Anchor Foal: Right Finish Line, Wrong Racecourse: a hack's boring, pointless ramble on wasting five years of your lives · 6:05pm Aug 13th, 2021
So before we proceed, a few warnings.
First: this blog is going to contain multiple and near-total spoilers for Anchor Foal. If you haven't finished the story or intend to read it at some point in the future, stop reading right after this next paragraph.
Second: here are my Patreon and Ko-Fi links. Why? Because last night, I found out Everfree Northwest was going to have an armor panel. I asked everyone in the chat server to give me enough money so that I could either fly to the convention and destroy it, or flee to the exact antipode of the planet until it was over. Which is Port-aux-Français, Kerguelen, in the French Southern Territories. And no one there helped me.
Jerks.
...anyway, there's still time. And if you're going to be on that panel? You deserve this.
Third... apparently just about no one knows that the story has a TVTropes page. Mostly because I never linked it in the long description. (Oops.) So here it is.
And last: this blog contains a so-called 'writer' talking about their own work. This is automatically stupid, egotistical, will make no legitimate observations whatsoever, exists only to stroke the insatiable monster of ego which I surely must have become in order to continue existing from day to day without killing myself as I so richly deserve and that one was for you, 4chan and Reddit! Plus what does the writer know about what they were thinking or planning, especially when everyone knows I never have a plan in the first place? Nothing.
Can't say I didn't warn you.
I thought it was the worst idea ever.
...so we just went back a ways. But most of you weren't around for the moment of genesis. You can see some things which survived to reach the story -- but there's also a lot of problems. Like the palace giving the order to do this, and essentially putting Fluttershy out there on her own. This is not something Fluttershy is going to put up with or rather, it's not something she's going to put up with having in the same country as her because she's already crossed two borders and may still be accelerating.
In the original form, it wasn't a workable idea. But...
...I was picturing a scene. The way it would have to end, with Discord telling a story to a very young foal. Something which meant it had all worked out. Equestria was safe, the reform (to whatever degree it truly exists) would stick, and he'd learned how to care about somepony else. But it felt like it would take a lot of work to reach that, and -- Fluttershy was never going to make the journey on her own.
So what if it wasn't Fluttershy's journey?
I knew where I wanted to go. I began to write down the plan for how the story was supposed to get there. Eventually, the first chapter launched. A few more followed.
And then the whole thing caught fire.
Backsparks from the muzzle flash, emerging at the moment when I shot myself in the foot.
I had a plan. Contrary to the beliefs which are about to ignore this, I always know how I want a story to end. But the plan was destroyed...
If Anchor Foal works for you at all, then know this: it is, to a large degree, nothing more than a glorious accident. Because my writing process is partially organic. Designated lampposts for the major scenes, then picking out a path between those pools of light. Let the characters have their say -- but once you've given them a voice, you've come dangerously close to providing a mind.
One moment changed everything.
This is what a break point looks like.
He picked up the rather surprised book, and they both vanished.
And just like that, the plan was gone.
I thought it was a cute idea for a scene.
There's a certain suspicion among several of my readers -- and we're not talking about the Seapony Truther Society. (We never will.) This is the one which goes 'I'm not sure Discord actually knows how to read.'
We've never seen him doing it. He animates images from the book and watches them drift by. The one time he's been observed to write anything, it's a meaningless squiggle and it's clear that writing is only taking place because it's part of the image. Perhaps reading is just a little too orderly for him to attempt on his own. After all, it's so much easier to learn by getting the books themselves to tell you what's in them.
So Discord wants to learn about dating? The Canterlot Archives have a self-contradicting section for that. He'll listen to just enough to recognize a common definition and no agreement on how the process is actually supposed to take place. And how about having a book in the section which isn't supposed to be there? Sure, that's a quick joke...
He took her with him. And I didn't know that was going to happen.
And I let it stand, because... sure, Discord would do something like that. Perfectly in character.
So now there's a living book. More than that: an extra character. And select, vocal parts of the readership cared about her. (If anyone felt she was derailing everything, they did no more than silently downvote and move on.)
More than that: they actively worried.
Is Harem going to be okay?
He never deanimates her, right? She's going to be around forever. TELL US THAT.
We may have reached the border of a few threats. Be careful what you put down, hack, because whatever happens to that book will also happen to you.
Call it the allure of perfect innocence. Harem was something new in the world. Most of what she understood was what had been placed upon her pages, and that meant she had the majority of it wrong. You cradle an infant, because you want to protect them. You make sure the book stays pristine.
Anchor Foal takes place in a splinter continuity for the following reason: this story began before Triptych ended. I knew what the ending was there, but... that conclusion meant this story couldn't readily exist. Plus it had to stand alone, as much as it could.
So there's little hints here and there: small things changed, and the mission might not have ended as well as it could have. At the very least, the same level of connection wasn't initially made, or was nowhere near so open. As far as the palace was concerned, Discord cared about Fluttershy, and -- that was it.
The core goal of Celestia's plan (and that of Fluttershy, because this was her idea and hope) was this: Discord must learn to care about somepony else. Anypony. We'll take 'anyone' if we can get it.
And the final, unspoken joke of what Anchor Foal became is that the plan worked -- through nothing associated with the actual plan.
There was an innocent book on the scene. Imagine the Thinks Like A Romance Novel trope if it was self-aware. Harem was good for comedic moments and observations on the nature of the genre itself. The too-aggressive mare and the one with the amazingly full tail never win: everypony knows that...
She was good for that level of awareness. She also turned out to be outstanding at having a number of existential crises.
He never leaves anything animated for that long...
Fluttershy is a secondary character in the story. Fleur is the central protagonist. Every so often, I would dart into Discord's perspective for a while. But we never see anything from Fluttershy's viewpoint. Fleur is our narrator and Discord is working against her -- while doing so in the name of the same goal. For a long time, those were the only two parties speaking at all.
Fluttershy is Fleur's puzzle box. Fleur's trying to work out exactly what she's supposed to be working with and, eventually, who she's been working alongside. We never get a look at what Fluttershy is directly thinking: it's all clues, observations, and what little she elects to tell us.
Do you remember who else gets a POV segment?
Harem.
I knew how the story ended. And that was how it ended: with Discord telling a story to a foal --
-- oops.
Foals...
Themes
Control
Trying to put generational reins on chaos. Fleur forever looking for the place to stand from which she can move the world. The routine of the cottage, and everything which threatens to break it. Keeping control over yourself, no matter what happens.
We meet Fleur on one of the worst days of her life and as we eventually learn, all of the others came from days when she lost control or had it stripped away from her. You went to school? Your mother died. Playing around with a little magic? There goes your sister. Well, looks like your plan worked: you made it into the palace -- where Celestia has figured out what you've been doing, and now it's time to start all over again...
Quite a bit of the story revolves around two words: I decide. Just about everyone's working with the phrase, and that includes those who aren't saying it. Fleur needs to establish absolute control over her own life. Celestia is trying to arrange the world's future. Discord is determined to have the final say in Fluttershy's happiness. Mr. Sweet? He's already picked out a victim, who gets no choice in the matter. And Fluttershy? She decides for herself, in the end -- but she knows that the other party has to agree.
