Sunset is accused of spreading everyone’s secrets on a Mystable page calling itself Anon-a-Miss, losing all of her friends and reputation in the process.
But it seems the school forgot one thing.
Sunset Shimmer isn't one to be easily broken.
A story dearly inspired by wanting something different out of the Anon-a-Miss 'Genre' of fics. Many are wonderful stories, but at the end of the day, most tend to fall into the same couple of tropes with slight alterations, and many of those tropes are ones I'm not terribly fond of.
So with my ever present desire to take a well trod genre and flip it on its head, I present my own take on this story, and one I have not personally seen. So I hope I deliver on giving you something different from the others!
Pre-Read by the Wonderful and Loveable baes: Uria, the Sacred Beast and Sunny Days
Strap in folks, this is a good one!
Oh now this looks very interesting.
If the story's still being updated (chapters are being posted) you should mark it incomplete until it's actually fully posted.
9782249
Oh whoops! It was supposed to be marked incomplete, thank you!
Well, this is a different take on things. I look forward to seeing how this turns out.
Well now, this has me excited and intrigued. Great start. Definitely can't wait for more.
Ah yes the zero requiem, liking it so far.
Yes. For once, an Anon-A-Miss story that isn't excessive angst.
Interesting start. Let's see how it plays out.
...Y'know, I don't watch Equestria Girls, but... I am intrigued. Will the CMC be convinced to come clean? Or will Sunset's suffering be prolonged further? Find out in the next exciting chapter of Role Reversal!
...Am I good at this, or just delusional?
*sigh*
Yet another Anon-A-Miss fic...
This particular genre is about as tired as ScootAbuse and ScootAdopt fics. Hope it's a good read.
9782356
Yup, I whole heartedly agree with you there. And after recent events, I've ended up reading a couple more of the fics than I was expecting to, and it just made me really, really want something different from the genre.
And so here we are with my fic lol
Very intriguing and enjoyable so far! Also it’s nice to see a change up in the Anon-a-miss fic formula where Sunset slowly shifts the tide in her favor.
I'm definitely enjoying this so far, it's got a good premise and plays with the Anon-A-Miss storyline in a new way, the pacing is good so far and the narrative is tightly contained and focused. I like seeing Sunset as her old scheming self turned to good uses, the anti-hero vibe always worked for me and I like seeing Sunset put it on display here.
I know there's going to be a lot of 'Oh no not another AAM' story but honestly I think some really good stories can come from taking a tired trope and finding a new way to engage with it. I think I'm going to enjoy this one.
Cheers,
I-A-M
A solid start for sure! Let's see where you take it!
9782391
I was fully expecting the "Oh no, not another AAM story" comments too, since I'd probably have the same reaction honestly haha~
Glad this one has caught your interest though! I'm very into deconstructing genres, so hopefully I do well enough here to have it be good all the way through!
I got hooked so hard I'm getting whiplash. I absolutely love this characterization of Sunset.
9782407
I've always been less about deconstructing genres and more about getting into their depth. That's why I used AAM as a springboard to tell a unique story with Featherfall, I like where you're going with this though, I feel like it's got a great start.
So Sunset Shimmer is going to take on the anger and hatred of the school huh? That takes a lot of courage, though I suppose this does make sense. I mean sometimes to do some good for the world (or in this case the school) You might have to be seen as the bad guy to do it. even though you have to suffer, some good could come from it and I'm rambling on aren't I? oops
I very much like the story so far, I look forward to see how it progresses
I will reserve my judgment until this is finished, but bold claims to say your going to make something new with this setting. I've seen a lot of people make this claim and never seen any succeed at making something new, rather then just another variation on the setting.
Hope you have something interesting planned.
Helluva Xanatos Gambit That Sunset is playing here.
