It's Not....Creepy (Patreon)

concept doodle for a larger piece i wanna do

Smoky's crush on Princess Iridescence is a story element I've gotten a bit of flak for. Irie, as y'all know, is Chrsalis' daughter, and if we are to believe that Chrysalis mothered all the changelings (which I do believe), that makes Irie and Smoky aunt and nephew, respectively. 

I don't believe that depicting an unpleasant idea in fiction necessarily translates into condoning it in real life, and I don't believe it's the job of authors to explicitly denounce bad things as bad, like in a children's afterschool drug special. Fiction should have nuance! But, as I've gotten older and given the story more thought, I do wonder why I felt the need to write in an incestuous crush. Although I've made it clear that that relationship will go nowhere beyond platonic, I still get people saying that ship it, or they're cute together and should date.

They are aunt and nephew. I feel like I've been a bit irresponsible in my writing. 

I didn't know what to do with Smoky's crush. It felt awkward to retcon, as I really do enjoy the unrequited pining aspect of his character. I thought about doing a scene where Irie lets him down gently, but I didn't want any misogynists to come out of the wood work, calling Irie a bitch for not giving a nice guy like Smoky a chance, starting up tedious discourse about the ethics of incest.....blegggh.

So it's kind of just been an elephant in the room. After giving it some thought, I think I've found a solution. Midnight will discover Smoky's crush-obsession, and the two will have a little heart-to-heart, because if Ponyville's spookiest witch finds something you do creepy, maybe you oughta give a listen. Smoky will dig in his heels and argue (at first), but I think ultimately this will further both their characters for the better. I already have the story outlined, I'm tentatively excited to do this story. As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated!