Sunset Shimmer's faced a lot on the other side of the mirror. Redeeming herself, uniting her friends, taking down monsters. For better or worse, it's in her nature to solve problems. To make things better.
So, when she can't do that for the person she loves the most, it's... difficult.
Written for, and inspired by, my girlfriend Scampy, whose Wallflower stories are far better than this.
Written to this song.
THIS IS IMMEDIATELY MY FAVORITE THING EVER
This is a beautiful story. Every inch of it is sincere with Sunset's want to do right by Wallflower and you can feel the frustration when she can't. The repeat typing and retyping of the same question over and over is especially poignant, a reflection of everything happening in her mind. The push and pull between Wally and Sunset, the way everything falls apart in small ways only for them to put things back together bit by bit, then have to do it again the next day, hits home in a lot of ways.
You should be really proud of this story. Burying hope under pain is a hard thing to do, but you did it.
Cheers.
Feels. Dammit.
Sometimes it seems that nothing ever gets better, even if you know it will. This feels like something written from the heart. Great story.
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Thank you both for the lovely comments.
Oh, so she’s helping Wally with her algebra homework.
You’ve heard of fake and gay now get ready for authentic and gay.
Otherwise known as this.
MY HEART!
This is sweet and terrifying and horrifying and wonderful.
omg yes thank you so much
I really liked this line, it encapsulates the entire scene it caps off. Fluttershy coming in with the assist, ah, it's so touching! Because even when she sticks up for Wallflower, Sunset needs a reminder that she too isn't alone. And that's what makes it really sweet, personally.
:( Oh, Wally...
Aw. This is such a lovely metaphor...
Because it's the little things that count, and though she might not think much of it, well, her Sunset certainly do. And that's really nice.
What can I say? I loved this, this lovely little, heartbreaking, heartwarming tale. Beautiful as always, my friend
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Thank you all for your lovely comments.
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Thank you for being Posh.
I don't think I can read this, but I can absolutely listen to the sound of my own voice for the sake of heat
Wallflower’s love language is floral metaphor.
Right from the very description, you hit the nail on the head as to why this pairing works so well for a sad story. Sunset’s a helper, a fixer, a make-it-better-er. On the other hand Wallflower, when her personality is taken to its extreme, has problems that can’t simply be ‘fixed’.
In other words, I went into this with pretty high hopes. And by God, you did not disappoint.
The way you write Sunset’s immediate mood shift when Wallflower calls shows a sombre respect to the topic it uncovers. You really hammer home to the reader that there’s no ‘hero’ in these kinds of conversations, and it’s just as hard on Sunset as it is on Wallflower.
But it’s still a conversation that needs to be had.
That’s fantastic. Such a Sunset thing to say.
Damn you really know how to make implications hit hard, you know that? It’s really telling how, for all her flowery metaphor and euphemisms, Sunset still refuses to actually say the words to herself. I wonder if Wallflower would do the same out of courtesy, or if she’d lean towards the ‘brutal’ half of brutal honesty…
Fluttershy was the perfect choice for asking about Sunset’s wellbeing. The combination of quiet enough to notice the signs, but gentle and most importantly courageous enough to approach them… eventually. The way you balance the conversation by having Fluttershy know when not to speak is a fantastic little flair on her character at a time like this.
Such a powerful message, and to have it stand out by contrasting the fantastical Daydream Shimmer with the mundanity of bloodstained tissues in a cheap bin is utterly superb. It’s an uncomfortable reality that you allude to in describing the potential methods for Wallflower to hurt herself: That all too often, forcibly removing someone’s tools doesn’t stop the reasons behind the self-harm, and even doesn't stop the self-harming. It just stops them self-harming in a way that’s familiar to them.
Downfall was an absolute ride. The structure took me a bit to get comfortable with, but you used each flashback to such great effect – conveying a crucial facet of their relationship, while simultaneously making Wallflower’s breakdown hit all the harder when you skip back to it. Her teetering emotional state adds tension in the last section, such that the eventual progress feels earned. And dotted throughout the story, too many to list here, are lines and snippets that stuck with me for the rest of the day. Excellent work, and thanks for writing this.
Hang on… did Sunset have her riding boots on the whole time she was sitting on the couch, underneath a duvet?
…what is wrong with that girl
As this is a Serious Story, it necessitates a Serious Review, and not just me copypasting “GAY GAY HOMOSEXUAL GAY” repeatedly. I’ll find another story of yours to do that with.
Apart from having some really terrific interplay between the two leads, what really stood out to me in this story was its unconventional structure. The flashbacks spliced into the narrative break up the different moments of Sunset’s post-harm Wallycare, but while the story maintains a linear flow, the flashback scenes aren’t strung into any particular order.
Or, rather, they are, but the thread connecting them is just... Sunset exploring how to address Wally’s self-harm. Rather than the scenes feeding into one another, creating two storylines sort of flowing together, parallel, you have just one main narrative thread, with episodic moments breaking up the story beats.
So, those flashbacks don’t add narrative depth, but thematic depth. They are vital to the characters, and to their relationship. Sunset’s preoccupied in all of them with thoughts of how to help Wally, but she’s thinking that whilst partying hardy with her, accepting symbolic plants from her, and I think brewing tea with bog-water siphoned from a witch’s cauldron? I don’t know; I was drinking a lot of weed-juice while reading this, so I might have hallucinated that part.
Setting that aside, those moments show a level of depth and love that uplifts the main narrative thread. They show dimensions to the relationship between Sunny and Wally which we would not have gotten had this just been a straightforward hurt/comfort story. Those episodic moments of love and happiness (amid anxiety, granted) spacing apart your tense, emotionally fraught main narrative? That’s what made me care about this couple. And that’s the Gay for Gadot difference.
Now get the fuck away from the horse.
Another great one. The standout here was the pacing, and I'm saying that as one who listened to the story and the transitions weren't immediately obvious as a result. The ways in which the story makes it so real and believable. Bravo.
Howdy, hi!
A review from the mansion to you
So I was looking through my spotify playlist and this banger
https://youtu.be/6aQWA_fAu8M
Reminded me of this story.
So here's a review of a story I really liked, inspired by a song I love, written by an author and friend I like too.
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(Once I started reading this story, I think my original comment made more sense as a reply to someone else's comment than as a comment on what's in this story. Original comment deleted. If you think you have a reason to need to see it, ig you can let me know.)