bookplayer's 50 Questions 42 members · 25 stories
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Latecomer
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The text of the show supports many possible interpretations, and unlike the showmakers, an author need not use the same one each time after all.

Latecomer
Group Admin

For the most part it's unified, but I have certain "switches", generally between an outdated headcanon of mine and later stuff I adapted to - you can look at Question 19 for a fully developed one and Question 33 for one i'm still struggling with. (In fact, one future story I'm loosely planning is based on running with a canon event my current story is built around ignoring.)

The above refer to, in order,

  • How I can use Fluttershy's canon family or the lack of one I'd previously established for her.
  • How I mostly ignore Daring Do being real except when I can't.
  • How Cozy Glow mostly didn't go to Tartarus in my fics, but obviously did in the unlikely-to-ever-be-published "Cozy's Magnificent Tartarus Adventure!"

I have a few broad headcanon groupings that I reference whenever I can.

Donkeys. Early inhabitants of the lands that would become Equestria, formerly part of an enormous, though loosely organised "empire" that has variously been called the Kuur Nation or the Assinid Empire, which contracted back to Equestria's equivalent of Africa during a prolonged drought, and later collapsed entirely shortly before the rise of Nightmare Moon. Donkeys were pushed to the fringes of their former realm by the expansion of Ponies. They used to have their own form of magic, mostly forgotten by the species except for a few hold-outs, and could manipulate the weather to their favour (though not outright control it). Because they don't have cutie marks, they were historically viewed with disdain and became something of a social underclass, and still face prejudice.

Luna's travels. Celestia was the constant sun, Luna was the wandering moon. Every few tens of decades she would take on the form of a mortal pony and live a mortal life, up to death, at which point she would re-appear by Celestia's side as a young alicorn. She did this as a means of refreshing herself, and because her connection to the moon required that she had to wax and wane, and ultimately die and be reborn. Sometimes she could experience the same existential catharsis by travelling, which she often did, but sooner or later she would have to "die" again. The inability to perform this ritual, as courtly life restricted her ability to disappear for prolonged periods, led Luna to madness and her transformation into Nightmare Moon.

Celestia's Mane Colours. I read a fic a long, long time back - that I can't find now - that told the story of a younger Celestia, who was a barbaric warrior before she was a princess. It portrayed her with a solid, bright green mane rather than the more common pink. I absorbed the idea from this that she had different mane colours at different times in her life, possibly reflecting different attitudes or energies in some way. They're like the aurora.

Also: Celestia, Warrior Princess.

Derpy's Family Arrangements. She divorced shortly before finding out she was pregnant, and then a year after giving birth, she adopted Sparkler (or Amethyst Star, depending on who you ask), possibly because she needed a babysitter full time. Her ex married Carrot Top (though nobody calls her Carrot Top any more). He's a writer, she grows carrots. They share custody of Dinky and are all pretty good friends, despite the circumstances.

Her full name is Ditzy Thunderpeal Hooves. Every calls her Derpy anyway, but she doesn't mind.

Pony France. They speak Gambadoise. It is populated by Griffons, with a sizeable population of earth ponies and pegasi, who are prone to strike every time the weather changes.

Herds. The old cliché of the massively imbalanced gender ratio and the inevitable results that inevitably, er, result. I spent a good fair while thinking about how living in group relationships would affect society as a whole and I became rather fond of some of the concepts I thought up, which also kind of worked with certain elements of pony society as shown in canon. Ponys are insular and ignorant of the world outside their immediate experience; they tend to view it through a very pony lens, which speaks to a society that is wrapped up in the idea of tightly-knit, defensive behaviour towards the other. It's not a long stretch to root that in a society that has spent immemorial lengths of time engaged in fierce competition for the rare and precious resource that is the male, who has no real choice in the matter because he's viewed as basically a turkey baster with legs.

Socially it creates a fairly strict hierarchy that naturally justifies monarchy, but also a sort of localism that...

man this last answer could fit all 50 questions, now I think about it. I should write it up in a longer form. I never did get around to really explaining it properly.

