Actually, I'm Dead - Editorial: Base breakers and sleeplessness · 12:49am Jul 5th, 2015
HEY GUYS! GUESS WHO HASN'T SLEEP IN THREE DAYS?! 
Okay, I'm kinda lying there. I did sleep some recently, but is not the medical recommended ammount of time. Becasue of that, and considering how recurrent where some comments on the last chapter, I'll make the long replies here to the most controversial parts of it. You could call me a cheap bast*rd, but honestly this is the only way I will get around answering that massive load of comments without procrastinating it any further.
So, lets go and find out how I can clarify the most controversial thing I've ever done since I once wrote a Transformers/Evangelion vs fanfic (don't ask).
Point 1: Fluttershy's attitude
First of all, I do believe that Fluttershy didn't do what she did out of cowardice or meanness, but out of instinctively trying to help her animal friends, in a very similar fashion of why Applejack reacted so bad at Trixie begin too close to Apple Bloom.
Now let's put some background from the chapter. She doesn't only take care of her animals, in fact, I'm pretty sure she would never refer to them as 'her' animals. Fluttershy shares with them, has a relationship with them, lives with them. There's a very strong bound there and if anything affects them, it affects her. In this case, something not only affected them, but it was in the worst possible way, and that's another point.
Now, at least one commentator pointed out how overused is the "animals sense danger" cliché and, to be fair, this one is cliché as hell.
But honestly, it kinda makes sense in a world like Equestria, let me explain. Natural selection says that any animal unfit to survive its environment is going to get naturally extinct (ask the dodo). In a place where dark magic is a very probable cause of death, it's not a too big jump of logic that Equestrian animals kinda sorta know how to recognize dark magic things in the same way real life ones know how to recognize poisons or when an earthquake is coming; due to better developed senses, which is the same way real life animals are more sensitive than human beings, driving us to the next point; instinct.
Animals are creatures of instinct, not reason. For all they know, the very same pony who trapped them and to whom their mother figure is scare of is coming. Also, none of Fluttershy's animals has a real reason to not believe that the walking corpse who has an evil amulet of evilness encrusted in its chest and whose whole cardiac system got replaced by liquefied dark magic (a.k.a. necroplasm) is not a threat. In fact, they may even have a point, since we have seen how bad can Trixie get under the Amulet's influence, which is just a ring-pull away (think about it, how would you react if someone brings a hand grenade to your home).
Ask any guy who works with animals and he will tell you that a very bad scenario is having the animal in question disturbed by something. Here, we have all of them disturbed, which is probably the worst case scenario. Also, when confronted with expectations, Fluttershy usually expects the worst case scenario, and when it comes to guessing what could possibly go wrong with the walking corpse of a former dictator being around her animal friends, her mind probably (as note in the narration) brought up some very nasty outcome. That's a lot of stress for lil' old Fluttershy to handle, so it shouldn't be any wonder she's not thinking straight, or even thinking to begin with, which drive us to the last point; Fluttershy didn't reason, she reacted.
Finally, to ad more to the argument, this chapter (and most of the previous ones) has also the meaning to show that Trixie's appearance is a visual brown note. The musician can't recognize her voice as a natural one, she looks bad enough to clear an entire town block in moments and ponies who are usually reasonable react badly if she's too close to beloved one.
P.S.: Let's play a game I call "change the POV". Let's say that this is right in front of you:
This one had its fangs removed, has no poison in it whatsoever and it has been domesticated. Would you pet it without hesitating first?
Point 2: NEVER EXPERIMENT AGAIN IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ALREADY STARTED FIC
Ever.
Muffin?
P.S.: Trixie feels lost and disconnected from reality, while the world as she used to know it is literally not the same she's in right now. This trick is not new, since I did something similar in a previous work of mine, while the concept itself of messing up the narrative to reflex the main character's mindset is a very common happening in horror and suspense comics.
I wanted to put the reader in the same state of confusion and detachment from reality that Trixie felt. did it work? Well, some people is confused so...
Also, Chris Nolan.
Point three: Trixie's not giving up anytime soon
> 
Although I'm not revealing any future detail of the story per se, but I do have a very specific creed; going the extra mile and working hard to bring a character to life would all be meaningless only to waste it all finishing said character for shock value's sake.
Not to say that such action would be absurdly OOC if it come with the Trixie we have read in chapters 3, 4 and 5's fourth part. Trixie just had an inner debate with herself about giving up or not. I literally can't make her give up by this point because that would contradict this story's own canon, and that would be very, very poor writing.
Also, and for the record, there are many, many, many, many fics out there where Trixie is constantly trying to give up and it's entirely up to the co-protagonist (usually the M!Six to who the author wants to ship with Trixie) to keep her going. I am not going to do something that has been done well and wrong in every possible level for this point, because my sole reason of being a writer is to original, or at least, different from the norm.
Bonus point: Those guys at the comments who got my back (thanks, mates)
Fluttershy knows every year that Nightmare Night is coming, and that the ones that are going to knock at her door are only ponies in disguise. That not prevents her to hide under her bed and yell at everypony that tries to call her.
Had that night Luna tried to enter into Fluttershy's house like Trixie did, Fluttershy would have come out of it breaking through the wall.
Fluttershy is not acting out of character here. Is only the clash between a character that is hypersensitive over scary things and a living dead (that happened to be a tyrant first to die).
More than other, it was a question of bad timing. Had Trixie waited outside, probably Twilight would have been able to convince Fluttershy to get out to meet her, and, not fearing to be trapped, things would have been different.
