Sicily Sidetrip Ko-Fi Drive: FINAL DAY, plus 'The sins of character interpretation: Mr. Rich' · 4:53pm Jul 15th, 2023
Because when most of your followers are clearly going to skip over a given blog, that obviously makes it the perfect place to potentially start something new. And it felt like just putting up one last cup-rattling for the current 'cause' would be a little lonely all by itself, so... might as well provide something to read for the few who looked at it.
So in a few minutes, we're going to talk about how I distort canon, corrupt personalities, destroy everything good in the universe, and prove daily proof for just how much I need to be eliminated from the site. Or so I've basically been told in the comments. Because character interpretation is the greatest sin. It's such a horror that I was almost forced to put a trigger warning on one story, just to protect those who might be hurt. Not that I care if people get hurt by that, or I'd stop writing. But y'know. Lawsuits.
(Can you feel that sarcasm?)
(Gee, the comments section of Daily Equestria Life With Monster Girl was a ride.)
But before we start that...
*lifts cup*
The Sicily Sidetrip Ko-Fi Drive ends at midnight Eastern Daylight Time on July 15th.
So as of this writing, there's less than a day remaining to wrap things up.
I'm still trying for some bonus time on the island and as such, the current goal was designed to roll over: every full 100% is estimated to be one extra day. As I type this, I'm currently 25% away from potentially being able to stay through the 28th. And I'm hoping to see at least one LastDay tip. Two would be nice. Anything helps, because this may be the improv travel job of my life and any tips extend the range of where I can go, how long I can be there, and what I can do.
I'll be in the Discord chat server for most of today, putting up a few last photos for the final essays, spamming the link a few times, and watching the timer count down. (I really wish there was a way to embed a countdown clock in this blog.) Feel free to drop on by. But when it comes to the blog entries... this is the last attempt of the drive.
I have, in getting this far, arguably been lucky than I deserve. It's possible that the numbers will freeze here and if so, I'll work with that. When it comes to dropping in anything at the last minute, it's always up to you.
I'm grateful. More than I can say in mere words.
But I had to officially give the blog-hosted cup one last drive rattle.
Let's see if anything lands in it.
What happens when the drive wraps up? I start looking for the exit flight and plan the full schedule: neither could be done until I knew how long I would be there.
(There's a chance that I might leave from Rome: there's more flights from there, some are direct, and I can just take the train across at Messina and ride north from there.)
(Yes, I know Sicily is an island. So does the train.)
At some point on July 16th, the Ko-Fi goal will become 'new mattress'. I tried this once before, and it got shorted out by a car repair. Given that I'm currently keeping a few of the springs inside the housing via layered duct tape, it's probably time to try it again.
As for progress on the trip as a whole? I now have a Stuttgart-to-Catania flight booked. Hotels should be next.
But for now... let's talk about sinning.
I've been told that when it comes to characters, I never do anything else.
This may turn into an irregular series. Talking about how a given character is displayed on the show, and then trying to make excuses for how they wound up within my writing. Changed by the needs of the moment, the requirements of the story, and the forever-dubious skills of a hack. It'll partially depend on what the reader response looks like. And if someone wants me to discuss the character of their choice, it would qualify as a topic for a Patreon blog takeover.
Today, we're going to start with the semi-background character who somehow wound up with his own mini-catalog within the larger one: Mr. Rich.
And how much has he changed, in order to give him so much?
For starters, I keep calling him Mr. Rich.
It's possibly important to note that the 'verse started its breakaway process from canon after the end of Season 3. And there's been some discussion in the chat server as to whether that gave me an edge of sorts, because S3 is when a good portion of the viewership still felt there might be some kind of grand plan being constructed. We just had to wait long enough to find out what it was.
And it was also before some of the characters began to drop into parodies of themselves.
(Mark-based 'countryisms', AJ? Really?)
Additionally, because I started at a given point in time, I wound up with the dubious benefits of not necessarily having to use anything which arrived in S4 and beyond. The ramp led away from the main road at a given exit: doubling back to grab anything from up the line was my choice.
And what did we know about Mr. Rich, by the end of S3?
Not very much. And some of what I personally believed myself to 'know' was wrong.
For starters? I thought he was a single parent.
And that shaped so much of what was to come.
The very wealthy can be very different kinds of people, especially compared to what many of us are used to. Some of them exist on the opposite site of an economic chasm. When a few try to view things from the perspective of the more average, the chasm develops a wall and blocks all vision. Affluenza kicks in: they've never had to worry about the little things, so anyone who does is clearly lesser. Money lifts them. Holds them up and in doing so, separates.
