So Sick of Humans... · 11:40pm Jun 16th, 2015
This blog post will be more than a little bit ranting, so please be advised. If you're a big HiE ("Human in Equestria") fan, you might want to skip this. Not that I have terribly many followers right now who might read it anyway, but what the heck, I feel the need to rant to get my creative juices flowing today. 
Here goes...
I've been on this site for almost 3 months and I have greatly enjoyed my time here. The people are nice, I have the best readers in the world, I've found a kind editor (shout out to ya, GaPJaxie!), and I'm writing a story that I both enjoy and has made a real connection with folks. I really can't complain, especially with the number of great stories I've found here. After being a brony for a good long while, I decided to finally read some fanfiction after worrying it would be acres and acres of clopfics. Thank goodness for the "View Mature" setting.
But there is one annoyance I've found here that never fails to get an eyeroll from me and it's almost always precipitated by this one little brown tag: Human.
Now don't get me wrong, it's not that every "Human" tagged story is bad. Quite the contrary: one of my favorite fics is the famous story "Anthropology" by Jason The Human. A more recent one I've been enjoying has been "Pony.exe" by Blue Blaze. Both feature humans and are darn good reads.
No, it's not Human tagged stories in general. What I'm complaining about is a specific type of story and it comes in two flavors:
1. Brony gets transported to Equestria and things happen.
2. Someone else gets transported to Equestria and is grouchy about it. It might be a crossover. Hilarity tries to ensue.
Go ahead and check the front page of the site. Count how many stories there are right now that fit either description, including the Featured box. I will do the same as I am writing this. And the number is: SEVEN. That's less than I was expecting, but I'd like you to put that into perspective. There are about 40 different fics on the front page. Seven out of forty is about 18%. That's nearly a FIFTH. And they all seem to share what is essentially the same darn plot.
Now, far be it for me to be extra picky about fanfiction. Unoriginality is par for the course, and I'm not going to claim I'm some super genius author who writes high art. But haven't we had enough of that type of story yet? Every darn author self-insert brony OC, every "wacky" out-of-place crossover character, and especially this guy
need to go away. (And yes, Anon counts, he's a damn reader-as-character vehicle and the reader is a human, I'd assume.)
And again, it's not that Human-related stories can't be good. "Anthropology" is good because of the time spent fleshing out why the main character, Lyra, is obsessed with humans and showing her very reasonable reactions to differences in human society from Equestria. It does what "Equestria Girls" should have done. "Pony.exe" likewise takes time to build a story and make it interesting while portraying two individuals from different cultures talking to each other in a very strange circumstance. Note that both do the same thing right: take the time to make something original. And while Anthropology's premise is old hat now, at the time nothing like it had been done - it is the Ur example of "Lyra likes humans" fics.
I just don't think it's too much to ask for something different from the Human tag. And if you like those sort of stories, don't let me stop you. But in my opinion, Equestria has enough Bronies and violent brooders now, thank you. Please stop sending them. 
Thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments. I'll be more than happy to hear other ideas and maybe even eat my words if you've got a good point.
Glad to hear somebody with a point of view similar to mine. I hope you don't mind if I add my rant to your.
I'm not exactly contrary to the stories involving humans, in fact many of my favorite stories fall in this category, but what bothers me is that far too often the stories with the [Human] tag suffer of grave case of anthropocentrism.
The human in the story is either:
a) a 'superhero' (All hail the mighty human race, they're so awesome, wow we couldn't have saved the day without you, ....)
b) the classic super-evil-overlord against whose almighty power and intelligence nobody can do anything (because obviously your average angry teenager is too much to handle for the ponies, especially for Tyrant Celestia - Seriously, what's the deal? Is it because Equestria is a reign while the majority of the countries of this planet are democracies?). I detest in a particular way this category, I personally joined the fandom because I like the show and its characters for what they are, but some people seem to prefer to project on the ponies all the faults of our race and instead depict humanity as faultless.
Not at all! Pile on the rant! And you are right. Those are a few other gripes I often have with those stories.
I think that's actually a symptom of a greater trap for "Human" stories: they're so often uninteresting because they get away from what made the show enjoyable in the first place. I'm fine with having ponies hold up a mirror for ourselves, since that's basically what the show does anyway. But yeah, what you're talking about is pretty annoying.
Not to mention that HiE fics are so often just a human going "Whoa, what's with all these ponies this is CRAZY!!" but as a reader I just say to myself, "Yeah, this isn't interesting to me because I already learned all about Equestria myself as a viewer." There's nothing new to be gained from seeing someone freak out about something that's already common knowledge. Ponies in the human world are waaay more interesting because instead they hold the mirror up to ourselves and give us a chance to see ourselves from an outsider's point of view.
However, you can very occasionally pull off even a tired old HiE-style plot and come up with something that is simply beautiful. Check out this one: "Riverdream at Sunset." It's just a gorgeous read and I do mean that.
