Character Development in MLP:FIM · 7:25am Jun 28th, 2014
I have heard the complaint that MLP:FIM, as an American children's television show, does not have much character development. I disagree. They've done some things I never expected to see.
To begin with, I don't consider it trivial that they've showed Twlight Sparkle progress from somepony who, basically, just wants to be left alone to read and study, to somepony who is now eager to assume her place in the world as one of the leaders of her whole nation. This is probably the main character arc of the whole series, as Twilight is basically the central character of the series, and the willingness to let a main character develop in this fashion astonishes me.
Spike's changed from a laid-back little kid who just did whatever he was told and constantly sucked up to Twilight and Rarity to someone on the threshold of full adolesence who is unafraid to confront both Twilight and Rarity and tell them unpalatable truths. I'm surprised, actually, the extent to which they are letting him grow up emotionally, even though they're keeping his juvenile body design.
Rarity's career as a fashion designer has progressed from being somepony known only in one small town to somepony who is becoming famous nationwide. I've also seen them do something I definitely didn't think they would dare to do on an American children's television series -- they're showing her attitude toward Spike changing from treating him as a talking pet to treating him as, at the very least, one of her best friends, because they are both maturing (while Spike had to behave more maturely to win Rarity's respect, Rarity also had to become more cosmopolitan to grasp that Spike was as sapient and free-willed as herself).
As I mentioned before in an earlier blog post, the writers have gone much farther with Sparity than I would have thought they could get away with, especially given our culture's extreme paranoia about any major age gap in a love story. Rarity is actually starting to become openly physically-affectionate toward Spike in ways and situations which she would not have been in Seasons One or Two. She no longer needs any excuse to caress him. And Spike very obviously finds this pleasurable.
No, they're not lovers. They probably won't be until he gets at least 4-6 years older, and this probably won't be gone into explicitly on a children's television show. But the trend of their relationship is very obvious.
Applejack has maybe had the least character development, but she has learned not to overestimate her own capabilities. She's also become thoroughly-comfortable with her role as, essentially, the Captain of Twilight's Guard. I would not be surprised to see some dramatic futher development of her character in Season Five. For one thing, she's never been portrayed as romantically interested in anypony, and this is in stark contrast to every other member of the Mane Six. There's a backstory here they have not yet told.
Pinkie Pie has not only become saner and more mature (she started the series with, essentially, the emotional maturity of a preteen filly), she's developed from feeling a diffuse friendship toward everypony toward focusing more on individuals. She seems to regard Rainbow Dash as her best friend, and she may be falling in love (with Cheese Sandwich). She's starting, I think, to take a more adult and realistic view of the world -- without losing her zaniness, which makes me happy.
Rainbow Dash has started to become comfortable with morally-ambiguous situations. I wasn't much (if at all) parodying the Season One Rainbow Dash as basically trying to solve every problem by the formula "fly fast and hit things." She's also, I think, starting to realize that she may be growing beyond the Wonderbolts -- I know she didn't fully come to that conclusion in "Wonderbolts Academy," but one signature of this show is that real character development usually takes more than one episode.
Fluttershy has maybe had the most character development of all. She is first introduced as an emotional basket case -- Ponyville's resident Crazy Animal Lady. She can't even say her own name to Twilight Sparkle when she first meets her. She can, literally, "hardly fly" -- in stressful situations her wings sometimes clench tight. She was pathetically-timid.
Since then she's gained mastery over her psychic powers, staring down a dragon and a cockatrice; tamed a Chaos God with the Power of Kindness, and started to make friends outside of the Mane Six. She may be falling in love (with Bulk Biceps). She's very clearly much more comfortable in social siutations than she's used to be.
By the standards of children's television, this show's character development is awesome. It has surprised me already -- and may surprise me further, before it succumbs to the bane of good television -- Executive Meddling.
Geezuz, finally, someone who understands that there is character development in this show. I try not to depict Pinkie as being overly crazy and zany because I believe she has evolved her immature ways that we've seen in Season One and some of Season Two.
I think this may actually be part of why I'm not as prolific with my own work as I used to be. My main storyline has only just entered Season Three. It feels almost anachronistic writing the characters as they were rather than as they are. Of course, that feeds into a vicious cycle. The less I write, the further behind I get, and thus the less I write. I need to hunker down at some point...
Well, at least I have the near-OCs to fall back on. Background ponies are so useful in that regard. They're like empty bottles; just fill them with the personality you need.
Enough self-aggrandizement. Thank you for the excellent analysis of how far the Mane Seven have come.
2240733
I'm doing something similar though I'm skipping around to some extent. The bulk of the mostly-canon stuff I've done is early Season One, and I've been focusing on Fluttershy, probably because she's a very complex and fascinating character who is the most emotionally-damaged at the start of the show and thus undergoes a lot of character development to become as strong as she is by the end of Season Four.
Divine Jealousy and the Voice of Reason is interesting because she's the object of the story -- it's all about other characters reacting to her actions and decisions, rather than her making them, even though two of her decisions in particular (falling in love with Bulk and then deciding what to do about Discord) drive the plot. But then, Fluttershy tends to try for a passive role even when she can't avoid being active, that's part of her character. "Passive-aggressive" may be the wrong way of putting it: more properly, Fluttershy is passive-active -- she manipulates events around her by the specific contour of her passive activity.
