A lot of new stuff backing up! And Name That Verse! · 7:23am Jul 28th, 2014
I was going to write something about shipping wars and anti-shipping, but what fun is that, really?
Good HEAVENS. Well, I keep promising myself I'll do some productive things, and I will, of course, but I also seem to be acquiring new things to do and write! I'm pretty ruthless about not picking up too many new goodies, but things snowball anyhow.
Here's what's in the hopper:
More Looking Glass World of Cheese and Pie. Stuff is about to get real there. I'm planning to wrap it all up before Rainbow Rocks is released, and I THINK that's doable.
At least one more regular CheesePie fic. And by that, I don't mean "there will be no more after that." I mean "I already have that one planned."
Two short one-shots. No, seriously, they will be short this time, and connected with some of my out of continuity stuff. I'm not going to get more specific that that. And one of them I'm pretty sure no one is going to like except for me, but I have been planning to do it for months now. But the cover art for it is AMAZING.
And I gotta get back to "Princess Trixie and Her Magic Dragon" soon, too.
Down the road--possible sequel to Looking Glass World, but I'm going to delay that one until Rainbow Rocks is released, I think.
Stuff I am sorely tempted to write:
A fic with Rarity, but since it would almost certainly be multiple chapters, probably not.
TrenderMaud! Oh, my, I so want to add to the TrenderMaud pile. I have a friend who's been planning to do one, too, but good heavens, it's almost irresistible, since as you may remember, in my stories, Cheese ain't that fond of Trend, and I am so tempted to dump him on Cheese as a potential brother-in-law.
Oh, and I've been asked if there's a 'verse name for my stuff. (I have a VERSE now. Eeee!) I guess that's legit, since I've done some world-building or at least built up some party pony lore. I don't want to call it the Partyverse, since evidently another fandom has one of those, but what about the Party Ponyverse? Any other good ideas?
Oh, and what the heck, the best bit of my thoughts on shipping and anti shipping and stuff.
Here is my bottom-line feeling about Pinkie Pie ships:
LEARN TO SHARE.
Um, I didn't mean that literally, guys.
Pokey, Discord, and Cheese: But she's so cuddly!
She is!
(I'm sorry Sombra is not in the picture, Harmony Charmer, but maybe he's holding the camera or something.)
And while I'm not going to be writing other Pinkie ships personally, I certainly read them, or support their existence, or at the very, very least, I'm polite about them. I enjoy writing and reading stories about one of the most popular characters, who loves making friends with everypony. Getting possessive about her would feel weird.
So--more incoming CheesePie and verse suggestions and I guess that's it from me right now, so say goodnight, Pinkie.
"Goodnight, Pinkie!"
So I wasn't the only one who liked trenderhoof. Yeah he's a dork but I still like him and maud I wonder how that will go. The deadpan snarker and the dorky hipster.
I recently stumbled across Weird Al's stuff regarding MLP, saying how he loved doing it and that. It's just gotten me more hyped up for Rainbow Rocks, hoping we'll see Cheese at some point. What about a goof-off with Pinkie with instruments, where he starts on the accordion and Pinkie brings out the drums and her 10-instruments-at-once routine? This film is a Battle of the Bands, so this is a great opportunity to at least put in some other forms of music. Have Octavia play the cello, or Lyra the heartstrings. Great potential I see, and I'd love to see a cameo, even for just a few seconds. Have Cheese and Pinkie hug in the background, and BAM!
I've been getting tempted by TrenderMaud myself. Actually... here. I'm not sure if this is going to happen or not yet, but I'm getting tempted for later down the road, considering it'd probably be my first crack at an Adventure. I've been getting ideas for it constantly, one of which would be Cheese appearing on his roaming temporarily, and Trenderhoof gets jealous of him because he knows Maud and they hug and stuff. Rivalry, who doesn't like it? Actually, this is where I've got the expansion on Twisting the Cheese. Tootin' my own horn here and pure future ideas here, but I've been thinking of expanding on the Pie sisters individually after it. As I got my own headcanon and all... So this would be Maud's path, Limestone's would probably be the LimeDash I had thought about (but likely cut down tremendously) and Marble... I haven't decided on. Falling in love with a single dad of a kid she babysits for? I've been getting the wacky idea that at the end of these three arcing stories, it ends in a one-shot where all eight of them are having dinner together. IDEAS! It'd definitely give more to this Pie sister thing I've had going, but... unknown right now. Kind of plugging my stuff here, and my main point was at TrenderMaud. I'd like to see you go for it, especially with Cheese and the brother-in-law route. Maybe Smash Entry could be the best man (or stallion) at Trenderhoof's wedding. He'd be certain to set some 'amazing' bachelor party up.
