Friday, August 23, 2013

Sgt. Sprinkles' Cupcakes

I can't come up with any other fanfic that has inspired so much – rage, love, and everything in between – in so many people, in so many different disciplines of the fandom. It's fairly common for fanfic to inspire fan art, less common to inspire fan music – but how many fanfics have inspired fully-animated musical numbers and cosplay at cons? And on an interesting note, something you younger members of the fandom might not realize: this fic predates the Pinkamena we met in "Party of One".

[Dark] • 3,900 words
When Pinkie invites Rainbow over to Sugarcube Corner, the pegasus discovers a side of her friend she'll regret ever knowing... but not for long.

Hit the break for a brief chat with the Sarge, and links to Cupcakes (if you dare) out on the ponynet. As always, grab your own ebook copy over at the Downloads page!


Where do you live?

Nowhere.

What kind of work do you do? (i.e. are you a student, do you have a career/day job, etc)

I work at a morgue/puppet theater.

How did you discover My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic? When did you realize you were a fan of the show?

/co/.

I found the show charming on its own. I stayed because people laughed at when we made fun it.

Do you have a favorite episode?

Not really. I like Apple episodes.

Who is your favorite character based purely on the canon of the show itself? Would your answer change if you considered the fandom in its entirety (i.e. art, fanfiction, memes, etc)?

Fanon means nothing to me. I let the show dictate how the characters appear to me. If the official writers fail to make it work, then fanon isn't gonna help.

That said, Apples.

How did you come up with your handle/penname?

The hand of Zeus himself.

Have you written in other capacities (other fandoms, professionally, etc)? When did you first start writing?

I started writing as a kid. I liked it...

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

...However, I don't write that often. It had been years since I wrote anything before writing those fics. I need a spark of some sort to get me going and unfortunately I've just not had it in me lately.

Also, watching movies.

Who is your favorite author (published or fanfiction)? Do you have a favorite story or novel?

Hard to say.

I guess if I have to pick, I like comic writer/artist Keith Giffen. He wrote a lot of very funny DC comics and helped create Lobo.

Stephen King believes that every author has an "ideal reader" - the one person who they write for, the one person whose reactions they care about. Do you have one, and if so, who is it?

Whoever gets it. Good or bad, like it or not, as long as they understand what I'm doing and are willing to read, I'm writing for them.

Do you have any tips for aspiring writers, or writers who are struggling with their own stories?

Do what makes you happy, but realize that people might not like it. Also, give yourself boundaries and get an editor.

What is your typical writing process? (Do you work through multiple drafts, do you have any prereaders/editors, etc?)

I slap the keyboard for a while until I've filled the word document to my liking. Then I remember to get someone to help fix the godawful mess.

What inspired you to write Cupcakes?

/co/. I wanted to parody the fandom at the time, so I gave it a shot.

Did you run into any tough spots or challenges when writing Cupcakes?

just my terrible tipeing scills. should have takn a class at sum poiint

When you set out to write Cupcakes, did you have any specific messages or themes in mind?

To be honest, I think I screwed up. I meant to be funnier. I wanted it to be gross, scary, and uncomfortable, but ultimately it was supposed to be silly. I'm a big fan of horror comedy and that's what I was aiming for. In the end, I don't think it was silly enough.

Cupcakes has inspired numerous spinoff stories and fanart - did you anticipate such a big response?

I'm happy people like it and I'm honored to be part of the fandom history.

What drew you to combining gore and My Little Pony?

It was funny and at the time it was humorously ironic. Other than that, I'm not really into pony gore anymore. I still love good horror movies, especially 80's splatter films, but these days, if I chose to write again, I wouldn't really go there again.

Where can readers drop you a line?

Salt or fresh? Either way, I don't have a fishing license.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

25 + 30 = 55

4 comments :

  1. Ah, Cupcakes. One of the things about this fandom I will NEVER understand. That being said, Sergeant seems like a pretty cool guy.

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  3. That was more amusing than it had any right to be.

    You know, if Cupcakes had been featured back when it was still "fresh", I think I would have discounted this site wholesale. But now, 2 (plus?) years on, it really is one of those "like it or not, it's noteworthy" deals, and recognizing that is important. I mean, let's not forget that this story inspired Ask Pinkamina Diane Pie, which was awesome and I still miss it. ;_;

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  4. I really quite liked this story. Even if it didn't accomplish what Sarge set out to do, he still managed to make a really wince-inducing, fairly well-written gorefic. I feel it gets a bad rap just because all the other derivative bullshit it's inspired over the years.

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