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Canterlot RP Spotlight #5: The Great & Powerful Trixie


Bellosh

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[colour=#6699cc]TRIXIE: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour]

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Today, I have an amazing article for all you fine folks. Nay; I have the finest blog post you’ll ever read this week! So gather ‘round everybody, as I now write about the (second-most) greatest and powerful unicorn of all time!!!

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By now, if you don’t know who Trixie is, you probably haven’t been visiting Equestria Daily enough. Having appeared in two episodes of MLP:FiM now, this pompous stage magician has earned a place in the hearts of many a brony. Over here at Canterlot, the honor of roleplaying Trixie belongs to Brianblackberry, who’s been at it since practically the very beginning.

Because Trixie is still a very mysterious character in that we don’t know much about her canon backstory, it has given fans the opportunity to conjure up a million or so histories for her character. In Brian’s case, he added a tragic note to the mare’s life by having her experience her mother’s death at a young age, but not before earning her “Great and Powerful” moniker from her mum. After spending her foalhood in the orphanage system, Trixie emerged as a swindler who used her magical performance act and outright fabrications about her feats to cheat ponies out of their money. This lifestyle came to a crashing end in “Boast Busters”, when an Ursa Minor wrecked the unicorn’s wagon.

Left destitute and no place to live, Trixie found herself struggling to survive within the Everfree Forest. Over the course of the Canterlot RP’s continuity, she pulls herself together and strives to prove to the world just how great and powerful she really is, while maybe learning a little thing or two about being a decent pony along the way. By a lucky stroke of fate, the character arc this mare goes through falls strongly in line with her reappearance in “Magic Duel”, where our favorite fraud’s ambition nearly gets the better of her thanks to the evil powers of the Alicorn Amulet. So without further ado, let’s see how Trixie has fared on our site:

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[colour=#6699cc]Can Go Nowhere But Up:[/colour] As the title suggests, this RP serves as an immediate follow-up to the events of “Boast Busters”. Finding no recourse other than to steal from out-of-the-way huts, the formerly Great and Powerful Trixie unexpectedly encounters a wayward griffon heiress by the name of Lola Silverbeak, RPed by Tempest Rime. Before the unicorn has much of a chance to bask in the glow of explaining workings of magic, another unexpected guest arrives on the scene. This pony is no other than Bramble Rose’s Doctor Whooves (who all of you should remember from “An Eccentric Trespasser”), who by a luck stroke of fate had already gathered some of Trixie’s mostly-mangled belongings from the wreckage of her wagon. Once the mare learns of the Doctor’s intriguing plans to locate a mythical lost library, she dresses up in her trademark garbs and heads off on an adventure.

This is the first of many RPs showing Trixie working together with Doctor Whooves. Initially skeptical of a kooky earth pony who keeps failing to remember her name, the prideful unicorn shows great annoyance over being seemingly dismissed by the eccentric stallion. To her great joy, Trixie rectified this “oversight” with one of her greatest feats of magic she has ever performed to date. If that wasn’t enough to prove that this RP interpretation of Trixie doesn’t know her magic stuff, she had also earlier managed to expertly answer all of Lady Silverbeak’s questions about magic. Of course, she has to be a showoff at everything she does.

And now an obligatory inspirational quote from Doctor Whooves:

[colour=#8b4513]Being great's not about how many blokes you help ... it's about how many you make sure don't get hurt. You can't pay off a death toll of even one innocent death, not even if you help a thousand others. Even if that means you only make a step in the right direction, and let others complete the journey...[/colour]

[colour=#8b4513]...Because Greatness isn't about how many remember you, or how they remember you, it's not about how powerful you are, or how much you can do. It's about doing just the right thing, as just the right time - with understanding, even the smallest nudge can have a huge effect. It's about whether or not you do something worth being remembered, and understand exactly what you're doing.[/colour]

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[colour=#6699cc]The Lost Library:[/colour] Heading off to the Bridlebank Beach on a quest for an abandoned royal library, Trixie and Doctor Whooves stumble upon two other ponies; Tempest’s locksmith OC Malediction and a vacationing Lyra Heart portrayed by Diego Havoc. Upon arriving at the half-sunken ruins however, things go south as the adventurers are ambushed by a swarm of Daleks Clockwork Ponies; the ancient robot mechanics of the lost city. Forced to run away, the group finds shelter and discover a family of ponies hiding from the Clockwork.

