Author Interview » Hap's "The Donutier" [Royal Canterlot Library] · 1:30pm Sep 1st, 2017
Today's story will éclair-ify what it means to truly have friends.
The Donutier
[Slice of Life] • 13,097 words
My name is Twilight Sprinkle, and my passion is donuts—from the delicate morsels I serve at elegant cocktail parties to the hearty pastries enjoyed by hard-working ponies who get up early. I don’t have friends, I don’t have books, and I sure as the sun don’t have any wings. I don’t care whether you’re here for revenge, for romance, or for a favor. My name is Twilight Sprinkle and I’m not who you think I am, so either buy a donut or get the hay out of my store!
FROM THE CURATORS: Collectively, we had the broadest range of reactions (and votes!) to The Donutier that we've ever had to a successfully featured fic — which included disagreeing on such basics as the story's primary genre. "Despite lacking a Comedy tag, this is a really funny story with an immense heart," Present Perfect said in his nomination. "I don't see this as a Comedy," Soge countered. "It's a solid, entertaining fic, a lighthearted slice-of-life-cum-adventure wrapped in a light and fluffy mistaken identity story."
Our most vigorous debate centered around the characters (especially the justifiability of Twilight Sprinkle's actions), but the ultimate consensus was that they were a showcase for strong writing. "In its modest length this manages to introduce us to the life of two very distinct ponies, who go through a full character arc — and, in Twilight Sprinkle's case, the Hero's Journey — while simultaneously exploring really well the themes of friendship, destiny, and finding one's place in the world," Soge said. Present Perfect appreciated both of the protagonists: "While snarky, Twilight Sprinkle never becomes tiresome, unless you just really hate donut puns," he said. "And 'Ravenwing Bloodmane' is a perfect foil for her. The real story is about them becoming friends, and it flows very naturally." Horizon praised their interplay: "PP noted that there's a Trixie and Starlight dynamic here ... it's to this story's credit that it can capture that dynamic without recapitulating the canon relationship, and then give a subtle nod to it with Starlight's cameo."
As our debate went on, Death Of The Author ultimately got invoked: "I enjoyed the heck outta this ... though I hafta admit, I'm unsure if the author meant to portray Twilight Sprinkle as an unreliable narrator or if it's something my brain decided for reasons of its own," AugieDog said. Regardless of the debate, it provoked near-unanimous enjoyment, and Horizon took a stab at summing up why we all read it so differently. "The Donutier isn't afraid to advance its storytelling through implication," he said, "and while that leads to a lower-key storytelling style with a surprising economy of words — it packs eight chapters and an epilogue into its 13K — there's still enough happening on-screen to keep it consistently compelling."
Read on for our author interview, in which Hap discusses homemade mayonnaise, stripper boxing, and idyllic adventure apocalypses.
Give us the standard biography.
I’m not sure exactly what a “standard biography” is, so I’m just going to list a bunch of cool stuff about me. I’m a physics professor. I once worked at NASA, where I helped redesign part of the Space Shuttle after STS-107 broke up on re-entry. I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been shot, I’ve been on fire. Once, I was temporarily blinded by a flashbang grenade. I boxed a redhead stripper, and got my nose broken. I killed a possum with a box cutter when I worked at a swimming pool store. I have Fluttershy engraved on a rifle that wears a silencer. I’m allergic to corn. I can drift pretty well, but have only done it in a 1980 Plymouth Gran Fury and a 1994 Nissan Sentra. I’ve been married for 13 years and for some odd reason she still likes me.
How did you come up with your handle/penname?
I don’t honestly remember, not completely anyway. I think it was originally short for something else, but also a bit of an homage to a spiritual mentor to whom I looked up at the time.
Who's your favorite pony?
I think I have to say Rainbow Sherbet, because that’s my wife. Of the mane six (or seven? Eight?) it changes based on what’s the most recent episode I’ve seen, story I’ve read, or art I’ve seen. In the end, I think I always come back to Twilight Sparkle. She just has this unique mix of competence and insecurity; she’s well-read but still approaches everything with a wide-eyed sense of wonder.
What's your favorite episode?
"Putting Your Hoof Down."
This was one of the early Fluttershy episodes. It’s a good one. She turns into a monster, and who among us hasn’t? I think most of my favorite episodes are Fluttershy episodes.
What do you get from the show?
Escape, for one. Equestria is a wonderful blend of idyllic pastoral life, high adventure, and regular apocalyptic events. Real life is harsh and, more often than not, mind-numbingly boring. I know it’s not real, but just the idea that there’s this place where everyone’s that friendly and that’s enough, is just really nice. Hope, I suppose also, that one day maybe our world might be closer to that ideal.
