Who is Fluttershy? · 2:23am Feb 12th, 2015
For the final entry into the "Who is?" series, or at least the last of the mane six, we have Fluttershy. Before we get into it, I want to say that I've found this really interesting, and I'd like to send out a thank you to all of the contributors for their input, and to all of the readers (as well as the contributors) for their patience.
Here are our previous entries:
Who Is Twilight Sparkle?
Who Is Rarity?
Who Is Applejack?
Who Is Pinkie Pie?
Who Is Rainbow Dash?
Like Pinkie, Fluttershy can be a hard character to get a handle on. So let's hear for four authors who have done it well: Bad Horse, PoweredByTea, Steel Resolve, and Titanium Dragon have answers to the question of the night: Who is Fluttershy?
Bad Horse (Fluttershy's Night Out, Pony Play)
Briefly describe Fluttershy as you see her.
This:
not this
:Fluttershy is a great main character, but a terrible background pony. Her actions aren't interesting, only why she does them. So she's only interesting when the focus is on her enough to look at why she's doing what she's doing. That makes it easy to write stories about Fluttershy, but hard to put her into stories about other ponies, where she just sits quietly in the background.
What is essential to remember about her that people might forget?
She’s a strong, independent character. She has firm convictions about what’s wrong and right, and will do what she thinks is right even if everypony else thinks it’s crazy. This strength of character is part of what isolates her--it’s too hard to keep trying to explain herself to other ponies, and she knows they don’t have the independence of mind to see her viewpoint anyway.
That's why Equestria Girls Fluttershy isn't Fluttershy to me. She doesn't have any responsibilities to be strong about. She doesn't, in the absence of animals to care for, reach out to the other kids and care for them. The story's never focused on her, so she's just sat in the background smiling vacantly. The character design doesn't have that wistful, vulnerable slant to the eyebrows suggesting isolation or a tragic backstory. She's just shy and nice.
What do you like to add to her character that’s a stretch from canon, or totally your own invention?
Canon Fluttershy is more shy than kind because kindness implies generosity, and generosity is supposed to be Rarity's turf. This restricts her a lot. She should be out helping ponies, not just animals, but the writers are stuck on this totally logical and consistent system for pigeon-holing the characters, so they truncate that part of her.
In "Fluttershy's Night Out", which takes place before season 1, she has problems relating to ponies because she’s bought into the ideology that they’re different from, and better than, animals. She treats animals with compassion because she doesn’t blame them for anything they do, but she holds ponies to a higher standard. She tries to figure out why they do what they do by actually listening to their complex, morality-laden justifications, which is confusing because it’s mostly bullshit. She realizes that she’s not such a perfect moral being herself, and instead of realizing that other ponies are deceiving themselves, she supposes that there’s something wrong with her.
… and I just realized while typing that that I made her like Slow Thinker, the main character from my dormant White Wolf novel.
In “Pony Play”, which takes place after season 4, I went in the opposite direction: She finds pony society too complicated, and wants to be an animal herself. She needs bondage because she can’t give herself permission to be an animal. Only by giving someone else control over her can she feel free of guilt for enjoying sex, and free of the burden of decision. The narrator’s problem is that she’s forcing him to be a dom when he also wants to be a sub. (It’s too bad I published that before the “Most Dangerous Game” contest; it’s a fine story, and uses 3 of the 5 “most-dangerous tropes”, plus clop.)
What goes on inside Fluttershy’s head? Is she always nice as she lets on?
She really is as nice as she seems, only she doesn’t think she is.
An alternate interpretation is that she forces her help on animals, robbing them of their independence and giving them things they don’t need or should get for themselves, to make herself feel needed and loved. This is more consistent with the show, particularly with her freak-out in the garden at the gala, and the time when she kills her fish friends to feed her ferret friends.
But the Flutter-roar at the Gala is not part of my head canon. It’s a perfect example of how fans love bad things and writers assassinate their own characters for a quick pay-off. Ha-hah, look, little Fluttershy is losing it and revealing the beast within. Yes, it was funny. No, the joke wasn’t worth destroying the integrity of her character for. Real shy people aren’t like that, and I don’t want Fluttershy to be like that.
Why is Fluttershy not shy around animals?
She understands them, and doesn’t feel inferior to them.
What genre of books or movies does Fluttershy prefer (after you get her to stop insisting that anything is fine, really)?
There’s a fanon convention that she’s a secret romance reader, and I could see that. But I think she’d more likely read Anne of Green Gables or The Wind in the Willows.
Briefly describe Fluttershy as you see her.
In a word, content. She lives in a small cottage in Ponyville and looks after animals, has good friends, and I think that's all she needs to be happy with life. Theoretically, this makes her a difficult character to write stories about—after all, characters are supposed to want things and all that Jazz. Though that hasn't stopped great authors from writing stories about such characters in the past, with the example coming to mind being hobbits—
Excuse me, I just had an idea...
"Before I met you, Twilight, I was very well thought of in Ponyville. Never had any adventures or did anything unexpected."
"If you're referring to the incident with the dragon, I was barely involved. You saved us all that day, Fluttershy."
Humm... let's see... the rhythm of Twilight's response doesn't quite work, and... what? Oh. Ahem. Yes. Where was I? The other things about Fluttershy if, of course, she's shy but I'll expand on that in the other questions.
What is essential to remember about her that people might forget?
Fluttershy gets annoyed, upset, or aggravated just as easily as anypony else. Watch her expressions in the show when she thinks nopony else is looking and you'll see. She's also quite capable of holding dislike for another pony.
She can also be occasionally prideful. Some of Fluttershy's most adorable moments come from her basking in her own accomplishments,
"Did you see that? I was so assertive."
"Not everypony can be as brave as me, Rainbow Dash."
perhaps because they don't come very often for her.
What to you like to add to her character that’s a stretch from canon, or totally your own invention?
A not so serious idea (not mine!) that never fails to amuse me is that Fluttershy's father is basically Brian Blessed. While he loves his daughter very much he's just not very good at actually listening to what she's saying and tends to assume a lot.
Another one is that Fluttershy is reasonably good at theoretical flight mechanics. Why? She seems like the kind of pony who would always do her homework no matter what, because she was asked too. In fact, if I had to pick a pony of the mane six who was the most book-smart after Twilight, it would be probably be Fluttershy. Back in Cloudsdale she let Rainbow copy her homework and in turn Rainbow helped her a little with actually flying. They didn't have enough in common to become close friends then but were more like unlikely allies in an environment they both hated.
What goes on inside Fluttershy’s head? Is she always nice as she lets on?
As I already mentioned, Fluttershy is quite capable of having Bad Thoughts (TM), but I do believe that generally she's an optimist about ponies and this lets her be the genuinely nice pony she is. If you don't give her a reason to think otherwise, she'll assume the best of you [1] and if you say you're sorry and mean it, she'll forgive you.
[1] Now you're probably also very busy and you'd be justifiably annoyed if she tried to interrupt you right now.
Why is Fluttershy not shy around animals?
It seems illogical, doesn't it? After all, the worst case scenario when dealing with a manticore is pretty bad—and probably involves finding out all about manticore stomach acids in vivo—whereas the worse case scenario for a crowd of ponies silently judging you is far less gruesome.
I think the answer comes down to comfort zones. Fluttershy understands animals indistinctly. When she sees the manticore she knows that being eaten is not on the cards in the same way know that crossing the road isn't going to end in you splattered over the tarmac if you're sensible and look both ways.
Speaking as a shy person, I can relate to this. If you met me randomly you'd find me very guarded and formal. However, after knowing you for a while I'd start to open up, making jokes, all that stuff. You'd be moving inside my comfort zone. For whatever reason animals, even those she hasn't met, are inside Fluttershy's comfort zone. Maybe it's cutie mark magic, maybe it's fears not being entirely logical, but animals just don't trigger the same feelings of discomfort that strange ponies do.
Also note that despite everything I've just said, Fluttershy can still be very Fluttershy around animals. Just see how she struggles to be assertive with Angel Bunny from time to time. Or Philomena.
What genre of books or movies does Fluttershy prefer (after you get her to stop insisting that anything is fine, really)?
I really have no idea about this one other than not-horror. Light-hearted comedy maybe? The kind of stuff the BBC put out in my parents' generation.
Steel Resolve (Green, Pros and Cons)
Briefly describe Fluttershy as you see her.
Fluttershy is a kind introvert. This by itself is a bit of a contradiction, as her natural disposition is to avoid social contact, but also to want to help anypony she sees. She’s horribly repressed, preferring to bottle up her anger in a deep deep well of rage that is sealed with a nigh unbreakable cap. There are few things in the world scarier than an enraged Fluttershy, and I don’t mean the silly Power Ponies version.
