YCH chapter 1 · 4:18am Oct 15th, 2019
I really suck at blog posts. If I didn’t feel so guilty for Admiral doing so much hard work on editing YCH, then I’d have just given this task to him. Hopefully I remember some things from when I wrote it, and I got enough notes from comments from others to keep this rolling.
Here we go.
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Let us start with the beginning of the start.
Wow, that sounded dumb. Oh well.
So, what really inspired this story? Believe it or not, I’m a huge fan of all the Your Character Here auctions that happen constantly on Derpi, but not for what you’d think. I actually, 100%, love the auction piece before the slots are bought. There’s something about a simple picture, with characters not fully fleshed out, but basic and simple that allows the imagination to venture where you want it.
I’ve known for a good year or two that I wanted to do a story like YCH, where it’s about two ponies who model for the adult industry of Your Character Here art pieces. They’re the examples, of what is to come. Imagine how something like this would transpire? And believe it or not, it actually happened once upon a time!
My grandmother’s aunt had a portrait of herself done by a traveling artist. He sold incomplete pieces, and would fill in the rest upon what you wanted. I now have that painting. Admiral’s great grand father and his brother had the same thing done of them, I believe it was a hunting pose. Admiral can fill in the blanks for his in the comments below.
It was not an uncommon thing for traveling painters to sell off started pieces. Painting takes time, and if you can show people some part way products, then the possible buyers can fill in the gaps of what they want, and the artist could finish their work in a manner of hours. Speed was the name of the game, and some people were really good at painting fast.
Anyway, back to YCH. I’d known for a long time I wanted a story about two ponies, maybe even a married couple, that did these provocative poses. It’s not uncommon for modern artists to have small posing dolls to work out how they’d draw a body in a particular position. Who’s to say ponies also don’t have such things, but how neat would it be if they could just have two actual ponies do the posing for them?
It was some months ago when I saw the amazing piece done by Amber, which is the cover art, tweaked by myself to make it fit in a little more with the story. I feel like this is a first, and upon reflection with others, I’m pretty sure it is.
It’s a very unique concept, really, when you boil down to the nitty gritty. This story is all about sex, and the art of it, but not explicitly about having the sex. I had full intentions of making this a Teen rated story, because I knew the Mature rating would hurt it. Sadly, it’s not doing so well weeks after, but hey, it was fun to write, and I have no regerts.
I also loved the idea of naming them Tab A and Slot B. And if you pay attention to their cutie marks, Tab’s is in a square, while Bee’s is in a circle. Square peg into a round hole.
…
Okay, it made me laugh, so I mean, whatever.
I also contemplated on what I wanted for their actual appearances. I decided to ditch the pink and blue manes/tails, and go with silver for Bee and grey for Tabs. Present Perfect liked the touch that their eye colors were each other’s coat colors.
I was also really hesitant on my additional tags for this story. The borderline non-con for instance, because of the ending of the first chapter where Bee is going along with Mister Prim’s change because she just wants the bits. I felt that might be pushing the line, because does she really want to do this? No, not really, but she feels obligated to do so because of the benefit it could give them.
Flutterpriest also couldn’t help but laugh at the fact of the blue balling that came to poor Tabs throughout this story, and basically implied by his whole career. Tabs goes on a couple tangents about how at the end of the day, after several sessions, they’d be so pent up that they’d just ravish each other and go to town. They say if you blue ball yourself a few times in the span of a half hour or so, then let yourself come to climax, that it’s better and more intense.
It’s been hit and miss for me, but I’m still a firm believer that time is key, and you just never know.
Alright, shall we now proceed to the actual story? Yes, I think we shall.
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Chapter 1: Sex Sells…
It does. Just ask those who fought in the 1960’s and 70’s for their rights to publish the nudie mags. There’s a great movie all about Hustler Magazine that I can’t remember the name of, but Woody Harrelson is in it, and it’s a riot.
Edit: The People Vs. Larry Flynt. Awesome movie. Seriously.
So the first debate in comments is about their age. I planned them to be younger, mid to late 20’s. PP and Admiral pointed out it might be better to have them older, say 30’s or 40’s. I actually agree with this, however, I do enough middle age character stories, so I wanted this to be a young romance story. Lots of teen like love and glee, happiness abundant, and even some ignorance involved.
Ignoring what I did in The Whittler, not many older guys would just randomly punch someone. Younger yes, I’ve seen it many times at bars and such around my home or the cabin up north. Thankfully, the most confrontational I’ve ever had to be was in my local bar, a guy was yelling at the bar girls. So I stood up, bear hugged him, and threw him outside and locked the door. By the time the police showed up, the guy was yelling more and saying I assaulted him.
Everyone in the bar said I never once left my seat. Is this incriminating evidence? Probably, but you know, fuck it.
This story also implies that both Tabs and Bee were younger when they got started in the industry, which is quite common for many adult film and photography workers. My father’s one ex that once in a while lives with him (don’t ask) used to be a stripper, and supposedly started working when she was 16, lying about her age. I’ve never personally met her, but I’ve seen… pictures… of her with my father (again, please don’t ask).
I also tend to see ponies’ age limits being slightly different than our own. While I say that they weren’t old enough to do adult work until 18, really, actual horses are ready to breed at less than 2 years old. Technically, just over a year, but you're dumb to allow that to happen. So I like to picture ponies seeing “adulthood” closer to 15. Back in colonial times, it wasn’t uncommon for a girl to marry at 13, and having kids as well, if not a year or two older.
Granted, they were also lucky to live past 40, so there’s a lot of issues involved there. Not gonna debate it, because that was the past.
I’ve also seen many writers use cutie marks as a sign of maturity. Once they got that butt stamp, they’re “an adult”. I’m not so keen on that. A boy’s balls drop usually around 11 or 12, or something like that, I don’t even remember when mine did (or if they did, one’s still kinda up there) and girls hit their periods around the same time. Doesn’t mean they’re an adult. Hell, I think most people aren’t really an adult until their later 20’s. I’ve known some stupid people, and let me tell you… actually no, I won’t. Incriminating evidence and all that rot.
Haps made a comment about percolated coffee. While this is a small, minor detail probably not worth mentioning… I’m gonna anyway. You can’t stop me. Working at a airport, you’d be amazed at how many K cups we go through. I used to make a pot of coffee, but everyone ignored it. Strange times we live in… but oh well. My father also still uses the older, canister makers, usually all stainless or ceramic with stainless guts.
You see, they’re basically the same thing, just the parts are in different places. Percolators use heat to turn water into steam, which then catches in a bowl or cup of some kind as it rises, then drips into the coffee grounds, passes through a filter so you don’t get said grounds mixed in, and down into the pot. Modern makers have the water separate from the grounds. The older canister style ones, it’s all one unit. The coffee grounds sit directly above the water, and as the water evaporates, it trickles down to the grounds, and then mixes with the water. It’s actually more wasteful, but the taste, for some reason, is always better to me. I don’t know why.
The use of an appointment book is also a dying trend. I personally never used one, instead just writing things down in a calendar. I used to always carry around a small notepad to write notes and the like down, but after a couple weeks it would be ruined from my pocket sweat or getting caught in the rain. Instead I now just have notepads in all my vehicles, and scattered around my usual sitting places.
Funny enough, the shower part was an idea given to me by reading too many of Admiral Biscuit’s stories. Ignoring the lewd ideas, it makes total sense, earth ponies especially, to share showers, baths, and such. It would be harder to reach some places, and if you knew a good friend or two, what harm was there in helping each other clean up? Although, if you both were into each other, there was no harm in having a little fun at the same time. Wink wink.
So, I love old things, and I love references to old things. I made Tabs and Bee love Jackie Gleason albums. However, everyone suggested I ponify it. I really hope he isn’t rolling in his grave at Jack Gleeson, because it implies he’s a donkey. Anyway, I do, in fact, own several of his albums on vinyl. Music for Lovers Only is one of my favorites, which I have on 12”, and Music to Make you Misty is my other favorite, which I own on 12” and the original 10” format. Audio quality is different, because the size of the record determined how small the grooves where. There’s a whole science around it, but I’m too lazy to look it up.
Alright, let's talk about bodies!
No, not the ones buried under 27R/9L at my home airport, Tabs and Bee’s bodies.
Most of my friends when I was growing up were thin and trim, yet could out eat me any time of the day. Meanwhile, I eat a small sandwich and gain 10 pounds. Genetics is a bitch, but if you know how to fight it, you’re good. I know how, but ignore it, instead just say fuck it. That’s future ROB’s problem.
Tabs has to work to keep his figure, while Bee is just thin and happy. Admiral pointed out about an issue in the pituitary gland. Idk if horses have that, but in MLP, they’re human enough with characteristics that they could I guess.
Also, another thing Admiral pointed out (he had a lot of notes… and I mean a lot.) was the possible use of dance lessons and the like for fitness and other… flexible things. I loved the idea, and changed a bunch of parts around to reflect that.
