• Member Since 4th Dec, 2012
  • offline last seen March 7th

Meridian Prime


Your friendly local hollow eyed demon baby.

More Blog Posts67

  • 212 weeks
    TWO STORIES. FOUR DAYS.

    LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


    (No really though I'm pretty proud of this one. Give it a try.)

    1 comments · 272 views
  • 212 weeks
    Still still STILL alive...?

    Er

    I'm here? 🤷

    I don't have many excuses this time.

    My computer turned out to be a pain and half to actually put together, and also it turns out that depression sucks. Who knew, huh?

    Read More

    6 comments · 282 views
  • 230 weeks
    Still STILL Alive

    Currently working on the whole 'pictures of my new place' thing I promised in the previous blog--my shitty old laptop is starting to give up the ghost and I don't trust it enough to transfer my pictures to it, so I'm waiting on a rebuilt desktop.

    Read More

    2 comments · 278 views
  • 240 weeks
    I'm Still Alive

    Aaaaand I have a decent reason for my long absence. Decent-ish, at least?

    Essentially, I found out around April that I would be moving to Japan to teach English for a year (minimum, potentially longer). As you can imagine, I then spent the next few months freaking out a bit and trying to get ready to go.

    Read More

    11 comments · 381 views
  • 272 weeks
    Slightly Belated Seasonal Greetings!

    Real life has been trying its hardest to keep me away from anything remotely creative recently, but I have managed to write a Christmas-y story for the Jinglemas collab over the last month. Seeing as we're now free to post them to our own account, I've just put it up - I hope you all like it! It's a comedy piece, although a lot less dark than my

    Read More

    3 comments · 390 views
Nov
23rd
2018

"Hear Me Hailing From Inside"—Or, AHHHH WHAT · 9:36pm Nov 23rd, 2018

So uh, I placed. Second, specifically.

Not gonna lie, I did not expect this. Even a solid 30 hours or so after initially finding out, I'm still pretty blown away by this. After scouting out the competition before hand, I though there were a solid five entries that were either as good as or better than mine. Guess I should have a little more confidence in my writing.

I'm honestly super happy. I've recently come to some important decisions about where I want my life to go and what I want it to be, and this has provided a much needed injection of accomplishment into a pretty scary path. Thank you to the judges, and thank you to all the people reading this—all the people who some guy on the internet's ramblings are actually worthwhile, in some way.


The title of this blog is a rejected chapter title I was using during the writing process for this. I stuck it in because I thought I'd take the chance to talk a little more about this story and why I wrote it than I already did in the immediate aftermath. In particular, I've realised I never really addressed the most controversial aspect of this story—the incest.

In part, this is because I think the story largely speaks for itself in that respect. It treats the characters not as the chance to live out a fantasy (ironic, given that most of the narrative takes place within a fantasy world within a fantasy world) but as messed up, normal people. Incest may be taboo, it may be in many ways hugely damaging, but there are records of it throughout human history. It is something that happens, and I don't think exploring that, and the effects of it, can be a bad thing.

But while I don't believe this story does anything wrong in tackling this particular topic, I do want to flesh out a little more why exactly I chose this for the sisters. I covered this a little in my reply to FanOfMostEverything's comment here, but lets dive a little deeper. (Spoilers from here until the break, by the way.)

Daybreaker's comments about pride and envy in Chapter 4 actually strongly mirror my own thoughts on the subject. I really tried to write Daybreaker in the manner of the Joker, in that her madness is terrifyingly sane—a lack of morals and inhibitions and care for society or its mores, not a lack of mental faculty. The way I envision Celestia is intrinsically tied to the idea of Pride. And not all as simple as the haughty righteousness of Daybreaker. Celestia is the sole ruler of a kingdom for a thousand years, the controller of the sun, undoubtedly one of the most powerful and influential figures in the world of Equestria. And as we have all undoubtedly heard, absolute power? It corrupts absolutely. I can't imagine her central struggle not being with her own pride, with reigning in any temptations to excess. Moreover, I can imagine it is exactly this that drove Luna away once upon a time. In a smaller form to be sure—simply too busy with greater concerns to worry about her sister sulking, convinced Luna was just acting out, was being selfish, didn't she understand how important her time was... It's all too easy to see. Similarly, Luna is defined by her Envy both as herself and as the Nightmare. Once more, I would hope that the alter ego's manifestation of this is obvious—a physical mirror to her sister, more powerful, her celestial body raised above Celestia's in importance. But I don't think Luna just envies the love Celestia receives from the ponies. She envies her happiness, her fulfillment, the ways in which her sister shines that she does not. And many centuries later, she envies the wisdom and experience her sister has gained. She envies those who live without the guilt she carries. And, as the Tantabus shows, she undoubtedly hates herself for it, at least a little. Just like Celestia, she is not unaware of her flaws, and both have Nightmare's example to make them do everything they can to not fall prey to their respective sins.