9782445
By all means, feel free to call me out if it ends up being more of the same lol
At the very least I wanted to turn a bunch of the tropes on their head and not play them off the same way so many others have. It's also going to be far less dreary, depressing, and antagonist as most of them are, so that right there should hopefully separate it from a lot of the other fics!
this, I feel, is how it really would go instead of the other stories, though instead of the other elements just straight up turning there backs on sunset. they'ed at least get her side of the story, or, spot something off about the whole "this was my plan all along" scheme,
9782448
Not to be nitpicky, but I feel like you might mean the Zero Approval Gambit. I think a Xanatos Gambit only applies when any outcome results in a victory for you. From what I can tell so far, there's no sure guarantee that Sunset will end up with victory no matter what the outcome. Of course, I could be wrong and you may be right. I guess I'll just have to wait and see to be sure. To be fair, she does seem to be playing a bit of Xanatos Speed Chess, so that's something, I think.
Playing that 4D Chess, I see
It's an interesting Idea but I dislike Anon-a-miss stories because despite whatever unique Idea they have they always end up following the same tired formula:
1. Sunset's friends are always demonized and turned into complete jerks, sometime one or two come around but the rest are still made out to be jerks.
2. Sunset gains new friends who are just all-around better people than the humane 6.
3. In the end, someone gives a "why you suck" speech to the school.
4. Sunset will abandon her old friends because they don't deserve her.
Even if the story doesn't hit all these points they will usually hit some of them. Even Dawn a story I really enjoy is guilty of this and is part of the reason I've sworn off Anon-a-miss fics because there is no such thing as a truly original take. To be honest the best take I've seen was Myriad Thoughts and that was mostly because it didn't try to do a "new" take on the story and instead focused on the aftermath of the original comic which I think is the only good way to do it.
Is the Romance Tag for Sunset and Princess Twilight ?
So after reading through it, I'll admit it is different but it does have its own problems. For one Sunset's plan makes no sense, her goal was to get the school to stop tearing itself apart while she found the true culprit... okay I can understand that but then why reveal this:
She just revealed that it was everyone in the school who shared each other's secrets which means they have even more reason to be at each other's throats and everyone still hates Sunset because they believe she's Anon-a-miss which was the case before her confession. So what exactly was the point of doing this?
9782359
So far it is, though it needs some editing work. Not so much spelling issues as grammar.
That being said, it's not the stories I groan at, but the genre. At this point, it's starting to get old.
9782477
Wow, you just listed every single trope I hate about Anon-a-Miss fics, and every single trope I hoped to address in this fic itself.
Kudos to having similar tastes!
9782528
My grammar is never going to be the best, and I've pretty much come to accept this. As long as the story is readable and enjoyable without breaking immersion, then by all means, I've accomplished my goals!
Also yes, the genre is tired and worn out, that's exactly why I wrote this fic. I revel in thinking about genres that are tired and bad and trying to make something fresh and unique in them. You should hear my ideas for Isekai stories! It's a lot of fun to try and take ideas everyone is sick of and flip them in such a way as to either make them unique or enjoyable again lol
9782545
Oops
Nice take. I’m looking forward to seeing how the CMC responds especially.
9782465
A Xanatos Gambit doesn't necessarily need to result in a victory for you, as long as it furthers your goals. In this case, Sunset has two goals: Clear her name, and prevent the school from descending into anarchy from in-fighting. So far, she's at least on track for the second one.
You know even if her plan somehow ends up working I hope the story ends with everyone ragging on her for coming up with such an incredibly stupid and nonsensical plan. I mean seriously how the hell does outing everyone as being responsible for leaking the secrets stop the fighting? There is no way that should have accomplished what she wanted it to.