For instance, though I haven't yet written the story of her falling in love with Bulk in the first place, I can guarantee you that she seduced him. And did so without engaging in a single overtly provocative act on her part -- she did so by presenting a contour of response to his actions that strongly signaled her interest in him. Probably in such a way that he never really understood what was happening. Possibly in such a way that she never really understood why she was behaving in this manner -- Fluttershy's behavior can be opaque to her own conscious mind at times.
My explanation for this is that this is part of her Changeling heritage. She interacts with others as if they were connected to the same Hive Mind, meaning that she sometimes emotionally desires an outcome and manipulates its occurrence, without even consciously realizing even her own desire, let alone the manipulations in which she engages to achieve it. Since she's Royalty, she assumes from the start that the outcome she desires should properly occur.
And yes, I can see how this attitude could go very wrong. Specifically, how it could lead her into Nightmare.
I still hold that some of the "romantic attraction" you see isn't intended or recognized as such by the show writers (I honestly think the only romantic attraction they recognize is Spike's crush on Rarity, Rarity's crushes on Blueblood and Trenderhoof, and Twilight's crush on Flash Sentry (which they do seem to be avoiding in the show.))
That being said, it brings to mind an interesting idea for an episode-- when I was a girl, I read a series of children's books which were not unlike MLP in set-up, tone, target demo, or purpose. In one book in the series, one of the characters finds herself the subject of an unwanted crush from a perfectly nice guy. The book is about her trying to find a way to let him down, while all of her friends wonder why she just doesn't want to date him-- she isn't interested in any other guys, this guy seems nice and they have fun together. The book ends with her talking about how she's just not interested in guys right now-- she has other things to focus on, and she'll date when she's ready, if she wants to.
I always thought this was a pretty good, generic way of talking about a lot of possible situations with girls. First, it really drives home the idea that romance doesn't have to be the most important thing in your life, which is a message that gets muddled or lost in a lot of girls media (even girls media that focuses on friendship; often the appearance of Dreamy McLoveInterest will take the place of characterization for one of the girls.)
Second, if they did want to code Applejack or Rainbow Dash as lesbian without pushing the boundries by having them be openly gay, this is a way that could do it and might especially speak to GLBT children growing up. I don't think it's a coincidence that the creator of that bookseries the idea came from is a lesbian, or that the character who wasn't interested in boys was one of the tomboy characters. When you still can't really say "it's okay if you like-like girls," then the next best thing is to say "it's okay if you don't like-like boys, at all."
I do think they'd be more likely to do this plot with Rainbow Dash than Applejack, though, because it could come across as similar to the Trenderhoof plot (unless they came from a different direction, like Rarity trying to find dates for all her friends) and because I really, truly believe (based on a statement in a ComicCon panel) that they recognize that Dash is coded gay and are allowing that.
I agree with all of that; the Mane Six and Spike have had some amazing development! Most people try to hold the actual show up to an adult level and I think that's an inaccurate way to look at it, outside of the fandom. This is a show for children, no matter how they try to lift it up, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. At the same time, it is an exemplary one that crosses over from young child to young teenager rather nicely. It's not a show for babies or preschoolers, so it's lessons are less basic and more action than spoken.
I know it sounds terrible to say this, but I think three forces are at work here, for those who say it doesn't have much character development. There are some fans who protest any change in the show or any perceived slight against a character. Some people prefer the status quo so much that they can't see the forest for the trees in their path. These people are often pretty grumpy about major changes anyway and can't seem to relax. Some of them just want their head canon to be correct, while others prefer everything to be exactly as in character as possible and ignore anything that they consider out of character. Everyone does this to some extent, but I think some people really stick their heads in the sand. It's hard to tell, when it comes to simple forum complaints, since we do change our minds about some things, but given how many people seem to write about the Season 1 characters, when the story is clearly set in Season 4 or later, I can't help thinking that some people have been intentionally covering their eyes and plugging their ears against unwanted thoughts.
Then, there are the fans who try to hold the show up to a higher standard, without realizing that it can never meet that. This will never be a cartoon strictly for adults and so they overlook what is under their nose, because they want more adult situations. To them, nothing has really happened. They assume that character development is a thing that is mostly mature in nature, which isn't true either. I realize that the writing could always be better and anything could potentially be improved, but this specific line of thinking is toxic to recognizing how far the characters have come. The show has actually been expanding into what I'd consider a potentially preteen or teen zone, as of Season 4, but it will never explore adulthood with the mature filter on, and it doesn't need to. Sex and violence aren't necessary to becoming a fully realized adult.
Lastly, we have the people who have seen the wonder of anime with long story arcs, and who understand what a magnificent method this is for creating character development. Then they compare this to the show, which isn't one long story arc, even in Season 4, without recognizing how a serial format works. Sometimes there is what people call filler in a serial show, but I wouldn't really call any of the episodes that. We all have our favorites and least favorites, for various reasons, many of which are legitimate. The serial format unfortunately means some stories get rushed and can only hint at the vision of depth that they see, but in many cases the episodes are about as long as they needed to be (with the exception of many of the Premieres and Finales, most noticeably.)
