I choose to ignore their reality and substitute it with my own.
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But would it really be a good ending?
I canât in good conscience agree.
Let me tell you something. I once had to keep company to a stray cat who had an incurable disease. The vet knew she was going to die slowly, so he highly suggested allowing her to peacefully go to sleep, rather than let the illness run its painful course.
Do you think I felt any better because she spent her last moments with a caring human, having a real safe place with plenty food and water, maybe for the first time in her life?
No. She might have. But I sure as hell did not. You may call me selfish for not seeing that as a âgood endingâ, but a merciful quick death after a lifetime of being on the streets, losing an eye, battling with hunger and disease, does not make it so in my eyes.
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The idea of why its true neutral, is because there was no slow suffering or malice in a direct sense. Yes the vet tech may have not been super kind with his words, but wouldnât you at a certain point just get so numb when youâre putting semi-sentient animals to sleep? The tech doesnât want to deal with the pleading, just wants to get this task done so he can move to the next and finish out his day.
I think the issue is a lot of people here are missing the whole point of the story and are focusing too hard about whether or not they are getting their way. Its not supposed to be which ending is the best, or canon, or most deserved, its supposed to be a parable for the pain a rape victim goes through.
This foal was still of nursing age, and was violently raped by a bigger stallion who just decided that his three seconds of good feels were more important than the well being and life of this foal. In doing so it triggered the Enfie Baby Pheromone, which is really just a more tangible concept of the stigma victims face. The foal never did anything wrong, but the other fluffies react towards him like he is a pariah. This is similar to what a lot of victims face, where they are seen as the problem and how its just simply easier to ignore the issue. Its a very uncomfortable story, but its one that we see to often in real life.
Although in recent years since #MeToo people have become more comfortable with coming forwards, sexual assault of nearly any kind is still a multi-layered issue that effects both society but most importantly the victim. No matter how far we go with making things better, some things are still very taboo to discuss or difficult for people to want to deal with. One of the reasons I like writing for the fluffy fandom, is that fluffies are a great analog for people. We can discuss serious and often taboo themes, using these creatures in place of actual human beings.
The Neutral ending is neutral, because its the path of âDo nothingâ. Society and the system failed the foal, it has grown up without love and has been neglected. Although the foalâs issues are important, it really is only important to the foal. The overburdened system doesnât have the luxury or time to help, only just going through the motions. You can interoperate the Injection and immolation as the literal death of the fluffy, or the overall societal abandonment of a rape victim who desperately needs help but wonât receive it. Its neutral, because this is what happens to the vast majority of victims in our society. Unless you actually matter, then no one really cares. Its cold, its neglectful, its cruel; but its not inherently evil.
The good ending is good, because its the path of âDoing somethingâ. This is the kind of ending that should happen for victims of violence, where they are seen as people and not simply âa victimâ. The lady has worked with the foal, but knows from the get-go that she is limited in the capacity that she can or should help. In this scenario, she takes a stand against the overburdened system and steps up to help the victim. Its not an easy choice and burdens her in many ways, but it (forgive my lack of proper wording) returns value to the foal, effectively âRe-humanizing the victimâ. Yes the Foal will be physically and psychologically damaged probably for life, but they are no longer alone to deal with that burden.
Though I wont go into the bad ending since it is yet to be released, the point of this story isnât supposed to be what was deserved nor what was fair. The point wasnât to fuel the constant Hug vs Abuse bullshit culture war that plagues our community. The point of the story was to address a complicated issue and possibly give people insight on the point of view of a victim. The three endings (although one is canon) is just to illustrate where it could have gone. The community made its choice, and thatâs a choice we all got to live with.
I donât mean to come at you wild, but I feel like people really donât give a shit unless âFluffy ends up dead, or fluffy ends up huggedâ. There are people here saying they donât give a shit which is actually canon but only this one should be, because âthey like it betterâ. It just makes me feel like the whole stories purpose was missed.
