Cheese Sandwich in My 'Verse · 1:51am Sep 8th, 2015
I'm bored as heck and want attention, so let's have a stupid blog post.
So, Cheese Sandwich.
This is a pony that I thought I'd hate, just by virtue of how the usual "stranger comes to town and outdoes main character at (insert talent here)" episode goes. I was expecting off to come off as a total jerk, intentionally stealing Pinkie's thunder, blah blah blah, they chase him out of town. Or the other case of Pinkie sabotaging the party (which would have been out of character for her).
I've never been happier to be wrong.
While I was 'meh' on him at first (Weird Al voicing him did not affect my perception of the character), the fact that he was confused at his victory caught my attention, and then when he revealed his backstory, I ended up connecting with the guy. The backstory and the details left out (because time and he's just a guest character) got me curious and I continued to be fascinated with him for quite a while. Fascination that lasts that long leads to headcanons, wondering how his life could have gone differently, Tommy, and of course, fan fiction! Psht, if it weren't for Cheese, I wouldn't be here.
I'm well aware that we all write the characters of the show differently. Cheese is no exception.
Now, I'm going to be frank--I don't like the r63 Pinkie Pie route or the complete ponified Weird Al route. I feel that they both cheapen his character--the former for just being a copy-paste kind of deal when you need a "male Pinkie" or just a bland accessory for our favorite party mare, and the latter for not drawing a line between character and voice actor (heck, the line is even blurred in the show, and it irritates me that he fell into that pitfall).
It's fine that he's similar to both of them. He was inspired by Pinkie and is basically emulating her, and his being voiced by a celebrity does lead to some funny references. But make him exactly like one or the other, and you lost my interest.
And if somebody writes Pinkie Pie terribly, you want to keep Cheese as far away from them as possible.
So... how do I write Cheese?
The Rock Farmer's Daughters
This was a good first step in figuring out how I write Cheese.
Basically, I had to find out who Cheese was when I stripped the "party pony" off of him. The result I got was a shy, sweet traveler, with a cleverness that came out of necessity for his survival. He's also pretty protective of those ponies he loves, and when he's mad, he can be pretty scary. He can be pretty cold when you bring up something that bothers him and he'd rather avoid it. Still, he retained a bit of silliness and loved to tell stories of crazy adventures he was in.
So, when I got that, I had to integrate those traits with the obvious "party pony" thing that everyone saw. Some of the traits were downplayed (i.e. the shyness is now just introversion), and some were amped up (i.e. the silliness, obviously). I also drew from a few sources of inspiration for him--the fabulous scoots2's version of Cheese was an influence on how I wrote him, as was my own experience being the shy weirdo in school that was frequently a loner, and some of the traits I like about my older brother (sense of humor, willing to share things he finds interesting, and as the oldest, he did look out for us).
Heck, Cheese reminding me of my bro is the reason why I made Cheese an older brother instead of a younger one.
Backstory and Relationships
In show, he doesn't have much in the way of any kind of relationships with anypony, being a lone wanderer after all. The closest we've got is the friendship that he formed with Pinkie Pie in the episode (that darn interaction at the end made me ship them! CheesePie OTP). Other than that, what do we even know?
That falls back to when I was first forming ideas for fics. I had two questions on my mind:
1. What would happen to Cheese if Pinkie Pie stayed on the rock farm?
2. Who the heck is Cheese's family, and how were they affected by Cheese running away?
I already went over the first question and the fic that sprung out of that, and so let's go over the second.
Now, my first option was that he came from a rich family that never cared about him, with a spoiled, jerk pop star brother that Cheese had a nasty sibling rivalry with, a dead dad, and a emotionless and demanding shrew of a mom. There used to be a sister, but she's since been renamed and made Flora's sister. The story there was that Cheese and Pinkie go to Manehattan to throw a party for the brother, involving a love triangle, family drama, and a forced redemption of the brother at the end.