Also, ponies are adorable. That screencap of Twilight from season one, where she’s on a balcony with her legs folded under her, reading a book? How can you not just want to be there?
What do you want from life?
That’s a good question. It’s one I think about a lot.
In engineering, we can express objectives in terms like, “more of X quantifiable is better than less of it.” Nobody wants more pain, but… life without pain wouldn’t really be life, would it?
I know it’s cliche to say that you don’t win anything if you die with the most money, or the most upvotes, or the biggest bestseller. So what would I be happy to look back upon, when I’m lying on my deathbed? I don't know.
One idea that comforts me is that, in a hundred years, probably nobody will remember that I even existed. Don’t ask me why that’s comforting, I have no idea. Blame Lyra.
Why do you write?
Because I have a story. Sometimes it’s a story that I want to read, but I have to write it first (or because someone else wants to read it, like Belle of the 7.62x51mm Ball). Sometimes I know there’s a character rattling around in my head, but I just don’t know who she is until I write the story (The Donutier).
For my upcoming sci-fi story Twilight’s Rose, I saw an anime music video with incredible visuals, and I spent hours lying awake in bed, just thinking about what the story behind it could possibly have been… and when I finally found the anime and watched it, I was soooo disappointed. The story wasn’t nearly as cool as the one I had imagined. So I wrote the story I wanted to see.
And sometimes I just have to write to process my own emotional issues, and I pour my heart and soul into a story because I need to get it out of my head even though I know that practically nobody else will want to read it (Lilies of the Field).
What advice do you have for the authors out there?
Read a lot. Visit your local library, and read the classics. Read novels. Take an actual college course on literature appreciation, even if you’re not getting a degree. Read about reading. Read about writing.
And then, most importantly, write. And get feedback. Then listen to the feedback.
What inspired “The Donutier”?
Exactly what you think. The dumb pun that is her name.
Twilight Sprinkle is the protagonist of the story, but do you consider her "the hero"?
Absolutely not. The hero is the red-and-black aspiring alicorn who showed up to defeat her, but ended up saving her instead.
How reliable a narrator did you mean for Twilight Sprinkle to be?
Not very. She doesn’t lie to the reader outright, but she’s grumpy, she’s cynical, she’s melodramatic, and that colors everything she sees. For instance, in the scene that takes place in the palace, her impression of Celestia changes as the discussion progresses. A beneficent deity (and the subject of her crush) changed into a stalking predator by the end of a short conversation.
Why write a story about a Canterlot donut maker without ever showing us Donut Joe? What do you think he makes of this story's events?
Donut Joe has had some good stories about him, but this story was about someone else. If he was even aware of anything in this story, he probably just rolled his eyes. Although, I hear there just might be an even-grumpier pony out there who hates Sprinkle’s donuts, and if, say, Sprinkle needed a favor from her, she just might have to stop by Donut Joe’s shop to pick up a peace offering. So it’s possible they may meet… or maybe they already know each other.
What's the worst pun you didn't get to make in the story?
Oh, goodness. My pun game was so weak compared to the folks in the comments. They absolutely destroyed it. Nothing I could come up with will beat those puns.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Mayo. Everything’s better with homemade mayo added to it. Homemade ketchup is even better.
You can read The Donutier at FIMFiction.net. Read more interviews right here at the Royal Canterlot Library, or suggest stories for us to feature at our Fimfiction group.
Well, the interview was interesting, at least.
Congratulations, Hap! You're an immensely talent writer, and a great friend!
Eclair-ify. I get it. Funny.
4654747 Owning my disagree, but why are you attacking a fic in the interview rather than leaving criticisms in the story comments themselves?
4654770
I'm just saying the interview was interesting, is all. Happy seems to have led a very interesting life which I envy greatly.
I didn't read the story because the premise doesn't interest me.
4654770 Because it's a public forum and he's allowed to disagree and criticize the group's choice. He hardly ranted on it or said anything vitriolic, so you'll have to forgive me if I don't see how it's an attack by any stretch of the word I know.
4654774
Whole heartedly agree. There was nothing saving about Sprinkle's character. From the get go, she was unpleasant unentertaing, shallow, and generally dislikeable. If the author's goal was to make a lead character as hateable, then they succeeded.
Because I couldn't care less about the character, I couldn't find enjoyment in the the story. Even after reading the whole thing, I found nothing redeemable about it.
The Trixie clone was better and would have made a much better story than Sprinkle.
The one thing I did like was the puns. But, my sense of humor is odd.
