Fine! (A Rant-blog) · 3:21am Oct 9th, 2012
Warning: Raging Latias. Do not feed. Do not put your arms/hands/other through the bars. Poking with sticks is inadvisable. Be adviced that rant is not directed at a specific individual, but rather at several consecutive offending ones
Fine. You win. I won't fail you anymore on the damned Tragedy/Sad tag set. You want to put both in? Do it. I don't care anymore if your otherwise fine fanfic has that damnable oxymoronic paradox of categorical identification. You win through sheer numbers.
I don't see why you don't get it. Seriously. Tags are thematic. If you have a pony dying in a 90,000 word story and he dies by accident and is inconsequential later on, the freaking thing doesn't deserve a Sad tag for it. Telling a single joke, doesn't make a Dark story Comedy.
But Sad and Tragedy. Really. Just how hard is it to get?
Sad = The story is sad. The point of it is sad. Sadness is the theme or at least a major theme of the story. If the whole thing is sad, there is no room for Tragedy. Because Tragedy comes from the buildup to it, which can have sad moments but not the whole damned story.
Yes, it is nothing more than a conceptual detail. A detail that dictates a whole freaking genre of literature.
A Tragedy is only so if at the end of it the hero falls. It's all about the build up. It can have a few sad moments, but the buildup to success and ultimate failure is what DEFINES a tragedy. Your story can have a sad moment at the beginning that traces the pathos that makes the readers grow hopeful with each stumbling step the heroine of our story takes in the search for happiness... and then tragedy strikes int the form of their own fatal flaw. There is no tragedy in the story of a character which only evokes pity. What are you going to do? If they're so miserable all throughout the freaking story, having them die can only be a form of positive catharsis.
A sad story doesn't automatically make a Tragedy. Nor does a Tragedy automatically mean that the whole damned thing is a freaking pity party. But you know what, whatever. I said I gave up.
The one thing I will NOT forgive though, is if you send a [Sad][Tragedy][Comedy][Action][Slice of Life]. If you do that, I should do you a favor and delete your story.
But whatever. Prepare to see a lot more "Sad Tragedies"
Damn that sounds stupid.
Haha! CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! I'm am going to make the sadest romance that will still somehow end up with you laughing!
Oh, and (On a Wanderer D, no less!) First post!
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/me and Moony slips Lati some much-needed scotch
411612
THOU SHALT NOT...
POST BEFORE ME
Well that sucks
I respect that.
Wanderer... on behalf of the fanfic community, I apologize to you for having to read such crap all the time.
Yeesh. A bit annoyed are we Wanderer?
Well. Somepony is angry. Guess I better go put put all these tags on my story and poke a stick through the bars of the beast.
I eagerly await the bound to happen featured story.
411612 Posting shit like "FIRST POST!" is a bannable offense
411641 Posting that, and only that, is. I actually have content in my comment, good sir.
I must say that a pancake shot, followed by a chocolate cake shot, followed by a long island iced tea is called for.... Though, that may just be me wanting those things in succession.
Actually, scrap the long island iced tea and the pancake shot, I wanna get messed up on chocolate cake shots.
Huh. I have to say, I agree with you. There are probably some people who legitimately don't understand the difference, but after a while you'd think that all the people sending these stories in would get it. Ah well, sorry you had to give in and I hope in the future that you'll be able to get through to story submitters. Keep up the good work Wanderer D.
Ugh, no, nooo, Noooooo!
Another wall to protect from such literary abuse falls. 
This is a sad day.
I was already planning a relatively tragic ending to my sadfic. It just... felt so naked with just the Sad tag. Plus, changeling extinction and all...
*Pokes with Stick* NOTHING COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG!
You like Sad Tragedies, don't you Wanderer D.
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Yeah... yeah definitely good idea to get rid of tragedy tag in my story
Reading that makes ME want to drink...
