My very dear and very few readers,
Last Sunday the first chapter of Skeleton Crew appeared out of nowhere, because if there’s anything this site needs, it is yet another pending multi-part story. This one, however, marks a special occasion. Ten years ago on that publishing date I had posted my first piece of work on WordPress. Back then it had been the initial chapter of the ill-fated House of Cthulhu, a story I have discontinued, but despite its faults never fully abandoned. Much thought went since then into the question of how I would celebrate my tenth anniversary here. A ponygirl story? After all, this fetish takes up an important part in my body of work. Perhaps another slow-burner like The Writer, punching way above its weight?
I decided differently. I wanted to dwell in gothic grandeur, return to cosmic horror, finally wander the realm of steampunk for good.
Skeleton Crew approaches the genre from a dystopian point of view, which led me to coin the term “Dark Steampunk” for it – although I am pretty sure somebody else had already come up with it. I will grant myself three chapters to build the world I have imagined for quite some time now, and they won’t be the “three” chapters of Ponygirl Vet. So better get not too attached to the protagonists, because there will be an end without an ending. Think of this story as the pilot of a television series, without the series. A proof of concept, if you will.
As unsatisfactory as it may be, this course of action allows me to express ideas I would otherwise not be able to pour into words due to lack of a full story arc.
I hope you will – despite this new and deeply inherent flaw – enjoy the short-lived adventure aboard the Enigma nevertheless, and that you won’t mind if I stick around for another decade or two.
Yours sincerely,
V.
Stories by Venom
venomstories 
April 16th, 2023 at 12:00
Hi, loooong time reader, but first message.
I recently reread the whole pbc saga (still loving it)
I found 3 inconsistencies :
– Part Forty-Nine : The dry stage VI plug wedged => shouldn’t it be IV ?
– Part Fifty-One : shoved the stage VI tail of mine => same remark
– Part Forty-Eight : If the
group leader had found Eleven’s book under my mattress => but she found it in part Thirty-Five :
“My heart skipped a beat as she reached under the mattress and pulled out the subversive item. I supressed a sigh of relief as she brought to light Eleven’s book”
And a small typo :
– Part Thirty-Five : supressed => suppressed
April 16th, 2023 at 16:09
I still find it hard to believe that there are people out there who not just read, but also reread my smut!
You are absolutely right about the sizes; it should read “stage IV” in both chapters, else Seventeen would be wearing a meaner tail than Zero-Eight, whose stage V is the largest model used so far. I have already corrected it. The typo in “suppressed” I will tackle next. But checking the story’s master file, I found that I was rather consistent with that one — all in all six times the p on my keyboard had work only half the time. 🙂
The issue with the book under the mattress greatly illustrates the challenge of writing over a long stretch of time and chapters. In this particular case almost three years lie between the two passages. But I have an idea how to mend it (the inconsistency, not the challenge): Kandrin had pulled the book out, but had not opened it. Later, when proposing the Elf’s name as ponyname for Eleven, she indicates exactly that:
If the group leader had found Eleven’s book under my mattress – and nothing other had her remark implied –, she had also discovered the newspaper.
therefore has to be changed into something like
If the group leader had flipped through Eleven’s book under my mattress [unbeknownst to Seventeen] – and nothing other had her remark implied –, she had also discovered the newspaper.
I’ll hopefully have some time to look into it next weekend.
Thank you, Filomene, for pointing those flaws out. Everyone, pray do so likewise, as I know there are tons of them still in there. Some I have listed myself (e.g. D.A.C.C. vs DACC) and slowly rectify them one by one.
April 17th, 2023 at 16:12
“Zero-Eight, whose stage V is the largest model used so far”
Did I miss that ? I don’t remember reading about stage V, just long term wear of stage IV.
But yeah, hard to keep consistency and style over such a long period.
For what it’s worth, I find the smut here quite pleasing to read.
Besides the good writing (as a fellow non native speaker, I’m quite envious), I quite like how it can be really hardcore and quite sexual, but with no particular focus on fucking (that sounds so crude said like that). A combination I don’t find often enough on internet in my own taste.
You also seem to care about your characters, in the sense of giving them emotions, introspection, volition, and personality. They don’t feel to me as just tokens to explore, let’s be polite, quite unrealistic and disturbing scenarii.
April 22nd, 2023 at 15:45
Whoopsie… forget everything you read about a stage V. Zero-Eight is fitted, and always will be, with a stage IV. There is no such thing as a stage V, especially not in future chapters.
“But yeah, hard to keep consistency and style over such a long period.”
Point proven, but this time I was simply too far ahead of myself.
As for your very welcome praises of my writing, I believe the lack of shagging comes with the focus on fetish (let’s stay with the ponygirl stories, to keep it simple). Sex will therefore not be an end in itself like in other erotic stories, not that there is something wrong with it. Only if it serves the fetish aspect, we see some action. Bridled Passion may be named as example, with the sex scene driving home the forbidden love between pony and handler. And yes, most stories of mine are character-driven. I found this approach to add a certain degree of realism to the narration (as you mentioned), and also to make the reader more invested in it. If the author doesn’t care about his characters and their motivations, why should the reader?
May 1st, 2023 at 10:37
Congrats and kudos! Has it really already been ten years? Tempus fugit.
So, once again, thanks a lot for for all the fun hours provided by your stories and smut!
May 7th, 2023 at 16:01
Thank you, Absolutist, I appreciate it. The fun was all mine. I, too, look back on that full decade in disbelieve and am thankful for the reassurance I have received over those years.