Fanfiction Musings: TPC and The Alpha Mare · 1:59am Jan 17th, 2014
Hey there, to those following me!
I’ve been quite some time without updates, so I thought rather than just suddenly drop chapters out of the blue (I’m still waiting for a certain commission to finish), I thought I’d try my hand as making a few blog posts that aren’t just dry status updates. I was mulling over that, and over parts of Platinum Crown, when I remembered a commenter’s suggestion that I should shade some of my worldbuilding musings and other “fluff” (as I usually call it) on a blog. Well, I have one here I rarely use, on a site dedicated to fanfiction, so I figure maybe I’ll give it a try.
My thoughts for the moment are on “Alpha Mares.”
In Platinum Crown, I noticed, I write a disproportionate number of characters as alpha mares, mostly because it creates further conflict (a story where everyone is reasonable and fair isn’t usually a fun story, haha). It got me thinking about the whole “alpha mare” phenomenon in the fic, and just what it is that makes them this way.
What do I mean?
Rarity would have to be the first one I mention, because she is also the one who outright describes what specifically draws out what I oversimplify as the alpha mare state. And that is her love life. Very early in TPC, she talks to her friends about why she can’t find common ground with Antimony, and it boils down to her not wanting to share the this one most-important object of her affection: the Prince we see she had dreamed about since she was a little filly without even a cutie mark. She states that this is her one unfailing bit of selfishness, the thing she can’t bear to be made to share. Her generosity up to a point.
In part, it isn’t meant to be taken literally – I think that is also clear in the scene. Rarity isn’t compelled to share everything she has, but generosity and compromise and understanding is in her nature. If this were more widely known, I don’t think we could fault Antimony for thinking Rarity could be talked into backing down and being First Mistress instead of a Duchess or a Princess. Rarity isn’t the sort to hoard things out of spite or love of power. For Rarity, her romantic dream, and in TPC her notion of just what her “dream” is, is a matter of internal debate that changes as she learns more and grows.
I don’t really like using terms like “Beta” and “Alpha” to describe people (the whole Alpha Male myth) but it works here as a recognizable and simplistic term. Her views on romance elevate Rarity from a beta to an alpha, because she won’t compromise her view of what is right in a situation simply because it is impractical or because it causes conflict.
Contrast this, with all the other so called alpha mares in TPC, and there are a lot!
Antimony is the very first we run into in the story. She wants to fulfill a political marriage; fully expecting it to be loveless and miserable, because of her unflinching dedication to her family and to what she believes is the “right” way for her to act in society. Antimony is probably the quintessential alpha mare in TPC: she is amiable and pleasant almost all the time, except when she runs into an obstacle, which she crushes without pity or remorse. She can even try to be diplomatic about it, like with Rarity, but she is always unflinching in preferring confrontation to compromise. Even when Luna – a Princess she idolizes as a ‘perfect being’ – suggests a way out of the fight between her and Rarity, Antimony still rejects it, because the she-as-she-sees-herself cannot survive deviating from her path. Even in the face of death, this would be true.
Soon after the end of the duel between Antimony and Rarity, Yumi and Ritterkreuz are introduced. Both are, again, confrontational alpha mares, but they begin to deviate from Antimony’s (and Rarity’s) formula. Yumi, we learn, is driven by a sense of proving herself by aiming as high as she can – to become the first earth pony Duchess of Canterlot and Princess of Unicorns – she is naturally skilled, tutored and told she is the greatest earth pony mare alive, and thus assured of her destiny. But unlike Antimony, she is willing to make compromises, deals and schemes to get to where she feels she needs to be. She is ironically less ruthless, but more prone to espouse the ends justifying the means. The common thread is always that line she can never cross, and that she will fight before being pushed over: her naive ambition, ultimately betrayed and used against her.
Ritterkreuz is a stark contrast. She has no ambitions or grand designs. She doesn’t even think most things through, unless they involve fighting or flying. She hardly even thinks of herself as a pony at all, bitterly embracing the role of outcast to her own detriment and self-destruction. This is no mare wishing to be Duchess and Princess, like Antimony or Yumi. Her initial interests are just in screwing over the other mares who have such designs, and once she confronts Blueblood and finds out that he isn’t being coerced or manipulated and that he doesn’t need her to protect him, she quickly gets distracted by her greater objective: an endless fight against a parade of opponents that she imagines may not end until Celestia herself incinerates her. Yet she is also as much an alpha mare as any of the ponies she scorns, unwilling to bend or change who she is to better fit into society.