And here I had the wealthiest pony in town. An economic force, as Barnyard Bargains was said to be part of a chain fairly early on. We didn't know how many stores were involved, how many employees, whether it was millions or billions -- but this guy is rich. His name says so. And when someone is that wealthy... how can you understand them, from this side of the economic chasm? How can you relate to their struggles, much less see them as someone worth rooting for?
Why this stallion?
As much to the point: why not anypony else?
What do we know about him by the end of Season 3? He keeps his word. He gets personally involved, turning up at the Acres when he could have easily sent somepony else. This is a stallion who's willing to discipline his daughter, but the offense pretty much needs to happen right in front of him. He's not exactly overly fond of his full name. His family has been connected to Ponyville for just as long as the Apples. And... there's hints of bags under his eyes. He looks tired. Like he's been hauling a burden for a very long time and he can't stop.
(On the stage of my mind's eye, he usually looks tired. The tie is gone, and the manestyle's slipped a little lower. I've said that if you didn't know who he was, understood what his mark meant... he would just about blend into any crowd. A middle-aged brown earth pony stallion. Not particularly handsome, with nothing really distinguishable about his looks. Average, and very nearly anonymous.)
(There are times when he'd like to be...)
And he came to the Acres with Diamond. Nopony else. I don't know why that suggested 'single parent' to me, instead of 'mother is just offscreen somewhere'. Maybe it was Diamond herself, and the fact that she acted as if half of the control rods in her life had been permanently pulled out. Add that to how weary her father seemed to be, and... single parent, one daughter. That stuck in my head.
Where could I go with it?
Business is war. Retail then turns into a constant series of skirmishes, where you're never quite sure if any given conflict is going to produce fatalities.
Why Mr. Rich? Because there's all sorts of stories which can be told in the retail setting. I've already gone for a few of them, with Rarity serving as a second window: the artist who's made the arguable mistake of running their own gallery. By using Mr. Rich, I could tell stories not just about him, but all the little hazards of business and the strangeness of customer interaction. Barnyard Bargains is big enough that it could be involved in just about anything, while still being sufficiently small (on the local scale) to be comprehensible. Few of us have run a corporation, but the majority have been to a store.
And if it was partially going to be about customer interaction...
...then he had to interact.
There's an economic chasm. Mr. Rich takes a daily commute across the bridge, and it's hard to say which side he actually lives on.
I wanted to keep him relatable, and the first way of doing that was to make sure he was tied to Ponyville. Not just to the store, but to just about everypony who shops there.
He runs the entire chain. Responsible for fifteen stores. (Sixteen soon.) An economic force.
But in Ponyville... he's just the manager.
How do you avoid the chasm? By keeping him on the other side of it, with everypony else. That's where the store is, after all. And just about every day, he gets up and goes to the store. At different hours, so he can have some time with every shift.
I never wound up with his Equestria Girls role. ('I have money! Therefore, I am the bad guy! MUWAH-HA-HA!') That's someone who doesn't understand how the rest of the world works any more, and caring might be impossible. The human doesn't take responsibility for the fallout of his actions.
Mr. Rich is responsibility.
It's more than that. Look at his actions in my stories, and -- writer about to be silly -- maybe there's an argument to be made for his potential right to hold an Element.
Mr. Rich tries to live by several virtues. But when it comes to his personality, he's Loyalty.
The general on the frontline.
Maybe that sums him up as well as anything else.
In economic terms, he has troops under his command. His burden is the lives of fifteen stores' worth of employees, and that's just the direct fallout which could come from his making a mistake. Every pony who works for him? That's a reason why the business needs to succeed. Yes, he has money, and some of those profits go to him. But it's also about salaries and benefits and the fact that the cashier has to make enough to live on, because it's an entry-level position and if those don't pay a workable salary... then why would anypony want to be a cashier? You'd certainly never have a happy one. Desperate and looking for any way out, maybe, and that sort of feeling tends to echo out into the rest of the store. And there are ponies in his employ who have personal crises, their salaries won't necessarily cover the latest disaster, and what's that going to do to them? What about that latest monster attack? What's the fallout in the community? If it was truly bad, then there may be customers he'll never see again, and... when you've seen somepony once a week, every week, for most of their lives... then why wouldn't you turn up at the funeral?
...maybe you should be putting in a contribution.
They left a child behind. Somepony should start a fund. You know all about those who leave too early, and there's still a foal...