9782498
Mutually Assured (Social) Destruction. It's actually a rather beautiful plan, if you think about it. You see, before Sunset's announcement, if.. say... a video of Lyra calling Bon Bon fat for eating so many sweets was released, then Bon Bon was free to tear into Lyra about it. After all, it was Sunset (or, for those that still wanted to hope against hope that Sunset was innocent, then it was someone framing Sunset) that had shared the information. Now, with the combo of the admission that Sunset was indeed behind all of this, the assumed knowledge that Sunset has even more dirt on everyone in the school that has not yet been leaked, and the confession that most of the secrets were all supplied by their fellow students, the average student refuses to make any comments. Repeating the previous scenario, Bon Bon is aware of her darker secrets that she doesn't want shed. She cannot tear into Lyra anymore, because Lyra might share one of those secrets she knows or just somehow pay off Sunset to release one of those secrets for her. But, while Bon Bon panics about those possibilities, she's too caught up in herself (horray for high school drama) to take a moment to think about the fact that if Lyra were to seek the release of another secret, Lyra herself would have to be worried about a possible retaliation from Sunset because, well, Sunset absolutely knows that it was Lyra who shared it.
No one is going to share a word anymore, out of fear of what Sunset will do to them. No one is going to retaliate against a friend for the older leaked secrets for fear of what Sunset will post next. But, the whole pot that is Canterlot High is now on HIGH boil, they need an outlet... an outlet Sunset conveniently gave them by confessing. Sure, they might be upset that their friend told Sunset something that they never wanted shared, but Sunset was still the one shared that information with the school.
Interesting take, this seems like it’ll be a fun one. I’m assuming legal action by parents against Sunset or the school isn’t an option here, so having Twilight covers the other two biggest potential holes in her plan. Since she confided in Twilight before starting her plan, once she catches the CMC, she’ll have Twilight acting as a witness that it was the plan all along, and that Sunset isn’t trying to shift the blame or the CMC feeling bad for her and taking the fall. It also gives her a safe contact with Celestia and Luna, with Twilight being able to inform them of the plan before they take action against Sunset (and Sunset wouldn’t have to try and convince them herself).
The one thing she doesn’t seem to have fully considered is how it will affect her in the long run. Sure she’s considering if her plan fails what will happen to her friendships and reputation, but even if it succeeds, she may be becoming too reckless and martyr-y. She might end up making similar self risking plans down the line, or start valuing herself less and less. She might be hurting herself more than she realizes with this plan, even if it goes perfectly.
9782609
I'll admit on paper it's a pretty clever but in practice, it is a seriously flawed plan for a few reasons.
So yeah this is a deeply flawed plan. People often claim Sunset is too smart to be Anon-a-miss, clearly, that is not the case in this story.
It's funny, Hopefully some one is actually looking into who started the account.
Usually
AntiSocial media pages require an Email account to get them started.Whelp, I'm hooked. Damn though, "complete but updates daily"
HISSSSSSS
BINGE BRAIN NO LIKE
seriously though, the suspense is killing me! Looking forward to this developing!
9782477 Here's one: Sunset thinks the entire debacle is just too implausible and starts looking for outside factors, i.e. mind control. The only bullet point that version touches is the first, and it would be made clear that the flanderization isn't natural. They'd be jerks because something was forcing them to be jerks.
9782646
It's really no less flawed than the Mutually Assured Destruction idea played out for decades between the US and the USSR in the Cold War. She's playing a VERY high risk, high reward game here, and banking on her old reputation to make it work. All it's going to take is one person deciding to flinch and the whole thing goes up like the Powder Keg that the Anon-A-Miss situation always is. Hence the comments she's made that this situation needs to be resolved and resolved fast.
There is, however, a bit of a flaw in your second point. As long as Sunset was "acting like she had changed", certain actions wouldn't come out. But, we did get implications that the Sunset of old actively fabricated lies about people. With her "return", the people with no secrets left to have spread do still have to worry about the possibility that Sunset might just make something up on fabricated evidence. I suspect you'd find that many of the people without a dark secret remaining are going to be the more goodie-two-shoes types that are going to feel it's far better to just keep your heads down and let this whole thing blow over than stand up and put a massive target on their back. They'll be the same people that didn't stand up to Sunset during her reign of terror when they didn't have anything to fear. If anything, they might be even MORE afraid to make a move since the rest of the crowd can be dealt with by unreleased rumors.
