The Many Faces of Octavia · 1:04pm Jan 12th, 2016
Some thoughts on Octavia, why I like her, and how to write her.
Octavia is one of my favourite characters. Contrary to the amount of blogs I've done, she is not my favourite character - I'm firmly on Team Lyra for that one- but Octavia is a close second.
(Rather, Octavia is a close third, and Lyra is number two. Bon Bon is number one, but she is a special agent; that is so ridiculously awesome that it sort of disqualifies itself)
I have a lot of stories I want to write based around Octavia, as the various blogs I've done should show and, while I'm not a huge roleplayer these days, whenever I -do- RP, Octavia is usually one of my first picks.
She's a character I love to write. In fact, I'm working on a story at the moment which is becoming longer than it should because I keep adding more dialogue for her.
It's important for me to make this point- that I am an Octavia fan- clear, because the central tenant of this piece might seem to go against that fact:
Octavia is the blandest of the Background Six.
I realize those are fighting words. Let me explain.
One of my favorite things about this fandom is the way that it has fleshed out the background characters; there is a general contentious amongst fans as to how' Ditzy is supposed to act, or how Vinyl is supposed to act, or so on. Specifics vary, of course - I prefer Lyra as a more general nerd rather than specifically an anthrophile- but there is still a specific range of which we deem someone acting out of character... despite the fact that the Background Ponies haven't really got any on-screen characterisation, and therefore can't be out of character.
How does this relate to Octavia? Well, before season five, her on-screen characterisation amounted to her playing the cello at the Grand Galloping Gala, and rolling her eyes at Pinkie Pie. And...
Well, that was it. And from that, fan's extrapolated that she was a classical musician, professional and upperclass. It was really about the same metric that they used to assume that Lyra was a fan of human's.
However, Lyra was -in part- fleshed out by her relationship to Bon Bon, to the extent that the fics of them not being a couple are a lot harder to find than one's where the opposite is the case.
Of course, Octavia has her Lyra too, in the form of Vinyl Scratch.
Fan works like University Days or Allegrezza pushed the idea of the two as a couple; not necessarilly in the romantic sense - though they do touch on that- but in the 'characters who are always together' manner. The notion of them as roommates became so popularised that it was adopted as canon for the 100th episode.
Canon of the Non-Bass Variety
Of course, any 'roommate' story basically falls into the classic pattern of a comedy routine, with the straight mare and the eccentric one. And, in the case of Octavia/Vinyl stories... those roles were solidifed pretty early on.
Not the sane one
It makes sense, of course. Our introduction to Octavia involved her rolling her eyes at Pinkie's antics; Vinyl bobbed her head to them. The two are immediatly positioned as different... and given Pinkie's eccentricity, the diea that someone who seem's to like her would be just as crazy caught on fast.
Consider The Vinyl Scratch Tapes, where Octavia's role is to be the sane one to Vinyl's... Vinyl-ness. Or My Roommate is a Vampire, where Octavia is the 'normal' character brought into a world of crazy by Vinyl.
That's not to say there are no stories where that dynamic isn't reversed, of course. Off-Rhythm is based on flipping that usually dynamic, and Night of the Werewolf is a switch to My Roommate is a Vampire by making Octavia the supernaturally afflicted one.
However, these are the exceptions, rather than the rule, and they are stories characterised by what they are; that is, typical Octavia/Vinyl portrayals.
And that is why I say that Octavia is the blandest of the Background Six. Where the other members of the group have their own identities and roles, Octavia is defined by the character's around her. And -since that character is usually Vinyl- we tend to define Octavia as 'not Vinyl', with her characteristics being based on the opposite.
Vinyl is loud? So Octavia is reserved.
Vinyl is 'young', playing music that is popular with today's generation? Octavia is a classical musician who plays 'old' music.
Vinyl is a slob? Octavia is a neat freak.
Vinyl is lower/middle class? Octavia is an upper class mare.
However...
While Octavia is largely defined by others around her, I feel like this can be an advantage for writing her. Where there is a relatively limited palette on what constitutes an in-character Lyra or Ditzy, Octavia's entirely character is defined by what she is not... meaning fan fiction can change a lot of who she is while still remaining in-character.
An assassin? [url=http://img06.deviantart.net/01d2/i/2012/235/4/a/mafia_octavia___double_life_by_zedrin-d5b8y2q.png[]A mafiosa? A samurai?
