• Member Since 19th Jul, 2012
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Bed Head


More Blog Posts97

  • 285 weeks
    Equestria Girls Flipped!

    Alright, let's try and finish this up shall we?

    Read More

    3 comments · 509 views
  • 290 weeks
    Equestria Girls Flipped! (Side: Canterlot High part 2)

    Alright, so picking up where we left off E!Spike approaches the Canterlot High version of Ditzy Doo to try and get her help. Yeah, he's got plans for how to loosen Sunset's hold over the school and make it clear that he's not just gonna fall in line for her, but there's still a ton about this world he doesn't know about (not the least of which being how to use the technology). Luckily for him,

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    2 comments · 382 views
  • 293 weeks
    Looking for some advice/inspiration.

    I'm trying to start a fanfic where the main character has amnesia and I want to avoid the cliche "wakes up going 'where am I who am I?'" approach.

    Thoughts?

    9 comments · 350 views
  • 294 weeks
    Equestria Girls Flipped! (Side: Canterlot High)

    So you're all probably wondering what E!Spike is up to while CH!Spike is having fun in Equestria.

    Well it starts with him getting to know the local police and their station pretty well.

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    5 comments · 414 views
  • 295 weeks
    Equestria Girls Flipped! (Side: Equestria)

    After quite a few failed attempts to start this and a bit of thought I realized it will likely be a lot easier to write (and read) this summary if I divided up the two story lines (Equestria and Canterlot High) and then brought things back together when they actually intersect.

    Therefore, welcome to:

    Equestria Girls Flipped! Side: Equestria

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    3 comments · 424 views
Apr
1st
2017

Thoughts from the Multiverse: OC Stories · 3:56pm Apr 1st, 2017

I'll grant this is a departure from the topic I originally make these for, but this particular kind of story is still relevant to it when you think about it.

OC Stories

Now, like most of the multiversal hijinx I want to visit with this blog, these kinds of stories are in no way unique to MLP. I speak, of course, of the OC (or Original Character) stories. In other words, stories that are set in the same world as the canon work (like Equestria) or use its basic tenets (saving the world through a surprisingly important children's game) but use characters that are created wholly by the author as the main cast. The canon characters from the work only get mentioned in passing or maybe for a final chapter "well done heroes" kind of moment to the new characters, and that's if they're mentioned at all.

Now naturally, you're all probably asking yourselves the same question: If you're writing a story about original characters and barely (if at all) including the main cast, why are you writing a fanfiction? Why not write your own original world with its own rules and make a whole new story? Aren't you just being lazy, piggy-backing your own characters into an established world so you don't need to make your own or work hard to garner attention for your story?

And these... are completely fair questions admittedly. The point to fanfiction is most folks write and read it because they want to make/see adventures of the characters they're fans of. If you aren't writing about those characters, does it still really count as a fanfiction?

Well, let me pose a question to you: Is a fandom solely about the canon characters?

For a lot of works it sure seems to be, and through no fault of their own. Hey, the books are called the "Harry Potter Series" not the "Hogwarts School Septology". There's no questioning, however, that a lot of works have their morality slightly skewed in the protagonists' favor, however. How do some of the regular students feel about Harry being almost consistently rewarded for his flagrant rule breaking? Not to mention that in many stories we usually only gain insight into the world alongside the main character(s). What details are we missing out about the history of this world? What about other places that we never get to visit or even see? What were the Goblin Wars really like? How about other magic schools in other countries that aren't part of the Triwizard Tournament?

It's those sorts of questions that an OC Story can answer. Through them we can explore more of the world than just what we've been shown. A writer can strip away the protagonist filter and cast the canon characters in a different light, allowing for deconstruction of the main hero or villain. The Canon itself isn't immune to these either. Everything from prequel stories (like The Simarillion) to spin-offs (Telltale's Walking Dead and Game of Thrones games) follow exactly this sort of premise, showing us more of the world and other sides to the major players in it all while being nearly totally focused on an entirely new cast. The only difference between them and fanfiction is the official licensing rights, and even then how many of those stories have wound up validating theories the fandom has had for ages?

And all this barely touches on the other good reasoning behind an OC Story: What if the canon work does that anyway?

Question: What do Power Rangers, Doctor Who, and Digimon all have in common?

Answer: Every few seasons we have a whole new cast of characters. Yes, even Doctor Who thanks to his regenerations and switching companions. While a great deal does remain consistent about the themes and tones behind these works, we're still getting an entirely different group of people with new stories to tell, and yet the whole thing is tied to a much larger world. With Power Rangers we get the cross-over episodes with the previous teams; Doctor Who slowly phases companions in and out and the whole thing is all about the life of one guy (just a guy that undergoes shifts in appearance and personality on a semi-regular basis); Digimon even has the theory presented from season two about multiple realities running alongside each other (and their own cross-over between seasons only proved this true).

In these cases, an OC story can be less the exception and more the rule. Writing about your favorite ranger team is fine, sure, but I know from personal experience that it's a ton of fun to come up with your own. A friend of mine has done his own Doctor Who audio drama with his own regeneration of the Doc. When a canon work presents such endless possibilities for the future of it, why not come up with your own characters to explore other worlds or defend it from the next generation of villains?

An OC story might smack of laziness and borrowing somebody else's work, but if done right it can expand the fandom in countless different ways.

Comments ( 3 )

Nice insight with Digimon, Doctor Who and Power Rangers. You're right, too. Nothing wrong with OCs. Heck, sometimes you gotta create a character to fill a niche because Canon doesn't have one.

I tend to read mostly OC-only fics, anyways. I find them usually more creative and interesting than fics using only canon characters and settings, as writers have a ton more flexibility with them.

One particular fiction like that which I enjoy is 'Whom the Princess Would Destroy' and associated stories. Bureaucracy is so exciting!

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