As for a 'verse name, the only thought I've had is the Boneless Universe. Since Cheese has taken so long to determine if he's in love with Pinkie, and then what with the events of Good Morning, Beautiful, he finally gets his bones together. Boneless, he is no more.
That pic is pretty adorable. Haven't read that many Pokey fics actually. Hold nothing against him, I guess I just haven't. And it may just be me, but I don't see Discord as a courting mate. The god of entropy in love with, say, Fluttershy? I get friendshipping out of the pair. Part of it is how Discord is so old and that, and another is his physical appearance. There's nothing wrong with it, but I just don't see a... whatever it was he's called and a pony together. It's partly why I'm on the fence a little with Sparity, or Spike with any mane six. I find Spike and a CMC more believable because of the size and age. The sheer difference in height (and sometimes) age is a little jarring to me. And it's the same with Discord. I just don't see it. The only ones I really see for Discord are with Twilight after a few hundreds years of being a princess, or one of the princesses already. I get why people like FlutterCord, but I just don't see it. And of course, that rolls onto DiscoPie. They may be two physics defying beings, but that doesn't prompt me into a relationship for the pair, unless it's a crack about how they use their physics-breaking skills to wreak havoc or play pranks.
Poor Sombra, having to hold the camera.
Why is Twilight not in the picture?But I'm definitely looking forward to more CheesePie, and even the Trixie with Spike one. Sounds pretty interesting.
You've been much more productive than I have. If I have time to make Magic cards, I should have time to write actual stories...
Never mind. Not a productive area of conversation.
TrenderMaud. Oh my goodness, that would be fantastic. Well, it would be for Trenderhoof. Nothing would ground him better, literally and figuratively. But I'm not sure if Maud would reciprocate. Maybe if she was something like a Zen guru...
Oh my gosh, that is a fantastic idea. "When you can snatch Boulder from my frog, you are ready."
As for a 'verse name... I want to suggest the Thaliaverse, after the muse of comedy, but that's based on my name for laughter magic, thaliamancy. That's not your stuff. The Joyverse? Waffleland? Super Happy CheesePie Team Monkey Force Go? (Well, that last one might work for your EG stuff...)
And for the shipping, I accept virtually every ship if it's well-written. So long as it isn't incest and doesn't break up established couples, I like it.
Even though I'm not interested in Rarity fictions, I have to admit that your Rarity characterization In "Say Goodnight Pinkie" was so perfect, that I would encourage you to go for it.
I don't really have much to say about your work, because I've only read a few, but yay more is good!! I know I'll love anything you write. <333333 gotta say,.though, trendermaud is v interesting, and I can't wait to read looking glass world when its done!
Party Ponyverse is just too wordy for my tastes. I prefer laughterverse or cheesepieverse maybe??
Ugh THANK YOU. I remember when the s4 finale aired and a lot of fluttercord fans were complaining about the "evidence" towards Celestiacord and just ugh okay forget COMPLETELY ABOUT Fluttershy tackle hugging Discord and their picnics and. OK wow. Too many negative nancies in this fandom I s2g. And the thing is, it bugged me so much because both ships are otps. Multishipping is hard and no one understands.
Well, I'm now excited for these future tales.
Oh, dear, I don't think I can come up with a good name for the 'verse you've ended up creating. I could do that for my own stuff (even though I've only got two), but someone else's? I'd be pacing around trying to find a good name that'll fit the other person's taste. Still, I like this 'verse, and I'm looking forward to its continuation.