Admiral pointed out my description of Sketch Pad was kinda odd, but he liked it anyway, considering the “rounded edges” part. I personally loved the description I made of him. He’s a kookie kind of pony, but lovable. I had to change some stuff, because originally I had Tabs not really a fan of the pony, but realized that would be too mean, and with the coming parts with Mister Prim, I needed a pony he liked.
Sketch is actually inspired by a character from Golden Girls, a sculptor who basically seduces all but Sophia of the 4 girls. Nutty, eccentric, but lovable to a fault. Another small tid bit by AB (Admiral Biscuit, not Apple Bloom or Autumn Blaze) was the term Flexiprop, which was a common term in the acting world. I decided not to use it, but I feel like it would be something useful for later, and I wanted to point it out here.
So, back to actually talking about Tabs and Bee, I wasn’t sure what race I wanted them originally. I knew not a pegasus, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted a unicorn, where they could use their magic for illusions and the like, or simply earth ponies so it was a blank template. I chose on the later, because there were a lot of advantages to them being that race. For one, doing art, you could add wings, horns, or both easily. And, as something I pointed out to AB, if you’re gonna pay for art of yourself, you probably want you to look as good as possible. Earth pones got them muscles, yo, so why not have that a feature too?
I made AB look up the parts of a pencil.
http://valueanalysis.ca/images/en/pencil_example.JPG
Source.
Yer whale cum.
So Flutterpriest commented about, during Sketch’s part, both Tabs and Bee were doing “an awful lot of moving around for a still painting.” While I agree with this, I hoped I’d made it blatantly clear that Sketch wanted to catch love in the act, and let the natural pose come to fruition. I’ve been told many artists like this as well, mostly with nature. They’d sit around most of a day, watching, waiting, until something changed that caught their fancy, and they struck.
I also debated on if I wanted to involve the porn film industry. AB and PP both suggested I do something about it, so I did. AB also loved the idea they use eye blinks and eye movement as a form of communication. I figured, if you’re gonna have to sit/stand/lay still for a long time like that, you need something to convey thoughts and feelings. Eyes are expressive, especially so with ponies, since their eyes are frickin’ HUGE.
So, Mister Prim’s business should be no surprise to people, but Prim and Proper is heavily inspired by the countless business ventures in Mad Men. From the “modern” looks to the characters themselves. I had intended the receptionist to be a lot friendlier and talkative, but changed it out because I realized the word count was getting out of control. Also, another reference, is Dewy, the lift operator. He’s from none other than Tower of Terror. One of my favorite movies growing up, which also helped spur me on to my love of big band music. Glenn Miller’s In the Mood is a big part of that movie.
EDIT: Sorry, wrong wrong wrong. It was Benny Goodman's Sing, Sing, Sing in the movie.
Also, to add a small note, Fregz loved that both Tabs and Bee were banned from the yoga studio because of Bee’s flexibility. This was loosely based upon one of our former customers, who’s girlfriend was a yoga instructor, and had issues with jobs because she was so flexible and doing these crazy stunts that people would get hurt trying to follow along.
The guy was in his 70’s, and she had to be younger than 30. He also drove a brand new Corvette with racing slicks. That car scared the shit out of me, and I hated driving it.
So, this is also a part when Tabs mentions Buck Rodgers. Originally a radio program, in the 80’s it became a television show as well. I’ve seen several episodes of it, and I have to say… I personally think I nailed it. Listening to the old radio programs, and then watching the TV show… really, they could have done so much better…
There’s also further talk about the advancement of radio, and the introduction of the home television set. I guess this is a good time to talk about what sort of time frame I see Equestria, not only in YCH, but as a whole.
I see Equestria in a rough 1950’s American setting, only more rural and less technologically advanced. It’s all loose to me, because I make references to things from the 60’s and 70’s all the time, but they’re simple things so it works. 40’s and 50’s makes the most sense to me, especially when you consider stuff like Vinyl Scratch’s DJ set in episode 100. There has to be some leeway here and there, and 1950’s America was so full of science fiction, that I think there’s enough give and take from reality to fiction that Equestria would make it work. As an aside, I also enjoy listening to the old radio programs, thanks to Sirius radio and youtube.
So AB pointed out (and joked) about the fact Mister Prim had mostly stallions working for him. It’s blatantly said in the second chapter he’s gay, having two husbands before. We then got into a talk about how artist style on derpibooru can effect a pony’s body structure. Some artists are simple enough, the slot could be male or female. Other artists pay close attention, and make the body mass clearly distinct. It’s further argued, because of the ever popular futa or LGBT trends around our fandom, that depending on the artist, any role could be any gender or identity.
