. You all know her better as the illustrator of some of my stories, and she felt like recording for it. And you know what, I personally think it's turned out great! You all really should hear the voices she gave the characters, especially our mainCelestia is an Aroace Icon; or, Writing Celestia · 2:05am Jun 4th, 2023
“Starswirl had this room made for a future consort,” said Celestia. “He insisted, even after I’d told him I’ve no interest in partners, romantic or otherwise, and I’d have preferred this as a particularly large lounge. I suppose it didn’t help my argument much.”
~ Sogno di Volare, Chapter Two - A Child of Crystal
“Well, I’m sure your partner’s not going anywhere,” said Velvet. Almost immediately, she regretted her choice of words. “Or… darn it. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed–”
“Oh no, it’s alright, really,” said Sunny, smiling for a moment. She looked down at her hooves, ears flicking. “I prefer to fly solo, if you catch my drift. It’s just… well, you know.”
~ Velvet Quill & Sunny Skies, Chapter Two - The Fair
Alright, let’s get this out the way. Fair warning, the following blog was written at different points in time and is, for all intents and purposes, just a stream of thoughts. Don’t expect it to be refined.
Both parts of the title are relevant, I assure you.
I write Princess Celestia as aromantic and asexual – neatly shortened to aroace – and proud of it. She lacks an interest in romance and sex, with anyone of any gender. As of the present day (that is, the current present of Spectrum (which, just to be clear, we are still writing, sorry for the delay)), she has not married anyone nor has she ever lived with a domestic partner of any gender – and it’s highly unlikely that she’ll ever do either, given that, again, she has zero interest in it.
It actually is a little tricky to show overtly; bisexuality and homosexuality can easily be shown by a character’s romantic/sexual history, in comparison, while a lack of partner can be taken as celibacy. Meanwhile, it isn’t until Sogno di Volare that Celestia’s sexuality is firmly stated. You can imagine the palace mailbox when people throughout the centuries just won’t get that she’s not interested whatsoever.
It’s not that she doesn’t ‘get’ sex or, oh, she just needs to get laid – she understands the appeal for others, but it’s just not her thing. And I think it adds to her character a lot.
In short, she’s an aroace icon, and she’s cool.
You might be wondering why the blog post, and it’s pretty simple. I felt like it. I know, irony that the writer who absolutely adores Luna and still has her as his favourite has written more about Celestia overall.
I do like Celestia, too. She’s a lovely character to write, and it’s a different yet no less enjoyable experience. Part of it is genuinely liking her, but another part is the fact that people give her so much shit for some reason. As my How Not To Write Celestia blog shows, AKA me and Vox’s riff on the OG Spectrum’s worst chapter, it can get real ugly. I’m not a fan of the OG Spectrum, haven’t been one for a long time. Not least of which is the way it treats Celestia.
This passage in particular, from the second-worst chapter of the OG Spectrum, “Of Broken Pasts”, helped solidify my drive in firmly stating that Celestia, Princess of all Equestria, is aroace and proud;
“It… just wouldn’t have been ‘real’,” Celestia said, affecting a haughty tone, and Luna sighed. Of course Celestia craved true love, why else would she have disbanded said harem when lust and sexuality alone were not enough to sustain her. But stars above, much as Celestia desired and deserved something more than just the maternal love she gave and received with their subjects, the silly mare couldn’t bring herself to actually ‘get out there’ and commit to a mate. No doubt she’d had her fair share of one-night-stands and affectionate flings over the eons (at least, Luna hoped so, lest she have to contemplate the horror of Celestia remaining celibate for over a millennium - reduced to either a neurotic asexual or a tightly-wound bundle of repressed lust), but the Solar Princess had never taken the bold step of marriage or parenthood.
Fuck you, OG Spectrum. Fuck you for reducing this wonderful, compelling pony into a neurotic mess who just needed someone, for reducing her worth as a mare to arbitrary gender roles, because obviously women can’t function without men, right? And golly gee, Celestia being celibate for a thousand years?
Fuck off.
Anyways, ahem.
Throughout the years I’ve slowly noticed a trend in fanfiction to subvert things. That is to say, well, something isn’t as it seems, this nice character hides some secrets – very dark ones. And that’s fine. If everything was 100 percent predictable, then things would be boring, and people don’t like being bored.
But often I see subverting things being mistaken for depth. That’s not to say it can’t be written with depth, mind, it’s just that subversion isn’t depth by itself in my opinion.