More importantly, the show uses a patchwork quilt formula for examining most of its characters, which works well for a series, since they can dip in and out of certain ideas faster and save others for later exploration. When taken all together, it becomes more apparent how things have changed, but since this tends to be more unevenly handled, by its very nature, I think that some people may not realize it.
I agree that character development, barring the curse of "show episodes in any order" is a signature of this cartoon series.
2240803
I'm of course reading between the lines. In terms of the major pairs I assume in my own fiction:
(1) I totally made up Twilight-Luna because I wanted to explore the concepts of Reincarnation Romance and romantic love vs. sexual orientation. In other words, I cruelly-created a situation where I had two straight mares romantically-drawn to one another for the sake of the sheer drama of the situation. I am perhaps a not-so-nice Maker for doing that. In the actual series, Twilight and Luna are clearly shown as coming to love each other platonically because of their shared experiences (most especially Twilight's rescue of her from the NIghtmare) and some similarities of personality, and will probably wind up extremely good friends.
(2) Fluttershy strikes me as possibly polyamorous.
(a) - Fluttershy's intense romantic friendship with Rainbow Dash may or may not have sexual overtones, but if it doesn't it's primarily because Fluttershy is shy and Rainbow Dash tends not to be too mushy. Even non-mushy Rainbow Dash is very physically-affectionate to Fluttershy on camera, much more than toward anypony else. Based on their interactions in-show, if Rainbow Dash was male, they would probably be married by now..
(b) - Fluttershy was assigned to try to tame Discord by kindness. Talking to him, having tea with him and smiling at him are part of this by implication. Hugging him, caressing him and having them in general treat each other like life-sized plushies probably weren't, unless Celestia really did mean her as a "honey trap" in the full sense of the term. I don't know if they are lovers, but there is definite romantic affect there.
(c) - Fluttershy warms to Bulk Biceps very quickly in "Rainbow Falls," and by "Equestria Games" (after months of training with him) is behaving in an outrageously-flirtatious manner toward him -- especially given that this is Fluttershy. You cannot tell me that the scene where she's riding the barbells, in that posture, was entirely-innocent on her part. I think that they are lovers or close to it, and that Fluttershy is very much the dominant party between them.
(3) Rainbow Dash's behavior toward Fluttershy all through the series I've already mentioned. She also seems to be attracted in some way toward Soarin -- she's sought him out in at least one episode . She is frequently embarrassed for no obvious reason in any situation in which she is put in actual bodily contact with Soarin, even obviously non-sexual ones. My guess is that he's close to her masculine ideal, but that they probably aren't lovers yet.
(4) Rarity obviously returns at least some of Spike's affections. He's one of her two best friends (the other being Fluttershy). She seeks him out in times of crisis. Not only does she behave in a physically-affectionate way toward him, but this has become increasingly-frequent over time. They are not lovers because she considers him too young for her, but she definitely loves him, and they might well become lovers years from now.
(5) Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich are kindred spirits, and Pinkie is so weird that he may be the first such kindred spirit she has ever met. The same might be true for him (Cheese is a bit more mature and practical than is Pinkie Pie, but the difference is subtle). I think that -- if they give Cheese any lines in the future -- the show's going to go farther with what they obviously set up in "Pinkie Pride."
(6) Aside from the Mane Six, I think that the writers fully-intend to imply what they did between Big Mac and Cheerilee -- in "Hearts and Hooves Day," when not under the effect of the Love Poison, they react toward each other as if they had formerly been at least close friends but had drifted apart for some reason; and in "Filli Vanilli" Cheerilee is deliberately behaving like an over-the-top fangirl toward him.
2240901
It probably doesn't help that genre television for adults has pretty much abandoned episodic format by this point in favour of long story arcs - if you watch shows like Star Trek:TNG today it looks as though nothing is happening - and what stand-alone episodes remain are often pointless and badly written (see: Agents of Shield) so it isn't very surprising that understanding of and appreciation for the serial format is dying out.
2240803
I'm not sure what you would call Fluttershy's reactions to Bulk Biceps in Rainbow Falls except Ship Tease.
2240803
Well yes, and I like that MLP:FIM does deeper characterization than that. Having said that, I think that they are developing romantic subplots -- they are just developing them over time, which is good writing. (This is also one of the reasons I see Equestria as a sexually-conservative society. in terms of the degree of acquaintance required for actual sex to be seen as acceptable behavior -- the whole culture gives off a very Victorian/Edwardian vibe).
I think that Rainbow Dash is bisexual based on her intense behavior toward Fluttershy coupled with her apparent arousal by Soarin. If you asked me to guess I'd say "bisexual, stronger orientation toward females."
Fluttershy's behavior is more ambiguous: she may be bisexual depending on how you interpret her behavior toward Rainbow Dash, but she has shown what looks like romantic attraction to both Bulk and Discord. I'd say "bixexual, stronger orientation toward males."
There's a minor tragedy implicit in my last two paragraphs combined, which is perhaps made merely bittersweet by the fact that, above and beyond everything else, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are very obviously best friends, to the point where they would give their lives for each other without thinking twice about it. Whether or not they are or have ever been lovers, and whether or not they consummated or broke off a sexual component of their love in the past, they do love one another, and will probably never stop being friends.