Pain
We are all our childhoods. There's just a varying amount of scar tissue built up over the original wounds.
With Fluttershy? The echoes of the schoolyard don't necessarily fade. Fleur bleeds every day and tells herself it's the lubricant she needs to move the world's gears. Even Discord may have a buried recognition of just what he did in his own era, to those who were something more than broken toys. Every bloodstain is forever, and... he isn't good enough for her either. A reason to get better.
How do you deal with your pain? Carry it? Ignore it? Turn it into a weapon against the world? Or is there a way to mute it? Is true healing possible?
Fleur would say no. Fluttershy disagrees. But our vet is still carrying her own agonies.
Meet pain with pain, and see if they neutralize each other.
Time
Survivors -- those who were involved in things which they feel should have killed them -- can take on the perspective that they're living on borrowed time. They shouldn't be alive and eventually, the world will notice. Catch up, and finish the job.
Every moment is precious. There's only so many years in which to produce a foal, so you'd better find love before that. Fleur has been sentenced: a second in Ponyville equals a second forever lost, and how many of them will be gone when the goal is reached? Is it even possible to meet it? And if so... what's next?
There is nothing you can do which does not cost you time. You took a shower? That was ten minutes. Add up all of the hours you've spent in sitting on the toilet: the grand total will equal Well, That's Depressing. Fleur constantly hears the clock because as far she's concerned, hers should have stopped running. So she needs to use what she has, before the world notices the mistake. And it's very easy for Fleur to make a decision which could lead to her death. She may not quite be suicidal, because death is the final loss of control. But in the worst case, she would only be... catching up.
Love
Ask me about the biggest nightmare of this story and it's not 'I need the readers to reconcile a murder attempt' or 'And now there's a talking book.' It was this:
Fleur couldn't fall in love. Not in any way where she ever admitted to herself that it was happening, until everything broke.
She had to slide.
It's about making Fluttershy happy. And there had to be little clues: Fleur's presence makes Fluttershy happy. Georg tumbled onto it: if 'Shy is singing in the cottage, then she's happy. And the only new factor in the equation -- is the one listening at a distance, and wondering why singing is happening at all.
This is not a conventional love story. Two people come to know each other. Each accepts the other's flaws. Both wind up in a position where they want to get better for the other. But they aren't talking about it. As might be appropriate with Fluttershy involved, the relationship develops in the background, within shadows and silence.
My greatest fear was that no one would believe that these two could care about each other. That, even looking back, no emotional connection would be visible. That any love was only present because hey, that's what the writer decided before this started and the plot had to say it eventually. Every word ringing hollow.
Love as something which happened while you weren't looking. How was I supposed to sell that?
I'm still not sure I did.
Harem did suggest it would be something of a challenge...
Change
"People don't just change who they are inside in an instant. It takes time, so you don't even know you're changing. Until one day, you're just a little bit different than you used to be and you can't even tell what the hell happened."
Every major ongoing story has had at least one key scene. A single moment which had to reach the screen at all costs, in the hopes that it would serve as a pivot point. The moment when every bit of context was reinterpreted, the puzzle pieces slammed together, and I could pretend that it had been an intact image all along. Just... slightly scattered.
Every major character comes out of this story at least slightly different than they were going in. But they don't necessarily notice what's happening, and certainly not while it's in progress. We can get into a little more of that below, unless it stealths out.
But I can say what the key bit was here. A single sentence. Six words, repeated twice.
"I'm not good enough for her."
That, I think, represents Fleur having changed just enough to look at herself from the outside from a moment. This is who I am, and that person is wrong for Fluttershy. I'm the worst thing for her, for anypony. I won't let this happen.
How much did she have to change in order to say that at all?
It had to be the same way she found herself in love. Slowly. Never quite noticing. As reform goes, I feel it's not much of a measurable amount before the big moment hits: a recognition of consequences, as a filly's dead voice starts to call out towards the adult. But she is changing...
I'm not sure I sold that either. After all, look at where she started.
Characters
'Man, Estee's Anchor Foal took a wild goddamn turn. I guess I should have expected Estee's take on a romantic-comedy would have involved attempted vigilante murder.'
-- from Spacebattles
Fleur
No blood, no squawk, no foul
all of these ponies are crazy...
there are no orphans in Protocera
Fleur is by no means a nice pony. It takes her a while to even become a decent griffon.
While various stories share connections, I try to write the majority so that they can be read as stand-alones. (This leads to a few complaints about my repeating information -- but I can't assume the reader has seen it before.) Fleur's origins formed in a tale which most Anchor Foal readers probably never saw and hello, world-class problem.
Naked Lunch establishes some of the basics of griffon culture, and did so before the show gave us Griffonstone and I -- promptly ignored it, because I already had something else and it's hard to retcon a 'verse. I wanted griffons to have a certain basic nobility, at least when they were at their best. (And also to show that Gilda was a pretty rotten one. As Fleur notes (without any self-observational irony), they're better off without her.) Predatory, operating on dominance -- but in the ideal, it's not power for its own sake, but power acquired because... how strong can you claim to be, if you're incapable of lifting up the weak?
Griffon dominance is partially about taking responsibility. About caring for those who aren't as capable.
And then you get someone who doesn't care. Who refuses to allow herself that weakness again, because it's part of how you get hurt. If the world is nothing more than predator and prey, then it's clear which one you'd better be.
Protocera has been said to be the single most mixed nation for species population. However, there's also a question about the complete loss of original culture built into that. It doesn't matter what you are in body: if your family has been there long enough, you probably think like the native majority. We could have a long talk about whether there's a danger in total assimilation, and we're probably not going to have it here.
Harem makes a lot of observations in the story, and a number are meant to be planted clues. The excuse for being more aggressive than usual. The reason for not seeing things in the same way as the herd, because you're not quite part of it.
Griffons with hooves.
If you're a writer on this site and you work with multiple chapters, you know about The Cliff. It's the page view dropoff which exists between Chapters 1 and 2, and it will be there even if you publish the entire story on the same day. A lot of readers on this site give you a few paragraphs to gain their attention and if you haven't hooked them by then? There's a few dozen more stories on the front page: time to move on. Those with a little more patience might finish the chapter before leaving, but they're still not coming back. You catch your audience immediately or not at all. Those idiots working with slow-build tales -- me -- are pretty much pre-doomed.
For Anchor Foal, The Cliff isn't present. Because it's The Death Plummet.
Not exactly an encouraging picture, is it?
Some of that is update schedule. Other bits represent people leaving the site. Natural fading of interest, deciding this is taking too long, or just not caring because the writer was a hack. But for the gap between the first and second chapter? I feel some of that comes from this alone: Fleur isn't likable. In Chapter One? Villain Protagonist would be a step up. She's petty, manipulative, and doesn't understand that she did anything wrong. We reach Chapter Two (assuming anyone does) and here she is, snidely talking her way past local law enforcement. So I'm A Criminal: So What?
