Self-Indulgent Author's Notes: Super Naval-Gazing Turbo Editon · 1:02am Jul 1st, 2013
So it’s been nearly a month since Tarnished Silver ended. I can hardly believe it. A month! That’s as many as thirty days. And that’s terrible.
I had originally planned to take two weeks off from writing before resuming, but this break turned out to be longer than expected due to various family and personal issues which have cropped up. It’s kind of fortunate that they occurred now, since they would have meant even MORE delays if they had happened while I was still writing Tarnished Silver. But I am writing new stuff, albeit more slowly than I would like.
So announcement! There is a Tarnished Silver side story in the works. Please don’t ask when it will be done. It’s being given secondary priority to the other things I’m working on, since I did kind of just spend a year writing about sexually abused ponies and all. I want to give the story some time to develop, but keep an eye on your feeds and on this blog, because I’m not sure when I will complete it. It’s going to depend on time and general inspiration. Could be done in two weeks, could be in two months. Or more. I hope you guys understand.
Hopefully, when it’s done, it’ll be worth the wait.
The main pony unrelated thing I’m working on is sort of a historical fantasy. It seems to be going to some interesting places. This, too, might not be ready for public consumption for quite a long time, assuming it ever reaches that point (it may very well end up falling behind one of my various other ideas.)
Anyway, that’s your current ham status. Onward to author’s notes!
SELF-INDULGENT AUTHOR’S NOTES: NOW FEATURING THOSE OTHER TWO FOALS
Oh yeah, and as always, SPOILERS abound for those of you who haven't read the entire series.
As Tarnished Silver’s story grew far beyond anything I had anticipated, one of the many happy accidents I encountered was the way that the main cast grew into much more interesting ponies than I had initially anticipated. The series is mostly an ensemble deal, but I honestly think that Twist and Sweetie turned out to be interesting enough that they could have been protagonists of their own stories if I had been so inclined. Maybe Diamond Tiara could have, too, if I’d have had the chance to use her more. So let’s look at two of the Four Little Ponies, starting with...
TWIST
Damn it feels good to be a Candster (Candy Gangster)
If it weren’t for Twist, this story probably would have ended at Silver Spoon’s Mark. The only reason I even began writing Twisted was because someone on /mlp/ requested a story where Rarity has her way with Ponyville’s favorite lisping peppermint maker. And I agreed, but when I sat down to write the thing, I quickly became aware of a rather unfortunate fact:
Twist is boring.
Well, okay, not Twist as I wrote her. Not to toot my own horn, but I really love the version of her I came up with. She probably develops more than any pony aside perhaps from Silver Spoon. She evolved from comedy relief pony to a strong but wounded figure who, alone among the main characters, refused to go along with Luna’s lie, regardless of the personal consequences. She might be the bravest character in the entire story. But she sure didn’t start out that way.
Canon Twist, on the other hand, is pretty boring. Please don’t think I’m taking a shot at the show, or implying that my characterization is somehow better than theirs. I wish I could come up with something on the level of the wonderful character moments the MLP writing staff have.
But Twist serves a very different purpose on the show than in this story. Canon Twist was basically created to give Apple Bloom someone to talk to in the first act of Call of the Cutie. Once Bloom meets Scoots and Sweetie, Twist is basically redundant, which is why we never see Bloom really hanging out with her in future episodes. And that’s fine. Twist serves her story purpose flawlessly, and despite only having four or five minutes of screen time, she manages to make a strong impression as a character. Despite the fact that, when you remove Apple Bloom from the equation, all we know about Twist is that she talks funny and likes to make candy.
Which makes for a boring protagonist. But of course, she was never meant to be one. So, much like the guy who wrote the Star Wars expanded universe novel about the Cantina Band (I have no knowledge of or interest in the SW expanded universe, but I’m willing to bet several teeth that such a book does indeed exist. I mean, Boba Fett is a glorified background prop in the movies and now he’s got like 700 books or something. Anyway.)
What was I saying? Oh, right. Much like that guy who did the thing up there, I realized I had to flesh Twist out a bit more before I could write a story about her. Unsure of how to proceed, I hedged my bets by expanding the roles of Sweetie, Rarity, and Silver, and adding Spike to the proceedings as well. That way, I figured, if I couldn’t find a way to make Twist interesting, I had all these other interesting ponies to fall back on.
Well, they proved so interesting that Twist isn’t even IN the first chapter of Twisted, and when she does show up, she surprises everyone (including me) by being kind of awesome. She’s funny, nerdy, rambles on about various topics endlessly without realizing it, loves to read, and takes what she reads way too seriously. Before I knew it, I had turned her into the story’s comedy relief character, but with a dark edge to that role: she’s only funny because she doesn’t realize what’s actually going on for half of Twisted, so all her jokes have a hint of foreboding to them: we know that eventually, she’s going to learn the truth, and it’s going to crush her.
