Things that happen in Pony-fiction that happens WAY too much · 4:11am Feb 16th, 2012
Alright, so you're writing a fanfiction. GREAT! Its about ponies? EVEN BETTER! You need a plot device? GRE... umm... what KIND of plot device?
That's a question that is very important to your story. While it doesn't seem so at first, originality is damn near impossible now-a-days in stories, so making up a completely new plot device is (nearly) out of the question. What you CAN do, is make something that is either done rarely, or done in a new way. These are my favorite ones, and authors that can pull these off always get a tip of the hat from me. If you can't do this, then your fiction is not terrible, and I won't completely refuse to read it. You just won't get a tip of the hat!
However, there are a few plot decives that have been so overdone, that it makes my blood boil (or run cold, haven't found out yet). I know how it works took. The author needs one, can't think of anything, decides to use one that he's seen before, and before he can think about it, its in the story, posted,and I flip a table in rage. Once again I will state, using these does not mean that your story is a bad one (See Silent Ponyville for one of these, but I won't say which, and I admit its done differently than normal). All that said, here is a short list of ones I've seen WAY too much. I'll try to do one for each of the mane 6.
Pinkie Pie: Cupcakes: If you've read my first blog post, I mentioned that I am sick and tired of this story, and the spinoffs. I didn't go into detail into the story itself, and I won't too here, but maybe later I will. That said, I am sick and tired of this plot device. Seriously. Damn near every single non-happy Pinkie-centric has this somewhere in it. Some stories have it much more disguised than others, but its still the same thing OVER AND OVER AND OVER. Seriously. I know Cupcakes. I get its supposed to be freaky. Frankly though, I'm so numb to it, I yawn. Let alone that this is totally not even CLOSE to something Pinkie would ever do. This is first on the list for a reason, because it is, by far, the worst mixture prevelance and stupidity that I see here.
Applejack: Burning Down Sweet Apple Acres: This one isn't even close to as bad as Cupcakes, but I see it enough to warrant a spot on this list. Typically, this is done at the very beginning of the story, and is used to create turmoil, and forces the Apples to leave Ponyville (most of the time, they go to Appleloosa). A few months ago, I would've found this to be an interesting way to start the story, and make me feel for them. Now? I've seen this one so many times, that it doesn't affect me anymore. This one doesn't make me mad, because it isn't BAD per say; it just makes me sigh and shake my head. I feel its unimaginative, overdone, and I'm sure that the Apples would think of SOME other solution other than "Damn... place burned down... WE'RE MOVING LOLZ.", but I digress.
Rainbow Dash: Clipping/Breaking Her Wings: Like Applejack's this one is mostly overdone. I get the point here: her special talent and main joy in life is flying. Take that away, and she loses who she is. Typically this results in a life changing view of her friends and the world as she "stops to smell the roses" as it were. Also like the others: seen it, done that. Besides, most of the time that this happens, she gets over it fairly quickly (story time). I'm not so certain that she'd EVER get over it, no matter what pony she is shipped with (always ends up happening). It would almost be the equivelant of a runner losing his legs. Depression would set in, and while he could get over the depression, he would always wonder, and would never fully get over it (not including prostetics or something here).
Twilight Sparkle: Falling for Trixie: Disclaimer real quick: Trixie is one of my favorite side characters. That said, this has been so overdone, and in most fictions, it doesn't even make sense. In the show, Twilight had a solid two encounters with Trixie. The first was Twilight not wanting her friends to think she was boastful like Trixie, because she thought it was a bad thing, and never actually interacted with her other than running away when Trixie called her out. The second encounter was her taking down the Ursa Minor, and not once did actually have any sort of conversation with her. The most Twilight interacted with her was when she told the other ponies to "let her go" after the incident. In most fictions, this is somehow enough to make Twilight (and usually Trixie as well) completely fall for Trixie, and hunt her to the ends of the earth to find her. Yes, there are stories (See: Mares and Magic) that not only explain this happening, and do a superb job in doing it. However, those stories aside, it just doesn't make sense.
