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Deviousness `anmari has been spreading her infectious positivity throughout our community for over 6 years. Throughout this time Ana has been at the core of all things devious, passionately developing an eclectic gallery, helping organise devmeets, participating in chat events and also recently completed dedicating her time as a Community Volunteer. We are absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for May 2013 to `anmari, congratulations! Read More
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Sta.sh
I'm so sorry that I haven't commented since; I always meant to but rarely found the time thanks to college courses—and now here I am about to start yet another semester! Break was too short...
Enough about me. I liked this chapter a lot! Memories of cheerful friends making Shy break down really broke my heart; wonderfully executed there. Then, her memories (specifically of Twi and Nightmare Moon's battle) inspire her to keep going.
I just noticed there may be potential to bring in something interesting here, if you haven't seen it already: how her memories are both detrimental and supportive. Shy's memories can either drive her and give her strength, or remind her of her losses and weaken her—given the situation. There could be tension and even clashing between the two possibilities, good and bad, and it may torment her emotionally and psychologically. How does it affect her struggle to find the strength to journey on? Will she even begin to dread thinking about her friends, since it might cause her to stumble in a moment of weakness? Imagine that it must reach a breaking point; maybe Shy must find her resolve in one way or another: believe in her friends, or accept a new life, move on, and start anew. (Will she succeed or fail in what she chooses?!
Oh, and I have one itty-bitty critique. Really, it's very small: when Fluttershy enters the ruins. I know ruins were mentioned; just want to clarify, is that what she entered? I don't know how close the ruins are, but it just seemed to me that the steps sort of appeared out of nowhere... maybe include something like how she pushed herself further and further—where are the ruins?—then, There they are! I can imagine her heart skipping a beat when she realizes that she's coming right up on safety's doorstep.
IDK; what do you think?
Oh! Happy (belated) New Year to you; I hope 2013 treats you wonderfully. And congratulations on having this featured in FimFiction! I certainly think Survivor Shy deserves a lot of attention
It's probably the main internal conflict of the story, Fluttershy trying to balance acknowledging the disaster and her natural, instinctual response to loss (to put it scientifically), with her hope and determination that drives her to look her reality in the eye and work to change it back the way it used to be. On the one hoof, she's got the world around her saying that she cannot undo what has happened, and that she is deluding herself. On the other, she has a belief that she has a chance - if a slim one or an imagined one - to find the truth behind the disaster, and discover a way to make things right again.
If she refuses to accept her new life in pursuit of her wish to restore Equestria, she also refuses to accept the death, metaphoric or otherwise, of her friends. This all leads to her grief being left unresolved, and growing doubts to fester as time goes on. If it turns out that she is wrong, the world will come crashing down on her so hard that she likely wouldn't come back from it.
If she accepts post-disaster Equestria to be her new home, and that she is the only pony left in existence. She will eventually stop grieving, and adapt to her new life. With her past no longer haunting her, she would not be likely to fall prey to danger and risk losing her mind at the worst moment. Basically, while it's a bleak life ahead of her, it's also the least risky. But if it turns out that she was wrong to give up, and realises it, she would start self-loathing pretty badly, her reaction would be far more severe if it's too late by the time realises her mistake, because then, in her mind, she is now the one responsible for the complete destruction of Equestria - since she did nothing about it.
It's a conundrum in a way. Neither option has the best set of advantages or chance of best possible outcome. Fluttershy cannot commit herself to either one, and so her goals often have different motives behind them, up until she finally commits and her goals change.
These story lines are really good and well thought out. Having a Catch-22 usually has a good success rate and can turn out some of the best stories, if handled with care. I've really got nothing else to add, although that part about Spike choosing a path was really interesting. I haven't read much Survivor Shy yet so I don't know, but it seems like he's matured a lot. I can give you some advice in psychology, although again, IDK how educated you are in that field. If you would kindly bear with me for a moment... Studies show that when pushed to a stressful situation, we tend to revert back to our natural-born responses to situations, and not so much the ones that are learned by nurture/environment. A study with baby monkeys showed this: the baby of an anxious mother and the baby of a calm, laid-back mother were swapped. How much behavior was hereditary, and how much was learned? Before swapping, they had an examination to see how the babies reacted to certain touches and sounds. The baby of the anxious mother flipped out, and the other was calm. After swapping and waiting for a while, there were noticeable changes in behavior. The anxious baby was more out-going and calm, and the laid-back one often stayed near the mother. But when that same examination was conducted again, with the same noises and touches, the babies each reacted the same way as the first time: the anxious one freaked out again, just like the first time. So the tendency shows that in stressful situations (or perceived to be stressful), one can revert back to hereditary nature and respond that way. For Flutters, the strength of the Mane 6's friendship was particularly strong, so it might take a rather extreme predicament to get her to lose herself and revert back to the way she was before meeting her friends.
IDK, just something to stir the pot a little
It's probably not the exact same thing, but it is in the same vein. By becoming familiar and experienced in avoiding accidents and other emergency manoeuvres, a driver shall find themselves less likely to completely freeze up in an emergency. It's that sort of logic that carries over to Fluttershy in the story. The more time she spends in high-risk situations (and survives), the more she shall adapt.