I’ve covered this in a previous blogpost, but deconstructing something won’t result in much of anything because if you deconstruct something long enough, there’s nothing left to deconstruct but you screaming at the void of whatever it is you’re deconstructing.
This brings me to my next point: writing Celestia.
I know it’s certainly interesting and all to write her as not what she seems, that this benevolent ruler hides skeletons in her closet, that she’s really a tyrannical dictator controlling Equestria while keeping a saccharine facade. I’m not for that. I like going the other way better, by doubling down on her benevolence. And I find that enjoyable, to write her as… exactly what she seems. A kind, benevolent, compassionate person. Her biggest secret is that she writes books for children under a pen name. She does not secretly hate Luna, she loves Luna with all her heart, and as any siblings do maybe Luna does things she doesn’t understand, but this does not detract from her love for her.
Also, side note, she is the only pony in existence to have ever wielded all six of the Elements, and in that brief second Celestia became the embodiment of Harmony itself, and the only pony ever capable of doing so. She’s great.
On Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle, I have little wish of adding any ulterior motives for Celestia on taking both – especially Sunset Shimmer – as her students. I know there’s the whole thousand year line that opened the show but I have little reason to imply that she only ever viewed Sunset as a tool. I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler since I’ve written it in Celestia Regina, but as far as I am concerned, the thousand year prophecy? She wrote it herself, only when she was sure Twilight Sparkle would make the right choice when she read it.
There is no due date for her sister’s return. She could have released Nightmare Moon back any time, but she knows that, with the Elements turned to stone, she has no way of cleansing Luna from the darkness that’s consumed her.
So, bottom line, Celestia genuinely, sincerely cares for Sunset Shimmer as her daughter. Not just a student, nor a mere tool as a stepping stone for Twilight, but a daughter she loves almost as much as her beloved sister.
I suppose this comment on Celestia Regina from my friend EileenSaysHi sums it up very well, what I’ve strived to do with Celestia;
Celestia is calm, even in the face of her inner turmoil. Celestia is reasonable, even facing the prospect of embittered/distrustful subjects. Celestia is fair, giving Vanhoover the benefit of the doubt even as her lieutenant insists the city must be put under, well, an Iron Hoof. Celestia is compassionate, seeing the plight of the hungry Vanhooverite children, victim of Ironhoof's blockade, reading to distract them from their stomachs as the supplies make their way to the city. Celestia is steadfast in her morals, recognizing Ironhoof for who he is and ensuring nopony like him can slip under her radar again. Celestia is grieving, the weight of her and Luna's losses bearing down on her every second as she feels the judgment of the moon, the elements, and all Equestria.
I suppose in another time, I would have written this to accompany Celestia Regina – but frankly, Luna’s blog is long overdue, and I probably should get to it some time this year. So, consider this the companion blog for Celestia Regina, and also Velvet Quill & Sunny Skies.
Long story short, Celestia as I write her has little to no ulterior motives at all. There are no skeletons in her closet, she’s no secret dictator, there’s no deep-seated hatred for Luna or pragmatic dismissal of Sunset Shimmer as a tool. Just a kind, compassionate, benevolent mare whose greatest dream is to settle down with her family and live a quiet, peaceful life – though duty calls, and she has answered it for a thousand years, for Equestria needed her.
That’s Celestia, accomplished writer, beloved sister and mother, aroace icon, and Princess of all Equestria. And that’s why she’s great.
P.S. The obvious question is if she’s had sex with anyone. Who knows, actually, because she isn’t interested in it nor does it really appeal to her, but also she thinks it’s funny to see people speculate. In short, I don’t know the answer, because she’s not answering.
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out of the many ways I have seen Celestia written, I think you wrote her the best (At least in your most recent story, to be honest, I haven't read the other ones yet)
Although the skeletons in her closet are fun, my personal favorite being her faking being able to lift the sun, I would say that her being a genuinely good person could create arguably more exciting scenarios. Such as her being forced to make a hard decision that might break her traditional morals, like what she did with Luna.
I don't know much about Sunset (I haven't watched Equestria Girls Yet since I am relatively new to the community), but I know she runs from Celestia. But just an idea, she is a bit more distant with Twilight, putting up an emotional wall for her next student, never going as far as to call her a daughter, out of fear of her getting hurt again by another rejection.
5731701
Awwwwww
5731703
Aw, I'm touched
Though I feel Celestia Regina is a more complete picture of her, as it's from her POV, heh.
