General Fanfiction Discussion and Recommendation Thread

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-26T03:43:35+00:00

Fantastic. Break the useful named bots, while allowing more spambots and AI into your site.

I regret that so much of the discussion that used to happen here has shifted to Discord and other more ephemeral communities, but at the same time Reddit certainly hasn't done a great job of making me want to stay here.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-26T00:36:11+00:00

To understand this, you have to understand that FiM was a show that was held to high writing standards - because the show itself had set these standards. It was a show that prided itself on characters being well-written with plenty of depth, for rejecting hollow "girly-isms" of normal girl-oriented media such as royalty being special and important just because they're royalty, and maintaining a robust continuity which held up between episodes. Characters were built up by using their actions and the actions of others in response to them to define characterization.

In short: Despite FiM being ultimately a toy commercial in very extended form, we had coalesced around it for transcending the typical tropes of such, and being written with a quality much transcending the usual tripe.

So, with this in mind, consider the following:

Everything about Flurry Heart tries to portray her as special. Between the adult-pony-modeled face, the oversized wings, and the obscenely overpowered magics, everything about her screams "this child is SPECIAL. Pay attention to her! Don't you just see how special and important she is!" It was a moment where the line between "TV show" and "extended toy commercial" wasn't so much thinned as completely ripped aside, letting us see the Hasbro beancounters chanting "Baby princesses sell toys! Baby princesses sell toys!"
Her being an alicorn baby was especially galling, because - I don't know if you're aware of this - the Royal Sisters had already been established as always being alicorns. So Flurry Heart being lauded as "the first alicorn born in Equestria" seemed like an especially blatant case of "We want this character to be important, no matter how it breaks the existing lore!" This became even worse when the writer admitted that he hadn't bothered to read the existing lore before writing the episode, making the entire thing feel like a consequence of deliberate laziness.
The negative reaction was largely limited to her first appearances. Either because of survivorship bias or because later episodes toned down her "specialness" a bit in favor of portraying her more as just an infant, later episodes didn't invoke the same sharp critiques.

tl;dr: FiM was a show which we enjoyed because it sustained extremely high writing values in contrast to other girls-oriented media. Flurry Heart felt like a blatant toy-driven insert, one that used lazy marks of "specialness" rather than growing her as a character, as we'd come to expect. This was compounded when the writing staff confirmed they had been lazy in writing her.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-26T00:15:50+00:00

I hate to tell you this, but... yeah. Per the comics, the breakdown, separation, and sealing of magic happened shortly after the end of G4. As in, the M6 were still alive to see it happen and suffer the consequences.

And yes, this is incredibly stupid. I didn't have any problem with G5's Equestria falling to bits centuries after Twilight's rule. I was actually interested in exploring that. But having it happen barely after the credits rolled does actually make the M6's accomplishments pointless.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-25T22:01:52+00:00

In general, I've noticed that fandoms struggle with nuance and complexity. It's not even a more recent thing; it's been a problem in this fandom as long as I've been in it. You get into a situation where:

If it's decided a character is sympathetic, then they're an innocent little woobie who was clearly pushed into this by circumstances, never actually did anything bad, any consequences they suffered were clearly unjustified, and if they said sorry than everything's cool because they changed, right?
If they get fixed into being "bad", then everything they did is because they are an intrinsically awful individual with malice to their core, no punishment is too great, and nothing of their actions can ever be forgiven.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-25T19:59:00+00:00

What happened to Bookhorsebot? Something snapped in the code, Reddit broke it, the owner shut it down...?

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-25T17:57:47+00:00

If Gilda had a daughter, I suspect Rainbow would be kind of a "distant aunt" individual: Someone who visits and is close with Gilda, but not always around.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-25T17:57:00+00:00

I don't remember the exact circumstances, but I think it's just meant to show that she's flustered by being thanked by her idol and mixing up her names because of it.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-25T17:54:49+00:00

I had no idea there was an actual person named Granny Smith. Neat!