It was the Flitter problem all over again, only magnified because the story was ongoing. Why are you supposed to care about this bitch? Because make no mistake: Fleur is an utter bitch, and it's seldom in any of the more positive senses for the word. At best, she winds up aimed at a deserving target. Fire and wish you could forget -- but there's still going to be a pretty large crater left behind, and it won't seal itself. Fleur is a meteor dropped into Ponyville, and she doesn't particularly care about what gets destroyed.
...yeah. Here we are at the start of Chapter 3, and even more people are about to head for the door. I'm burning audience as if it's midnight in Antarctica and the dwindling numbers represent the last firewood on the planet. When the flames go out, the story dies.
And now Fleur has to care.
Okay: she likes kids. That's... something. (At least Flitter had a cat.) She's certainly being a lot more understanding with the Crusaders than most of the adults we've seen. Is that worth hanging on for a little while longer? At least enough for her to just outright say what this weird talent is?
...fine: she's still a bitch who exists to manipulate the world, but at least she's taking the job seriously. I had some people worried about that, right? The possibility that she'd get her revenge through deliberately mismatching Fluttershy into an abusive relationship? So the villain has a little code of honor at work. We can exhale: 'Shy is safe. Maybe another chapter...
...but we're still following someone who, for the typical MLP story, would be the villain.
The bad girl.
The nasty pony.
Who isn't really a pony at all.
No blood, no squawk, no foul.
I thought I'd given the game away right there.
It's not uncommon for the survivors of sexual abuse to wind up in adult entertainment. It's a means of telling yourself that you've gotten control back. And Fleur is very much about control.
I decide...
There's a line which I believe Tipper used about the local Rainbow, something which might apply more closely to Fleur: in sixteen kinds of denial, many of which are about the exact kinds of denial she's in.
The whole world is like this. I'm just the only one around here who understands that.
I'm not doing anything that somepony intelligent wouldn't do. I just happen to be the only one around here who can think.
Why does it matter if I commit crimes? If you were strong enough, you'd stop me.
My pain is my weapon. Why would I ever want to lose it?
Stay calm. Collected. Remain in control. Dominate. Establish all of that and everything is fine.
...I can do whatever I want because you couldn't stop me.
Because I'm already a murderer and I can never do anything worse.
She's not trying to make amends. She's told herself that she can't. She thinks she's found a way to get by. To live from day to day, because it's so hard to deal with the nights. Sleep is when control breaks.
Fleur wants to act, because no one else can get it right. But at the same time, if she's not in full control at every possible second, then that is when things break. To do anything is the worst option: to just watch is to witness someone else fail. So maybe it's possible to seize the reins on the world. Except that she can't.
She's self-contradictory, angry, a dozen varieties of traumatized (and tells herself that she's worked through all of them), often displays the petulance of a late adolescent because she's just barely an adult (and in years only), just about everything she knows was self-taught and she's spent a good part of her childhood in portions of Protocera's criminal underworld with no adult role models. And she doesn't think like a pony because at the core of her wounded heart, she doesn't feel like one.
Somepony who feels she'd be better off as a monster. One only partially of her own making.
Fillies and gentlecolts, our protagonist.
I didn't know if I could get anyone to like Fleur. Slow sympathy felt like an edge goal.
Masterweaver may have been the first to spot it: that both Fleur and Fluttershy were, in their own ways, broken. How does somepony get a mark talent like that? Not by choice. One of the things I was most worried about in the endgame was whether readers would accept the idea of a mark arising in self-defense: not who you truly were at the core, but what you needed most to survive. Fleur is the recipient of a damaged miracle and in that, she has her own echoes to Tish. There's no guiding vision at the center of her soul, and it leaves her making her own path. Survive, however you can.
Two wounded souls. Broken puzzles. But their edges fit...
Fluttershy couldn't be the protagonist for this story because the situation called for a guide. I needed somepony to supervise everything, and that realization is how the story opened up into something which was possibly just a little bit less of a horrible idea. And... it's going to take a very special pony to make this work, isn't it? Then what if we really aren't dealing with a pony at all?
Fleur gives us Ponyville -- and Equestria -- through alien eyes. She questions everything because she hasn't been raised in a way which lets her understand. The pony virtues are clearly stupid. Honesty? That's just laughable, and what is Laughter doing there, anyway? She never really thinks about harmony: she wouldn't understand harmony. The world is a chain of dominance: claim and hold your link.
I tried to write the story so that it could stand alone. But yes, in the last chapter, you could say that Fluttershy is telling Fleur the full truth about herself. For Triptych readers, that would include the fact of her being a hybrid. And Fleur reels -- but she accepts it.
A griffon in a pony's skin would be in a position to understand...
Supporting Cast
Antagonist (mostly in abstentsia): Mr. Sweet
Every time I put him on screen, I thought everyone would figure the whole thing out.
Dear gawds, that kitten line. It felt as if the words were screaming subtext. Leaking intent from every electron. The Nightmare Night scene, that was a little more subtle, but the contest notice? How were readers not openly predicting the plot in the comments?
...failure in me, not in you. I never know whether anything is registering: if I've been too subtle, or crossed the line into going far too overt. The most I can usually hope for is that it all makes sense when someone looks back -- assuming anyone made it that far. And yes, the story took a turn. I didn't feel it was a full swerve off the road with tires screeching and rubber catching on fire -- but I'm not exactly the best judge there, am I? It was just a turn which had been placed into the original course. Sorry, there's eighteen holes here, and this is the one where you have to make the island shot over water. Sorry about the fog blocking the long-range view. Course drama. Such as it is.
So here we have an on-camera murder attempt.
I did tell you Fleur wasn't nice.
Mr. Sweet is present as a pure plot element: something to eventually set off the endgame. Fleur can care, and there's at least one subject where she cares strongly enough to kill. I did absolutely nothing to establish him as a person outside of that, and I can say some of that was deliberate. He couldn't interact with Fleur, not outside of a very limited context. Get him out of a too-large crowd or away from Fluttershy's vicinity, and it was Game Over.
He displays one of the apparent contradictions in Fleur's personality. She's trying to set herself up for life, will do anything to make sure she's secure -- but at the same time, our griffon is continually on the hunt. She checks everypony. You can never be too careful, too safe. And if she finds what she's been looking for? Her future is self-defined, not mark-dictated. There are some things worth giving up your time for, because there should never be anything like her again.
One predator sees another, and strikes. It's the only thing which could happen.
Discord
"He's wild, you know. Not a tame lion."
-- C.S. Lewis
Everyone writes Discord differently. Of course they do: you wouldn't expect Chaos to get one definition. For my part, I have a rule for him (which he probably hates), and it's this:
Discord exists at the intersection of comedy and terror.
I almost always want to have a feeling of danger when he's on the scene: things may seem calm for now, but something could go wrong at any moment. He has the power to enforce his desires on the world, and who's to say exactly what those are? Celestia understands that Fluttershy serves as the single rein on his behavior (and even the expert on friendship might not totally comprehend the why). So what happens if that single restraining tail strand is lost?
