“Hey little dude…”
Vinyl with lil’ Notey! She was excited to be a mother, but deep down she just wasn’t ready for the responsibility.
This takes place after Vinyl leaves. Octavia was never very laid back, but after vinyl poofed out of their lives, she became pretty… intense. Like, alcatraz-prison-warden intense.
This is canon! Noteworthy and Hanky haaaate eachother, and have since they were kids. Hanky is more scared of Notey than anything, but the only reason Notey leaves him alone is because Moonshine terrifies him.
“I do not require your doting, Sparkle.”
“There’s nothing wrong with needing a little doting now and then, Notes.”
This is also canon. Fabio did genuinely care about Notey, and wanted to help him get better, but Notey was simply to possessive and easily jealous that the relationship didn’t work out, nothing new for Notey. This scene is post-panic-attack, Fabio is attempting to comfort Notey, but they’re both pretty unfamiliar with affection in general.
Noteworthy is vinyl scratch and octavias son, and for a while after he was born things were actually pretty nice. That is, until vinyl and octy started having very heated fights, mostly due to vinyl being a free spirit and octavia more practical. Vinyl wanted to travel and be on tours but octy needed her to stay home and help raise their son, she couldnt just run off with her records and ignore all her responsibilities. but vinyl had a reputation to uphold.
vinyl eventually caved after much, MUCH arguing. so they made a deal. if octy would let her go on one last tour, just a little one, she would stay home however long octy needed her. octavia was reluctant, but she agreed. So vinyl left, and did not come back.
Octavia was heartbroken and extremely bitter about the whole thing, and took out her anger and frustration on poor Noteworthy. she was going to make sure her son didnt end up a rebellious, flighty, nomadic walkout like his other mother. so she conditioned and taught him to be the perfect stallion. his grades were impeccable, his room was never messy, and there was never a hair out of place in his mane.
he excelled at the cello (though his real passion was the trumpet), but didnt often feel very happy. there were things his mother didnt know, like how he pushed around the other foals at school who acted like they were better than him (NOPONY was better than him), the panic attacks he had in the school bathroom when he made even the slightest mistake on a test (a single A minus sent him into a full-on tizzy), or most of all, how much he missed vinyl.
growing up that way took a toll on him, and any relationships he made (friendly or romantic) were never good enough for him, and never lasted long.
some other notes on him:
he was a blank flank for a veeeery long time because he was convinced his true talent was the cello. out of fear of disappointing his mother (the motivation for so many of his choices) he did not pursue trumpet until much later, only after he’s received reluctant permission from Octavia to branch out musically.
he dated Fabio the Fabled for a short while, mostly because Fabs was too timid to object, but found Note attractive anyway. it didnt end well… Fabio being a pushover combined with Note being possessive, insecure, and easily jealous was very unhealthy to say the least. Fabs resents Note slightly, but still has lingering feelings for him, mostly out of pity.
Cortland Apple is the closest thing Note has to a friend. shes a bit of an outcast herself (she got picked on for her size), and really just wants to feel part of something. he doesnt treat her all that well, but she blames on him being a perfectionist while nopony is perfect.
he acts like hes the best, but is very emotionally weak, and cries often when hes alone. he also deals with MAJOR self esteem problems/self-hatred due to not feeling like he could ever live up to his mothers outrageously high expectations (he doesnt view them as unrealistic, he just views himself as not good enough).