Well, that happened. (S5 E19 spoilers) · 6:26pm Oct 10th, 2015
Huh, there seems to be a draft in here. Where's it coming from?
Oh. It's that giant hole this horse just punched in The Silver Standard. Okay.
The really annoying part is for the longest time I was dragging my heels on Diamond's mom issues because I feared canon-balls might blast some holes. Ah, well.
I've already gave myself very good advise on this issue three years ago.
If you remember nothing else, remember that canon and fanon aren’t always going to work smoothly together. Sometimes will contradict, sometimes they will coincide. What really matters is us. How we as a fandom, or as individual fans react to it. I know those clashes can be ugly and scary, but that’s the beautiful thing about fanon. Fanon is flexible, it can adapt. When the canon comes against it, fanon does not shatter, but bends around it and gets a new shape.
And it still holds true.
In fact, though it muddies things a bit, it actually can work with "Standard" (and consequently the planned DT follow up fics I had in the wings) quite nicely.
I mean... nopony said Spoiled was Filthy's first wife.
I'm still reeling from ALL THE THINGS that happened in this episode, so it's too soon for me to really dig into it the way I want to. After a rewatch, I promise I will because holy redemption, Batman we need to discuss that jazz. 
Though on a brighter note, I was quite happy to see so much of what I'd written for Silver's character get canonized. The organizing, the management, the desperate attempts to fix what Diamond breaks! And that vicious tear down, wow. When this filly wants to, she can wreck.
Also, while we're here, I may as well mention that "Standard" is on a tiny hiatus. I'd like to put out a short Dinky story for Halloween, not to mention a glut of real-life stuff to handle this month. ...And time to go back and make sure the caulk to fix this hole matches the wallpaper.
I like writing that sort of Silver Spoon so I also got some validation XD But damn, it was nice to see her do that on screen.
I wrote a story which hinted at Silver Spoon giving up on DT, although it was never mentioned exactly when the break had happened. As a result, I loved that scene so much.
In my long-running story/franchise, I set a very specific start date to avoid conflicts with canon: the story starts right after Apple Family Reunion. Everything that has been aired since, I either use if it fits with the overall theme, or ignore.
I would definitely suggest that what you got right on the nose FAR outweighs what got jossed. Your Jerkhorse-Fu remains strong, Patchwork!
I could definitely see Spoiled as Diamond's stepmother. Probably a gold digger herself, obsessed as she is with status.
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The only thing I don't like about that is playing into the centuries old wicked stepmother trope. Alas, I don't think it can be helped. But yeah, the diamond ring on her flank does kinda seem gold digger.
Also, that gold chain is the tackiest thing I have ever seen on this show, good god. (And her butternose, sheesh)
As someone who also had a DT head canon somewhat nuked by this ep: thank you.
Not to say I'm not deliriously happy about everything that happened today, but that idea of yours will definitely help with my own proverbial home repairs.
Srsly Diamond Tiara's (step?)mom:
"NO MORE WIRE HANGARS EVAAAAAARRRRRRRR!"
d1oi7t5trwfj5d.cloudfront.net/29/1f/d1d18bb943bda759f463e69ef3c4/mommie-dearest.jpg
(See the veins standing out in her neck? That's Oscar material, right there!)
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...Now I'm flashing back to this scene and cringing so hard.
(which is ironic since I more associate Spoiled with the dad from Breakfast Club)
It's entirely possible Spoiled is Diamond's stepmother. There, canon/fanon conflict solved.
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Yeah see that movie came out in 1981. Before the Internet was a thing.
And you could still tell yourself hey, it's only a movie. Or at least a problem you only had if your parents were crazy rich people, like movie stars.
But then there was the Internet and then there was Livejournal (remember Livejournal?) and I found out that lots and lots of people had parents like that.
That was the beginning of my reconciliation with my parents. Because I realized that, while they were hardly perfect, I could have done a lot worse.
If worst comes to worst you can always declare it AU and nobody will care about the differences.
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Diamond Ring doesn't need to be a wicked stepmother. Just an inadequate one. The effect is very much the same.
And in this case she doesn't need to be a particularly inadequate person to be an inadequate stepmom. I think Diamond Tiara, as you've written her, would frustrate the efforts of the most capable adults: she suffered a significant childhood trauma of a type that's unique in all Equestria. That would make raising her singularly difficult.
It's like--Apple Bloom's parents died, right? So you could go to a child psychologist and say "what sort of problems is she likely to have, and how do I deal with them?" But you can't say "Excuse me, my child was raised as a pet by ape-creatures from another dimension. Could you recommend a few good parenting books on the subject?"
I could actually see Diamond Ring's approach to Diamond Tiara being born of desperation and reduced expectations: I can't fix her. I can't teach her to be nice or good. But she's driven and she's judgmental: I can at least raise her to be materially successful, and to understand social limits.
Sometimes it's the best a parent can do. You just teach the kid how to make a living and not end up in jail. Niceness and goodness they have to work out on their own, later if ever.
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That's the plan, yes.
3459916 True, but I always considered AU a last resort. For something like Last Human , I'd accept that option in a heartbeat, since the premise alone doesn't gel with canon. But for a slice-of-life character piece that's supposed to run neck-in-neck with the canon, I'd rather not pull that trigger unless I absolutely have to.
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I meant a Diamond follow-up story to Standard, not Tether (which is solidly in AU territory).
Still, though, that was the approach I was thinking of following. She's just not good with children and worries more about the result (how it looks) than actually working to build a relationship. Tried a few times, maybe tried a few different approaches, but this is Diamond Tiara we're dealing with, and she doesn't make it easy. A hard approach works, so it must be the right one.
Plus, cycles of abuse are a thing.