Where did the idea for the phoenix-born come from? · 3:49am May 15th, 2021
Working on the next chapter between grinding out my thesis. Decided to take a break and give a sort of visual guide to the sources that gave rise to the idea for the phoenix-born. It naturally started with Sunset, and evolved from there. Since a picture is worth a thousand words:
Canon sources of inspiration:
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(Sunset dressed as Mane-iac, and Mane-iac's prehensile hair)
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(Daydream Shimmer, because why wouldn't Sunny's under-utilized supermode be involved [also, Hasbro really screwed up not using Daydream more, IMNSHO])
Non-canon sources (not the specific images that inspired me, but stuff from DB that are close enough to the inspiration that it's representative):
- Sunset's phoenix-motif just meshes well with Philomena.
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- Alicorn Sunset (i.e. EG: how it should have ended)
Anyhow, back to the grindstone.
Gorgeous art choices. I was of two camps. Sunset seemed to love, if not being human, than at least loved human tech and the many inventions of the human world. I felt she could live happily in either world. Ultimately for which world she prefers would come down to relationships. There were pluses and minuses to both. For me, that was her relationship with Twilight. The shipping was more of a matter of they just work so well together!
That last image gives a frightening(
) glimpse into Sunset's future. She's gonna end up having a whole "succubus queen of the twilight" thing going.
QFT
You know, I never really thought of the idea of alicorn sunset as the best idea, but that last picture, dayum... That changed my mind
i figured for the first three things that is some of your inspiration but I knew there had to be more than 3 inspirations
The Phoenix aesthetic always worked really well for Sunset.
Hold up.
In all seriousness, yes, Sunset would have made an amazing alicorn. (Likely part of why Princess Celestia took her on in the first place. That and her potential to do what Tia couldn't with Nightmare Moon.) With any luck, this one will have an easier time of it.
...
Okay, yeah, that's a very long shot, but I can hope.
5519038
My answer there has always been "Why not both?" Make Sunset the Equestrian ambassador to the human world (or at least whatever country the portal opens into) and bring together the literal best of both worlds. (Or make her the avatar of that universe so she's really responsible for the magic she brought in, but that's its own specific AU.)
5519038
I honestly always figured that Sunset would eventually return to Equestria, if only because she doesn't have an identity in the human world or because her human counterpart showed up.
And I agree about Sunset and Twilight. Too bad Hasbro decided to be a bunch of cowards about it and did the thing in LoE that got nearly universal rejection by the fandom.
5519044
Since the art's by Evehly, it doesn't surprise me that ya get that vibe.
5519055
Seriously, it could have even been a "weapon of last resort" kind of thing, where they'd only call on it when everthing else failed. So much wasted potential.
5519063
Glad to have another believer.
5519066
Glad to provide insight into my process.
5519067
It does, doesn't it?
5519122
In some ways, she will (I mean, she's already reached "alicorn" status). In other ways, eh, not so much. But, she'll also have good times to balance out the hard ones.
I like that idea.
It always bugged me that Sunset never made Alicorn. Not only would she be a better leader than Twilight, she's also the more 'classicly heroic' of the two. And I'm still of the opinion that Twilight basically had ascension handed to her on a silver platter anyway...
Doesn't help by the impressions I'm getting of G5 - that Twiggles destroyed Equestria.
Also, those are some great art pieces.
5519644
I mean, Cadance earned ascension by using the power of love to stop a witch from murdering her villiage. Twilight… finished a spell (gross over simplification, yes, but it's funny). Sunset's fully redeemed herself from being evil, survived two character assassinations by people who hadn't forgiven her for her past (Anon-a-Miss and Wallflower, with the latter actually attempting to murder her by stealing all of her memories), saved reality from a magically overloading Twilight Sparkle and purified her with understanding and empathy rather than a Rainbow Beam™, and generally being a genuine hero and leader to the Rainbooms. I'd say that even if she hasn't earned her wings yet, she should in the future.
Also, hopefully G5's situation isn't entirely Twiggles' fault. But, we'll see.
5519679
Yeah, I think that's what bugged me the most about Twilights Ascension. She just finished a spell, which anyone else could have done.
Yeah, I was surprised that EQG didn’t lean more into her Phoenix association given how the ‘My Past is not Today’ song was all about rising to become better like a Phoenix and gave her fire wings (Seriously, why did they never bring those back they were awesome. Even if they didn’t give her full flight she could’ve had them manifest when using heavy magic stuff), and the end of Friendship Games had the two red and purple stars to represent Sunset and Twilight, but the Red Star was preceded by a sunset that looked like a Phoenix rising. The associations are baked into her character, they just never used them for some baffling reason
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Because Hasbro didn't realize what they had? As much as I love the EG series, they also made some very questionable narrative choices post Friendship Games (LoE's giant, painful, malignant romantic plot tumor was just the beginning).
Still, that's why we have fanfiction.