Sep
17th
2012
Brony Bookclub · 4:00pm Sep 17th, 2012
I was interviewed last night by the Brony Bookclub podcast. Give it a listen if you've got some time. The episode mostly focuses on Anthropology, but we also talk a little about what's wrong with human fics (or at least most of them).
http://geekoutcentral.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-brony-bookclub-episode-9-human.html
I had a great time on the show. Maybe it'll convince me to get back into writing. I should really do that.
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JasonTheHuman · 853 views
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I'll give it a listen, and I would like to promote you getting back into writing.
Sweet going to go check it out now!
Yes, you should
Yay!
Please get back into writing. Please do so. I'm checkin out that interview now!
I shall definitely give this a listen.
I shall put it on the top of my very long "to get to" list.
I'm too hipster to listen to pre-recorded podcasts, I need them live...mostly because I get almost as much enjoyment from the chat stream as I do the interview itself
I won't push you to start writing again, but... Oh, who am I kidding?! I'd love for you to start writing again!!!
Seriously though, only start writing again if you want to... If, um, that's okay.
would you write some pony in earth stuff ? somehow i like what they do on 4chan /mlp/ but i think you can do even better !
It's said that the author's greatest enemy is the blank paper, i.e. getting started with a story is always the hardest part.
Aside from shameless self-inserts, the HiE fics that bother me are the ones where the humans know what MLP is. It's bad for the same reason 4th wall breaking is bad; they're acknowledging that they're fictional characters (or they're saying that Faust is some sort of oracle, not sure which is worse). Not saying it can't be a good story if they do, but it's a big minus in my book.
Another thing that I don't really like is when Discord is the main villain and the same formula as in the show is used. "Discord broke out of his stone statue! Again... And he's messing with the laws of physics! Again... And we have use the elements of harmony to stop him! Again..." It's a) too repetitive/predictable, b) too convenient to have an overpowered villain that can do... well, anything. At least you managed to vary things in your fic a bit by having a new set of wielders, but still. I actually like it most when fics manage to work without having a villain at all. Sure, a good story needs some sort of conflict, but that doesn't mean there has to be a dedicated "bad guy".
My favorite tag is crossover; I've probably read more crossovers than non-crossovers (thanks in no small part to Fallout: Equestria). My least favorite tag is sad. A little sad is fine, but too much and, well... I want to be entertained by fics, not freaking depressed. I'm okay with dark fics as long as it's within reason (Cupcakes is one fic I've decided to never, ever read).
Here are some good HiE fics if you're looking for more (incomplete ones, but still):
Arrow 18 Mission Logs: Lone Ranger - The star system Omega Centauri was just another oddity on a map to scientists in the not too distant future. However when they found the star was orbiting an earth-sized, earth-like planet instead of a black hole as its motion had suggested, a mission was scrambled to investigate this most unusual of celestial behaviors. Hamstrung by politics, and nearly crippled before it began, the 'Lone Ranger' mission was reduced to just one crew member and left to his own devices.
Project Sunflower - It is the year 2038, and the Earth is slowly being consumed by a space-borne monstrosity dubbed the Black Tide, which is using nanotechnology to remake the planet into something hideously alien. Erin Olsen works for Project Harmonics, humanity's last-ditch effort to find a new world before the Tide can wipe them out. But when that world is found, and it turns out to be occupied, Erin will need to find the courage to face the unknown in order to save the inhabitants of both worlds.
Oh to be Old Again - Hi, I'm Bruce and I'm 32. Currently, I'm in a light blue Earth Pony foal's body no one has ever seen before. The rest of Equestria thinks I'm 9 and something really traumatic happened to me. It doesn't help I swear like a sailor and I could really go for a smoke right about now. I just hope that the Everfree Forest, rampaging monstrosities, evil dark abominations against God and the Cutie Mark Crusaders don't kill me before I have just one last drag.
I know a bunch more, but most of them are dark, sad or crossover and I'm not sure you'd like those.
I can vouch for Arrow 18 Mission Logs: Lone Ranger being a good story! And based on your advertising, I think I'm going to give Project Sunflower a try!
You should get back into writing Hands, it's been too long.
You have the ability to write a proper story, we know that but don't write to satisfy us, do it because you like it.
Okay I'll try to take a look at it
Jason getting back into writing!? This could be most excellent!