Heh, contrast to canon, I wrote it as such that she didn't even intend to banish Luna, she was trying to cleanse her but the Elements didn't like that she's forcing them to act against their other bearer.
Precisely. Hence why I don't think Twilight would go so far as to call Celestia her mother, because... she already has one. That's not to say scenarios where Celestia is a parental substitute won't work, it's just not how I see it.
Keeping Twilight a bit more distant than Sunset is exactly what she'd do.
Earlier this year I read a story where Celestia has a phobia of technology, and it took a good deal of time/money/persuasion to get her to agree to the railroads and steam engine. Before that she was confronted with a prototype for a mechanical pony designed by a father who wanted to help his dying daughter, but her greedy ministers put a bug in her ear and previous negative experience pushed her to forbid the r&d, which he inevitably did anyway in secret.
At the climax, the main villain confronts Celestia and calls her selfish and cowardly among other things, but what I really want to focus on is how he describes Celestia as literally wanting to view her subjects as "children", and she will be the ever loving mommy figure (MY little pony indeed) and as such anything that could push her "beloved kiddies to grow up" is BAD. So as pointed out, some skeletons or flaws are good, but if we push too hard to make her 100% likeable or extremely flawed, well that can be just as bad if not worse than putting a few stains on her character.
Wait, am I supposed to wait to read this post until after I've finished reading the whole story?
(And if so, WHICH stories? I mean, there's at least two that might be relevant if I include https://www.fimfiction.net/story/536310/velvet-quill-sunny-skies.)
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Nothing here is really spoilery of anything, just an affirmation of Celestia's asexuality.
5731706
I don't think she should be flawless, either. She screwed up both her relationships with her sister and her daughter.
And of course, Spectrum is about what happens when she does fall...
5731706
Nothing about what Sledge has written implies Celestia is flawless. One can be too kind, or kind in the wrong way: just look at how Fluttershy had to learn that precise lesson.
Sledge, you know I'm behind you 900%, my dude. Your Celestia is simply amazing,
5731712
The piece that caught my attention:
While maybe nothing directly states that she is 100% flawless, this line did in my mind read as someone who wants to do good by a character but maybe pushes a teensy bit too hard. No hate towards Sledge, more of an...observation from a prospective reader.
5731715
What's wrong with there being no dark secrets? Why does someone have to have dark secrets in order to be flawed? Why can't she just be flawed in other ways?
Like, I get where you're coming from, I do, but what you're suggesting, intentionally or no, is that no dark secrets = flawless character and that is just not true.
5731706
can i get a link to that fic?
5731717
Sure, but I'll PM it to you so we don't flood Sledge's comments with non-sledge story stuff.
5731716
When I set out to reply, I was of the mind that "skeletons" in more of a inner demons or huge mistakes sort of way over "I'm secretly Sombra's love spawn" kind of thing if that makes sense. I know I've got some unresolved inner demons, mistakes I made years ago still occasionally haunt me with sleepless nights. Fears that might be keeping me from reaching my true potential or finding connections IRL as opposed to pining over purple nerd princesses.
5731709
Actually...
She might've had a love interest in the comics. The mirror universe King Sombra from what I've seen.
But Idk.
Celestia is like Superman. You don't have to make her evil or desperate or sleazy to make her interesting. She's interesting because, with all the power at her disposal, she still chose to be good.
(And frankly, aroace seems like the safest option for Celestia to maintain her sanity... to say nothing of the ergonomic challenges. Nopony wants intimacy to involve breaking out a stepladder.)
5731804
Once more, I must quote this fantastic bit by Brennan Lee Mullligan;
Celestia chose to be kind and good, and that is what makes her, paradoxically, complex and great. I don't know, I feel like we've gone grimdark for so long that going the opposite way is just so... refreshing.
5731720
Then you don't need to look any further than the fact that, for a thousand years, Celestia is haunted by the loss of her sister. I find it a fascinating irony, that she could be so accomplished in maintaining a thousand years of peace, yet she couldn't manage to save her sister.
But I really don't think she needs any dark secrets, for one, that she's secretly selfish or secretly a jerk.
5731729
Oh I ignore that one.
5731810
You do as you see fit, as it is your story and not mine, these are just some thoughts that passed through my brain is all.
Barring line about prophecies, because they are real thing in MLP lore, I absolutely agree.
And because of that, placing her in a position where she directly deals with a certain sinful changeling, is a very interesting experience. Delicious character conflict and clashing of morals...
I've written this comment longer, before I realized that it is too much of a spoiler for my work. Just know that I agree, and the character needs more respect