As one last comment though, there's very little way to deescalate this situation now. She burned the bridges with every friend except for Princess Twilight, and I can pretty much guarantee that once those five find out that Twilight is in town, they're going to make a move to try to get between the two of them. Really, the best exit strategy for Sunset here is going to be find out who did it, find out why, resolve the issue, and let herself be run out of the school. That's the only way I can really see for Twilight to be able to "have her back" in all this and still allow the situation to resolve itself.
9782677
She's still just escalating the situation for no reason, she could still search for the culprit without kicking the hornet's nest and destroying all her relationships, something that may not be possible to fix even if she finds the true culprit. There is also no guarantee this will stop Anon-a-miss from posting further secrets and if they do post more that will just make things worse for Sunset than they already were. People might be afraid initially but everyone has a breaking point.
Also if her goal is to catch the real culprit this plan does not help her do it. If Anon-a-miss' goal is to turn the school against her then Sunset just gave them exactly what they wanted and now there is nothing stopping them from shutting down the account and disappearing.
There is no real benefit to this plan.
9782545
This is a fun idea, but I honestly fear for Sunset's safety. This plan could so easily go horribly wrong.
9782682
She is pulling a Code Grass, she is banking on this escalating and having all that hate being focused on her rather then it being spread out though the whole school's populace. She knows the risk's and is willing to take them if it means she can prevent the school from becoming a battlefield.
She knows that in the end that her actions might not be forgiven, but in the end is that really a bad thing? She said it herself, if they can't forgive her then we're they her friends to begin with? I can't remember WHO said it, but someone said "the true test of friendship, is in the fires of adversity and the act of true forgiveness" if they can't forgive her for playing a role then we're they friends?
9782713
Yeah but the plan only makes sense if her goal is to take the blame then ditch town. If her goal is to catch the real culprit this doesn't help her. In fact she's given Anon-a-miss more than enough reason to just stop and delete the profile and without the profile Sunset has no chance of proving who the true culprit is.
9782682
Not quite, she’s done three main things by shifting the focus onto her. First is the temporary ceasefire among the other students and focusing the hatred onto her. She makes a convenient and easy scapegoat, and the theatrics paint a target on her back. She’s much easier to blame than the friends that sent in the secrets. The ire being focuses on her and her having at least some level of untouchable status calms the school down and makes it easier to investigate, especially with Twilight around.
The second thing is that she threw Anon-A-Miss for a loop. There’s no way the CMC expected that sort of outcome and now they don’t know what to do. The whole test angle muddies things even further, and now the field is in her control. While the situation isn’t good for Sunset, it’s one she knows and one she planned for, meanwhile the CMC need to adapt.
The third thing she did was forced the account to stay up. If the CMC deleted it now, it would be clear it wasn’t Sunset. After her stunt, she’d have no reason to delete it, so it disappearing would essentially clear her for at least a portion of the school.
This plan is risky, no questions asked about that, but there’s a few things to consider. The first is that Sunset already knows a good portion of the school is involved based on how the secrets couldn’t come from one source (things like the pictures taken from different heights and angles and the like). The second is that she’s almost certainly dealing with a high schooler, meaning even if they’re good, Sunset was already better at this kind of thing. The third is that they haven’t posted any particularly bad secrets. Sunset has worse stuff and if other students are sending in things, there’s a good chance that Anon-A-Miss has worse stuff as well, but is mainly sticking to embarrassing stuff. If they really wanted to take Sunset down hard, they could’ve gone for worse secrets. She has enough information about Anon-A-Miss to figure her stunt would not be expected and that they wouldn’t be able to respond quickly.
9782722
It seems that if she can’t find Anon-A-Miss, she plans to keep her position over everyone and use it to defuse future situations. Or if that fails, skipping town is always an option (she did bring Twilight into the plan after all).
9782733
Well like I said the plan only makes sense if her goal is to Martyr herself but her goal here seems to be to catch the culprit which should be impossible now. The next logical step for Anon-a-miss is to delete the profile and get rid of the evidence as there is no further benefit to continuing and the only way this doesn't happen is if the author makes them complete idiots who couldn't plan their way out of a paper bag.