TrenderMaud. I'm starting to warm up to that ship, which is odd considering that I'm not too big a fan of Trenderhoof and I've developed a dislike of Maud (I personally think she's overrated. The rock jokes quickly became stale for me; says the girl writing a story set on the rock farm). Maybe it's because I share your idea that Cheese and Trend don't like each other all that much, and the thought of them being brothers-in-law is hilarious.
Ah, yes, we have the whole Pinkie ship problem going on. I've managed to slip under some anti-CheesePie people's radar somehow, even though I have had fan art of TRFD and Tomato Sandwich drawn for me by a couple prominent CheesePie artists. Still, I've seen some of the hate for the ship for very stupid reasons:
"Its ruining MAH life and must die!!!1!!1!" Yeah, buddy, if a ship between two fictional characters is ruining your life, you need to rethink your priorities.
"But Cheese made Pinkie cry!" There's a concept called forgiveness, which is something I'm sure Pinkie knows how to do. And Cheese didn't mean to, and once he realized the flaw in his approach to impress her, he was a big boy and apologized and explained his motives.
"But it's a boring ship!" A pair of party ponies, boring? Does a couple really need to be exact opposites to be exciting? That just tells me you're uncreative with the arguments they'd have and the things they'd do.
"Cheese is just r63 Pinkie!" You're just scratching the party pony surface of Cheese's character. Never mind the hints that he's an introvert, a city boy, and most likely has several different interests than Pinkie (for instance, I think he's a fan of Westerns).
"They're obviously related!" Please, provide the genealogical record that proves this.
If they don't ship similar ponies, or have another ship that overrides it, or they don't feel comfortable because Weird Al, I'll just shrug and move on.
My only beef with PokeyPie (or um, RoyalPie) is that I don't really know the dude, and I can't ship someone with no established personality. Although someone on DA is making me hate the ship due to their immature whining about CheesePie.
DiscoPie--I just don't see Discord in a romantic relationship with anypony. Same goes for King Sombra (not to mention he's dead).
But hey, if anyone's shipping any of those, I'm not going to try and stop them. I'd just roll with it and just keep shipping CheesePie.
Well, longer comment than I intended.
Wow, I didn't realize my question would become such a big deal. I'm not sure if I should be happy or nervous.
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That's pretty much my feelings on the matter. I personally ship Cheese and Maud, but that doesn't reduce my enjoyment of well written Cheesepie stories in the slightest.
2322452 That's exactly what I'm hoping for from Rainbow Rocks. Heck, I'd take a walk-on! I'd definitely like to see some different musical styles--like REALLY different musical styles--and I think Daniel Ingram likes playing with those. I guess we'll find out.
I'd really encourage that adventure-y TrenderMaud. It sounds like fun.
PokeyPie was one of the most popular straight Pinkie ships until CheesePie came along. I don't have any real opinions about it or him. He's a background pony with a nice design whom we see twice. It's basically up to the writer to make him interesting. That said, there's a sort of wild fic called Pinkie and Pokey ride Plessie the Pleosaur which I had to read, because c'mon.
The picture's by an artist on DeviantArt who liked PokeyPie and DiscoPie and then CheesePie came along and she was torn. And behold, an OT4 was born. Better'n fighting. (She has foals, too. It's hilarious.)
2322634 Well. . . "productive" doesn't mean fanfic. It means the stuff I should be doing instead of fanfic! And on this, I have been very, very bad.
"When the student is ready, the Rockmistress appears."
2322666 Thank you! Yeah--that's pretty much why I'd do it. I enjoyed writing her and would like to do some more.
2322746 I don't multiship, personally--I don't really ship much at all--but I don't see the point in shipping wars. Plus one of the few ships I do have is Mirrorverse Sombra/Celestia, and that'll work with either Dislestia or Fluttercord, and honestly, I just don't care that much either way.
2322748 Yes--the TrenderMaud idea partly came about from some brainstorming with Yildun (whom I miss, BTW, and I hope she is ok. And I hope YOU'RE ok, too! How are you?) But a big part is the sheer comic potential, especially of throwing Trend and Maud's wedding and a lot of aesthetic clashes, and how come Cheese hasn't proposed yet, anyhow? Pressure. It's fun.
