Trying to understand characters from a cartoon show · 1:55pm Feb 23rd, 2012
I'll reveal a small secret about the fanfic: it's about Spike.
Thus, I have to make relationships between Spike and the rest of the cast (here, mostly the Mane 6) work.
When you writing original fiction, having two character interacts is a bit of a joy: it often takes turns that you'd never expected and allow you to learn more about either character.
However, when writing fanfics, it's a bit more of a chore. Well, it is if you want to follow my philosophy of writing the fanfic: doing your best to adopt the source material's mentality, philosophy, tone, etc. Not completely of course, but doing your best to do so.
No artist do the same thing the same way. That's why counterfeiting art is such a big project. Take a painter, even an impressionist painter, and tell him to make a painting purely in Van Goth's stlye. At best, it will fool you, but someone who is intimately familiar with Van Goth's work will spot the problems immediately.
The same princible holds true in other mediums, even music. At the surface, playing music is just a menchanical process of playing the right notes at the right time?
My half-brother, who is a music academy graduate and plays in orchestras, would laugh at you. Well, not really, I'd imagine he'd most give you an annoyed glare at your ignorance.
Which sort of brings me to the problem of Fluttershy's and Spike's relationship.
Namely, there are like two scenes where they interact. By interact, I mean one does something that the other responds to.
The first, is when Fluttershy first meets Spike in the very first episode. Here, Flutterhsy is overcome with curiosity at this new, potential friend. Spike is eager to become friends with Fluttershy and responds to Fluttershy's inquiries with honesty.
The second is in Feeling Pinkie Keen (a great episode, if it were not the creator's tendency to screw up their intented "lesson" with what actually happened in the episode, such as what happened in the notorious Mare Do Well and recently, A Friend in Deed). Here, we see Spike being genuinely worried about Fluttershy and hugs her the first moment he sees him. Fluttershy responds with surprise.
Arguably, there is a third scene in Over a Barrel, on the train. Here, the ponies do the typical thing of talking while they should be sleeping. Spike has enough of the pony's chatter, as he'd like to sleep and storms (or rather, huffs) out of the wagon, deciding to sleep with Bloomberg (may not remember the name right). Fluttershy responds to Twlight's observation of "Well, that was kind of huffy" with "Huffy the magic dragon". The ponies giggle at that.
However, I don't count this because not only it is not an exclusive interaction, but because it is also a very indirect one. Fluttershy reacts to Twilight, not to Spike. Spike reacts to all the ponies, not to Fluttershy. Hence, why I can't count it.
The problem is that both are special circumstances, not regular dynamics of their relationship.
So, what can I do?
I'll blog about my musings about that once I've restarted my computer. I have this gps receiver and I intend to see what I can do with it.