GenerousGypsy's writing tips, Issue #1: Character Behavior · 7:05pm May 25th, 2016
Or,
Keeping Your Characters in Character
*Inhales and exhales deeply* Alright… Let’s do this. Recently, I wrote Twilight Sparkle a certain way, and the person who pre-read the story warned me about portraying her as… well, kind of a bitch. I mean, I had my reasons. It’s an AU story, so characters should act a little differently. I… don’t think he really agreed.
Regardless, today I’m going to hopefully provide a basis for you to work from and reference when you’re stumped on how a character would proceed. In this first issue, we’ll discuss character behaviors in the canon universe, and in the second issue, we’ll discuss dialogue, and in the third, how to write AU characters! Doesn't that sound fun?! Totally. Actual thing below the break, because it wound up being long as shit.
First, let’s start with behavioral patterns. Every character has a set way they act. This rarely changes, unless the setting is AU and they have a good reason to, but we’ll get into that later. Most characters are easily definable by their actions.
Let’s explore the basics of how the M-sizzles work as characters:
Applejack is a coarse mare that rarely puts effort into being ‘girly.’ She’s typically a hard worker that doesn’t have time for the finer things in life, and as such has never really taken an interest in said fine things. To her, relaxing is grabbing a tankard of cider and sitting back on her front porch at the end of a long day. She’ll typically meet a conflict head on without wavering, and [can be] is very stubborn most of the time. She’ll change her mind, but usually only after failing to succeed in doing things her way. She’s honest, and has a very dim view of ponies that make a living through dishonest means, such as Trixie Lulamoon in season one, Flim and Flam, or that guy at the other casino table that you’re sure was counting cards. It’s called gambling, ass wipe, not math class!
Rainbow Dash does not ever dress in fucking style. EVER. That’s a lie. She has a style; it’s called ‘cool’. Cool is a style. Cool is a difficult style to pull of, and she’s devoted a good deal of her time into making cool work for her. As a result, she never really had much of an interest in fancy or girly things. Often times, she is very hyperactive and excitable. As a pegasus, she is very gung-ho and ready to kick some ass and look cool doing it. She’s loyal, and takes issue with ponies that would abandon their friends, family, or team, even if it meant fulfilling their dreams. Unfortunately, she has a hard time making that decision herself, and might cop out of making it, somehow. In the end, however, she’ll likely pull through and choose her friends over her idols.
Twilight is a nerd, through and through. She likes books. She loves them. She’d marry a book, if that was socially acceptable and legal, but the nobles in Canterlot have an issue with that, apparently… Okay, maybe not, but you get the idea. Her love of books is rivaled only by her love of science and research. And silverware placement. She’s a ‘perfect student’ character. She turns all of her homework in on time or early. She always drops an apple on her teacher’s desk on the way into class, and is always a couple of minutes early for said class. She’s OCDAF and tries to never leave anything a mess, and she’s typically pretty good about that. She’s emotionally unstable. This will manifest when she has trouble meeting a deadline, or when she can’t understand how something works. She knows how friendship works and understands all of the little nuances of it. She can also be kind of a control freak, needing to be in control of every situation that arises. While she may be open to new friends, but she is shown to have some… difficulties… moving past something a character may have done, especially if it directly affected her or her friends, but is ultimately capable of moving past such.
Pinkie Pie is strong. I just want to go ahead and get that out of the way. Not physically, but emotionally. She’s a bundle of delight and joy, and she’ll do her best to cheer you up, [even] especially if you want her to leave you alone, and that might be off putting for some folks. If you make someone sad or upset around her, she’ll chew you the fuck out. Her special talent is party planning, but she’s also a very talented baker. In fact, that’s how she makes her bread. 
What? It’s funny! Real talk, she loves baking, probably because it involves cake and cakes are used in parties and also make people pretty happy. Let’s get back to that strength I mentioned: she’s strong because she’ll try her best not to let you see her cry, but it does happen. She’ll repress her sadness to the point where it’s too much for her to handle, and she’ll snap. Like a toothpick under a hammer, that is to say, hard. She’ll spiral into intense depression, but it’s pretty easy to get her spirits back up, and that’ll be done by making her genuinely happy. She’s not a sociopath with a history of intense violence. She is not Carl. Folks need to stop writing her that way just for the hell of writing a sociopathic pony. Give her a damn reason to kill a pony. Jeez.