What is the commonality that drives so much of the fighting in Platinum Crown among these mares?
The heart of it, I think, is that they are all outliers in society.
Much later in TPC, we meet Lady Sand Dune of Bitaly. She is a potential rival, again, of both Antimony and (we expect) of Rarity. She is cunning, powerful and ambitious, but we soon see she is rather willing to compromise and make deals that still benefit her, even if they aren’t exactly what she wants. Together with Fleur (in Chapter Zero) Sand Dune may be the first example of what a normal upper-level noblemare is really like in TPC. They can be vicious and cutthroat, saving lives and threatening to end them in the same sentence, but they are not willing to draw resolute lines in the sand.
Sand Dune would not say: “I love him; I won’t share him with you, not for politics, not for any gain or at any risk. It is irrational, but that is exactly why it is also so important to me.” She would not say: “My life is the pursuit of a goal, an adherence to what I believe to be truth. Kill me before you take away my reason for living.” She wouldn’t say: “I can do what nopony else like me has ever done, therefore, it is my destiny to do this thing no matter the cost.”
Neither would Fleur say these things (though she would fight mightily to avoid doing anything that isn’t ‘graceful’), nor the majority of mares. Some may be “alphas” in political standing (as with Sand Dune) but less so in mentality. I won’t go into much when it comes to the clearly subservient social climbers and nobles, many of which we see in FIM’s canon episodes, and who are in TPC. Like Upper Crust (from Sweet and Elite) and Patent Pending (Tiara’s mother).
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This matter is more than just idle thought, though, because it is the inevitable clash between “alphas” that creates so much of the conflict in Platinum Crown. Rarity deals with Fleur rather easily in Chapter Zero (earning a new friend in the process) and much later also deals with Sand Dune without a fight. We see shades of this also, even in the past, when Celestia has to deal with Arsenic, and even when it comes to Chrysalis and her mother the previous Queen (who she disdains for her lack of ambition).
An interesting final thought is with respect to Twilight Sparkle in TPC. Blueblood himself believes she is more alpha mare than beta, despite her conciliatory and generally unobtrusive nature. Twilight is an interesting contrast compared to, say, Sand Dune, a ‘soft-alpha.’ She might be called a ‘hard-beta’ and we see some of this when she is finally pushed up to the lines in the sand she doesn’t take pains to point out or make clear. When her family is threatened, when she confronts Cruciger and Star Light, we see hints of the Princess we think she might become, and it isn’t a pony to be trifled with.
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As I write this, alpha mares are on my mind in TPC, because the finale is a literal storm of them. Chrysalis leading her invasion, and in the process, planning to cement her new vision of the changelings as dominant predators rather than societal parasites; Cadance enduring the un-endurable abuse and indignities of captivity as part of a larger plan; Twilight still reluctant to wield power but unable to remain on the sidelines; Rarity finding herself leading a group of mares who would otherwise be at each-other’s throats by force of personality and the few glowing embers of trust and friendship, Antimony working with Twilight while working against Brass, despite Twilight working with Brass; and Euporie and Eunomie on top of it all, with their own plans to destroy the changelings and apparently Canterlot too.
Sometimes I do look back at it all, and think about the reviewers who lament the dark tone of the story. I’ve never seen it (or planned for it) to be dark. But it is meant to be very confrontational, because unlike most of Equestria’s population, the movers and shakers in TPC are the outliers. They are the mares who not only won’t compromise on ‘this one thing’ – they are the tiny minority who will stick to their guns, no matter the social or personal costs, and often end up dragging their friends (or armies or retainers) along with them for the ride. And unlike in a perfect world, they find themselves at odds with one another, again and again and again.
As an aside...
If you guys find these posts interesting, I might make the next one about TPC's crazy magic system. Oh, hey, I could even have it as like a mini-story where Twilight explains it. That might be fun! Or, if people don't like me using the blog for just random thoughts (less blogging, man, and more updating!!) feel free to tell me that, too!
I like these sort of posts to be sure so you can keep doing them.
And then there were mares like Pinkie Pie...
I'd love to hear some details about the magic system.
A ministory just for world-building? Hell yeah. Anything that means more TPC is a good thing.
