Indifference reflection - Twilight v Trixie: Dawn of Friendship · 10:55pm Mar 27th, 2016
Going back to one of my first ever stories now, thought I might talk about it for a bit, do a little reflection so to speak, and since I now write blogs I just thought why not?
Indifference was, and still is, my most popular story by far in terms of likes and views. A fact of which I am most proud of. Looking back though I can't help but cringe in places, my writing has definitely improved a lot since then and it shows. Regardless I'm still proud of it, and it being a success is one of the main reasons I'm still writing stories to this day, I just felt like I had made something that was considered worth reading, and felt that with practice I could hopefully do it again.
The story itself came about at a weird time, I joined the fandom late and I actually started planning the story before I'd even started watching season 4, which at the time wasn't finished yet. Trixie was always going to be the focus of the story, whose character I adored not because of the show itself, but due to all the excellent fan-stories that expanded her character from being a simple 2 appearance side-villain into a full on sympathetic and potentially even tragic character herself. Fan Fiction turned Trixie from a plot device into something I actually wanted to write about and see more of, and with season 6 starting it's run I can only hope that she shows up at least one more time.
I was facinated by the relationship between Trixie and Twilight, they could be shipped, just be friends, or absolutely despise each other, it was all up to interpretation and plenty of stories have used them all to great effect. I wanted to do my own take on it, but I didn't want them to simply meet and end up as best friends, but I also didn't want them to just hate eachother, I wanted something inbetween, like Trixie could not care less whether or not she was friends with Twilight or not, but still didn't want her to be apart of her life, whether I succeeded or not is up to you.
Originally it was going to be a full multi chapter story and not a one-shot. Trixie would be ruined still and Twilight would be forced to stay with her in the slums of Baltimare, where Trixie would live and work, until she could safely make her way home. Twilight would come with the intention of befriending Trixie, lose hope and grow angry with her when Trixie refuses, but then try again when she catches Trixie performing a show in a run down children's hospital for foals, realising that she really had no idea what kind of person Trixie was. There was also going to be a villain, a tycoon who wants to bulldoze the hospital, and Trixie and Twilight would ultimately unite in order to stop him. As you can probably tell this plan didn't pan out, and I condensed it all into the one shot, taking some inspiration from the IDW comic on Trixie set in Manehatten that came out recently at the time.
In conclusion, I wrote the story during a very simple time, I was a new writer and the MLP show didn't deal with as complex of topics and issues as it does now. Twilight and Trixie are still fascinating to me, but I feel like they've been overshadowed in popularity by Sunset, Starlight and Moondancer, which is a bit of a shame even though I enjoy all those characters, some more than others. As you can probably guess Trixie is still my favourite pony, and will probably remain that way for sometime.
The Crystalling has bumped Starlight up the list a bit though.
And also, I wrote it 2 years ago? It feels so much closer than that.
Going simple isn't a bad idea when starting in fanfiction. If you go too big, too fast, you can easily burn out and not want to even consider looking at fanfiction, or even the series it's based on, again. I ran into that problem with the fandom before this one and have barely looked back.
Trixie is my main mare too, and like you said, she's got plenty of opportunities for stories. She's more or less a blank slate, even with all the minor details coming out with the comics and other side material. She has that unique niche where she can fill whatever role is needed.
If Trixie never comes back I'd be fine with that. The comics gave her a satisfying conclusion. However, I wouldn't object if she ever did make another appearance.
Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on one's feelings on Trixie) characters like Sunset, Starlight, and Moondancer have filled up all the potential plot arcs Trixie could have been used in. Now, I've grown to like those characters, but it does sting a bit when an established character gets forgotten for the new hotness. I have a feeling the show runners don't want her back because of all the baggage she comes with from the show and from the fandom. I guess we'll see.
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Yep, I love her for all the roles she can fill, and how flexible she can be with her unique personality and relationship with twilight. It's why I hope for, and also dread a new episode with her in it. While having her back in the spotlight would be wonderful, I worry on what new canon they will make of her.
It is a little sad to see other characters take places she would have fit in interestingly and nicely. Sunset I love, and Starlight I want to throw out a window and never see again. More so now that I've seen the new episodes.
While I am prone to wanting longer stories, I think Indifference hit everything beautifully. They weren't friends by the end, but there was a chance that they could become something more in the future. I prefer this shorter story over what you were initially planning, though I am positive I would have read it regardless with how deep you went into Trixie and Twilight's relationship in this short story alone.