It was a horrible idea, and I scrapped that idea. Still, I wanted to explore Cheese's family.
Despite my hatred of the character, I will admit Maud Pie did help me save Tomato Sandwich and revamp his character into something better. But, I had to make Tommy the opposite of Cheese without going r63 Maud.
So now, instead of this:
We have this:
We have one of the most fun relationships for me to write--whether they disagree or get along, whether or not there's the feud involved, whether they're colts or stallions, and how they are different and how they're alike. It added a painful twist on Cheese leaving home, and it's a lot of fun exploring the world where Cheese has a sibling. Of course, I already wrote an essay on them, so read there for how I write their relationship.
Long story short--it's best to keep in mind that Cheese is the older brother.
Next, we have his parents.
He and his mother have a strained relationship. He was pretty stressed as a colt, and her nagging did not help matters. It doesn't help that she essentially planted the seeds that made Cheese jealous of Tomato. She wanted him to be successful--just... her narrow definition of success. He has often wondered why he was nagged to death while Tomato was allowed to go off with friends, and with all those mixed bitter feelings bottled in over everypony in his life, well, there's no doubt why he ran away...
His father used to play with him when he was a baby. But, then, he just grew more distant and distant... until Dad just ignored both of his sons or shooed them away because he was "busy." Cheese just snidely refers to him as a "zombie" these days.
I will admit, I don't spend much time on his relationship with Boneless/Boneless 2. He's obviously some sort of confidant that he had for years, something to make him less lonely, a reminder of Pinkie Pie... of course, I have scenes where he's alone and talking to Boneless 2, and another where he's playing checkers with him (the rubber chicken won), so I more or less write that relationship as being more humorous than anything.
Of course, I friend-ship him with The Great and Powerful Trixie (who appeared in Brotherly Bonding Time and helped him with the problem there), and Braeburn (hasn't appeared yet, but I plan on him appearing). I just find both of those dynamics funny and entertaining. The Cheese and Trixie friendship was especially fun to write.
Also, how would he compare to Party Favor? Hmm, I think there'd be a weird and funny friendship of "Older Brother Party Pony" Cheese and "Younger Brother Party Pony" Party Favor. No, seriously, I do see Cheese taking on a big brother role with other party ponies.
And of course... how do I write the relationship between Cheese and Pinkie?
Now, we all know that CheesePie has now become Pinkie's standard straight ship. It's kind of funny, because I usually hate the standard Mane Six straight ships like Soarindash and Fluttermac. Why do I ship CheesePie if it's standard?
Well, first off, I don't have a hard, fast rule for what I ship. It usually comes down to what I found great to watch on the show or fun to read in a fic. CheesePie is the former, pretty much giving me a reason to ship them--Cheese finds her inspiring and is grateful to her for "saving" him, and Pinkie has someone who understands her point of view (and is flattered that someone actually tried to impress her--even if it did backfire), and the two could talk about anything (and considering how weird they are, their interactions are a lot of fun!). Also, if any of you say that Pinkie needs someone to help her slow down... she actually can do that on her own for her friends (and Cheese, if he needs to slow down and recharge).
Scoots2's fics made me delve even deeper into the ship, and I couldn't help but appreciate it more and more. Yep, this is the pony ship I fully get behind.
So, how do I write it? Well, it goes back to The Rock Farmer's Daughters. Both of the characters were stripped of their party pony-ness, and as a result, we actually get two different characters. Pinkamena was shown as a grumpy and blunt mare that was more straightforward with her approach to a problem than Cheese was. And she wasn't shy, just somepony doing her job and honoring her parents, because she loves her family. And when she learns to smile, she's excited at the prospect of her family smiling and being happy too.