As I’ve mentioned before, Pip was originally intended to be the pony who would stay in the Gallery. But by the time I got to the Gathering, I realized that he was far from an ideal candidate. Twist had a lot more room to develop as a character at that point, whereas I felt like Pip would be better used as a C-plot in Silver Sky, where I could make use of his friendship with Princess Luna.
Making Twist the Offering was probably the single most important change I made to the story, and one of the best decisions I’ve made as a writer. She absolutely rose to the occasion. Once Silver Spoon offered her a small hope of escape, Twist, turned that hope into a tremendous source of strength. The Gallery could hurt her, but it couldn’t conquer her. Because the little bookworm had faith that a happy ending was coming.
I really love how one of the last times we see Twist, she’s on the same hill she’s on the first time we see her, and still watching sunsets with Spike. But she no longer frets about being pretty, she no longer feels bad about being different, and rather than fearing the judgment of others, she openly encourages it with her sure-to-be-controversial book. She’s grown and changed tremendously, but she’s still Twist.
And I didn’t see any of it coming. When I put her in the Gallery, I felt like I was taking a huge risk, that she might turn out to be the wrong choice after all, and I’d be left with a subplot where Twist just sobs all the time and daydreams fairy tales while being raped.
But I guess I made the same mistake that everyone in the Gallery did: I underestimated her.
FEAR THIS PONY.
ORIGINALLY:
As mentioned about fifty times by now, ORIGINALLY, Twist was going to get to go home after the Gathering, while Pip remained in the Gallery. Remnants of this storyline even snuck into the finished story: shortly after the Gathering ends, Silver explains how Rarity planned to skew the vote by only giving the colt-lovers one choice. This is exactly how I originally intended for the Offering selection to turn out, with Sweetie realizing after the fact that her sister had planned it this way to protect her.
Once she was at home, Twist was ORIGINALLY going to be bound with a spell which prevented her from revealing the truth about the Gathering or the Circle. This was going to be different from the Binding Oath spell, as it would have rendered Twist physically incapable of revealing the information. This would have led to her hiding from her friends out of frustration, which in turn would have been made worse by Spike leaving for the dragon lands. And then she was going to…actually I have no idea. Twist’s storyline didn’t really go anywhere if she came back to Ponyville, and once I realized this I began to consider putting her in the Gallery because she was just too great a character to waste.
Of course, by the end of A Silver Sky, Twist isn’t really in a position to provide comedy anymore. So she passed on the torch to another pony, who, in contrast to Twist, probably went underused throughout the course of the series. But of course she gets her moments, because it’s hard to write a Silver Spoon story without…
DIAMOND TIARA
"OUT OF THE WAY, BITCH! WILMA FLINTSTONE'S HOME!"
At first, however, I was going to do just that. I wasn’t really interested in writing a Diamond Tiara clopfic, and I didn’t really want her stealing Silver Spoon’s thunder, something which seemed almost inevitable if I put the two of them together in the early parts of the story. So I’m afraid I was a little callous toward poor Diamond, having her be the first depicted victim of Rarity’s abuse, then essentially sidelining her for the next 300 pages. When I wrote the first story, I had no intention of bringing Diamond back at all. Rarity rapes her, Silver Spoon abandons her, and that was to be the end of it. It was supposed to be a pair of quick clopfics, after all: that Silver Spoon was willing to turn her back on her oldest friend for the prospect of Rarity’s abuse seemed like a great way to underscore her commitment to her new mistress. That level of devotion was, dare I say, pretty sexy. And that’s as far as Diamond’s role was supposed to extend.
But of course, it didn’t turn out that way.
Diamond is barely mentioned again until the latter half of Twisted, when it begins to slowly dawn on Silver Spoon that she has done something absolutely horrible to her friend. This was partly me having the same realization: in some ways, I had treated Diamond worse than Silver Spoon. At least Silver was happy and had someone to love, even if it was an incredibly unhealthy and abusive relationship. Diamond Tiara, meanwhile, had essentially lost everything: her dignity, her sense of security, and worst of all, her dearest friend. Once I developed a sense of the larger storyline, I decided that Diamond would remain offstage throughout Twisted, so I could build up to her return in the following story. But I knew she needed one major scene to reinforce her presence in Silver’s mind (and in the reader’s as well), so I came up with the flashback where she attempts to eulogize Silver and ends up breaking down instead.
