Bonus Features: The New Sunset

Back when this teaser image was released nobody said the words body swap (if somebody guessed it, they didn't comment on it), but it's been advertised this entire time. Show, don't tell is a powerful tool for mysteries!

Q: What appealed to us about doing a body swap story?
MARVEL: I've seen a bunch of different Freaky Friday style stories. You know the ones, the walk in each other's shoes for a day kind sitcom plot, usually wrapped up neatly in a half-hour if it's a TV episode, and it's certainly well-trodden ground for fanfiction!

I think originally we just kinda started joking around, figuring out what some of the magic combos might be, and then I think it was you who actually said what if Timber and Sunset could swap bodies with their teleportation and empathy? That just sounded so fun!

What really made me want to include it in a big way was the character dynamics and metaphors you could tap into, which gets kind of interesting for Sunset and Timber because, well... they really don't know each other that well? What do they have in common that allowed them to swap bodies???

Which, by the by, I think some readers got right away that teleportation + empathy = changing bodies, but I will say beyond that, every power has some basis in the characters' relationship as well. There's a reason Sunset and Twilight have a healing power together, and it goes back to the fact that they've both been through the same kind of hard times and, effectively, helped each other heal a bit from their demons in the EG movies. So, there's now this mystery, right?

I don't know, overall, I guess I wanted to do stuff with the concept that I hadn't seen before (could be I just haven't seen it personally, but yeah, the stuff I want to explore as a writer doesn't always have to have the most original concept, but a different execution will always, always interest me! Use well-trodden tropes and ideas to do new things!). The lesson isn't just appreciate the hard work your mom does, Lindsay Lohan, we're going to use this to explore character in, I hope interesting ways!

BEVIN: Yeah, honestly, I have such a soft spot for body-swap stories, they're nearly always candy episodes for me. So back when I was doing character rotations for the show, I want to say in the first season, my mind would wander a lot while I was working and I'd get a lot of brainstorming done. And one of the things I thought would be fun to try with the series was exploring their powers in creative ways, really pushing what everyone could do with their new superpowers. (Full disclosure, I was very heavily into One Piece for about seven years, and so much of that influence creeps into my creative output-- the powers thing definitely stems from this.) And one of the big things I wanted to do was explore Sunset's powers beyond just the mind-reading, which is useful in some scenarios but doesn't leave her a lot else to do the rest of the time. And the idea of developing a mind-swap as an extension of her telepathic abilities really tickled me, especially because, like you said, those stories are always an exercise in empathy, so it fit perfectly with the symbolism of Sunset's role in the group and the story.

So when you came up with the power sharing stuff, that had me sitting straight up in my chair because it was really similar to the direction I'd wanted to try, but with a way more fun and interesting twist with the perfect bonus of it tying back to representing an aspect of their relationships with each other. It was beyond perfect and throwing around these new ideas with you was so fun, you have no idea!

So yeah, it's definitely an indulgence for both of us and our love for body-swap stories in general and just having a ton of fun with that alone; but it does also very much tie into the story and is ultimately a way to get to know Timber better, since he's probably the least explored and the least understood of them all. Plus, now we have a new friendship problem to solve: Timber and Sunset.

MARVEL: Oh fuck yeah, and I think after we decided on this story being illustrated, it gave you the opportunity to have some fun demonstrating character in creative ways without resorting to, like, making their eye colours match the character on the inside or something.

It's been so phenomenally fun to see you play around with that and get creative!

BEVIN: Hohohohohoh, I love this as a character acting exercise! It is utterly delicious to get to dive into this artistically. Body language, facial expressions, all of that is so indicative of character, and getting to draw super cool girl Sunset and goofy-face dork guy Timber in each other's bodies is so much fun, I actually wish I had the time to make comic pages or something. This is beyond candy, this is just facedown in a chocolate fountain.

Soundtrack fun here we come:

• Hey Now by Matt and Kim - "Sometimes you just make me lose my mind, oh sometimes you just make me lose my mind//but if you died I'd die right by your side, yeah if you died I'd die right by your side
• Me Too by Meghan Trainor - "Who's that sexy thing I see over there? That's me// If I was you, I'd want to be me, too"
• Right There in Front of Me by Daniel Ingram - Sciset Intensifies

I don't know what to describe the vibe of this chapter as other than chaotic, so that's what these song choices are. Chaotic, silly, and aggravating Sunset Shimmer as much as possible (which I really am doing out of love; she very clearly needs to learn some things here but she's not going to see that until I mess with her and take nice things away from her). This is what Act II of any story is like, right? We take what made things hard in act 1 and we ramp it up!

But yeah, chapter 5 introduces us to the bigger body swap which is confusing as hell for the characters themselves but I can give you the reader some tips that you may have picked up on:

1. Characters will always be referred to who they really are (not what body they're in) now that Sunset, our protag, knows who's who. This is a piece of consistency you can largely count on to understand what's going on and who we're dealing with
2. That list in the comment section is accurate. Use it whenever you need to!
3. The illustrations not only use body language associated with who that character really is (not the body), but will become clearer and clearer the more we go (you'll see why).

Most important tip: Don't worry about memorizing who's who, let's have some fun.

But up next, I think it's high time we got to know some people better...
-Marvel
P.S. It's genuinely heartwarming to me to see people getting invested in this story, I can't even tell you how much it means

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Which, by the by, I think some readers got right away that teleportation + empathy = changing bodies, but I will say beyond that, every power has some basis in the characters' relationship as well.

Oh. Oh. I take it they both wish they were someone else.

As for the teaser image, I think my first impression was "Applejack's doing a 'You see this? This is what it's like being around you' routine." That or trying to get Pinkie out of a funk.

[The Voice in the Water]

The lesson isn't just appreciate the hard work your mom does, Lindsay Lohan, we're going to use this to explore character in, I hope interesting ways!

You show your truest self when you are put in an unexpected situation.

And one of the big things I wanted to do was explore Sunset's powers beyond just the mind-reading, which is useful in some scenarios but doesn't leave her a lot else to do the rest of the time. And the idea of developing a mind-swap as an extension of her telepathic abilities really tickled me, especially because, like you said, those stories are always an exercise in empathy, so it fit perfectly with the symbolism of Sunset's role in the group and the story.

Sunset developing Charles Xavier levels of telepathy would be an interesting expansion on her powers, since she did get a bit of that when her geode was overloading thanks to Dash overclocking her powers.

Plus, now we have a new friendship problem to solve: Timber and Sunset.

Does that problem happen to involve feelings about/towards a certain cute little amethyst colored sparkly girl? Because Sunset was getting pretty "back off, she's mine" right before their minds got shunted.

This is what Act II of any story is like, right? We take what made things hard in act 1 and we ramp it up!

Welcome to the madness place. We have taffy and rainbows.