Promoting a story · 12:25am Oct 24th, 2015
--which is not mine, but is by my friend and partner in (reviewing) crime, Elric of Melnipony: From Dat Place To Dis Place. It's a parody of Displaced fics, which I've been seeing a lot of in my role of Rage Reviews admin.
But what is a Displaced fic?
Long exploration of same by Obsolescence.
Short version: an ordinary human (usually) goes to a convention dressed as some sort of action hero, or anime character, and upon buying a cursed object from a Merchant, is transported to Equestria, where he has all of the powers associated with his costume, and proceeds to lay waste to the landscape (especially Celestia. That witch! --by which I mean negative stereotypes not to be confused with or applicable to etc. etc.)
And a parody was deeply needed.
Theoretically, anything can be done well, but practically speaking, Displaced has got, at best, an uphill battle. For one thing, it has loaded into it all the pitfalls of crossover fics and Human in Equestria fics combined. For another, it doesn't really attempt to cross over. For example, it's not Voldemort in Equestria, which could be interesting, if difficult. It's someone cosplaying as Voldemort, so there's no need for the complexities of the character or the Potterverse. For another, the main character is usually a fairly bland "average fan," who serves as a self-insert for the reader--and since the implied reader, like the narrator and (usually) the author, is a teenaged guy into Michael Bay movies, it's just not a good fit for me. It's like me forcing most of FimFic's readership to watch Downton Abbey. It is not happening.
But mostly, I'm not too fond of fics which lose sight of something critical about the show. It's about friendship. The characters almost always try to find a kindly, peaceful, inclusive solution to their problems. This doesn't always work, of course: when you have a large scale villain like Chrysalis, Sombra, or Tirek, cupcakes won't quite do. But the first line of defense is always going to be "have a cupcake!" which is why I like Pinkie Pie.
I'm also not nuts about demonizing Celestia.
So there it is: a fic which parodies something I'm not too fond of. I think it's rather funny.
So kind of you. Thank you.
I'll be checking this out, given my, errr… feelings… on Displaced fics.
Also, seriously, what is with demonizing Celestia? I mean, I can understand in comedy fics, or alt universe, sure… but this idea that canon Celestia is some evil mastermind… blegh.
And now I have an idea: scoots2, an average female pony fan, was attending a party dressed as Cora Crawley, when she was inexplicably transported to Equestria. Now she befriends the main six, whilst having to learn the dangers and responsibilities that come with the powers of the Countess of Grantham.
I for one enjoyed it immensely, and told Elric so. I am currently seated happily in my deck chair, popcorn in hand, watching the storm unfold.
An excellent blog on the topic; Displaced was just crying for a parody. And it has been delivered.
3492003 I would read the HELL out of that.
4.bp.blogspot.com/-ovFNrAcb6GQ/Tyutplv8zhI/AAAAAAAAGXQ/E_V1o9POv9s/s1600/Screen-shot-2011-03-29-at-9.45.35-PM.png
3492003
I see Tyrantlestia (along with Molestia and some other unbalanced versions of herself) as one of Celestia's possible Sanity Failure Modes. In my stories, she's well aware of these possibilities, and one of her challenges during the thousand years Luna's banished is to avoid going mad. Most Celestias don't go mad.
Oh, yeah. I wrote a Displaced parody, like, 2 months ago. Guess I should publish it.
3491994 You're welcome!
3492003 My theory about Celestia that we've got the same good characters are bad, bad characters are good thing you see everywhere, so Dumbledore becomes evil beyond belief, Voldemort is a poor, misunderstood orphan boy, and Bellatrix Black is a much-maligned "career woman." The last is particularly mind-boggling, as Bellatrix doesn't even have a JOB. She's got gobs of inherited wealth, all the better to devote her full time and energy to the Wizard equivalent of white supremacy.
That, and Celestia is a female authority figure, and thus too much like Mom.
Ah, the Countess of Grantham, overcoming all obstacles with wealth, tact, sweetness of character, and amazing plot contrivances that always place her on the right side of history. If only she wasn't so careless about her soap.
(I actually own and wear a Hat of Awesomeness like that, and have attended more than my share of the appropriate kind of parties. I always overeat on the white chocolate chip scones. They may be anachronistic, but oh so yummy.)
3492008 There shall be tea and buns for all as we watch the S.S. Displaced sink below the waves.
I suppose that was awful. I'm not necessarily against them, assuming there were some unlikely scenario in which one could be good, but unfortunately the criteria militate against it being a good fic, period.
3492059 Possibly, but she's so aware of it that it's highly unlikely. And the Celestia we see on the show just isn't like that. She's very aware of her limitations and refuses to go on power trips, no matter how many ponies pack her bags and urge her to go.
3492633 A public service, possibly? Absolutely!
Oh my god. I so know what you mean. I hate it when people demonizes the good characters of the show and that's why they aren't my favorite authors. Except yum soda she's awesome.
Oh ho. Speaking as someone who's put actual work into crossovers, I've found the execution of Displaced to be disappointing as it has been lazy. Elric taking the piss out of it promises to be quite entertaining. Thanks for the heads-up.