He's dangerous. As suggested in DELWMG, the comedic appearance may be nothing more than a lure. And quite frankly, having him caring about you isn't necessarily the safe option.
Discord spends the story working against Fleur and, because chaos is involved, doing so while attempting to achieve the same goal. To him, the important thing is that Fluttershy finally wants and there's a need, then he clearly has to be the one who fills it. He's aware that this means less attention for him, but -- it'll make her happy. In his own way, he's making a sacrifice right at the outset, and the fact that he's willing to do so freely shows how far he's already come.
But he doesn't necessarily understand. And like Fleur, there are ways in which he's very selfish. Petulant. Fine, let it happen, but it has to come from him. The eternal star of his own story, who's just started to realize that there's more than mobile talking props upon the stage -- especially when a snap of the talons lets him arrange it any way he likes...
I think it's possible to see him as a child. He's still learning, he doesn't like everything he's being told, and he may need somepony to establish boundaries -- while constantly claiming to resent them. There's a similarity to Fleur, and one reader spotted it: the slow domestication of a very dangerous predator. Something which is slow, careful, and wary. The owner might be safe if they do everything right, but anypony else who approaches...
He doesn't recognize irony easily, does he? Not when it might include himself. And yet he calls Fleur a half-feral pet, with no recognition of any other way in which that title might apply.
His entire story arc is irony.
Thanks, Harem.
The goal of the plan: for Discord to make an emotional investment in another. Chosen tactic? Bring a new generation into the world.
Discord -- brings a new life into the world, pretty much by accident. Spends several moons in taking care of her, investing himself in her survival and welfare, protecting her from everything -- and then, at the moment when that life tells him that she knows she's going to die, recognizes all of it. That there is a life, and he holds responsibility...
Should have used protection.
One of the smaller reveals in the final scene between Discord and Harem: Fluttershy's talked to him about death. I feel she's already made it clear to him that she doesn't want immortality: when her part in the cycle is over, then that's it. He's accepted that -- in the abstract, the same way he's recognized the possibility of his own death. Chaos is about every possibility existing, so -- yes, he can die. He hasn't done it yet, but it's certainly possible.
It doesn't mean he's actually dealt with loss. And even with reincarnation on the table, loss still exists. You're giving up that person as you knew them. The personality, the identity -- those are gone. Even if an eventual adult mare has her memories restored, how would she reconcile that part of a previous existence? For all intents and purposes, the entity he knew is about to vanish.
He has to let her go.
And there's his lesson, along with his echo to Fleur. That if he cares, he will get hurt -- but it's not a reason to stop...
Miranda
Y'know, for somepony who vanished for two-thirds of the story, she sure found a way to come roaring back.
Miranda wasn't too well-established when she first appeared in Chapter 2, and she was meant to come across there as, if not hapless, then at least somewhat helpless. Frustration was also a major part of that: she has a known criminal in her settled zone and under palace orders, she's not allowed to do anything about that. There's more than one mare in Ponyville who doesn't sleep particularly well, and there are times when Miranda's mark seems to ache.
(There's been a debate regarding Miranda's appearance: questioning whether Fleur keeps seeing the worst aspects of her because Fleur won't let herself perceive anypony in law enforcement as being attractive. For now, let's just say that most of Miranda's current celibate period is voluntary. She's not very happy with herself, and that makes it hard to look for happiness with anypony else.)
As with Duet, Miranda is having a hard time of it. If she doesn't have the worst job in Ponyville, she at least has days where she can argue a tie for first. Keep the Bearers under control, while trying to also make sure their misadventures don't put them in prison. Maintain some degree of order in the most chaos-filled settled zone -- oh, and Chaos sometimes drops by for tea. And now she's got Fleur.
Miranda is not having a good decade.
For the most part, she's just trying to do her job. It never fully came out in the story, but she's very worried about how much damage Fleur could do to Fluttershy -- and within the Bearers as a whole. But she's under orders to leave Fleur alone unless evidence surfaces, while Fleur knows she's being watched and takes care accordingly. This does not make the police chief into a particularly happy pony, and it shows when she finally does get to confront Fleur about Kori. She's doing her job -- but it's become a little bit personal.
She's torn between the whispers of her mark and the needs of the nation. Miranda finds herself in a position where she has to wriggle within the rules -- while being the one who's supposed to enforce them. And we wound up back at the sufficiency clause (which made its first appearance in a crackfic). Imagine how happy that made her.
In the end, I feel she does at least have sympathy for Fleur. Miranda understands that it is love -- but it doesn't mean she hasn't retained a few concerns. After all, at the absolute minimum, she still has a griffon in her settled zone. Such new arrivals are known to be disruptive.
...well, more disruptive.
Caramel
Victim #1. Possibly Recovery #2, at least once Fleur finishes setting his budget. He wants to be better -- now. But he's not sure how, and... some habits are hard to break.
(There's been a certain low-level demand to fix him up with an actual griffon. Let's see someone really dominating his life.)
The Bearers
Outside of Fluttershy, the Mane Cast mostly stays in the background. Most visits to the cottage take place while Fleur is working on another part of the grounds, spa trips with Rarity are private, Fleur stays at the cottage so Fluttershy can go into town and so misses all of that... For the most part, the camera is meant to be pointed at the two of them, and that means leaving everypony else out of the shot.
There's usually a little danger in an encounter with one of the other five. A minor running joke is Fleur not knowing if the Elements provided any little bonuses, leaving her moving on eggshells around a pony who might be able to detect lies. And with Pinkie... well, Pinkie. Dizziness is a reasonable outcome. And then you get Partied.
Nopony in the rest of the set is initially sure what to make of Fleur's presence. Rarity in particular isn't exactly happy about it. And once they realize what's actually going on, they can be glad that Fluttershy's trying to find somepony -- but method and guide aren't universally accepted.
Rarity and Fleur do have issues which need to be worked out: Sweetie may be a point of commonality, or the ignition for the next fight as the adults argue about who can teach her more. Once Fleur's full criminal history and talent are revealed to the group, there may be some other problems: at the absolute minimum, Twilight will be nervous around her for a while.
It'll take a lot of time for Fleur to really be welcome, at least when it comes to the full set.
Fortunately, there's an indicator.
It's called 'a card table'.
Push up a bench.
Celestia
I just like getting to write her angry side every so often. Of course, that's Chapter One. Chapter Forty-Nine contains a lot of unspoken 'Oops.'
Not quite the plan...
(I didn't plan to put Luna in until two weeks before the last chapter went up. And then it felt as if that should have been part of the ending all along.)
Fluttershy
(Yes, I deliberately held off on her entry.)
We just about always see Fluttershy as Fleur perceives her, and that's usually in halves. There's almost always something being concealed. Fluttershy hides herself away: it means the true aspects require some time to spot.
I only said it towards the end: Fleur is moving on the outskirts of her own dead dream. She was trying to track her own mark towards a veterinary career, and then -- everything. The cottage represents not only so much of what she lost -- a situation where just being there every day starts to awaken the ghost of a filly -- but it also shows her that she gave up on herself far too soon. Fluttershy may have communication, and that's a powerful talent -- but she's still making the veterinary side work without the specialization of that mark. It's something which calls out to Fleur. And she's been put in a position where she has to care about Fluttershy's welfare, because making a bad match is just -- wrong.
