Who Is Twilight Sparkle? · 8:05pm Nov 9th, 2014
Anyone’s who has been reading fanfic for a while has probably noticed that different authors have different takes on characters. This makes sense, the canon characters are pretty broadly drawn, and we see them on the show through the eyes of different writers, then we let thousands of different authors mash up everything we saw and strain it through a genre and/or situation the character was never meant to be written in.
It’s a wonder we know who Twilight Sparkle is at all.
So, who is she? I asked four writers that, along with five more specific questions about the character and writing of Twilight Sparkle. I thought it would be interesting to see where people agree, and how their points of view differ, and to talk in the comments about how we agree or disagree.
Of course I have the rest of the mane six coming up, and if this is something people are interested in I’ll keep going with the CMC, Princesses, and side characters. And Spike. See, I remembered Spike!
So without further ado, here are Tchernobog, Bradel, bats, and GhostOfHeraclitus to tell use about Twilight Sparkle:
Tchernobog (Mood Wings, Felt Heart, Just a Couple of Ponies):
Briefly describe Twilight as you see her:
The type of person, of the six, I'd most likely hang out with. Interesting to talk to, friendly, though maybe also somewhat intimidating with how smart they are. A nerdy, geeky girl who never knew what friendship was, and is doing all she can to make up for the time she missed.What is essential to remember about her that people might forget?
She is not constantly neurotic or high strung. She just has her little quirks and oddities that make her who she is. That, and she doesn't always have the answer - or, if she doesn't immediately know, she might not have it in her library - she does sometimes need to do research elsewhere. But she'll love it. Also, she doesn't constantly fail spells, dangit!Is there anything you like to add to her character that’s a stretch from canon, or totally your own invention?
Well, if one were to take her in my Mood Wings settings, she's one of two ponies (other being Cadance) having gone from no wings to wings, and having to learn all the pegasus body language that she had no idea about beforehand, which would be fascinating to her once she learns about it. Not sure if that's anything about her character, though... I can't think of any special trait or anything that I've come up with.How does Twilight’s academic interest affect how you write her in different situations?
Tunnel vision, at times. She may be emphatic, and is the 'princess of friendship', but she has her failings too. She can miss things, even obvious things, focusing instead on a technical or scientific aspect of things.Do you think becoming a princess has changed Twilight’s perspective? How?
Somewhat, yes. She's managed to stay the same pony, but she does have added responsibilities, and is seen differently by others at times. It changes how she deals with some ponies.If Twilight was in our world, what would she study in college?
EVERYTHING. 'Social Science' of some sort would equate the friendship research, but that doesn't exactly carry over. She’d probably go full blown scientist of some sort and go on a path to change the world somehow, making things better for everyone. Research into renewable energy!
Bradel (A Filly's Guide to Not Making Headlines, Twilight Sparkle Investigates):
Briefly describe Twilight as you see her:
Friend-finder; Tree-tender; Herald of Harmony.
Dragon-doting; Sister-seeming; Child of Charity.
Magic-maker; Rapid-reader; Endless-Exploring.
Keen-kenning. Wonder-working. Apple-Adoring.
Panic-plagued, patient protector; punctilious, plan-perfecter;
Purple Pony PrincessWhat is essential to remember about her that people might forget?
I think most writers probably have an easy time remembering most of Twilight's basic motivations. She doesn't want to disappoint people she cares about. She wants to learn new things and have new experiences. I don't think people are likely to forget that. Twilight's a pretty easy character, really.
If I have to think of an essential point that people might forget, though, it'd be this: Twilight Sparkle solves problems. That's the through-line for her personality. When she doesn't have a problem to solve, she'll find one or invent one (occasionally to disastrous effect). I think her curiosity is fundamentally about ensuring she's got something to do. She has a nearly pathological need to keep busy—think of her checklists and her studying. And she shines best when she's got a monumentally intimidating task in front of her. Her abilities scale with the difficulty level.Is there anything you like to add to her character that’s a stretch from canon, or totally your own invention?
The show's not big on romance—no big surprise there, given the target demographic—but I really like extending Twilight's curiosity in that direction. I think it's a natural move for her character. She's learned the magic of friendship, and now she has other forms of interpersonal magic to discover. It makes for a nice shipping justification, sure, but it works as more than that, too. Even outside shipping stories, it's a nice bit of background characterization for her. I don't think I've ever used it except to cause drama and/or crack pairings[1], but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be an easy thing to do. In fact, just talking about it makes me want to go write it.How does Twilight’s academic interest affect how you write her in different situations?
This is probably the most boring answer ever, but it doesn't. Not really. I'm an academic myself—a PhD student in statistics, hoping to become a tenure-track research professor after I graduate. Twilight's brand of academic interest is my default setting for dealing with the world. I mostly just write her reacting to situations the way I think I'd react myself. Of all the characters in My Little Pony, she's probably the easiest for me to inhabit when I'm trying to write something.What's hard for me is figuring out how to write ponies/people who aren't academically interested. And honestly, I don't know if I can do that. I think my usual solution is to just try to figure out what a character is interested in, and then treat them like a specialist focused on that area, with whatever slate of personality traits seems appropriate. Pinkie's a party expert, AJ's an agriculture expert, Fluttershy's an animal expert, Rarity's a fashion/culture expert, and Rainbow Dash is... well, Rainbow Dash is probably a topic for another day.