I want more stuff like this. I love stories and I love seeing what makes them tick. Magic systems, character types, whatever you got: hit me with it.
O.o Magic system? Tell me more
I'd love to hear about this kind of stuff. It's like a behind-the-scenes for one of the best stories on this site.
This worldbuilding is as interesting as the story itself. Please continue and tell us about the magic system.
I do love your world-building and am more interested in the societal concepts you've touched on in the story rather than the magical system. Magic can be designed fairly easily, in my opinion - anyone with a good set of graph paper, calculator and access to a few mythological texts can create a magical system. It might be 'hard', might take some time but it can be done.
Creating a working 'alien' society that is both alien to the readers but just human enough to relate to is a challenge. I'd love to hear more about how their society works, how their culture works, how they - as alien-ponies - work.
Yes, please
Whether it's blog posts or story content, I don't mind either as long as you keep writing and I can keep reading.
I would prefer updates to the story, but updates to the blog are good too. A primer on the physics of the universe would be nice as a blogpost.
I'll read it eventually. But the way you describe it is kinda like Gargoyles with the strong and confrontational characters. I have that show on my mind a lot lately for some reason...
For what it's worth - I really liked this blog post. Informative and interesting. If the fancy strikes you, I would love to read more of them.
I like these kinds of posts, personally. But I'm a total whore for background info.
(Also having Twilight discuss the magic system is so in character that all I can say in response is 'yes please~.)
Also just a random question
Just wondering is all!
that you probably get like 900 times, but when you finish TPC, will you make a sequel covering the stuff of S3 and/or S4? With all the work put into it, I would love to see how we get to Princess Twilight, the Crystal Empire/fight with Sombra, and all that.This was a good blog, and I certainly wanna know about that magic system! I read Equestria's Strongest Couple so many times... And I'm thinking about going back and re-reading the entire thing again now...
I'd like to hear more about the magic system. That stuff needs to be written down and organized into a wiki or something.
1726053
Perhaps because it is good?
I would love to see an entry about the magic system in TPC! Both the alliterative spells and the simpler magic worked into Fleur and Sweetie(Fragments) dueling.
I for one enjoyed this and encourage more of these blogs...and that mini story idea is a good one I say do it CC!
I suppose some readers might see it as a bit dark given you have so many strong willed characters with opposing goals. Only so many outcomes when everyone perceives the stakes as high, and refuse to back down.
Learning about the magic system could be interesting, and I would readily read that blog.
1725809
I'd love to hear more about the magic, too!
And while I certainly wouldn't describe TPC as "dark", it's not really light either. There's scheming and jealousy and Changelings and eldritch starry horrors and bitchiness and violence and bitter feuds and so forth. It's an Equestria with a lot more conflict, on both personal and societal level, than in the show.
1725809 Me too! That would be very interesting.
Honestly, I never really questioned the presence of so many forceful or 'dominant' mares at all. I still don't. Beyond any incredibly lengthy explanation, I figure they're there for one overriding reason:
It would be an incredibly unrealistic story if they weren't there in those numbers.
We're dealing with the upper echelons of political power in this story. With schemers and conquerors and warriors. If they were a bunch of cringing ninnies, nobody would ever buy it. The people who make it in situations like that are the aggressive and ambitious ones. The ones who are willing to fight and grasp and claw and never back down. The ones who will step over the (sometimes less than proverbial) bodies of their opposition to get what they want.
Submissive ponies on that sort of massively intense playing field would end up like Chalice. A pawn for the more driven people to move around.
I'm still a bit sad that this excellent story is ending so soon, but that just means I can read it again! Any worldbuilding, fluff, or technical blogs related to TPC would be really interesting to me.
I enjoyed it
If it won't wear on your schedule then go ahead
More power to ya
Speaking of princess twi will you tack wings on her in the future and make it part of the story?
1725809 Another vote for this, please.
1725809
That'll be my next blog post then. Expect it very much sooner rather than later. This is rather fun!
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I try to keep TPC Equestria both relateable (there are a lot of clear allegories and references towards real life stuff) but also not-quite-human or entirely anthropomorphic. If I wanted to write about humans, after all, I'd... write about humans...
But if you have anything specific about the society in TPC either Equestrian or otherwise (like maybe about how multi-ethnic it is, more, I think, than in most fics) feel free to ask. I can manage a few of these worldbuilding blog posts while I wait for a certain something related to the fic proper to get ready.