Then she wants to care.
And then it's coming to the cottage every day, because... that's where she's supposed to be. Where she wants to be.
Griffons move towards strength. Fluttershy moves toward flame.
I wanted to revisit some of Fluttershy's issues. The social reticence is easier to display for a story set on this part of the timeline, and the total self-shutdown of all desire became part of that. (Yes, having a grand total of two puzzle views for Fluttershy was always part of the plot. The second one had to mean something.) The pain and responsibility which came from being the one who faced death every day.
But it was also fun to turn her into the aggressor in the relationship.
She's the one leading the way. Come into the work area: it'll help to have you there. I want to get the dress from Rarity. I think you should try some cider. She's not going to the Algonquin because she's seriously looking to find a suitor there: she wants to go with Fleur.
There's a lot of strength hidden behind all of that hair. She knows about the worst of Fleur, the same way she had personally experienced some of Discord's darkest aspects. But as she says, she gave them both a chance, and the mare who can say 'No' (or, more often, '...no') to chaos can certainly make it stick with a mere griffon. Even when she sees some of Fleur's darkness, it's all being aimed at either making things better for Fluttershy or protecting someone else. And if anypony in the world can understand what Fleur did with Gratia -- if anypony would be willing to understand a predator...
"...Fluttershy has... a rather strange way with some of those who might be seen as monsters," the giant mare quietly said. "She makes them want to not be monsters any more."
There. Right there. If Honesty is the most difficult Element to possess, then there's an argument for Kindness as the single most powerful.
After all, that's twice now...
Harem
The final scene of the story was always meant to be Discord telling a tale to a foal. But I'd originally intended it as -- a time-distant finale, perhaps. Twinned tombstones under a quiet tree. This is the story of how your great-grandmothers met...
And then there was Harem. Who was never meant to be a real part of the story. Because the part of my brain which tries to simulate Discord for a few paragraphs said he would pick her up, he did, I left it in, and now...
...now what?
I said it in that blog. People seemed to care about her. She couldn't just be made to vanish: it didn't make sense for the story. Discord had his research assistant, because -- there are ways in which I write him as something of a child. He copies. Twilight gets Spike, so he's gonna make sure he has someone.
But he wasn't going to carry her around forever. Eventually, we would reach the part where everyone acknowledged that yes, these two are in love and it has to continue. (Getting Fleur to recognize that was the hard part.) And what kind of life could there truly be, for pulped wood and ink given awareness through chaos?
What kind of ending...?
Harem, in her way, is extremely meta. She talks about the real world in literary terms because it's all she truly knows. It may be slightly easier to get away with the commentary on the nature of a story when the one making the observations is a living book.
But she's an utter innocent. (Fleur tumbles onto it almost immediately, starts speaking to Harem as she would a child.) Discord protects her because this is his research assistant and you need one of those. But, after a while...
...this is the one he can talk to.
Who, like Fluttershy, will argue with him. Will at least try to say no.
(But who listens to advice from their own child?)
He becomes invested in her welfare. Nothing gets to hurt Harem. He guards her against Tartarus.
He cares...
And that's why the story changed.
There still had to be a foal, in the very last scene. But now it was going to be two. As the comments noted, I had to set up Chekov's Pregnant Mare, and I had to put her where Discord would see her. So, when he thought of it at the last, there would be a place to go.
Turns out there's a trope for this. (I wasn't aware of it at the time.) Not the usual or exact application, but... it exists. And Your Reward Is Infancy. Compensation for services rendered.
The last thing he could do for his friend.
(For the life he had created.)
(For his daughter.)
Before he let her go.
So two foals, and he decides it's unfair if he only holds one, tells the younger sibling the stories. There's a need to be part of their lives. See how this generation turns out. And the next, because eventually, they're going to start dating...
Sun and Moon help the world when that one starts dating.
Random thoughts
* Two things which never made the cut: Pinkie telling Fleur that while she knew Fluttershy had been hurt by what Fleur had done, there was a little pain in every relationship -- and Fleur & Fluttershy going to the bank together, then mutually leaving because nopony living had the time to wait for the record to be chipped out on a joint account.
* The idea of 'the Elements fill gaps in our lives' speech was one of the first notes I ever made for the story. It just took six digits of words before I found a place to put it in.
* The mill wasn't originally meant to play this large a part. The initial notes have it as an atmospheric set piece -- but quickly move to begging the question of why it's there at all. It became a device through which I could try to show parallels and find new ways of talking about Fleur's own situation, along with showing some part of Ponyville's founding. (Another aspect which never made the final cut: having Fleur go to the house he built. It's likely been demolished.) As for the mill owner... we can leave the question of whether he's one of Fleur's grandfathers in the air. For now, it's enough that Brass wants to believe it, and Fleur is willing to give him that comfort.
Some people thought the mill arc was going to have a much darker ending. All I can say there is that some of you tend to think the worst of me. There's probably some way where that works out to a compliment, but don't ask me what it is.
* I am aware that I made no friends within a certain segment of the site. Here's a pedophile, and now there's going to be an attempt to kill him. You don't like that, along with the fact that the story says the 'interest' is something wrong? Fine. Know me by my enemies.
* There are currently no plans for a sequel, because the sequel is already under way and I have to get a fresh chapter posted to it soon. Maybe two this month. It's been a while.
* ...okay, other than that, I really don't have any major thoughts about a follow-up story. Besides, it's a happy ending, and the best way to let it remain so is to leave them in peace. Unless there's a bulk demand for something about Zephyr trying to reenter his sibling's life and finding a rather tall roadblock in the way... give them the chance to rest.
* There's been a lot of talk about the full title. (Spoiler: Harem is the anchor foal.) It's a comedy because it ends well in the Greek sense, it's romantic because it's partially about romance, and some of y'all cringed a few times. We good?
* Officially, I guess it would be 'Fleuttershy.' The ship which wishes for Photo Finish to never speak its name.
* I never got to talk about the tale within Harem's pages. There's a small note which says the city's name was going to be Otaku.
* "So beautiful! All attention to form and none to function!" Possibly the worst insult I've ever written. Such a charmer, that Sweetbark...
In her way, Sweetbark represents the other side of Fleur's dead dream: the one who went for it without a mark -- or, in her case, suitability. And she found a way to make it work -- but look at the cost.
* Yes, Blueblood is present as a pure hate sink. Your point? Also, Chekov's Cockatiel?
* If at all possible, the story will go to print. I am currently expecting a sales total of four copies, and that's because the word count means it has to be split into two volumes and I'll have to personally buy one each.
So here's where we stand with that sort of thing.
Harwick is currently working on the cover for the third 'verse collection. Once that's done, I'll get those three books formatted, and they'll launch together. (This is to let people save on shipping. It would presumably cost more to mail one book at a time.) That may happen before the end of September.