Well, not that I'm defending her or anything, but this IS Flutterhy we're talking about here. Sure she faced against dragons, manticores, and what not, but honestly I feel that she is in ethe wrong, but her instincts to protect her animal friends, which I feel i s a driving force because of her cutie mark, and we know a cutie mark drives ponies instincts from the episode when Twilight ascends.
I feel this is not only a combination of her and her cutie mark but perhaps an underlying fear of the dead. Honestly we've never encountered undead beings in the show, and yes I mean undead, not dead dead. So, that being said I feel she was both justified and unjustified in her fears of Trixie.
Admittedly, the BIGGEST reason I follow this story is the moral dilemma that everyone must follow in this story. Should they punish Trixie for what she's done, when in truth it was the mane six's fault she went down this path? Is it Trixie's own fault? Should she be put to death for her crimes, or be left to suffer in her current state? Or is this such an unusual and cruel punishment/existence of suffering that they should put her down permanently?
Truly, i feel torn by this story. No one wants Trixie around due to her state and what she had done, but at the same time, can we really condemn her when she's suffered one of the greatest punishments life has to offer? If only her parents were here, it'd probably make things easier for her.
Sorry I went off my main point there. The point is can we really blame flutters for fearing something so unnatural and that goes against everything she stands for? Or is she truly that unsettled with Trixie that she's going against her very nature?
This really is a big question and so many more that we must consider for all points of view. because honestly, there is no right or wrong way to handle a situation like this. It merely depends on YOUR point of view.
Sorry I super serious there but this story really tugs at my heart strings when I read it.
P.S.: Are you guys seriously telling me that you missed these three?
Uh hum. She has a fucking bear who could tear anyone apart. Trixie would be the one afraid of bears by this fucking point since her last encounter was with a star spangled bear that tried to fucking eat her. So no she was a coward and rude. You have NOT done anything that creative with her except make her the stereotype that she fucking is. Had you point out that the bear was already dead or somewhere else I'd be okay but as it stands? No you have not. Thanks for making me hate Fluttershy. You monster.
3207453
Vampdah, my friend, it is due to our common friendship that this time, I will ignore that liberal use of swearing and insults directed at me as I do also understand how does it feels when a favorite character gets the short stick in a story. Please remember I'm not a monster, but actually one of your friends. If you need to cool down first, I suggest you think about what you want to say without insulting anyone and come back when you're in a better mod, for both of us and our friendship's sake.
3207592 Wow..... okay..... fine. Sorry I said anything. Also favorite character? Fluttershy isn't one of my favorites. She's never been one of them. But by all means I'm the villain in this for actually putting my rant into an abridged version that actually HAS cut down on the swearing. Yes I am the monster here. Thank you for reminding me. Good night.
3207599
Okay, you know what, fine, I admit it:
THIS WAS THE WORST CHAPTERS I HAVE EVER WRITTEN IN MY LIFE AND PROBABLY ONE OF THE WORST ONES ON THIS SITE. I AM TRULY SORRY FOR NOT PUTTING ENOUGH ATTENTION TO SIDE CHARACTERIZATION AND THAT WILL HAUNT ME EACH TIME I SEE IT.
I'm aware of all of that (check the blogpost's tags) I just never expected a close friend to be the one forcing me to admit it out loud.
3207668 I.... I didn't...... can't I do any damn thing right today?
3207671
Look, we are both probably just tired right now and not in our best moments. If you can, I'm willing to get over all of this and keep our friendship, which is more important to me than keeping a feud over just a badly planned chapter.
3207700 It's not just that... I've been screwing up a lot today and this was just the icing on the cake.
Honestly, I didn't mind the chapter structure so much, just the writing style in itself. I'm just not really all that impressed wirth the way you implemented it. I think it's a nice gimmick, but when I think "nonlinear narrative" I think "Use of Weapons," which is, admittedly, a high bar to live up to. I recommend it, if you want to see an example of nonlinear storytelling at its best. Cheradenine Zakalwe is one of the most interesting sci-fi protagonists ever written, and the structure of the story makes it something really, really unique to experience.
3207702
You know, being friends means we can rely on each other for support. If you need to talk, I'll listen and if you need help, I'll do what I can. But don't feel bad over this, since it was mostly my mess to begin with. Friends?
3207707
Yeah, I got ambitious and didn't treat the style with the respect it deserves. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Next chapter will go back to the good old "presentation-conflict-resolution".
Okay, I'll give it a read, eventually, once I finish this semester on University.
3207724 It was just a clutter of a day for me. I just screwed up and it just piled up on top of each other today was all. It's nothing really tragic but.... this was the straw that broke the camel's back.
3207732
Take it easy, we're just humans, we're bond to screw things up from time to time, but we can also learn from that. If you made a mistake, learn from it and find a way to avoid doing it again, that's how I operate.
3207724
Make the time. Trust me, it's worth it. It's widely considered Banks' best novel, and he was already considered one of the best science fiction authors of the last 60 years before he published it. Don't let yourself be dissuaded by the sci-fi thing, it's really a character drama that only uses the setting as a backdrop.
In case you're curious, it tells the story by having two separate narratives of the same sequence of events: one starting in the past and moving forward, one starting in the present and going backwards. The climactic scene in which the different perspectives finally reach the same point is seriously one of the best pieces of literature I've ever read. It's also an emotional kick in the balls. I genuinely had to put the book away and sit down for a while just to process it all, it's that effective.
3207707
*Snorts* Were that I could ever be compared favorably to Iain M Banks. That would be a truly humbling experience.
I have read Use of Weapons, though it was a while ago. I will agree that that ending is unforgettable.
3207919
Well, at least you can rest comforted by the knowledge that nobody comes out of that comparison looking good.
And yes, it is, even when you wish you could forget it. It's not a happy story.