Bad Dads and Solitaire | March 2024

Hey, all.

Last month I didn't think I'd be writing any pony fiction for a long time, but then I saw the terrible-dad competition, and something clicked.

The first bash, I've Done It a Hundred Times, is pretty serious: Shining Armor has become so selfish and lost that he is neglectful, and it hurts Flurry Heart.

The second, Disheartened, is a funny one. It got featured, so that's nice because it's a first for me. But what I like about it is it's pretty grey. Shining Armor mistreats Flurry via the weight of his expectations, which cannot be dismissed as totally unreasonable considering their basis in the truth. However, despite the comments that have said he's terrible here, I don't see it. I think he's a loving father, and he proves it when he saves her from the ice. The problem is his love is tough – too tough. That is bad, but he isn't. It's one of those subtleties. Are you a liar if you've told lies yet generally tell the truth? Are you a bad father because you are cold with your daughter yet go alone to rescue her from the wastes? Here comes the popular cliché: it's a spectrum. I prefer to call it a matter of degree. Determining the threshold for bad parenting is the sort of thinking I hope this story has inspired, and maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Shining is above the threshold. That uncertainty, I think, gives this story its oomph.

Finally, there's Solitaire. Now, I haven't updated it since last year, yet I've written the next three chapters and will publish them presently. I am delighted about this. It's the best story I've done here, and the others don't even come close. Normally, I get bored with long ideas and abandon them. That I have perpetually returned to this one and chipped away at it – and it's quite a difficult story to chip away at, mind! – is a great sign. I know how it will end, have everything planned, and all I must do is find the moment in which I feel good. When it comes, I'll write it!

Feeling good is the key for me. I may have finally cracked it. I am capable of rather dully constructing a competent narrative, yet without excitement on my part, the story lacks it too. The substance comes from my keenness, and that doesn't happen often. In the case of multi-part fics, it dies after the first few chapters, which is why I don't finish them. But, because Solitaire excites me each time I return to it, I've kept going. It's a serious story; it's an intricate story; it's my best pony story. Once I'm done, I'll have to remember to promote it.

Happy Easter when it comes.

Acologic out.