UUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH · 3:55am May 13th, 2015
I am really, really, really disappointed in myself for taking this long in writing the next chapter of "Brotherly Bonding Time."
I mean, if taking more than two weeks was par for the course like so many other writers here, it wouldn't be a big deal. But, you people pretty darn well know that I'm a fast writer... even when called to sub at a school cafeteria, I manage to keep a consistent update schedule most of the time... ha ha, and I could hardly call myself frazzled and overworked, because I still have plenty of free time and tend to stick with one project at a time. So... what gives Sketch?
Well...
--Last chapter, someone questioned just how Flim and Flam were supposed to be villainous. I have no idea how to dispute that, and I've been going bonkers and beating myself up for confusing members of my audience. I personally don't like having to clear muddled points in an Artist's Comments Box or in a reply, since, you know, that either means I don't have enough faith in my audience's intelligence, or that I didn't get that point across clearly in the story itself.
And if I get the sense that I messed up in a way that would require me to do a chapter overhaul (which honestly, I have no other ideas of ways for it to go), it kind of kills my motivation. I hate it when that happens, especially over just one comment. 
--There's also the little feedback I've been receiving. I get like, what, four comments a chapter these days? I don't know about you, but I don't find that very motivating.
Ugh, The Rock Farmer's Daughters spoiled me!
--And finally... okay, spoiler alert, there's a song next chapter. I'm having trouble writing it.
Well, now I'm done complaining--something that I don't like to do often. Hopefully I trudge through this groaner soon, because my current motivation is the segment after the Halterside arc, which is a story I'm looking forward to...
I am crazy busy, and I blame myself for not staying on top of reading and commenting on my favorite writers. The falloff, I suspect, may have something to do with the change in focus from romance. CheesePie readers and writers, bless 'em, are kind of single minded about what they/we want, and I think that's probably true of most shipfic. This puts people like us at a disadvantage, because neither of us is really all about the shipping, and I say that as someone who is supposed to be on a shipping panel this summer.
I'm pretty good at songs, though, so if you need help, just holler.
Flim and Flam are villainous because they defraud other Ponies. If one looks at what they were doing in their two episodes, though it was played for laughs they would have done considerable damage had they succeeded -- and one must assume that they succeed sometimes.
They tried to trick the Sweet Apple Acre Siblings out of their home by playing on their pride. They sold a mildly healthy drink as a miracle cure, which raised false hopes and could have led Ponies to hurt themselves.
In your story, they have so far done nothing deeply horrible (though the way they originally got Silver Shill to shill for them was cruel). But then, they're not like Tirek or Sombra or Chrysalis; they're not embodiments of evil villainy. They're just greedy, selfish and mildly sociopathic. It's not that they like to make Ponies suffer -- they're as far as I can tell not particularly cruel. It's more that they don't particularly care if Ponies suffer -- they're callous.
Yes, it's true that they are handsome and funny and very amusing to watch, especially when they do their musical numbers. But then, con artists usually are fun to watch -- until they vanish with your money. I've noticed that a lot of people assume that they're not as bad as (say) Trixie or Gilda -- but Trixie (aside from when she was under the influence of the Alicorn Amulet) never did anything particularly bad (she's obnoxious rather than evil); Gilda is at most a bully and a sneak-thief (she's worse than Trixie, but then Trixie's more a demonstration of Good Is Not Nice than she is a villain).
There seems to be some grudge the Flim Flam Brothers hold against the Apples, and it's interesting that they have Apple Cutie Marks. I wonder if they -- or perhaps their mother -- weren't disgraced Apples, leading them to feel that they must gain revenge on the arrogant and supposedly virtuous main branches of the Apple Family. If so, then the help Granny Smith Apple rendered them in their comics team-up may begin to change their mind on this topic. Or not.
Oh no! Please don't lose hope, Sketcha :C
I, for one, don't see anything wrong with how you're handling Flim and Flam. Like Jordan179 said, they're not exactly the most blatantly evil characters in and of themselves; but I have to personally say that what they were doing to Goldie at the end of the last chapter was more than enough to justify their antagonistic roles in your story. Not only that, but their circus is a bit flimsy and if things go wrong, there is a good chance things could get downright disastrous. The pony who falls from clouds could easily die in his descent if Silk Shimmer was incapacitated, and either them or her could probably get charged for murder. Not only that, but Goldie being in such bad condition after being around and having been pretty much knocked out by them them might make some questions arise, even if they aren't exactly the reason for it, especially if she gets critical.
