On the odd chance that anybody is interested · 10:38pm Mar 11th, 2021
A bit of meta-storytelling. I'm pulling back the curtain on some stuff. I don't know if anybody will engage, or have anything to say, or if this will even be seen by many, but here goes. I am committed, if anything. Or need to be committed, most likely.
In this story, the four students introduced each represent a core aspect of Luna's personality. Or equinality, if you will. They are what would happen if you portioned Luna into quarters, not that you would, and not that I would recommend quartering your Moonhorse Princess. But each student represents a fundamental aspect of her being. Overcast, Wednesday Waterkey, Top Notch, and Almanac Avocado. Some of them even serve as dual roles, at least in a sense. Such as Overcast not only representing parts of Luna's personality, but also acting as a foil of sorts, a reflecting mirror.
What makes Overcast, well, so very Overcast? Lots of things. I'll mention a few, but I am really wanting you, the Constant Readers to respond. I want to know what you see in Overcast. Overcast, more than anything else, represents Luna's exposure to the negative aspects of society around her. Luna does it through dreams, while Overcast has magical eavesdropping. What they do has coloured their perceptions and affected how they see life. But wait, there's more!
Wednesday Waterkey, the Invisible Filly, represents Luna's invisibility. She was gone for years. Banished. But she came back. And was still rather invisible, until she made an effort to be seen. Wednesday is making a real effort to begin her amends. To repair her reputation. Among other things. I have a list. Because lists are handy. What did you, the Constant Reader notice? What stands out to you?
Top Notch represents Luna's ironbound sense of traditionalism, and all the ways she is bound to it. Poor Topper, he encountered something that completely upended the entirety of his worldview, and he had no choice but to set himself right afterwards. He saw a completely new world, a world that he couldn't quite make sense of, and he couldn't even begin to imagine that others might not share his outdated (and somewhat unpleasant) beliefs.
And then we have precocious Almanac Avocado. Book smart, but out of touch with culture. Knowledgeable, but lacks context. She feels isolated and lost. She wants to return to what she knows, but also knows that this is impossible. There is no returning to how things once were. So she's stuck. Can't quit, but going ahead feels impossible. Those that love her sacrificed everything they had to give her the best possible shot at making something of herself, and she feels trapped by this. She has to succeed or else everything sacrificed for her benefit is wasted, and means nothing.
And these, Constant Reader, are the story elements that went into the planning of this tale. Each of the four students introduced weren't just merely students, no. We got an introduction to each of Luna's major characteristics, aspects of her personality, (or equinality) and each of the various ways that Luna struggles to make life work, to varying degrees of success and failure. This is meta-storytelling. Might not be the best attempt at it, but it was an attempt. A learning process. Something I very much wanted to share with you, the Constant Reader, and yes, even you, the Not-So-Constant Readers.
I do hope that you are enjoying this journey. We have two chapters left, and then the story ends. Not sure what will come after.
Anyhow, I'd love to hear what you have to say about all of this. A tremendous amount of effort and work went into this. And this only scratches the surface. We have elements of Jungian Psychology at work here, such as the fact that Overcast represents Luna's Shadow. Shadow integration. All of Luna's core aspects uniting and gathering together in detention of all places, and the rich symbolism of that. But these are things that I know... I'd love to see what the readers have spotted.
Thank you for reading, and giving an old man a chance to play with electrons.
This is one of the things i love about your writing. There's 9 layers to everything.
I appreciate this level of thematic cohesion.
This makes me happy.
Overcast is very relatable to me.
We all see all these ugly things about people and society, easier than ever with The Internet displaying all to see. Even without the "big" stuff it's easy to find terrible petty drama of people being shitty to each other online. It's easy to relate to someone who sees the worst in society and is trying to cope... and for me more specifically, coping by trying to put onesself in a position of superiority. The one who sees, the one who knows enough and is rightly upset by it unlike the fakers around.
Overcast is basically the nightmare.
Wow. Okay, I saw them as her foils. But didn't make the connection to Luna herself. Deep man. Deep.
Layers and layers, and unlike an onion, as you unwrap this it just brings joy and wonder, not tears. 
I have to agree with Spectrumancer - another reason to love your writing.
This actually gave me the push to start reading Joseph Campbell's Masks of God series. I'd read a few of his book before, but these have been stetting on the shelf for a while. Glad I did. The first book has been really interesting.
I'm often not much of a deep thinker when it comes to what I read, but I do only read things I enjoy deeply. This story is one of those things. The characters are quickly dear to the reader, and it pains to know the deep rooted seat of the disfunction and decay they wander ever towards.
I hope you're past the newish constant pain, hopefully not by getting used to it. I enjoy your writing but I don't like to know you're hurting behind it.
The sheep are like the shepherd, and the shepherd becomes like their sheep.
I see a problem with this metaphor.
Even if you only quartered the arms and legs as people only have arms and legs, you'd have a princess in fifths -- 4 legs and a body. By horse standards this would probably be head, legs, and tail, so sevenths in the wrost case scenario -- I would imagine the neck is a weak point and the neck would separate from the head rather than body; though the point was to keep the person sentenced alive long enough while they died as slowly as possible, so most likely the head would be intact, so sixths.
So, it's been years since I commented on this site, but I felt I had to let you know I've been reading this story, and will read its sequel, and I'm loving it. The humor gets me giggling pretty quickly, and keeps me that way far longer than is probably healthy. The serious moments are emotional, weighty and carry a sense of gravitas that helps drive the background narrative forward.
Thanks for this story, truly. It's a gem!