Comedy tonight! (And don't ask me about tomorrow, ok?) · 5:09am Aug 3rd, 2014
First, this, from Ask Ponyacci:
The artist drew the picture that's the cover art for my first CheesePie fic, Swear on Camembert, and I'd loved his Ask Vaudeville blog for a long time before that. He was nice enough to give me permission to use it, and even said he liked the fic! Booyah!
Here's what you need to know about Matt--
--okay, one thing, aside from his knowing some stuff about these characters stone cold. Seriously, a good chunk of my understanding of both Pinkie and Cheese have turned out to be very much like his.
But the thing is: MATT IS NOT A SHIPPER. He thinks shipping is dumb. He has no time for it at all. Yet, see above.
By the way, Ask Ponyacci is not going to get taken over by shipping, but you should follow it anyway. The dude knows horse comedy cold. Or maybe just comedy. Anyhoo.
And in a less lighthearted vein, Triple Slam is done and only awaits the submit button. I was going to delay this, but eh. If you know the song the blog post title is taken from, you might guess something about its tone. Hope you enjoy it anyhow. Keep an eye out for it.
Did a funny thing happen to you on the way to the Forum?
2339364 Sort of--but by now, you already know it's "tragedy tomorrow."
My heart belongs to comedy in a permanent way, which is why I love these guys so much and why this is a different take for me.
2339770
Honestly, I've seen you more of a Romance or Slice of Life writer than Comedy. Don't get me wrong, I've still got laughs out of the Comedy you write, but I think you have the knack for CheesePie, or by an extent, Romance more than the Comedy factor. This might be why I so want you to write other ships like TrenderMaud or those always awesome lesbian couples (LimeDash, I must see it). You've got both, but I see the Romance more than the Comedy. It probably goes against the whole idea of CheesePie and their wacky party pony ways when I say that, but eh, it's just me.
It's likely just me being a Romance fan that I get more interested in what you do with the couple, rather than shtick that happens along the way. Well... that's a bold statement right there, but as I've read your CheesePie stories, I've enjoyed the way they've interacted with each other and the world more than a sudden hammerspace ability for laughs. It's still enjoyable, but the big, "Now kiss!" vibes play with every story. Guess that can tie in with Slice of Life, where many cases of Romance are pretty much Slice of Life, unless clop.
But of course, you've taken a shot at Tragedy and Sad, which I tend to think a lower group prefer. Most people when you ask them say that they don't want to cry after reading something. That's just how humans prefer things. Why go into something knowing it'll come out bad? It actually takes me quite a bit of guts to read that combination, because well, I don't want to be depressed. I haven't counted, but at most, I've probably read one Sad per week, just because I tend to avoid the tag, especially if it's on its own. Tragedy is different, especially when it's a Slice of Life combo or isn't paired with Sad, because then things get interesting.
I've actually got a one-shot of Dark/Tragedy involving a Sombra POV back in the works that is probably gonna get pushed back a bit. I haven't touched either tag before either. Yikes. But like usual, I'm digressing.
I'm looking forward to this Comedy nonetheless. I may be asleep when you post it, because timezones, but hey, I'll likely read it after I wake up.
You know, it's a little funny that two of your fics that don't mainly resolve around your OTP that you've written many fics for are your two highest rated stories. If Goodbye, Boness lost a dislike...
2339957 Hmm--see, the whole reason I CAN write CheesePie is that they're so unusual. I see comedy as being a whole lot more than slapstick and "nyuk-nyuk." It's a way of looking at the world. I'm able to write CheesePie because of their unique way of perceiving the world, and the way that they understand each other. And as a result, I can't really just randomly apply that to any other couple.
As for the "now, kiss" vibes: one of my favorite operettas is The Merry Widow, which revolves around the male character's resolve not to say "I love you." (He's got a past with the main female character. It's complicated.) You spend the whole time waiting for them to please just spit it out. I know some people hate this, but it is one of my favorite things.
Good Tragedy should leave you feeling satisfied. In some ways, I don't know if it's a Tragedy. It is by the standards of this site.
Bad "tragedy": a bunch of people get killed and/or die, preferably in messy ways. People die of hideous diseases, and everyone erupts in floods of tears. It leaves you thinking, "well, the world sucks! Is that all there is? What went on there? Why did I read that?"
Good tragedy: a central character struggles through terrible circumstances, and in the process, comes to some kind of resolution and understanding. That can be a pile of bodies, or uncovering a bitter family truth, or accepting the misery that life hands out and yet persisting in finding the good. And using the old definition of tragedy, you vicariously experience it with the main character, taking a tiny dose of their misery in. And it cleanses you. You vomit up the loose grief and misery everyone has floating around inside--leftover losses, stuff you saw on TV, everything--and then you feel better. Tired, but better. Homeopathic medicine. Don't take it from me. Take it from Aristotle.
I wrote Triple Slam because there were some things I wanted to say, including things about the way Tragedy and Sad is written. It's actually doing surprisingly well so far.
The comedy won't come soon. I have to do some real work, and when I can fit it in, Looking Glass World has to be top priority.
Eh, not surprised. Shipfics automatically get some dislike. If that were all there is to it, Slice of Life and Flash and Trend would do much better than they have. I was a little stunned by Say Goodnight Pinkie getting hit with four dislikes so quickly. I wondered if there was something I'd done wrong, but when I looked at it, I saw nothing that merited a dislike. So either I've personally ticked some people off (always a possibility) or the anti-CheesePie war on DeviantArt has crossed over to FimFiction (also a possibility.)
If I thought about every single downrate or follower, I'd drive myself crazy. This is a hobby for me. I do it well, and to the best of my ability, because if you're going to do anything you should do it well. But if it became too much like work, I'd stop. That seems to be what leads to FiMFiction burnout.