Maybe all I needed was a bit of genuine gentle help! · 12:40am May 19th, 2014
Important announcement! Mystquestria is still on hiatus, but over the course of only a few hours, someone who apparently would prefer to remain anonymous has helped me to replace the flashback scene with an entirely different backstory. The replacement chapter 2 will be up ahead of schedule. And by that, I mean soon. How soon? Not telling. But it's almost ready! All I needed was an optimist who could come up with wonderful ideas and allow a positive working environment to help me think better! (S)he is one of the critics who railed on my fic, but once I got to know him/her, I found out that (s)he is a really nice person. Thank you, and I will honor your request to remain anonymous.
In short, because someone offered genuine help, Mystquestria will be back up soon. All I needed to do was replace one scene and edit a little bit of the rest, and it all fell into place! And this person helped without using insults, sarcasm, discouragement, or any other kind of destructive criticism, like the rest of you critics have been using. If you had just tried to be nice and help me brainstorm instead of flinging insults the whole time, this fic could have been repaired days ago.
So, to all of my beloved followers and readers: be ready and waiting! I won't disappoint! It'll be better than ever! You know how they say 'third time's the charm'? Well, this is attempt number three, and I sure feel lucky!
truly is the greatest shit storm of our time
Well glad to see the situation has defused and is dormant. I hope the help you received from this anonymous user was informative and helpful.
Good Day.
You know what's going to come out of this, right? You know there's a ton of people who tried to do this right? You know you're going to get railed just for making that claim, right?
If the next chapter's just as bad, or any worse, your fate may well be sealed as a writer permanently.
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I think it's already sealed on this site. I doubt very much that he's going to change anybody's mind.
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The softer, hoping side of me wants to say that it's possible to make some kind, any kind, of comeback.
The realistic side wants to agree with you completely, and this will do nothing more than run it into the ground.
Either way, it's out of our hands. We'll just sit back and see history play out.
This is the most mature response to any critique. Ever.
So basically, you had around ten people offering constructive advice without using any insults, you apparently had a team of editors, but I guess none of them were helpful or constructive. Just this one person.
Throwing literally everyone else who ever tried to help you under the bus like this is not cool.
2123435 They kept suggesting the same things over and over. This person came up with a third option. i didn't like what I had, but it was all I had. You guys just kept saying: drop the fic, remove this, remove that. This person came up with a replacement, and it's a million times better than what I could come up with on my own! I found a compromise. none of you would consider that. I was looking for compromise, not being bossed around.
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... dammit, ninja'd.
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Well I personally didn't say anything as it's not my area of expertise. I don't write or read clop, I don't write homosexual stories or romance and general, and I don't read romance often, and I've maybe read 2-3 homo-romance stories. And on top of that I'm not a big fan of shipping, either. Almost all of your story I have no real knowledge on, I got involved because of how horrible some (I'm going to be sensitive) 'areas' were handled in such disgusting ways.
I'm not offering any help because I can't, but I damn well know there were plenty of people, offering a large number of options, who pointed out various problems, many of whom were experts in these fields. You can say I didn't but don't think you can BS your way out of the corner by pulling the haters claim in a different way.
BTW, did you ever think that because so many people kept yelling about that one problem that that one problem was the biggest reason it tanked? Seriously, if everyone yells about a grammar problem, you fix the grammar problem, not the story. Listen to what people are saying; everyone telling you the same thing doesn't make them wrong, it definitively shows what's wrong with the story. Do you see what I'm saying?
In your case, it may very well be 'six hundred thousandth time's the charm'. If you're lucky, anyway.
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I mean seriously, you write. Does that explanation to him not makes sense? If everyone keeps telling you to fix the same thing, than wouldn't you fix it? I've had that problem before and I dealt with it. Does it not make sense?