Do you think becoming a princess has changed Twilight’s perspective? How?
Not really. It's given her a new slate of things to get neurotic about, but she became a princess because of who she already was.
The one area where I think she really would have changed—and we haven't seen too much of it in the series, but I think it's an obvious byproduct of her princessension—is in her relationship with Celestia and the other alicorns. Twilight was very comfortable being Celestia's student, and probably to a lesser extent being subordinate to Luna and Cadance. Twilight was the Equestrian consigliera, but now she's part of the family[2]. And that's going to take some adjustment.If Twilight was in our world, what would she study in college?
Obviously Twilight likes science, but I think the better way to approach this is to ask who her heroes / heroines are. In Equestria, she's able to (a) study magic, which isn't included in most college curricula and (b) have a variety of interests instead of specializing in one topic. If she needed to pick, I think our best window on her choice would be through who she looks up to. And the three easy answers for who she idolizes are: Celestia, Star Swirl, and Daring Do. The common theme with all three of those ponies is history—Celestia is responsible for most of Equestrian history, Star Swirl had a hand in a lot of early pony history, and Daring Do spends her liferunning away from giant bouldersyelling, "It belongs in a museum!"performing adventure archaeology.As an undergraduate, Twilight would study history. As a graduate student, she'd change fields slightly to something like anthropology or archaeology—something that would let her get out into the field.[3]
[1] I consider any non-canon pairing, however easily justified, to be a crack pairing when the author intentionally makes no real effort at that justification. AppleDash is pretty easy to justify, but there's always some easy comedy to mine by not bothering to give them any justification beyond authorial fiat. Authorial fiat is a wonderful thing.
[2] Yes, I know consiglieri are usually part of the family to begin with; and Tom Hagen was part of the family anyway, just adopted. But you get my point. Also, Twilight is obviously a wartime consigliera.
[3] Then she'd buy a hat and a whip. And probably only use them at home for role play, because they're not actually all that practical for an adventure archaeologist.
bats (Spellbound Fireflies, Little Wonders, Rolling With the Punches):
Briefly describe Twilight as you see her:
Twilight is a perpetual student and mentor. In her eyes, the world is a constant learning opportunity and teaching opportunity. Knowledge and information fascinate her, and she draws energy and joy from the act of learning, and learning is something she extends beyond a purely academic or theoretical setting; learning through conversation, experience, observation, or action are all perfectly valid to her, and she’s grounded in a desire for practical understanding and results. This is the key aspect of who she is and serves as a framework for her approach to the world.She approaches life, her work, her friends, and everything she does from a place of optimism, because everything is a chance to learn something or to pass learning on to someone else. Her biggest fears are not knowing what to do, or doing the wrong thing and causing harm. She derives a portion of her self-worth by what she can do for others, and failing someone else is failing herself.
What is essential to remember about her that people might forget?
While Twilight adapted rather quickly to Ponyville, it’s important to remember that she was born, raised, and spent the majority of her life in Canterlot. This doesn’t make her snobby like some of the the Canterlot ponies that have been in the show, but it is a good source of characterization conflicts, misunderstandings, and a different directions to approach from when writing her. It’s easy to let that bit of character knowledge fall to the background, where it isn’t necessarily forgotten, but some of the implications are.Canterlot is often treated by writers as the ‘Princess Celestia and Luna storage locker, and there’s a doughnut shop or something,’ when it can be a comforting spot of familiarity that’s still sort of foreign to the others. Plus there is a heavily implied Canterlot Culture which, even if Twilight didn’t buy into it, is at least expected as a normal thing in others for her. In the loosest sense of this, the show used it in Winter Wrap Up since Twilight wasn’t accustomed to changing the seasons without using magic, but the idea can be used much more often and much more subtly.
Is there anything you like to add to her character that’s a stretch from canon, or totally your own invention?
Aside from sexual orientation, I tend to stretch her neuroticism a bit past what we have canon evidence for. My Twilight often gets fixated on small things and loops back through analyzing, re-analyzing, and over-analyzing everything as a self-soothing act, and she gets anxious over things she hasn’t puzzled enough, or that represent a lack of control over her surroundings.How does Twilight’s academic interest affect how you write her in different situations?
It’s often a go-to source for comedy, because Twilight accidentally falling into lecturing or listing everything she can think of about something when the situation does not call for her to do so is funny, especially when she gets cut off and embarrassed about it. It’s also a major shaping force in how she approaches problem-solving in general; a natural inclination for her when confronted with an obstacle would be to run to the library and dive into a pile of topical books. It’s also a good interpersonal conflict-driver where she’s forced to react to the real world failing to match up to her academically created expectations.Do you think becoming a princess has changed Twilight’s perspective? How?
