OC Origins #1 · 4:24am Dec 17th, 2014
: "Greetings everyone, I am the Master Hand, spirit of creativity and imagination. You know me from the Smash Bros series of fighting games, the latest of which having just come out recently to much critical and commercial acclaim. A lesser known fact about yours truly, however, is that I'm an avid reader, with knighty's esteemed fimfiction being among my favorite sites for good material. Gotta keep my imagination sharp, you know?
"This blog is the first in a series of interviews Razalon The Lizardman has agreed to conduct with me, in which he shares some insight into the inspiration, conception, and implementation of the various OCs throughout his fim fics. The subject of this first interview is the star character of Sol Don Him. Below is the fic's cover art which depicts said character, named Sol Do:
"Future entries in this series may or may not have pictures showcasing the character of discussion, depending on whether any official artwork of said character exists. But enough dilly-dallying, on with the interview!"
Describe Sol Do and her intended purpose in your stories.
Sol Do boasts a mix between Applejack's hard work ethic and Rarity's feminine demeanor. Her mission in life is to put forth one-hundred percent of effort into everything she tries, regardless of how futile the endeavor may seem. In that sense, she shares Applejack's stubbornness as well, but she also shares Rarity's taste for romance as is blatantly evidenced in Sol Don Him. While she's an all-around kind mare, she's nevertheless capable of lashing out at anyone she perceives to be lazy or inconsiderate, sometimes even issuing death threats as seen in the first chapter of Sol Don Him.
Sol Do's purpose is showcasing my own vision of the ideal female. Sol Do is a very capable worker and can take care of herself just fine. At the same time, she's very much interested in settling down with a stallion to start a family, believing the task of raising a child to be a true test of character. Speaking of stallions, one trait I made sure to showcase clearly was Sol Do's mutual respect for the opposite gender. Growing up, I saw plenty of examples in entertainment of females treating males like stupid boy toys. The only time where this wasn't the case was when the female was crushing on the male but lacked the confidence to tell him how she felt. I wanted to create a strong, heterosexual female character that had three key qualities: one, the aforementioned mutual respect for the opposite gender, two, the intelligence to recognize which males are worth pursuing a relationship with, and three, the confidence to actually pursue a relationship with said males. If/when Sol Do gets hitched, the end result would be a marriage in which both she and her husband see each other more as partners than spouses, which, in my opinion, is the perfect marriage.
What, if any, real world experiences was Sol Do's character based on?
While Sol Do herself isn't based on anyone from my life, both her overall aesthetic and hometown are based on trips I took with my family to Hiddenite, a gem mining attraction in western North Carolina where people can pay for buckets full of dirt and gems, or scrounge around in the local river for entirely wild ones. On my first trip there, I was given a straw hat by my parents to keep my face protected from the sun. Something about that straw hat just clicked with me, probably because it made me stand out among everyone else there, and I held on to that hat for quite some time afterwards.
Sol Do's actual character, however, was partly conceived in response to repeated viewings of S1E8. Seeing Rarity and Applejack's continued squabble throughout that episode got me wondering what a pony with a mixture of their personalities would be like, and from there Sol Do gradually took shape in my mind.
So, I guess you could say Sol Do was birthed as a result of Rarity and Applejack being... in bed... together...
No one needed to know that last bit. Anyway, where does Sol Do's name come from?
Sol Do's name was actually the first part of her I'd created. Back in my first story for this site, HUMAN By: Twilight Sparkle, Rarity entered a scene asking for critique on a new dress she was making for her cousin. Anyone who read that story likely knows just how many random references I sprinkled throughout it, including one instance of foreshadowing for my next story, The Bold, The Brash, and The Beautiful. Rarity's new dress was described as being 'ruby and sapphire-embedded', which is a clever Pokemon reference. And since I had Pokemon on my mind, I named Rarity's cousin after the jewel of the same pronunciation from the fifth movie, but with different spelling in order to better fit the naming scheme for ponies.
Sol Do didn't make her first physical appearance until the second HUMAN installment, wherein she had two separate cameos throughout the story, and this is where her gem-mining job was established. Around this time is when the synopsis for Sol Don Him began taking shape, and it made the most sense to use the character I'd established as being both a country mare and Rarity's cousin as the lead character. It's really cool how everything fell into place over time, almost like it was foretold or somesuch jazz.
If Sol Do was added to the show's cast, what kind of role do you think she'd have?
In a way, Sol Do's spirit was sorta already canonized with the advent of countrified Rarity in S4E13. Hell, the whole plot of that episode is remarkably similar to Sol Don Him, and you can bet it gets me excited thinking how much I've gelled with the show's writers.
To answer the question more directly, I think Sol Do would be much in the same vein as a lot of popular side characters like Coco Pommel, Cheese Sandwich, and Maud Pie among others. She'd be utilized for a single episode, and yet be the center of countless fanfics, artworks, and possibly even merchandise both official and fan made. I can't say for sure what kind of role she'd have aside from the one she has in Sol Don Him, but I have no doubt about her potential, and I'd love to see what the show's writers might use her for if given the chance.
And now for the final question; do you believe Sol Do is an example of an OC done right?
Isn't it enough that she's not my self-insert?
In all seriousness, from an objective standpoint she is, at least in regards to her uniqueness. OCs should only ever be used when no canon characters can adequately fill a particular role, and as of now there's no character with Sol Do's unique blend of both Applejack's and Rarity's personalities. In regards to whether she's a particularly interesting original character, however, I think that really depends on how much you'd care to see the aforementioned combination, and even then some people may expect me to utilize her character in ways I don't know how to. But like I said, she's a good OC from an entirely objective standpoint, and that's good enough for me.
"That was a splendid interview Mr. Lizardman. Many thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with me."
You're very welcome, Master.
"I hope our readership found the interview both fun and informative, and that they'll stick around for every succeeding one. Until then, stay safe, live happy, and always let your creativity flourish!"