Applejack has shown a strong and physically-affectionate love for all her friends, especially Twilight Sparkle (with whom she bonded with almost immediately) and Rainbow Dash; she's also at various times behaved very sweetly and supportively toward all the others. I neither believe her to be at all promiscuous nor to be romantically-involved with any of them. She's never been shown being romantically-attracted to anypony, and the only time somepony else has been attracted to her, she decisively rejected him. This is odd, after four seasons, and given her obvious and in-show acknowledged extreme physical beauty, coupled with her also obvious and in-show acknowledged extreme sweetness of character.
I don't really have anything to argue or talk about here. I agrred with you on all points except for one.
Since when has Applejack acted like Twilight's guard except for Princess Twilight Sparkle and maybe that avalanche in Dragonshy? I can't recall the details right now. And, two, Twilight has no guard. Where in Equestria have you seen evidence of that?
2240901
The character development becomes more obvious if you make an actual Episode List, in chronological sequence, and then try to work out the character arcs. I've done this for the purpose of writing canon filler stories, and some things (such as Fluttershy's increasing self-confidence and Rarity's increasing physical affection toward Spike) just leapt out at me when I did.
The show is unlikely to have them develop to full emotional adulthood, complete with marriages and foals, because of the formula nature of American television. If the universe ever does this, it will do so in a follow-on series. Having a single series change in the manner that would be required to show the Mane Six getting married and starting their own families is never done for essentially business reasons. This is the limitation of creative work requiring the cooperation of dozens of people and the investment of millions of dollars.
I will add to this that modern Western culture is in love with the idea of perpetual emotional childhood, with sex added as mere garnish and marriage with children being viewed as the end of one's lives, and probably has been ever since the Baby Boomers became old enough for most of them to become sexually-active. If the show tried to be more "mature," it would probably take that route (if it could get away with it) because the executives would "know" how one is "supposed to" appeal to an audience. I'm glad it's not doing that.
MLP:FIM is already good enough that I can see its likely demise. Think Gargoyles Third Season, in which the executives "fixed" what was "wrong" with the show by making it like every other children's cartoon on television. This hasn't happened yet, but it almost certainly will, because this is inherent in the dynamic of television series.
Put simply, if a show is good it becomes popular. If it becomes popular more money is at stake. The more money at stake the more the executives -- who know nothing about creativity or writing -- are tempted to meddle in order to win status by "improving" the show. Their suggestions for "improvement" always boil down to removing whatever makes the show distinctive, making it more like other shows in the genre. This is what kills the show.
To use Alex Warlorn's terminology, the Shadows Who Command have only a vague idea what the Shadows Who Make should do to please the Shadows Who Watch, and this lack of communications (coupled with institutional perverse incentives which Celestia did not bother to go into in detail to Twilight in those conversations, though since she runs a Great Power it's probably occurred to her) leads to them giving very bad commands. And that's how good shows die.
2240913
For all the complaints, MLP:FIM has shown an amazing willingness to show meaningful change. Each season has shown at least one significant change in the character capabilities and relationships. Season One was basic character exploration, setting up the main relationships between them. Season Two got darker with Discord and even in canon the fallout of emotional damage and recovery from him which Alex Warlorn explicitly mined for Reharmonization, the end of Season Two introduced Shining Armor and Cadance and Chrysalis (the last-named one a shoe yet to drop on the TV series proper), Season Three introduced the Crystal Empire as a settting for Shiny and Cadance to run, and ended with Fluttershy befriending Discord and Twilight becoming an Alicorn. Season Four explored Discord's personality and relationship with Equestria, starting with Twilight having to take over when Celestia and Luna were incapacitated by the Plunder Vines and ending with Twilight directly battling Tirek. Oh, and the Library got destroyed.
That's just major changes. I could write essays -- I have written essays -- about what's happened to each character. AJ's almost the only one of them who seemingly hasn't changed -- and I would argue that she has changed, just very subtly (she's much more emotionally-mature now than she was in Season One).
2240963
Twilight's "guard" is unofficial. It's the Mane Six, who from S1E02 on tend to follow her lead. And when Twilight can't be there, they tend to follow Applejack's. The whole affect Applejack shows toward Twilight in any crisis, when she's not being affectionate toward her, is that of a loyal NCO toward an officer whom the NCO particularly considers worthy of respect.
2240946 2240956 2240962
Just pointing out that, while you know I'm always up for some good shipping goggles analysis of the show, Jordan was originally talking about canon character development.
The writers do plenty of ship teasing, and they might even have their own ships for all we know (see: McCarthy's AppleDash flavored tweet after Castle-Mania.) But I think that when they're thinking about romantic character development that would be retained between episodes or drive a plot (which is what a story about Applejack's attraction or lack thereof would be) then I think they're pretty darned obvious about who's in love with whom-- as makes sense in a show where part of the audience is kids. They weren't shy about letting us know how Spike felt about Rarity, how Rarity felt about Trenderhoof, or about how Trenderhoof felt about Applejack.