Aside from Twilight’s canon concerns about her purpose as a princess which wrapped up last season, I don’t think she’s changed much at all. From a certain perspective, she feels more is expected of her, and that the Mentor part of how she views herself is a little more front and center, but overall she is fundamentally the same pony she was in the premiere.If Twilight was in our world, what would she study in college?
Twilight would be a perpetual student in our world, too. She’d be the sort to have more than one degree. First one was something practical about how the world works, like Physics or Mathematics, but while taking those courses she had a prereq Chicano Studies course that she found fascinating and ended up getting a Political Science degree, too. Then while studying for her doctorate, a cicada landed on her head and next thing you know she had a degree in entomology. Whatever job she ended up taking would mostly be to pay for her college habit.
GhostOfHeraclitus (Twilight Sparkle Makes a Cup of Tea, generally being GhostOfHeraclitus):
Briefly describe Twilight as you see her:
As someone—somepony, rather—who is trying to figure life out. Somepony who is trying to figure out how to convert raw cleverness into wisdom and is, currently, winning, if only just.What is essential to remember about her that people might forget?
Twilight has significant damage. The heart of her story is someone broken rising up, and writing her neuroses as a joke risks diminishing that. Consider her lonely years in Canterlot: She had no friends. And it isn't like she didn't care for equine company, either. The moment she made some she was clearly shown enjoying their company. But before that? Nothing. Ponies give every indication of being a social species, so this rather raises the question what caused her to be that way. Another point to consider is how terrified Twilight can be: she was scared her new friends would hate and reject her for being good at magic. She is shown to be terrified of Celestia abandoning her—indeed, it's her greatest fear. And during the wedding episode, it is interesting how everyone almost expected her to accuse Cadaence? And how her brother—with whom she's supposed to be quite close—never told her he was engaged[1]? As if he feared a negative reaction. Thus, I think it is important to both write Twilight's damage and her healing as her character develops.[1] Yes. I know. Bad writing. I'm approaching this from a Watsonist tack, though.
Is there anything you like to add to her character that’s a stretch from canon, or totally your own invention?
A profound affection for caffeine and a sort of scattershot approach to academic interest. Left to her own devices Twilight—as I imagine it—would lose herself entirely in an attempt to study everything that exists (and a few things which don't) all at once. An important part Celestia played in her education was to keep her occupied and focused on one thing. Still, even with that, there's still days when the library (and now the palace) is filled with notes on a dozen subjects in various and varying states of completion and chalkboards upon which vector calculus and irrigation statistics from a hundred years ago nestle cheek-by-jowl.How does Twilight’s academic interest affect how you write her in different situations?
I never had the chance to use her in this capacity, but I think her academic interest coupled with an intense need to explain, inform, and educate makes her a great character for worldbuilding. It's not just that you can make her deliver a big chunk of exposition and have it be in character[1], it's that you can help flesh out little interesting corners of the world and its intellectual history quite naturally by having he make an off-hoof reference or remember a quotation. Twilight makes for a great bridge to Equestria's intellectual side.[1]Though it is miraculous that we have a character who might actually utter the words 'As you know' at the beginning of a sentence in dead earnest.
Do you think becoming a princess has changed Twilight’s perspective? How?
Yes and no. There's some aspects of her shiny new princesshood I would like to keep underneath my hat (as it were) for the time being because I hoped to use it in a fic.But broadly speaking, she still absolutely thinks of herself as exactly the same—princesshood is something she does rather than being something she is. And being Twilight she's trying to figure out princessing using the same method she uses for just about everything else.
If Twilight was in our world, what would she study in college?
Early Twilight? Maths. It lends itself better to solitary achievement, and she'd appreciate that. Also, she'd dig the austerity of it all.Today's Twilight? Physics. It's quite all-compassing, and can be seen in both the extraordinary and the mundane, in the tiny and the vast. A more... relaxed, let's say, Twilight would find that fascinating. In fact, she'd probably go with astrophysics and end up co-presenting the second season of Cosmos.
Just about the only thing that could conceivably upstage Tyson: a talking, flying, unicorn.
Not that she wouldn't end up with enough extra credits to leave Uni with, like, six extra degrees., of course. Like somebody on this site I know. I won't name any names. You know who you are, Bradel.
Man, the rest of you bastards are making me look bad. Thanks!
I think this is probably my favorite bit in this blog because this is absolutely something I forget about while writing her. I really feel like I ought to try to mine this for something.
...come to think of it, I suspect I've got a good way of doing just that. Thanks, bats!
I want to add to this that one of my favorite things about Twilight is how analytical she is. Being in her head gives you the chance to "notice" things and offer explanations that would be OOC for more oblivious ponies to pick up on or examine, so she's also good for fleshing out corners of the given scene she's in and adding perspective for the audience.
Someone's been reading Beowulf. Or maybe the Icelandic Sagas.
