• Member Since 12th Nov, 2011
  • offline last seen 7 hours ago

Dusty the Royal Janitor


Who needs sleep when you've been dead inside for years? :)

More Blog Posts284

  • 13 weeks
    That Time of the Season Once Again

    Hello all, hope everybody is having a good holiday.

    I'm a bit too hopped up on eggnog right now to really go into depth, but for anybody who remains who cares to hear it, I'll try and have a status update pretty soon.

    Hope everybody is enjoying the season! Merry Christmas~!

    2 comments · 64 views
  • 58 weeks
    I found some VINTAGE Brony Meme Stupidity in the back of my closet

    So, no real work done on anything creative right now, my dudes. Still working through my shit. Getting a lot of therapy, but unfortunately the "greater situation" I'm dealing with is both existential, ongoing, and an annoyingly hot topic right now, so it's an uphill battle.

    Read More

    6 comments · 288 views
  • 65 weeks
    Happy Yearly Holiday Update

    Huh. I wonder if anybody still checks this page. I've been pretty dead on this site for a while now.

    Happy Holidays to everybody out there who still finds themselves entranced by stories of technicolor equines. I hope everybody is having a Merry Christmas.

    Read More

    8 comments · 194 views
  • 117 weeks
    The Yearly Holiday Janitorial Update

    *peeks in*

    ...Is anybody even still watching this space?

    So, another year has gone by and I'm afraid, once again, I have little to show for it.

    Read More

    5 comments · 482 views
  • 169 weeks
    Christmas Wishes, Apologies, and Updates

    Hello, everybody. Long time no... well... anything really.

    It's been exactly one year since I've given anybody here any blog whatsoever, and that was just a quick Christmas gag. It's been even longer since I've actually given anybody any updates on any of my stories or what's going on in my life.

    Read More

    9 comments · 554 views
Jan
30th
2013

Sixteen-Ton Elephant Playing a Fiddle! · 2:29am Jan 30th, 2013

You know... it occurs to me that almost nobody reads my blog posts. I suppose that's par for the course when the only thing that you have to your name is a single story that's a part of a larger collab and is by no means even all that great. Still, that story has a relatively good number of followers, and I have a somewhat decent number of people who follow me, so it does seem a little bit strange to me that anytime I post a blog, I tend to get a maximum of two people commenting on it.

I bring this up because I'd really like your comments right now, and I encourage you to keep reading. You can probably guess by now that the title has absolutely nothing to do with this blog. It was written to set itself apart from all the other Alicorn Twilight blogs going 'round. Yep, this is an Alicorn Twilight blog, but I ask that you keep on reading because I actually have a question for everybody that I rather want answered.

Anyway, so, Alicorn Twilight. I'd like to believe that it seems like they're going to have her become an Alicorn and then change her back somehow, though I must admit this seems unlikely. Largely because of the fact that they've released toys about it and the fact that the event itself is called "The Princess Coronation." Nevertheless, I have to admit... I'm actually not that mad about it. I mean, let's face it: they were grooming her for this from the very beginning. If you ever stopped to notice the way Twilight's magic was rapidly progressing and the many other hints in the show, you'd know that this is something they were hinting at ever since Applebuck Season.

And honestly? I don't think it'll ruin the show. I think there are a number of things they could do with this, and many of them are very interesting. Granted, the show will inevitably change because of it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I've actually got some level of hope for this episode, unlike "Keep Calm and Flutter On" which I had no hope for whatsoever (and despite people trying to find good things about, I still find to be one of the worst episodes of the series.)

Heck, the reason why I didn't like Keep Calm and Flutter On wasn't even the fact that Discord was redeemed. Honestly, I thought the idea was interesting. I knew it was going to suck because Dave Polsky was writing for it, and Dave Polsky has never written a good episode in the history of the series. (No, I didn't even consider "Too Many Pinkie Pies" to be a good episode. It was certainly his best but the climax of the episode made the whole thing leave a bitter taste in my mouth.) And so, whether or not I thought the concept was good, the writing was not. It's a case of a good idea being poorly handled by an insufficient writer.

But this is all beside the point. We're meant to be talking about Alicorn Twilight.