Fluttershy: Being a Completely Terrible Flier: Almost every story involving Fluttershy to a large extent is guilty of this one. They say that Fluttershy is timid, shy, scared, and a bad flier by pegasus standards. The first three are true. The last one? Sure, she's not Rainbow Dash, but she isn't a bad flier in the slightest. Many times in the show, she is seen doing many (if mostly standard) things that a pegasus would do. The best three examples of her flying abilities (that I can think of) are 1) Flying to Cloudsdale, 2) Chasing down a Discorded Rainbow, and 3) Flying with Rainbow to get cider. In the first one, she apparently flies all the way to Cloudsdale with Rainbow fast enough that Rainbow doesn't complain, so it must have been in either 1 shot, or at least as Rainbow's pace. That established, you can't see Cloudsdale from Ponyville, which means she flew a long while to get there, meaning she has endurance. In the second one, she is able to chase down Rainbow so Twilight can use the spell on her. While Rainbow WAS holding onto a cloud and weighed down by Pinkie Pie and Rarity, Fluttershy was pulling Twilight, Applejack, and A DAMN HOT AIR BALLOON. This obviously shows strength. The final encounter is when Rainbow gets her to grab cider. While yes, Rainbow pushed her to go faster at the end, she still flew most of the way fast enough for Rainbow not to get upset. Furthermore, she was sideways flying with "speed-streaks" behind her. This shows speed. Seriously, she isn't a bad flier. Yes, when frightened, she does lock up, but she isnt' a bad flier in the slightest.
A/N: Wow, I freaked out on that last one. I apologize. What can I say? I'm protective of the cute and adorable Fluttershy!
Rarity: Ummm...: Eh, I honestly got nothing on her. Maybe its because she is the pony that is the least popular to have as the main role? I could say something lame like, "Oh, she makes every OC pony play dress-up or makes them have the HIE get new clothes made by her," but this is seriously what she would do, and has done, in the show.
Others that I'm not going into detail about, but I see way too often (these are not as bad as the previous ones)...
- Applejack's Parents are dead
- Scootaloo is an orphan living on scraps
- Celestia is aloof while Luna is actually friendly
- Discord and Celestia shipping (ew)
- A spell Twilight was casting goes haywire
- Pinkie Pie breaking the 4th wall (and not in a subtle way)
- Pinkie's hair going flat (this happens once when she went nuts. Twice when she was sad it stayed poofy)
Anyways, there are probably more, but I am 100% certain I am ranting at this point, and I humbly seek forgiveness for my rambling. I don't have a witty closer or anything, other than I don't have a spellchecker on this computer, so any spelling mistakes are not going to be fixed (suckers).
Do you agree? Disagree? Why? What are ones that you guys think are overdone that I didn't list?
"Scootaloo is an orphan."
What kind of writer would still use that!?
fim.413chan.net/fic/src/132434267918-59363_-_4th_wall_wha.png
15309
Ah, but he isn't one "-living on scraps". While yes, he is an orphan, he isn't homeless (which I should've clarified, but whatever). Granted its not fun, but he does live in an orphanage, so at the very least, he isn't barely getting by on garbage.
Besides, your story is too damn cute to make me upset
You forgot countless adaptations of 'My Little Dashie' and endless self-insert/HiE romances with a main character. Seriously that last one, it really annoys me how there are soooooooooo many of them and it's essentially the same plot device; fan wishes they were in a relationship with main character, writes poorly constructed story. I'm not against the idea at all it's just that 90& of them are terrible! They are all the same right down to the cover picture, literally!
I'm glad you also are tired of the endless used-so-many-times-they're-now-cliche plots, I myself am always trying to write fics that haven't been touched upon before (okay, my first one was a LyraBon ship, sue me). It's always nice to have a break from the norm.
15433
No no no. I mean only plot devices, not plots in general. Go to my first blog to see stuff like that
My Little Dashie isn't on there, but many other ones are!
Oh.
Well I still stand by my bitchy rant
15457
I allow this bitchy rant to stand
You appear quite adept at coming up with interesting yet relevant topics to discuss for your blog and I for one like this fact. While I have only read a few Friendship is Magic fanfics (though I've at least read a hundred of them and I've got so many stories in my favourite list that I already had to remove some to make way for more) I do believe I can add a word or two on this discussion. I will now proceed to discuss the various plot devices, and whether I agree on them or not in order, and then I shall contribute to the idea of other overdone plot devices.
Cupcake spin offs and sequels are indeed overdone, and while there have been a few interesting ideas based around this story, even those ideas end up overdone. There are a few other fanfics which keep on getting spin offs and sequels (My Little Dashie comes to mind) but nowhere near the extent of Cupcakes.
I must say I have never actually read a fanfic with the plot device of burning down Sweet Apple Acres so I can't really agree with you on that one. In fact I can only think of two fanfics where Sweet Apple Acres was damaged, both of them had it happen by a storm (which also destroyed a lot of Ponyville in both cases), and in neither case were the Apple Family forced to leave.
