioned her. I've read plenty of other stories where she was nice, shy, and generous, but that's certainly not the way I wanted to write her. Just because me (and Liger to some extent) enjoy that bad girl portrayal of her doesn't mean it has to be the norm.