And that is how I truly see Celestia and Luna. As people defined by the sins that once ruled them, and by the ways in which they have fought to be free of them. Luna, soothing the minds of her subjects without expectation of reward or recognition, simply wanting to help. Celestia, never too proud to talk to her subjects, to ask for help, a humility born of both experience and of empathy. Defined by their Sins—but not controlled by them.


Moving on from some hopefully-not-too-pretentious character rambling, real life has been pretty busy for me the last month. I'm slowly assembling a long-form blog post about everything which will be up at some point, but to focus a little more on writing—I've done basically nothing. Still, one of the things keeping me super busy is over as of two days ago, and I've been really inspired to get back into it by this. I'm making it a goal to have something done by the end of the month.

Thanks for reading!

Comments ( 3 )

Congratulations!

And it is fascinating to consider the other princesses from the perspective of what sins define them. Twilight is easy: Greed. She hoards worse than Spike ever did. More books, more spells, more friends, more responsibilities, more. Even Midnight Sparkle's willingness to sacrifice an entire universe for greater understanding hints at the demons threatening her equine analogue. Twilight's journey has always been one of growth; now, as she shapes both the minds of the next generation and the cultures of the world, she must make sure that growth doesn't become cancerous.

But Cadence... Cadence is trickier. Lust seems like the obvious choice, but while she has the potential to fall into depravity and take Equestria with her, we've never seen any indication that she wants to. If anything, between her aunt and her sister-in-law, she may well have Envy brewing under the surface as much as Luna does... though Flurry might have, on some level, been a way to hold something she has that they don't. Though even then, I can't be sure... :applejackunsure:

4972173
Oh man, we need to talk world-building more often. I pegged Twilight as Greed instantly as well. It just fits perfectly - in fact I'd argue it's a better fit than Pride is for Celestia. Depending on how you look at her character, I think you could argue that Lust is a good one for Celestia. It follows vaguely along the same idea of fighting the desire to give in to her own selfish wants, with a more hedonistic and less destructive bent than Pride. I personally think it fits either Discord or Cadance best, though I lean more towards Cadance because Discord is perfect for Sloth. I also think Envy would probably be the other good fit for her, although I suspect she'd be a bit more on top of things than Luna. If Luna is someone who fell completely to her sin and has been given a second chance, Cadance is someone who did not fall (or alternatively is yet to fall...).

Gluttony would seem to go to Tirek, but that's a pretty simplistic explanation - we quite frankly don't get enough on the guy to do much interesting with him from a canon perspective. Chrysalis, on the other hand, is definitely a good fit for it. Starlight is definitely Wrath. Probably the only other Sin that I have set as cast-iron in my head as I do Greed for Twilight. She may not be a Princess, but it just fits so perfectly.

Although, let's try and do this with Immortals only. So that's the five Princesses, Discord, and lets throw in Chrysalis as Gluttony 'cos she's kinda alicorn-y and I need seven names. :derpytongue2: If we give Twilight Greed, Celestia Pride, and Luna Envy, that leaves Wrath and Lust. Honestly I could probably make an argument for Luna as Wrath (although I wouldn't believe it) with Envy Cadance, and Cadance as Wrath would be fascinating, but from purely canon evidence I'd have to give Flurry Wrath based on pure destructive firepower. But I kind of want Wrath Cadance. :twilightblush:

Going back to Twilight for a moment though, I really like your point about Twilight's journey being about growth, and not letting that growth get out of control. Twilight's demon form would probably be the most psychotically terrifying of the bunch - where NMM craves what she does not have, and Daybreaker exults in herself and anything/one she sees as hers, Twilight's alter ego just wouldn't give a shit. She may be Greed, but she's a cold and callous greed, obsessive and uncaring. After all, Twilight at her worst may crave knowledge, but she doesn't care about what is done with it or it's consequences or really anything or anyone else. Just the knowledge itself, and that she has it. In show, these moments are usually incredibly brief and she snaps out of it, but if she went full on Nightmare... :twilightoops:

🏆? 😀!

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