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Pic drawn by ArcherMcGoggles)

Still traumatized by her failure to save her mother from death, Trixie takes it upon herself to ensure that no harm comes upon the trapped family (even if she is annoyed that they didn’t do a better job of fleeing). Successful in that endeavor, the unicorn ignores her compulsion to flee and returns to rescue her other companions. With another awesome display of magic and an unintentional use of the Royal Canterlot Voice, the Clockwork Ponies are finally driven off, giving the group a chance to work together to deactivate the mechanical monstrosities for good (although it drains the area of its magical aura in the process).

Aside from an excellent opportunity to see Trixie in action as a genuine heroine, we readers also get a glimpse at how the Great and Powerful unicorn handles romantic feelings. Experiencing an attraction towards the musically-talented (but already taken) Lyra, Trixie feels rather awkward being in the utterly unfathomable position of actually complementing somepony else. As she’s not naturally used to showing affection, the magician doesn’t really understand that her flirting makes Miss Heartstrings rather uncomfortable.

In an interlude occurring as a side-story to the main “Lost Library” thread, we have Trixie and Doctor Whooves amusingly bond with one another. Among other things, the magician thinks the Doctor has a huge ego and that he needs to learn how to be humble... even though her own ego is just as large if not larger. While Trixie through most of the trip expresses jealousy towards the Doctor giving more attention to the other companions, the mare is touched when the stallion here admits that she’s someone who could be counted on. So as the party finally make their way to the lost library, stay in touch as we observe what Trixie and her companions do next.....

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[colour=#6699cc]Fate and Coincidences[/colour] [colour=#6699cc]+ [/colour][colour=#6699cc]Staff of Fate: From Stormy Skies to Roaring Waters[/colour][colour=#6699cc]:[/colour] I dumped these two threads together since they combine to form another plotline for our favorite magic performer. Caught in a rainstorm at an unspecified time after the events of “Magic Duel”, Trixie and Doctor Whooves are sheltering when they are joined by another pony... the half-insane Daring Do impersonation Pathfinder (whom I’ve covered in-depth before). In a reversal of roles from her last RP thread, Trixie feels rather discomforted by the pegasus’s violations of her personal space. The magician however doesn’t have much time to dwell on that, as the Doctor ends up yammering about the Staff of Fate, a relic consisting of several magical artifacts that can be assembled together. Knowing that Pathfinder would stop at nothing to obtain all the pieces, the Doctor entrusts Trixie to make sure the madmare doesn’t cause too much of a mess.

For her part, Trixie sees in the Staff of Fate a chance to profit handsomely off the component relics. What she didn’t count on was that Pathfinder assembled a team of her own to help her on her quest; particularly the fact that one of her teammates is no other than Twilight Sparkle (RPed by Helix), the pony who recently defeated her utilizing sleight-of-hoof stage tricks. As the Staff of Fate thread continues, we’ll witness how Trixie’s drive to best Celestia’s pupil manifests itself.....

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And now for my favorite part of the spotlight; an interview with Brianblackberry!

Bellosh101: To begin with, what drew you to app Trixie for use in Canterlot RP?

[colour=#6699cc]Brianblackberry:[/colour] Well I suppose because I have always been fascinated by the character. Here was this pony who was a one shot character that had a generally one dimensional personality, but they did such a great job with her design, and voice that she just became interesting. I personally wondered what drove her to be the way she was, and how it may have just masked much deeper desires and validations.

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Bellosh101: How did you decide on your backstory and expanded characterization for Trixie, and what influence did other fanon interpretations have on your Trixie portrayal?

[colour=#6699cc]Brianblackberry:[/colour] I went with the idea that her boastful attention seeking exterior was a mask, one that hide the fact she didn't really have confidence and sought validation of worth. That and she always wanted to be something better but just ended up being a travelling sideshow, bilking ponies for bits. My one inspiration for her was this image I saw with a young foal Trixie and her very sickly mother who told her she can be great and powerful. It is assumed her mother then died shortly after leaving Trixie heart broken and with those words haunting her.

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Bellosh101: So it seems that after the events of "Boast Busters", Trixie in the RP spends alot of her time as a companion to Bramble Rose's Dr. Whooves. How did the idea for this RP-canon partnership come about?