2241056 Examples please? I can't remember that right now.
2240956
(*nods*) AJ gets friendly to Bulk too, but her friendliness is much more casual. At one point Fluttershy goes off with Bulk and they obviously have a long and involved conversation leading to them bonding as friends.
At the very start of "Filli Vanilli" (equidistant between "Rainbow Falls" and "Equestria Games") Fluttershy is enormously happy about something. Given the chronology I don't think they've consummated it yet, but the obvious possibility is that Bulk has told her how he feels.
And in "Equestria Games," Fluttershy is utterly flirting with Bulk. Especially at the beginning when she is in such a posture that she is essentially presenting her bottom to him, tail up, and while he's doing something that causes him to make simulated-sex motions toward her. The camera lingers on Bulk's gaze, which is drawn toward exactly what one would expect in that situation.
The scene is even more significant because behaving in such a sexually-provocative manner is not even remotely normal for Fluttershy. Heck, it would be way over the top for Rarity. It's more like the way that Ardashir has Ardi behave in Wolf in Pony when he's (hilariously badly) impersonating Rarity, or that Phoenix_Dragon has Rainbow Dash behaving toward Sky when she's (hilariously badly) attempting subtle flirtation in Fragments.
I am a firm believer in OOC Is Serious Business. When a character who normally is almost afraid to speak out loud is deliberately shoving her butt in somepony else's face, this means something about how she feels toward the other character.
2241072
Fluttershy has positioned herself with her butt pointed right at Bulk Biceps' face, tail up, while Bulk makes arm motions which cause her to be alternately pushed toward and away from her. About the only more explicitly sexual thing she could do would be to jump on his crotch instead of the barbell and attempt to have him right on the floor of the team car in front of her whole circle of friends, which is an action probably outside of Fluttershy's behavioral possibility space short of mind control, no matter how much she's fallen in love with him. The "camera" also focuses on Bulk's expression as she does this, and he's looking exactly where you might expect him to look.
2241073
Friendship Is Magic - Applejack instantly bonds with Twilight Sparkle, and afterward acts as second-in-command as early as the scene where Twilight is trying to attune the Elements to herself alone.
"Dragonshy" - They are in an explicitly paramilitary situation, and Applejack behaves as second-in-command of the team.
"Luna Eclipsed" - Aside from Twilight herself, Applejack behaves in the most mature fashion of any of the Mane Six and is the first one after Twilight to grasp that Luna is being awkward, not evil.
Return of the Elements of Harmony - Discord strikes Applejack first, and Twilight heals Applejack first, and for the same reason -- Applejack is the Pony on whom Twilight counts the most for support.
Princess Twilight Sparkle - When Twilight leaves the Mane Six to wait back in Ponyville, Applejack simply and naturally takes charge of the others.
2241089
I honestly, 100% think that was intended as a gag about how strong Bulk is and how light Fluttershy is. I think the animators might have had some fun with expressions, and I think the show writers find the contrast between Bulk and Fluttershy cute and will continue to go back to it. I support people who ship it, I think it's a good combination.
But I don't think the writers put anything sexual into the show intentionally. And I think that if they ever do explore a relationship between Bulk and Fluttershy it will be shown as an entirely new thing, not as something that started previously, as well as that they could have an episode where Fluttershy openly expresses interest in a totally different pony without even mentioning Bulk, because the writers don't consider it canon (yet.)
2241017
Which makes static characters like Diamond Tiara (Flanderization is not development), stand out painfully so, and lower the quality of the product.
2241101 Oh, I see what you mean. Not really a guard, but I get the point.
2241131
Yeah, I hope they do something interesting with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Probably not having DT turn into Discord's mad acolyte, but I could see DT getting more genuine friends, or SS abandoning her for somepony else, especially as they get older. And if DT's personality doesn't change, she's going to have a miserable adulthood -- she has "future Paris Hilton" written all over her the way she is right now.
Pinkie definitely treats Dash differently than the rest her friends. I think the best evidence of this is when her friends have to leave.
When Applejack leaves Pinkie is fine though she does get very worried for her after she has been gone for a while (understandable since she was gone longer than she was supposed to be).
When Twilight leaves Pinkie appears fine though she does give her a tackle hug when she sees her.
Rarity is similar she throws her a birthday party but I do not recall any specific worry or crazy show of affection when she got back.
Fluttershy was different. When she first left Pinkie did seem distraught but on the other hand she was also easily distracted from the problem (by a balloon) and it did not seem to bother her afterwords.
Rainbow Dash is the complete opposite. When Dash has to go Pinkie freaks out and is worried specifically that Dash is going to forget about her. Pinkie cannot be distracted from it either and it took a lot of effort to get Pinkie to leave the mailbox (it required actually going to go see Dash in person). While she is waiting Pinkie looks ragged. Compare that to when she waited for any of the others.
Also Pinkie gets worried for Dash in particular. When Twilight went to go see Celestia and thought there was a test to pass she is not seen to be particularly worried though she is very supportive. That seems to be the case for most of the characters. On the other hand when Dash is waiting to find out about the academy Pinkie is visibly worried and is trying to keep Dash from "jinxing" it even though Dash has no worries about it. Either Pinkie has no confidence in Dash but a lot in Twiligiht (I personally don't think this is it but it would explain this behavior) or Pinkie has an even higher level of personal investment on how Dash succeeds.
