Can you take a MLP FIM fan fiction seriously?

[DubWolf 16,604]

Can I take it seriously ? I'm confused. I could read it and not feel supe-creeped out of scared or anything, if that's what you mean.

[Denim&Venöm 16,498]

Yes I can. I have read mature fics that dealt with serious themes. And I got totally immersed while reading them too. 

[Pastel 7,627]

Of course I could, especially if it's well-written.

(I'm not sure to understand why one wouldn't, because the characters are ponies? )

[Night Wing 387]

yes i can take a fimfiction seriously

[Thrashy 2,799]

Usually not. I get that people like taking the world of Equestria to places far and beyond DHX/Hasbro's "comfort zone", and that's all well and good for them, but I find it supremely difficult to dissociate ponies from the context of the show and IDW comics. If a fic goes somewhere the show would never in a million years go, I immediately lose interest...hence why I've never been able to read more than a few lines of FO:E before noping out. The world of Fallout may be interesting as all hell, but I'm just incapable of imagining these oh-so-innocent candy colored equines being torn apart in that setting.

 

Now, if a fic is written in such a way that it could totally fit within the context of the show (at worst it might ride the line, but never crosses it outright), then perhaps I could give it my attention. But for the large part, I'm much happier looking at fan art.

[Vinyl Scratch (Filly)™ 936]

My view on it is, how the story is written. It could be written in a very dark, gritty feel. Or something more light hearted; i:e show style.

 

Generally I can take MLP stories seriously, unless they're my own

[Metemponychosis 1,236]

I can take anything seriously. Specially if the author takes it seriously enough to put effort into it.

[VitalSpark 1,830]

I've never been able to read more than a few lines of FO:E before noping out.

 

The first few chapters of that are pretty dull, but it does get better.

 

The world of Fallout may be interesting as all hell, but I'm just incapable of imagining the show's oh-so-innocent candy colored equines being torn apart in that setting.

It's set over 200 years after the events of Friendship is Magic, so the show's equines are long gone, right? It's Kkat's OCs that get torn apart.

 

Although it's slow to get going, it does surprisingly cover a lot of the same themes as Friendship is Magic. As Littlepip starts to form a gang, there are lots of story lines that revolve around friendship, trust, and loyalty. Of course there's also more adult themes — there's violence and death, love and sex, and lots of political intrigue.

 

Its setting is very different to Friendship is Magic. But the setting of, say, The Hunger Games seems quite different from our world, even though it's supposed to be our world. That's just how post-apocalyptic fiction works.

[MysticShine 529]

Depends on how well they're written. The bad ones, no, and the good ones, yes.

[Yellow Diamond 7,561]

I can and I do, provided the author demonstrates commitment to their writing.

 

The characters of MLP are fleshed out enough to connect as functioning persons rather than simply caricatures or cardboard cutouts of common tropes. Not all ideas work as well as others -- I don't find the concepts of Fallout: Equestria or The Conversion Bureau at all appealing -- but I think MLP fanfiction can be interesting literature.

[Thrashy 2,799]

 

The first few chapters of that are pretty dull, but it does get better.

 

 

It's set over 200 years after the events of Friendship is Magic, so the show's equines are long gone, right? It's Kkat's OCs that get torn apart.

 

Although it's slow to get going, it does surprisingly cover a lot of the same themes as Friendship is Magic. As Littlepip starts to form a gang, there are lots of story lines that revolve around friendship, trust, and loyalty. Of course there's also more adult themes — there's violence and death, love and sex, and lots of political intrigue.

 

Its setting is very different to Friendship is Magic. But the setting of, say, The Hunger Games seems quite different from our world, even though it's supposed to be our world. That's just how post-apocalyptic fiction works.

 

Well, sure, you can justify just about any radical shift in tone with a time lapse and a pocket full of clever exposition; I'm not denying that some fics can be written well enough for such a departure to feel convincing...but whether or not the reader wants that departure to begin with is another story.

 

My point is, when I think of ponies - any ponies, not just those specifically within the show - I'm generally jonesing for an uplifting experience. That's not to say I can't take a good dose of drama or dark-ish themes here and there, but at some point it needs to bring it back to the atmosphere I fell in love with in the first place if it expects to keep me invested.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm by no means a stranger to bleak, "post-apocalyptic future" settings in fiction. Seen plenty of movies and played plenty of games based in such a setting. But I tend not to share everyone else's fascination with that setting, and more often than not I tend to find the characters in such settings less sympathetic.

 

Maybe it's a sign I've finally gone off the deep end when I somehow have more empathy for fictional horses than most human beings, but I never said my head was screwed on that tightly to begin with.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,329]

Not really. And that's kind of what I expect. The writers of these aren't professionals. They do it as a hobby. Heck, I would never say any of my fanfiction would be fitting for the show cause it wouldn't. Most of the time, the writers of these seem to characterize the mane six by only one or two traits they have. For example, Double Rainboom boiled RD down to basically a daredevil and an idiot.

 

I do think that people get too harsh on people's stories though. I've heard tales of people being abused on Fimfiction for writing a story someone didn't like. There's not even any constructive criticism on that.

[Stone Cold Applejack 381]

Well if it has good writing and doesn't reference the fact that it's a character. Then yes I can take it seriously. For example I once read an MLP fanfic that was set 14 years into the future where a war was happening. The story had terrific writing, great detail, and overall a good plot. There were times where I forgot I was reading a story about ponies until I'd hear things like everypony or a character's name.

 

But if there's a story with terrible writing and tries to be funny then I can't take it seriously because it's terrible.

Edited March 4, 2015 by Derpy Bell

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,298]

I generally do not take MLP fan fiction seriously because it is fan fiction; it's nothing to do with it being MLP-related.  And, I mean, not even when I'm the one writing it lol.  It does not, nor shall it ever, represent the very pinnacle of literary excellence.  I don't care how prettily assembled the words might be; it's still borrowed and deliberately taps into a preexisting audience for which the fan fic author is in no way responsible.  Again, I write the stuff. xD  That's how I feel about my own work, as well; though I write first and foremost for myself.  That's what I feel the underlying motivation for (writing) any fan fic should be.  Write it because you want to.  Because you want to explore the world in your own way.

 

Though I've no interest whatsoever in either reading or authoring a pony-centric sad fic or gore fic.  Hideously misguided, bandwagon-jumping, creatively bankrupt, inherently lazy literary excrement.  And I feel I'm being somewhat polite.  Want to write a gore fic?  Invent your own character.  Start from square one; so far as developing an emotional connection between the reader and the character(s).  You, the author, will be responsible for whatever emotional reaction you might ultimately elicit from the reader.  Don't pluck an already-beloved character out of their native universe and take advantage of preexisting attachments and emotions in some unimaginatively horrific way.  I write horror.  I read horror.  But if I intend to do something horrible to a character, that character comes from me.  I'm ready and willing to be the first aboard the emotional roller coaster that I'm endeavoring to construct, and I come by it honestly.