Heck, most of my blog posts lately have been just me posting random pictures of alternate Octavia's, like her as a metal fan, or as a superhero. Unlike such fan art of one of the Mane Six - or even the rest of the Background Six- fan art like these raise a lot more questions. Lyra or Bon Bon can be the superheroes Harpflank and Sweets... but that's the kind of goofy shenanigans we expect Lyra to get up to.
With Octavia, however, such pictures raise a question of how Octavia ended up getting in such a situation... since they not only play against the type we ascribe to her, but because we know so little about her it invites viewers to fill in the blanks.
Octavia, more than perhaps any other background pony, is a character who gives the author absolute freedom to do anything. Octavia can be a hero; she can also just as easily be a villain. There is a freedom in writing Octavia that no other character has, because -unlike any other character- Octavia can do, or be, anything the author wants or needs her to be. Octavia is a character that gives a writer a chance to do whatever they want, in a way that few others can.
TLDR; Awesometavia
![http://img06.deviantart.net/01d2/i/2012/235/4/a/mafia_octavia___double_life_by_zedrin-d5b8y2q.png[]A](http://img06.deviantart.net/01d2/i/2012/235/4/a/mafia_octavia___double_life_by_zedrin-d5b8y2q.png[]A){kind=link}
I came here from your promotion of this blog in one of the groups I'm in. Gotta say it was definitely worth it, and now I know a reason I write Octavia.
I have TWO stories where Octavia is a major villain, one where she's an alcoholic, one where she's "the chick" character to a Kamen Rider, and in one of those stories she's a master swordsman. Octavia is one of my favorite ponies to write for because like you said, there's just so much we can do with her. She's like the main character of an RPG game.
Hey... that's not too bad of an idea...
3681445
For the record, this is not the idea that I mentioned I was working on.
But it's close enough that I feel like I need to mention that I was already working on it and I am not stealing it from you.
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RPGtavia, on the other hand, I might steal. I have no shame.
But villain Octavia sounds neat. I have idea's on how to execute that concept myself...though I find it interesting (on a meta level) that people are quicker to make Octavia a (serious) villain than they are Vinyl. I don't think I've ever seen anyone write an evil DJ Pon-3.
3682071 Concerning evil Vinyl, I think it's just because from what we've seen of her she's extremely helpful IN CANON, so it would be sort of out of character for her to ever be selfish enough to be evil.
In terms of Octavia though, since like you said there's really no 'in character' for her, she can be anything. In one of my stories where she's a villain, I'm portraying her as a manipulator type, and her fighting style is very much like a dominatrix.
I actually figured the alternate depictions of Octavia was based more in comedy than anything. Metal-band Octavia, at least. After all, it's hard not to get at least a tiny chuckle out of seeing a prim and proper character go all rock-hard on everyone.
I wouldn't, however, say that it's licence to do whatever you want with her. She does have (both in fanon and now in canon) an established character people will associate with her. I'd recommend departing from that platform and then exploring what you can turn it into, instead of starting from 'infinite-possibilitiesville'. But perhaps I'm alone in that thinking.
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Maybe? I'm just kind of interested if that is a reflection of how we, as society, view stuff. Octavia is usually seen as upper class, so it isn't too difficult to imagine her smirking and floating; Vinyl is more in line with modern sensibilities, so she's "good".
Not sure I buy the theory, but worth considering I suppose.
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There is definitely a comedy side to it, but I don't know if that necessarily invalidates my point. Octavia is largely defined by what she isn't; so something like Metal-band Octavia grabs attention. Maybe it's just a personal thing, but I feel like fan art of Octavia is different from any other character in the same circumstances.
There certainly is a base version of Octavia. I just feel like she has a wider range of possible characterisations than other background characters do.
3683203 Well, it's in departing from that base version that you can do more with her, but it's always somewhat linked to that original version. The metal-band Octy highlights how strange it looks considering what we know she does look like. Same with a fighter Octavia: fighting isn't something you'd associate with her, which is exactly why you would (if that makes sense).
Making Octavia a baker, however, doesn't really make sense on any level. It's neither something you'd readily associate with her canon/fanon character, nor does depart from it in any meaningful way. You could make her a baker, but I'd have to wonder why. You could make her a spy, and I'd immediately understand why, since she has a very refined look I'd associate with slick spies like James Bond.
So, spy, yes. Baker, no. Metal-band fan, sure. Astronaut, less. Even as a samurai, I can kind of see the link (they both look rather disciplined) but make her a carpenter and I'll start asking questions. Weird how that works.