May 4th, International OTP day · 6:31am May 5th, 2012
So, I saw a few other people doing this (Ebon Mane and AbsoluteAnonymous, specifically) and decided I'd take some time out from revisions on my next fic (It's coming along! I promise!) to talk about Twinkie.
I have other ships on here, of course. A Twixie fic (that I'm more and more dissatisfied with as time passes) and a short TwiDash drabble... thing. But Causality is, I think, my favorite of the romantic fiction that I've written. Not just in this fandom, and including my original fiction too. And I think that was because Twinkie is just so damn fun to write. Twilight and Pinkie are like a classic comedy duo. Sarcastic straight-man versus sincere screwball, a dichotomy that goes back to the ancient Greek playwrights. Their personalities are just similar enough that they get along well, but different enough to spur discussion. They have a lot to learn from each other, too.
I think the writers for the show see it, too. I'm not going to claim that the writers are dropping hints for any specific ship -- that would be absurd -- but I have noticed them putting Twilight and Pinkie together in episodes frequently. Just in Season 2, we have the following:
- Luna Eclipsed, with Twilight and Pinkie in the alley. Whoa that sounds dirty.
- Baby Cakes, with Twilight checking up on Pinkie when none of their other friends did.
- It's About Time, a Twilight-centric episode where, inexplicably, Pinkie tags along for most of the episode.
- MMMystery on the Friendship Express, with the two of them co-starring.
Not to mention Feeling Pinkie Keen, which (dubious moral aside) was the reason I wrote Causality in the first place. I think the only other pair in the Mane Six that has that many episodes "co-starring" them is Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and Celestia knows that ship has a big crew. The writers just like letting Twilight and Pinkie ricochet off of each other, because if you have a good sense of their personalities it nearly writes itself. It makes for good dialogue, and good dialogue helps make a good story.
So, in closing, I pose a question to my followers: Why isn't this ship more popular? When I first wrote Causality (posted to ff.net back in September or so, a while before I put it up here) it was one of maybe three Twinkie fics I was aware of. There are more now, but not nearly so much as other ships that have somewhat less justification.
YES. Exactly how I feel. They are very fun to write and there is a dreadful lack of them, which is why I've written my own Twipie story. At first I just shipped them because I loved Appledash and Flarity and didn't want Twi and Pinkie to be alone, but they've evolved into my OTP, thanks to your fic Causality really showing how well it worked.
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Also, that's an interesting combination of ships. I've heard of people "pairing the spares" with Twinkie because they also ship Rarijack and Flutterdash, but not the other way around.
Thanks! I'm always glad to hear it when I've converted people to my favorite ship.
Hmmm.... fascinating.
I think the issue, Abalidoth, is that most of your followers are likely here because of Causality, so we're going to be in the exact same boat as you, not understanding why more people don't ship Twilight and Pinkie. I suppose some of those who follow you for Celestia's Teeth might be able to chime in, but for the most part, we're likely as in the dark as you.
Fortunately, I have... other sources.
In AbsoluteAnonymous's International OTP Day post, I posted my TwiPie preference, and Nitrox Brony posted this in reply (98551): "Those be some mighty D'aww worthy pics you got there, and I got nothing against TwiPie personally, though it be not my favorite, as I just have a hard time seeing that ship really lasting beyond that initial reaction. If you take into account their personalities, I truly think Twilight would simply go crazy having to deal with Pinkie's antics all the time. Not to mention as much as Twilight enjoys her quiet times (I mean, she does live in a library after all), she would be downright throwing Pinkie out the front door just to get some peace and quiet. As I said, nothing against the ship personally, just not my fave for those reasons, Dashie could keep up with Pinkie waaay better than Twi ever could."
Of course, I responded that any relationship where one party is constantly having to keep up with the other would be exhausting and would soon grow tiresome for the one playing catch-up all the time - though I concur that Dash probably has the most tolerance for that - which is why Twinkie is superior because the two take turns keeping up with each other instead.
By your question you imply that people need justification for shipping... other than them wanting to see those two ponies together.
I myself enjoy pretty much every pairing, but yes there's not a lot of Twipie shipping, and I think it's because it's so hard to write well.
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I tried to touch on Twilight's need for solitude w.r.t. Pinkie in Causality, but I might go more in depth about it if I write a follow up.
When I wrote this, I figured I was preaching to the choir a bit.
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I guess you don't need a rational justification for every ship, but even so you always have a reason. Even if it's just "because I think they're cute together," there's some kind of underlying thought process that goes into deciding you like a particular couple. I guess that was why I asked -- I'm curious why or why not people think this particular pair is a good one.
And as for Twinkie being hard to write... you may be on to something there. I don't find it any harder to write than any other ship, but I have a very easy time getting into Twilight's mindset, and to a lesser extent Pinkie's. That might be a rare combination.
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The problem is not so much either Twilight or Pinkie Pie solo, but as you said, they bounce off each other pretty well and it's the changes you need to keep in mind in both that makes it harder than most.
For the life of me, I cannot remember where I saw the statistics, but I recall seeing that someone did an analysis that showed Pinkie is the least shipped pony of the Mane Six (just slightly behind Rarity). And I know I've seen comments from readers to the effect of "I just can't see shipping Pinkie with anybody." I think that might be part of it--Pinkie being viewed as a character unsuitable for romances. Which is a position I strongly disagree with, as basically everything I ever write ever is a Pinkie shipfic. *cough*
Also, um, I made fan art of "Causality"? And I hope that's okay?
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AAAAHHHHH OHMIGOSH OHMIGOSH THANK YOU!!!
This is the first time anyone's made fanart of one of my stories. So awesome!
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And thanks for writing the story!
You're welcome!
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I admit i ship twipie more now then i did pinkiedash considering how much screen time Twi and Pinkie had together this season. i think this season hasn't been to kind to pinkiedash if you ask me. i like the idea of the nerd and the party girl getting together. Casualty was my first Twinkle fic and it left a good impression on me.
ugh i hate that excuse! pinkie is not unshippable! just because shes well eccentric and hyper doesnt mean she would make a bad girlfriend
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Yeah, agreed. I think Season Two definitely leaned Twinkie over RainbowPie.
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Aww, thanks! Yeah, I really enjoyed the amount of Twinkie this last season. Hope it keeps up; they bounce off of each other so well in a comedic sense.