For Clarification · 2:45am Jul 1st, 2020
I do not ship any of the mane 6 as a personal preference. My shipping is purely based on situations in which the ponies find themselves. I personally do not have an OTP. I do have a pony waifu but really it's about the actions and personality of said mare. I do not have sexuality myself; Asexual. I will without hesitation ship any pony at any time if it is appropriate to the story I am writing. All ships are valid to me. Sexuality and probability really make no difference. Most of the time I include them purely to pay homage to fan ships and to show my love for the fandom.
Likewise, though I love the ponies of MLP, do not be surprised to see quite literally any character meet a gruesome end in a grimdark of my doing. Just as romance, a horror writer will show their love through the painstakingly crafted endings they suffer. It's not because they hate the characters, just the opposite.
Not liking my stories is fine. Not for everyone, I get it. I do appreciate people at least trying to enjoy it first. If you don't like it, by all means let me know. but don't trash my story and add it to your favorites; that's a bit too far.
<3 you all,
your idiot,
Doug/Zakyria
I tend to stay away from shipping as a matter of principle; that way lies madness and arguments. I'd much rather be a reader without pier. >^_^<
5298550
It's an extremely useful writing tool and should never be simply discarded from the writer's toolkit. The reason almost every popular movie has an underlying romance theme is that it is a highly useful tool. Disney, Star Wars (before it sucked), almost every comic book growing up. Romance is a very simple way to convey a storyline plot and increase reader involvement (if done right)
5298569
I still prefer to avoid using it where possible. One part of that's because I've never really understood it, or why readers and viewers will take any excuse--even entirely implausible ones--to pair certain characters together (or even why they're so dead-set on those pairings to the point of starting arguments when someone speaks to the contrary).
Another part of that's because depending on the setting, the characters and the plot, it's not even strictly necessary. I've read stories in the past where it felt more or less like it was done on a whim and lacked much in the way of relevance, or even just carried out with a flimsy rationale. That sort of stuff leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The third and final part of it has to do with the adage of "write what you know". Humor has, and probably always will, come much more easily to me. Psychologically speaking, I have little to no way of figuring out how a person's mind ticks when it comes to questions like "what do I like most about a person?", or "do I want to spend as much of my life with this person as possible?". My mind, plain and simply put, is not built for it.
That's not to say I'm against the topic entirely; I've read a few stories where it actually works. Far as I'm concerned, though, the only times I'll delve into shipping and romance is for the sake of humor. It's one of the few things I'm good at, after all, so I'd rather leave that sort of thing in the hands of those who know what they're dealing with.
5298716
I can understand that. In my case, my asexuality comes from the fact I see relationships from both sides of the aisle when I am in them. I can easy project past experiences onto characters and rarely is it random. My story characters are all meticulously chosen based solely on how I dealt with things in that scenario. It's just I prefer to use established ships on that basis as it shows the fandom just how much they mean to me. I will never include something just because in a story. It all has a reason and it has all happened. Ponies make telling my life more enjoyable for the readers.
I do understand your points however, and they are quite valid. I do appreciate you taking the time to share them with me. <3
What's a waifu? I've seen that word used, but I'm not really clear on what it means.
5298723
No problem. >^_^<
5298740
It's a go-to term used by fans to describe fictional women that they find desirable. The expression "mai waifu" was used in the anime Azumanga Daioh by a teacher who was talking about his wife to his students, and the term ended up turning memetic.