Rarity is second best pony. Rarity is a lot like Twilight, but a lot different. Both are perfectionists, but only one could write a book about it and only one actually has to be in order to make a living. Rarity is a very polite and well mannered pony, with incredibly refined tastes, much like myself. She knows how to handle criticism and will use it to better herself. She’s generous and charitable, perhaps too much so for her own good, and she actually enjoys doing for others. It’s not even really an issue of morals for her. She just likes it. She’ll run herself ragged to do for her friends and those she cares for. She’s only slightly more stable than Twilight, and her breakdowns will stem from pushing herself too hard, and they’re actually very different from Twilight’s. While Twi’s breakdowns will cause her to display common symptoms of legitimate OCD and extreme Anxiety (which is a rather grim prospect), Rarity’s are more akin extreme mental and emotional fatigue, and can easily be recovered from if she takes time to chill the fuck out. Probably why she’s at the spa so much, now that I think about it. I mean, yeah, it’s nice to be pampered, but it’s also good for your mental health to just de-stress yourself every once in a while.
Fluttershy (true best pony) is shy. Thanks, Captain Obvious. You’re welcome. She is very shy, yes, but enjoys spending time with animals. I can relate to this. I love animals, and they typically love me too. She likes animals because they don’t judge her. She also understands whether she needs to be stern or soft to her animal friends. To begin with, though, it wasn’t always like that. During the start of her career as an animal caretaker, she was very submissive and easily caved to the animals whims. Currently, though, she knows that tough love is still love and that, sometimes, it’s necessary to get a pony or animal back on their way. Much like Pinkie Pie, she’s strong. She’s brave, even though others might not see it. She’s capable of befriending bears, lions, and even manticores. Most other ponies see her shyness with ponies as her being weak, but it’s not. It’s a phobia. Phobias are serious shit. Fluttershy has Scopophobia, the fear of being watched/stared at/the center of attention. I can attest to how hard it can be to have a crippling phobia that impacts daily life. But, unlike me, Flutters faces hers head on and is constantly taking baby steps to overcoming her phobia, and that by itself is admirable. It’s something I wish I could do. Fluttsertshy loves nature. Nature is relaxing for her and is where she can shine in her own soft glow. She’s kind, and will never hesitate to show that kindness towards those who need it, especially animals. Heck, I’m pretty sure she’d be nice to the grass if she thought it was sentient. She’s the kind of character I’d call a saint… until you piss her off, but that’s kind of hard. She's the kind of character I wish I was, honestly.
I hope this is helpful, and that it provides insight into how each of them functions as a character. Now le– What? I forgot some? Oh, we don’t know Starlight well enough to give her a defined character type, and Sunset’s character is defined very clearly throughout the EG series, so if you need a reference you can check those. What? Alright fine. And EG Twilight?! No can do on SciTwi. We don’t know her well enough yet.
Sunset is a former bitch queen that wants to make up for her past mistakes. She values friendship and love, but she still has a bit of a temper. Despite this temper, she still wants to be seen as one of the good girls, and will often help out around the school or town. See Uotapo’s DeviantArt gallery. She was, of course, Celestia’s prize pupil. But unlike Bookie T-light, she’s a hands-on learner, and absorbs knowledge through the act of doing stuff. I can dig that. That’s not to say she doesn’t like books. She knows the value of research, but her first instinct isn’t going to be ‘let’s see if Google has the answer to my problem’, it’s going to be ‘let’s try and figure this out on our own’. She’s bold. She can apparently ride a motorcycle. Which is beyond bitchin. That’s really it. Yeah, it’s kind of underwhelming.
I hope this helps, and I look forward to any feedback you might have regarding these portrayals.
With Love,
Gypsy
There's a lot of talk here about external character expressions, and a bit about character dimensions, but not a lot about core motivations or through-lines of action. Some of the questions that get to the heart of motivation and through-line are: What, fundamentally, does a character want? What is their default way to try and get it? What do they do if their approach fails them? These questions are touched on here and there in this description, but not for every pony and not in a systematic or easy-to-follow way.
3971854 Well, external expressions are, in essence, what this is meant to explore. In the end, what motivates the character is up to the writer. My intention was to help guide my fellow writers portray these characters accurately. I do thank you for the feedback. I may make a fourth issue about character motivation, now that you have mentioned it (or more likely, it'll get dumped into the third issue).
I'm currently trying to write a story, and I'm not that confident in my ability to correctly portray characters. So until I get an editor, this'll be a big help, thanks.
Now to wait for the second issue to help me with my dialogue.
3971875 Glad I could be of some assistance!
THANK YOU!
Thankfully because she when DOES get mad, it's scary.
You are correct sir!
Hooray for knowledge.
3974854 "Knowledge is a weapon, and I intend to be well armed."
-Terry Goodkind