MBFS Trivia Pt. 2 | Story Hindsight/Branching Paths | Plot holes | Q&A · 5:07am Apr 25th, 2022
Hey y'all!
As I continue to go through the final bonus chapter (still monstrous, already at 14k words and climbing), I thought it would be fun to revisit more trivia around Stella as a whole, and her story now that it's really officially complete. I did one of these back in 2017... so I think we're due for another one!
Also within this 'trivia' I wanna talk about not just some cool bug facts about Stella and the story, but some plot holes, branching paths I considered, and just some general hindsight observations a year after completion.
1. In the Part 1 list, I mentioned that Stella was supposed to be a German named Chrysanthemum with a 'nicer' personality, and this ended up instead becoming Schnee. There's a little more to it. Stella version 0.1 was actually supposed to be a shortstack german/Alemaneian with like, an incredibly Prussian-esque devotion to duty. Once that was scrapped and took more inspiration from things closer to home, I carved away some parts that weren't needed and changed others. From there, I chiseled Schnee out of the remains a couple years later, and added some of her own personality traits. All that to say, they're 'linked' on an ethereal level... and it wasn't really a mistake that Schnee and Stella are friends in-story 
2. There's one modest plot hole... well, not really a 'plot hole' but an unused plot device/branching path. Namely, a certain 'Quasar' up in Thestralshire when Stella went to grab those recruitment files, is mentioned. And from how she reacted, he seemed pretty important. And then he... never showed up again lmao. So essentially that whole small section was kinda useless in hindsight. Well, there's a reason for this: I decided after the fact that what I had planned was a really bad idea, for both the story and Stella's character as a whole.
You see, one thing I wanted to show in her main story is that yes, while she's funny, gets drunk, says hilarious shit, is hot, etc etc... she's not a mary sue. Her hair trigger temper could (and has) REALLY gotten her into trouble, or brought her to the brink of catastrophe. Quasar, and the plot behind him, was supposed to be a demonstration of this in the future. The short of it without going into several paragraphs of explanation is that Chapter 24 (where Stella comes clean about her insecurities after a verbally violent outburst at Fredrick) was supposed to go A LOT different. Like. A LOT different. To the tune of Stella letting her temper actually get the better of her, crossing that line, and striking Fredrick in anger... now, this would've done many, MANY things and added an entire extra arc to the story. Not to mention the immediate implications.
And it would've done its job: Stella's temper just making her fuck up in the worst possible way. Problem is that beyond the story, Stella's character exists... elsewhere lol. People love her. I love her. I thought about it... and even if things ended as well as I intended them to, Stella now has on her unofficial 'record' that she's a spouse beater, essentially, sorta changing her 'foundation' a lot. I didn't want that mark on her in any way, and I felt there were better, more lighter ways to show off her belligerence. I think it worked better for this story. Ergo, unused plot device, as Quasar would've been a focal point in this anger as opposed to some shit she made up (the dream would've remained, but different context, naturally). Magnificent character development at the cost of tonal whiplash out the ass. The vibe of the story would've permanently changed.
3. Sveta was supposed to initially have a MUCH larger role in the story... pretty much she gets the blessing and gets 'non-romantic access' to Fredrick at her leisure, assuming he consents. In layman's terms, she gets to boink him whenever she wanted to. More sex scenes? Yes. Necessary? Not in the slightest. Thinking on it, I figured that the whole 'pseudo fuck any mare you want ad infinitum' had been done enough in fanfiction, and if anything was to get spiced up, it would be one-time deals like what actually happened, rather than a continuous arrangement... something that's a little more ''''''realistic'''''' in my opinion.
4. Fredrick was supposed to have more well-defined guy friends in the story, who would've essentially played the 'voice of reason' and 'shoulder to cry on' role of the Princesses. That would've just made things redundant. Also I was lazy and figured I already have enough characters to write as it is. So he does HAVE them, I just never called attention to them. Because, as above, I'm a lazy shit lmao
5. In the first part of the wedding sequence, it was Vampir who was supposed to come see Fredrick and just have a chat with him, rather than Stella and Vona. A lot of the same stuff would've been said, but in the end I felt it was more impactful for Vona to have that final talk with him, in a way. In hindsight, I probably could've made it super compelling, considering I had the two have a nice chat after he boinked Sveta. But in the end, I stand by my choice.
6. I heavily considered (but laid no groundwork for it by the time I scrapped the idea) that the Princesses were able to temporarily send Fredrick back to his world, in an anchor-in-equestria-astral-projection sort of way. Which would allow him just enough time to see his family and some friends, let them know he's safe, and pretty much say goodbye to them. Stella would've wanted to come with him, so she could "meet" his parents like he did hers. Would've been a nice scene where she sat down with his parents (after the whole, anthro pony bullshit got squared away), and they like her, and essentially just beg her to take care of him wherever they are now. I think i could've probably worked this one in pretty well without too much tonal whiplash, but I wasn't confident I'd be able to do this in a way that would really do it justice. If i pulled it off though, it would've made the story REALLY good imho. Remember the scene that Fredrick had with Vampir? Pretty much like that on a much more emotional level. Oh well!