They all disagree in slight ways, and I myself find myself disagreeing in the same manner with each point--not totally, not in the sense that what's written is WRONG, just that it isn't a precise description of who Twilight is.
This really is a funny thing, isn't it?
(Related: I have always maintained that anyone who thinks Twilight cares about being "nice" to her books is mental. So. Much. Evidence. Consider this my impromptu and unsolicited answer to question number two.)
good stuff, I really found the aspects of her character that get forgotten responses very helpful. Thanks to everyone that participated in this blog post
Y'know, I bet if Twilight herself was reading through this blog, it'd be right up her alley; she'd find the differences fascinating.
2584263
Keep up, scrub!
2584280
Glad something I wrote was useful to somebody.
2584364
I tend to be sparse with words yo!
Excellent answers, and very thought-provoking!
Agreed! It's noteworthy that whenever Twilight freaks out, it's over something fairly minor, while she faces potentially Equestria-ending events with determination and focus. She needs to keep herself busy on something or her powerful mind just starts revving up until she's panicking over things.
A few thoughts of my own:
What is essential to remember about her that people might forget?
Spike! I know I forget about him, and often so do the showrunners. But Spike is definitely there, a constant part of her daily life, and an important one too.
Is there anything you like to add to her character that’s a stretch from canon, or totally your own invention?
I like to think of Twilight as being the youngest of the Mane Six. She's an academic prodigy who sped through the school system in record time, and has read more about more things than most ponies three times her age, but she's lacking in practical life experience.
If Twilight was in our world, what would she study in college?
I think she'd pursue an undergraduate degree in maths, with a big wedge of various natural sciences on the side; then move into social sciences, eager to figure out how people and societies work, and how to rigorously study them. She'd be very big on statistics, econometrics, and so forth.
2584367
I feel like economy of words is sorely underrated in pony fiction. Authors have a tendency to go on and on, without getting to the point. Assuming they have a point. Sometimes it can be hard to tell. So you should be proud of yourself for not using too many words. Also for avoiding flashy words that really aren't necessary for effective communication. Some authors have a problem with that, I think. It's really something they might want to work on.
tl;dr Good!
2584370 Funnily enough, Bookplayer has said that I tend to not be sparse when doing ficwriting, in some cases. I can blather a bit there, it's more outside of ficwriting that I tend to be sparse.
2584372
I'm just the opposite. I've done readability analyses on my stories, and on my blog posts. My blog posts are usually written around an 11th grade reading level, while my stories stay nicely down around 7th. It's a very stable pattern, and I find it kind of fascinating.
Oooh can't wait for the next installment. Or the Pinkie one. Of course, if the next installment were Pinkie, I would be so happy...
Darnit, now I'm going to have to write a response. All the while reading this, I kept getting flashbacks to The Traveling Tutor and the Libriarian creation process (made worse because I'm working on the second sequel). More later when I'm not typing on my phone.
2584296
I do have to admit, the "keen-kenning" pun was my favorite part of that list.
2584476 A veritable skald, you.
2584263
Not quarter as bad as you lot made me look. I may sue.
2584293
Excellent point! Rarity is also potentially a very notice-y character, especially (in my mind) in matters of society. The sort that can read a roomful of ponies at a glance.
2584476
Hwæt!
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. You must now write a story of Theoclast[1] in saga form.
[1] Keen-kenning indeed. For this joke[2] you will need Ancient Greek and knowledge of opera. And no, I regret nothing.
[2] Well. I say joke.
2584364
The born-in-Canterlot angle is something I completely failed to think about. I should really work out a way to work it into my stories. Thanks!
2584534 Wut? I did nothing of the sort!
The hat keeps the sun out of your eyes!
*ahem*
Anyway, yes, I would say that going on past the mane 6 would be an excellent thing to do!
2584562
I promise you, he totally thinks you did.
I don't think there's a single person in this fandom who's more genuinely self-effacing that Ghost. He doesn't even believe people actually like his stories.
2584562
A likely story! Save it for the judge, buster.
2584580
I'm not that self-effacing.
And obviously, a few people like my stories to some extent.
2584592
2584580
But but... what did I dooooo!
2584619
Ignorantia legis neminem excusat! There's Conspicuous Cleverness, Wisdom With Intent To Teach, Aggravated Eloquence, Premeditated Meditations, and the list goes on and on! You are in deep trouble. Best thing for you now is to come clean. C'mon. Ghost took a swing at ya, right? He went all witty first. He started it. You were just defending yourself. No harm in that, right? Constitutionally protected, that. Right to self-defense. He came at ya, right? He—what? Lawyer? Sure! Sure! Got me a whole bunch of lawyers, no problem. No skin of my nose. But, but, think now. I get you a lawyer, son, and there ain't a blind bit of help I can give you. Nothing. Next person you see—after your weedy public defender who's got two dozen guys just like you in the pipeline—is going to be a no-nonsense assistant D.A. with a three-piece suit and a taste for blood. She's angling for higher office, you know. That's the scuttlebutt. And nothing gets votes in this town like a few death penalty classes under your belt.
