Oct
29th
2019
Lacking in some tags? · 1:20pm Oct 29th, 2019
I investigated some things with the tags here. Not counting duplicate tags, Firefly has the highest Derpibooru image count of any character who does not have a tag on FimFic, however, Firefly is a G1 pony and is subsequently disqualified. That record instead goes to Shoeshine aka Linky. 5 characters have speaking roles and are explicitly named but do not have FimFic tags AFAIK: Open Skies, Clear Skies, Clear Sky, Spur, and Biscuit. In fact, I’m not sure if Knighty is even aware the latter two even exist, Dr. Wolf never mentioned them in his review...
I'm also curious to know what episode has the most fanfics based on it or featuring secondary characters from that episode, and which one has the least. I can probably guess the latter...
In addition, there are two other ponies without a tag who have now speaking roles and aren't called by name on-screen, but have their names listed in the credits: Hyper Sonic and Raspberry Dazzle. And there are a few other ponies with speaking roles in the Finale.
And these still aren't all ponies who deserve to get a tag here. The decision whether a pony gets a tag or not shouldn't be made by speaking roles alone, but also how much potential their overall appearance has.
Lily Longsocks, for example, has tons of potential and she got quite a couple of fics as a result (though, still very much underappreciated in the fandom), but she has no speaking role in the show.
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I guess the real reason for a character to get a tag is fanfic use, though that doesn't explain why Li'l Cheese got one immediately (Doesn't that seem at all strange to you?)
How many does Lily Longsocks have, for example? I know Spur only has two, one of which is clop, and two unpublished ones on my end (one not started as I'm still working stuff out)
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Lily Longsocks has 12 twelve stories, gotten over the course of the little more than four years we know her now:
https://www.fimfiction.net/group/209066/folder/46700/main
Hyper44 was the only one who wrote for Lily, at first, for more than a year. He spearheaded her. Then EnigmaticOtaku wrote "A Stallion's Strength" at the beginning of 2017 and that kicked off more stories for Lily and a couple other authors picked up the pen for her across the year. It simmered down again after Pascoite wrote "How Lily Longsocks Spent Hearth's Warming Eve on the Moon" in December (released on January 2nd, 2018) and Lily hasn't received another story focusing on her ever since, but 2017 was the year for Lily Longsocks. She had a surge of popularity in 2017.
In addition, Lily has an important secondary role in my story "Aunt Millie". She's not the main character, but she is Dinky's friend in it, around in quite a few chapters and takes part in a significant plot development at the story's climax.
Have you any plans or ideas for a story about Lily Longsocks?
I did suggest that background ponies who are unpopular, but have potential, should get tags and got told that only ponies with a significant amount of stories get tags and that the "Other" tag is for the rest of them. I proceeded to argue that a tag for a background pony could spike interest in writing for this pony, since it would be officially acknowledged on the site then, but got shot down.
I still think that a particular background pony not having a tag can discourage an author to write for this pony, as they will get the feeling that the lack of a tag means there will be no interest in in a story for that pony or because they fear their story will be perceived as a story for that pony when they can only put the "Other" tag on top of it. Without knowing authors who attempt to write for underappreciated background ponies, other than me and DinkyUniverse, I can't prove this thesis. But the other side of the argument also can't prove theirs, that the absence of a tag isn't discouraging for potential background pony writers, since they haven't talked to authors, either.
And it wouldn't be impossible to give a background pony with an appearance that sticks out a tag based on the hunch that authors will likely feel inspired by this appearance since, as you pointed out, Lil' Cheese has gotten a tag immediately because he is likely to inspire authors to write for him.
So I don't understand why there is refusal to give background ponies tags these days. I will try to ask Meeester about a tag for Lily. I heard an author say that Meeester added a hippogriff tag to the site after he asked him about that, as well as a few other creature tags that haven't been there before. That happened just recently, too. So he might listen to the plea.
For Lily, I can argue with the amount of stories she has since 2017, so at least she could finally get a tag. I will write Meeester next week, once I'm more free.
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I have no ideas for a story with Lily Longsocks as a main character, but I might write her in as a minor character in Torn Like Cotton, The Princess and the Power Plant, Before Apple Bloom, Worlds That Were Never Collide, or One Thing Mite Change a Lot.
So it's Meeester who runs the tags. Good to know. I wonder what he thinks of Spur, Biscuit, Bloofy, and Clear Sky...
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I asked Meeester more recently and he hasn't responded yet. I don't think we'll ever be getting any more character tags...