If Barnyard Bargains failed, with every store going down? He'd likely be okay -- on the economic level. He's got bits put aside. But there's no golden parachute built from pony hides. He understands how some ponies think: that for every corner you trim, every salary sliced to the bone and product made a little more shoddy, that's extra funds for you. And you can live very comfortably that way, until everypony spots the trick. And then what does your daughter live on? Who trusts her, after what you did? All of the ponies you shortchange and outright let go, just to boost your own profits? What happens to them?
Mr. Rich is at the head of the largest extended herd to be found in Ponyville. It overflows the borders. He has to succeed, because there are so many ponies counting on him making it all work. Every day. So you go to work every day, and...
...in Ponyville... he's the manager.
It's been implied that he just about instituted the senior discount. The elderly, who might be in economic difficulty, have lost some capacity for math and never would have recognized that their bill shouldn't have added up to so little.
He's never gouged on any price. The one time we see him getting railroaded by his own mark? That's when he's being paid to give things away. Receive products for free, nose them over at the same price, and collect a profit. The thought of adding even a smidgen's worth of charge never occurs to him, because he's already living the dream.
The talent is tempered by the pony. He has to succeed. He's got a competitive streak on the same level where Twilight keeps her territorial one: it seldom openly comes out -- but when it does? Clear the way. And he'll put everything he has into the race, because he's hauling fifteen stores of employees and they all have to win together.
He is, in many ways, an ideal. One which barely exists in the real world, and it still leaves him with some flaws.
There's been a few jokes made about him in the server. To wit: he may not be the last ethical capitalist, but we'd better make sure he breeds.
I wanted to keep him accessible, and that wound up echoing into his very environment. Because he has an office -- but nopony's ever seen the door in a closed state. They just knock on the frame.
In his very first story... I made sure to say the key words, just about immediately. That for the flagship store, he was the manager. (His life would be a little easier if that was as far as the responsibility went.) Yes, he's drawing up purchase plans for the entire franchise. He's also designing endcap displays. You'll usually find him in the aisles, talking to customers and straightening up along the way.
He still does cart retrieval and given what we've learned about Goldie since, that's a high-risk move.
Mr. Rich has more money than anypony in the community. But he's part of that community. (The store is definitely sponsoring some local youth sports, and he's going to be in the stands while wearing team colors.) He operates at a distance of none-removed. And if you want to speak with him... you go into the store and ask to see the manager. He's usually there, and he will listen. He knows his customers as people, because that's part of how you fit into the community. Why they keep coming back and, when the brothers got involved, why they're willing to fight with him.
Some generals operate from the back and make sure they can retreat first: after all, they're in charge, so clearly somepony else can take the kicks for them. And whenever anything happens in the store -- Mr. Rich is there.
He keeps saying that he'd never ask anypony to take on something that he wouldn't do himself...
How do I keep him relatable?
I think of him as a store manager whose responsibilities run out a little further than he's frequently comfortable with. (There are so many ponies relying on him, and... he's tired.) Mentions of his actual wealth are just about absent. He's basically a single father who gets the rare luxury of not having to worry too much about some of the usual issues. Cooking and cleaning at home? The servant staff is small, but there's a cook and a maid. He's covered. Which is good, because there's so much else to worry about.
There's a lot of patience on display. He tries to work with everypony possible, and it can take a lot before that font starts to run out.
He's constantly aware of how many ponies depend on his continued success. (It's probably worth noting that when we see him make an open plea, he does it on behalf of everypony else.)
We're generally seeing him in the role of Father To His Mares, Stallions, And We Employ All Species: Just Ask For An Application. The responsibility is constant, unending, and exhausting. It also gives him a lot less time for Father To His Daughter than he's happy with, but he's also trying to make sure there's something present for her to take over. When the time comes.
(Has he considered that Diamond might not want the franchise? On some level. Briefly. But he knows what her mark is, and feels a natural leader can take control. I don't think he's recognized just how scared she is of failing. He's starting to see her flaws -- and yet, she remains his blind spot.)
He's also just a bit of a badass.
It's almost funny. When he does something truly spectacular, it's at the side of the screen. Or just out of direct view, and we only have somepony else's word for it. But for everyday actions...
Protest Too Much? Immediately understands why the children are picketing, joins in the line, and then assumes the role of lead negotiator. For the picketers.
He's briefly on-camera in Badvent Calendar. Worried that the situation may not be right, and trying to warn whoever he can.