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3155429 I'll admit that I tend to be biased toward stories that contain superheroes because I like that kind of thing as long as it is done right. I think Onomonopia does a great job of this since his stories focus on what the superhero stands for and not just what he or she can do. Check out his stuff, it is really good.
The main type of HIE stories I tend to see a lot of and have no interest in reading are the ones that focus on a person from our world going into Equestria with the look, abilities, and powers of a certain character from a game, show, or comic book. The descriptions tend to say that the person was dressed up like a character during some kind of convention and now they are in Equestria with the powers of that character. Now, I am going to be honest and say that I have never really read those stories and have only skimmed a few before I got bored. I feel as though the reason these kind of stories are created is so that the writers can use the powers as they want to without having to follow the characters morals or standards.
Also, Dragon Hunter, you bring up a good point when you mentioned the HIE stories that have the human overpower the ponies and "Tyrant Celestia". I think it may be because there are people who believe that since the ponies are not very violent and believe in talking their problems out that they are weak and the reason for that weakness is Celestia. The ponies are then afraid and hateful of the human character because they are being so abrasive and violent. It is almost as if the human is saying "I am so strong and powerful that these ponies will never make me follow their dumb, weak rules of friendship!"
3158097 3155429 Interesting thoughts! I'm not a huge fan of superheroes in Equestria just because, well, I don't see the point. I think it messes up the tone and overall feel of the MLP universe to have a regular human superhero in it. On YouTube, Toucan LDM's "X Meets MLP" series works well with superheroes and other fictional characters because it isn't taken seriously. At all.
But I do agree on this point:
Oh Sweet Tap-Dancing Celestia, how are there multiple fics with that same stupid idea? Self-insert combined with unfeasible crossover? That's two bad tastes that go worse together.
You have both hit on something that's not totally related to this point, but is something that has been on my mind regardless: "Tyrant Celestia." I think 'Tia's a really interesting character, honestly, who gets nowhere near enough love in the fandom. That might sound weird considering that she's an antagonist in "The Iron Horse," but I am actually quite fond of her character. Portraying her as somewhat technophobic is part of my headcanon, but I see a lot of my readers not get that I'm not playing her up as straight-up villainous. She wields a lot more power than anyone else in Equestria, but she is always kind, merciful, and cares deeply about her nation and subjects. She may be an antagonist in the story, but it is born out of a differing point of view from Twilight and a broader perspective on the situation. She's the antagonist, not the villain of the story.
So, yeah, Tyrant Celestia in human fics is another awful combination.
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To be honest, I wasn't referring with the term superhero just to those characters endowed with special powers (e.g. the cosplayer who dresses like Superman or even the real Superman), but also to 'normal' people without special abilities that just because they are human they are able to perform incredible feats (OK, to be fair, situations like a doctor that is able to cure a disease previously unknown to the ponies would be believable, but there are hundreds of stories about the military brony that is able to kill with a single bullet an army of zombie-manticores).
Regarding the part of Tyrant Celestia, I agree with your reasoning: the problem with the many people is that they see the world as black and white, seeing automatically those whose actions are in contrast with the ones of the protagonist as the villain;
I've lost the count of the times I've read comments containing insults about Tia just because she was suspicious of a new unknown creature that had appeared in her reign.
Many people tend also to see certain actions differently in base if they are done by a pony or a human (General reasoning: a human assassin paid by some evil multinational corporation appears suddenly in her bed chamber of Celestia to kill her and is subsequently captured by the guards? man, these ponies are morons and deserve to be nuked, lol; Twilight appears for mistake in United Nation Headquarter due to a failed experiment and is shoot on sight by the security? Perfectly acceptable, this way she'll learn to never challenge humanity.)
3159468 Yeah, humans dominating the ponies is something I see from time to time, though not all that much. I'd consider it a bigger symptom of classic bad fanfiction: overpowering your OCs. Fastest way to make a character boring - nothing can take them down.
Not to toot my own horn, but I think I'm pretty good at balancing my OCs abilities with their weaknesses. Gadget and Turing Test are a genius and a nigh-indestructible machine, respectively, but they each have their vulnerabilities that make them relatable, or at least likable. When I see comments from readers talking about how much they sympathize with them or fear for them, I know I've managed to strike that balance.
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Top of the Featured box: "Anon Goes to Prison."
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3163741 I decided to skim that one for a bit and I have to say that it seemed insulting for what Equestria could have when it comes to prisons. I mean, we saw a glimpse of Tartarus, we know that Equestria has dealt with a number of villainous beings, and they deal with dangerous creatures and magic on almost a daily basis. Heck, Twilight was turned to stone in the first season and would have died if Fluttershy and the CMC did not go into the Everfree forest. Yes, the ponies try to handle their problems without resorting to violence most of the time, but I think you would have to have brains and nerves of steel to actually live in Equestria.
By the way, there is a story called "A New Flame" that is in the Featured Box. Guess what kind of story it is?
