Readers: Does Spirits Need a Dark Tag? · 4:58am May 21st, 2013
After I published chapter eleven of The Spirits of Harmony, reader Majk commented to say:
I'm really having a blast reading this story but methinks it deserves a dark tag. All that mindbucking done by spirits is kinda grim and gets more scary the more you think about it (but that could be just me).
as to what was most disturbing:
Mainly their carefree attitude towards using mind warping magic. Its like watching Discord multiplied at work, but even worst since the spirits have both rhyme and reason behind their mind bending and don't seem to care about ponies unless it's for their personal gain.
On the one hand, I didn't set out to write a dark story. No gore, no sleaze; fun for the whole family! "Discord multiplied" is pretty much what I was aiming for, so I hoped the spirits wouldn't be too much more fearsome than he is. I'm trying to keep the spirits' powers as the same sort of reality- and mind-warping abilities that Discord has, but tweaked to their respective domains. My impression of Discord is that he does have thought behind his actions; he sees himself as an artist and wreaks chaos because it amuses him and he likes his version better than how things are.*
But shouldn't harmonious spirits behave better than the ones in the story have been? Well, yes, and there's a reason they haven't so far. I can't reveal much here, but I guarantee the ending of the story will not involve our heroines discovering that virtue and harmony are naive illusions, the powers of the universe are all unjust and callous and that beyond their innocent world is a Hodgsonian abyss of endless horrors. Pinkie swear.
On the other hand, I kind of set out hoping readers would find things like Concord's pacification of the crowd, Verity's re-traumatization of Cherilee and especially JD's sentencing of Pinkie and Twilight to feel unsettling and wrong. Part of the inspiration for this story was that I myself am uncomfortable with how casually the show has treated mind-warping magic. The Want-It-Need-It spell? A working love potion recipe in a library book? Spells to magically reform criminals? Aren't these at the very least offensive to equine dignity? I wanted to write a story where this sort of thing gets attention called to it and where the reader is encouraged to sympathize with the victims instead of mainly treating them as comic relief or just a problem for the protagonists to solve.
So what do you, the readers, think? Does The Spirits of Harmony merit a Dark tag and/or a Teen rating? Please let me know! I don't want to be responsible for anyone getting shocked or disgusted for lack of a fair warning.
*By the way, I started writing Spirits before Discord switched to the friendly side of the Force. As things stand now, the fic seems to take place sometime after Wonderbolt Academy but before Keep Calm and Flutter On. Bonus Question: Is it worth notifying new readers of this in the description?
In the last chapter or two it's approaching the border, but hasn't begun dancing on it yet. My guideline for "dark" would be death, rape, permanent incapacity, character growth in a destructive or malevolent path, or permanent changes to personality imposed from outside. Thus far the mind control hasn't been anything that feel permanent; the situation is presented as one that can still be reversed.
I usually ignore the dark tag. It just means something bad is going to happen. Yes you should put a dark tag because the elements are bad or something. You could put the time this was made in the description, but you don't really have to, most readers could figure it out.