So I found this 4chan thread... · 5:06pm Dec 27th, 2017
...oh, that title doesn't bode well. XD
Anyway, I was looking through the link referrals on Displaced Into Nothing, and I saw that, somehow, 3 link follows were from 4-chan. So I googled for the link, and I found these threads...
https://desuarchive.org/mlp/thread/31369387/#31451071
http://boards.4chan.org/mlp/thread/31479309/fimfiction-thread-now-with-97-more-revisionism#p31492488
Happy that someone thought it worth posting to /mlp/. 4-chan's a bit after my time, so I've never really been active there, but hey look, feedback!
It's really nice to see like, actual criticism of the story, and honestly kinda funny that I'm giving one of these people "autism rage" with a story that's overly weird and constantly waxes philosophical. I'll have to look back at this next time I'm revising, even if some of this is just people looking at small snippets and making odd comments. Thanks 4chan!
Do want to clarify something for the record though...
I bet this guy hasn't even read any of these authors, save for Yudkowsky.
Yudkowsky is the one I haven't read a lot of. In fact, a huge chunk of this story is based on the weirder, magical thinking type ideas that Plato and Nietsche wrote down. I don't even know if I have an account on LessWrong. Nice guess though. XD
Edit: Another!
https://yuki.la/mlp/30836615#p30915920
I mean hey, if a story is enough to warrant a thread on 4chan, you must be doing something right.
4760435
XD
Honestly, this is such a weird niche story, I'm surprised it's as popular as it is. At this point, I'm just happy to see some feedback that I could potentially act on...
4760439
Better than any story I could dish out.
Not like they'd see the light anyways, I keep deleting the submissions because they probably aren't good enough.
Wait Warcraft is a tag now? When did this happen? Hu... gonna look into that now. Criticism normally should have a actual complaint.. or something about the story, I had made no note of any true attempt of romance at all, closest thing is our dear "abomination" (using it quite loosely here) getting attracted to Discord for his pure power (I think, might be the voice or the antler.... can't quite tell) so what romance? No one has made romantic gestures, attraction sure seen that, but that is normal. Alright moving on, 'Pseudo-intelligence talk' its philosophy based, I do not have hope that people who do not like to read between lines or ya know think, would even be mildly interested, let alone understand or make combative arguments for or against it.
This is why I can't even stand 4Chan or sites like it, I feel every urge to combative argue with everything, because well... I love to argue and bicker, however, I know i'd be typing for hours if not days if I tried (again) so I stopped. They don't criticize they just complain like children who didn't get their favorite chocolate bar, instead got the 2nd favorite for Christmas. Spoiled and honestly unreasonable. A true Criticism of the story would be along the lines of, "The grammar within this story is unbearable." or "This character is be far to powerful, for literal no reason!" While it does indeed seem Meta is powerful she isn't without reason, and prefers narrative over action. (at least seems that way) we also lack a defined character right now, as she is not entirely her own right now, and is in a battle for her very self (though she does not truly seem to realize it).
Indeed I could easly be misreading, or misunderstanding the story of the commits, (Entirely possible given my record) and be making a arse of myself.
Alright I think my rant is done, and this is why I barely speak in other places unless I fele it can be constructive. I try way to hard to explain or apologize way to much. Sorry for being a bother. Otherwise hope you get a chuckle from me getting bent out of shape because of 4chan. (I'd be a liar though, if I said I wasn't having fun typing this out.)
Gentle breeze guide your path, a warm smile welcome you home.
Huh, that's funny. They bitched about my favorite part. I find that endlessly amusing for some reason.
Oh 4chan. They really are a nose-picking kindergartner that is either vomiting filth at everything or, once every blue moon, stumbling over a diamond.
4760442
:<
Would you like me to look at one for you?
4760448
Don't waste your energy on anger, especially on the internet. If someone doesn't like your story, understand why and move on.
Also, Knighty is adding features to slowly generalize the site for less MLP related writing, starting with crossover tags.
4760461
Well, it's not for everyone: this is a niche story, and that's one of the weirder moments. They also didn't see any buildup. Also realize that I don't think that part is particularly well done for what it is either. I know it's not a very good example because I wasn't going to make readers sit through pages upon pages of analysis and argument.
4760514
It's not productive to get angry about it, but there's a reason I don't go there for inspiration. I've been there, even been involved in some stuff, but I decided very quickly that there's really nothing productive to do there...
4760882
I like it because the whole "rational fic" side of your story is essentially farcical, and I mean that in a good way. Most Displaced stories are about wish fulfillment first and foremost, and there's an element of delayed gratification in characters just sitting around hashing things out with logic. My impression, upon reading what those 4chan denizens wrote, was that they don't understand that what you're writing is a satirical rip on the isekai genre. They read it as though you're taking yourself 100% seriously, when that was never my impression at all. Displaced Into Nothing is very tongue-in-cheek. The absurdity and fragility of Meta's situation directly contrasts the stolid, banal certitude of your typical Displaced protagonist.
4chan likes to shit on everything
4760934
That's... An interesting take? Not sure how much I agree with it, as I wouldn't call this a "satire", but I suppose it's a way to look at it...
4760952
Well, they are the internet's cesspool...
4760879
I mean, sure?
Do you actually use "XD" unironically?
That's pretty embarrassing.
4898445
...huh? "XD" has been an accepted emote since the days of Usenet... Are you saying I should be embarrassed that I'm old enough to remember Usenet?
4898684
Yes.
4898686
Well, I'm not. It's a good face.
4899213
It's an "haha I am so above caring that you don't like my pretentious letter-soup vomit" XD.
I'd suggest not using it if you don't want to be marked as a smug asshole.
4899297
You're really reading a lot into a single, popular emote from the early 90s...
4899334
Your undoing is your own.
4899347
Sure, because a pair of letters is going to undo me. Got it. XD
4899297
Wait, shouldn't it be "a" rather than "an"?
4899374
I think either one can be argued for, as the "an" is in reference to "XD"
Tell us, why did you stop writing the story?
4899460
Work overran my schedule, and to really get into writing something I need to sit down with it for a certain amount of time. This is why I tried (and failed) to limit myself to 10 chapters in a few months.
4760439
One of the things I really like about it is the moral issues raised by Meta's ability to separate her emotions from her actions to whatever degree she desires. It is a very important thing to her to be able to construct an act on a rational theory of ethics, because she is basically a sociopath, and it's up to her whether to be a low-functioning or a high-functioning sociopath, and a malign or benign one. Spike is quite right to find her terrifying. I noticed that your Discord agrees, though he also finds her quite interesting, probably in part due to her wide theoretical freedom of action.