Applejack, why you so hard to write? · 11:13am Jun 12th, 2012
No, Ah'm not talking bout tha western twang that mare's got.
It occurs to me that out of the mane six (ha, puns), AJ is the only pony who isn't archetypical. Every other pony can be identifies as "The X." Twi's "The Scholar," Rarity's "The Fashionista," Rainbow's "The Racer," Fluttershy's "The Wallflower," and Pinkie Pie is "The Sugar Rush."
And then we get to AJ. In other settings, she could be "the farmer" but she SOMEHOW manages to have time to appear in episodes not dealing with farming. Calling her "the cowpony" doesn't work, not without cattle rasslers; even Ponyville's Greatest Athlete isn't her entire self. She's a fully fleshed out variable character, which makes her SO MUCH MORE DIFFICULT to write from the viewpoint of archetypes. On the other hoof, it also allows her quite a bit of mobility storywise. Need somepony to call out Twilight's crazy shenanigans? Get AJ. Fluttershy captured by evil bandits? Get AJ. Pinkie nearly ruins a royal visit? Get AJ. House falling over? Get AJ and she'll go get Big Mac.
And that's the thing. It's hard for AJ to operate in a vacuum. She has a family, she has friends... I've yet to see a good solo story for the gal, even though all the other manes get to philosophize about being trapped and suchlike. Would she react favorably? Would she go insane? I'm not even going to bother trying to write it, but I insist somepony out there try...
Anyway, random thoughts.
AJ is "the responsible one" or "the big sister".
And I have too disagree, that accent is hell for my orthography.