Oh, hey, hey, no big. I mean it might not be you. I'm just making conversation, here. You know. Gossip. So, yeah, lawyer, right? Wanna tell me how you take your coffee? 'Cuz after you go for the lawyer, captain says I can't talk to you anymore, so might as well tell me...Okay. No lawyer. No lawyer. Fine. Black two sugars? Fine. Fine. So... he came at you, right? Right. Just put it in writing. You know. Yeah. Paperwork. Bane of my life. Just... yeah. Sign there. He came at you. You were snarky back. Witty. Clever. Who can blame ya if you made him look bad? Right.
I'll just go get you your coffee.
Sorry. Got carried away.
Anyway, I was just making a not-so-clever comment where I attempted to hide my dismay at how clever you guys were (and how unclever you made me look in comparison) by trying for humor. Obviously and rather unsurprisingly my attempt failed. My apologies.
2584656
I was more confused at the statement itself than anything, considering my section was maybe half the size of everyone elses', and not quite as... incisive, if that makes any sense? I may be using the wrong word there.
2584665
Well you didn't start your section with a simulacrum of, like, eleventh century[1] Anglo-Saxon poetry, granted, but it was still a damn sight better than my witterings.
[1] Dear pedant reading this, yes. Yes. I know. Yes it could be earlier. Yes. I was just—just trying to make a bloody point. Yes, well, you can't have everything.
2584374
How do you measure the "grade level" of a piece?
2584911
That's actually a remarkably easy question to answer!
Have Wikipedia link.
2584919 ... whoa.
I'm having fun putting journal articles from my field, Dickens, and SS&E in this: https://readability-score.com/
I'm going to do something incredibly tacky and go through the authors individually (sorry in advance for all the notifications) because every single one was fascinating in its own right for completely different reasons.
Also: I'm really, really sorry this went as long as it did. I hit Preview Comment and bawked. I didn't remember writing this much... Originally I had even more snipped from each person's short little essay, and quadrupled even a stray musing from them as a result. I've since trimmed a lot of it down to mostly one essay on the most poignant note I found from that person.
From 2584263 :
This is the one that most stood out to me. I want to agree with this, but I also disagree with this a bit, so first I'm going to stroke your ego with saying what I think you got unequivocally right, before launching into an utter tirade on the nuances behind why I disagree with the generalization:
Twilight isn't always neurotic or high strung. In fact, I'd dare to say that Twilight has a very high threshold for pressure, mostly because she's been under it her whole life, not unlike a deep sea creature.
However, she's also like a deep sea creature in that she operates best under that level of pressure. If you give her too little of it, she starts making mistakes, she starts pursuing more esoteric interests, she gives herself some pressure by making a thousand checklists and reorganizing the library just so she's ready when she's back under pressure again. One of Celestia's fundamental roles is, as GhostOfHeraclitus said, keeping her focused on one thing, but I also think it's to keep her constantly challenged by something, anything. If Twilight gets bored, or feel like she isn't being challenged, she's out of her comfort zone. Which is when she might stop looking for the small print in an interesting new spellbook she's found. You tell her it's a research assignment due Monday, she'll scour that book until the legaleze is cowering in plain-text and the subtext is screaming from its lungs until it's understood to all that glance across it. You give her a holiday, have Celestia tell her to just take a break for a while, and have all her friends be busy at the same time... that's when she gets careless and casual, and when she breaks out the loom just to see if she can't learn to make herself a new scarf with latin quotes woven in.
However, whilst she has a very high pressure threshold, she also reacts possibly the worst of the ponies when she's overtaken. Except for Rainbow if the problem is internal, like stage fright, or being ignored. Twilight will blame herself endlessly. She'll break down and give up, focusing endlessly on what she could have, or should have, done, rather than what she should or can do now. Without outside intervention, she'll give in to a cycle of bitter self-recrimination and focus more on all the details of what's wrong rather than how to fix it. When it gets to this point she will lock herself away in a library, or into research, but it won't be out of love or dedication, more as a form of penance, like a Christian with a rosary.
Outside intervention plays a big part of snapping her out of it, though. Knowing that somepony else is counting on her.
So yes, she's not always neurotic or high-strung, but I think it's important to know the context of when and why she is, and why she's likely to screw up a spell. Because screwing up a spell is an important part of my next fic and you made me feel the need to justify it, damn it!
Oh, and so as not to end this on such a bitter note, your point about her wings and body language and gestures with them was incredibly fun to think about, because it's not just about how Twilight reacts to a situation, but it comes with a nice bit of world building that often goes ignored, one that Bookplayer touched upon too, excellently, with a previous blog about pony cultural differences.
Moving on to
2584370 now!
A comment that encourages brevity, wherein I write an essay. Irony.
You are sickeningly clever. We all knew it, you don't have to go rubbing it in like that.
