Jun
17th
2014
Getting very discouraged *possible spoilers* · 4:13pm Jun 17th, 2014
Ok. this is the third or fourth time this has happened. I post a chapter. i get a bunch of comments telling me that, if beautiful scales turns out to be a sparity fic, people will leave, or downvote, or whatever. I've gotten like, one, maybe two posts from people who actually enjoy what i'm writing.
I don't want to give away half the story in one word. i'm trying to build a little suspense and dramatic tension. but when people tell you that they hate what is basically the only ship promoted at all in canon, what the heck am i supposed to do? At this point i almost don't want to even continue writing this thing.
Show of hands, who wants to read this thing, regardless of 'shipping'?
I am enjoying this story and will be disappointed if you don't continue it. I admit that I'm more intrigued by the cultural interactions than by the foreshadowed romance. For what it's worth, in regards to 'shipping, I'd be more interested in seeing Rarity pair off with Vaeron; Spike is still a baby dragon, after all. It'd be fun to see Vaeron continue to teach Rarity how to be a dragon.
There will always be people who don't like your work for specific and sometimes arbitrary reasons, and as you well know, you can't please everybody. I recommend that you write what pleases you.
I'm a little surprised about the whole thing myself. As you say, Sparity has to be the most common ship in the whole damned fandom. I'm far more used to seeing stories filled with "if this -isn't- Sparity I'll be very upset" comments. Not real sure what's attracted such a large proportion of anti-Sparity folk to this story. Eh, probably just a statistical fluke, and I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Tell the story you want to tell. So far, I've been enjoying it and would be very sad if you didn't continue it.
Personally, I don't care which way this gets shipped, it'll be interesting either way. The key is just whether its well-written and makes character sense, from that all else follows. Like the fellow before me, I'd say I'm also more interested in the culture clash than the romance angle.
I still want to read it, and if it makes you feel any better, I'm hoping this story has Sparity. I know some people say it's overdone, but this type of scenario is rarely ever used for this ship. I'm referring to dragon Rarity and Spike, I've looked around the website and there are only around five stories with Rarity turning into a dragon and having a romantic relationship with Spike. Most of them haven't even been finished yet! There's a whole lot of pony Spike stories, but not a lot of dragon Rarity! I'm telling you, some people may think it's unoriginal, but I swear to god that you are writing a story that is rarely ever done before. If some people don't like it, then they probably hate Sparity!
It's your story dude. Write it the way you want to.
BTW, I will be furious if you ship Rarity with that random dragon! I mean he has nothing that Rarity would find interesting.
I'm realy interested with thorntail, but spikey poo.. oooh.. thorntail is a more plausible intretest . But its soo.. soo... MAL-FUC-ION! *BOOM!*
error in emotional safety peramiters.. going offline.
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Why be furious? The author is producing a creative and well-constructed story for free, for your entertainment. Whichever way the 'ship sails, the author deserves your thanks. You're free to disagree with the direction the story takes, but being 'furious' about it (unless you're speaking in hyperbole) is a bit over the top, IMO.
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I'm sorry, I'm just a hardcore Sparity fan.
I'll be honest and say that I'm part of team Sparity here, so what I say may come off as bias, but I'm just going to give you a few pointers here as best I can anyway.
I feel that part of your problem, concerning the Sparity-hate, is that the pairing you're going with isn't stated in the story's description. Doing this would probably be fine for any ship except Sparity. The reason is that unlike most other ships out in the fandom (FlashLight being similar here), there are pretty much two set sides to readers when it comes to Sparity, or at least that's what I've gathered from reading around; 'love it' or 'hate it'.
Yes, initially stating the ship does take away the mystery, and will disinterest some readers (everyone has ships they like/don't like), but it just means that you won't have to put with some readers complaining/ threatening to downvote when the shipping starts.
Anyway, you have a great fic here, and It'd be a shame if you stopped writing it. You've portrayed your characters well, and very few stories on this site go into dragon culture/lore/interaction by bringing Spike/Everfree Dragon together as a possible student-mentor pair. 'It Takes a Village' by determamfidd is the only other one I can remember.
While I'm hoping it doesn't end up Sparity fic with the way Rarity has been acting I'll stick around to see how it end even if it becomes one.
Do what you want man. I love sparity in general, but it all comes down to whether it makes sense in your story. I wouldn't downvote a fic because it contained something cannon or what could be reasonably guessed at. I wouldn't even downvote something I personally disliked if it wasn't eggregious. I only downvote otherwise good stories if the author decides to do a meaningless 180, for no literary reason, like picking a hopeless, sad ending for a story where he had previously built up a spirit of overcoming obsticles and hope. I'm looking at you, Background Pony!
I probably would stop reading it, but I respect that it's your story. My pleasure or disappointment is not whats important, you being happy with your story while striving to improve as an author is.
I still think you're a good author and that the story itself is well written though, regardless
2217620 Thank you. i was starting to wonder with the only thing you commenting on were my typos.
2217770 Both require honesty
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Thanks for responding everyone. i really needed that. Beautiful scales will definitely be continued, now that i know i actually have some readers interested in it.
Actually started reading the fic in question. It's interesting in its own right, whether or not it turns out to involve Sparity. You can do a lot with this, of which Sparity events are just one of the possible options.
*hugs* well you enjoy what you write, and I shall support your work. Just remember
Always walk with your head held high and never give up for what you believe in
*Raises Hand*
I'm still here. This story is now the very rightmost story in my read later list. Eight months since the last update, and yet here I am still checking on it from time to time to see if there's been a new one.
I realize these things can be frustrating. All I can suggest is: look at those over 550 upvotes and those only 9 downvotes. ~61:1 upvotes to downvotes ratio. Now go pick any group at random, and look at the top rated story in the entire group.. Checking first trending group on the list..."Reading Sins" top ranked story in that group is Absolution with 686 upvotes and 24 downvotes. Only a ~28:1 ratio.
Go ahead. Try that on your own. Pick a group, order by rating, and check the up/down votes and compare to the highest ranked stories in any group. Sure, there are a few with higher ratings, but not all that many, and not by all that much. Do it. Check.
I think you'll find that Interview with a Changeling is one of the most highly ranked stories on all of fimfiction. If people are giving you a hard time in the comments, it's not because they dont' like the story. It's because it captivates them, and it's very important to them.
You've written something that's important to people.
Feel good about that.
Well... I'm more of a SpikeBelle fan, but Kilala showed me that Sparity isn't completely terrible.
When done right, shipping can be wonderful. Everyone ships at least a little bit. The only time people have a problem with it is when the story around it is crap or works against it in an awkward way. That being said, you are heading in a direction where it could be great either way (at least in my opinion). What it comes down to in the end though is if you like it. I have written a lot and I found that as long as you forget about trying to make everyone happy and focus on what makes you happy, the hate will go away and you'll find people that truly appreciate you for being you... I know this from experience.