To put a simple example out there, Fluttershy at the start of Survivor Shy still has her great fear of Dragons, and she chooses to flee from them every time she sees them. But as the story progresses, Fluttershy becomes less likely to flee in a blind panic if a Dragon flies over, and eventually grows brave enough to stay rational and confront Spike while he is fueled by Dragon Greed.
Of course, all of this recently-acquired experience can be shattered by a long-seated issue, if it gets the chance to harm her.
But I think Shy's general timidity of the world around her makes her more prone to running as her reaction—which means she's more prepared to react with action rather than freezing up. So that growth in the bravery of her responses is definitely appropriate! Unless, of course, she comes face to face with something truly extreme...
May I ask what got you interested in MLP:FiM?
First, I noticed the threads on /b/ back in Feb '11. At first, I thought it was another troll post. But after a few days of pony threads always being on the first page, I decided to view the threads to see what was going on. It was interesting watching the standard /b/ crowd freaking out while the fans were pretty much minding their own business or responding with kind words. I still didn't buy any of it as a serious thing, but I started saving the pony reaction images for trolling in the future.
Then, a few days after Pinkie Keen aired, I started reading these posts of people sharing their thoughts on the episode (and freaking out over Derpy). I started to realise that people were seriously watching this show and making notes - and they were part of /b/. A guy started streaming the first few episodes while I was in the thread, and I took the opportunity to be introduced to the actual show.
First episode was all right. I instantly liked Rainbow Dash because she wasn't some braggart who couldn't live up to her boasts, and wasn't a typical girl character. I found the introduction of Nightmare Moon to be interesting, and I was a bit surprised to find myself anxious to see part two - who would've thought I'd be eager to watch an episode of My Little Pony?
The second part was played next in the stream. When Pinkie started singing, and the other ponies looked on like she was nuts, I pretty much kicked back from my desk and said to myself that I really like this show. It was self-aware of girly tropes, and it was not only doing something different, but it was also lamp-shading them as it passed them.
By the end of the episode, I felt like I had had some real fun. The third episode came on, and while it was a simple plot that everybody has seen before, I found myself enjoying it because the jokes were good. When the fourth episode came around, I knew I was completely sold on the show.
I pretty much watched all fifteen episodes, except for Call of the Cutie (the guy streaming didn't like the episode at the time because it wasn't about the Mane Six), in two days. I watched Sonic Rainboom the day it aired, which made Rainbow Dash my favourite character for a year solid, before being dethroned by Fluttershy.
Before "The Great Pony War", which was when there were mass bannings of pony threads all over 4chan by lame moderators, I became a regular lurker in the pony threads. I'd also start up new threads to keep the conversations going (eventually adopting a handle and trip just for starting threads, when it became an issue where anonymous threads would be deleted by the trolling OPs). I wasn't completely crazy over ponies back then, but it was something that made me happy and have fun. After the fandom was forced from 4chan, I stopped browsing imageboards and started lurking on EqD. Nowadays I lurk on Derpibooru and Tumblr.
My own initiation into the series as a fan was pretty similar. A friend on dA was talking about it, and after seeing a number of other people conversing about the show I figured I'd watch a few episodes and see what the hubbub was all about.
I went to the website and honestly, it was the character design that got me hooked. I saw the ponies on the home page and loved how they looked and made me feel. I hadn't even watched any videos yet. I'm the type who gets instinctive "red flags" or "green flags" (that's what I call them) at first sight and I have a good idea of whether I'll like something or someone. Sometimes I worry that I'm being judgmental, but my instincts have almost never failed me. I got a massive green flag when I saw the ponies for the first time. It's a funny show, and it somehow calms my anxiety. That's a pretty big deal.
One of my favorite things is the character development, and how they have struggles and flaws like everyone else—realistic ones, at that. Moreover, they each actually struggle with their own Element of Harmony. They all have the potential for good and bad. Fluttershy is kind, but to a fault and had to go through a learning process on how not to be a doormat. Applejack had to challenge herself to be honest and accept help when she needed it rather than allow her pride and hard-working nature to wear her down. Rarity had to learn generosity, too, and still can be seen as quite selfish at times.
We're selfish by nature and these virtues are all things that are learned. That's something that this show embodies well, in my opinion. That, and it's a ridiculously cute show.
I don't really have a favorite... it shifts freely between all ponies except Applejack and Pinkie Pie (not that I don't like them, of course). I will say I have a special place in my heart for Cadence
Now, I do have some fanfiction of my own being processed so to speak, but it will be a while before anything is posted. There's also a humanized-Celestia digital drawing in the works right now! If only college classes would let up!
I'll be walking through the chapters this afternoon to correct issues and improve it all in general, so I'll be sure to revise the part about the ruins both here and on fimfiction.
As you have noticed, Spike appears in the story and has moments where he is thinking things over after what has happened. At some point, Spike reaches the decision you talked about and picks a path. Fluttershy, however spends a vast majority of the story switching between clinging onto the blind hope that she can find a way to fix things, and acknowledging the cold, hard evidence against her