Daily Equestria Life With Monster Girl? You don't go after his daughter or her friends. It's one of the only times we see him use that economic power, because fifteen stores shifting the contents of their periodicals sections is going to have an effect -- but not as much as the moment when he stops purchasing ad space in certain publications. He knows what the true definition of 'everypony' is when spoken by a certain kind of voice: all those who agree with the anger, because no others are real. And he can lose a few customers, while making a number of enemies -- because when you pick up that kind of enemy, you also acquire some friends.
And then we find out what happened during Tirek's attack.
He was stranded in Canterlot. His daughter was in Ponyville, and Tirek was heading straight for it.
So he got into the Grand Gymkhana, somehow figured out how to get a train running, burned his forelegs so badly in operating the boiler as to require moons of medical treatment just to walk without pain again and when we see him at the last part of the fight, he's galloping towards Diamond.
If he has an echo in the 'verse? He's the brighter version of Dr. Gentle. Anything for those seen as his responsibility, and everything for his daughter.
Every time.
Because ultimately, if he had to make a final choice -- it's not about the bits, or the business.
On a very real level, she's all he has left....
This is going to be the hard part.
I've said it a few times. That when you see the words on the screen... it's not necessarily what the writer thinks, but what they were thinking about.
If you look at a portion of my catalog -- that which exists between the end of 2020 and the winter of 2021... you're going to see someone who was thinking about death. Almost constantly. It got into the stories, because there was a sole topic foremost on my mind and I couldn't put it away for long. Preparations. Echoes. What had to come before, and what might come next.
And then my mother died.
And then I didn't know if I could write any more.
I didn't know if I had enough left to write. Not about more than one thing. I had a single thought, one which kept turning into a scream, and I had to let it out. But the only way to truly let the wail sound would be...
...no.
I couldn't kill a character. Not for this. Selfishness as murder.
And then I realized that...
...I'd thought Mr. Rich was a single father.
There had already been a death.
I just had to go back to it.
A Dirge In Fugue Major represents my screaming through another's mouth.
It's not the same. It can't be. My mother, his spouse. And at the same time... there was a shared question at the core. 'What am I supposed to do now?'
Mr. Rich and I would be on opposite sides of the economic chasm. I get by -- mostly. Sort of. He didn't have to worry about funeral expenses: I never could have paid for the headstone. He sure wasn't going to wind up waiting on Medicaid Estate Recovery for months. And... I was alone, while he still had a daughter to take care of. One too young to ever remember her own mother.
'What am I supposed to do now?'
There is no amount of money which can protect you from having to answer that question.
You could say that I spent over ten thousand words in a single scream.
I make jokes about my Hatedom. (They exist.) But... for months after Dirge was written... it sat on zero downvotes. They took a little time off.
Thank you. It... meant a lot. It really did.
(Don't expect to ever hear that again.)
"Ah get it, though," the farmer sighed. "We're more alike than Ah might have thought, you an' me. We're both 'bout family at the core, an' -- you jus' lost part of yours. You feel like you're alone. An' Ah've gotta be straight with you: you've got me thinkin'." The tail flicked again. "Got me scared. Ah've been listenin' to all of this, tryin' t' imagine what it would be like if one of us went first. It's the most painful thing Ah've had in mah head since the last birth, 'cause there's always this thought of somethin' goin' wrong." A softer sigh. "Bet you know that one, 'cause ours ain't too far apart, are they?"
"Your third," he pointed out. (He'd sent a gift.) "My --" and stopped.
Immediately, "You were 'bout t' say 'first', right? An' then y'stopped, 'cause it was 'bout t' be 'only'?"
He just barely managed the nod.
"...yeah." The stallion's warm green eyes closed, opened again. "You're young. Ah know it seems like it's gonna be a cold bed forever, but... you're young. Younger than me. There's time, an' she'd want you t' be happy --"
"-- only," he said.
Gently, "Give it time. Ah ain't sayin' this year --"
"I think it's 'only'."
If you want proof that the writer is an idiot? That was one of the last things I thought of in that story. Originally, it was going to be Granny Smith. And then I realized that I was already going back in time to reach the death, doing so meant some ponies were going to be alive, and...
...the two fathers.
(Their daughters are just starting to reconcile.)
It's the only time I've had Bright on-screen.
I'm usually a little distant from my own work. In particular, it's hard for me to place the Comedy tag, because I don't know if the readers will find anything funny. And on the same level... emotional impacts can diminish when you've had to edit them a few times.
"Ain't nopony knows how much time they've got..."
I'm still waiting for the day when that one doesn't hurt.
Too close.
...I don't know if he's ever recovered.