What is essential to remember about her that people might forget?
Despite her appearances, there is great strength just below the surface. She acts weak and helpless because it tends to cause others around her to be kind to her, or at the very least not actively harm her, but there is a core of iron in this mare, and it only comes out with great stress. She rarely stands up for herself, but when others need her, or when she is convinced to stand up for herself, that iron comes forth, usually to the detriment of those who threaten her friends, but at times to the detriment of her friends.
Every day is a struggle for her. In Filli Vanilli she talked about baby steps, and it’s very true. You cannot solve something like repressed rage and social anxiety because of one experience, anymore than a butterfly will come out of its protective cocoon after a mere day. Its easy to dismiss her episodes as being all the same, but she is gradually unfolding out of that protective shell, and when she emerges she will be glorious.
But that’s a huge part of her. She hides. From ponies, from herself, from fights. Being hurt and hurting others is something she avoids at all costs, even to the point where she misses out on doing things that bring her joy. It’s easier to hide, easier to let others railroad you along. Being kind is easy. But even coming out of her house every day, despite knowing that the world will in all likelihood cause her pain, and add even more rage to the well, that takes a great deal of courage.
What do you like to add to her character that’s a stretch from canon, or totally your own invention?
Her parents. I don’t know that it’s a stretch because we know nothing about her family, but I’ve established in my stories that Shy has a drill sergeant for a mother who actually put her through basic, and the only reason Shy won’t fight others is that she knows very well she can hurt them. Posey is diametrically opposing to Fluttershy in demeanor. She wants others to come to their full potential, and is not afraid to push them along. The stare came from her, and it’s not so much supernatural as the unforgiving gaze of a disappointed mother who wants you to stop your bad behavior.
In my headcanon, her father is a very docile stallion roughly the size of Big Mac, and is normally utterly dominated by her mother, save when he feels Fluttershy is threatened. Overprotective is an understatement. He nearly lost her to a childhood ailment, which made him even more of a helicopter parent.
I feel like they help explain her a little bit. The show depiction is odd to say the least. One episode Shy can barely fly, another we see her catching up to Rainbow Dash. She’s too weak to kick a vase, then she bodyslams a bear. These seem like contradictions unless we have context to understand her.
From her mother, Shy would get her iron will. From her father, her kindness, and her temper. The strength she exhibits was always there, but like her singing voice, she doesn’t want to call attention to it. But... who knows? Rarity’s parents were nothing like I would have imagined. Shy is Shy, and while parents would make her more dynamic, maybe a lack thereof is just as interesting.
What goes on inside Fluttershy’s head? Is she always nice as she lets on?
She is capable of getting angry, but she feels horrible about it. It goes back to causing others harm, she hates the idea. She can be just as petty and horrible as other ponies, but it all gets dumped down into the infinite well. Strangely enough, I could see her being a far better choice for Nightmare than Rarity was, simply because she does have a lifetime of anger it would love to use to it’s advantage. Thankfully her will was strong enough to resist, or that arch might have been far more deadly.
Though I’m not sure what Shy would want to last forever... unless it was the quiet game. I can imagine a world of silence, ruled over by a cruel god who strikes you down if you break the stillness.
Why is Fluttershy not shy around animals?
Because she understands them far more than ponies. I’m not certain how her talent works, but I suspect it’s low level empathy, she reads body language of animals, perhaps even gets some things telepathically. Ponies are... cruel. An animal is usually not pointlessly cruel, or if they are they have the courtesy to look like a predator. With predators you at least know their motivations, but ponies all just look like ponies, even the cruel ones.
You might say that is a weakness as well, because her ability to talk to animals seems to come at the cost of being able to talk to her own kind.
What genre of books or movies does Fluttershy prefer (after you get her to stop insisting that anything is fine, really)?
For movies, nature documentaries, of course. She’d be fascinated by animals from far away that she’d never gotten to meet. Really, any movie or book where the animal was the star would delight her.
For books, I could see her reading self-help books, but being very careful how she applies the lessons to her life. After all, she can’t let that cap off again.
Titanium Dragon (The Butterfly's Burden, Abandoned Sanctuary, The Stolen Date):
Briefly describe Fluttershy as you see her.