And I'm sorry you haven't been getting as much attention on this story as on RFD. It really can't be helped, though; people always seem to be wary of OC stories, and some avoid them altogether. That's what I like so much about this story and the Tommyverse, though. You're not afraid to write OCs in a world where OCs aren't always hardily welcomed. It takes perseverance, and I really think that your stories about Tommy are worth it. He's a very rich, depth-y character, and I always enjoy very much to hear about him. I have been enjoying this story immensely, just as much as RFD or maybe even more.
Well, they clearly want Tommy to follow in their hoofsteps, and they seem to have Silk Shimmer caught in the classic blackmail bind. "We already know you've done one bad thing, and now we're telling you to do something worse." And that's saying nothing of trying to trap Comedy Gold in debt hell. And attempting to plumb the mysteries of party ponies purely for profit...
Yeah, I'd say the Flimflams are doing quite a few unsavory deeds. That a reader hasn't noticed them speaks of the brother's subtlety. Well, less subtlety, more skill at distraction. Like the song goes, "How can they see with sequins in their eyes?"
And speaking of songs, if you have a tune in mind, I can help cobble together new lyrics for it. Drop me a line if you'd like.
I would say they are clearly the antagonists in this situation, just not necessarily the villains. Villains and antagonists don't have to be the same thing. An antagonist is someone opposing or competing with the protagonist, a villain is a sub-type of antagonist who has a nefarious scheme. Think about almost every sports movie you've ever seen. The protagonist is usually the scrappy underdog team we root for, and the antagonist are their traditional rivals, the better-funded team who usually win, and who act arrogant and trash-talk the protagonist's team before being beaten by the scrappy underdog. But that doesn't mean the arrogant team are villains, they're just kind of jerky. What makes a good antagonist is not just their motivations, it's how they will effect the protagonists.
Honestly, it's the mark of a mature and skilled writer that they can write these elaborate plots with different groups with competing goals, without making one group two-dimensional villains, and I think you should congratulate yourself.
The FlimFlam brothers circus may not be part of an elaborate plot of the FlimFlam brothers to murder the town and seize all their wealth, but this story is about Tommy and Cheese, the protagonists, and they have already befriended Silver Shill. If the FlimFlam brothers succeed in their goal of making a lot of money with their circus in Halterside, even if they don't have a villainous plot in mind, it's still going to drive Goldy over the edge, and she may re-open her injuries driving herself to compete with the FlimFlam brothers. Doesn't matter whether the FlimFlam brothers want this to happen or not, what matters is that they are presenting a challenge for the Sandwich brothers to overcome, and to help Goldie and Silver overcome.
Honestly, if you are looking for an overarching antagonist or villain for Tommy and Cheese to face off against, the FlimFlam brothers work great! They are a team of brothers who travel Equestria, sing songs and entertain people, but with the goal of bringing happiness to themselves rather than others. That said, they do seem to be genuinely loving brothers who care about each other. That's the perfect foil for the Sandwich brothers, who are also traveling across Equestria singing songs and entertaining people, with the goal of helping others, but Tommy and Cheese still have a strained relationship. If the Sandwich brothers start running into the FlimFlam brothers on a regular basis as they travel across Equestria, and Flim and Flam keep causing problems that Tommy and Cheesy have to help fix, the only way the Sandwich brothers can pull that off is if they strengthen their relationship the way the FlimFlam brothers have. A great antagonist is one who can teach the protagonist something important.
3066036 I don't agree with every point you made, but you make a lot of good ones (as you usually do). I think the FlimFlam brothers are callous opportunists and occasionally brilliant inventors, if they can sell an honest product for more money and less effort/risk than a scam, that is what they will do today, otherwise a scam is what they fall back on. That magielectric car they invented was brilliant, I would also wager it was paid for with a bunch of three-card monte sessions. I also agree they are certainly no better than Trixie or Gilda, Trixie at her worst (excepting the influence of dark magic) was just an entertainer who dealt harshly with hecklers, a pony Don Rickles if you will. Gilda may have once stolen an apple and shouted at a pony, but as far as we know she is not a semi-career criminal like the brothers, just jealous about sharing time with the very few friends she has. That said, the brothers are obviously expies of Harold Hill from The Music Man, with maybe a bit of George Clooney's character from Oh Brother Where Art Thou thrown in, and it's hard to call either of those characters villains.
I also agree that the FlimFlam brothers are almost certainly the "black sheep" of the Apple family, besides their talents, they look more like Apple Bloom's brothers than Big Mac does! I don't think there is really a "grudge" there, they just specialize in apple-related products both genuine and fake, which means whenever we in the show or comics see them, they are going to run into the Apple Family.