This was a big scene for her, because I wanted to underscore something I’ve noticed from the show (and the MLP writing staff is sly enough that I doubt this is accidental): Diamond Tiara strikes me as a very lonely pony. Yeah, lots of foals attend her Cutecenara, but it seems more like a “invite everyone at your school” sort of party (she did invite Twist and Apple Bloom, two ponies who certainly don't consider themselves her friends.) She barely talks to anyone at the event except Silver Spoon, and the whole crowd begins to ignore her as soon as Scoots makes her “blank flanks are full of potential” speech.
Every other time we see her, the only pony her age who seems to want to be in her presence is Silver (with the temporary addition of Babs for one episode.) Apple Bloom actually subverts the usual cartoon stereotype by being more popular than her bully, which makes sense given the setting: in a society that values friendship so much, a popular bully would be a rare sight. More likely, bullies would be pariahs, but this would likely create a vicious circle that would just make them meaner.
My point is, I think that even in canon, Diamond needs Silver at least as much, if not more than, Silver needs her. Without Silver Spoon, Diamond becomes painfully aware of how isolated she is, and this is something she continues to struggle with throughout Tarnished Silver. While Silver loses of sight of Diamond Tiara for a while, Diamond never stops thinking about Silver.
When it was finally time to bring Diamond back into the story, I wanted to do it at a point where Silver Spoon was starting to doubt her choices. A lot of readers assumed that Tarnished Silver would end with Diamond Tiara swooping in, rescuing Silver Spoon from the clutches of Fancy and Rarity, and then retreating to her mansion for school-age filly makeout time. Actually, this is probably the way Twist would have written it (at least pre-Gallery Twist.)
But I didn’t want to make it that easy (or that obvious) for either of them, so I left Diamond offstage until Silver had reached a point where she no longer thought herself worthy of Diamond’s friendship.
What surprised me about Diamond Tiara, though, was her amazing ability to cut through everyone’s bullshit. Once I found my groove with her, she displayed a terrific skill at brutal honesty that put even Applejack to shame. It began when she told off Rarity in prison, but from then on, she became the most refreshingly direct character in the story. I think it was inevitable, since Diamond’s most defining trait is her lack of politeness and tact.
This also allowed her to switch up her role late in the game and provide some moments of humor while former comedy relief pony Twist was off being all serious and pining for her dead friend. She even takes up lampshading duties, calling Rarity (and me) on the overuse of teleports as a plot device at one point.
I do worry that perhaps I didn’t use her enough; Diamond has hardly any scenes where she’s the focus character, something each of the other foals (even Pip) gets several of. This is partially because she enters the story so late in the proceedings, when I already had several subplots going and there was no room for yet another one. But it’s also because Diamond’s personal struggle came more from the show than anyone else’s: as mentioned above, depending on how you “read” the show (you have now entered the portion of the fandom where we overanalyze this little girls’ cartoon like it’s friggin’ Finnighan’s Wake or something) Diamond is already pretty lonely and dependent on Silver. I just had to expand on that.
She’s arguably the pony with the most unresolved issues at the end of the story. Despite all she’s been through, she still longs for Silver Spoon, even though Silver’s moved on and doesn’t consider Diamond the center of her world anymore. This is just another example of their role reversal: Silver has “taken the lead” in her personal recovery while Diamond is still working through her most basic issue. That’s not to say that Diamond won’t ever get over Silver. She’s a tough pony with more confidence than any of the other foals, and she’ll go far in the world. One day, I’m sure she’ll find someone who will help her get over Silver.
Preferably someone submissive and soft-spoken, with a braid and big glasses and an ornate eating utensil for a Cutie Mark.
Maybe there’s a bespectacled pony named Flawless Fork out there who’s about to get swept off her hooves.
Also, Diamond is the only one of the main foals who doesn’t get any sex scenes. I bet she’d be pretty damn demanding in bed anyway (if she’s not being raped by Rarity, I mean.) In my mind she’d hurl insults at her lover if they didn’t perform exactly as she expected, and would be more than happy to annihilate their self-esteem with a few choice words if the session didn’t end with Diamond completely satisfied. She’d make a great humiliation dom, if you were into that sort of thing. But I couldn’t see her being physically mean.
She's too busy being BOSS OF THE WORLD.
ORIGINALLY!
While I lament the lack of a dedicated Diamond Tiara subplot above, it’s probably for the best. The story was long enough as it was. ORIGINALLY, though, Diamond was going to drop in on Twilight, learn the contents of Sweetie Belle’s note with her, and then make a beeline for Canterlot (while Twilight stayed in Ponyville for an extra night to help Pip.) This would have led to an adventure where she tries to sneak into Fancy’s HQ, only to fail miserably and get snagged by Triage. It all seemed pretty fillery, so I just had her get zapped to Triage’s place along with Rarity.