Well, I suppose you do. You can't help it. It's not like you could be less clever just to make people feel better, especially not when you're using your cleverness to make people smile. Like you just did. Gah.
*MrNumbers shakes his fist*
Anything I would say for or against this I already said above, to Tchernobog. So, yeah. That.
Actually, the same goes for what you said on the nature of Twilight on romance, which is what I'd say almost verbatim. Particularly about the end bit and saying that makes you want to go do it.
Honestly, of all the replies here, yours is probably the most similar in nature to what I'd say myself. That's dreadfully dull for me, because there's not much conversation one can drum up out of 'yes, like that, but more of it'. It's not particularly great for you, either, because if you find yourself agreeing with me on something, something has gone very wrong. Oh dear.
So, instead, I'll leave you with an amusing mental image.
She'd get around this by covering the whip in feathers, so she could brush off large amounts of rock at once. Point out that the feathers are probably just from Rainbow Dash as a result of the Daring Do roleplay session is was initially used for, and you'll find out that it is very much still a functioning bullwhip, ow, ow, ow!
So, here I come to 2584364 (where?!)
She would alternate rapidly between flattered and creeped out that so many people had dedicated so much of their last four or so years to studying, analyzing and predicting her reactions and thoughts to various situations. Then she'd probably join in with gusto, and pose us a series of questions about Pinkie Pie.
I'm seriously looking forward to that blog post. Pinkie Pie is treated so differently from writer to writer, it's going to be fascinating to see this veritable Justice League of writers go to town on their- Ecchem. I digress, and apologize.
Here you touch on something that I wanted to tack on to Tchernobog, but was already running too long, egads. Twilight is fundamentally a selfless pony. Almost all of her self esteem comes from other ponies, rather than herself. Even in Boast Busters we see her shying away from - and blushing at - Spike's compliments. Even before she had friends almost all of her self worth seems to have come from Celestia.
Hell's Bells, the first thing she says after failing her magic exam is "I'm sorry I wasted your time". She's ashamed at how her failure has resulted in her wasting some judgmental stranger's time. She's just lost out on her dream, her passion, and the very first thing she does is apologize to the very ponies who are now denying it to her.
I know this is a single incident I'm overanalyzing, but I find it's very telling of Twilight as the series goes on. Twilight doesn't even consider herself a lot of the time when she's making decisions. If somepony has to make a sacrifice, it's going to be her. Sometimes this might even come across as pretentiousness, in a way, or condescension, as it may come across as her thinking she's the only pony capable of a situation. Sometimes that might even be true. But at the end of the day it's honestly because Twilight seems to see herself as ... if not disposable, than at the very least a willing servant to other ponies. She has her own dreams and aspirations, but she seems more than willing to drop everything for a pony who needs it.
I think this honestly translates to meaning a pony who is very self-assured, but with only middling self-esteem. She's far more confident in her abilities than of herself, and she needs her friends and mentors to help her make up the difference.
It's a source of almost infinite kindness and self-sacrifice, but can at times be almost self-sabotage. It also ties in to a very good reason why, above, I mentioned that she handles going over her stress-threshold poorly; she finds it very hard to reassure herself once something has gone beyond her abilities, and she has to rely on her faith in herself.
Always fun to touch upon. One of the very few gags that I stretch across different fictions is Twilight's belief that she falls in love with the mind, not the fleshy vessel it's contained in. Even if the fleshy vessel it's contained in might be unfairly attractive. That has absolutely no bearing on her- oh goodness he's smiling at me, and he has the whitest teeth. But oh dear, did she just wink at me with those fluttery, infinitely deep eyes?
Twilight being a stringent intellectual who puts so much value on the mind, but is at heart a lonely, isolated nerd who is new to the concept of romance, makes playing on her sexual orientation so much fun.
On a much lighter, and more relevant note to strictly you, personally, I would like to say your answer to If Twilight was in our world, what would she study in college? gave me the most powerful mental image of Twilight getting lost on Wikipedia. Or TVTropes. And then editing pages, contributing, editing her contributions... Three days later, Spike stops giving her coffee and ramen and demands she go to bed, at least until she stops twitching like that.
Last but not least, we get 2584684
It's because of my huge goddamn wall of ranty ranty text that it's probably best that we come to Ghost last.
You see, he is the author I think is most like a real-world Twilight Sparkle himself.
As you know, he is insufferably kind, witty, educated, and as above, has a lot more confidence in his abilities than he does in himself, as a person.
Even after making the best of the best laugh, smile and think he can still say something like -
- and honestly mean it. There's no false humility there. As you know.
So touching upon his answer is probably a touch more informative than he intends it to be, and that generally being GhostOfHeraclitus crack is far more credential than it has any right to be.
Probably the line I most agree with out of all this that I didn't already think before reading this. Ghost has this nasty tendency of saying things I seem to have always believed, except for the fact that I never even thought about it before he said it.