Performance anxiety is normal, or so I’m told. Tabs is upset over this, and it only serves to upset Mister Prim. This was a key part to where I wanted Tabs and Bee’s love to shine, and give readers a good view into their work, and love, for each other.
One thing I skipped over, but am too lazy to backtrack, is the casual conversation. It’s not unheard of, that after a while, you treat a sex job just as the second word states: a job. You make the weird into the mundane, and go about your life as you so see fit. I see it not unusual for ponies like Tabs or Bee to find casual conversation with the ponies they’re working with, or for.
This also ties into weird fetishes and kinks, which as mentioned in the story, while vanilla mostly, Bee is up to try things, and so Tabs is quite used to some more bizarre things, and even open to them.
Working in a customer focused job, you need to be able to think on your feet. This applies to my own work at the airport, and even in the sex industry I’d imagine. Bee’s offer, and her demands, aren’t all that far fetched. I was actually inspired by this from a pornie mag from the 90’s up at our cabin. The outhouse reading material (pornie mags) have some interesting articles in them. If you wanna get crazy, I even reference one such article in Flutterpriest’s Lyler Archive, where I did the MLD spin off chapter.
Anyway, one of the photo shoots/articles in one of those magazines talks about how they had lined up to do a shoot, and the male guy never showed. The female happened to be getting cable installed at her place later that day, and the photographer and her decided what the hell, let’s take a gamble.
Not too shockingly, the cable guys said yes. Now, I know this sounds like a typical porn movie scenario, but seriously, how it’s written in the magazine, it feels genuine. These two guys were not expecting it, and it was all improve for the most part. Who’s to say this isn’t a normal thing from time to time with actors, and well, if you’re on a time restraint and need it done, I’m sure the only option wants some benefit from this, other than a good lay or some head.
Wow, this is a lot of words for a blog post. I was gonna keep going, but I think I’m gonna stop here for the night, and do a separate one for chapter two after work the following day. This chapter was more focused on the sexcapades part of the story, so the next one should prove more slice of life like themes and behind the scenes content.
Until then, see ya!
"As an aside, I also enjoy listening to the old radio programs, thanks to Sirius radio and youtube."
I too've been known to enjoy old time radio now and again. :)
(I've also listened to a fair bit of Decoder Ring Theatre, which I thought I'd mention in case you'd not heard of it and might enjoy it.)
(The blog post had a number of interesting points, I think; that was just the one that struck me enough to comment on.)
Oh wow, that's awesome. A modern group doing vintage like programs. I've always wanted to do something similar with MLP, but could never push myself enough to do so. Maybe with the show now over, I just might bring it back...
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Oh, glad I decided to share the link, then. :D
Well, their posting rate can be a bit slow these days, but there's plenty already built up. Enjoy!
And if you do try that, good luck!
(Mind, it was my great n grandfather and that grandfather's brother, not my current one--who is a rocket scientist, but not a time traveller, as far as I know.)
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/256260539011825669/633842224635052072/20171126_161037.jpg
Real artists do work with human models, at least for some of their training; ponies do as well. And in fact, when I was in college, there were ads on the bulletin board (an actual bulletin board, not some digital thing) asking for nude models for art classes.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/4/9/1128274.jpg
Worth consideration, age of maturity/age of majority and other stuff aren’t always the same. As I recall, about thirteen (give of take) was when Bar Mitzvahs/Bat Mitzvahs took place and I think that that was the age of adulthood in Judaism, although as far as I know, none of my classmates got married at that age. [Historically, they might have, though.] I personally think that the cutie mark is a sign of adulthood--of stallionhood/marehood--but in modern pony society, that isn’t the age a pony gets married.
Not only is it a way to save water, but it’s also good for bonding (mutual grooming, which IRL equines do) . . . and to get the spots that are hard for a pony to reach. Unicorns are lucky in that regard, but they don’t get all the good shower bonding time.
Some IRL professional football players so this, or so I’ve heard.
And turret clocks.
Which is funny, coming from a guy born in 1853.
Can confirm, I’ve had friends in the industry. Likewise, there’s a lot of stuff in theatre which is similar; for example, I fell asleep on set once, while I was playing the role of a dead body. That, in and of itself, is a good reason to fall asleep, I know, but I didn’t mention that there was a fight going on around me. With a fire sword.
I’d seen it before, and I was comfy on the floor (and tired), so I just snoozed until it was time to move on to the next thing.