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It definitely was
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Maybe. But maybe, I could still make an exception for a foal whose whole life has been, well, this. It takes a total lack of empathy to act like this. Iâve yet to meet someone working in animal care who completely lacks empathy, mainly because itâs unusual to see someone who actually doesnât give a damn about othersâ suffering working in the medical field, be it animal or human.
Superiority complex? Ok. Bad day? Ok. But in this case, I really struggle to see this happening. And mind you, on my side alone, I had to see two dogs and four cats go like that. The vet has never been as callous and heâs been working in the field for two decades. And thatâs to animals who had a good life with a loving family.
Even more reasons to lie about it. If the foal had been told he would be adopted, it would have been easier without any pleading or possible struggling or screaming.
Donât take it the wrong way. I can see you were attempting to get a downer ending, where nobody cared enough to do anything at all.
I merely think itâs a bit âThe game was rigged from the startâ, which takes a bit away from the whole experience for me.
The whole concept is actually pretty brilliant both in raising awareness and the pheromone headcanon.
The idea that a rape victim could be abandoned by everyone, family included is so horrible itâs almost unbelievable.
This sounds a bit odd. There are some great pieces out here where itâs more âabout the journeyâ.
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Yes. Totally agree.
@A-S I understand youâre very passionate about this, but as @anon68543914 has noted: for many rape victims the game is rigged from the start right now. Iâve got old FEMALE classmates who are women that somehow subscribe to the belief that is a woman gets raped itâs somehow her fault. There are some states that donât have laws preventing a rapist for suing for paternal rights if the rape results in a pregnancy. There are a lot of states that have a backlog of unprocessed rape kits (mine had and allegedly trying to not let it happen again but weâll see).
I realize youâre very concerned about animal welfare and rightfully so. But I think your knowledge and position in the area is kind of blocking the meaning of the story. I had cheats and handwaving in Neighborhood Fluffs but never got called out on it. It was a nice, feel-good story. This isnât. But itâs WAY more important in my opinion.
I realize there are catching points for you. That theyâre standing out super big and glaring. But weâre all trying our best here, donât have researchers or editors or experts on staff, and rarely do we take up real world issues. And unfortunately a lot of fluffy fiction takes place in a world more callous than our own. Some hugbox stories even depends on it, I think.
Can we agree to disagree at this point? While I do appreciate and enjoy discussion on the story, Iâm not sure this is really getting anywhere or necessarily enriching the discussion on what the story is actually about.
RandomAP tried to tackle a big, real world topic and I wish I had the chops and bravery to do it myself even half as well.
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Yeah, itâs probably because the notion of such an horrible thing being handwaved as âthe victim shouldnât have done Xâ, the friends and family of the victim abandoning them or the law not protecting them/persecute the perpetrator feels so alien to me. I get it, assholes exist. I see them everyday at work. The victim blaming, I can understand happening because of this exact reason. But the other two? Thinking that some places in the world are so bad with their laws (not like dumb laws ainât a thing here. But this is horrible.) and that oneâs closest persons could abandon them after such a harrowing experience? I struggle to accept it. I donât doubt it could happen, butâŚ
Regardless, I wonât press the issue any further.
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Thank you. Iâd the donât mind me asking, where are you from?
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I hail from the land of pizza. We got our fair share of problems too, no worries.
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Itâs more common than youâd think in human health, sadly. Serial killers and sexual abusers often become doctors, nurses, teachers, or parents, because it gives them a regular selection of easy targets, and women with no compassion get pushed into caring professions anyway because for a long time it was their only option for a job and independence at all.
Honestly, if you want this to be really bad, you could have other enfie babbehs being even worse to each other than the other fluffies are to them. Victimisation doesnât make you nice, and members of oppressed minority groups will internalise the messages society tells them and happily trample each other to prove theyâre the âgood onesâ (âNot Like Other Girlsâ, âLGB drop the Tâ, etc).