Though I admit, I've made that same mistake as well, so I can't really say much
For the first time I can recall, I disagree with Wanderer D. Story: Fluttershy sacrifices herself to save her foal, who is then raised by Dash, who remembers her dear friend fondly. Sad, not a tragedy. Story: Fluttershy goes mad, mercilessly slaughters all of her friends. Tragedy, not sad. Story: Fluttershy carries her dying friends through an apocalyptic wasteland, only to find the safe haven they were searching for in shambles. A sad tragedy.
411643 Okay, but it is still annoying spam
For whatever reason, "sad" is almost synonymous with "LMAO".
You have it wrong, too; a story with every. Single. Tag. Deleting that would merit commendation.
411612 411626encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQK3qYasrjQO0NrsjXpjOEpDEUIhROpPNicMnN9WRedOlpIUYHz
411612
literal worst idea ever.
And BTW? if you end laughing it isn't a tragedy. yeesh.
Tragic Comedies are the best.
Also, I challenge anyone to write a [Sad][Tragedy][Comedy][Action][Slice of Life][Romance] that Wanderer D here WOULD pass!
Any bold enough to try?
411670 I turned it into a batman gif, OK?
411671 They have a tag limit, now.
Dare I stick my whole head in this rage cage and ask a question that has bugged me for a long time... How can any one person/pony not get this? It's clearly stated on the FAQ under the story and tags section! What do they not read the FAQ?... I think I just answered my own question there. le-sigh I do wish you well Wanderer D, I would buy you booze if lived near me.
It's sad that people don't understand the difference.
I mean, to make it really obvious, we could make a chart of the well being of the main characters.
Sad |---- --------
| ---------- ----- --
| --------- --
| ------- ---------- --
| ------ ------- --
Tragedy |---- --------
|_____________________________
Start End
I know that's a really bad chart but, *cough* yeah, moving on!
Just because they both end with the bottom, doesn't mean they are the same, in fact they are almost opposites of each other.
411667
Nope. A Tragedy. Because in the end, what makes it a tragedy is the fact that they reach their objective and its useless. All the way, although it's painful, there's the hope that they can make it.
411675
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I know right?!
It never ceases to amaze me the number of people who think tragedy just means 'really sad'.
Well!
And just when I was about to work up my nerve to actually submit something here, then D has to go and blow his stock on something again. I suppose I'll keep my obnoxious crap on my hard drive, where it deserves to belong.
(Nah, just kiddin'. Geeze. Some people, though! I'd ask why do you guys even bother to HAVE both of those tags if people aren't even going to bother distinguishing them even though you've clearly spelled it out? Multiple times, even...but, then I'd have just answered my own question. Still, the sheer nerve and stupidity.
Idiots. They're universal, ya?)
411672 Hmmpf. Says an adult who watches ponies... wait...
411673 I'd get denied for being a troll fic. :P
Don't allow this, Wanderer D...
Only bad things will come from giving up your fight against sad/tragedy tagged fics. Such as this:
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That squirrel once had a loving family. A stash of nuts for the winter. It even had hope that it would not end up as roadkill one day.
But now? Because people allow this to go on, the squirrel has taken to drinking. His wife divorced him. His kids were taken from him. Hell, it'll probably get hit by a Prius soon enough as well.
You have the power to stop this from happening to other squirrels! Don't give up!
411703 It's OK, the squirrel chose the budweiser.
Well, look on the bright side, D-Money, at least you are not overseeing a Sonic fanfic site!
411710 Shh. Don't Jinx him!
OW senses tingling! Seriously though... people, sad + tragedy is about as useful as saying something is a funny comedy... it may be true, but you sound the plebian for saying it.
411707
You didn't see it... but he also drank a Pabst Blue Ribbon before this picture was taken.
411739 Shit, we have a hipster squirrel on our hands. You know what, D? Let's let this one die...
I'm going to admit, shamefully, to being one of those who has never really grasped the whole concept of "tragedy", beyond the most simplistic idea of "something really bad happened, that's a tragedy". So, it always seemed like a synonym for sad. This whole classical Greek notion of tragedy, and this even more puzzling idea of "catharsis", just never clicked for me.
