Are you open-minded or closed-minded in terms of story?

[FlareGun45 2,221]

I'm not stating either is a bad thing, and I ain't trying to be insulting, I'm just stating what I observe when I make a forum post and the response I get. Like from a very recent post from show discussion I posted. I talk about a "what if" scenario, and then certain people state what IS, instead of thinkin' outside the box. Not saying NOT thinking outside the box is bad, but the opposite is what enhances creativity and makes the best stories - whether it's MLP or something else!

It seems most of you are focusing more on FACTS and thinking if there was a "what if" scenario, it can only be done in a certain particular way or can't happen at all cause it's OOC for the character. It's that kinda attitude that seizes potential development for characters or lore. I can see the writers are like that too. Maybe being in-character might not be enough sometimes? Thinking outside the box, yunno? Something you wouldn't expect a character to do COULD happen and perhaps it might work! You dunno till you see! Give it a try!

Do any of you watch any other stuff like sci-fis that really like pushing to the limit? Stuff like Doctor Who? Something that might not make sense could work out in a situation! Every episode you think a character is acting OOC could work out if you were open-minded enough! I don't really judge episodes of MLP by facts, only if I find it appealing enough. Sometimes facts ain't what they seem. Who needs facts? Pinkie doesn't, that's for sure! Or what if she did? Philosophy, remember that word! Anything is possible if you put your mind to it! That's what makes the best stories: trying to be unexpected! 

So how do you see yourself? Open or closed minded? You may say one thing though, but your responses might say another!  

[SharpWit 2,697]

It really depends on what the scenario is, because it still needs to be reasonable. Like what if Rarity just gave up making dresses thinking she's had enough of that, or what if Applejack decided to sell the farm because the property value is high enough to live out the rest of their lives in relative comfort? Neither of those makes sense from what we've seen, it would be breaking character for the sake of doing so. I love "what ifs" but they're pointless if they completely go against the established narrative.

[Goat-kun 2,527]

Every time some philosopher wannabe tells me everything is relative I tell them to go drink bleach or tell me why they shouldn't. Just saying. Deconstruction and relativism are not end all be all of philosophy.

[BastementSparkle 20,328]

I think the complaint of something being "OOC" is often a bit unfair. People in real life aren't actually particularly consistent, they often do things you don't expect them to do, and something as simple as being tired or having a bad day can change the way they act to an extent. Nobody really has a 100% consistent personality, the you today might be a bit different from the "You" of tomorrow. So, I don't like to jump on screaming "OOC" every time a character does something a bit out of the ordinary, instead I examine my image of the character and try to think either of how this out of the ordinary moment can fit in with the rest of what I understand of them, or I allow my understanding of them to change and grow based on the new information.

 That said, there's a limit to that. People are a little different each day, but that only goes so far and if there's a drastic change in behavior there's usually a reason for that. You couldn't just have say...Rainbow Dash suddenly quit the Wonderbolts for no reason. Because that makes no sense what-so-ever and goes against every single thing we know about the character. If you want to make a drastic change to a character you can do it, but you should think of good explanations and reasoning. So you could write RD quitting the bolts and have it make sense and be a good move for the character, but you need to provide a good reason for it, because a drastic change with no explanation isn't really good writing. I'm willing to accept a lot from characters provided there's some good thought put into them.

[PaulBron 173]

I'm closed-minded for everything

[TBD 17,256]

As long their theories makes sense and is actually stick to the story itself then I'm open to hear. But if someone came up with something out from their ass, no.  It's not just MLP, it's everything else.

[Jeric 46,854]

It really depends. I don’t care how well told the story was or if it was hilarious, Perfect Pear was an episode that could have gone in a different direction and I would have loathed it. 

To me it’s not about closed or open minded. It’s about wanting what we enjoy individually. I don’t like mayonnaise. I’ve never been told I’m closed minded about condiments. That’s just silly. Why is this any different? 

Basically, sometimes a rock looks good in different lighting and angles. Sometimes it’s just a rock and doesn’t need to be examined any more than a cursory look. Bad theories are bad. Creativity is not great if the end result is garbage. 

[Sepul-Coloratura 762]

I think all sorts of imaginations are based on the reality. If we have to think of 'what if' scenarios, we have to be clear what remains the same and what are different. If those settings are more specific and has a reasonable consistant logic behind it, it would be more interesting to imagine and would have more ingredients to come up with instead of a vague depiction of an imaginary state.

For example, instead of saying "what if all ponies were female?", we could say "what if ponies started to breed only females?" or "what if all the male ponies just disappeared instantly like Infinity War?"

I would also like to say, taking that one scenario to the extreme end and seeing what happens is also important. If we're gonna think of a scenario where Nightmare Moon ruling Equestria, we should see what happens until she dies or passes the throne and also how it affected others til the end of their lives. It would be hard, but also it would be worthwhile. And then make the things we learned from that scenario into something valuable so we can apply it to other things.

Edited February 12, 2019 by Sepul-Coloratura

[EpicEnergy 23,222]

I'm not sure what I am, I suppose I'm in the middle - not that open-minded, but not that close-minded either.

[Ittoni 538]

I think it's difficult for me because I'm very close minded in terms of lore but if a story is well justified following the cannon and has logic within the universe then yeah! go for it and go crazy with the possibilities. There's also the grey areas which I like to explore very much but again there has to be previous evidence, even if it's within the logic of progression of the show, to start proposing a new idea or possibility for a story.... But then again i complain a bit too much about things within the show itself too so... no, maybe i'm more closeminded than i think i am. but all is because i do find value on logic and having interesting paths for the stories that doesn't rely on solving everything with magic or breaking the feel of the world. I like world building and keeping on with that. Expanding more than branching off from it and see how big it becomes.

I don't like crossovers for example. I didn't like Equestria girls and i still don't really like it that it is cannon because it has no logic within the show. So there's that. I like though that the world is based on greek mythology and others so expanding on it it's acceptable and see where it goes. 

I guess i feel like is the same sentiment as being that kid in school that always changes the story to see if they can fit vampires or robots without asking the others that agreed on something but this kid keeps changing the rules.