Thread:Redfork2000/@comment-31727837-20180929122335/@comment-26888167-20181123030755

Heh... if you only knew. You haven't even met the entire Red Fork squad.

Believe it or not, in Red Fork X (my MLP fanfiction series), Red Fork has a whole lot of friends, and what's even more, is that each of the mane six is shipped with one of Red Fork friends in that series.

But focusing on the Twilight X Red Fork ship. I understand what you mean, but here's the thing: Since in IaLR, Red Fork barely gets any character development, and Twilight barely shows up at all, there's no real chance for me to show why I ship them. However, if you were to read Red Fork X, you might be able to see past their differences.

Have you ever heard that opposites attract each other? Well, that's one of the main ways Twilight X Red Fork works. They complement each other. Twilight is the kind of character who is super organized, but also is very hard on herself sometimes. Do you know how Twilight used to get every time she was going to have a test? She went completely insane out of nervousness.

Red Fork is the polar opposite to all of this. Sure, he's less methodic and organized, he's more free-spirited, a bit chaotic, and overconfident. Notice the complementation here?

Twilight is basically Lawful Good, while Red Fork is Chaotic Good. Both character have complementary personalities, and contribute to bring the best out of each other, while also covering for each other's weaknesses.

Red Fork as a free-spirited, no worries kind of character, helps Twilight to not be so tense and nervous as she can get at times. With Red Fork, Twilight learns that even though organization is important, you can't always control every aspect of your life, but that's ok, because sometimes it's good to relax and not overstress yourself.

Twilight as an organized and methodic character, helps Red Fork learn the importance of discipline and organization. With Twilight, Red Fork learns that even though it's ok to have fun and be free, rules and organization exist for a reason, and that organization and discipline are key factors to achieve any goal.

While Red Fork helps Twilight to be more confident and not get too nervous, Twilight helps Red Fork to not get too cocky or overconfident. While Twilight teaches Red Fork to take things more seriously and to understand the importance of discipline, Red Fork teaches Twilight that's it's ok to relax and have fun for a while, and that uncertainty is a part of life that you have to live with.

By the way, in Red Fork X, Red Fork's personality is much more wide than just being a pony with a huge appetite. The thing is that back in Red Fork X, since Red Fork was the main protagonist all my stories are focused on, he gets tons of character development. However, in IaLR, even though he's my main OC, he serves more as a leader figure for other characters, mainly Blast, who I think is the character who has gone through the most character development in my roster throughout the entirety of IaLR.

If you combine the fact that Red Fork gets less focus than other characters, and the fact that Twilight is a character that doesn't show up very often in IaLR, you can see why I haven't been able to show the true dynamic of this relationship as I would've liked. Sure, in IaLR all their interactions may have seen flat and basic, but in Red Fork X, where both characters get much more time in the spotlight, I really get the chance to show just how well they complement each other, and why their relationship is really dynamic.

I think it might be a good idea to make a new IaLR story in the future, focusing on Twilight and Red Fork mainly. That might be a good way to show why I think both characters work together so well. Again, the point isn't having two characters that are too similar to each other, because if you have that, then they'll have the same strengthes and weaknesses. That would break the balance and complementation I believe every ship should have.

Take Marco and Star, for example, Marco is more level-grounded, and concerned with safety, as well as organized, as shown in the first episode of Star vs the Forces of Evil. Star, on the other hand, is the opposite. Her bubbly and cheerful personality, her eagerness for action and danger, her optimism and idealism, and her tendency to cause disasters... notice how different both characters are from each other. However, from what has been seen in the series, they both truely make a great team, and complement each other. Marco helps Star with a more level-grounded and realistic mindset, while Star helps Marco see things with a more cheerful, magical and adventurous perspective. Marco helps kep Star on the ground, while Star helps Marco fly in the clouds. That's how I see their personalities work, at least. And to date, I believe they're the most supported ship by the fandom.

I'd say Twilight and Red Fork's dynamic works very similar to that, with Twilight being like Marco, and Red Fork being like Star. Perhaps one day I'll make a story focusing on both characters, as I mentioned, since that would help me convey how I see the dynamic of their relation. They're a team that together, makes a complete unit where each of them complements each other. The strengthes of one character makes up for the weaknesses of the other. In my opinion, that's one of the best ways a relationship can work in fiction. And now that I think about it, most happy couples I've seen in real life follow this same formula of having complementary personalities. I know it doesn't happen every time, but I've seen many real life examples with people I know. And in fiction, I believe this is one of the best ways a relationship can work, specially if it's a couple that's going to be involved in wild adventures and fighting world-threatening villains. What might be the weakness of one character, is the strength of the other, and that's where the magic happens. The form one whole, cohesive unit.

For example, let's see the case where Twilight and Red Fork have to face a villain, say Bright Spark, for example. Suppose Bright Spark has set up a base full of traps. Twilight's first reaction would be to analyze the situation in order to find the best way to reach their objective, while Red Fork's first reaction would be to bust into the base in the coolest way he can think off. Sure, it can seem like this would make them argue, but in reality, this is another moment when both characters can complement each other. While Twilight keeps Red Fork's impulsive action under control, Red Fork helps Twilight to not over-analyze things, and in case that Twilight's plan doesn't work out, Red Fork would help Twilight to improvise and be more flexible with her approach. Twilight teaches Red Fork to be disciplined, patient and focused, while Red Fork helps Twilight to take action, to be more flexible, and to know when to improvise if it's necessary.

I could continue explaining the topic for much longer, but I think that wouldn't be helpful for either of us. In conclusion, I definitely understand where you're coming from with that opinion. Believe me, I've been told much worse stuff for shipping my main OC with the protagonist of the series. Sure, at first, OC x Canon ships seem like the most cringy thing ever, but that's because most of the time, fans don't even care to take a moment and think about how the dynamic between the characters would work. They just ship because they want to, and that's all there is to it. That's why most OC x Canon ships are terrible. I made sure to not make the same mistake, and throughout the years I've worked on Red Fork, I've developed how the dynamic between both characters works. This is just a "brief" explanation of the topic, but I think it will be much more effective to show it in a story. Thanks for being honest anyway. You surely inspired me to talk about this topic, and perhaps even to make a new story for HoEC Season 4.