And somehow, in four simple words, he can sum up all the essays I've written to the others up until now. The end result is Twilight is very confident in what she can do, but I find very insecure in who she is. I think the idea that she is damaged as a person/pony is a very succinct way of summing it up, even if Ghost might disagree with my personal interpretation of the same four words.
Huh. You know, up until this point, I was feeling almost guilty about my characterization of Twilight in Demesne. Then I read this and thought it's okay Ghost agrees entirely with my more esoteric character notes and felt immediately better.
To tie this back into my motif: I think this is almost a necessity for Twilight to be able to function. If she's a princess because it's what she can do, that's fine, she's got a resume and everything for it. If it's about who she is... I think she would constantly breaking down, fearing she's not good enough to be almost Celestia's equal? How could she?
Thus, her seeing it as a profession rather than a role is borderline self-preservation.
Alright, fortunately for the word count, I think I covered everything else I would say to Ghost before I got to Ghost.
Anybody still reading? Alright, well, I would like to take a moment to thank the wonderful authors who contributed to this, and again to Bookplayer, to being the conduit, catalyst, what have you, who facilitates this and holds it all together so expertly. I can't possibly thank you enough.
Or apologize enough for spilling all these awful, awful words all over your nice clean blog. My god, I just got them everywhere, they're all over everything, I'm so sorry, I'll... I'll go get a sponge. Oh god, oh god, oh god-
2585192
I personally view Twi's self-worth issues as not a negative self-image thing, but just as a measure of what she finds important personally. What she finds important and valuable is in what she can do for those around her a lot of the time. Failing to live up to that is a failure to what she finds important, and thus a failure of the self. She likes feeling useful and helpful, and proving that to be true makes her feel good, and feeling useless and unhelpful makes her feel bad. It's an outlook she firmly shares with Applejack, who has more than once nearly thrown her own life away out of valuing her ability to help others over herself (not coming home to Ponyville because she failed to raise the money to fix town hall and working herself nearly to death trying to help everyone who needed help and harvest all the apples by herself because she didn't want to ask for help; she's the one who helps others, dammit). There are certainly risks both characters face when basing their perceived value on those around them, but both characters are generally confident in those images they have. When they fail, they're disappointed rather than crushed.
And Twilight is most certainly one who is easily lost exploring the forest of Wiki entries.
This is fascinating, [insert not well thought out generic compliment here, blah blah blah, I'm a lazy bum].
It is actually quite fascinating to what different degrees that different authors place on Twiley's characteristics. Personally, I like going along for the ride, wherever the author takes me, so I don't put to much weight on conflicting head cannom, while still being mindful of my own, which is Twiley growing past her shortcomings, but not entirely. Oh, and she'll accidentally nuke Equestria if she studies Physics enough. By accident, to be fair. They'll all shrug it off after the thirteenth reversal of time.
Now do one on how authors interpret Pester Pink-- I mean Pinkie Pie.
Busted my gut laughing at this one. Dammit, Ghost! I've seen a few users who are extremely anal about how people spell Pretty Pink's name. They're, like, zealous. This seems like it could work as a good compromise. Or, y'know, insight new grammar wars or something, as is norm.
I'm recalling one time, albeit all vaguely and unclear, where Ghost was writing in first person (or second person?) about one interaction with Bad Horse, where he had a dual-layered voice[1]. Ghost then referred to the audience as both "he" and "she" in the same bloody sentence. "Caedance" reminds me of that.
Oh, and Foamy? Totally know you're reading this. "Caedance" is totally a Magic reference. You should totally get on it before I do, or it'll be subpar and lame like Caedance being a portal[2] for eldritch Eldrazi titan horrors, or Shining participating in Caedance Spellbomb throwing competitions.
[1]Upon joining The Evil League of Evil, if you so choose to take the path of daemonically possessed, one of the gifts you will receive is a dual-layered voice. By default, your second voice is that of an unsettling little girl, samples graciously donated from Suzy Sue from down the road (she got ice cream ^_^). Progress enough, and you'll earn options like that of some tortured bum named Fonz or the refined cultural tone of Caesar, manager of some Game Stop, or maybe the soothing mouth noises of a goat-woman whose name eludes me. She was a singer, I think.
Progress further, and you will earn the right to become triple-layered or even quadrupled-layered. I don't recommend these, though. They really start to piss you off when they start throwing parties and you're not invited. Oh, and dementia. There's a chance of that, among other extra daemonic gifts.
[2]Which shall be located in Pretty Pink's pretty pink[3]
[3]Which is in the sensitive wrinkles of the frog of her hind left hoof. What were you thinking, ya perverted marsupial-monkey?
2585225
The comparison to Applejack is certainly an intriguing one.
I would argue that Applejack is more self-confident than Twilight, but is more... sensitive to not being able to project that confidence into her actions. She definitely took Rainbow Dash's cheating in Fall Weather Friends comparatively well, for instance, which shows a lot of self-confidence, whereas another pony might get far more indignant. Ironically, Rainbow Dash herself would have taken such underhanded (underhooved?) strategies in a 'fair' contest incredibly poorly.