2123471 None of them were willing to compromise. This person was. Compromise is what I needed the whole time. My editors are great people, yes, but none of them were available at the time. This person was. You didn't see what happened when para tried to 'help'. Para brought a bunch of people uninvited, and even after I convinced para to send the rest away, para asked if I'd allow her one friend. I relented. Once that friend showed up, all productivity died, and they just kept railing on everything I had without offering one good piece of advice. I got frustrated, and that's why I put the fic on hiatus. Then, a few minutes later, this anonymous person sends me a PM, I send them the link, and they prove to be downright friendly, and we start coming up with new ideas in seconds. If any of you had tried to be constructive without repeating the same stuff as everyone else, then I would've had a solution much sooner. All of your 'suggestions' were the same mantra over and over again. You saw that I wasn't going to do those things, and yet you didn't come up with another suggestion. Not one of you did. it was the same broken record every comment. If just one of you had decided to take a third option like this person did, this problem would've been solved so much sooner. Compromise is the key to success. Not repetition. You were being as stubborn as I was. All of you were.
mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw638_131273482871.png
You're so in denial, you're drowning in Egypt itself.
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Yeah, she writes, but she writes badly. Hence the name.
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Because you kept doing the same things wrong, over and over again.
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I literally did that. The comments are gone now because you deleted the old chapters, but I did.
So now you're just being really insulting.
I'd compare attempting to get criticism through your head to arguing with a brick wall, Mister Citadel, but most walls are more self-aware than you.
2123521 Well, I didn't like the one solution they all kept giving. I wanted a third option! None of them would give me one! This person did. If you look back through it, not one suggestion was unique. Pretty much all of them were the same solutions over and over again. I knew what the problem was, but they wouldn't give me a good solution! This person came up with Option C. And it was fantastic. If any of them had broken away from the pack, I'd have listened.
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It makes sense. I've done some minor rewrites to address concerns before, but I've only rewritten an entire chapter or story once.
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Do you want to make this all stop?
1) Make your protagonist not a self-insert and not a Gary Stu.
2) Leave homosexuality out of the fic entirely.
It's not that difficult. C'mon.
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Walls have better manners as well.
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If you hadn't deleted the old comment sections I could prove this isn't true. So let's turn this on its head:
Prove it.
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You know who also compromised when they shouldn't have? Neville Chamberlain!
Do you understand now?
YOU ARE HITLER.
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Well guess what kiddo! Sometimes you don't get a third option! Welcome to life, right here snug between a rock and a hard place. If it's the same option over and over, then that's what needs to be changed.
Or at the very least if you want a third option, then come up with it yourself, or say 'ok, I'll throw this out the window, but can you help me find another option' instead of drowning with your bloody ship? And you know it's not throwing out an entire story, it's blatant arrogant refusal to change even the slightest details to a certain part because you think it's perfect as is.
You know, I'm reeeaaal interested to see just what this 'Option C' is. Go ahead and post it, I'm truly curious. Because I promise you, I promise, if it's not better, if nothing's changed, then no one is going to take you seriously for anything ever again.
2123430 Felixdawn, if you weren't part of that, then you don't know the meaning of the word shitstorm.
Also, little advice for the author; Pull your narrow-minded head out of your loose and puckering ass. You might hate gays, but don't bring that hate here.
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If this version of Mystquestria was the result of that compromise, then compromise was not what you needed at all.
2123563 Describe the compromise. This oughta be good...
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Insanity.
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
*Spaceoffers a tub of popcorn to Bad Seed as he kicks back and watches the show*
2123590 That's what everyone else said, more or less. You'll find that Option C let's me keep my story and gives a better backstory. You'll see. And if you don't see after that, then I don't know what to say. Not everyone's going to like it. I can't please everyone, and if you're one who i just can't please without being the doormat you all are demanding I be, so be it. I draw the line at being a doormat. You all wanted me to just do what you wanted. It's my story, not yours. I'm willing to bend, but I'm unwilling to throw things away just to make some people happy. I've been reading the guide on how to write a good self-insert. The guide exists, and I'm going to be adhering to it starting with the new Chapter 2. You'll see. Not all self-inserts are bad. They're just tricky. And I plan on proving that I can write a good one.
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Precisely.
*accepts popcorn*
2123534 I messaged you on skype hours ago and been here the whole time?
Also you basically just dared everyone here to attack your fic, and I am pretty sure most accepted the challenge.
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Wise words from Vass, eh? Nice
2123607 I was there...
I WAS THERE WHEN THE STRENGTH OF MEN FELL. Truly, they were darkest of times.
2123601 Actually, you prove they didn't, List each problem, and then tell me the multiple options people gave me. Find even one problem that had a solution of compromise offered, and I'll be impressed. Because I'm going through the screenshots of the comments right now, and I can't find one.