ORIGINALLY, Silver and Diamond’s reunion was going to happen in Silver Spoon’s room in the mansion, with all those creepy dolls staring them down. This was back when I had planned for the Gallery fire to spread to the whole house, leading to a towering inferno situation. Cornered by the fire, the two of them would have had a painful heart-to-heart. But when I decided to nix the fire in favor of Twenty’s crazypants killing spree, I realized I had no real way to get the two of them in there (Twenty would never harm foals so they had no reason to hide from him) and the scene was kind of slowing things down anyway.
ORIGINALLY, in a very early draft of the ending, Diamond and Silver ended up as a couple, but it was strongly hinted that the relationship wasn’t working out. We would have opened on a scene of Silver Spoon strung up, being called a cheap whore and being whipped. Only the whipping is so feeble that she barely feels it, and it turns out that while Diamond is more than happy to be emotionally brutal, she just doesn’t have it in her to be physically violent, even in play. It would have been a way to show that Silver was in control now, as she was free to stop the session anytime she wanted, and she does, mostly out of disappointment. She laments to herself that she doesn’t think she and Diamond are sexually compatible, but doesn’t have the heart to break it to her just yet.
There are a ton of reasons why I didn’t use this ending. I didn’t want to leave Silver’s love life on such a melancholic note, and I didn’t want her to be stringing Diamond along. But it really just doesn’t feel very in character in general: this was envisioned long before most of A Silver Sky was written, and the fillies ended up developing in ways that I hadn’t anticipated. I’m really happy with the real ending, so I’m glad I didn’t use this one.
Well, that sure was…long. Next time, I’ll yammer on for a while about Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Most well-adjusted family ever!
In the meantime, I'm glad a tiny number of people appreciate Silver Spoon and Twist a bit more now thanks to this story. Which may explain why Hasbro recently announced that they will be the headliners of their new "Most Molested Fillies" line:
More proof that the toy division doesn't pay attention to the fandom: Twist has no glasses, and Silver Spoon isn't clinging to Rarity's leg and saying, "PLEASE PUT THINGS IN MY BUTT."
I remember in the beginning of Silver Sky, Silver was hearing voices and Diamond was sitting in her room talking to no one.
Was that just coincidental craziness, or did they really have the shinning?
What about Pipsqueak? Granted, he pretty much served his purpose about halfway into A Silver Sky, but after that, you pretty much dropped him like a rock. Only a passing mention in the epilogue chapter, and that was it.
I only started reading Twisted because the earlier stories had foals getting physically abused, (the sex being entirely removed from my areas of interest) so I can only imagine what comedy of errors led to this whole catastrophe.
Don't need no mare?
1179696
What did you expect from a disgusting heterosexual?
Glad to see that you are finding time for more Authors Notes.
When I saw those toys of Silver and Twist, on Equestria Daily, I immediately thought of A Silver Sky. It's like I can't see a picture of Sweetie, Silver, Diamond, Twist, or Pip without thinking about Tarnished Silver!
Looking forwards to seeing the Rarity & Sweetie Belle character analysis
Don't worry that your original shipping of Diamond and Silver didn't turn out.
I originally shipped Silver with Sweetie and Diamond with Fond Wish. So both our original shipping's didn't make the final cut.
From Equestria Daily DrawFriend 850:
4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hd7REcoLWgI/UdB45HpWbwI/AAAAAAAAmyI/1H7dE7QSXgk/s1080/where_are_the_apples__by_kp_shadowsquirrel-d6bbx8z.jpg
1179696
Pip had a whole sequence in the finale, actually. But then it grew way too big and ended up turning into something else. Something which actually stood much better on its own than as part of A Silver Sky.
So you will be seeing more of Pip...eventually.
1179559
I didn't want to give a definitive answer to that. I wanted readers to decide that one on their own. Maybe each filly responded to an extreme situation by imagining the comforting voice of her oldest friend. Or maybe friendship really is magic. The kind of magic which can easily be mistaken for schizophrenia. Either way, your new avatar is terrifying.
1180211
I noticed that picture, too. I really like it. Since these two became best pals after the Circle fell, I can easily see Twilight taking them on a beach trip or something.
1179740
I'm still trying to piece it together.
The most basic explanation is, "Ham started writing and this made him have ideas so he wrote those down and that caused him to have MORE ideas and the cycle continued until he woke up a year later covered in traumatized fillies."
Hello HamGravy, I have been looking over some fanfics on this site, when I stumbled upon a story called, "The Beautiful and Entirely Illegal Tale of Methdancer", by Regidar.
You might want to check it out because it's like a comedic version of Deadweight Alley. Here Methdancer is kind of like Scarflank and Little Pickle is kind of like Fond Wish.
Also if you haven't seen Equestria Girls yet, some people have posted it on YouTube.
You can find Human Sweetie Belle, Human Silver Spoon, and Human Rarity in the movie. But sadly no Fancypants, or evil human Circle members.
or