Inspiration. Or; How Ineffable became a brony. · 8:34am Jun 26th, 2014
Being an old regular of 4chan, I was around when the g4 brony fandom was primarily satirical in nature. I didn't really take part in it though. Had no interest in the show, even when several friends trying to push me to it.
There was two things that ultimately caused my only real interest in the show, or the fandom. Background Pony. Which I no longer have much of an interest in, and this article.
As a coincidence, that article in addition to finally making me become willing to pop onto EQD, before I migrated to pony image boards, then finally Fimfiction. Also provided my inspiration for Trixie's Harmony; a parody of canon meant to challenge Equestria's political structure--which eventually became Fomalhaut. Which is basically the same thing, but on a much larger scale... and no longer a comedy--with the benefits of dictatorship.
I do really recommend giving the article a read, it's quite nifty and is a theory that holds well throughout the seasons.
So would you say "Background Pony" is worth reading? The fandom seems really divided on that question. When I asked people if they could recommend the bleakest, most "devoid of hope" story they know, many pointed to this one, so I imagine I'd be able to enjoy it...
Also, how did you come to read a fanfic when the show itself did not interest you?
2235598
Background Pony is fairly descriptive and well written, but ultimately, it's really, really long without actually... doing anything.
It's definitely depressing, but it doesn't really do much with it, considering the time frame. If I were to recommend a depressing, well written work from the author, The End of Ponies is far superior, and through the much more tangible story along with a deeper plot that goes more than "Lyra is cursed and slowly dying, there's nothing she can do about it. Come back later in 400k words where this is still all that's happening", is also more interesting... and depressing. Since there's characters to care about that can be easily empathized with. You might want to start with the indirect prequel, but I didn't. Primarily because I didn't know about it when going at the fic.
If you want the experience of Background pony, just read the description until you fall asleep. As, that's quite literally what the story is like. It's fine if you don't need much in the way of innovation, as it manages to be well written throughout. But, eh, even the climax was kind of... bleh.
2235609
Well, monotone is sort of my thing, at least as long as it keeps your head pinned into the mud...
But yeah, even I have my limits (I'm looking at you, "Project Horizons"...
)
Hmm... "End of Ponies"? It's been on my "read this stuff sometime" list for forever now. I might give it a shot sometime.
2235619
End of Ponies is pretty much two-tone, but, really, it just gravitates between the depressing, post-apocalypse, to the depressing one-month-before-the-apocalypse, where nothing can actually be saved, and nothing can really be changed. It's monotone in the sense that it's dark, and depressing. It's just doing that in two different points in time, with an actual cast of characters, in an actually developed world past Discord's love life.
2235623
That sounds good. After all, for me, one of the best things in "Fallout: Equestria" was getting the feel of how inevitable pre-war Equestria's doom was, no matter how many "what if"-s are revealed throughout the story that might have prevented it. Not to say it was heartwarming, but the intensity of the emotions definitely made it worthwhile...