7. Regarding the sex scene with Sveta, i had planned for Stella to have a much more... important role lmao. But in thinking about it, it made SOME sense with the princesses back in MBFL. There would've been a LOT more incestuous connotations here if I went ahead with what I had planned. Wasn't sure if I wanted that for the characters, so I left that part out.
8. Initially had planned to add a small pregnancy arc... but it felt like I was just prolonging the story for the sake of it. All that to say, I think it ended well the way it did, but Stella pregnant with Skyla would've been a goddamn force to be reckoned with. Holy shit lmao. Maybe it's good that no one saw that... for their own mental health
9. Pacing between chapters was... adequate. I felt I paced things better than MBFL, but could've definitely been better. I'll just leave it at that lmao.
10. There was supposed to be a small arc where Stella gets injured on the job--not seriously or anything, but where her leg is in a cast for a little while, and she actually needs someone else to rely on (i.e. Fredrick) for her day-to-day. Was meant to add a closer dynamic for them, and which really makes Stella appreciate him more than she already did. This would've been the place, during a midnight chat, that they would recognize that they were gonna spend the rest of their lives together. This arc would've essentially taken the place of the Bar Crawl arc. I went with the latter because it was just more fun, and I think the character development there was more than adequate while re-introducing some familiar faces. Still, I wonder how things would've turned out if I added this piece in. A small bit of the idea lives on in my oneshot clop Midnight Rain though, if you're curious.
Because yes, there would've 100% been a broken-leg Stella sex scene. Yes it would've been sweet. Yes it would've been hot. Yes it would've probably been funny.
EDIT: And know what? This might actually be a good oneshot idea for the two of them as a small spin-off one shot....... writing this down for the future.
And... that's all I can think of for the moment. Since the story is done, I'm happy to answer any specific questions one may have on the characters involved, the story itself, etc... I'm sure there's a lot I've missed. Feel free to create a Q&A down below. You can also PM me if you don't feel comfortable asking some questions publicly lol... not that there would be any questions like that, but the options is there: DMs are always open. Only things I won't answer are the content of the last bonus chapter, just to head that off.
See ya next time, y'all!
--Flamm
Okay, this was neat and all, but when are you gonna roll out the Stella-themed NFTs?
5653193
She already has NFTs. Nice Fuckin' Titties
Man.. We would’ve LOVED to see a pregnant Stella scene and witness how our human hero ‘handled’ the situation xD
I think you should’ve gone with it, but maybe in a side story in the future?
As for Fred having the opportunity to visit his home and parents one last time with Stella accompanying him, I’d say that was a missed chance for his poor parents to at least know that their son is doing fine, and for Stella to get to know and understand a bit more about his human origins and get to personally know his parents just like he did, because in your story we didn’t see Stella caring about his previous life that I saw it as a bit inconsiderate and insensitive of her from my perspective. For example, when Stella was having nightmares about Fred leaving her and eventually revealing her worries to him, while I really loved this scene, she also came off as kind of selfish, since she only wanted Fred to stay with her and didn’t seem to think of the possibility that maybe Fred could also want to return to his parents and home. Or maybe she did talk about it with him on a later date and you just chose not to write it? In other words, it would show us more that she cares about Fred even more than just him being with her, but in any case, everything still came out quite decently so it’s fine.
Also will there be more trivia to this story? ngl man, these information are really interesting!
I was hoping there was gonna be more with Sveta involved but it’s good refardless
I am actually re-reading this for the second time because I enjoyed this story. I know when I first read it I was expecting a more common moment of tension between Fred and Stel that had them broken up for a bit only to come back stronger. Relationships are hard and strong personalities can grind on one another.
I'm totally okay with the one night romp with Sveta. I think it makes it more intimate plus, and I speak as a human not as an anthro pony but we humans tend to get clingy when it comes to intimacy. If they had gone back for seconds it would have caused tension because there is a huuuuge difference between fun fucking and love making. The more you do it with the same person, the more personal it gets.
5653218
Agreed. I probably should’ve put more emphasis on that as well (his past). Would be ripe for discussion, after all. Oh well… hindsight is 20/20 lol.
And if there’s demand for it, yeah! Happy to host more of these. DMs are also always open for any questions there might be about something specific
5653240
Lol I think A LOT of people were, to be quite honest
5653283
Yeah, I had thought about actually having them separate for a while… but I personally felt that it would follow the general hollywood trope: boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. Made it easier to focus on their relationship and building it. But I agree, if done right, it probably would’ve made it ‘better.’
And unironically this. Had the two kept up at it, there likely would’ve been some undesired tension. Pretty much exactly why I kept it the way it was
Happy you enjoyed it!!