Single Point Orientations · 2:49am May 25th, 2017
So, with the third installment of Single Point behind me, I wanted to take a moment to talk about something that's important to me: representation. When I started writing, I really just wanted to tell a cool story about a blossoming romance, the difficulty of actually maintaining a working relationship, and a sinister vampiric rock. But I didn't just want this to be about Twilight and Applejack. The characters don't exist in a vacuum. Applejack especially is not an island unto herself; coming from a tight-knit rural family, she's a package deal.
The other four members of the Mane Six are a major part of the show, and so I've tried to spend as much time working with them as I do with Single Point's central couple. From this effort eventually came "Surprise Party", in which Pinkie and Rainbow Dash actually got a story to themselves. While the next installment will be returning its focus to the two stars, this won't be the last time Single Point steps away from Twilight and Applejack.
One of the early questions I struggled with is the one of orientation. From the beginning, I knew I wanted AJ to be gay and Twilight to be not exactly. Beyond that, all I knew for certain was that I wanted each member of the Mane Six to have a chance to represent a different facet of the LGBT spectrum. I've been finished with all that pondering for some time now and have been wanting to share the result, but narrative requirements held me back. Here, at last, is the official orientation chart for Single Point:
Rarity - Heterosexual
Rainbow Dash - Bisexual
Applejack - Homosexual
Twilight - Demisexual
Pinkie Pie - Asexual
Fluttershy - Sapiosexual
Twilight was the second character I worked out, which is probably to be expected. I felt it worked best with the story I was telling. The main sticking point is, of course, Flash Sentry but I felt okay running with it when I realized something. While I try to keep Single Point as close to canon as possible, Flash was always going to have to be one of the things altered out of narrative necessity; regardless of her orientation, Twilight flirting with Flash is irreconcilable with her having been in a committed relationship for two seasons prior. For Single Point to start just after the Gala, Flashlight simply had to go.
Pinkie being the group's ace came next, because it simply felt right; a similar rationale to Twilight being demi.
Between Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, someone had to be the straight one and Fluttershy doesn't count; I already had to invalidate Flashlight. I was not about to invalidate Fluttershy and Tree Hugger. Or any of Rarity's crushes for that matter, but the orientations that are not conducive to liking Trenderhoof or Blueblood were already claimed at this point, so those weren't in any danger. That left Rarity or Rainbow to be the straight pony.
Ultimately, the decision was made near the end of "The Crystal Ball" based on how it affected the narrative of that story. An important part of it is that Twilight's jealous fears are unfounded. That Rarity is not actually a threat to her relationship was critical to the story; it couldn't actually be about Twilight v. Rarity. It had to be about Twilight v. Twilight. To that end, I felt that introducing a throwaway line establishing Rarity's heterosexuality could serve as a sort of final nail in the coffin; if there was ever any doubt that Twilight's getting worked up over nothing, that kills it. So now Rarity's straight.
That left either Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy to be bi, and I gave it to Rainbow just because I felt like there was more that I could do with it there. Bisexuals have enough visibility problems without going, "Hi, I'm bi, thought you should know but it doesn't matter because I'll be over here in this corner never talking to anyone."
That left Fluttershy, and there I had to get creative because I'd run out of easy, well-known labels. It was a friend of mine who suggested sapiosexuality based on her own experience. And that works well enough, though I can't shake the feeling that I'm fitting a square peg into a round hole; sapiosexuality is the attraction to intelligence, while what I'm looking for is more attraction to personality. But then, orientations are complicated after all and nobody ever fits exactly into one.
Once I completed the chart, I was going to share it immediately, but I realized that Pinkie's orientation was important to the intrigue in "Surprise Party". Trying to dissect her feelings was a plot point, so I needed to wait until it finally came out before commenting here.
So that's that. I just wanted to share my ramblings on a complicated subject that I try not to fail too hard at doing justice in my zany scribblings about ponies.
Curious question, and probably a stupid one but...why did you want "each member of the Mane Six to have a chance to represent a different facet of the LGBT spectrum"?
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Because representation is part of the story I'm trying to tell.