Slot #4 has currently been designated -- but Anchor Foal already has half of its cover art. That means I can potentially give it the fifth commission, and then release both volumes at once after that artwork comes back. So if anyone has an art concept for something they'd like to see from the story's second half, this would be the time to propose it. And if you want to help back the commissioning of that art, the Ko-Fi link is repeated here for your convenience.
Okay. Wake up. We're done for a while, especially as this could have been a lot longer. I didn't even try to explain the chapter titles. No one here has done anything which requires punishment through my talking about the chapter titles.
...that I know of.
Say what you desire, ask what you can. I'll be in the corner, kicking myself.
First day of Everfree Northwest. As discussed, I didn't go. Naturally, it was the wrong decision. I'm sure someone stands ready to tell me why every decision I make is wrong.
There's an armor panel.
Explain why I shouldn't treat that as a personal attack.
...feh.
I look forward to receiving a copy of the convention's program at my dropbox. And possibly scale mail. Because y'all are sadists. You know that.
Imagine what would happen if Fleur got a look at you...
Birdpony mating songs are powerful things.
I hate it. It's wonderful.
The stuff about Harem is fascinating, partially because it's what I'd call one of the major signs of a good story: the story taking control of itself and surprising the author.
Though it is a little disappointing this is an off-shoot of the main continuity. Fleur and Snowflake having that 'dating a Bearer' bonding would be quite the interesting addition.
I think you did a very good job of leaving hints without giving up the game to everybody. One thing I enjoy about this and several other of your longer stories is the way you manage to foreshadow things without outright telling us what the big reveals will be.
Thank you again for another excellent long story.
I've asked a few questions in the Discord server, and there will likely be more coming. For now, let me just say Kudos on a job well done... I think you pulled off what you were trying to do pretty brilliantly.
And let me also say, sequel speaking, should you ever want to set a story starring anyone against the backdrop of Fluttershy's friends and family visiting Protocera for the wedding, I am all in for that.
Centaur steel, will it blend?
Well, consider me one that started the story fascinated with Fleur’s characterization and ended the story with her as new best blender. I have enjoyed several Fleur stories in the past and always enjoyed the ones that made her competent. Anchor Foal made her the third scariest mare in Canterlot. I know I’ll be picking up a copy when the time comes.
I think, since the first cover is Fleur looking on while helping Fluttershy do makeup, a fitting second cover would be something where that is reversed. Perhaps Fluttershy looking on while Fleur flirts her way down the line, or a scene of Fleur working on an animal in some fashion. Perhaps Katherine gets a makeover. 😜
Something with Fluttershy looking at Fleur with both eyes, because that was a brilliant bit of subtle development. I think that would be apt.
This was a fantastic story, the way the reader slowly receives bits and pieces of Fleur's lamentable situation was delightful.
I think I might have been the one to cotton on to just how young she really was, which was an immense revelation let me tell you. A teenager does things for very different reasons than an adult would sometimes, that recontextualized the whole story.
Verra good stuff.
well to answer that yes please
Imagine what would happen if Fleur got a look at you...
Her response would probably be “Good luck finding THAT.”
All in all you always manage to tell a good story, at least from my perspective, and it was worth the time invested into it, it always is.
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Huh. So if you're right... Is Fleur preggers at that point?
And damn, the twins, losing Discord! Oof.
...
My guess for the future... Grace or Neo-Harem / Neo-Harem's sister, shipped with Caramel's kid. Oh, then there's Applejack's kid... Maybe.
Fleur didn't really need to have a kid for her job anymore, but did they know that?
This story was fantastic and unique, and I could redundantly gush about it for hours, but just know that I'll still be thinking about it years from now.
I'm not really in a position to demand, per se, but...if you wouldn't mind writing about Zephyr interacting with the happy new couple, I would definitely read it, thank you. And if not that's ok too.
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i.ibb.co/YtLZwNG/Anchor-Foal-Sequel-Cover-Art.png
There are many ways that sequel would be amazing. I’m answer your the most important question, I think Zephyr would blend.
Always neat to see how ideas can evolve between conception and execution. Especially when Discord gets involved. (The fact that this was his first time letting a creation go this long actually answers some questions about possible origins of local species.)
Self-deprecation aside, thanks for a look into the story as you saw it. For the record, Mr. Sweet makes a lot of sense in hindsight.
Also, conbooks are at a premium. I think there was an issue with the printer.
I feel like some people picked up on the kitten thing, because its real meaning definitely occurred to me as a possibility at the time but I decided not to say anything, since it's a dark thing to drop into a comment section when you're not sure. And I miss things every chapter, so if I twigged on this then other people certainly did.
Fleur would casually eat Zephyr alive, I like to imagine. Until you write the story, that's what happens when he visits for the first time, and the only complication I'm willing to imagine on my own is that Fleur briefly feels like she has to ride the brakes after what happened with Blueblood, and she can't just peck his eyes out on the doorstep because it makes a huge mess and Fleur's prosthetic beak is still in the mail, and anyway it's probably better if Fluttershy throws him out herself.
E: the prosthetic beak is a strategically reoriented party hat but the pictures in the catalog are exceptionally flattering
not being even a passing joke of any form or writer myself does in fact make it significantly more difficult to properly express my appreciation for this story using only the written word. but making my best effort, i really really really loved this story. thank you again for this story
I read Asimov's 2 volume autobiography (now out of print, there is only the one volume version left).
Asimov was going to give a lecture on something he wrote. Apparently, back in the 50s sci-fi was considered weird enough that a professor was giving a lecture to explain it all.
Asimov "I sat there with my mouth hanging open. I knew he was talking about my book because I recognized every name & quote but otherwise I was LOST."
At the end the professor asked for questions & comments.
Asimov "You do realize that you got everything wrong."
Professor "And you are...?"
Asimov ''The author."
Professor "What makes you think that simply because you're the author you have the slightest understanding of the significance of what you've written?"
& Lo, a miracle came to pass -Asimov was silenced.
Got his revenge, though. Wrote a story where Shakespeare was brought forward in a time machine & flunked a writing class.
I came into the story rather late, enough that I had to binge through the majority of it to catch up. If it helps in any way, I personally found Fleur likeable early on, but I'm also the kind of person who saw Trixie and was like "Yes, my favorite character now" and wrote a bunch of fanfic about her. Fleur might have just hit a particular niche of characterization I tend to like well enough. Granted, if she never got past that point then we'd have had an issue, but I figured "Well, with these ratings and how long its gone I'm gonna assume character development has occurred."
I'd love a short fic re: an uninvited Zephyr drops by the cottage. I enjoyed this particular splinter AU, a bit more of it would be great.
And now I'm gonna have to reread the story to see everything I missed!
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Well... first time leaving something animated for that long. Creating (or modifying) a species is a different matter. And it's definitely the first time he took full responsibility.
It's safe to say that some of what lingers around Equestria is his fault.
I really liked the story and the characters, and I certainly enjoyed the way how it slowly unfolded before all the pieces finally fell into place.