Your feelings about Maud's being overrated are basically mine about Coco Pommel. I probably wouldn't feel as negatively about her as I do if it wasn't for the rush to crown her "the new Fluttershy." And they weren't kidding--have her replace Fluttershy! I thought it was nuts. I go out of my way to read Coco fics now, in the spirit of "please, please, somebody make me like her."
Plus, ALL of what you said about Cheese's character, which probably annoys me more than any ship could do. I also don't see how you reconcile "but he made Pinkie cry!" with "but they're so boring together!" Dude, they just clashed. You know they can. I don't mind "opposites attract," but in real life, it can be awfully hard to sustain.
Apologies and forgiveness in general seem to be underrated in certain segments of the fandom. The same thing came in up in Filli Vanilli, only it was Pinkie making Fluttershy cry, and they wanted an extended, tearful apology. I made the mistake of suggesting that if we saw that on the show, it would be quick and would end with a hug and a cupcake. I got called a couple of four letter words. Honestly. It's Friendship is Magic, not Revenge is Sweet!
Which is why shipping wars accomplish nothing. They backfire. They take neutral or "eh, different flavored ice cream" people, and turn them into "I really, really hate that ship." It's why I grew to really hate PommelCheese; because I always saw it in conjunction with "PokeyPie 4 evah!!111!! Death to CheesePie! CheesePie sucks!!!" Hey, wouldn't you have a negative association with that, too? (Plus, I think Coco is overrated: see above.) I think it's mostly that one crazy person, though.
The fact that Pokey doesn't have an established personality is a big reason I couldn't hate him. What's to hate? If you want to promote a ship, do it in a positive way. Write and read good fics about it and draw cute art, and some people will like it. Engage in shipping wars, and you pour gasoline on the fire. Not good for anyone.
I think it's really a long story arc with a connected EG story arc and a tad of Party Pony lore, and that's it.
2323033 Aw, no--I was just flattered.
I think I've written so much CheesePie that by now, CheeseMaud feels to me like Cheese is cheating on his girlfriend with her sister.
50,000+ words or whatever it is, and it's kind of hard-wired in. But the fact that you'll read and enjoy my CheesePie is more or less what I'd like to see. I've been concerned that the negativity from DeviantArt would spread to here, so hopefully it won't.
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Bronies in a nutshell they tell the anti bronies to love and tolerate but they themselves arent loving and tolerating. ship wars flames wars fandumb wars DA is no longer a safe place to be. I saw the anti cheesepie group and I thought the people running it were kids because of how they acted. I don't get pokeypie last time i checked pinkie actually talked and interacted with Cheese also they clashed so they aren't alike shes loud and spontaneous social farm girl hes a loner city boy who travels from town to town and never makes any friends. Cheese isnt a pinkie recolor.
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Is there anything going on with her that I'm unaware of?
As for myself, my problem's still painfully annoying. Been drinking plenty of fluids to push the stupid pebble down, and lately I've been brainstorming ways to make it through the night with as little pain as possible (because for some reason, kidney stones have intense attacks at night). Still, I suspect that it might be on the final leg of its journey. My CT scan tomorrow will let me know for sure.
But anyway, back to ponies. Yeah, TrenderMaud is just chock full of comedic potential. Still, I'm finding it awfully cute.
I've been trying to make sure that Maud has a purpose in The Rock Farmer's Daughters than just being there because she's canonically Pinkie's older sister. Seriously, I feel as if she's just... there. And given that the title is plural, I need to keep all the sisters having a significant role in the story (though the biggest role is Pinkie's).
As for Coco... I'm kinda neutral on her. My thoughts are as follows: "Mm, yeah, she's cute, but I don't see the big deal. At least she's nice." I'm not going to be writing a fic about her anytime soon, unless I decide to ship her with Tomato or one of his friends.
Given that this is Fluttershy, she'd accept a simple and sweet apology from Pinkie. Tears of remorse are probably more fitting for a more serious situation than that (even if I did find Pinkie annoying in that episode).