Pinkie is a friend to everyone but I think you are right in that she is starting to find that she is even greater friends with certain ponies. In the main characters I think she is closest to Rainbow Dash and then Twilight. I do think she is starting to become closer to AJ as well possibly due to the the knowledge now of being sort of family.
Speaking of AJ Pinkie is also seen a lot with Big Mac (relatively speaking if you compare to the rest of the main cast) and they are actually a pretty funny duo.
2241468
I go with Alex Warlorn's theory that in the alternate world where she worked on Sweet Apple Acres, she was married to Big Mac, and she remembers enough of this that she became fond of him. Not necessarily in love with him (that was both a different Pinke Pie and a different Big Mac), but sufficiently aware of his virtues that she really likes him now. If she doesn't wind up with Cheese Sandwich, I could see her marrying Big Mac -- she's not that close a cousin with him that marriage would be precluded in most ethical or legal systems.
2241900
Honestly she should have no issues anywhere legally or even socially if she would stop literally calling him cousin since they are so far removed that most families would not recognize the kinship outside a a matter of trivia.
Also yes that is a good area to go with Pinkie and Big Mac with that situation and I have seen stories with that idea of where they are married in the alternate cutie mark universe and I enjoy those but even before that episode Pinkie has been with Big Mac several times. Granted they are very small and easy to miss (no dialogue) but if you compare that to the number of times you see him with any of the rest of the main cast (except AJ of course) I think she has been seen with Big Mac more than any of them.
For instance Big Mac is the one that drops Pinkie down to check a bridge (the episode where Twilight saw her future self and panicked) and Pinkie is the one painting Big Mac's body when Trixie comes back for revenge and I think there are more if you keep an eye out for it.
Of course now with later episodes this idea just gets funnier what with them talking about philosophy (who else does Pinkie discuss that with?) and Pinkie taking pictures of his back side with no other discernible reason.
I actually really like Mac with Pinkie because it seems that Mac bring out a different side to Pinkie and that is always nice to see. It may even bring out a different side to Big Mac. As an example is that philosophical style discussion they have (which we only hear the end to) not just do we get to see Pinkie contemplating something and being interested in it (not a side we get to see too much though it is clear she can do that) we also are seeing Big Mac actually having an actual long term comfortable conversation outside of family which we also rarely see in show (though sadly we don't actually get to see/hear it as we only get the very end of what had to be a long conversation).
2241944
IMO Pinkie and Big Mac are fundamentally rather compatible despite their very different personal styles, because Big Mac is not really shocked by most things that Pinkie does. He knows she generally means well and accepts her eccentricities. For his part, I think Big Mac reminds Pinkie a bit of a younger and more cheerful version of her own father. And Big Mac is much smarter than most Ponies imagine -- he's just shy with everypony save for his kin and close friends. Pinkie is also much smarter than most Ponies imagine, because many mistake silliness for stupidity.
2241959
Yes she is smarter than many think. Many people think about the parasprites as an indication of her showing off her intelligence but that is just one case. In Appleloosa Pinkie actually has the right idea to solve the problem the right way (at least in concept) but sadly her delivery of the information ended up causing the opposite of what she wants to happen.
For your stories I would guess this was one of those rare occasions where her powers actually got in the way of what she wanted to get done. Pinkie does not have complete and perfect control of these powers and sometimes they can cause things to go awry. She was clearly able to get some ponies into enjoying her show (she got some dancing in the program and join her dance) but something went wrong and the most important people she was trying to help were not affected and she must have rolled a one with them because not just were they not affected positively but then they actually ended up getting violent from it.
2242031
Hey, she's the Herald of Paradise, but that doesn't make her perfect. Paradise itself isn't perfect.
She's pretty great, though. I'm a definite Pinkie Pie fan. I think that in addition to the obvious point that she's cheerful and funny and always willing to try to bring Laughter to others, she's also brave, honorable and kind. I hate when she's depicted in some fanfics as just some silly, mindless flake, because she's much greater than that caricature.
2242080
Yes that is one of my pet peeves too about a story. I can understand why some don't like to write Pinkie Pie as I think she is a harder character to write (I personally think that Rarity and Pinkie are the two hardest characters to get right in a story) but I think that if the only way for you to write Pinkie is to make her like one of clones from "Too Many Pinkie Pies" all the time then it may be better not to write her at all.
One of my other pet peeves is if a writer thinks she cannot be shipped at all and I have seen that from some with Pinkie. I think they are being a bit short sided. Granted I understand when they may not agree with the characters I like to see her shipped with but the idea that Pinkie is completely unable to find a romance (now or sometimes even ever) does not seem realistic to me.
2242142
Pinkie Pie is incredibly loveable. The reasons she's single (at least until very recently) are that (1) she is also very strange, so most ponies don't get her, (2) she's very neotenous and was slow to emotionally mature, so until recently she wasn't all that interested in stallions, and finally (3) being honorable and having deeper emotions, she's looking for actual love, not just sex. The two likeliest romances I see for her are Cheese Sandwich and Big Mac, based on their personalities and her reactions to them; Rainbow Dash would be plausible if I'd ever seen any evidence that Pinkie's interest in her was more than friendly (I assume heterosexuality until given evidence otherwise).