But I have to admit, I was a bit confused by the ending with Discord with the two foals. Which one is Fleuttershy's? And he apparently changed the appearance of the foal he's holding to include Harem's colors (if I understood it correctly,) so is that theirs and he messed with Fleur's pregnancy to do that? And apparently the other foal is somepony else's and that foal's parents don't know he visits at night, I guess? Who are the parents of the other foal? They are both described as newborns, so it can't be the baby born on the day of the monster attack, because who knowns how long it took for Fleur to even get pregnant and it takes 11 months for a pony to carry a foal, so that baby would most definitely be a toddler or even older by now. So I don't know, maybe I misunderstood something. Maybe the other foal is something Discord created himself and I just didn't get it.
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Okay. Slowly.
Discord saw the pregnant mare among the crowd at the cottage when Blueblood was there. (Check the scene where the herd is following the action. Humiliation as spectator sport.) Fleur spots her later, worrying because the mare is far enough along to give birth at any second and in fact, the stress of seeing the monsters approach triggers labor. Fortunately, Redheart runs in a moment later and gets her to the hospital. She's still there when Fluttershy brings Fleur in several hours later, because labor can take time.
So when Discord realizes that Harem would have to be deanimated, because a book can't really have a life of her own, and she feels that her purpose is over... he also recognizes that it's going to effectively kill her. (For Harem's part, she's been thinking about it for a while. We saw a lot of that in Tartarus.) And Fluttershy has taught him that everything dies, including him -- but it's only been a few moons. She's barely had the chance to live.
He makes a decision.
So instead of simply deanimating Harem, he separated the essence of her from the shell of the book. And then he sent that essence to the nearest pregnant mare -- who happened to be in labor.
Here's the first foal. That's the one the doctors knew about. Congratulation, it's a filly -- and here comes round two, because that's where Harem's essence was sent. A second foal, placed in the mare's body through Discord's magic and now being born normally, because that's how she gets her first chance at a normal life.
...well, as normal as it can be with Discord as an effective godparent.
Which is 'not very'.
So Harem is now the younger of fraternal twins: two girls. Her body was made to reflect the colors of the book and as he said, when she grows up, she'll have what he insists is beauty. And she doesn't remember what or who she was, because that would be too hard on an infant. If Discord chooses to restore those memories, it won't be for years.
She gets a chance to truly live.
And one thing I definitely wanted to establish during the separation scene: this cost him. Discord has limits. There are things he can't do, and this action was somewhere near his personal boundary. Animation is one thing, but temporarily catching and redirecting a soul -- nothing close to a casual effort. Celestia has implied that soul magic is almost impossible, and if anypony would know...
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Oooooooooooh okay! I've only read the chapters once, and I somehow zoned out that whole soul transfer thing... But yay, what a sweet resolution! And Discord taking care of babies is just the cutest thing ever! I can only imagine what a doting helicopter godfather he will be when Fleuttershy have a baby
A poor writing will stay with the first idea of a story even when the story has moved so far beyond it that it makes no sense, trying to force it into a hole that no longer fits.
A good writer can wrangle a story back under control, possibly with a few loose ends, and it would still be a good read.
A great writer can have a story go off the rails and not only stick the landing, but make it look like that was always the plan in the first place and that any other outcome would have been unthinkable.
The very that Harem's part in the story felt not only completely natural but inevitable tells me that you belong in the third category. That, and even with the main character being a horrible person, I found the story very compelling and always looked forward to the next chapter. To the point that I Fleur being a griffon with hooves is now how I will always read her.
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Was that "blend" or "bleed"?
Well, I do have to admit that this story went better than I expected.
Of course, "well" was what I expected, so...
My only complaint is that this isn't a main-line story, because I want it to be so much...
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With Fleur involved the question is “Will it blend?” In Zephyr’s case, I’d go with “Yes”.
I always appreciate the chance to hear about the creative process behind a work. And I really did LOVE this work. You put a lot of effort into making solid characters and the whole 'sliding-into-love' thing felt very natural. Yes, Fleur was a monster, but you wrote her so well I wanted to know why.
The denouement in the throne room where Celestia tells Fleur that her parents still love her.... Out of everyone I've read on this site, you're the only one that makes me cry.
And seeing Discord cry when he had to let Harem go to incarnate her was the icing on the cake.
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"She eats no meats!" Please can we recreate My Big Fat Greek Wedding, that one scene. That's so funny to me.
----
Yo. Suddenly really invested in Daily Life again. I thought the subtle references (Discord's 'half tamed pet' comment, the literal symbol branded onto Cerea's armor lol) to Fleur in that story were something I was ascribing meaning to that didn't exist in reality, now you're just gonna sneak it in here that DLWEG is in fact the stealth sequel! Damn. That's a brilliant way to get the unaware to look into that story as well and retain your audience. Well done that.
Loved reading this blog. I knew from the JUMP. I still remember the very comment that created the term Fleuttershy itself. I knew it was gonna end with FS/FDL endgame when I saw that. It was just a matter of getting there. I had serious doubts along the way though. I thought I was crazy for a while there. For some of the reasons discussed in this post, you couldn't tell what was going on between them, you had to read between the lines and see the unwritten. I was so biased in their favor though. Even though Fleur was such a dick at first. Man Estee. You make such wonderful stories. Thank you so much.
For the record, all those worries you had about the subtext with Fleur and Fluttershy coming across… for me at least all those were screaming neon signs saying ‘notice this!’ Also, while I mostly stopped reading because life got busy, I ALSO got really invested in the Fleurtershy and thought a) that definitely wasn’t where this was going and b) it was probably going to end badly. Now I know there’s a happy ending I’m definitely going to finish this with a clear conscience.
As for Discord being at the intersection of Comedy and Terror, you Really nailed it.
First your discord is how I imagined a real life meet up. I imagined no amount of forewarning would ever be enough to no scare me senseless.
Second I was a ditz and did not see the ending coming at all… and enjoyed it all the more because of it so thank you.
Having taken the time to reread the entire story from start again, I am gonna say your subtext, the slow slide and everything is really noticeable with hindsight.
And that is the best way of doing it. A mystery to be figured out in the first reading and a really rich and interconnected story to be enjoyed on your second and future readings.
And as a sidenote, what kind of inhuman standards are you holding yourself to, to think that your a hack writer? There's a lot of good things in the way your writing, but specifically for this story: you write believable characters. You write characters that, with full context, makes me go: "Yeah, that exactly how they would act."
Even without context, you are such a good writer that the subtext gives me reasons to trust that there is a reason and that if I just keep reading I will get an answer that is believable.
https://everfreenw.com/2021-FAQ/
Well, you wanted a good reason for not treating not going as an attack.
Fleur: Well Estee, you’ve been saying for the longest time that the universe hates you. See the trap. Know the trap. Notice how SAFE and promising that nice indoor space is with optional masking and possibly unvaccinated guests. Surly there is no risk, right? And that long long discussion indoors about that subject you need to know about.
Discord: So something good happens, than something bad happens. Is that the rule?
Looks over his copy of Anchor Foal.
Discord and Fleur: 8/10 needs more camouflage.
