An Introvert's Take on the PonyEarthverse · 4:21am Jul 9th, 2013
There is a Ponies On Earth series on FIMFiction.com that has caught my attention recently called the PonyEarthverse. The twist in this particular series is that the ponies who suddenly find themselves on Earth are sharing bodies with the bronies that are writing the stories in the first person. And, after a few days of this, the personalities of human and pony start to merge.
This last part in particular is a fantastically hard trick to pull off as a writer, especially for the kind of beginning writer who would be most tempted to write a first-person story about having an adventure with their favorite pony. And in fact I’ve seen a lot of these stories crash and burn, and can count the number of amazingly good stories on one hand. (In case you’re wondering, they’re “Becoming Fluttershy,” “Blossoming: Learning How to Fly” and “Floating Down.” There are about a half-dozen other stories that are good or which haven’t gone on long enough for me be sure of their quality.) The last of the three I listed has even moved beyond the main concept to investigate what happens when the merge goes horribly wrong.
Now I could never write a PonyEarthverse fic. Not in a million years, and I’ll tell you why: I can’t write about myself. I am intensely, maybe even neurotically paranoid about anybody knowing too much about the real me (which let me tell you, made writing college entrance essays akin to pulling out my fingernails with white-hot tweezers). So first-person fanfics are automatically out of the question for me, unless I invent a thoroughly false identity to hide behind. Also, I am completely invested in my personality, flawed as it might be, and the idea that that personality could suddenly change on me, even to bring me closer to the ideal represented by My Little Pony, strikes me as far more horrifying than enlightening.
But if I can’t take the extrovert’s way of writing a story, I’ve always been open to the introvert’s way. After all, my childhood fantasies never revolved around saving the world—no, I’d be the guy who’d have the bright idea to give to the hero, so he can save the world and get all that terrifying attention that I wanted nothing to do with.
So that’s why, in my humble opinion, the people running PonyEarthverse are making a terrible mistake...by not throwing a psychiatrist into the mix.
Think about it: Perhaps as a result of exaggerating their own character faults, a lot of the hosts in these stories are quite messed up in the head (to use the scientific term). I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they were already seeing somebody for counseling when this whole transformation business started. Who better for them to appeal to when they wake up in a new body than a shrink?
Now look at it from the point of view of the psychiatrist—let’s call him Dr. Peterson. He’s seeing teenagers and young adults, so it’s in his best interest to know at least a little something about the aspects of pop culture that appeal to his patients. Since he’s got bronies in his group, he would have seen a couple of episodes. He wouldn’t have had any time to read any fanfics, but he’d certainly know about not only the most famous, but also the most infamous works in the oeuvre (there is no possible way that he isn’t familiar with “Cupcakes”, for example). He may have even watched one or two of the analysis videos. Overall, before this whole business started, he had a positive opinion of the series. Patients that had difficulty reaching out to others now had correspondents from around the globe, and at least dreamed of meeting them in person at the next local con.
Now the great advantage you have in using a psychiatrist in one of these stories as opposed to your stereotypical scientist is that a psychiatrist is not going to have this unbreakable attachment to conventional reality, giving rise to a lame scene where said scientist is insisting in Twilight Sparkle’s face that she’s obviously a dwarf in a suit right before she teleports him out to the street without his clothes.
No, a psychiatrist, more than anybody else, knows that we all live our lives through illusion. The universe as it actually is is something that the human mind cannot handle. It’s been around for billions of years, will continue to exist for billions more, and is unimaginably vast in size. Against that backdrop, nothing that any human being will ever do will ever matter. No so-called “sane” human can handle this fact, so we invent a universe where our existence actually matters—our own personal delusion. The job of a psychiatrist is to help those whose personal delusion is causing more harm than good, and guide them in crafting a new delusion that at least stops them from hurting themselves and others.
As a result, psychiatrists deal with what other scientists call “the impossible” on a daily basis. If Patient P.D.P. claims that she turns invisible whenever nobody’s looking at her, it doesn’t really matter to the psychiatrist if what she claims is true or not. The problem is that P.D.P. thinks that she has no personal worth beyond what others think of her. If the best way of getting through to her is to assist her in creating a (placebo) potion that makes her permanently visible, then so be it. So if one day a patient (I’ll call him Charlie the Pyromaniac) suddenly showed up at the office as a pony, it certainly would be a surprise to our Dr. Peterson, but not an insurmountable surprise.
