I think people are obsessed with 'cool.'

[SFyr 1,982]

So yeah, I'm mostly speaking of fanfiction and OCs and that whole scene. I've admittedly burned a lot of time sorting through creative stuff from the fandom, because hey, it's an amazing fandom to find that kind of stuff. Part of why I'm still here, in fact.

 

But, I'm realizing that most of the stuff that leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth comes down to a major trait...

 

Pretty much everything I don't like is 'made to be cool.'

^{_{--EDIT: Bear in mind, I'm not saying everything cool is this way, but that 'made to be cool' is different in itself. Many 'cool' things I feel are made more to simply entertain.}}

 

At this point, my personal rule of thumb is quickly becoming that, if I feel one of the major defining characteristics of an OC/protagonist/story is 'cool', my expectations should drop--though irony and other traits of the story can save it no issue, admittedly.

 

Does anyone else feel this is appropriate, or am I oversimplifying? Anyone have thoughts (or disagreements) to add? 

Edited January 8, 2015 by SFyr

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,303]

I think Grimdark, specifically, is an enormously misguided attempt to "butch up the fandom."  A.k.a. portray (and outright misrepresent) the source material as something that better fits the societal consensus of "cool."

[SFyr 1,982]

I think Grimdark, specifically, is an enormously misguided attempt to "butch up the fandom."  A.k.a. portray (and outright misrepresent) the source material as something that better fits the societal consensus of "cool."

When you say grimdark, are you referring to 'realistic' interpretations of MLP, or those ones that go way over the top into death/blood/etc?  But yeah, I think that could easily be abused too.

[TenorSounds 832]

I get what you're saying, and definitely think it's something that's pervasive in a lot of the fandom. It's the sort of thing that gets us half-vampire black and red Alicorns who are the reincarnation of Starswirl and also somehow Celestia's half-brother or something. That's one extreme, obviously, while the other side would be characters that are reasonably "cool", but have no other memorable characteristics and those tend to leave a bad taste in my mouth for being such a missed opportunity.

It's a shame when a character is one-note, regardless of what that note actually is, but for FiM the prevailing note is one of "coolness". I don't know if it's because a lot of Bronies don't feel "cool" and are overcompensating or what, but the fact that there's so much of it in the fandom pretty much means it's very difficult to pull off the idea in an original and interesting way.

 

tl;dr Any character that relies solely on one trait is inherently uninteresting, and for Bronies what we see the most is "cool". "Shy" is a close second.

Edited January 8, 2015 by TenorSounds

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,303]

When you say grimdark, are you referring to 'realistic' interpretations of MLP, or those ones that go way over the top into death/blood/etc?  But yeah, I think that could easily be abused too.

 

I was thinking of the latter: Blood and death and gore - and not so much friendship.

[SFyr 1,982]

@@TenorSounds, I'll definitely agree with what you've said there. Personally I think it's more because of our innate want to impress and live vicariously. WE want to be cool, therefore it shines in some of our creations.

But, in the end, I just find myself drawn to characters with, well, character. Struggles and the inability to come out on top all the time. When everything just lines up, and they somehow beat out all these other rounded characters because the world demands that they be awesome..

Heck, I've dropped stories just because it was quickly becoming apparent that even 'characters with flaws' couldn't help but still be the savior to things like the invasion of Canterlot, or nightmare moon's rising, and all that other stuff. Even if I liked them initially... the story demanded they do awesome things, and be awesome and important for the sake of being awesome and important, rather than a character-borne place that's realistic and makes more sense.

 

I like how you put it, it all just starts to feel one-note. They pick a personality and aim for 'coolness', then develop the latter rather than the former.

 

 

@, yeah I think that can apply similarly enough, haha. Being dark for the sake of being dark can be equally painful as being cool for the sake of being cool...

Edited January 8, 2015 by SFyr

[Invincible 2,091]

Well, if the so-called 'made to be cool' content can be done reasonably and do some interesting writing that'll intrigue me in any way (a nice twist, an engaging story, the promise of some further depth in a character, etc...), i wouldn't see too much problems with it myself. I don't know what kind of standards are you looking for here, so i'm just guessing. I try giving a story a couple of chapters, just to see if i can "digest" it, you know?

[OnieronautDraconequs 22]

Ah, the good ol' Rule of Cool. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfCool) It's everywhere, you can't avoid it.

 

P.S. Don't click the link if you value the rest of your day.

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

The issue to me is that rather than simply trying to make something or somepony (OC's, fic characters, etc) cool, they try to make them the very embodiment of cool. Coolness personified. Rarely does that work. Most of the time it exudes an aura of "tryhard" instead.

 

 

Look at my OC, for example. He's not "cool," but he is chill. He's a ponysona insofar as his personality, but I didn't make him resemble me, and let his personality define his appearance. Earth tones for his coloration, a conservative mane style, and no accessories other than that scarf when it's cold. Despite purposely making him a reserved, modest unicorn of middling power and no astounding or tragic backstory elements, people still tell me he's cool on a regular basis.

 

If you find yourself trying hard to come up with ways to make a character or story seem as grandiose and mysterious as possible, chances are high that you'll just make it look stupid to everyone else instead. Let form follow function. This fandom is well-known for that within its own ranks. Many times have friends and I laughed for an hour or more at terrible OC designs and backstories, and weird fic ideas.

[SFyr 1,982]

@, I think your take on them being tryhards is perfectly valid, haha.   Either way, I think you've done pretty well by your OC. I'm really glad more modest OCs are still a growing thing~

 

 

And yeah, there's a lot of entertainment to be had in that. If anything, it's inspiring to go the opposite direction as some of the OCs floating about.