#red cedar

Eastern red cedar plays an extensive role in its ecosystem, and its benefits go beyond its interesting human uses. It serves as an essential winter cover for deer, rabbits, and birds when food and shelter are scarce, moreover, its berry-laden branches hold a feast for Cedar waxwings, an event that birdwatchers look forward to annually. Its effect on soil is equally remarkable: eastern red cedar is a pioneer species, which means it's among the first to colonize disturbed or damaged ecosystems, playing a crucial part in soil regeneration and prevention of erosion, thus reducing the likelihood of landslides in susceptible areas.

Right before a Desert Rain Storm! Wyoming USA

I guess a better way to put it is which of those would be most interesting to you

Yes I do! While many of my next gens would have the same personalities and struggles regardless of gender, there are a number whose lives are very much influenced by their gender and the roles they grew up with. Here are a few doodles to get a glimpse:

Red Cedar’s whole story is about her inner conflicts as a mare. She puts the stallions in her life as a pedestal, puts down other mares who don’t follow what she believes are the correct roles for their gender, and feels overwhelming shame when she feels she’s not living up to those roles herself. As a stallion, Cedar would not have that same sense of shame because he is the one to be put on a pedestal. He has fewer expectations to live up to as a traditional stallion. What he does feel shame over is “stumbling” away from his good and pure-hearted love towards a wild bad girl who goes against everything he believes mares should be. Rainier is as optimistic and fun-loving as ever as a mare, and Brackish is still breaking stallions’ hearts and behaving crassly.

Crash Racket can be best described as a “femcel.” Like her male counterpart, she refuses to take responsibility for her self-inflicted loneliness and instead behaves very unpleasantly towards others. She’s super pretentious and praises other mares’ toxic behavior towards those who she believes had it coming. Obsidian, a stallion’s accessory designer, once loved Crash even though she spent their entire relationship telling him to “stallion up” and making fun of him for being sensitive and open-hearted. She left him with their daughter, the female counterpart to Volcanic Jasper, who she felt was “holding her back.” Now, Obsidian is left to try to soothe his daughter’s angst as she deals with the challenges of puberty.

While the original Minted Glacier learned to stand up for mares in a sexist workplace, his female counterpart worked in a majority-female establishment and had to learn to stand up both for fellow mares and against fellow mares as she fought back against a domineering boss. She’s really no less anxious than the original Minted Glacier, but she’s doing her best to raise her son (the male counterpart to Cherry Berry Sherbet) along with her twin brother. She gets good child support money from her foal’s father, who also provided a lot of emotional support while she was pregnant. He’s happily childfree and nobody ever questions him for it. Blueberry Sticks is about the same as a stallion, if not even more abrasive than his female counterpart.

Blue Velvet’s male counterpart is a dapper gentlecolt with a vintage aesthetic but very progressive values. Like his original self, he’s been around the block—that is to say he has a very long dating history. But while the original Blue Velvet received harsh criticism for her “body count,” being labeled a slut and a bad influence, ponies hardly bat an eye when it’s a stallion. Both Blues approach their relationships with the utmost love and respect, but the male version can expect praise for being a “go getter” much more than any negative reactions. He’s living his life all around stress-free, but would be the first to stand up for any mare facing backlash for a similar lifestyle.

The male Saltwater Taffy is basically David Rose from Schitt’s Creek. Just as gossipy, with more sass and less of a desire to cover up his disapproval with fake sweetness. He’ll say what’s on his mind and doesn’t care if you don’t like it.