It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #17 · 7:34pm Jul 14th, 2021

We've got a double shot of FlutterCord pain this week from some big guns, so strap in.

The author of our first this week is Shakespearicles - known primarily as a porn writer (and for controversial opinions), folks sometimes forget that Shakes is also a really really good writer. The lead story today is an excellent example of that: Let Me Go.

The hook is fairly straight-forward: Discord cannot imagine life without Fluttershy. So he won't. The tale follows along as he ensures that there will never be a world without Fluttershy in it - even if she wants otherwise.

Beyond the fact that this is excellently written, it's a crossroads where sweet meets hellish. So many stories confront Twilight outliving her friends. Few if any ask "But what if Fluttershy outlives them all?" And I stress all.

Part of why this story hits so well is that I've seen two diametrically opposed readings of it and it manages to support both at the same time. On one hand, it's a poignant and tragic love story as Discord desperately tries to keep his love alive and she fights back with just as much force to have him accept the inevitable. On the other hand, it's showing the most toxic relationship possible as Discord forces Fluttershy to endure it all - even as she begs him to stop - because he can't deal with not having her in his life. I know my read on the story, but it's fascinating that it manages to be both a beautiful romance and a relationship horror story all at once.

No matter your reading of it, it's an amazing tale and one of my absolute favorite FlutterCords.

TLet Me Go

It is impossible for a pony to live forever. But Discord is a master of the impossible.

Shakespearicles · 9.9k words · 299 22 · 3.5k views

Following that we have (THE FLESH IS) WEAK by Paper Thin. I'll talk a bit more about the author in a paragraph or two - story first.

Now, I realize looking back that my presentations have been a bit odd - I've commented that I'm not really one for horror, yet I've covered a fair number of horror stories already in this blog. I'd say that's because the few that catch my attention are generally really good.

This is one such: it follows an introspective Celestia as she comes to grips with a horrible tragedy: Fluttershy is having a foal and Discord is the father. And unlike most of the fandom who happily draw or write out an adorable little bundle of yellow feathers and weirdness (sorry Ninjadeadbeard, this is no Anarchy tale), the author reminds us that Discord is an eldritch being from beyond time. He is not compatible with a small mortal horse. Bad Things happen.

The story is more tragedy than horror, but even then I would hesitate to call it mild or safe. If this is a ship you care about or you're invested in the characters, it's gonna be painful - but it's also one of those good ones that points out an aspect (ie Discord's nature) that's frequently overlooked or ignored.

That said... the author. So I was reviewing stuff for prepping this blog and realized the mysterious, one story Paper Thin had a blog up. And it changes a lot from an authorship standpoint. Paper Thin is, in fact, far more well-known writer Aragon, working under an alt to try and prove a point and, in his own words, "I also wrote what I personally perceived as hot garbage." This one's got two entire blogs written about it. Now, I have opinions about the topics Aragon broaches in those blogs (and strongly disagree on some of them), but I'll leave it to y'all to take your own conclusions. However given the nature of the story behind the story, I figure it's important to give that context. And to say: the story itself is still an interesting piece, no matter the author's intentions.

T(THE FLESH IS) WEAK