Latecomer
Group Admin

7038430

Donkeys

Some of these parts might be interesting to borrow (though I don't see them as magical). I do agree that they're discriminated, perhaps in a pitying way, because to ponies they come off as shallow copies of earthponies without magic or even colour. (Mules perhaps more so, as they "could have been proper ponies" if their mothers had chosen more suitable partners.)

Luna's travels

Certainly an interesting take if you have a more cosmic, godly view of those two. And begs the question - when will she be off again?

Celestia's Mane Colours.

What does her current multicoloured hair represent, then? Emotional detachment?

Derpy's Family Arrangements

Seems like a sensible reconciliation of fanon and canon. (How old was Sparkler when adopted?)

Pony France

Hmm... where are you from, again? Anyway, mine is one of the old left-behind countries whose inhabitants din't come to Equestria in the Winter but were swallowed by it later.

Herds.

Certinly an element that can shape a whole society... which is one reason I don't beleive in it. (Then again that's a bit hypocritical the way I cling onto my "pegasi usually raise thier young communally", which is no more plausible at this point.)

43. Do you have one headcanon that you always use, or do you switch depending on projects?
One singular headcanon. I try to figure out how Equestria works and stick to that.

7038444

Emotional detachment?

Contentment with every part of herself. Internal acceptance of aspects she had previously tried to deny. Something like that.

Certinly an element that can shape a whole society... which is one reason I don't believe in it.

Past season 2 it doesn't fit with much of anything that we see on screen, so I suppose I keep it around as a legacy thing. It created an alien social setting.

PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

Oh, not at all. I will happily swap headcanons when a story calls for it. There's always more than one way to explain everything, after all. I might be a little more picky about my Siren headcanon, come to think of it...

I have one thing that always remains constant: Celestia is Goddess. Faust did everything but use the word Goddess to show exactly what Celestia is and the horrifying extent of the consequences of not learning harmony.

Latecomer
Group Admin

7039542
She pretty explicitly said they weren't gods, though. Though in the show, it did seem so early on - I guess you really took it in.

For the most part, I tend to switch around as needed. There's so many interesting possibilities for things, many of which are mutually exclusive. It'd just be a waste to simply toss out other threads in favor of one. I suppose I stick more to themes. Like Chrysalis being sympathetic.

SuperPinkBrony12
Group Admin

7035772 Well, the AU tag exists for a reason. Plus, I've written some headcanon based fics prematurely or that have later been josed by the show, such as a lot of my Scootaloo fanfics prior to last year.

I'm a very strange person. (Good opening, I know.)

I play games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age with utter glee. Vast, sprawling RPGs with so many paths and choices. And every single time I do, the same thing happens, because that's just how I tick: I play through it once. I start experimenting a little. I sneak in here, test out this, venture down that little previously ignored sidepath. And once I fully grasp all the options and possibilities, I ruthlessly start to pick one and only one path. And that path becomes 'my version of this story'. Suddenly, there are no other romantic interests anymore. When presented with a significant choice ingame, there is no choice anymore. There is one path, and one path only. Everything else is a deviation. An 'alternate universe', if you will.

Funny enough, that doesn't happen with media I consume. I can read a story and 'd'aww’' at how cute the couple of Celestia and Twilight is written and I won't question it at all. It's its own thing. It's own universe, I guess. I don't judge or defy the decisions made. I strap in for the ride, and enjoy.

And once I start writing, I'm back to the previous point of view. As soon as I am actively... well, interacting with something, as soon as choices are there for me to be made, I fall back into my way of 'choosing the one path'. Which means I will probably never really have that much choice. I have one head-canon. I write for that one, because everything else is 'AU' to this version. Maybe at some point, I could bring myself to accept writing 'AU', but that hasn't happened yet and I don't see it happening for a long, long time. I just recently overcame my massive wall of inhibitions to write and publish to begin with.

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