So I'm honestly not mad because they intend to do this. I don't think the show will be ruined.

But I am mad.

No, I'm not mad at the fandom either. Because I understand why a lot of them are mad too. See, I think you'll find that a majority of the people who get mad are the people who are writers or comic artists or tumblr artists or in some way otherwise contribute to the fan works of the brony fandom. Why? Well... because let's face it. This will invalidate our fanfics.

And I understand why that makes people mad. It's something that people say "You shouldn't care about that." and "How dare you be so arrogant" and other things like that. But let's face it, how can we NOT care? If we honestly care about our writing and the stories we want to bring to people, why shouldn't we care when we feel like somebody has basically thrown our writing in a trash bin? And of course it isn't like the writers of the show are targeting us or anything. That's ridiculous. They don't even read fanfic. They're just writing for the show, as is their job.

But the human being is an irrational creature that tends to act on emotion before it acts on reason. So it nevertheless FEELS like our stories and hard work is being crapped upon. It's not something to be ashamed of, in fact, I wouldn't have it any other way. But that's likely what leads to all this rage. Is it selfish? Ehhhhh... it could probably be described as such, but that's natural. And with so much personal investment into our own stories, it's natural that we would feel angry.

So in an attempt to rationalize our anger, we grasp at straws and look for excuses as to why "Alicorn Twilight Sucks." Since we obviously can't say "because it ruins our fanfics" we come up with excuses like "It's only to sell toys" and "It throws off the character balance" and "It cheapens alicorns" and other such arguments. They're things that COULD be argued, but as long as it's written well could be perfectly avoided. Which is why everybody turns around and says "trust the authors."

So, let's just admit. It ruins our fanfics. And yes we're mad. Why? Because we put a lot of time and effort into those fanfics. Wasted time? You could argue that, but we found it worth doing. And now we just want to tell people we're mad and have them sympathize with us.

Hey guys.

I'm mad.

No, not at the makers of the show. They aren't to blame at all. Not even at Hasbro, because, after all, they DO need to make money. Not at the concept of Alicorn Twilight. I'm mad at the situation it creates, and it's a situation that is completely out of anybody's control. The only reason to be mad at the writers and Hasbro is peripheral because it could be said they "caused" the situation, but they didn't do it with any malicious intent or anything. So there's no point in being mad. But as an irrational, emotional human being that puts feelings before reason, I can't help but be mad.

Which is why I come to the final question. The one that I mentioned way way way back at the beginning of the blog.

See, I have a lot of ideas for fanfiction that I think are pretty good. I have outlines and rough drafts of several chapters for all of them. But unlike what happened with Discord (who, oddly enough, rarely shows up in any of my stories), Alicorn Twilight would completely invalidate all of them.

So the big question... does anybody care? Does anybody even care if fanfics... not necessarily mine, but fanfics and stories in general don't star Alicorn Twilight? Does anybody even really care if people decide to leave Twilight a unicorn in their stories because it'll make the stories work better? If not, let them (and me) know. I think it'll actually be very encouraging. Ask people who write good fanfics you like "what Alicorn Twilight will mean for the fic" and if they say "they don't know" or that they're "thinking about canceling the fic" let them know that you don't care if it doesn't follow the show to the letter.

Assuming you don't. Because I really don't. But then again that's just me.

If everybody does, then I guess we all just pack it in. >_>

Comments ( 6 )

I think it would be completely fine to disregard alicorn twilight for the purpose of story quality, plus it's your story, which means the canon involved with it is whatever you want it to be, that's the great thing about writing, you can write whatever you want and throw the consequences to the winds, and so long as it's not a terrible story, chances are at least I'll enjoy it and thank you for writing it:twilightsmile::heart::twilightsmile:

Alicorn Twilight would be as bad as Twilight Princess.

I'll be honest with you. I hate that Twilight's gonna become an Alicorn.

I mean, you've already proven that you recognize why people hate it, so I don't have to explain myself too much, but what I do want to point out is how much it will mess up the accuracy of fanfictions.

Twilight will become an Alicorn. That's canon. But there are many stories out there, completed, mind you, that have Twilight not as an Alicorn. That's fanon. And after this point in time stories will be inaccurate because Twilight didn't become an Alicorn at some point in time in the story. Sure, the story could have taken place before she turned into an Alicorn, but what about all the stories that took place two to three years after the pilot episode? I don't think that the TV show timeline is spanning more than a year and a half, so that can’t be an excuse.