Once Charlie has discovered his second personality (I don’t think Pokey Pierce is taken yet...), that would then raise an interesting conflict of interest. Assuming Dr. Peterson can be convinced that this second personality is truly foreign, then does he have any right to interrogate Mr. Pierce, as the doctor would love to do as part of the treatment of his patient? After all, if Charlie signed up to share his personal life with a total stranger, Pokey certainly did not. I can envision scenarios involving hypnotism and a great deal of resistance. And magic. Extremely sharp and cutting magic...
The place in the story where I see a psychiatrist being incredibly valuable in this setting would be the merge. I know the authors thus far are pretty open-minded about this, but I would think most people, even most bronies, would be extremely reluctant to lose part of who they are, and that would apply even more to an ordinary pony likely to see only the worst in humanity. And as for Dr. Peterson—talk about conflict of interest! How sure is he going to be that a radical change like this will truly be in his patient’s best interest? After all, the future of “Chokey the Mildly Annoying” after this whole “save both worlds” scenario is completely up in the air.
I suppose you’re wondering if I have any intention of actually writing this story. The answer to that question is “No”. First, because it would never be an accepted part of the PonyEarthverse, and might, because it’s not official, be taken as an attack on that series, which is certainly not my intention regardless of jokey character names. And the other reason is that this site has a pool of potential readers with a higher than expected number of actual or former patients of psychiatrists. I on the other hand have never seen a shrink. (I may well have developed into a more stable and happy individual if I had.) As such, I feel completely unqualified to write for such a character as Dr. Peterson. I could do the necessary research to overcome this hurdle, but that requires a heck of a lot more interest in this story than I’ve got—I merely consider the concept mildly interesting, and would follow such a story if somebody else wrote it.
But I thought it was worth putting out there, for what it’s worth.
This...I like this... Hmmmmmm...
This...I like this... Hmmmmmmmm...
Could be an interesting concept, I guess. Not sure if I'd read it. Though I do thoroughly respect your unwillingness to write about yourself in such a capacity. I'm just the same. More than that, I really often have trouble stomaching self-insert stories other people write too. They're unsettlingly personal in a way that even most autobiographies are not, and I really like to be able to mentally separate an author and their work while reading, which is impossible with a self-insert. Y'know?
I took a year of psych. I'd love to dig deeper into it. As for the story, it's a great concept. I'm already writing a self-insert surrounding the PonyEarthverse idea called Felanthroid, though it isn't official, and I have nothing to do with saving both worlds. I have to survive the loss of my family and the dangers farm life brings while having to deal with an invasion of self from Opalescence's personality and waiting for the world to be saved.
I love self-inserts
Hi! I'm the author for Awakening Pink, and I'd like to say that you would DEFINITELY be accepted. Heck, we allow OC ponies (with the caveat that they were basically unseen background ponies in the pre-season three era). Also, you don't HAVE to write about yourself. You can write about an OC human.
And...
While I'm not technically a psychiatrist, I do study psychology and sociology and philosophy in order to better understand humans. As an aspie, I find it difficult to interact with people. Hence why I got Pinkie, who is far more social. (A going rule we have is that the spell seems to to stick complimentary personalities together.) Still you're right, a professional psychiatrist would definitely be a cool character. Why don't you try it anyway? OC up a human and join us in the IRC!
1198403
I'm going to be referencing your story in my next chapter.... as an in-universe crackfic based off the actual happenings. Hope you don't mind!
1198496
Go for it.
Later on in the story, I'm going to be pushing a button that will have no effect in my vicinity. If anyone in the universe wants to use that, then go for it.
Now this I wanna see.
1198496
Ooh! Refer to me as a psychotic deranged lunatic asshole!!
1198496
Well, I am honored that you have noticed this little idea of mine. I believe I have a few of the traits, but not to the degree warranted to deserve the title of "aspie" myself. I tend to read history (or as I call it, "applied psychology") for the same reasons you study the social sciences.
I will certainly consider your offer. It's complicated a bit by the fact that I posted the idea for a Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends crossover on the same night as this post, and it got a much better response than I expected, so that would increase my workload that much more. So I certainly could propose writing this as a story to the group, although I think a full collaboration with somebody willing to bring their character to the brink of insanity for my character to pull them back down to earth would be much more interesting.
1200479
Well.... I'm pretty sure Gilda/Cale is headed that way! And hey, everybody in the universe has to be a little crazy.
Granted I'm being lazy updating right now.
1198703
You have some interesting ideas. If one of your characters ever has the need to spill their guts to a fictional doctor, be sure to give me a ring.
And it's looking like I might see you in the IRC for PonyEarthverse. Maybe. If I can work up the nerve. I'm always a lot more confident in forms of written communication where I have a half hour to remove all the errors from each message before I send it.