So, basically, I write them as being similar on the surface, with similar goals, but quite different deep down. When I watched Pinkie Pride the first time, my thoughts on Cheese during the Goof Off was that his actions seemed a little forced and that he seemed to be trying too hard, while Pinkie's were more natural. It made sense with the reveal that he was shy as a colt (and is still introverted--he just hides it very well), so I'm not complaining. He's also clearly more laid back than she is, as in:
Pinkie: Bouncy bouncy bouncy, constant whimsical energy, wee! Hi, friends, are you having fun? I'm having fun, and I hope you are too!
Cheese: Keepin' it cool, being utterly serious, and--oh, wait, PARTY TIME! WOOHOO! Come on everypony, let's party! Everybody dance NOW! All right!--okay, I'm done.
I also think of Pies being blunt and Sandwiches being sarcastic (Cheese came off as a bit of a smart aleck to me in the episode).
Anyway, while I do write Cheese as pretty cheerful and goofy a lot of the time (especially compared to Tomato), he's also toned down in comparison to Pinkie (heck, I think he's the more normal one). He is not in EPIC PARTY mode all the time. He, as stated by a couple others before me, just has an on and off switch.
My only problems with the ship is that not very many people are creative with it, and Cheese is simply reduced to Pinkie's Ken doll. Ugh, I hate that... give me Cheese with personality other than PARTY PARTY PARTY--Pinkie Pie is beautiful--PARTY PARTY, dang it!
And then, the fun part... his reactions to whatever situation he's in. Now, spoilers below, here's his reactions to things that happened in Brotherly Bonding Time so far...
Beginning: "All right, going on vacation with my baby bro! This is going to be fun!"
Ponyville: "Oh, sweet, we're throwing a party for Pinkie!" "Oh, dear, bats in the apple orchard. I hope Pinkie and her friends can handle it..." "Dang it, Tommy, why are you so moody?" "PARTY TIME!" "*lovestruck giggling*"
Woods: "YIKES, BIGHOOF!" "Tomato, I'm not in the mood for your sassiness..."
Nickerlite: "Do do do do do... settin' up the party..." "Wait, my brother's in danger? NO ONE HURTS MY BABY BRO." "Okay, crisis averted, let's party!"
Halterside: "Aw, poor Goldie. Don't worry, I'll help set this party up." "Hello, who are these guys?" "Grr... I offered a perfectly fine alternative solution and they refuse it? Geez!" "Ha ha ha, Tommy and I can beat these guys!" "TOMMY YOU BLEW IT."
Las Pegasus: "Who said I'm mad at Tommy? I'm not mad... do I look mad?" "Hi, Trixie!" "Meh, so what if you did that--wait a minute, alarms are going off in my head." "Okay, this guy's dangerous, Tommy needs to get away from him." "CRAP MY BROTHER'S A VAMPIRE" "CRAP THIS GUY'S INSANE" "CRAP HE WAS ONE STEP AHEAD OF ME." "CRAP HE UNLEASHED A VAMPIRE ARMY ON THE CITY." "Okay, I've got this under control, all the vampires are--CRAP I'VE BEEN CAPTURED." "CRAP I'M GONNA DIE." "...okay, not dead, hahahahaha... at least Tommy's back to his senses."
Ponyville Interlude: "Everything's back to normal..." "Wow, Pinkie's eyes are so pretty..." "Oh, hey, it's Discord!"
Canterlot: "WHY AM I PRINCESS CELESTIA?" "Shoot, I messed up raising the sun!" "Ugh, I hate her job..." "You're such a nag, Twilight." "Dang it, messed up again!" "DON'T YOU DARE MENTION LAS PEGASUS." "Pinkie, please stop talking about it!" "Oh, no, the bats are everywhere! Stupid insane Kazam pulling that stupid stunt, grrr..." "Help, I'm on fire!" "Oh, no, I ruined everything..." "Argh, why can't I get a grip?" "Las Pegasus must have been a dream... just a bad dream..." "I don't want to talk about it."--Arc currently unfinished.
Just imagine what's in store for him and Tomato next... 