Sorry, RCL, I really can't agree on this one.
4654774
4654803
Thanks for the well thought out comments! I stand by what I said, but as the intro blurb suggests, this was the most divisive story the RCL has ever actually featured. I'm not surprised it's controversial!
I remember this one, amusing actually.
4654770
Because the last time anyone tried criticizing the story, the author started deleting comments?
4654803
4654774
Same... much as I love me my dad puns, the creepy stalker binder (and lack of resolution for it) felt jarring, and the characterization felt inconsistent and dubious.
I've read and thoroughly enjoyed some of Hap's other works, though, so I'm willing to chalk this up as an exception.
4654825
While I hate deleting comments more than most, from what I've heard, the deleted comment offered nothing constructive.
A couple quotes I've been shown:
I dunno about you, but that seems less like criticism and more like "angry screeching noises at a text-to-speech app"
4654819
If something's that divisive, it seems as good a reason as any to feature something else by the author, or a different author.
At this point, going back to start refeaturing authors seems like it might be a good idea? God knows there are still plenty of authors who deserve it who missed competition cutoffs.
4654840
And maybe the author could be somewhat justified in expunging an entire comment for making some of its points a little more harshly than it, strictly speaking, needed to. Maybe.
But deleting people's comments for attempting to defend that perspective (and as someone who was actually watching that mess unfold live, none of them came even close to the harshness of the first) and citing multiple times one's supreme authority over the comments section and using the fact that the comments are not visible as a way to support one's narrative without any contradicting evidence, is the kind of line-crossing that could leave one with a reasonable doubt that their criticism of the story will be valued. Especially when popular opinion among those who would charitably call themselves the elite of the site is unanimously in favor of this story.
4654850
Though I never saw exactly what the comments said, I'm inclined to agree with you in that mass comment deletion was over the top. However, given that were already hundreds of comments, some with harsh (but constructive) criticism, I don't agree with the idea that Hap's trying to support a narrative without any contradictive evidence. Seems like a stretch.
I remember this story. Really enjoyable little fluffy story, great characters, and puns!
Well-deserved feature, here. Congrats, Hap!
4654856
His argument for deleting the original comment is that it was nothing but shitposting, whereas all surviving comments that refer to it point to your and Professor Plum's cherry-picked remarks as a few off-color bits inserted into a (I will admit, perhaps unjustifiably) biting and harsh criticism of the story's faults. Seems like the use of an absence of evidence to weigh perception to one side of the coin.
You're right, though. It is a bit of a stretch. It's almost as implausible as a story getting featured on Equestria Daily within twenty-four hours of posting its first chapter.
4654865
First off, being site staff, I imagine Plum can see all the comments. He's not the sort to cherry-pick like that if it isn't actually representative of what he's talking about.
Secondly, what part of
did you not understand? I'm not cherry-picking. I've given you everything I know.
Wait, you mean people can submit a full story to EQD prior to submitting to FimFic? What blasphemy is this!?
4654867
Fine. I had meant to imply Plum's remarks were cherry-picked, and may have unfairly applied that adjective to both yours and his comments because you did nothing but repeat the examples he lists in his publicly viewable comment. My apologies for not considering every angle of my phrasing.
And I am not aware if the 'full story' was submitted to EqD. I know that when it was initially featured, there was literally one chapter on Fimfic, EqD posted updates that their featured story had a new chapter, and the posting schedule of new chapters does not appear to have been the schedule of a fic that was written out in advance.
4654871
Laying it on thick, are we?
Neither am I. And you might be right; it might not have been fully written prior to submission. It doesn't really matter, though. It's pretty easy to submit a fic, complete or otherwise, to EqD prior to Fimfic submission.
4654875
Yes, we are.
So, is there a way I can specifically turn off RCL posts without impacting any other site features? It's become increasingly clear that the stories you feature are at best ones I don't care about and at worst are objectively terrible.
lel
i heard this story was shit
but apparently it's good
or not
:V
4654774
I liked the story, and I totally agree with you here! But:
I couldn't disagree more with this, and I think this is part of the disconnect between our reactions to the story.
First, there's not the division between their character arcs that you seem to be arguing there is. Their arcs actually are remarkably similar — they start out chasing after their own goals without regard for who it hurts, and they grow to start caring about others — but we see Copper's transition from the outside and Sprinkle's from the inside, and they move at different paces. That sets up a compare-and-contrast that I found to be one of the story's strengths.