I really enjoyed getting this behind the scenes look at your writing process, and especially the revelation that Harem was the child of serendipity - as well as chaos! (Yes, with a definite Chekov’s mare assist
)
With parents like this I really hope this foal’s story is in your future writing plans. Say, doesn’t Pinkie have prior experience in foalsitting?
Thanks again for another really great story!
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Believe me, I did just this last week, and there was so much I noticed that I hadn't before...
Honestly, I was surprised early on how much some of Fleur's trains of thought made sense. Now that we're at the end of the tale, it amuses me to no end to realize why. Dominance displays can be very subtle, and after all, what is a beauty in the society sense but a player in a game of subtle (and not so subtle) dominance?
I am left with one tangent as a takeaway: The epilogue suggests to me that I would dearly love to see Fleur get Gilda and Dash in the same room for a minute. I suspect she'd end up desperately trying to muffle laughter in Shy's mane after watching her dear, quiet wife expertly put both of them in their place.
That said, I kinda have to predict that Estee's particular Dash, who's backed up her ego with sheer nerve and capability, meeting a Gilda who's had time to settle into her strengths would end in another of those years long discussions over who exactly is the predator in this relationship.
"If Anchor Foal works for you at all, then know this: it is, to a large degree, nothing more than a glorious accident."
Takes some talent to have an accident that glorious, though, I think. :)
Well. Or wild luck. But with the quality and quantity of work you've put out, I'm thinking it's the former. :)
Heh. Rather fitting that the break point from the plan came from Discord, I think. :D
[follows the link]
Oh, I see you noticed. :D
"My greatest fear was that no one would believe that these two could care about each other. That, even looking back, no emotional connection would be visible."
Oh, well that definitely didn't apply to me, at least; I was one of the people shipping/predicting it for some time before Fleur realized.
So well done. :)
"I'm still not sure I did."
While I can only speak for myself, well, see above. :)
"Until one day, you're just a little bit different that you used"
"Until one day, you're just a little bit different than you used"?
(I'm putting that here because the second line appears to me to be closer to the quoted text.)
"The most I can usually hope for is that it all makes sense when someone looks back"
As I recall, I didn't even suspect when going through, even as the pieces mounted -- which is a credit to you in one way, since, well, obviously he was trying to hide it, and succeeding until he ran into Fleur's talent -- but when Fleur laid them out later, they did indeed make that sort of sense -- which is a credit to you in another way, of course.
Hm. I'm not having any ideas for the artwork, at the moment, it seems; sorry.
Thank you for the look behind the scenes (there was probably a lot more that I could have commented on, but my time is limited -- and I don't want to bore you, either :))! And, again, for writing the scenes the look was behind.
You continue to be one of my favorite authors, of fiction in general. :)
Also:
"or flee to the exact antipode of the planet until it was over. Which is Port-aux-Français, Kerguelen, in the French Southern Territories. And no one there helped me."
Actually, from here, plugging in "Hyatt Regency Bellevue Bellevue, WA", it looks like the closest land is actually Île de l'Est. Which is even more remote and uninhabited.
You're welcome. :D
...Though, you know, the environment there seems kind of harsh. And all alone there, you might be attacked by wildlife. Maybe you should take some sort of protective gear--
OKAY OKAY I'M LEAVING!
(This last bit all in jest, of course. :))
Thank you for the peek behind the curtain! It’s always fun to see an authors thoughts about their work for me so I really enjoyed this.
For me personally, Fleur being nasty and not very likeable in the first chapters wasn’t a detriment. She was entertaining As a villain protagonist, and that’s much more important than likability to me. I wanted to see her both fail and succeed for the sheer fun of it. There are certainly people for whom a protagonist needs to be likable and/or relatable in some way, but there are also a lot who don’t care as long as there is enough entertainment value :)
Otherwise I can only agree with others; I never would have guessed that Harem wasn’t planned to be in the story. She fits in perfectly and her inclusion feels very fitting for your Discord as well. I’m glad she got such a nice ending
I went back looking for this comment of mine on your first blog about Harem Fantasy. Aside from the “immortal” bit, I’m pretty pleased with my intuition here. Making her a real
girlfilly was a blind spot…The question is, when did Harem Fantasy develop her soul? I don’t imagine every book he animated gets a soul for the duration. That’s a lot of soul-magic to wink in and out in very short term. No, somewhere along her journey, she earned/developed one. That’s a lot for paper and ink to contain. I guess the end was the most fitting for her.
But I am kind of bummed that I won’t get to see some of the adventures of a sapient talking book in Ponyville…
For the picture... Blueblood's Cavalcade approaching the cottage, perhaps with Blueblood, 'Discord', and HF on the Bridge? Creatures alerting every which way, Fleur guarding the path with Fluttershy at the door?
Maybe too much.
Very interesting stuff - I've always loved behind the scenes looks at things. I'll probably have something more substantial to say later, but right now I've only got this:
On the very off chance you're looking for a name for Harem's new life, might I suggest Serendipity? She was a surprise to everyone -herself, her new parents, the doctors, Discord, you- after all, and she did make the world better by happy accident.
I like this story a lot. There's a small part of me that wishes it didn't exist. Mostly because it isn't canon (to the 'verse). And that means that canon!Fluttershy will just have to live alone with her blank white slate, canon!Fleur likely won't go to Ponyville (and I'm not sure she isn't better off in this story than she is as Fancypants's student), and worse Mr. Sweet still might.
No. I'm glad it exists. I just wish it were canon. Then again, maybe it's possible to get there some other way. As someone who was originally on track for a veterinarian's mark, it might be therapeutic for Fleur to work alongside Fluttershy.
The one thing I still really want to know: How much of Fleur's backstory is the same in this story and the main Triptych canon? And assuming it is the same up until Fancypants's taking her on as a student, how much of it is canon!Celestia aware of?
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These are questions you can get answers to, if you have a $5 subscription to Estee's Patreon!
Hah, I thought I remembered posting a comment on the blog post where this story was initially proposed.
One very large piece of puzzle is for tall, slender mares. And you led with Fleur de Lis.
Another fairly sizeable, self-indulgent piece is reserved for attractive bitches who get broken down and who painfully, emotionally turn their lives around.
How could you ever expect me to turn and leave when you just kept pushing button after button?
How much Ko-Fi do I have to buy to make this a reality? Even if it's only a low four-digit word count by the end, that would so be money well spent.
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Of course Estee is a hack writer!
Estee hangs around with a bunch of hack readers!
Now that has some interesting implications. So much of Continuum characterization is built on the idea that each species has its own innate psychological flaws and quirks, that even the truly sapient races that can resist their instincts can't simply ignore them. Ponies will always suffer from herd instinct, because herd instinct is in their blood. Griffons will always be tempted to dominate, zebras to distrust, because that is what they are.
But Protocera would seem to give that the lie. If being raised among griffons can cause a pony to not feel the call of the herd, then that means that herd instinct itself is nothing more than a social construct, that Equestrian ponies could be raised not to feel herd instinct if they really tried. I imagine Protocera contributes a lot to psychological studies in the Continuum.