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Of course, honey bunch. I wouldn't write something like you wrote, not in a million years!
I'm not an amazing author, but I can figure out a few things that clearly went over your head.
So being a stubborn bigot who won't accept criticism is better? Okay.
You have already failed, and since you won't listen to the advice who clearly know more than you, you will still fail.
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Even if that's the case, it would certainly require a deft hand. Your hands are the equivalent of giant fingerless hunks of ham, so you aren't going to be writing any halfway decent self-insert fic (if that's even possible) or any decent fic in general for quite a long time.
That is all assuming you ever get your head out of your ass long enough to realize why you are such a terrible writer, which I seriously doubt.
k
2123628 ...
I...
How could there POSSIBLY be a guide for that?
You can't seem to understand that the very foundation of the story is the problem. You've been told to fix it, AND HOW. But you insist on keeping your homophobic messages and thinly veiled bigotry.
Your compromise won't be enough. You're going to get hate because you can't bring yourself to remove the cancerous tumors of the story.
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I've saved every single comment in this whole debacle >.> Literally thousands of them.
Could I please make this clear for everyone in the comments section of this blog post? Ok, allow me to state some things. The rape scene, which I do admit was a very bad, was not an idea he conjured within his mind. No, the idea was given to him by the exact people who were mocking him. What else? After speaking to him to a small length he does not possess hatred over homosexuals and lesbians, he only insists such a practice is to a very tiny degree in this universe, almost kind of like it in our own world. These 'Purists' he details are almost reminiscent of the early 20th century, or maybe leave 19th century. Purity within genes, I.E. only go with the same race/culture/faith etcetera. His inspiration isn't coming from his own sick deluded mind, it's our own minds… back in the early 20th century. Tell me humanity was never like this at one point or another, homosexuals being in the minority and people believing in facial purity. If you think along humanities timeline and compare it where Equestria supposedly is (Thatched roofs, aristocracy ect.) this is very 19th century way of thinking mixed with mid 18th century technology. The only problem you people should have with this fiction is the rape scene… which was supposedly removed. It would be better now if people were to just leave him alone. I'm not a fan of confrontation, and I'm guessing neither is Mr. Citadel, so please leave him be.
Good Day, gentlemen.
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You're doing Gods work, brother.
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Personal inflections about your views on homosexuality and religion aside, the moment I saw a human named Jaxxon, I knew it was b.a.d. bad.
When everyone is telling you something is a bad idea, it generally might just be so. Especially when it is dozens of people telling you the same thing. While yes, writers do generally tend to have their own world-views and morals bleed over into their writing, you have to be careful just how much it is. You can keep the cliched Gary-Stu hardcore in the story, and all sorts of other things, but you need to quit letting personal opinion color your words so much. I mean, a gay filly who rapes people as the only homosexual in the story? That's just foul.
Basically, if I were you, I'd step back from FIMFiction for, oh, let's say a week. Come back with a clear mind and a clear head, and then write without letting your personal views bleed so heavily into your work as if you slit your wrists over the page. A small trickle of blood, at most.
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Einstein is the one who comes to mind when I see that saying, but yes. It seems to be true here.
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Muahahahaha! Not even the pervasive comment deletion button will can save Citadel from his own diarrhea spawn!
2123646
No. You deleted the comments, and then you started talking shit about everyone who ever tried to help you before now.
Burden of proof. Learn it.
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Because they were right (even though I tried to present you with alternative options, both on comments and in PMs). Also, prove it.
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No. I'm enjoying this.
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Right, one of the more unknown ones. It comes to mind, I guess Vass just popped up first.
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He should have been smart enough to realize that including a scence of a child raping another child, while also being the only homosexual character in the story and setting up Lyra's homophobia, was a bad idea. I've gone very dark in my own stories, and I will never write rape. Ever. It's a very sensitive subject that most people, myself included, wouldn't be properly handled.
I would advise against white-knighting for him. It's a futile effort. As for the rest of your post, TL;DR excuses.
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Totally off topic, but I have. Not that I'm going to try to justify writing that dreck.
2123645 Nah, yer thinking of The Fall of TWE
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I've written it as a threat in one of my stories before, but that was bad enough. It's just a subject I've almost never seen an author get right, so I'd rather not.