Malcolm Tucker in equestria, that would be aweSome right? You may take this idea if you like.

And do what with it? What impetus is there for such a thing? What connection is there between FiM and The Thick of It that you think it has crossover potential? What would we do with Malcolm Tucker in Equestria that we couldn't do with literally any other normal human, other than make him swear at ponies in "funny" ways?

3664782 Now the Chief Engineer from Enterprise, that would be funny.

3664824 pretty much yeah!

3664871

I am legitimately asking these questions, because somebody has to. Why should we want to write a fic about Malcolm Tucker in Equestria? What is the point? To randomly cross over FiM with whichever random piece of fiction flickers across our minds, for no reason other than that we can, is asinine. The Thick of It is a cynical political comedy about the inner workings of the British government and the culture of spin in the media. I cannot think of anything further removed from a show like FiM. They have nothing to add to each other.

In fact, being in Equestria actually subtracts from Malcolm Tucker's character, because his entire character was defined by his job. If he's in Equestria instead of doing his job, then most of his character has been negated by the premise. You might as well be writing about any random angry Scotsman, because what makes Malcolm Tucker an important character in his own series isn't relevant or present, and there's nothing we could accomplish with his character that couldn't be done with an OC human.

This is why you can't just randomly make a crossover between any two franchises in the world. There has to be a point of compatability. There must be a connecting element. If there isn't one, as is the case here, then we can only create something almost profound in its pointlessness, that will meander and do nothing for however long its author wants to stretch out their lack of creativity for.

TLDR: Stories need reasons to exist, or else they just waste everyone's time.

3665053 okay i see your point.

3664782 it hurts me inside that it isn't already a thing

3665053 you could do one that takes place after a long time and he's in the equestrian government and doing all his stuff there... Yes it would basically be a rehash of the film but I'd read it

3696112

You pointed out the problem with your idea one sentence after suggesting it. If it's a rehash, then what's the point of the ponies?

3696120 but the thing is is that people like the change of scenery and as I said, I'd read it and lots of others would too. So hardly matters if it's a shit eating retarded idea does it?

3701425

Yes. Yes it absolutely does.

I don't care how low your standards as a reader are. I don't care if you have no standards. No self-respecting writer should ever look at their story, know that it's bad, and then shrug and go "Eh, who gives a shit? I'll still get my page views!" If someone is content to just produce nothing but shlock, that's fine, but they cannot then post it on a public forum, implicitly asking people to read it. If you ask people to read something that you posted, knowing full-well that you put not even a single iota of thought or creativity into it, then you're just deliberately wasting people's time.

Even trollfic writers put thought into the troll. But writers who do not put in any effort at all shouldn't even be called writers, and they shouldn't post on this site. If they don't give a shit, why are they even here? They insult every writer who ever cared about their craft by calling these creative turds "stories", and they insult every reader who dares to give them the time by only giving them shit in return.

So again, yes, it does matter that it's a bad idea. Because we could instead be having good ideas.

3701780 no my point is THEY, the author, enjoys writing it! If I could write better than a wet paper towel id do it but with my lack of knowledge on politics plus my shit writing I can't do it. And everyone else wouldn't enjoy doing it so eh I can live with the shite I read now, also a bad idea can turn out quite well if history is anything to go off of as it's full fuck ups

3701816

People are free to do whatever they want, but if they don't try when writing their stories then they shouldn't put them on the internet, no matter how much they might enjoy it.

I enjoy food, but I don't livestream eating all my meals and invite my followers to watch.

3701825 let's just agree that I'm a cunt with a stupid opinion then? I ready do

3702098

A'ight. Sounds reasonable to me.

3702099 to be consistent, fuckitybye

3702108

3665053
It's not entirely impossible. To send someone like Nostalgia Critic who's job is very limited would fit that explenation, but The Thick of It has more potential to it. Anyone who's got a good grasp on English politics, or current politics in general really, could make out something. Equestria's political system has barely been shown or explained at all, so that leaves a good amount of room for exploration.

So, in the overall view, yes it would be bad to just write a random story about Tucker would be completely pointless; I could just as well do it with any random Scotsman and make it look the same. To write a political exploration-based story with Tucker as the main character would be something worth doing, provided it be done well and correctly in the first place. I suppose that would be the connectivity point, again provided the author knows enough about said point.

3702274

While you're right with regards to Equestria's political system being more of an unknown to us, there is still an issue of tone here.

The Thick of It portrays a world draped in cynicism. Every major character in the series who has ideals and principles when we first meet them is a corrupt, self-serving coward by the end. There is no screentime devoted to their family lives or friendships because it's all irrelevant in the face of them working to oil the political machine. These people, despite working together, all hate each other's guts with a passion. The only romantically-involved couple we see onscreen are broken up and passively despise one another. Malcolm Tucker is only the most extreme example of the attitude that rules the day in this world, because his brand of abuse is the only technique that works for keeping everything from falling to shambles, and even he is ruined in the end.

This is the real reason why this show is so incompatible for a crossover. Equestria is not that kind of world. It doesn't need a Malcolm Tucker. Now, in theory, yes, we could use vagueness to justify portraying the Equestrian government as a broken mess of a system, full of selfish, hypocrititical cowards who quietly loathe each other and the whole rest of the world. We could reinterpret the modest portrayals of the newspaper industry in this world as a media empire to which every democratically-elected official is a slave. And if we do that, yes, we might conceivably have contrived a scenario in which Malcolm Tucker as a character would be right at home and serve some kind of story purpose aside from just to be there.

But... does it not seem just a little disingenuous to you to deliberately ignore everything that FiM espouses in order to make this possible? I mean, I realise what you're saying is true; we haven't ever seen the inner workings of Celestia's government. I guess we don't know for sure that isn't like that. But I can't imagine that a country that holds harmony as its core ideal and which is ruled by a leader like Princess Celestia could ever give rise to such a vicious system. I'm not saying that we can't interpret the government of Equestria in a darker light, but The Thick of It is goddamn pitch black, and in contrast, FiM is a torchlight being shined directly into your retinas.

In short, I'm sorry, but I still disagree. I don't think the fact that politics exist in both worlds is enough of a connection to justify crossover.

3702138 heh funny anything else? Or are you really THAT butt hurt?

3702138 actually don't reply thanks

3704107

You closed off the conversation with a joke and a Malcolm Tucker-ism. I responded to both to show some goodwill. It was a "no hard feelings, let's all laugh at the jokes" gif. But don't you worry. I won't bother in future. Next time I'll just stop responding at first opportunity and not give you any chance to reignite the argument.

Also, please don't insult me to my face and then ask me to not respond. If you were that worried about what I'd say, maybe you should've thought before posting.

3704752 oh I'm sorry I thought you were making a malicious gesture as it is a picture if him snarling again I'm sorry and then I changed my mind because I get over these things by getting overly angry at them then not caring a few minutes after and also it is best if you don't respond to this as I'll probably fuck up again... Sorry