A sweet, kind, shy mare with confidence issues, but who is both smarter and has more steel in her than she gives herself credit for. Indeed, she is, to some extent, afraid of being strong; she is hypersensitive to the needs of others to the point where she fears offending them or annoying them by expressing any sort of strong, unreserved opinion. She constantly deflects and apologizes to avoid seeming bossy, but instead goes far, far, far the other way, and she doesn’t really understand confidence – her attempts at being confident are often very imitative rather than natural. It is when she actually has to be confident, has to get something done, that she forgets to be self-conscious for a while – and when she does, she is much stronger and happier for it.
What is essential to remember about her that people might forget?
Fluttershy has some real steel in her, and it isn’t just a veneer of niceness over a hard interior – she has some real, genuine strength. However, she doesn’t think of herself as a strong person, and she isn’t even really aware of her inner strength. While she knows about her Stare, she doesn’t really understand the nature of confidence, and thus her standing up to the dragon, or otherwise standing up for herself in many situations is misinterpreted by herself as “giving in” instead of standing up.
What do you like to add to her character that’s a stretch from canon, or totally your own invention?
I really like the idea that she (along with Applejack) is the most used to death and bad things of any of the main cast due to her taking care of (and sometimes having to put down) animals, or taking care of dying animals with no hope of recovery.
What goes on inside Fluttershy’s head? Is she always as nice as she lets on?
Not only is she as nice as she lets on, Fluttershy is nicer than she gives herself credit for. She is very self-conscious and self-effacing and it is hard for her to give an honest, negative evaluation for fear of hurting the feelings of others. As a result, she tends to keep her thoughts and opinions to herself, and is worried about stepping on other people’s opinions or self-esteem, in part because she worries about others doing such things to her.
She often feels like she is being watched and judged, even when she is not, and also is very sensitive to any signs that someone else might be unhappy. It is this latter tendency that tends to lead to her being a doormat – she hates to disappoint other ponies, or get a negative reaction out of them.
Her self-confidence issues and auto-correction are frequently at the forefront of her mind around other ponies, especially around strangers, but they are self-inflicted. She has a tendency to accentuate the negative, but when it is pushed out of her mind, she really does “forget” to do these things, and is much happier – and braver – for it. However, it is very easy for her to lapse back into auto-correction mode, especially in a situation where she can retreat into herself.
Why is Fluttershy not shy around animals?
Because animals are simpler than people are, in her mind; they’re easier to understand and are (mostly) more one-dimensional. She can understand why they feel the way they are feeling and why they act the way they are acting. Animals also, in her mind, don’t talk about her behind her back, though whether or not that is actually true is an open question. Interestingly, this applies even outside of animals; things which don’t strongly resemble ponies, like Spike and the Breezies, are perceived more like animals than like people at first. Consequently Fluttershy tends to be less self-conscious around such non-pony people than she is around ponies.
What genre of books or movies does Fluttershy prefer (after you get her to stop insisting that anything is fine, really)?
Fluttershy likes romance novels and novels about overcoming personal adversity. She likes things where characters overcome adversity to get to a happy ending, but she always wants a happy ending; she doesn’t like things which end in darkness, or where the protagonist faces an uncertain future at the end, because that reminds her too much of her own fears an insecurities. The protagonist always overcomes what is necessary to get the boy/girl, or overcomes whatever was holding them back in order to emerge triumphant.
In terms of nonfiction, she enjoys reading biographies about people who have overcome adversity in their personal lives. In addition, she keeps up on botanical and zoological knowledge and research, and is likely an enthusiastic supporter of whatever the Equestrian equivalent of National Geographic is.
She doesn’t like reading the news very much, finding it to be overly negative, and also tends to avoid fashion magazines for the same reason. She does, however, enjoy reading about fashion, and as a result tends to read historical works about fashion.
In an attempt to build up her confidence (or possibly just to avoid other ponies), she also is an enthusiastic consumer of “how-to” books, from carpentry and home repair to sewing and gardening.
Steel Resolve's "Pros and Cons" ended up on the wrong line.
Anyway, always fun to read about what everyone else thinks about the characters. Also always interesting to see who else gets tapped for these; always a very good list.
I don't do much with Fluttershy. As has been noted above, her mind is a fascinating place, but her life? Not so much, and that's by design. That said, there's a lot of valuable insight and cool ideas here. I may have to make more use of Yellowquiet in the future.
