Juxtaposition. · 11:25am Jun 8th, 2012
Rainbow Dash. In show, she's this brash., confident pegasus who complains when she gets sappy, obsessed with speed and the wonderbolts. In her most famous fanfics, she end up as part of a melodrama; romanced by X, or adopted by Y, or having to deal with adopting Scoots, or whatever.
Fluttershy. Canon? Soft, easily startled, only dangerous when her friends are endangered. Pretty though. But once we search for her fics, she gets thrown into horror stories, or abusive families, or adventures.
And Pinkie Pie... well, just look at Cupcakes. And Diabetes, too.
This is a trend I've noticed. A trend to take characters and place them in situations so unusual as to be opposed to their basic identity. Why do so many authors think Rarity, a loving fashionista, would do well in an adventure fic? Or put Applejack in a den of thieves, lies floating through the air like smoke? Heck even Twilight gets it, always stumbling onto something that just isn't in her books or finding a world without magic. Why do we do this? I'm certainly guilty of it. And after a lot of thinking, I have come down to one word:
Juxtaposition.
According to the dictionary, Juxtaposition is an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. So why DO we like comparing and contrasting things? Well, it's a normal human instinct. Some of our greatest stories are GOOD VERSUS EVIL or THE POWERLESS HERO STRUGGLING AGAINST AN EMPIRE. Juxtaposition is a good way to find What Ifs, mixing together two things and tasting the results. This is also part of the reason why ponies became such a big thing, I think. Before ponies, the internet was... well, you know, not very friendly, but after they hit the scene bronies rapidly developed the Love and Tolerate mantra we know today. Humans are attracted to opposites, out of sheer curiosity. Therefore we take our favorite characters and ask, what would happen if I put them in this situation, which is something they would completely oppose? Then we sit back and watch the mania.
Well, anyway, random thoughts.
Hmm. True. In fact, the fanon settings and personalities are so popular that they're clichés by now. I mean, Pinkamena as a psychokiller is just... old by now.
It's just that we like to see characters suffering. When we love a character and that same character is having the hell of a time, we love him more. And if you kill him, then you're reached the goal of making your fans cry. And after all, a character has to be three-dimensional, so we like to see him in every possible situation.
Just ask J. Whedon. Huh.
And, now that I think about it... we're so used to stories like that that when a canon-like one appears, it usually becomes a hit...
If it's well written, of course.
And you have just summarized all stories.
This is true... and it makes me sad. Especially Fluttershy, as she is my favorite pony.
I don't think that I am an offender of this post... I hope not. But the thing is that authors pretty much just search for ideas and whatever strikes them as good they'll throw out there. It doesn't matter if it isn't in character, it's what they wanted to do.
More often than not, those stories don't turn out too pretty.