However... I think Wanderer D has given about the most clear explanation that I've ever gotten, and I'll try my best to keep it straight. (I'm actually thinking of that Steven King movie, "The Mist", as possibly a good example of a tragedy. Am I on the right track here?)
It doesn't really matter. The system is broken anyways. Tags on Fimfiction aren't tags at all because they're categories. Categories specify a theme for a story, but tags have always denoted content.
What I'm really saying is a lot of authors are trying to treat Fimfiction's
tagscategories as tags. They're confused on whether or not they should classify their stories based on category or content, and I think that Fimfiction could do a better job of dealing with it.To poke it or to not poke it...
......
Lets poke it!
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411686 Dying friends.It's hopeless from the start. Although, I think I see what you're saying. If it starts sad and ends sad, there's no buildup. A flat plotline.
411698
no, it's the worst idea ever because it's made of concepts that are opposites. it can't be a tragedy if you end laughing. That's basically the first thing you learn when you read the word "tragedy" "Oh, the end won't make me laugh".
it'd be like making a slice of life adventure fic, and NOT using it as an excuse to make fun of how often Twilight and friends are forced to go off and take out enemy "x" for the glory of the solar empire. Sorry, got a little fandom in that explanation there.
411839 Until they all die, you still have hope. And let's say there isn't... if there is no point in her even trying, why is it a tragedy?
I think part of the problem comes from naming the tag "tragedy" which implies "the event of a tragedy", whereas you guys want it to be used to denote the story being a tragic tale. Renaming the tag "tragic" instead of "tragedy" might alleviate this misconception.
I'd also suggest removing the Sad, Dark, and Slice of Life tags and replacing them with a "Drama" tag.
I'd also like clarification on the Alternate Universe tag. I believe this tag is only useful when denoting a story that is framed in a setting that is inconsistent with canon to a degree that it cannot be recognized as the same world. And that it should not be used to denote stories that contain the canon characters traveling to alternate universes, or vice versa, since canon-esque Equestria exists within the fic world.
(For instance, The Sweetie Chronicles should not be considered AU since the origin world and many of teh visited ones are canon-esque, but CL's TtEoAP should be due to teh nature of it's Equestria.)
411845 Well, that's a really good question about psychology, isn't it? Fluttershy starts out on a mission she knows she'll fail, but why should she even bother?
Have you ever seen the Matrix? I always liked the sequels. No one else did, but I truly enjoy them, every time I watch them. Smith asks Neo a question at the end, right before the final battle, that is similar to this one. There was literally no hope for humanity. Nobody knew about the Oracle's secret plan yet, and it was completely and utterly hopeless. Smith asks why Neo keeps getting up, why he keeps fighting, why he possesses this ludicrous determination. His simple reply? "Because I choose to."
Needless to say, this infuriates Smith. They win at the end, which kinda defeats the purpose, but the sentiment still stands. We do this, only, because it is the right thing to do. To march to our death, the face the hopeless endeavour. Fluttershy carries her friends because it is all she can do for them.
A sad tragedy. I suppose this is the only instance I can think of, this hopeless journey. However, it's stunningly common in life and literature, being a fundamental truth of life and all, so I can imagine people would write about it.
Heh, I'm sorry for the long answer. I started and just kinda... kept going. What do you think?
411922 the thing about this instance is that, let's say, she's taking all five of her friends. Each die while she tries to reach her objective. Each instance is sad, but the theme is not the sadness, it's the quest to reach her goal. The tragedy is that she reaches it alone, or only for the last friend to die and she gets to live.
411938 Hang on, this magical haven doesn't exist, remember? And to make it worse, let's say Fluttershy knows that the place doesn't exist. And let's assume she's dragging her friends in a wagon, and they're all in a coma. The story would be internal monologue mostly, sure, but still very very sad, as she buried them one by one, along her journey. And then a tragedy when she dies, alone, on the journey to a place that doesn't exist.
411947 Exactly, therefore it's a tragedy because the focus of the story is NOT on the sad. It's on Flutter's journey.
411673 Like RE1? It was a tragedy how bad the Voice acting was, but the Voice acting made it hilarious! Ergo, a Comedic Tragedy.