[colour=#6699cc]Brianblackberry:[/colour] Well initially it was going to be an RP about Trixie mentally recovering from the events of Boast Busters. She was at her lowest point, humiliated, homeless, stealing food from isolated homesteads and living in the Everfree. That was no way to live and she figured she had to get her honor back. She figured if she could sneak into Ponyville she can find some of the books that was lost when her wagon was smashed. It was pure coincidence she ran into Whooves. There she learned of his experiments at magic and that he recovered parts of her wagon. That floored her enough but when she discovered he also adventured for mystical artifacts she figured she had a way back magical glory and decided to tag along, now thinking she would see him as any more than a tool at the time.

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Bellosh101: And ironically enough, RP-Trixie's pursuit of magical relics lead into her purchasing the Alicorn Amulet in "Magic Duel". In what ways will "Magic Duel" change how you roleplay Trixie?

[colour=#6699cc]Brianblackberry:[/colour] It gave me more backstory to work with. Starting with the new RPs she is in, that is now the near past and she has altered her focus from wanting revenge to trying to be the best at magic. Still rather selfish but it is a long learning process and she struggles with temptation. Things are more complex because Twilight has reappeared in her life.

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Bellosh101: Ah yes, Trixie and Twilight are working together as part of a 5-pony team in the Staff of Fate RP series. How can we expect our Great and Powerful magician to interact with Princess Celestia's student in this latest RP?

[colour=#6699cc]Brianblackberry:[/colour] Trixie has to struggle with her jealousy and distrust of Twilight and her guilt over what she did with the amulet. As she said in the episode, it caused her to do terrible things but she still has a vain streak that covers her issues of adequacy. Twilight represents in a way all Trixie wishes she could be: Powerful, respected, and loved.

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Bellosh101: And in what other ways do you intend to have Trixie grow as a character through your roleplay?

[colour=#6699cc]Brianblackberry:[/colour] I like her to discover that perhaps adventuring could be something she may grow to love on its own. I also want her to work towards being a legitimate performer and not just some sham; both have a lot of obstacles to overcome though.

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Bellosh101: So, what sorts of RP situations would you like to insert Trixie into in the near future? And whom would you be interested in having Trixie interact with?

[colour=#6699cc]Brianblackberry:[/colour] Well I would like to continue some of the adventurers she is on with Whooves. I think they make a great odd couple (in a always arguing roommate buddies sort of way). I would love to do a story where she tries to perform again with some hilarious result or her getting mix in some plot she wasn't expecting at some casino or hotel.

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Bellosh101: In general, what specific issues do you face when you're writing for Trixie?

[colour=#6699cc]Brianblackberry:[/colour] I think the biggest is making sure she retains all that we love about her personality without her being one dimensional or stagnating as a character. She grows, but she still has to resemble Trixie all know and love in a very real way.

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Bellosh101: What do you think are the biggest misconceptions that elements of the MLP fandom have about Trixie in your humble opinion?

[colour=#6699cc]Brianblackberry:[/colour] That she has a crush on Twilight Sparkle. Everyone basically puts her and Twi into a Fo-Yay ship, and while I don't actually oppose that on principle, I think I would like to write a different story other than the routine, Twixie one.

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Bellosh101: Now for the (almost) final question; what RP thread or two do you think is the finest example of how you portray Trixie?

[colour=#6699cc]Brianblackberry:[/colour] I would say the original, or the direct sequel where they are on the beach. It was Trixie in a classic "fight the monsters" fantasy adventure story.

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Bellosh101: Have any final comments you'd like to make about the Great and Powerful Trixie?

[colour=#6699cc]Brianblackberry:[/colour] I think she is a character with a lot of potential, and in areas people didn't expect, like fantasy-adventure and mystery, which is the bulk of her RPs. She is just all around alluring in design as well as in portrayal in the show while having an open backstory people can create and that is why people like her so. I hope in that context I can do her justice.

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Bellosh101: And I'm sure you will! Thank you for your time tonight, Brian. :-)

[colour=#6699cc]Brianblackberry:[/colour] No prob.

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Animated by cmaggot)

And that wraps up this week. Always remember that I'll be glad to take suggestions as to what to cover next, be it a character or a thread. So until next time, this is Bell getting the heck out of Dodge!

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