But the idea that Twilight is specifically bad at coping with the concept of failure, particularly things she perceives, personally, as failure, is one that strikes a definite chord. She certainly has very high standards for herself, and can be very bad at coping with not meeting those standards...
I would also argue that has a nice synergy with less self-assurance, as that would be a good core reason for her to have that sensitivity to even minor failure, particularly in the earlier seasons before she mellowed out a bit.
Perhaps I just like arguing.
2585356
I'd certainly agree that Twilight has a failure complex, but I'd personally apply more weight to her academic life than to her self-worth issues. Most of her panics in canon are tied to a specific fear of academic failure, which is expanded for her to include any sort of disappointment in her from Celestia, her perpetual mentor (and vague mother figure). I don't think that it's that Twilight doesn't think much of herself and thus needs the constant assurance from others that she's a good pony, I think that she is terrified of disappointing Celestia.
2585374
Gah. That makes an awful lot of sense.
I have surrendered to the challenge and written my own blog post on the questions listed because... Well, I'm not sure. You do need to have a good sense of who a character is before you start writing, and Twilight has been a fairly prime target of my pen, so I have this weird delusion that I know what I'm doing. (Don't worry, I have Ghost and Bad Horse to pop my ego bubbble :)
2584280 Technically, Twilight Sparkle physically existed in Canterlot , but outside of the castle library and her own house, a visitor may get a rather vague feeling that she had been held prisoner for most of her youth in some dank basement cell (with books).
"And that's... um... another big building over there. Then I think that's a house over there. And that looks to be a restaurant..."
2584364 ...and would be terribly embarassed about all of the attention, and you can be sure she'd have the Mature flag turned off too :)
2584534 Still waiting for that Rarity detective story where she pegs the murderer due to his clothing selection...
2584293
This is very true, but it is something which has to be handled with care; Twilight really suffered in season 4 when she was used as a walking exposition device. I think it works best when it is invoking a sense of wonder or otherwise works in an intellectual manner, or possibly just explaining something to Rainbow Dash, who isn't paying attention, again.
Too bad Twilight was too angry at Rainbow Dash to realize how cute this was, though admittedly I would have been frustrated as well.
2585374
It seems to me that one valid take on Twilight's personality is that she's suffering from Imposter Syndrome; that is, she has trouble believing, deep down, that she deserves to be Celestia's student, to have all these awesome friends, to become the Princess...
I really enjoyed this post and now... I'm looking forward to those other entries mentioned about the mane six, CMC and so on.
I find the opinions that she would study anything humanities related funny given that she literally had to be ordered to go learn how society works, was banished to a different town to force her to do it, she thought the entire exercise was a waste of her time and every pony in this town is crazy.
Great observation.
When will the day come that I can favorite these things. Or I suppose that would be putting them on my blog shelf now. The best part is that the comments are always interesting, often as or more so than the post itself. Something about being on a site full of writers makes people write good comments. I wonder what it could be.
I do think its interesting that so many people can come up with so many different reasons for the same character engaging in the same behaviors, but I'm not sure what I have to say that hasn't been said here already, so I'll stop here for now.
2584580
2584592
Damit Bad Horse.
2606193
I am so confused.
Why are you quoting us and swearing at Bad Horse without quoting him?
2585281
Oh, I know that one. I think I've got it in the archive, too. hmm... try googling for "watermelon incident", I believe it should come up.
2606221
Then you'll have to content yourself with "it will make sense later". Don't worry, I'll tell you too when the time comes.
2606952
That is exactly what I was referring to. In fact, I found it here so everyone can gaze in wonderment at Ghost's hidden rule 63 abilities. Specifically
Also, I think the archive could use more sourcing? I forget. It's been awhile since I looked at it. It might be more fun to see what prompted Ghost's comments into being.
2606221
I dunno. Maybe it's cause you're talking about how humble Ghost might've been at one point, then he got Bad Horsed. That equaled ego... or maybe confidence, depending on your point of view.
Or I am completely off and any excuse is a good one to cuss the Bad Horse?
2608738
Oh princesses, man, you have no idea how much the anticipation is frustrating me.
2608738
I just checked. All Archive entries have a source link of some sort or another.
If you find something you think should be in the archive, for Faust's sake let me know. I'm certain there's stuff I miss. I won't even mind being directed at duplicates.
2608738
2608745
No, seriously guys. He thinks he's not any good at writing. It's... kind of uncomfortable. He's completely unwilling to accept that he has any skill. If anything, working with Bad Horse makes him worse because Bad Horse is willing to give him heavily negative feedback, which just further convinces him that he's awful at it.
I really, really wish I were kidding. I suspect it's one of the reasons he writes so little (that, and his general lack of time). He honestly thinks he's not much good at it. And he thinks that everyone who thinks otherwise (read: everyone) is just fundamentally wrong to think so.
2608807
...
Really? I was rather looking forward to -- that so deflates --
You are getting one PM in which I attempt to explain.