• Story: The Turning of the Screwball - The Strange Case of Button Stitch


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    Author: Warren Hutch
    Description: A few short weeks after Discord has been defeated, strange things begin happening around Ponyville again. What is the connection between this new agent of chaos, and a buttoned down shopkeeper who's so orderly she makes Twilight Sparkle look like Pinkie Pie? Rarity takes it upon herself to find out.

    The Turning of the Screwball - The Strange Case of Button Stitch
    Part I  |  Part II  |  Part III  |  Part IV

    Additional Tags: Suspense, Paranormal, Bizarre, Cartoon Physics, OCD

    43 comments:

    1. I've been waiting for a Screwball story.

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    2. is this a pony version of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde? i might have to read this...

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    3. I think I'll read this one... the picture convinced me.

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    4. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde... I've been waiting for this ever since someone hinted it in the comments here. Will definitely read later...

      but i'm kinda jelly Rarity is a main character. I hope she's done well... i sure do dislike rarity...

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    5. I'll have to read this when I get the chance... Love the picture to death, and it seems to feature one of my favorite fan theories on Screwball (that she's an altered version of a more normal pony.)

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    6. Huh, nice picture. Speciifically made for the story too it seems. That's one way to draw in readers. :)

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    7. Lol OCD in the tag's, maybe I can relate to this story...
      Art looks awesome and I do like mysteries, think this ones going to bookmarks for later.

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    8. Wow, this story... was oddly inspiring. Well written and tastefully original. Five stars! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

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    9. @Cesar

      ^This was my first thought as well.

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    10. Is the title a stretched reference to The Taming of the Shrew? That's what came to mind when I saw it, at least.

      (Also "The Worm Turns", a Mickey Mouse short.)

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    11. @Unknown
      That, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I'm guessing.

      Anyway, seeing as this is the author who wrote the amazingly beautiful story Windfall, I'm definitely giving this a chance :3

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    12. I'm not usually impressed by fanfic, but this one was quite well-written. The description and, most of all, the dialogue, something that is usually done poorly and OOC in fanfiction, was superb.

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    13. Ooh, looks like fun. I'll just convert it to a mobi and save it for later...

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    14. You've outdone yourself yet again Mister Hutch. This was a superb read, and the characterization was just amazing. And that's not even getting into the Jitterbug showdown scene. If any of you need music to read that bit to, search Youtube for 'Caravan Palace, Clash'. It won't disappoint.

      Looking forward to any other masterpieces you make in the future!

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    15. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    16. The title is a reference to the story The Turn of the Screw, with is about a woman charged with taking care of two kids while being haunted by a ghost. What makes it interesting is that the ghost may be all in the woman's head. It's never made clear.

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    17. How do you get more Hyper organized that Twilight, For Pete sake, she makes a check list to make sure she has what she needs to make a check list, plus she was so obsessed with sending a friendship report that she cracked and caused a town wide riot over an old sock doll.

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    18. @Jacky2734
      She makes checklists for making checklists, then pulls down half the library's books in her search for a single one, leaving Spike to clean and reorganized everything.
      She's definitely not OCD about everything.

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    19. I enjoyed it. To bad we probably won't be seeing screwball in future episodes.

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    20. Great story! Characterization is spot-on, and the nonsensical pranks were just a joy to read about. Discord would have been proud of his purple protoge... :)

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    21. Likin' the sound of this. I can't stay home tonight to read ya, but consider yourself bookmarked, mister!

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    22. This looks good and original. Been waiting for a good Screwball story so I'll definitely check this out.

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    23. This was a very refreshing, episode-like story. Those are the hardest to pull off, and yet this did.

      5-start from me, definitely.

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    24. Unexpected, demented, utterly insane and thoroughly enjoyable.

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    25. This was a pretty good fanfic, a nice mix of suspence, humor, seriousness, and even a li'l heart-warming. :)

      Nice li'l "orgin" for Screwball to, and it ties in well with the "Return of Harmony" episodes. The characters also seemed very in-character to. (I especially like how you handled Rarity's character. Some fans get the ideas about her.) I like how you made Button Stitch (AKA Screwball) a sympatheic, and likable character to.

      Very nicely done, I enjoyed it very much, and it's nice to see a unique take on this "Screwball" character.

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    26. Woot! First Screwball fic. Gonna read right now.

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    27. good story over all, impressive characterization, well executed 'under-the-radar' humor, nothing too over the top for a pony episode and awesome creep factor on screw ball. 5 star for sure but not quite 6 star material imho

      My only real critique here is the lack of subtlety in part 3 where button pretty much accuses herself of all the wrong doings by explaining all the ways she woke up. I understand that it doesn't really matter to the audience since we knew from the start and she reveals it moments later but it still feels a bit jarring to have the last 2 chapters so quickly reiterated in such an obvious way.

      FIRST: this was intended as an honest critique not a flame
      SECOND: as far as episodic style stories goes, this problem could just be me not coming down to childrens cartoon level very easily
      Finally the only reason i say it's not 6 star is simply comparing it to other 6 stars out there not the quality on its own

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    28. This was REALLY good! I'm on the fence of 5 vs. 6 star, is there 5.5 star ratings?

      Point of advice: DON'T read pars 2 or 3 late at night, ESPECIALLY the scene at Flutteshy's place! Gave me the creeps!

      Loved the sneaky humor and the CONSTANT flow of references throughout to other classic stories, even in the title. Some obscure, some obvious, loved each one.

      Oh, and Pinkie Pie is the BAWS!!!

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    29. I really, really enjoyed this. The author is a fantastic writer and is brilliant at making the story easy to visualise. Also, Screwball ♥

      My only critique would be that nearing the end of the story, the dialogue got a little confusing to read; there seemed to be a lot of new paragraphs for dialogue when to me it seemed like they weren't necessary. That could just be me though, I always get confused with that sort of thing.

      Really enjoyable. I hope the author writes more fics!

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    30. This was fantastic. This Screwball is now my headcanon.

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    31. Wonderful story. I have to say I think Sweetie Belle was my favorite part of it.

      Love the artwork you got for it, too.

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    32. This was a fantastic read. I really liked the writing style and I can only hope I can come close to being able to write with such wonderful flourish. I'm going to recommend this story to anyone I can, because it needs more attention.

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    33. Really cool story. And I didn't expect Pinkie Pie to pwn that hard!

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    34. Hehe, Klingon.

      Can't believe I skipped this when it was posted. Happy to have read it.

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    35. I could see this as an actual episode.

      Except Twilight would have to be restrained by
      Spike and AppleJack
      during the ScrewBall/Pinkie Pie duel.
      (Where's the music coming from? How can they dance as bipeds? They didn't rehearse!
      Ect.. Ect..)

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    36. Wow, this is a perfect fanfic. I mean, it had me cracking up evry three sentences or less. I'm so glad I stayed up to read this.

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    37. Hmmm... I saw the name Screwball in Ancient Blunders (A fanfic about Discord).
      I wonder if this has any connection...

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    38. the last page made me think of "The Mask"

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    39. I simply love this story! Button Stitch turning into our second Beloved crazy-cute pony was awesome... and creepy. XD So worth the read!

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    40. Great Story, I really enjoyed it :)

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