Second, I don't think Copper's arc is as buried as you're arguing. There are exactly two stretches in the story where Copper is not on-screen and actively interacting — a few paragraphs where she's asleep and Celestia and Sprinkle are talking; and the majority of Chapter 7 where she's out with the CMCs and the story focuses on Sprinkle's arc. To me, that constant presence is significant to the theme of their arcs being intertwined — but more importantly, it puts Copper's own personal arc directly on-screen.
The first thing we see after the character introductions, at the start of Chapter 2, is Copper's wake-up call. When Copper's confronted by the realization that her quest is hurting innocent ponies, she pauses her plans to make restitution. Then we see, directly on-screen, the moment when she's called out:
How is this not focusing on Copper's character arc?
Being dragged to Ponyville is also very much a defining character moment — a Copper moment. We see her shift from storming into the donut shop, to setting aside that confrontation to apologize to Sprinkle, to the callout moment above, to becoming actively reluctant to go after Twilight. Her needing to be literally kidnapped to fulfill the thing she started out the story doing is a powerful statement about her character!
None of these are subtext. None of these happen offscreen. The argument that the story doesn't focus on her arc seems strange to me. Yes, she's offscreen with the CMCs when she learns about her Mark, but that serves the story positively for two reasons:
1) It's one of the few times that the story really focuses unambiguously on Sprinkle's arc, giving her space to move forward;
2) Copper's "redemption" already happened, more or less! She basically gave up on confronting Twilight before she ever got to Ponyville. Finding out her Cutie Mark's purpose is part of her denouement, not the climax of her arc; it's part of her reward for changing.
I think if you read it in this light it's a lot stronger story than you give it credit for.
(Which isn't to say there isn't room to disagree. As noted in the feature, we had some vigorous debate ourselves.)
4654901
While I think some of your points are definitely valid, I personally think the story would have been stronger if we got to see Copper's realization of her destiny. Yes, her character arc is not exclusively about the meaning of her mark, but the reveal that she is not meant to usurp Twilight could potentially generate a huge sigh of relief on the part of the reader that this likable character is not being sucked towards an unpleasant destiny, and resolving that conflict off-screen robs it of a not-insignificant amount of potential power.
Of course, this is largely an argument over the potential impact of one scene, so take that as you will.
4654889
It is Schrodinger's fanfic. >_>
Read Hap's other, better story.
i.imgflip.com/1v4yz9.jpg
In hindsight, I do agree with Kimikakushi and Zodiacspear's points. However, while I was reading the story, I actually liked it. I found the individual moments to be enjoyable and funny.
4654901 Yeah, if we accept excuses made outside the fic, ignore that the characterization was about as consistent as an epileptic ferret, and pretend the utter cop out of an explanation that literally everypony ever except for a select few characters had mass lysdexia didn't happen, it might be a passable fic.
Oh, and if we ignore that the premise is so thin the entire thing would have been better served as a <5k oneshot.
4654885 Honestly? Can we just bother Knighty to give us a review blog free feed option? It's not like they or EqD have been relevant since late 2014 anyway. Or do we have to wait for every review blog to go the way of TRG—four deaths until someone finally shot the damn zombie through the brainstem.
4654770
I would hardly call Syeekoh's comments "attacking." It's a jab at the story, yeah, but he also commented on the fact he found the interview interesting. So, it has its relevancy in this thread. However, posting his statement in the comments of the fic itself wouldn't make sense, because of his comment on the interview itself, which is not present on the fic. All squares are rectangles, not all rectangles are squares type thing.
4654901
4654819
I have a rather arbitrary question, and perhaps it's a bit jaded to, but where is Chris? It's strange for a curator to be left from the review, whether in agreement or in disagreement of a fics selection. Was Chris absent, or did he have a personal stance against the fic? Both are understandable, and perhaps Chris could give the best answer, but since a couple curators have mentioned "vigorous debate" I'm curious if Chris opted out because of strong disagreement.
Well, no need to ask Hap if he's been in the military, as there's no denying the attitude or the weapons familiarity that only a service member can casually flaunt. I'd even hazard a guess at US Marine.
Also, nice to see this thing get some recognition. It made my favorites list, after all, and I'm such a cyncical critic that if I could produce something worth featuring on one of these blogs I might ask to be on the team. As is I'm content to watch other people faithfully do a much needed job that I would probably grow tired of after a while anyway.
Nice job getting featured, Hap. Great pick, guys.
4654885 4654922
I'm sorry you dislike the features. If you want to turn them off, click on your feed, and then "Options" at the top of the page. There's a toggle switch for "Social Site Posts" which removes all sitewide posts except for knighty's updates on feature enhancements. You can always go to fimfiction.net/news to catch up on anything you might have missed.
