I hate to say this- · 7:10am Sep 18th, 2015
-but I don't understand this site's submission policy regarding things like Sci-Fi. I totally understand that space-age, high-tech space-shooty things are not seen in MLP, but how am I supposed to convey that this is indeed MLP related, despite it taking place in the far future, and thus having nothing but OCs?
Do I state that my character is a Pegasus named Blue Lightning?
Do I refer to body language such as facehoofing and putting hooves on temples?
Do I describe the CO of the enemy ship as a Pegasus too?
Do I omit any sort of verb or descriptor that would imply the presence of any form of limb besides hooves?
Apparently not, because despite all that, my most recent story failed its first attempt at moderation.
This story, as it has been submitted, is not considered to be related to the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic universe. As a general rule, if you can sub out a few names or vocabulary terms from your story and be unable to tell that it’s a My Little Pony fanfic, it is not considered to be related enough.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but subbing out names and vocabulary terms would, in fact, make it a non-mlp story, right? Why do you think I chose those names and terms, then? Don't all stories fall into the 'not related enough' category for this logic? At just over 1k words, in a completely different setting than the show, the only way I could connect it to MLP more than I already have would be by injecting unnecessary descriptors into the text that ruin the flow of the story.
The date says 10,000 AC, guys. After Celestia. This is waaaaay far future. I'm sorry, but Twilight Sparkle and her friendship posse aren't going to pop in and blast the baddie. Things are different, but I still think this is undoubtedly a MLP fanfic I submitted. I'll post a link to the gDoc tomorrow if it isn't through its second attempt, or if nothing's happened by then.
Now, if you folks will excuse me, I'm going to bed.
This may not be what you want to hear, but I swear I'm trying to help. Think of it like this.
Imagine that an episode of the show aired. We'll assume it had no advertisement beforehand--it's happened before. Either way, we're going in blind.
And instead of the normal Equestria we both know and love, you saw a far-flung future sci-fi metropolis. Or even a space opera in the making. Maybe it's established that it's 10,000K AC right off the bat.
Now, far as I'm concerned, so far so awesome. I've wanted pony sci-fi for ages now--it's half the reason I like EQG so much.
Anyway. You're waiting for the ways in which this really could be tied to FiM so you can have AWESOME fantasies about the show's canonical future. How have the legacies of the characters we already know extended to this far-flung timeline? Surely someone has to remember the exploits of the princesses or the M6 or even the CMC. Maybe Rarity's fashion empire has lasted millennia. Aeronautics in this timeline were changed forever due to advances brought about by Rainbow Dash. Maybe Luna finally got over herself enough to take over where Celestia left off.
No? None of that? Okay, how about some friendship lessons? Friendship can still exist in a far-flung techno-future, right? That'd be a really great concept--usually joy and laughter and camaraderie don't get to shine in futurescapes that aren't named Star Trek and even then--
No?
O-okay, maybe there's some kind of time shenanigans connecting canon and this far-flung future with spaceships and stuff?
No?
Wait, so it centers completely around OCs, and mostly around some (likely) stallion no one's heard of who is most likely an expy of the author's ponysona.
Oh.
And the episode only lasts a few scenes at most (the equivalent 1,000 words), giving minimal room for a story to actually take place, assuming it does at all.
Well, hell.
What I'm saying is, I'm wagering that your story wasn't failed because it was "sci-fi." Sorry.
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I see where you're coming from, but I think the set of standards used to, say, get an episode through is more than MLP fanfiction should be judged by.
I've seen stories just like mine on this site. While I get that canon characters or their legacies are important, do I necessarily want to shoehorn it into my first 1k words? It's not like talking horses these kinds of colors are found many places but in MLP, but if I need canon characters to do anything outside of the established world of Equestria itself, I can't help that there's a major damper on creative license here.