2242167
I can see how you came to those conclusions though I would add that I think another angle for why she has not gone out with other ponies is that Pinkie is busy. She is so busy being a source of joy to all those around her that she does not even consider her own needs at all times. An example is missing her own birthday. Clearly she thinks her own birthday is important but forgets it while trying so hard to bring joy to others. I can see her having the ability to want to develop a romance but she considers what she does far more important right now and so does not really go looking for it.
I can also agree with your choices for her romance options (though I do find Big Mac to be the more interesting of the two male options though I can see where you get the Cheese Sandwich angle) though with my ridiculous shipping goggles I tend to focus more on Rainbow Dash. Granted Pinkie is touchy freely to all of her friends to a degree but to me the way she shows it to Dash is a bit different.
Is it just because Dash is probably her single best friend so she treats her differently? Maybe. Is it because Pinkie and Dash make for hilarious situations so the writers just like to play that up to an extreme degree. That is probably the real answer but hey where is the fun in that answer? Or you could be like me and pretend that all of that stuff she does and shows to Dash mean something. Not likely but I like it so it lives on. Is Pinkie's affections possibly one sided in this regard? I think that is very possible as well and that is a dramatic option that I do not see used a lot around here despite the evidence that it is a distinct possibility.
2242253
That's a very good point, and I should have put it on the list. One of the things some fans get wrong about Pinkie Pie is that they think "party pony" and imagine that all she does is have fun all the time. She's an incredibly hard-working pony -- she works at Sugar Cube Corner and organizes parties for the whole time (probably making the Cakes a ton of money by drumming up catering business for the bakery in the process, which is why they will put up with pretty much anything from her). She doesn't have all that much time for her own private life -- and yes, she spends a lot of time at parties, but as the organizer, not just a participant.
On Pinkie Pie x Rainbow Dash.
I think it probably has happened in a lot of timelines. If Pinkie was going to have a lesbian love affair with anypony it would almost certainly be Rainbow Dash -- she has a very deep connection with Twilight as well, but I don't see Twilight returning the attraction save as a close friend. Rainbow actually is bisexual, so it's much more possible.
In my main fanon, Pinkie Pie knows exactly why she should beware of Cloud Kicker, because Pinkie's precognition is actually an ability to view alternate worldlines, and she's seen the damage Cloud Kicker has done to everypony in the Winningverse. Pinkie is rather horrified at her own mindlessness in that worldline (caused in part by the influence of the Taint, acting through that universe's CK, degrading the intellects of everypony who comes into close personal contact with it). There is only one thing about the Winningverse Pinkie Pie that doesn't horrify the mainline Pinkie Pie.
That's the fact that Rainbow Dash loves her. Which should tell you that even my Pinkie Pie really likes Rainbow Dash.
Not sexually, because this Pinkie's not bisexual, and besides she's noticed that this Rainbow is in love with Fluttershy. And my Pinkie would never try to horn in on anypony else's love -- that's part of her strong code of honor.
But she does love Rainbow Dash as a friend. Very much so.
2242080
Speaking of how her being the herald of Paradise in your story and focusing on her being responsible...
We get to see that Pinkie is responsible in a bunch of stories (particularly in Baby Cakes which is often confused to be the first time she wants to be responsible, which I do not agree with, rather it is the first time she tries to be responsible with foals which is a whole different ball game) but one with an interesting twist for your stories (at least I think) is the Mystery on the MMM express.
In that story she clearly shows her responsibility by her rather extreme manner in which she guards the cake. Honestly nobody should even try to stand guard over a cake all night but she tries. She would have been successful too if she did not unintentionally foil herself.
In the story the other characters ate the desserts because of how Pinkie described the food to the characters. Personally I think it is silly in many ways that those characters (especially professional bakers) would eat a contest dessert without an evil motive to destroy it (which we know none of the characters have that motive). Your back story for Pinkie provides a plausible excuse for this behavior. When Pinkie described the deliciousness of the desserts to the other characters she used her powers given to her by Paradise (intentionally or unintentionally we may never know) and her powers influenced those around her to experience the joy of eating the cake regardless of the fact that it would socially unacceptable to do so at this exact time. In this case it is similar to Over the Barrel where Pinkie causes a fight by trying to prevent the fight in the first place. It is possible that Pinkie may also have subconsciously known (or perhaps she did not know but her Pinkie sense was giving her signals that everything would turn out OK even though she does not know how or why) that these actions would have a very good ending (even better than if she kept the other characters from trying any of the desserts because now ALL of them win instead of just one). This can show either or both that Pinkie is still learning to understand and control her powers or that they work in mysterious ways and that she just has to trust that it will work out because it may look bleak at times (I like to think both personally).