Average middle-aged earth pony stallion. Nothing special to look at. But for those who know...
...oh, he could attract the golddiggers. I don't doubt he's pushed a few away. But he's never tried again. And he looks at a single mother, one who has a wandering golden eye, and he's told himself that he's too old for her, that it could never work out and in a very real way, he believes he's not special enough. That once you look past the bits, there's nothing worthwhile.
But in Anchor Foal II, and its slightly-split timeline... something has happened.
They're dating.
Part of me wants to tell that story. But it would be from Diamond's perspective. Having to deal with the possibility of a new mother -- oh, and you'd be getting a sister in the bargain. So much for lone foal pampering. Ready to share the thing you love most in the world? Can you?
We haven't seen things through Diamond's eyes for a while.
Maybe...
I wanted a window into the sillier side of the business world. The little pieces of daily madness.
But I also wanted someone whom the readership could care about. Root for. So I mostly ignored the wealth. Solidify the ethics, add responsibility, let him haul the burden, and...
...well, that's why he looks so tired.
Mister Rich. He hates his given name, and he's a little afraid to change it. Tampering with destiny is a dangerous thing. But it means he's usually addressed by a title of respect.
One which, despite all he does to stay within the community, comes with a touch of implied distance.
Ultimately, the money doesn't matter. He's a good stallion. He wants to be. He works hard to stay that way.
Maybe that's why he's fictional.
I am reminded of a fan-story where Mrs Rich's original name, before marriage, was "Spoiled Milk".
AND he eventually divorced her, in THAT story.
if i remember, that was in "a Screwed up life".
In regards to Filthy Rich
F Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
However, most bronies seem to take him as the pony answer to Sam Walton. Per the show, he could just be the pony answer to Sam Drucker (several 1960s sit coms).
You want an idea for a cracfic?
Stare Master
Master = male
Mistress = female
Technically they mean the same
BUT the connotations of calling someone "your master" =/= calling someone "your mistress"
It could get by with a T rating
Ebenezer Scrooge told The Ghost of Christmases Present that he was too old to change. The ghost did not take that well.
Still, for the rich the question is always "Are they my friend or my money's friend?". Older rich man, significantly younger woman, it's always a question.
I do appreciate this look at the process that takes a character from the base material to your interpretation. It's fascinating to watch another mind's creative process at work.
And I do hope those two can get together without an apocalyptic centaur getting involved. Both deserve more happiness. (As do you. Here's hoping you enjoy the trip.)
It's a good thing his daughter was introduced first, then.
Which would frankly be an improvement over canon. (It's neither the time nor the place to say anything else)
See above.
5737975
That's her canon maiden name, IIRC. I've had at least one character persistently address her as "Miss Milk" as a multilayered insult.
Another everyday example: with Spike in Sick Little Ponies, it made sense that it was Mr.-Rich-acting-as-a-dad who figured out what was going on.
Even when explaining your writing methods, you are an inspiration.
I wouldn't mind seeing more of your Character Interpretations in the future, Estee
I really like this dive into riches character, would love to see that story concept of diamond tiara view of rich and derpy dating
How do you upvote a blog? Loved the character deep dive.
Absolutely wonderful.
I love the little dive into Mr Rich as Loyalty. Imagine during the NMM incident the Elements reach out looking for new bearers, they reject so many and brush along this single father, this economic tycoon and pause. Maybe? Maybe not? But then it's dragged away by a speeding rainbow, all brash thoughts and unending dedication to a cause.
I also agree the EQG Rich was incredibly one-note, but I view it more as "Equestria is less cut-throat then humanity and Capitalism hasn't yet reached the awful levels we're stuck in now" the problem being the environment, not the idea.
You wanted to make him relatable. So you made him a unicorn (metaphorically speaking). Imagine a retail store where the manager actually works all the shifts, knows how things really are, and where even the least of them is paid a living wage. He's an interesting character, but as you said, fiction.
You know, Estee, despite your reputation as "the cynical one", I feel that bits of your 'verse like this one showcase a strong streak of optimism. So many of the authority figures in your Equestria are genuinely good people worthy of the rank they bear: Mr. Rich with his dedication to honest business and to his both literal and figurative families, Marigold Mare and her willingness to sacrifice her career to save a single one of her charges, Celestia and Princess Luna doing their best to guide the herd without letting themselves slip into tyranny, the Protocerans and their dedication to using Strength in the service of Weakness... The Continuum may have its share of monsters and imbeciles, but there are genuinely good people in there as well, and many of them are in a position to actually do what needs to be done.