Agreed. I'm not too fond of CheesePommel, either. Only reason I've seen supporting it (aside from anti-CheesePie reasons) is, "He can help her out of her shell!" Come on...
(I'm sorry Sombra is not in the picture, Harmony Charmer, but maybe he's holding the camera or something.)
Ha! Nah, it's fine, it doesn't bother me. I know those three have a bigger shipping pool than SombraPie, but I don't hate the paurings(I actually ship a little bit of DisvoPie, Cheese is still a viable candidate).
2323669
I like to pretend filli vanilli isn't canon that's all i got to say blame the rabid bronies for ruining the episode for me. I cant watch it without thinking amy keating rogers got death threats over it so i feel bad watching it since it caused her problems. I wouldn't blame her if she didn't write for the show ever again. But then again if it weren't for her then we would have the cheesepie overlord now would we? I never understood the love for coco but i do love maud and yeah i read hte rock farmer's daughters and i like it since it goes with the city boy falls for the farm girl trope. I think they farm the rocks for whats inside them since i cant think of anyone else besides maud eating them like a delicacy. I guess eating unusual stuff runs in the family.
2323669 I don't know that anything's wrong--just haven't seen Yildun around for a couple of weeks. I'm hoping to hear that she won the lottery or something and was too busy off being awesome.
Hopefully your issue's over soon. It can't be at all nice.
I think you're doing fine with Maud. Pinkie's supposed to be front and center. I guess the one thing I've always wondered about your Maud is that Pinkie was bringing her soup when there was that chain of events that caused the AU in the first place, and she was bringing her soup because she was sick. I keep thinking maybe that might be important.
The problem with characters who don't talk a lot is that eventually you have to give them something to say. On camera, they'd still be there, being quiet, but on paper, you have to give them a line or even an action. With Fluttershy, at least you can give her some nervous activity. Maud's like a rock herself. When she just sits there, that's ALL she does. I haven't tried writing her, but that seems challenging.
Up thread, you mentioned that Cheese loves Westerns? WELL: two-part Applejack comic coming out later this year-and it's going to be a Western! I cannot wait to see whether they bring in Appleloosa or Dodge Junction. There's so much they can do. And there's always the possibility of Clint Eastwood Pony showing up in the background. I really wouldn't be at all surprised.
I know PommelCheese isn't always a "save my Pinkie ship!" ship, but it does seem to be a LOT of the time. In order to get the "opposites attract" vibe going, the writer has to jack Cheese's "wackiness" into overdrive and make him into a giant extrovert. BUT that is coming from me, and I'm hardly an impartial judge here, and I don't want to diss something someone else genuinely likes. It's too bad that it's gotten so tied up with negative stuff.
2323729 Come to the Cheesy side . . . . we have fondue . . .
. . . seriously, when people have brought up "most popular Pinkie Pie straight ship," I've always said that based on sheer number of stories and popularity of same, SombraPie is a formidable contender. I don't care how crack-y it is. People obviously like it. And this is because you and maybe two other writers have written the HECK out of it instead of wasting time getting into online hissy fits. It's like, "oh, hey, guys, while you were arguing about where to put the beach umbrella, I built this four story sandcastle and won a prize."
2323806 Amy Keating Rogers is a great sport. I saw her at BABSCon. I'd be genuinely afraid if I were her, but she seems able to take it all in stride and look at the positive, kinda like her favorite character. And that is why I think of her, sort of, as Pinkie's mom.
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I try to stay out of shipping wars as much as possible. Seriously, because it's really ridiculous to spend time bring destructive when you can be constructive.
I mean, it's like you said, while everyone's out arguing, I just sit here and write and make something for my pairing.
And you'd be surprised how many people haven't heard of SombraPie, but more of the Pinkie Triangle(Dizzy, Cheesy, Pokey). I don't let it bother me and I get a little kick of joy when someone shares my pairing.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely think the Triangle holds great pairs for Pinkie, and I acknowledge and respect those who support one of those ships.
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That's pretty brave of her I give her credit for that.