Mythril Moth's Pet Peeves of Fiction, Issue #8 · 10:11pm Aug 19th, 2014
Hey kids, it's that time again! Today I have a special issue! Not one, not two, but THREE peeves of FiM fanfiction!
Let's get right to it:
TASTE THE RAINBOW
Folks...the Skittles joke isn't funny anymore. It wasn't funny after the tenth time and it's been in 597 stories now. Knock it the fuck off. There's a thing called running something into the ground. The Rainbow Dash/Skittles thing? Hasn't just been run into the ground. It's been run into the Earth's core. And it came back out the other side. It's in motherfucking China hiding in a bowl of rice, hoping you'll all go away and leave it to die in peace.
FOURTH WALL PINKIE
Pinkie isn't anywhere CLOSE to as bad about breaking the fourth wall in the show as she is in fanfiction. And it's gotten absolutely ridiculous. It's gotten to the point where every time I run into fourth wall breaking in a fanfic, I downvote it and close tab. This isn't to say it can't be done WELL...if you do it quickly, non-intrusively, and above all SPARINGLY. But "clever" writers who don't have clue one how to write Pinkie Pie well just throw it out there in your face, like a half dozen otaku at an anime con who happened upon a barely-legal and completely drunk Yoko cosplayer. Try actually learning how to write Pinkie, or learning how to lean lightly on the fourth wall. Because lately, Fourth Wall Pinkie has gotten as obnoxious as Hair Trigger Akane.
MY LITTLE NOUN: BLANK IS BLANK
You know, it's possible to come up with a title for your story that doesn't rely on turning the title of the show into a mad lib. Seriously. If you're clever enough to write, you're probably clever enough to think of a title that isn't crap. There are too many things running around like My Little Marvel or Colostomy is Magic. It's tired, worn-out, and unoriginal, and shows laziness and a lack of creativity. Your title needs to get the attention of the reader, so it's important to give your story a title that attracts attention.
That's all for now! Now get off my lawn, you damn kids.
I have to agree with you 100% on this.
That's why most of my titles are mostly based on quotes or other stuff and stuff.
Bleh.
I do so enjoy these beautiful little rants.
This is literally the bane of my existence. Thank you for pointing this out because I get tired of seeing this so much.
I still enjoy 4th-wall Pinkie.
As far as the skittles and title thing go, I haven't really seen too much of either one, and I still don't care for them...
2383643 The only time I personally engage in this is if it makes sense. For example, the Angel Bunny anthology I have on tap to get around to write at some point is called My Little Coney, for the pun value alone. And while SOME word swap titles can be clever, most are just lazy. I saw way too many of those when I was doing some cleaning up in the Crossovers folders earlier today, which prompted that segment of this rant.
I like Fourth Wall Pinkie, but as long as there is some Fourth Wall remaining.
You say that as if it wasn't canon.
2383747 Granted, Akane has a temper problem in canon, but it's so much worse in fanfiction. Especially after Bitter End. Because after that, EVERY fanfic Akane was Bitter End Akane.
2383750 Bitter End was pushing it, even by fic standards. I mean... barbels. I'd say yeah, most fics got her even more trigger happy (in their defense, she didn't give any signs of getting better at all. Ever.) but it was usually in a less dramatic, I'm-gonna-send-you-to-your-death-with-abuse way.
Did Zen ever write something else?
2383758 Zen disappeared off the map in like...2001? Maybe earlier than that? I have no idea what happened to him.
2383773 I think I lost track of him in 99 tbh. *Feels old*
Dammit. Now I feel the need for mindless Ranma Classics. I'm gonna re-read "Just Won't Die"
I blame you for this.
Well, as of my latest blog, I am guilty of all of these, though I did at least use "taste the rainbow" in the context of Pinkie Pie... well, tasting the rainbow. As in the industrially manufactured one.
But, yeah, I'm definitely bad about that second one, though I like to think I've at least done some interesting things with it. And between the Goof-Off and Rapper Pie, Season 4 has rather cranked up her reality warping.
I admit I'm being defensive, but this is one of those areas where your pet peeve is my pet trope.
As for the title thing... well, if/when I take that story off of hiatus, I'll try to come up with something a bit more creative.
Well, can't fault your creativity, that's for sure.
Haven't seen much, if any, concerning "Taste the Rainbow", admittedly. Must now suppress horrible story idea...
If I ever write Pinkie, one: God help us, it's gonna suck; and two: I'd probably just avoid the fourth wall altogether. Well, if I ever write anything it might suck. I'm more of a reader.
As for My Little X: Y is Z? Seen it more times than I care to count. I stopped caring before 10.
My little Failure: Flank is Blank
I don't know what I'm doing.
*ding* That's racist.
Template titles are the worst. I've got ideas for a Scream "crossover", but it sure as hell ain't gonna be called "My Little Killer: Movies Are Magic", no. If I ever get prolific, it'll be called, "Confound These Killers: They Drive Me to Scream."
2384125 I support this. I mean, I don't know what it is, but I support it.
2384127 I love the title.
I'm now following you solely based on that title alone.
That might explain why my ongoing series isn't doing so well right now.
Here's a sample of the writing style:
(You can read the rest of that chapter here.)
Engaging style, right? Guess what the title of this series is.
My Little Castlevania. Yep. That's all I could come up with.
If there was a suggestion to make in order to fix that, what do you recommend? It's gotta say something about this story -- that it's a crossover between MLP, Castlevania, and is utterly terrifying.
2384266 It'll be a loooong time, if ever.
Someone watched 'Pulp Fiction,' didn't they?
2384456 I wouldn't exactly say that's doing BADLY. But yeah, I'd change the title.
Unfortunately, I have no suggestions for you. I've never read it, and I don't read Castlevania crossovers because I haven't played a Castlevania game since the first SNES one.
2384556 Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite movies of all time and I use every opportunity I can to quote it.
2384564 Technically the first Castlevania as well as 2 and 3 were on the NES but you should already know that is you so much as read the title of Super Castlevania IV. so I just wasted my time telling you that
What about Friendship is Forever?
2384868 Um...I was REFERRING to Super Castlevania IV, which was the first Castlevania published for the Super NES. If I'd meant the first Castlevania, I'd have said the first Castlevania. I owned the original (never beat it...I think) and played II and III as often as I could rent them.
2384880 Special case.
2384891 Figured as much
2384892 Curious about the special case, that I might better understand the edge cases.
2384997 Because it's not a crossover, for one thing. Also, it should kinda be obvious.
2383879 If you're thinking r34, it's been done. If you're thinking something else... it's probably also been done. The only times I've seen it, it's been a single line joke in one chapter. I either laugh or brush it off.
2384127 i.imgur.com/O9tdPgb.gif
Fanfiction isn't about following character's personalities and show canon down to the letter. It's about taking familiar elements from the show and adding your own elements, like mixing two different play-dough colors together. It isn't always done well, but I don't find it annoying.
Personally, I prefer 'all knowing' Pinkie over 'fourth wall' Pinkie. Stardust probably has the best example of this that I've read. Then there's 'reality breaking' Pinkie (Petriculture has a good example of this).
2385189 I was just thinking "Rainbow Dash eats a lot of Skittles because it's her favorite candy for obvious reasons", but I know someone will r34 that...
Regardless, I'm not stepping into it. Like I said, I'm more of a reader.
2384566 Well, to borrow a Pinkie quote, "Who wouldn't?!"
I really enjoy reading these. I think I missed 4 of them in the 3 weeks I was gone. I better catch up.