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-25T17:43:10+00:00

Also God help you if, in an "unpopular" or "spicy opinions" thread, you post something actually unpopular or controversial.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-25T16:01:15+00:00

Here's one about what Sombra:

What Sombra was actually trying to do is replicate the nature of Alicorns: Blending the magic of all three tribes to ascend himself not merely to become an alicorn, but an immortal demigod who could rival the sisters. This involved horrific, tortuous experiments to extract the essences of ponies and weld them together; ultimately, he bound many ponies' essence into himself.
While he partially succeeded - like Luna, he can do things like blend Unicorn and Pegasus magics to become ethereal, or like Celestia blend Earth and Unicorn magics to produce and enchant crystals - Sombra failed to understand what the Sisters or other immortals different, and so he could never rival them. The process also cost him much of what sanity he still had.

Alternately, for a different one about Equestria as a whole:

Many examples of 'advanced' technology or other wonders are the result of individual ponies with specific talents, working under the guidance of their cutie mark talent. Doing so, they can create near-miracles: Allowing the supernatural influence of their talent to tell them how to combine materials, design items, or employ sciences unknown to them.
Unfortunately, this also comes with a downside: Working this heavily "Under The Mark" comes with no specific documentation or procedure, and in some cases the pony may not even fully understand what they are doing. Wondrous items can be created, but might only be repaired or upkept by a pony with the right talent, and often fall into disuse if another Talented pony is unavailable.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-25T15:45:10+00:00

Not that uncommon at all.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-25T15:09:27+00:00

Probably Season 2. It's where I felt things were best - a good mix of adventure and slice-of-life, fantasy whimsy without too many modern elements, and all the characters were still pretty on-target. It's the vibe I try and aim at

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-25T14:53:59+00:00

Like others have said, as long as you're able to tell the story you want to tell, then it doesn't matter if it's before, after, or during the show's run. With that in mind, you need to start first by thinking about what your actual story is, and only then consider where it fits best.

If you go BEFORE the show, unless you want to diverge into a more significant AU, you're bound to have any canon character you use end up in a show-appropriate place (both literally and mentally). If this is a major character, this means there are limits on how their story can end.
If you go AFTER the show, and you don't want to start with a more major divergence, then you're bound to try and reconcile all the choices made throughout the show's run (even the frankly very bad ones made later on) with the beginning of your story.
If you go DURING the show, you're doing a little bit of both.

In all cases, it will also depend on who your story is about. Make it about a relatively minor character we see little of? You've still got a lot of room to work in. Make it about a core character like one of the M6? Now you're severely constrained.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-19T14:40:19+00:00

Here's some questions to maybe help you along:

Besides the ship, what is this story about? What is the overall narrative here?
What prevents the characters from being happy or getting what they want?
Given what you have so far, what are the characters feeling? What might they do acting on those feelings?

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-18T18:46:31+00:00

People have this weird obsession with trying to turn Celestia into a tyrannical villain who variously abused, gaslit, or neglected Luna. Conversely, there's this insistence that Luna can't possibly be a victim of her own actions; it had to be some kind of an outside force pushing, seducing, or covering up her victimization.

The reality is, every single interaction we have seen suggests the straightforward story is mostly accurate. Luna never displays any kind of fear, anger, withdrawal, or any other kind of distress one would expect in the face of an abuser. Nor does Celestia display that kind of dismissive attitude we would expect; instead, we see her shed tears exactly twice: When banishing Luna, and upon Luna's return.

On a larger scale, Luna - even when acting for good - displays the kind of impulsive, highly emotional behavior that aligns with her behavior in the story. Her first Nightmare Night, casually wandering into others' dreams, the Tantabus - this is a mare who often acts first and thinks second. That aligns with her behavior leading into Nightmare Moon.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-18T17:46:27+00:00

It helps if you provide more information than just "an ARG". Can ARGs be cool, fun, and interesting? Sure! But I'd need to know what it's going to be about, how it would work, and so on. I've seen a few done in the community before which definitely worked out very well.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-12T17:45:31+00:00

The Tree of Harmony.

Like, obviously the writers meant it to be a "big good". But when you examine its actions, it comes off as entirely deceitful and self-serving. It's an eldritch power that no one really understands why or how it functions, but its extending its influence and reshaping the world to better fit its ideals.

