So, a few days ago MintBerryCrunch mentioned that Macintosh was his story. The story he felt a deep personal connection to above and beyond what the author could have intended. Well, as I sat down reading Feedback last night on my PSP (which is a really good story, by the way, but probably not one for everybody), I came to the conclusion that I had my own story to call "my own."
Of Mares and Magic.
Let me preface this by saying that I always recognized Trixie as the MLP version of me. Before I started liking her, before I took that silly personality test, before I was even done watching Boast Busters for the first time, I knew.
That's why I originally hated her so much (because those of you who have known me for really long, which in hindsight is maybe just Jim, know that self-loathing makes up a substantial portion of my personality), and that's why I didn't bat an eye when I took the thing and Trixie popped up as the result. And its why I really don't enjoy watching Boast Busters anymore, because it is all really uncomfortable watching something that plays out like only partially-exaggerated events from your life orchestrated by a not-at-all exaggerated equivalent of yourself.
Far more times than I care to admit, I felt that I was the absolute cream of the crop, hot 🤬 with no need to prove anything (but I would gladly do it anyways), a truly dependable and trustworthy person who would be there for you when the chips were down but was nonetheless such an inherently (and intentionally) unlikeable sardonic smartass that you would never find out. I've mellowed out considerably over the years (obviously), but I still feel pangs whenever something like Boast Busters pops out, because that is me not that many years ago.
And Of Mares and Magic, in a far better way than I did when I tried to do the same thing with my own story, perfectly captures my progression from intentionally antagonistic asshole to (in the latest chapter) blunt but ultimately friendly foil. The backstory crafted for Trixie in this story is similar (though ultimately quite a bit more tragic) to my younger life. The way Trixie acts in the first couple of chapters is similar to my first couple of years of high school (back on the scene with a chip on my shoulder and pissed at the world for dealing me such a crappy hand, ignoring that I gave myself 3 out of the 5 cards I was dealt), with the events of Boast Busters being a similar allegory to my Middle School years (being shown up spectacularly over something I claimed I could handle).
All the players are there, and I can transfer each role the Mane Six had to someone who played (mostly) the same role in real life, Pinkie Pie included. Even the role played by Princess Celestia can be assigned to someone in my real life, albeit somewhat more loosely. And the cooling effect that they all are having on Trixie is spooky.
I know Trixie is growing progressively as the story goes on, because I myself grew as a character in the same way. I know how the changes are causing her facade to chip away despite her attempts to build it back up in response, because I experienced them. I feel every feeling that she is going through, because I felt them in real life. I know what she is going through, the mixed emotions being caused by having people that she can truly depend on, because I've been there. I know that the build up of the story is realistic, because I've lived it.
And, more than Ballad, more than Dangerous Business, more than The Party Never Ended, even more than TNTNE, I feel this story. I connect with it. I'm personally attached to it. I can find it within myself to look at the proceedings and root for the best resolution, knowing that the best resolution and the happiest resolution are not mutually exclusive. Trixie basically started this story to find out a little bit about herself, about what she is capable of, about her destiny; but in the process she has helped me come to terms with a little bit about myself.
