• Member Since 16th Aug, 2013
  • offline last seen 6 hours ago

redandready45


Urban Planner, TV Tropes contributer, and writer on the side.

More Blog Posts59

Apr
14th
2020

Why I Dislike (Most) Accusation Fics · 12:32pm Apr 14th, 2020

Fan Fics are often written by people who often want to tell their own stories based on their favorite works, or they often want to improve upon a canon story that they felt was...lacking.

The Accusation Fic is an extreme version of this trope.

Sometimes accusation fics can be pretty good in their use of drama. But in many cases, it is often a writer smashing their character on the head for whatever stupid thing they did in canon. And I find it to be awful for several specific reasons. My examples specifically cite Canterlot Wedding fics and Anon-A-Miss fics.

1. The situation is made utterly black and white.

In these fics, one group of characters is made to be completely right, and another group of characters are made out to be complete idiots who were utterly wrong.

What's the problem with this? The situation was far more complex then many writers like to portray.

Canterlot Weddings puff up the apparent incompetence and stupidity of everypony for ignoring the disguised Chrysalis' mean spirited behavior, and how awful it was for them to "abandon" Twilight at the wedding.

But here's the thing...

Yes Twilight was right about "Cadence", but she handled the situation in a very ham-fisted way. Instead of calmly talking to Celestia about her concerns, she burst into a practiced ceremony screaming "she's evil" without much proof. That isn't a proper way to make a serious accusation against someone. Granted, she was under stress, but that doesn't mean your accusations are credible.

Also, Chrysalis proved herself to be a really good actress, indulging in histrionics and running from the scene. Chrysalis was able to frame the situation as Twilight acting like a paranoid and insensitive nut.

So yeah, her friends calling her out and walking away from her is...pretty understandable. They weren't saying "we're not your friends." They're saying "we're angry with you."

Anon-A-Miss fics are the same way. Yeah, what the Mane 6 and the rest of CHS did was really harsh and unfair. But again, Sunset wasn't exactly innocent. She had pulled this shit in the past, so it was understandable for her to be the culprit. She did things were so bad, all of CHS was still fuming about them 6 months later.

And the human CMC did get a good amount of detention for the stunt they pulled, so while they weren't properly taken to task, they didn't get away unscathed for their stunt. And it is possible to see their actions as just repressed hatred toward Sunset for what she did.

2. Inexplicably, asshole characters become good guys, and good guys become asshole characters.

Some accusations often do this: they make jerks into good guys, and they make hero characters into complete scum.

Like above, many of these stories gloss over Sunset's past of shitty behavior. While again accusing her was wrong, she herself was guilty of also framing Twilight for vandalism. I mean, that incident is never brought up in any story.

A lot of them make the Dazzlings into good guys, when they are never shown to do anything vaguely heroic in canon. In one Anon-A-Miss story, the Shadowbolts become Sunset's "saviors" despite them being selfish jerks who bullied Sci-Twi and made her do something dangerous.

On the other hand, the Humane 6-7 become evil monsters, despite them being nice enough to make Sunset their friend despite her nearly killing them.

3. They often contradict the optimistic principles of MLP.

Rarely in these stories does the theme of forgiveness and mercy come up. Granted, there are situations where you do need to do more than say sorry. But again, MLP teaches us about the benefits of forgiveness.

Yet somehow, a lot of fanfic writers didn't get that memo, and pour their creative energies into what are essentially hate fics.

A good fanfic doesn't just explore hate. They must also say true to the idea that friendship is magic.

Vanishing Act was my attempt to write an improved accusation fic. I really didn't like how in canon, the bullying and abuse of the Shadowbolts were glossed over and unpunished. But I also felt that while they should get punished for their actions, they should also be seen as flawed young ladies who just need a bit of an attitude adjustment.

Report redandready45 · 873 views · Story: Vanishing Act ·
Comments ( 29 )

That's your opinion which I respect that especially since you made some valid points.

These are awesome points, but I think some stories need to have a different approach. It keeps this site unique and every kind of story is welcome here (Clop is still undecided at the moment).

5242249

I guess there is a room for dark and gloomy stories, but I feel that they contradict the ideals of MLP.

5242322
You can make something dark and gloomy and still hold true to the ideals of MLP it just a lot of writers like to be edgy.

It sounds like a lot of these problems are from people who had a knee jerk reaction to an event on the show and don't take context into account
and/or too much of a fanboy/fangirl or hater to write the character properly.

5242443

Well...

There is one specific story that I especially dislike.

I can't remember the name of it, but it does this:

Treats the CMC like inhuman scum.

Treats Sunset like a special snowflake.

At the end, the CMC apologize, but Sunset's like. "Fuk u, you're only sorry you got caught."

Again, I'm not saying Sunset doesn't have a right to be mad.

But...couldn't someone spell out that Sunset spent YEARS being a nasty little brat until she was blasted into a crater? That doesn't justify what the CMC did (since it is fighting fire with fire), but it would realistic for one of them to shout "you were a horrible brat too." Even Sunset's "new friends" (she has THOSE as well) seemingly ignore her horrible past, and that fact that she did things that were even worse than the CMC.

"Edgy" isn't the same thing as "good". Family Guy today is "edgy", but people point out how it went from hilariously surreal to grotesque and unfunny in the process.

5242472

"Edgy" isn't the same thing as "good".

Agreed.

I do believe this covers why I'm not interested in most Anon-A-Miss fics.

5242730
A lot of them seem like they're going in to "fix" the comic but...instead, it's more like they're writing Sunset into the arms of whomever they prefer to ship her with.

My exceptions would be those stories that include an Equestrian twist to them...or if skimming through them I find out that at the very least Fluttershy realizes it's not Sunset.