I immediately agree with you on the Rainbow clipping her wings device, there are several fanfics on this, nearly all of them romance. It has lead to quite a few good parodies of the event (one fanfic had all of the non-Pegasus worried that Rainbow Dash lost a wing only for Fluttershy to say at the very end how Pegasus re-grow wings) but it's still annoying to see, particularly when nothing new or original is done with the concept.
Unlike you, Trixie is my second least favourite character of the entire show and Twixie is among my three least favourite pairings of Friendship is Magic so naturally I agree with you on this plot device, which not only bugs me due to the lack of interaction between these characters to explain a romance but also because of how common it is (if a writer is going to have these two characters fall in love they need to actually write more experiences between the two characters first).
I also agree with the Fluttershy being a terrible flier plot device, not that she is one but that it is overdone. There are exceptions to this, such as when they give a reason as to why Fluttershy is not flying well, if the story takes place when she was a filly (in which it is shown she was not all that great of a flier initially), and if she is considered bad when compared to flying athletes and not when compared to the average Pegasus/flying creature.
As for the other devices, I don't mind the Applejack's parents are dead device, as the lack of their appearance on the farm makes less sense that the lack of appearances from the other characters (the others have moved into new homes whereas Applejack has always been on Sweet Apple Acres).
I also do not mind the Scootaloo is an orphan device however I do get bothered when they make her homeless, after all you would have thought one of the characters would have noticed this, or that she wouldn't be able to go to school because she couldn't acquire the equipment or have anyone on her behalf sign her up for an education.
Celestia is aloof while Luna is the friendly one is probably motivated by how more people like Luna over Celestia and also the joke tyrant portrayal of Celestia but is one I'm okay with if explained properly.
Discord and Celestia shipping is quite common but not too the extent of say...AppleDash or FlutterMac, and at that, I really like the pairing. Fanfics with this pairing or ones that imply that Celestia and Discord were once lovers always manage to make me like Celestia a little more, as frankly I find her to be boring usually and she’s my third least favourite character of the series. Anything to make her come across as more interesting and/or flawed in some way is fine by me.
Twilight casting a spell that goes haywire is one I consider more overdone than the Twilight loves Trixie device, and for the great majority of crossover fanfics it is apparently the only explanation people can come with up to explain how the Mane 6 would get to another world. It wouldn't be so bad if the cause of the spell causing problems was because of Twilight casting the wrong spell or because of a factor being present that the characters weren’t aware of (both of these things have been done in fanfics before but it is still rare) but no, it's always Twilight messing up the spell.
Pinkie Pie breaking the fourth wall in a non-subtle way is one I agree is overdone (I always prefer it to be more subtle) but not one I'm going to call anyone out on as there are times in the cartoon where Pinkie Pie clearly breaks the fourth wall in a particularly non-subtle fashion.
Finally Pinkie Pie's hair going flat is also used too many times considering it has only occurred once in the cartoon but I'm willing to forgive this one as it doesn't seem all that big of a deal.
As for plot devices I think are overdone myself, I was going to say Twilight messing up a spell but that comes under Twilight's spell causing mayhem so the ones I will point out are Rainbow Dash never doing the first Sonic Rainboom and a character ending up in the hospital. For the first one I can only think of one fanfic that has done something unique with it and that's by having the Rainboom occur but two days earlier than in the cartoon (which has some interesting and unexpected effects). For the second one, this could come under the Rainbow Dash clipping her wings but the plot device is also quite common for Fluttershy and OC's...and surprise, surprise, they tend to be romance fanfics.
To wrap this up I'll end by saying that this was a good list of overused plot devices even if I did not agree with them all or to the same extent as you, but to each their own. Cheerio!
16502
The only two things I need to comment on are the Scootaloo point, and Burning of Sweet Apple Acres.
- The Scootaloo point I should probably edit in the blog, because I realize its unclear. Scootaloo being an orphan and belonging to an orphanage, or living with foster parents is fine. I have no problems with that. However, its when she's "living on scraps" (my way of saying 'she's living on the street') is what gets me annoyed. Most the time, this ends with Rainbow taking her in or her dying in the winter. I admit, there are a couple of stories that do it well, (Check out Donny Boy's Our True Colors for a new twist on this one) I just can't usually get behind it.
- Sweet Celestia you've never read a story with SAA burning down!? Really!? You are a lucky man my friend. Half of the sad stories featuring Applejack as a main character do this. I'm suprised that you haven't seen this more. Check out Sith_Dreamer's My Old Apple Acre Home for a GOOD use of this.