A Meditation on Writing Preference (I Hate Empty Blogs)

Hey, I'm Lady Grey, I haven't written any fanfiction since 2005. Three weeks ago I began writing a Ponyfic. The Blame for this falls entirely on my friend, Fedora Mask. As much of it as he wants to take. I've been working on it on and off between homework and final projects and such, using it to medicate a somewhat egregious writer's block on my own stuff.

It's a Celestia fic, or at least a collection of connected oneshots based on a head canon (Which I guess was revealed to be Faustian canon as well recently?) that came up while talking about the FiM pilot with FM one night doing laundry. And yesterday, while pondering the mysteries of the universe, I realized how weird that is.

Because I don't really like Celestia. And I don't like the Pilot.

I mean, I don't dislike them. Celestia is a character in the show who I don't mind seeing, but I'm not like super excited that she's going to be in an episode. And Nightmare Moon was pretty cool, but the pilot is still not in my top 10 favorite episodes. It was fun, it kept me watching, but it wasn't until I skipped ahead to Return of Harmony that I was really sold on the show. So why am I writing a story about Celestia focusing on her arc surrounding the pilot? Shouldn't I be more interested in writing about what excites me about the show?

I've thought about it, and I think the answer comes in the form of some of the most cliched, misrepresented, and most often parroted writing advice there is: Show, Don't tell Write what you know.

I am a sister--a younger sister. My sister and I ended up going to the same college (Long story) and we share a friend group. This means I've been in a position to have a relationship with my sister, a real one, as equals. Yes, she's older than me by a few years but when you're both digging your way through study materials for your 2-3+ big ending tests while lamenting how little time there is the the day, our different majors seem to matter a lot more than out different ages. She's great to talk to, we know all the same jokes. Sometimes she understands me when my other friends are still catching up. But sometimes she annoys me with the slightest twinges of her voice. Sometimes I get frustrated at having to call her for dinner. Sometimes I feel more like her keeper than her friend. Sometimes I hate slowing down because she walks more slowly than I do. Sometimes I don't want to talk to her about things because then she'd know everything and how am I supposed to have my own space on this tiny campus? Sometimes I feel jealous when our parents ask about her because I feel like I'm being punished for being on top of things. And then I feel bad for feeling all those things because honestly they're mostly my faults at work, not hers. I know her better than I know anyone, and I love her with every little bit of my heart.

I have never, in my entire life, had a better friend.

I've seen so much art of Celestia and Luna show them younger, with a tiny Luna and a Big Sister Celestia, and I've been there. I've been that little sister who thought it was funny to turn off the light switch while people weren't looking or got mad when my sister said I was "Too young" to play Myst with her and her friend. But ultimately, that does not define my relationship with my sister. I think what really attracted me to the Royal Sister's relationship was that they are the only pair of adult sisters in the show. They are both Princesses, and even if Luna defers to Celestia in most matters they are clearly equals in each others eyes. Their relationship is that dynamic of personality and baggage that I am so familiar with. Sometimes I feel like Celestia--The reasonable (sometimes unreasonable) authority figure having to deal with her sister's mess, her mercurialness, trying to help her shine in social situations, but ultimately unyielding to her needs--And sometimes I feel like Luna--The under appreciated younger sister rebelling, trying to shine out, proud of her sister and yet jealous of the recognition, getting angry and saying things I don't mean, and sometimes more horribly things I do mean.

I have been poking around in groups ever since I joined FiM fiction and I will say shamelessly that I've mostly just joined the few I've found relevent to the mysterious story idea. And I found a thread in the "Protect Celestia Group" on people's thoughts on how you characterize the Princesses when writing. While now looking back at it, most of the ideas seem (merely) okay, at the time I was totally disgusted and actually stopped reading the thread halfway through the second post. And I think the reason I had that reaction was because there was this gaping hole around "Sisterhood." No one wanted to write the sisters as sisters--Celestia was always "protective" of Luna, sometimes devoted, sometimes downright cold, but always one defining trait. It felt less personal, less real. All the character sketches in that post look more like sketches of romantic relationships--not even realistic ones--that's pretty divorced from sisterhood. I know this is a tiny subgroup of people in just one fandom in just one corner of the internet, represented only by a few sentences at a single moment of space time, and it's nothing I plan to get worked up about. But this relationship has been so prevalent in my life, it's weird to think that there are people on the internet so ignorant about it.

But isn't it funny how our own experiences shape our creations? How life triumphs over preference? Maybe ultimately "Write what you know" isn't such bad advice. By writing what we know best we educate others. So maybe the advice should really be more like "Write what you know, but read what you don't."

Well, time to get back to my important writing....you know, Ponyfic.

Comments

[Fedora Mask]

LG, I will SO take all of the credit blame for that fic.

Not to disregard your entire explanation for why you want to write about Celestia, but I also think there's a definite impulse towards writing about the parts of something you aren't as big a fan of sometimes? Like, some of my parody ideas are pure bloody-minded "I CAN DO THIS BETTER." Or even, "I like this thing, except this part is meh. What would it take to bring it into line?"

Or your meditation about how important being a sister is to you. That's also a good reason.

[Obselescence]

YOU HAVE MADE ME ENORMOUSLY SELF-CONSCIOUS NOW ABOUT MY OWN CELESTIA-LUNA FICS I DO HOPE YOU KNOW.

But this is a nice analysis. By and large I dig what you are saying here about sisterhood, even though I am still VERY SELF-CONSCIOUS NOW ABOUT HOW I HAVE PORTRAYED IT MYSELF.

Also, welcome to FimFiction, Lady Grey! Any friend of Fedora Mask is a friend of Fedora Mask... but you seem like a nice sort, so maybe we can be friends too. :D