Kudzuhaiku esque blog.

All fans of AKG:

1) What is your favorite chapter? Why?

2) What character do you think I've written well? What character did I screw up with?

3) What do you think of Seraphim Glare, my only published OC?

4) Does it have the problems that a lot of other Alicorn-centric fanfics have?

Comments

[alarajrogers]

Been too long since I read it to point out a chapter. I did like the historical roles of Discord and Sombra and how they ended up becoming what they became, although I thought modern-day Discord looked way too much like he was going down without a fight, and I really wanted to see what his clever plan with the Harmony extract was.

I can tell you,though, that Seraphim Glare doesn't remotely fall into the usual category of Alicorn OC, because you did something smart: you made him a villain. You made him a reprehensible villain who we feel no sympathy for, and you made him a scarily competent villain, though with seeds in him that you can see how he might be defeated.

The biggest issue with Alicorn OCs is Mary Sue-ism (or Gary Stu-ism). They are at a power level of Celestia or Luna, but come out of nowhere, with no backgrounding. They often integrate with the group absurdly quickly. Often they are used to actually downgrade Celestia and Luna (stories where their older brother is the true King often fall in this category). Often they are total jerkasses but written like we are supposed to see them as heroes.

The biggest issue with villain OCs is when they are a. absurdly powerful and b. supposed to be sympathetic. The LoHAV stuff often falls in this category; villains were good guys who got turned to stone because Celestia and Luna shot from the hip, or were frightened and bigoted; they're often so powerful that they can go toe to toe with Discord; and so even though they are ostensibly villains, the fact that they are massively overpowered sympathetic protagonist characters makes them Gary Stus.

Seraphim Glare is pretty massively overpowered, but he is not sympathetic in the slightest. We do not agree with his ideals, we find his behavior repulsive -- he's a child abuser, who drove Discord insane and turned Sombra into the world's greatest villain. So the fact that he is overpowered isn't a problem -- he's not the protagonist. He's the character the protagonists must fight. Making the protagonist OP reduces conflict in a story. Making the villain OP increases conflict.

So no. He is a good character -- he's a horrifying and deadly villain who's been shown to be clever, powerful, ruthless, and have personal ties to the Princesses and Discord that make them frightened of him without the usual way this goes down with villain characters where the villain frightens the Princesses because he's just so scary but there's no sense that there's something personal going on so it just seems like Stu-ness. This works a lot better because they have good reason to fear him. And because you have done nothing whatsoever to imply he has any redeeming features whatsoever, but at the same time he's more complex than "I just like evil! Because evil!" He's a fanatical extremist who believes that darkness is literally evil and tormented the world with his belief. He thinks he's the good guy.

[gamexpert1990]

1) Chapter 5: When the Palace Turned Black. I enjoyed the way you connected all of the things togeter. How Forward March became Discord, how Sombra became a dark ruler, Luna's becoming Nightmare Moon, etc., and for showing just how dastardly manipulative Seraphim Glare could be.

2) I'd probably have to go back and do a more thorough reading to answer this question...

3) ...I do not like him, but I mean that in a good way.

4) I haven't really read any Alicorn OC stories aside from AKG, but from what I've heard, 2706020 said it best.