4654994 Both of us know that. We're saying that we'd like a way to just remove blog postings from review groups. Differentiating them out from the rest of the site postings. It won't happen, of course, but it's nice to dream of things.
Wow. This thing is like the new Would It Matter If I Was. I might have to read it just to see what all the fuss is about. I mean, I get that half the fuss is the comments and deletion therefore, but what/s prompting such a response?
4654994
without impacting any other site features
without impacting any other site features
w̙̯̬i̗͚̘th̘͔͓̯o͉̞̥ͅu͔̫̰̭̟͈͕t҉̯̩̺͓̹̹ ̠͚̳i̗͓̼̲̖m̻̘̺̦͎̖p̷̘̗̻a͏͖͚͍̪̟c̞͓͉͈̬̜̮t̹̙͈̱̺̱i̮̮̳̞̳n̮͚g̘̟̻͙̭͓ͅ ̠a̡̲͓̮͇̹n̜̤̦̟̟͈̳͟y̛ ̲̣̱͓̭̖͜o̫̳̜̞̙͎͙t̗̣͉̲́h̬͍̜̬̻͕͕er̬ sį̝̪͎̥̹̭t̙̘͇͖̯̻̹e̮̟̳̣͉ ͍̳̦͍̝̯͍f̧̜e̫͕͚͈a̞t̹̝̹̪͈͓ú̪̠͔̫̩̳r͞e̴̬͚͎̰̘̥s͕͇͎ͅ
Well, everyone's allowed to have a bad opinion I suppose.
I wish I could downvote blog posts.
4654850
I certainly don't value your criticisms of the story.
I didn't delete them, either. As much as I feel like some of your comments were unrelated to what was actually happening in the story, they were actually about the story. Not everyone has to like the story, and I don't have to take every criticism seriously.
But the story is rated E (for Everyone!) and I'm not going to leave a graphic, sexually-explicit, rape-filled rant as a comment on an E-rated story.
To address your curiosity re: Equestria Daily, yes, I finished the story before submitting it. I didn't publish it all at once because 1) people are less likely to click on a longer story, 2) I have always enjoyed waiting for the next chapter and having discussion in the comments with other readers, and 3) getting back in the feature box with each update (hey, I like being in the feature box as much as the next guy).
4654974
Nope! I've never been enlisted nor employed by any military of any nation.
4654747
4654770
Well, I certainly didn't feel like it was an attack.
4655007
That is a really interesting question. I wonder what it is about folks and their experiences that makes some of them like the story, and some to hate it.
4655121
I was merely citing the incident most likely to contribute to Syeekoh's possible reasons for not posting his opinion directly in an environment that could at a glance appear to be a minefield, and explaining events from the outside perspective that I was privy to. If you would prefer to turn this into a dragging-up of old shames, you could have the decency to spit on me in private.
4655136
You don't respect my writing, and I don't respect your "critiquing." Your spitting is in public, mine can be too. *shrug*
4654954
It's actually not that unusual for all curators not to contribute quotes to the post. If three of us read a story and we all like it, up it will go, and if it gets posted before everyone's had a chance to read it, well, they won't have had anything to say about it. :)
4655000
4655016
That's a question for knighty.
4655136
4655154
Let's take it down a notch before it gets too personal, please.
4655171 That was literally the joke.
4655154
Fair enough.
4655121
Gah, and I was so confident. See, this is why I have confidence issues. Well hey, I believe you would have done well had you gone for it.
4655202
No way. I have a love affair with modern hygiene that effectively precludes me from serving in any military.
i.pinimg.com/736x/7b/7b/5e/7b7b5e99c335269be1f46add79c3616c--hunters-manga-anime.jpg
4655222
I served two years. Hated every minute of it, and my home life pretty much fell apart while I was away. trust me, you aren't missing out.
4655377
Well, I'm glad folks like you take up the call, at least for a while. I'm sorry to hear that it made things tough at home, but I hope you were able to sort things out when you got back?
I used to own a piece of a toy store. For ten years I dealt with the general public seven days a week.
Loved the story, Twilight Sprinkle is one of my favorite OCs.
Kudos. Y'all managed to pick a story bad enough that I didn't just ignore the notification for your blog this time.
Can someone please get Knighty to deal with this spam? If they're going to troll us with purposefully bad shitfics like this, then we need to take their unwarranted advertising privileges away. As others have requested, it is a damn shame that in order to use existing functionality to get rid of this garbage, we have to shut off other, actually useful notifications.
4654885
4654922
4655652
Should have mentioned this before, but if you think there are stories and authors who deserve to be featured that we've overlooked, please recommend them to us!