Hope your writing's been going well so far! You look like you deserve a treat.





you go about writing character dynamics? Lucky for you, I have one right here. Hit the break to join the always lovely Bookish Delight for a talk about character chemistry and interaction. We'd also like to hear from you! What characters do you think have the best chemistry? How dogo about writing character dynamics?





You know what to do.





MARVEL: So, Bookish, when it comes to characters, how do you know when they have chemistry? Or is chemistry something you could write for any set of characters?





BOOKISH DELIGHT: Your mileage may vary depending on how your personal mind and heart work, but a very generalized definition from my experience and research boils down to: characters who, when they interact with each other, are more compelling together than apart. And in MLP and EQG, where everything runs on friendship (literally in some cases), good chemistry causes interpersonal relationships tend to be extra-close and extra-intense.





For example, let's take the Great and Powerful Trixie. I'm sure I don't need to explain why she's compelling all on her own and a joy to watch, especially given the last couple of years when she (on both sides of the mirror!) was finally allowed to have actual character substance. Now, let's take Starlight Glimmer, from, again, the last couple of years—same evaluation applies, so long as you possess sanity as opposed to salt.





So you have these two characters who, on their own, are masters of stealing whatever scene they're in—Trixie usually by way of her adorable narcissism, Starlight by her "screw the rules of social interaction, I have magic" way of looking at life, which allows her to be the voice of reason just as often as a neurotic soft antagonist (and in Season 8, both at the same time).









But then you put them together, and somehow everything just goes... turbo. Starlight and Trixie are great at both bringing out the absolutely best of themselves and the absolute worst in themselves. The banter is amazing. The insults are razor-sharp. When they're in sync, it's uplifting; when they're at odds, your heart twists. You get to see these characters bond and/or have conflicts, you get to see them be unexpectedly vulnerable, and pull each other out of that vulnerability, and before you know it, 22 minutes have passed in the blink of an eye.





That's chemistry. Or cringe—sometimes our beloved show has trouble telling the two apart. If you can reproduce that with any two (or three, or sometimes, more, but the more you add, the tougher it gets) characters, you're pure platinum.





As for writing chemistry for any set of characters: absolutely! While it does require practice, it's also worlds easier than you might think. Though in the world of MLP fic, you can make it a lot easier simply by picking your scenarios and doing even some side homework first. If you're up for a Twilight-style lecture, I can go into specifics on how. I'll even bring visual aids!





MARVEL: A Twilight style lecture sounds fascinating! Please, tell us more about picking the right scenarios and how doing your homework can help you writing good chemistry.





BOOKISH DELIGHT: Sure!









So within MLP/EQG, or really, any series worth its salt, there are four main scenarios when it comes to gauging character chemistry, how you can work with what's there, and how much legwork you'll have to do on your own. They don't have official names, so I'll have fun with them:

The "Buffet"













This is the easy route, and if you're just learning how to replicate the sparks that fly when certain characters get together, this is a good place to start. MLP has pairs (sometimes trios, sometimes ensembles) where there's a lot of canon on-screen chemistry (or a little that goes a long way) that's super-easy and super-fun to replicate, or to tweak and make your own.

I covered Trixie and Starlight, but there are a ton of others! Discord and Fluttershy have been given entire episodes to showing how interesting their dynamic is.

Celestia and Luna shine like diamonds in the rare moments those two are allowed screen time to interact with each other, with bickering that's just as epic as their sisterly closeness.

When Smolder and Spike are in the same room, it's always an event worth paying attention to—in fact, all of Season 8's Young Six have had great interplay amongst each other.

Rarijack shippers (and, let's face it, fans of Applejack in general) recently received a gift eight years in the making with Rollercoaster of Friendship, where Humans Rarity and AJ went through a movie-long dual character arc that brought them all sorts of closer in the end, after a lot of rocky bumps.









If Buffets are your thing, don't be afraid to go all-out and embrace what you love about them! With those established relationships, the sky's the limit with regards to how you can play with them.





I personally can't get enough of Sci-Twi and Sunset Shimmer, and any EQG watcher knows there's plenty of material to work with there (at this point, almost too much!).





The best part is that well-done Buffets take less convincing with the general audience who have been watching the same show as you have, and odds are several of them have been inspired by the same dynamic you have. In other words, you've got an instant audience who's been starving for more of what they already love. Be the one to give it to them!

The "Solid Meal"









MLP is also chock full of characters who have met in canon, and may even have clicked in some way, but haven't had a ton of time together or a deep connection otherwise. Still, what they have was enough to make an impression. These are the dynamics that make you say "there's totally something here I really wish there were more why isn't there more already Hasbro you're playing with my emotions."





Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon fans know what I'm talking about. So do any folks still waving the Shadowbolts flag (I'm with you completely!), be it before or after their Dance Magic-fueled face turn. Ember and Thorax, same deal, though what little screen-time they do get darn near counts as a Buffet in itself!

The "Candy Store"







A Candy Store is where you can pick two separate characters in the show who haven't met yet in canon, but you just know that if they ever did, it would be the best thing ever. Cheese Sandwich and Party Favor. Harshwhinny and Principal Cinch. Timber Spruce and Maud! Lightning Dust and Tempestpop Shadowtwist!





Apart, they're different morsels that work great, but you're looking in the window of that shop just dying to see that perfect sweet treat that you just know would happen if those characters ever got together.

And I'm here to tell you that you should absolutely walk inside and buy that candy. Heck, smash and grab if you gotta. Just... don't do that in real life.

The "Banging Rocks"





At this point I've completely lost the food analogy, but it's fine. This is where you have two characters that have just never met and don't instantly slot together after five seconds of thought.



This happens a lot when an author has two characters they really like, but they barely have anything in common, or worse, may be constantly in conflict with each other due to disparate values (though this can also be a Meal/Buffet if you know how to play your cards right—the intensity of their rivalry is where a lot of AppleDash comes from, for instance!). You can still definitely write good stuff in this domain, but you'll have to do a lot of work on your end since the show's done almost none for you.

However, the fun of Banging Rocks together mainly comes from the joy of experimentation, and if you enjoy that, then you're likely the next person to give us Mistmane+Coco Pommel friendship fic wait no that's totally a Candy Store hang on I'll be right back—

Anyway, one you know what scenario you're working with, it's finally time to get down to brass tacks.

Homework Time!