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Fixed, thanks!
Ugh, so much this. I've struggled a bit recently in the story I've been writing because I'll be doing Mane 6 scenes and realize that Fluttershy has absolutely nothing useful to add to the conversation or the scene.
Though when I did finally get her alone in a scene and she was able to shine again, so there's always that.
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I admit that I have gone through scenes in which Fluttershy was present and forgotten she was there. I usually try to go back and find something for her to say somewhere.
The pony who has the weakest headcanon in my mind. I'll have to work on this one over the next few weeks. (Although I would have loved to see Estee's take on this from his fantastic Five Hundred Little Murders.)
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I have to agree with Bad Horse's assessment here, too; she's very tough to write when you aren't focusing on her, as it is very easy for her to become a non-entity and she (usually) isn't doing anything terribly interesting.
She's probably the weakest link in the main cast, but not because she's the weakest character, but rather because she's the hardest one to write into ensemble scenes in an interesting way.
Fortunately, she's also adorable.
Well, having read these descriptions, I now understand why I like Fluttershy so much. And, by extension, Rarity.
Fluttershy is who I used to be, before I understood what all those self-help books were saying (it's a surprisingly simple truth that's hard to internalize: how you perceive the world defines the world and your relationship to it). Rarity is Fluttershy's best friend because of her supportiveness. AJ and Twi are supportive too, but not in the active and persistent way Rarity is. RD and Pinkie try to help, but they're actually kind of bad at it.
The negativity of it, the sense that everyone else is judging you as harshly as you judge yourself, and the inability to distract yourself from that inner judgement when other *might* be looking - it's a recipe for self-disaster. Fluttershy is working her way out of that cell, and having been through those bars myself, I empathize deeply.
Well, I learned something. Today was a good day.
Ah, Fluttershy, my least favorite Mane 6. In fact, I kinda dislike her these days.
In the earlier seasons though, that never used to be the case. She was shy, sure, but she'd still stick up for and help her friends when she needed them.
Now she's a coward (shyness and cowardliness are mutually exclusive, I reckon) and only seems to care about 'muh animals', which just makes her annoying to me. Also the fact that she's usually used for cute bait and not much more.
I'll grant that she's never had a really terrible episode to herself though.
Fluttershy is easily my least favorite of the Mane Six, and there are definitely background characters that do more for me than she does. I frankly struggle to come up with shit for her to do in any story I write that includes her. Unless she's a central, driving force of a scene, she easily fades into the wallpaper and I'm quick to forget that she's even there in the first place. The other five each can come up with something to contribute rather easily and can usually be pretty entertaining at least, but her... she's just so hard to make interesting when she's not a focus character. Anymore, if she's in a scene, unless she's specifically offering advice, then I tend to just leave her there as a "token appearance" kind of thing. If she doesn't get the spotlight, even in the show, she rarely contributes anything more worthwhile than perhaps a throwaway gag.
There are other reasons for my disdain, but those are more personal grudges than anything relevant to writing.
Not always. For instance, a Shrike just looks like a regular old songbird, roughly the size of a common Jay. As it happens they are a truly vicious predator who will sometimes keep prey fresh for later by impaling them alive on long thorns.
Just me being a pedantic arse.
2789820 I suppose, but there are exceptions to every rule. We could just as easily talk about Angel, who often is pointlessly cruel.
Here's a full list of my stories with Fluttershy as a main character:
Fluttershy's Night Out
A Carrot for Miss Fluttershy
The Corpse Bride
Pony Play
Mare of the Rings
Worth It
2790343 This is fascinating, and makes sense, but I've never heard anyone say that before.
BRB writing a D&D campaign.
Confusion reigns.
2791649 snag.gy/UuPJq.jpg
The final one in your series, huh? That's disappointing. I would've been interested in reading anylizations of who Spike is. His past, present, and future—his very existence—are all far more unique and ambiguous than the rest of the cast. But then, all of the really intelligent, insightful, and proactive participants in the brony fandom would rather allow their imaginations to keel over and die in their own imaginary vomit than be put to work on anything that focuses on Spike.
2819301 I love the other flavors just as much, but after a while you just get sick of them.
Wait, this is bookplayer's blog. Did he tell you to come here and try to get a Spike fan riled up, or do you just prowl about in search of chances to show how low your opinion of him is?
2820775 So you took a few seconds out of your day just to make mine a little harder to get through. You're a real nice guy.
