Hideous Realizations · 2:01pm Feb 14th, 2015
Also known as Fridge Horror to all you Tropers out there.
Did you ever get one of those moments, fellow authors and storytellers? I mean, we've all had these when we're reading other people's stories, but what about others point them out to us? Or when we find them in our own stories?
For example, I raised an eyebrow recently when I was sent this comment on This Is the Most Absurd Sweetie Belle X Spike Shipfic You Will Ever Read:
Someone told me to read that story, and while the idea behind it is indeed funny, one thing is quite disturbing... why did they literally torture Sweetie for a week in this window? Did they bother with bringing a urinal for her so she doesn't make a mess in the room where her 'behind' was? I know it's a cartoon character, but there is a limit of willing suspension of disbelief and just common sense :P
And I had nothing to say to it for a long time before now. How could I? Explaining it would ruin the humor of Sweetie Belle's situation. In fact, this realization makes the whole ordeal much more disgusting and sad.
But what about that scene in Equestrylvania, where Spike tells Shatterstorm:
"Hey," he says, quietly. "Look, I know it's... it's real easy to feel like you're worthless. Other ponies might go out of their way to hurt you. Even if they don't mean it, they're gonna say and do things that are gonna hurt you, and they're going to ignore you when you have something important to say.
"But, you gotta remember, nopony's ever really worthless. Sure, we all do dumb things and we screw up, and ponies we know and love are gonna get hurt by our mistakes. But on the other hand, we'll do things that help in the long run. We go out of our way to help anypony that needs it, and make 'em happy.
"You might have failed a few times in the past, and you're gonna fail again, sure. But even if you fail ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the one success you make might be all it takes to change the world.
"I dunno what went on between you and your mom, and I don't know why mares treat you like dirt. But that's all in the past. They can't hurt you anymore." Spike slowly leans in. "You can't let them keep hurting you. What they did to you in the past should never keep you from doing the right thing, right now."
Yeah, it's magnificently stated, but at the same time, Twilight knows he's quoting what could only be described or thought of as a self-help book. What's a kid Spike's age doing reading those? Are all these years of being the Butt Monkey finally beginning to crush his self-esteem? Such an idea worries me.
But in any case, I don't think this Fridge Horrors truly detract from a story: merely, these instances paint them in slightly different colors. Who knows? Maybe I'll be like Toy Story and gradually utilize these Fridge Horrors in later stories or chapters. When life throws you lemons, and all that rot.
Stay beautiful, everyone.
I love Fridge Horror. It's one of the rewards of our geeky overanalysis, along with Fridge Brilliance. They can just be fun, or they can spur new stories.
That being said, I can think of one instance where an author went out of their way to remove a bit of fridge horror, and was probably right to do so. Ever read the story Fluffershy? It's a fun comedy where the mane six suspect that Fluttershy acted in a pornographic film (it makes sense in context, just bear with me here), and are trying to find out for sure. Anyway, at one point Rarity mentions that she did some "acting" of her own "before she found her true calling". However, this fic was written before The Cutie Mark Chronicles had aired. When that episode came out, we saw when Rarity found her true calling: In elementary school. I'm sure you can see the problem here. As a result, the author changed the line from "before I found my true calling" to "before I opened up the boutique".
2796264 Crowning Moment of Heartwarming is where it's at.