Lastly if you were to use this idea I think it also shows another trait for Pinkie in that she does not care most of the time who wins. To Pinkie she wants everybody to win since it often brings the most joy. Hence why in the train her intuition may have pushed her powers to bring about a result where the entire group could win with their ultimate combo dessert. I think this is also why she judges the toughest pony competition between AJ and Dash. Pinkie does not compete (despite being pretty athletic pony) because she does not want to win but she knows that her two friends need a judge that can keep up with them that will be fair (and she will be fair because she knows that will bring those two the most joy as they want to win on their own merits though that does not always mean following the official rules as in the running of the leaves).
There is only one notable exception which is of course Rainbow Dash's birthday where Pinkie actually challenges Cheese Sandwich to a duel. That is a big change for her. I think the issue with that is two fold.
First is that for once she felt a need to prove to herself that she deserved the title of party pony (or perhaps Herald of Paradise) since everybody left her for the new guy so quickly and completely (granted I think they would have asked for her to return fairly soon as I think the story takes place in a short enough amount of time that they were just caught up in the crazy whirlwind that the new guy in town created as he was pretty spectacular).
The second major point is that it was Rainbow Dash's birthday party in particular. That party was about the biggest bash we have every seen her do outside of Royal celebrations she was involved what with her having the event outside with banners and all sorts of things planned (though it is hard to say in the end which things came from Pinkie and which from Cheese though Pinkies tended to be more personal and Cheese seems to be more grandiose). Compare to Rarity's party where she only had to sue the party canon (could be explained by the distance) and more importantly she did not mind Rarity leaving her party to join the other party outside whereas Pinkie does not want to be cut out of Dash's party (having others be involved is fine clearly but she wants to be heavily involved in the party for Dash). Dash is probably her best friend and is the one friend that she really had to work at to get that friendship in particular (in Griffin the Brush Off it is implied that Dash would avoid Pinkie and so Pinkie had to work extra hard to make that friendship work and now Dash is her most common friend for her to hang out with) so it makes sense to me that if there is one party where she wanted to be involved it would be that one.
It is no coincidence to me that Dash becoming unhappy is her trigger for Rainbow Power and that her shame on making Dash unhappy was so strong that in addition to initially deciding to allow Cheese to do the party she also thought she needed to leave the town for good. I think making somebody unhappy would be enough to make Pinkie stop but not enough to make her want to leave town for good (such as when she unintentionally made Fluttershy unhappy she feels sorry for it but we never see the same level of shame or depression for making her unhappy).
Considering the timing here it makes sense as Big Mac is not involved (and she probably doesn't know yet what to think about him) and Cheese Sandwich has not made the big reveal yet so even if you see them as a potential future item he would not hold that relevancy yet. The only character that may mean as much as Rainbow Dash may be Twilight but even then I am not sure (Pinkie tackle hugs Twilight quite a bit but does not get chased down or get worried about quite as much as Dash does).
Between those two factors I think Pinkie felt like she had to win a contest because she needed to show herself that she was worthy of her titles/accomplishments and that if she was then this particular event was too important for her to not be involved.
Just some thoughts I had while exercising. That is one really good thing about your universe is that it gives many interesting alternative ways to look at simple scenes in the show and try to deconstruct their meaning in a different fashion.
Sorry that this is so long and a bit unfocused (or perhaps too close to a stream of consciousness type of writing) but you got me thinking and I wanted to get them out there before I went to sleep (so I may not have thought everything through 100%).
2242546
That's a good point, and it even ties in with my references to Game Theory in the Shadow Wars (not just the explicit ones in A Robust Solution, but also my description of the Shadows in Nightmares Are Tragic) -- I think that the great advantage of the Ponies as a species is that they strongly and emotionally favor Positive Sum Games ("we can all gain") over Zero- or Negative-Sum Games; the inherent evil of the Night Shadows derives from their strong and emotional preference for Negative Sum Games ("we must try to lose the least"). Pinkie is a strong Positive Sum gamer, even by the standards of the Mane Six. Her parties are intended to enable social interactions between the participants which bring joy to all through facilitating the emotional equivalent of "trading."
You're definitely right that her duel with Cheese Sandwich was exceptional. She misunderstands what Cheese is doing, because she doesn't realize that he's trying to impress her; and she's moved to jealousy by the fact that they are competing to entertain Rainbow Dash. Whether or not her attraction to Rainbow Dash has a romantic component, Rainbow Dash is definitely one of her two best friends (Twilight being the other).
2241017
I see a possible reason for that: AJ had already changed, before the series began!
It's a canon fact that AJ lost both her parents. That's the kind of situation which can make people mature faster. So, my hypothesis here is that, while the other five (plus the three from the CMC) had most of their character development on-screen (after they met Twilight), AJ had most of her character development off-screen (before she met Twilight).
2249603
I go with the idea that AJ is 2-5 years older than the rest of the Mane Six -- she was 22 at the time of Luna's Return (YOH 1500 by my timeline) while the others ranged from 20 to 17 (Twilight being the youngest). This is one of the reasons why she acts distinctly more mature than the rest of them.
My explanation for her lack of romantic interest in others is that she promised herself to somepony who disappeared in 1498, and she still considers the promise binding.
2242142
This you said it way better then i ever could. I argued with people for two years on this site over shipping her. I say about time someone saw the light and of course with cheese being brought in probably helped. just because someone is eccentric doesnt mean they cant be in a relationship.