Wow, I'm so glad that Why Am I PInkie PIe is mentioned in there and ESPECIALLY Turnabout Storm it's my biggest favorite fanvid to watch from this fandom and one of reasons why I like this fandom of how so many people will get together to put an awesome story like this together. I also like the ORIGINAL and REAL Conversion Bureau is mentioned and discussed about it, but it's also a shame that the original is gone due to the some other fanfics about it getting the wrong idea about the original fic in the first place. Not that it's always a bad thing it's that I don't like the versions where the barriar in those fics are expanding as opposed to just sitting there, but if they're written well, I'll read them.
It's a little sad that you don't have time to read some stories, but it's also kind of good because it shows that you have much of a balanced life right now. Just read and write on your own time, just handle it really well.
Edit: Also what do you think about the Far From Home fanfic so far? Since it was also in your favorites of the HiE fic.
Let's see if I can try my hand at writing a decent human fic.
Haven't heard the podcast yet, but let me just take a stab in the dark at what the two biggest problems with HiE fics are . . . misanthropy, and teenaged males going to Equestria. Just a stab in the dark there. I'll come back later and see if I was right.
365374
My upcoming stories probably won't have humans or Earth in them. I'm in the mood for ponies, and I think that Equestria is just more fun to write anyways.
365780
As for "Far from Home," mostly I'm just amused by it. It's based off my story and I like to see where someone else would take it. I do think it's a decent story, though.
And, as for my upcoming writing... If I do a multi-chapter fic, I want to have good progress on it before posting any of it, so don't expect to see those too soon. I'd like to do some shorter stories in the meantime.
365815 YES!!!!!! Write it now! I wish for this! Make it so!
366058 's ok! Take your time! Quality over quantity and all.
>Brony Bookclub
Who?
365152 <-- This
OK, I was about a fourth right in my guess. Though I was probably way as well given that one of the host unabashedly said that he wants to read more Conversion Bureau fics and, well, TCB is perhaps the most strongly reviled and hated fanfic series I have ever seen. People absolutely despise it for turning the ponies into Nazi stand-ins, annihilating everything remotely human, being simplistically written, and portraying all of that as a good thing that we should all be . . . UGH!
I was done with those fics, but they keep pulling me back in! They're like a frakking addicted cockroach, you think you've kicked the habit and are done with your fury, but it just keeps resurfacing over and over and over and over and over and over and over again! I can't take it anymore! I... I...
I'm all better now. I am a well of peace and calm. The Light of the Lord shines through me, I am tranquil, and I am narrating to myself. . . . Two out of thee ain't bad.
Anywho! Now that that traumatic breakdown is over and done with I might as well give you the same recommended story spiel I give you every time I post here. You never read anything I suggest, but that's life. I'm sure other people will come along an read this post and be interested.
I actually like the "human" tag the best, for much the same reason I like the "crossover" tag the best in other fandoms. Those tags usually equal military fiction and science fiction, which are my bread and butter respectively. Currently the fic that captured my attention the most in that genre is All-American Girl. I could give one long spiel about one should read this fic, but I think I'll just pitch this thing the same way people pitch Marmite . . . No, really. The fic has become a bit of a love-it or hate-it sort of deal with both sides having very strong and [usually] good reasons for their positions. So read it young viewers, and marvel out how you'll be turned into a frothing fanatic in just a hundred thousand words! Hey, I should suggest this story to those book club guys, but they've already done their human-centric episode . . . Oh, despair! Why didn't I find out about these guys last week?!
Now the chance has come and gone. Oh, why! Why am I such a slave to comedic effect? An entire paragraph wasted for one joke. Wasted! Wasted! 
. . . Ooh, that reminds me, I've got to find a way to buy some Marmite. 
That said, if you're looking for something a bit more underrated, located in an Equestria void of humans, and could actually be pitched on the show, I say look no further than Writing History. Why? The story is practically brimming with originality . . . usually, and I have taken the author to task whenever he's chosen to use a common fandom element. instead of choosing something more original. That said, expect for two elements everything in the story is original and fun for a fanfic. The setting is unique, the characters are unexpected, the writing style is unconventional, the comedy feels new, the plot is something different, and the whole atmosphere is like stepping into an old bookstore or library in the late afternoon: warm, home-like, and brimming with the possibility of a new adventure behind every turn of the page. . . . There is no punchline. It's just a genuine joy to read.
Those to recs said . . . I really don't get what you mean about Equestria being more interesting. Could you please explain your position to me? 'Cause I look at Equestria and I see something that's limited, held back, like they could be so much more but aren't. The writing is great for the show, but I also see so much room for improvement and exploration that simply isn't touched on, and that few of the fans seem to want to touch upon.