'Why you gotta write HiE' · 12:39am May 21st, 2018
This blog probably has a T rating, just to warn you.
So you only get one chance to make a first impression, and recently it's safe to say I flubbed it... and as did the person who asked me that question.
Now... in my own defense I flubbed it by apparently writing a type of fan fiction this person derides, so I wasn't really going to succeed. I'm okay with that.
Now then... setting aside that I only have two published fics and the longer of the two is PoE not HiE... Why DO I gotta?
Well... I decided I'm going to answer that... completely.
Sun Sage is the name I picked for myself here. It's a bit ironic; I'm very much a night person. More to the point, it's a reference to a title in a fantasy series called The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. That story features a fantasy world of amazing and epic proportions, with a protagonist from our Earth. He ends up there with a major role to play and at first he's really unhappy about it. Over time he develops, but there are some dark, messed up moments. Actually it's extremely dark at points... if you look for it, be warned. My ex didn't make it past the first twenty or so pages.
But the point here is that it's basically a published, bestselling HiE type fic and it really drew me in. The first several fanfics I read were HiEs, including things like Stardust and Project Sunflower. But those weren't quite the first.
Actually the first I really remember reading was a Sonic crossover where Robotnik came to Equestria accidentally after giving up his war with Sonic... but that's not the point (it was quite good though).
No, the kicker that I read was Xenophilia. Now, if you don't know, that's an M rated fic. It's clop. I did not know that word in that context at that point. I wasn't interested in that; if anything I was disdainful. ...And it had like 7k upvotes. At that point I was sort of warring with myself. I had never read fanfiction pre FIM, with maybe a couple random exceptions. So I looked at that like 'ahaha really? Okay this is ridiculous, I'm going to read this and it'll scare me off fan fiction and I'll go back to published stuff.'
We see how that went. It was cute, and I don't mean that in a condescending manner. I hadn't read anything like it before. I have poly friends, and seeing a polyamorous relationship portrayed in a story without cheap drama brought in was a new experience for me. ...So was clop, which... eh let's say some sections of the story resonated more than others. The character interactions and world building were well done, and I ended up really enjoying it.
I don't care if a lot of it is no good... I assume that's the problem most folks have with it. Uh... a lot of what's on this site doesn't appeal to me. Doesn't mean it's bad. It means it's not for me. To paraphrase Ricky Gervais: if you don't want guitar lessons, don't call in to tell the guy offering them about it.
Now, since then I've read a lot of great works here, most of them not HiE. But plenty of them are, and they're what drew me in even when I was going for the opposite. So why did I want to write HiE?
For the same reason I want to write anything, Pinkie. Because I did. ...Also, that other stuff I said.
I always laugh at the HiE hate. Sure some are bad, but there are a lot of good ones. I’ve been reading on this sight for a while now and I still can count life ever after as a favorite. Goof’s other was also excellent, a story that slid a human into the pony world so well it felt like the characters belonged.
Some are wired sure, but Fall of Equestria and Displaced stories aren’t hated on for their human element. I dislike them for their lazy explanations or introductions. I read a displaced intro and it looks copy-pasted from twenty others I also skipped.
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I don't know Fall of Equestria past knowing enough to know I don't want to know more. I have no interest. Hell I didn't even know it was humans. I thought it was deer or caribou or something. Either way I don't care; the concept disgusts me. And that's okay; it just means it wasn't written for me. I wish it didn't exist... but that's not my call to make.
Displaced... I think has the rep it has because of just what you say. It's more wish fulfillment, lazily executed, that can't really go anywhere and make an actual story because of that execution. But there's a lot of fan fiction with that problem. The concept can be done well, it just usually isn't.
I'll admit, it's generally 'points off' enough that if that's the only qualiication I don't read it.
I'm also not about to pee in anyone's cheerios over what they do in their spare time.
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Eh, Some people write "correct it" verses where they have their self inserts or what not come in and rape the Caribou because that's somehow justice.
As for your comment on Displaced, it was something like that which started me here. I hadn't touched writing until I saw the absolute shitload of fics that did a "human ends up as Nightmare Moon" idea and all of them had the MC(Main character) as friends with the main 6 and on good relations with Celestia and Luna within 3-6 chapters, with the gender swap not even a blip on their radar. I was so sick of it, and was so certain I could do better, that I did. I easily admit I could have done better, but at the same time I have a storyline, I didn't bring in the girls until almost 20-30 chapters in, I wanted it to be about more than just my character being twisted into a female body and being okay with it. And that story is currently sitting at almost 500k words XD
HiE isn't objectively bad; it's just a matter of taste. I love HiE stories.
Also, for the record: my first fic was an OC-insert 'follow the show' story that I've been waffling for months on even bothering to ever finish. Yours deserves a Pulitzer in comparison, I promise.
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I completely agree in terms of taste. The ones I mentioned here are better written than most of what the site has to offer.
Frankly, the question was asked and I was like 'well I'm gonna answer that, dammit.' Some fanfic writers take themselves way too seriously. That said, I didn't want to attack the guy just for asking a question in a rude manner, so... blog post. As to Back, I'm pretty happy with it overall. There's a few chapters I'd clean up but nothing I'm really deeply unhappy with or anything. Speaking of... next chapter in a day or two. EFNW was great but just smashed my schedule.