I could just ignore the fact that Twilight is an Alicorn now and read my stories as normal. But now it won't be the same, because subconsciously I'll always know that Twilight Sparkle, the main character in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic goes from student to princess in a relatively short span. And now I'll forever have that nagging sensation that the fanfiction is all wrong because Twilight Sparkle isn't an Alicorn. With this change in effect, how many stories will have to add the 'alternate universe' tag just because Twilight is not an Alicorn? I know I will have to change mine.

Speaking of mine, Twilight's development has once again destroyed plot points that I was going to use once I fleshed out my story more. Now I know that from now and forever, my story is in an alternate universe simply because Twilight isn't, and will not become, an Alicorn. More so, many other episodes have messed up parts of my plot that I was going to write, such as Luna Eclipsed, Baby Cakes and Keep Calm and Flutter on. Of course, being fanfiction writers we are under the mercy of the canon writers, however, when you present a character change so large it shakes the fanbase, then we have a problem. Not only is the idea un-original, seeing as there are dozens and dozens of fan stories about Twilight becoming an Alicorn, but it also completely changes the personality of said character.

How will Twilight Alicorn act differently compared to Twilight Unicorn? What kind of differences will the Bronies notice? How will the other Elements of Harmony deal with the situation? Does this mean she is a part of the royal family now? How much power will she have? Will she have royal duties? Will she still stay in Ponyville, or live in Canterlot like she used to? The answers to these questions will no doubt be answered during the actual episode, but I feel like they will either not do a good job answering them or will not answer them at all. A lot of the episodes in FiM have time constraint problems, and with this character evolution, I feel as if they might butcher this one.

I do believe your question was "does anybody care? Does anybody even care if fanfics... not necessarily mine, but fanfics and stories in general don't star Alicorn Twilight?"

Well I do care.

I care because Twilight Sparkle, as a character, will be forever changed. And stories that don’t feature Alicorn Twilight will become inaccurate. Sure, almost all stories in this fandom are not accurate to the show at all, but that still means that stories that don’t feature Twilight Alicorn are alternate universes. Why? Because they don’t feature Twilight Alicorn. As usual, this change is not within my power, so I'm not going to do anything about it, and do my best to ignore the effects that may take place as a result of this great change. But hot damn, this will most likely frustrate me in the days to come.

If you're writing a story and don't want Twilight to have alicorn status, I don't see why you can't have the story take place earlier in the show. Have it be a alternate universe. There are tons of those and some are very good.

Also, if you've got a story planned already and you feel it works with or without Twilicorn, then go for it. Who says you can't? And who says you can't change the direction of the fic once you've started? Unlike the show runners, who have to go through several channels to get the episode out the door, you are the only one responsible for making a story work. You also don't have the same restrictions that the show writers have.

I'd say fanfic authors have it made. You decide everything, and as long as you can justify changes, then what's to worry about? Go for it!

770601
See, I don't feel this way at all. I have stories that feature Twilight, but I don't feel the uncertainty you are going through with that nagging sense in the back of my head that things are wrong. Why should I? It's just a story, set in a period of time of my making. I guess I just have an easier time rolling with the changes than most. Still, I wish you luck in future endeavors and hope you find a way to make peace with what's to come.

Meh, I'll reserve judgement for when it comes out and the reaction afterward.

We've had 64 episodes of non-alicorn Twilight and 1 in which she is by the end of S3. People are still thinking of her as a unicorn. I don't see any reason to change that.

I mean, sure, she's becoming a physical goddess. In that she's sprouted normal pegasus wings and starts wearing an ugly 1950s-Sunday-school dress. But we aren't familiar with all the implications of that. As S4 rolls along, if she's still an alicorn, more and more people will start adapting to it with their fan product. But as for stuff featuring her as a unicorn: so what? She's been a unicorn all her life until now. In all odds, she's still the same Twilight. Just plus wings. We can write and think of her as a unicorn if we like, and it really won't matter.

Basically, some people will care. But not many.

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