Yep, Cheese Sandwich is fun to write, no matter what his mood or whatever situation he's in.This guy's a fan fiction gold mine. 
Yeah, that's a problem in a lot Cheesepie ships. I honestly prefer pairings where the characters are rather different and play off the differences. Makes it more interesting. {Which you can see through my Applejack/Discord and Smaug/Celestia pairings.}
As for me and who I ship with Cheese...Trixie....Yeah, I'm planning to write a Trixcheese...Cheesetrix? You know what I mean, story soon enough. As for why, well, they're both traveling performers. Trixie, even now, seems more like she prefers to perform for herself than others and expects them to be grateful, while Cheese is the exact opposite of that thinking. Them coming to a medium and helping Trixie get past the hate she's garnered through her misdeeds is something I really want to touch on.
While this was interesting to read, the mention of you hating Maud Pie kind of surprised me.
Of the stories you've written so far, I've only read the stories in the Tommyverse (except for Brotherly Bonding Time, which I'll get to soon). And this blog came up since it was related to the stories in that 'verse. So you've probably answered this before, but:
So, why do you hate Maud?
The only thing I can think of for an explanation is that she comes across as too boring for you.
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I'm not a big fan of her character archetype, her rock obsession got old really quickly, her monotone is grating, and she has less reason to exist than Shining Armor. The fact that she's so overrated makes it worse.
Glad you found a character you can connect with and enjoy writing! You have so much love for Cheese and CheesePie. It's so awesome to see how excited you get.
Though I can't say I ship CheesePie anymore, I do enjoy reading it, especially your fics. Rock Farmer's Daughters was a lot of fun for me because I CRAVE serious subject matter.
I always enjoyed your portrayal of Cheese. It feels soooo much more organic than my own, particularly in his relationship to Pinkie and Tommy. You obviously understand him as a character very well and that always makes me smile.
I need to catch up on Brotherly Bonding Time or so help me!
Awesome job with Cheese! I just love to hear how fired up you are about him even after all this time. That's dedication for you!
3377050 I personally found her rock obsession to be hilarious.
And I don't really mind the monotone.
Plus, technically speaking, none of Pinkie's sisters have a reason to exist. After all, we don't know anything about them in the main show other than what they looked like as fillies. And yeah, they were part of her Cutie Mark story, but all you really needed for that were her parents.
And while I can't speak for most people, I personally like her simply due to the contrast between her and Pinkie. While she isn't in my top ten, she is definitely close to making it.
I think that if her personality was closer to Pinkie's, then she wouldn't be liked as much.
But, hey, different people have different tastes. For example, I've found quite a few people who for some reason adore Diamond Tiara, yet I personally can't stand her in the main show.
3377163 See, the reason I said Maud has less reason to exist than Shining Armor was because of the other two sisters. I seriously don't get the point of adding another sister when the other two were perfectly fine, Cutie Mark Chronicles implied that they were her only siblings, and we all want to meet them and see what they're like. I'm just hoping they're not interchangeable or exact personality copies of Maud.
But, you know, you are right in that different folks have different tastes. Maud's just way too bland and overrated for mine.
3377792 I doubt they'd all have the exact same personality as Maud.
The only family that I can see consisting of a group of ponies with the exact same personality would be Fluttershy's, and that's only because I've read "The Great Alicorn Hunt", which made that funny.
And, fair enough.
3377068
I love your version of Cheese Sandwich, and have made most of his backstory fanonical to the Shadow Wars Storyverse as well. It was because of both your and Scoots2's portrayal of CheesePie that I wrote "Her Special Gift," and might write more stories about them (I was thinking of doing a "His Special Gift" as a bookend to that other story, but this one focusing on Cheese instead of Pinkie. (I'm sure you noticed that Cheese was asleep through most of my story!) Then maybe "Their Special Gift," with both of them and somepony else, to complete a trilogy of short stories.