3169769 Maybe, but "A New Flame" has a few hundred views. "Anon Goes to Prison" has nearly THREE THOUSAND. The first, you can shrug off as "Well, some people have terrible taste." The latter, you can look at and say
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Yeah. I'm not envious of that view count. I'm just very VERY disappointed.
This blog post by one of the higher ups gives some explanation as to why there are so many cosplayer stories in the box.
If I wanted to recommend a HiE that wasn't total shit, I'd give this one a try.
The first two chapters give a pretty good characterization of the main character; I request that you read those if you're up to it.
3183246 I'm not of the opinion that all HiE stories are bad, just most. "Displaced," on the other hand, is a concept I very much believe is impossible to make anything good out of, unless it were satirizing the whole stupid subgenre.
At least "Conversion Bureau" stories have a concept going for them, even if I don't care for that type of story.
Yeesh. I am still so sick of humans.
Still, thanks for the input! I can't guarantee I'll read that story, but maybe sometime here I'll give it a whirlsy.
Well, I haven't been here very long but I find your post agreeable. Though replacing the human story tag is probably not an idea that will get very far. You might have more success lobbying for additional character tags. Something like an "OC-Displaced" tag.
Of course now that I've agreed with you; I will now argue that you should read a couple of stories that fall pretty squarely into the categories you specifically called out as being horrible. I do this not to claim that the genres are great bastions of literary worth, but merely to ask that you do not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Both are by the same author, a fellow who's non-fanfic works I have enjoyed for several years, so admittedly I may be a bit biased towards his work(though I'm here reading your stuff so my taste can't be that bad. Right?
). And were started long enough ago that they were not influenced by the current fads.
The Audience
Deliberately skips over the whole ERMAGRSH PONIES bit, starts with a (private) royal audience where our hero tells Celestia "So, um where I'm from you guys are a TV show." and goes from there. Mostly slice of life about living as the strange alien guest of the princesses and discussions of the relationships between worlds and some of the more ambiguous aspects of the show. The later chapters have developed a more adventuresome plot. The hero is ... well he's just a guy; middle-aged, overweight, good with kids, and a fairly serious brony. The closest thing he has to a superpower is his outside perspective. The setting is a slightly modified version of the show, no changes big enough to merit being called AU but a lot of small things, mundane things, like everybody wearing saddlebags or something else with pockets almost all the time so they can carry stuff. The world building is there to flesh things out, not to add new things or replace them (well, the adventure-ish plot later on is more additive).
It's well written, with a good sense of humor and some interesting ideas.
The Rise of Darth Vulcan
From what I understand this is, predates almost all of the 'somebody winds up in Equestria and becomes a villain' fics and while it was inspired by one of the fics that started that genre it has been written as a far lighter version of the scenario.
The setting is a slightly dark Equestria. Well, not really dark; it's still a land of pastel ponies, it's just a bit greyer. Celestia is only human--er pony and little vices and evils have taken root here and there when she's not looking. It's a pessimistic interpretation of Equestria as described through the somewhat unreliable narration of a grumpy teen. Anyway our
herovillain is Ted. Ted bought this amulet at the local junk shop and thought it would make an awesome centerpiece for a seriously metal dark wizard costume for the big Halloween party coming up. Amulet turns out to be a magical artifact* which gets activated at the party aaand boom Ted's in Equestria. Several overreactions later he's on the Ponyville most wanted list.Ted is not out to be evil for evil's sake or to slaughter all the cross him he has goals, and seeks to reach them with the minimum amount of fuss. Though he is a petty, grouchy, jerkish, teen.
He steers his schemes by the lights of the Evil Overlord List, TVTropes, and a vague knowledge of this stupid show for little girls that some of the weird nerds at school were really into. He's really only a villain by the metric of MLP, he's no Lex Luthor, no Saron, he's a saint in comparison to pretty much everyone in Game of Thrones.
*It's still not a displaced fic because this artifact is (barley even a spoiler) none other than the old Alicorn Amulet. Which was in the junk shop because (tiny spoiler) somebody's faithful student decided that the best way to dispose of it was to pitch it into the interdemensional void, where there would be only the most infinitesimal chance of it ever coming out and being found. ...and you know what they say about million-to-one odds? They come up nine times out of ten.
Anyways, it's a good read.
) is that he is rather opinionated and pretty blunt about it. Though personally I kind of like his forwardness, if he's preaching it's obvious and you can skim thought it on those rare occasions when it crops up in his writing, and blog posts can be ignored. It's a nice change from the snarky little potshots I see so often in other author's works.
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In both the author manages to take a scenario and run in an unusual direction with it (at least as far as I know it's an unusual direction). He does a good job of bringing in a bit grittiness to his stories without making the whole thing feel like a distopian-sand-filled-sandwich. The worst I can say bout him (other than the fact he doesn't post enough
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Boy that got long. Maybe I'll polish it up a bit and make a blog post out of the meat of it. A project for another day.