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The Crystal Empire has been touched on already in TPC... in that it existed, it vanished, the crystal ponies reverted to earth ponies, and they had a diaspora into Equestria - many ponies in modern Equestria are distantly descended from ex-crystal ponies, including Cadance herself. That's really how it factors into the story in terms of importance, since Brass has created new Crystal Hearts with the aid of these ponies.
Sombra will get a mention... well, he already has, actually, a few of them. Though those refer to him as Prince Sombra, and given Cruciger using some of his named spells, he clearly also came up with them. Sombra does have a directly TPC relevant history, however! There is a part of the story as yet untold and only hinted at by Celestia: the origin of the Platinum Crown itself.
Princess Twily...! What about her?
I won't say anything about that just yet. Except maybe that, in TPC, being a Princess is not about just being an alicorn. Maybe it wouldn't hurt for Twily to be a Princess first and an alicorn second? But who knows? Things don't always work out in the idea order or fashion.
I don't think TPC will have a sequel. I'd like to wrap everything up in the story proper.
Though maybe a "x years later" epilogue might be interesting.
I've also thought, from time to time, about a "what if" of TPC, where Blueblood never looped in the Gala. See, now that would be a darker fic.
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Yes, poor Chalice is sort of an example of for timidity can bite you in the ass, though her additional problem was that she didn't just step down to begin with for fear of disappointing her family. She really would've been happier just not volunteering for the sisters duel. But that's all intrinsic to her character. She really, really doesn't want to be a disappointment, no matter how against her nature that means her trying to act.
I sometimes think of TPC as "Game of Bitches." If Sunset Shimmer did come back, she'd fit right in. Throw in Trixie and you can have a hurricane of infuriating power-hungry mares.
Anyway, to all the other peeps who commented: I'll get right on it!
If you have any specific questions about the magic in TPC, then feel free to post them here. I don't want to miss anything big people are wondering about with Twi's lecture.
Actually, my question would is sort of tangentially related to magic.
It's as much astronomy, as anything. If that phrasing really applies.
There seems to be a real theme of space being this alien place of raw, untamed, flowing and bizarre magic. I'm getting more Cthulhu vibes than anything else. As if the cosmos was made up of things inimical to life. And something Ponies Were Not Meant to Know. So too do we see it as the dwelling place of dangerous spirits. (Sufficed to say, I love all of it beyond measure)
So, two questions:
Does all that insanity out there have some connection with unicorn magic? Is normal unicorn magic filtered down from Out There by Equestria, into something more like what we see, or some such?
And what does all that alien strangeness mean in relation to the Sisters. After all, every 'cosmic' thing we've seen has been utterly terrifying and screwy. And yet, Celestia and Luna's domain and magic, presumably, is a part of that too, isn't it? Or are the Sun and Moon something unique and completely different?
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Well if you want to answer questions here in relation to this alpha,beta whatever you want to call it describe what you think and how you use Pinkie Pie in the story. I find that she is a character that can often bring out so many interesting things due to her potentially conflicting nature which you do use. She seems just flighty and goofy but she is far more competent and smarter than you might think.
I find it funny that reviewers give you a hard time for the dark tone. I mean, if it was dark for dark's sake, sure. In your case, however, I couldn't imagine the story being lighter, yet still maintaining the tension and drama that makes it shine. It's a grand tale of political treachery and intrigue, one where hugs wouldn't find much purchase. Which makes Rarity's alliance play all the more powerful, but I digress.
Oh, and on the topic of magic, I'm curious about the torcs and their connection to the constellations. There are only three torcs existing at this time (if I remember correctly), but theoretically is there a torc for every horoscope sign?
Forgive the allcaps, but please let Cancer be a GIANT ENEMY CRAB.
Oh, and a quick addendum, have you ever considered doing a small story about "Twinkling Star Light's last adventure?" I mean, after hopping through hostile planes of existence, it'd be a shame if she bought it in something so mundane as internal politics or old age.
1729828
Yes, this is the best place to further explore the original topic at hand here.
As for the pink one, she doesn't easily fit into categories. I don't write her as fitting into any one, either, she's sort of in a weird land of her own. She isn't an alpha of the sort described, though, or even like Euporie (her closest analogue, and very much a mare who feels she has to be dominant, even over her twin sister).