2820959 Annnnd down goes the straw man. Which is weird, because you never set up your straw man. Your previous comment clearly explained, in no uncertain terms, that you were insulting me personally, not a fictional character. "Also, I didn't come here to share an opinion of Spike, just you and your saltiness" translates quite clearly to, "I came here to tell you how stupid I think you are" for anyone who can read English.
I kinda wish we could be friends. You write easily compelling prose with a practical grasp of the cast (except for their despicable OOC behavior in Liaisons), and you occasionally punch out well-worded blog posts with insights on interesting topics. And yet, your take on everything is so bracingly, disturbingly clinical that every time you talk about Spike, all I see is an asshole. At least, that was true before this straw man thing; now I know you really are just an asshole who enjoys shooting down anyone who has a favorable opinion of Spike. As much as I wish we could get along, all I really want to do is see Liaisons removed from existence and never speak to you again. At least I can do one of those things.
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Personally, I think the notable thing to point out in the bitterness of Swash's first comment is how he stopped reading halfway through the first sentence of the blog in order to whine and complain about how nobody loves Spike or something.
Man, it's almost like bookplayer set up the expectation that she could cover the beta cast as well.
Of course I'd have no idea why she'd want to have a post about Spike since she'd clearly get buried in comments about how it didn't highlight how unique, special, and better he was than the rest of the cast, and how dare she have not included him grouped as part of the mane six.
2821734 I read Bad Horse and PoweredByTea's evaluations. Go fuck yourself.
2822512
Hey, watch it. I have standards around here. If you're going to tell my friends to go fuck themselves, you need to use more words than that.
2822563 Of course, my apologies. Bad as my evening turned out after talking to these loathsome jackasses, at least I'm not surprised; constant degradation against Spike, exaggerated mockery of the character's few fans (whining? I was hardly even complaining), and endlessly rude behavior while advocating the characters they think are more worthwhile is exactly what I expect from the brony fanbase. MLP inspires more frustration, exasperation, and dejection than the simple fucking joy that it used to for me.
At any rate, since blocking people doesn't prevent them from harassing me on your blog, I'm gonna have to block you too.
2822512
Oh, I'm sorry, did I just make an assumption about how much you read of the blog and jump to an unfair conclusion? It's not like that's what you were doing in your first comment. But you're absolutely right, I should just assume that you are unable to read. Or that you only read things the way you want to read them to support your myopic little view of reality.
Or maybe I'm still making assumptions and you're just insufferable.
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For the record, blocking me isn't going to do anything but keep me from commenting on your stories or blog posts, or PMing you. None of which I planned to do. Did you want me to block you? That would keep you from being tempted to reply to them on my blog.
2822652 Did you bring enough blocks for the whole class?
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If Jake and bats don't want to comment on my blog, they can ask me, too.
2822736 *breathe in, breathe out*
Jerks who relentlessly jab at my pet peeve and try to justify it while painting me in as negative a light as they can manage don't affect my life.
Whew... Thanks, I feel a little better now.
2822759 It started as nothing more than harmless niggling. You were mighty quick to turn it into a personal attack. You don't seem to remember that part (or maybe you just have some form of selective memory loss, in which case it's you we should be concerned about), so I'll quote my response.
2822800 I looked up "salty" on the urban dictionary, and my interpretation was spot-on.
At least you admit you're insignificant, though. Well done.
2822817 That huge rant (the whole paragraph) was mild disappointment, bud. If it's the keel-over-an'-die part you're hung up on, that's just a metaphor I use frequently to convey my displeasure with the fandom at large. You're taking my words far too seriously...which is kinda what you accused me of doing with yours. No, exactly. Quite the hypocrite, you are.
2792583 I thought of that while writing, but decided it didn't make enough of a difference. That's something, but temporary volunteer work isn't responsibility.
2791007 And all damn good tales indeed. :)
Funny thing is, one of the most insightful things I've read about Fluttershy was actually a small chunk of dialogue from All the Mortal Remains, which is primarily a Twilight focused story. In this scene, Twi is watching while Fluttershy cares for an injured Manticore cub. (bold added by me)
At least to me, this little section of what I suspect Gardez (the author) intended to be mere idle chatter speaks volumes about Fluttershy's mindset and motivations.
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Sadly we have to let you out of the box sometimes, so that your time in it has any meaning.