Northanger Waifus

https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/497216/dear-critic-is-this-you

I'd just like to say some words about this blog Scoots2 posted today.

I'm under the impression that a number of fans don't really like the show as it is.

I admit to being Guilty of this, but not entirely for the reasons here.

Oh, they do, but they want to make it more comfortable, with a lot fewer tea parties and a lot more beer.

There's already plenty of cider alcohol; those ponies get twisted, also, it has been implied they have recreational substances, which is Cool.

I wouldn't necessarily mind a tea party if it was a serious diplomatic meeting between Heads of State, and, if I'm not mistaken, Twilight and Cel are monarchs, so that particular criterion of mine has been filled.

It's a show filled with girly little ponies, and they love 'em, only maybe there could be more stallion character.

It would be terrible if it had more stallion characters, because I have always felt that the show's one saving grace is that it has female lead characters, which is a rarity(heh) with anything Western. It's always grizzled old men, grizzled middle-aged men, or edgy young males with hella angst. Case in point: every single Judd Apatow Movie ever, James Bond(the series), the Halo series, Call of Duty, etc etc., and, really, one of the reasons I like watching the animes is because women can be the heroines and they can be the central characters, instead of Bald Spess Marine #684.

I have some issues with the fact that they are ponies. It feels like some of the gravitas is removed. A pony standing up does not have the same imposing, menacing feel as when a seated man or woman rises to their feet, fists clenched. It's a level of abstraction that removes from the story, but it it necessary, for obvious reasons.

And weapons

It could certainly use more weapons, yes!

and spaceships.

H.G. Wells, Robert Heinlein, Philip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke thought spaceships were cool and rad. It just so happens I agree.

Consider the following - Fleets of pony spaceships, battering each other with hailstorms of laser fire, like in Legends of the Galactic Heroes, or Crest of the Stars. Bombers swooping and diving through intense incoming fire from small starfighters darting here and there. It's like the Age of Sail in Space!

Also, large breasts.

Well, I've watched enough Japanese anime to require a certain amount of large breasts in my TV shows, but flat chests are okay too.

But that's not the show. It's always going to have female characters front and center

That's great!

...they're almost always going to default to trying to make friends and solve problems WITH cupcakes and WITHOUT violence..

*shrug* It's okay. Not everything has to be solved with guns and violence. I mean, look at Michael Bay. That's what comes of making everything have explosions.

and ponies will continue to fail to have breasts.

Darn. I thought it was super cool when they became humans, though.

The same thing probably applies to blanket hating on fics with OCs in them, or a ship the critic can't stand, or a genre they can't abide. It really takes a strong stomach to criticize a fic in a genre you love, with a ship you adore, and that you still think is awful.

*noddles* I agree with this entirely.

"I should like balls infinitely better,'' she replied

Taken out of context, this line from is a screamer of a joke.

There's my two bits. I may have missed the point, but these are merely some reactions I had, and I get the point. Really, I do.

And the show is fine how it is. Not everything has to be perfectly tailored to our fringe desires, and, anyway, if I want to see a girl punch someone in the face, I can just turn off the ponies and turn on Black Lagoon or something, until my desires are satiated.

It occurred to me one day that the liberties people allow us with MLP are grand, indeed, as I recall that during the Harry Potter Fic Writing Craze, your fics had to be 100% accurate to the books. You could not suddenly have Harry, Ron, and Hermione become magical girls, because the Potter fans would strangle you. I can't imagine how much they would have hated the idea of a Fallout: Harry Potter story.

Yet, the FiM fandom thinks things like that are cool.

You're all pretty cool people. I'm glad to be a part of this, even if it gets Silly sometimes.

What FimFic critics sound like, sometimes.