7th Element of harmony

[Dr.Mortal 0]

 

Note: this is a problem with OCs or self inserts having a 7th element, this in no way presents any form of opinion about characters that are already in the show possibly representing an element.

The Problem:

A Lot of people hate the idea of the 7th Element of harmony, including myself but there is a good reason for this.

 

First off, the main problem (like most things) is the way it’s presented. When people put it in their fanfictions they make it so their OC has it and already it hurts because it feels like wish fulfillment, it feels un-creative because they could not have made him special in a different way rather than making them one of the heroes. Honestly when there is a story when a OC is the 7th Element and they are equally important it makes me feel like it’s a special snowflake or like a self-insert, giving them an excuse to befriend the mane six.

 

Another bad way to present this idea is to make the 7th Element have special properties like having powers besides the rainbow death laser, this includes  special weapons and magic that can be used independently. Even if you make the ability only work when being with all the elements it still is terrible because the other elements don’t have separate abilities that they can use. You see what I mean? IT NEEDS BALANCE

 

Even if none of these things happen (which is unlikely) it still hurts me because it makes me feel like they are forcing the mane six to befriend this character, no matter their personality which makes me feel like no matter what, no matter what you do it will always feel like wish fulfillment because the 7th Element was built from the temple of self-inserts that don’t reflect on their flaws.

 

The name of the 7th Element also greatly hurts the idea; there are 2 reasons why this will definitely be hard thing to overcome. The first reason is originality, I remember reading a fanfiction that had the element of hope and while this is fine at first it started to get repetitive as i switched to a different fanfiction only to find another story that also had the element of hope. This is the problem, originality of names and how the author uses those names to make a story. The second problem is that the functionality is the same; Hero gets the 7th Element of harmony; Hero defeats nightmare moon with little to no changes in the timeline; Hero either finds out his Element has different properties or the rest is just the Hero befriending the mane 6 or solving problems in a more crass way but ultimately still having the same timeline. These are just the stories types that I can name off the top of my head.

Even if none of these things happen (which is unlikely) it still hurts me because it makes me feel like they are forcing the mane six to befriend this character, no matter their personality which makes me feel despite changes you make or what you do it will always feel like wish fulfillment because the 7th Element was built from the temple of self-inserts that don’t reflect on their flaws.

 

How I think people can fix this cliche:

 

One of the ideas I had was to make it an artificial Element, the reason for this is to explain why it is different if you decide to make it have special properties, it also makes it have different possibilities as to where the hero gets their Element. Another reason for this is that there are quite a bunch of possibilities that sprout from this one change, maybe a villain made this element and it’s evil so the hero is forced to kinda have a permanent enemy, maybe Equestrians see it as a monstrosity  since it mimics the elements and if someone can make similar elements and give it to everyone then everyone in Equestria is armed and that type of power can corrupt people’s morals. Another interesting you can do is to make your Element faulty, so conflicts are not easily resolved and the element is not a safe net for the character if something were to go awry then the hero has a real reason to be worried. A more universal way to approach this is to have the characters know that there is no 7th  element and due to some uncertain circumstances are now against each other but have the same goals, kinda like superheroes and the government in a weird way.

 

Look I suggested a lot of things but the bottom line is that if you create an Element, BE CREATIVE. This is not hard people, the whole point of fanfics is to show someone various ideas that differentiate from the show but are for fans. Change it up, maybe use cliches as a support beam to subvert the reader’s expectations so they are surprised and the story sticks out to the reader.

Remember, BE CREATIVE

-Bloco100

P.s sorry if the format is weird, this is the first time I’m approaching a problem and I’m not quite an expert at it yet… but at least I tried and please don’t be afraid to voice your opinions on the matter. I don’t expect this to have many views but if someone does visit wherever I post this then please comment your opinion, I like seeing that I made any sort of impact on people or the world.

[Im_not_crazy_im_just 1,814]

What if the 7th element is daring do???? We may never know.

[Berry-Bliss-Sundae 1,227]

I remember that when I created my oc (the pony that I have of the user's image) I wanted it to be the furthest from the way of the mane 6 that it could be ... why? because the mane 6 are already pre-established characters and to make an oc relate to protagonists is not something that attracts me, I feel that they should have more personality than that.
 

the truth I've always believed that as normal ponys have had good episodes (as in the case of parents of applejack) and even the same protagonists had good episodes before being of '' high society '' or if you want to give great importance to the elements, why the fans can not do the same? the other ponies also have good stories to tell!
 

even so I admit that I have not read any MLP fic ... maybe some the comics or mini comic... but also I speak on behalf of others fandom where I have seen that they do stories of the type -Jack frost and you -

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I will never support this kind of stories haha  

[EpicEnergy 22,066]

I personally don't mind the 7th element being in fanfics.

[Dr.Mortal 0]

Honestly big flex responding to this post, I totally forgot about this.

I've kind of chilled out but it still does bug me when the things that are described here happen, nowadays people aren't doing it as much so it's better (that or I've just managed to only find good stories). I also realize that besides story structure you can have this type of story work it's just that most people aren't good at actually making it work.

It's been a long time since I wrote this but one of the ideas that I do find interesting is an artificial/knockoff element if you wanna do this type of story since it really does eliminate most of the problems like making it feel like a special snowflake protagonist and still being able to be more flexible story-wise.

Nowadays I like some of the stories that follow this formula but it's just that you get sick of it really easily. For example nowadays I'm more into the "gamer" type stories, stories where the protagonist is given the powers of a videogame and they can see their stats and do all these things that you can do in games. I love the "gamer" genre but most people just fill their fics with cliches like the idea of the seventh element which drags down the quality of the genre all together by making even the classics annoying.

Anyway thanks for reminding me this exist maybe I'll check up on it when I'm a different person again, we'll see.