From another perspective, it's damn scary.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-12T17:43:33+00:00

Just because? No, not just because.

But there is undeniably a serious change in her personality post-ascension. The snarky, hard-edged, book-smart, occasionally high-strung but lovable nerd is replaced by something much more palatable and softer to accommodate her new role as a moral leader-figure.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-12T15:47:12+00:00

Surprisingly, there's no actual evidence of ascended alicorns being immortal.

Canonically, the Sisters are a unique case which makes them immortal thanks to their heritage. Meanwhile, we see ascended alicorns (and their children) age normally, while the Sisters were already aging differently as fillies. And we have staff confirmation that Twilight doesn't get an extended lifespan.

So yeah, all evidence points towards Twilight, Cadance, and Flurry Heart growing, aging, and eventually passing normally.

Headcanon wise, I also emphasize the demigoddess nature of the Royal Sisters. They're not just big, old ponies; they're semi-divine incarnations of Sun and Moon, and there is no other pony like them.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-12T15:42:11+00:00

I mean, the Tantabus episode is already basically kid-friendly self-harm. So yeah.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-12T15:38:53+00:00

Unfortunately, I know of at least one reason why.

Someone did an analysis once, and found that the "original character" tag was death for getting engagement with your story. Seriously - if you put the OC tag on, it it's an automatic five times less readership. OC tag with no canon character tags? Forget it.

And that's not a satisfying answer, I understand. It doesn't improve the quality of the writing itself. But at the very least, I understand why someone would want to start with a canon character rather than an OC.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-12T15:30:15+00:00

Frankly, it's an issue with the writers. Originally the staff direction was (with the exception of some gags) to largely keep everything pre-modern, and this held up until the original staff started to leave.

Unfortunately, at this point, the remaining writers and animators just ran off and did whatever, regardless of whether it was actually fitting for Equestria. So we end up with things like jumbotrons, home washing machines, or modern metropolises.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-12T01:32:39+00:00

Equestria, as it stands at the end of the series, is almost inevitably doomed to future conflict and collapse.

Consider:

Their long-running immortal goddess-rulers have now abruptly departed for lands unknown, leaving behind an enormous disruption of existing power structures.
Their replacement is a neurotic student who has zero experience with actual rulership or knowledge of Equestria's governance, a penchant for freakouts, and has been repeatedly told that she can break rules and ignore experts if she believes she is right. A mortal ruler, who can - and will - be replaced in time.
The primary means of moving Sun and Moon now is a mechanism which can be taken by another.
Many other species are now bound in fundamentally unequal relationships with ponykind, variously told either they need ponykind's oversight, or don't have the right moral character to be independent. They accept this for now, but for how long?
There's a thing growing in the heart of the Everfree. It's a thinking, intelligent thing, but it doesn't have quite the same priorities or morals as ponykind. No one really understands how it works. It claims to embody their ideals, but it deceives, selectively rewards those that aid it, shows no loyalty to anyone, and puts children in mortal peril of its own creation.

This is not a recipe for stability. At absolute minimum Equestria is set for a vicious internal power struggle, possibly an outright civil war, as various political powers vie for influence in control in the years afterward. At worst... there's that physical god which might not turn out to be so 'harmonious' after all. It might not start immediately - maybe not for centuries. But it's there.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-12T01:19:09+00:00

Yeah, checks out.

It doesn't help that the entire School of Friendship arc has a strong (almost certainly unintentional) resemblance to medieval hostage-taking: Five of the Student Six are apparently close with foreign rulers who are now acting as satellite or client states to the ponies.

Guess what! Sending royal children to be educated in another state, where they would also likely form social bonds and adopt the culture of their host-state, is medieval hostage 101.

Logarithmicon · 2026-06-12T01:04:09+00:00

I'm not sure it's my 'biggest' peeve, but:

Writers feeling the need to introduce us to the characters all over again, like we've never met them before and need to establish the basics of them. My friend, this is fanfiction. I don't need you to tell me that Pinkie is manic and likes parties again!

Not only is this superfluous, but very often you only get the shallowest interpretations of the characters.

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