Pinkie is primarily a very supportive type of character. She wants to help others, and very often, she follows the initiative of others, especially when it is a serious situation. When her competence or foresight shows, it is always to the surprise of those around her, or even herself. Like Ritterkreuz, she isn't a believer in big plans or thinking super deeply. She relies very much on her instincts and her gut (always the gut) to give her a sense of what to do. While she has limits, which we saw Euporie push her to before, it is also clearly very rare for her to be backed into that sort of corner, being made to betray herself by laughing at others instead of with others.
Pinkie is mostly used as a 'sane mare' and as a way to release tension in the story. Even back when it was just Antimony in the first arc, her role can be summed up as "showing Antimony that she won't be abandoned because she finally loses." This is something utterly alien to Antimony, who, even after spending time with Pinkie and getting to know her, is still shocked by what she does. Rarity beats Antimony, but it is really Pinkie who gives her the impetus to change. Remove Pinkie, and you would not have the more understanding Antimony that Rarity needs later in the story. Pinkie is thus, oddly and ironically, 'the sane mare' here, a role she reprises later in a much more in depth way...
Of course she plays minor roles in addition to that, mostly relating to her "release tension in the story" role, but her other serious part is again as the ironically sane one. This second time with Euporie's warped sense of humor and obsessive manipulation. In a setting where, even in canon, mind-altering magic exists, Euporie is that one rather amoral proponent of the fact that if the senses can be fooled, than the senses have no intrinsic value. If emotions can be tweaked, then what makes them sacred? What Pinkie has to constantly work at, Euporie does and has always done virtually without thinking about it. Making everyone around her SMILE SMILE SMILE.
Thus, once again, the normal role of Pinkie as "the crazy one" is actually inverted, as she has to be the saner mare. This time, though, she also has to fight to prove it.
I think I might be one of a minority of authors who try to use her in this way, because while I do enjoy writing Pinkie's wackiness, it is her conflict of "I'm zany, not crazy" that is her main character axis in TPC. The fact that I can say "Pinkie is far from the craziest character in this story" is sort of strange, too. haha.
I think this also goes back to my original characterization of her in World of Ponycraft, actually. She's much the same there: silly, irreverent, happy to steal a scene and crack a reference and release tension, but not so in the clouds or removed from reality that she becomes an idiot or a joke or a burden. She knows what she has to do and she knows what she wants to do, and you can rely on her to do it, even as she makes light of it the whole time.
Write a mini-story where Twilight tries to teach magic to Sweetie Belle, then Sand Dune comes in angry because Sweetie was supposed to be tutored in her country not Twilight's!
1730180
Thank you for such an in depth analysis of how you use Pinkie in this story. It was actually very interesting and it is making me want to reread the earlier part of the story where she influences Antimony either because I missed it the first time or it has been just so long that I just don't recall that information right now and I would probably like the scene.
I really do enjoy your other Pinkie scenes particularly where she gets in a scruff. She just makes everything so much fun even a fight and I am laughing even as she defeats a proficient magic shield user. Also her latest scene trying to tire out the unflappable was just epic!
I think I would also like to mention that I really like that you have put so much thought into a non-main character in this story. I admit Pinkie is my favorite character and it was actually your use of her that got me into this story and is one of the things I really look forward to seeing more of even if I know she will not be in every chapter.
The only thing better than learning more about a really neat world someone has built is having one of the characters in it explain it to us. That would be fantastic.
1730180
This, this, THIS. I think if more people wrote Pinkie this way (and I'm looking at you, too, canon show writers!) I would like her as a character more. As it stands, she's usually my least favorite of the Mane Six.
That said, I also am on board with a discussion of the magic system! And I'd love for Twilight to teach us!
Though what's this sneaky hint I hear of Princess-not-Alicorn Twi later/soonish? 
Verrrrry interesting!
1730180 I love the contrast between Euphorie and Pinkie; it's probably my favourite thing in the entirety of the story (One guess as to my favourite chapter, and the first two don't count).
Emotions are all Pinkie cares about, and putting a smile on everyone is the end goal. For Euphorie, it is the exact opposite: emotions don't mean a damn thing, but what they can make others do matters greatly. Even putting aside the vast differences between their goals, the two are two very different sides of the same coin.