CSC

Well said!! đź‘Ťđź‘Ť Two for tackling Canterlot wedding AND Anon a miss. I used to love Anon a miss fics becaue I didn't like the holiday comic either, but over time my liking for them has soured. Not just because of how so many have been popping up, but because all the fun and creativity has been nearly sucked out. What I mean is, nowadays we just get the same thing when it comes to Anon a miss.

Sunset tries to kill herself

Sunset befriends the Dazzlings.

Sunset goes back to Equestria.

Sunset changes schools.

Sunset has a crossover adventure with some other franchise.

Sunset forgives her friends in the end.

Sunset breaks off her friendships.

Sunset leaves CHS for good.

Sunset becomes an apple and wins the lottery.


You get me?

Point is, great job speaking your mind here.

5327096

When I do get around to writing my Anon-A-Miss story, I am not going to have any of these.

CSC

5327097
Best of luck to ya.

Late to the party, but, Anon-a-miss had... Issues besides just the obvious. Sunset has, for all her faults, proved herself to be intelligent enough to get away with whatever horrible things she did in the past. Something as stupid as obvious like that was just beneath her. And, there was no possible thing, from an outsider's pespective, she could gain from it, other than derailing her own efforts at better optics for some time now. It's hard to really tackle it because with all things actually taken into account, the canon situation simply could not happen like it did. And so the fix fics are all over the place, representing understandable people's confusion.

5404080

It obviously had issues. I'm not denying that.

I'm saying is accusation fics just go too far in the other direction, and make everyone (except the villains) into unrealistically horrible jerks. And I don't feel it would be too irrational to suspect Sunset, because she did pull these stunts in the past.

I just stopped by here after reading your story "Twilight Sparkle, You're Being Ridiculous". I must say you bring up some really good points. The Canterlot wedding was not perfect, but a lot of the "fix fics" do seem to fall into the trap of "U INSULT MAI WAIFU! I MAD NOW!" there are a few good ones like yours, but I can't think of exact titles off the top of my head.

Yeah not a lot of Accusation Fics tend to do that. I have another example of this, the Cutie Re-Mark alternate ending stories, they bug me because they are just made to bash Starlight, here is the basic idea: Starlight refuses reformation and is either imprisoned or murdered. Yeah no, that’s not fixing anything in my opinion, I feel like it’s just tormenting a character because you hate them. If you like these type of stories, that’s fine and I respect your opinion on those stories.

5440378

I don't believe I'm tormenting Sunset for the sake of it.

I just think the slack Sunset gets from a lot of writers is unrealistic, and I don't think her reformation journey was nuanced enough.

But thank you for taking the time to read what I write. I enjoy comments like yours, because they help me improve as a writer.

5440399
You’re welcome and also I was talking about Starlight not Sunset. You’re a good writer though.

5440668

I'm not insulting Starlight.

I'm saying her motivation for wanting to bring about "equality" and time-traveling is just really, really dumb. Because her BEST FRIEND moved away?!

It's the equivalent of a bank robber blaming his bank robbing for not getting his favorite toy for Christmas.

5440669
Actually the time travel thing was to get revenge on Twilight. And I don’t mean your stories per say. I was talking about the stories that just make her suffer because the writer hates her guts. I have nothing against the people that write those stories, but I just don’t like them.

There's this one fic that goes like this: Ponies get in scenarios that friendship can't solve.

All characters in the story are cardboard cutouts made just for their role in the story. The standard formula is that Twilight and friends attempt to help a self-centered jerk who refuses to improve or change. The self-centered jerk and the story demonizes Twilight and friends for trying to help the self-centered person. The self-centered jerk is still a self-centered jerk and if they do improve, they die in a forced way.

5735638

I'd say a story about how you can't save anyone is a legitimate one and that heroes shouldn't be demonized if someone doesn't want to change.

5735643
This is a hard truth and truth in fiction, but in the fic that I described, the story demands that you root for these jerks even though they are in the wrong. They criticize Twilight for forcing her opinions on them while forcing their opinions on her like an Author Tract. These characters feel like Jerk Sues who only gets away from their actions because the story bends around them.

5735750

Good fiction has characters with both strengths and weaknesses.

The heroes aren’t always good and the villains aren’t all bad.

A problem with accusation fics is that the group in the right can be unintentionally unsympathetic and the group in the wrong can be unintentionally sympathetic.

Admitedly on why people get so upset with the Rainbooms turning on Sunset, it does come from how the Anon a Miss comic is supposed to be after Rainbow Rocks where it ended with Sunset earning everyone's forgiveness and saving them from the Dazzlings. On that end, it does come off as weird that the Rainbooms wouldn't get even a tiny bit suspicious on the possibility Sunset was framed and the fact she has nothing to gain from embarrassing everyone after all the time she spent bonding with them. At least Forgotten Friendship did fix that when it did the "someone who still has a grudge against Sunset turns her friends against her" story since their good memories of Sunset were wiped, making it easier to believe why they would refuse to think Sunset changed (though Sci-Twi getting angry at Sunset for wrecking her drone even though it was obviously an accident and not witnessing her bully tendencies first hand is a stretch).

Plus, the CMC were shown to have forgiven Sunset in the end credits for Rainbow Rocks so the idea they're still angry at her for her previous actions does fall a bit flat, not helped by how their motivation is essentially "Sunset takes away our sisters' attentions, let's ruin her life" which is pretty weak and makes you wonder if they would've done the same if a genuinely nice and innocent person was taking away their sisters' attentions.

Maybe the issues people have with Anon a Miss would be avoided if it had been before Rainbow Rocks.

FYI, I don't think Rainbow Rocks is 6 months after the first movie. Sure they say it's six moons, but six moons is never specified equal six months.

Login or register to comment