Jace Nevada, on 05 July 2012 - 02:20 PM, said:
It's not kept out of the show just because the show has to be family friendly, it's kept out of the show because there's literally no reason to add it. Showing the entire pony reproduction process in graphic detail would have added absolutely no value to the story, except for letting a few creeps get their rocks off. And this is what most sexually explicit fanfiction is about, despite the fact that the authors and fans will vehemently argue to the contrary. I've explored far enough into the depths of other internet fandoms in the past to know that this is exactly what goes on.
I'd like to bring up Fallout: Equestria as a counterexample, which you so offhandedly derided as a "a thinly-veiled 608K word clopfic". I could probably count the number of sexual scenes or suggestive references in it on one hand, maybe two; and no, these are not hardcore sex scenes without exception, either. Just a couple of points:
-The only truly explicit scene is a fan-written (though accepted as FoE canon) "bonus chapter", which is usually kept separate from the original chapters and clearly labeled as explicit.
-The second most prominent scene involving sex between characters is not explicit, and leads directly into another scene which has a major concentration of character development.
-The rest of the sexually suggestive references are generally there for humor value, and also aren't explicit.
Jace Nevada, on 05 July 2012 - 02:20 PM, said:
Yeah you're right, it's not really the same thing. And honestly, G-rated shipping between OCs (see: Stormy Nights) doesn't bother me at all. When it's done in an M-rated context or with canon characters, that's what bugs me. It's like Sesambrot was saying, it's just lazy and stupid.
What, just between OCs? Not even between background ponies, whose personalities are mostly fan-created anyway? Not even with more important characters if they're kept in-character?
Once again, I'd like to point out
It's Always Sunny in Fillydelphia, which is quite possibly the best MLP shipfic I've read. It keeps everyone in-character and/or extrapolates reasonably from their canon personalities, it's tame, and it avoids the groan-worthy "love at first sight" cliché, taking it slow instead. Personally, I'd say if any fic is capable of warming someone up to shipping, it's this one.
Jace Nevada, on 05 July 2012 - 02:20 PM, said:
I've read a number of good fanfics that stay true to the spirit of the show and don't involve main characters cutting each other into pieces and/or having explicitly-described sex with each other. Unfortunately, these good fanfics are the exception rather than the rule. Not only are most clopfics and shipfics disgusting and borderline pedophilia, they're also horribly written because the author is too concerned with putting their twisted fantasies down on paper to worry about whether or not it makes any sense within the context of whatever story they're writing.
News flash: good fiction in general is the exception, not the rule. Fan fiction is merely easier to publish. Like I said, Sturgeon's Law.
And "borderline pedophilia"? Seriously? There's some of that out there, yeah, but
most? Now you're just being sensationalistic. Honestly, the only crime of most shipfics is being amateurish cliché piles, not rampant deviancy...
Edited by SNobleJr, 05 July 2012 - 03:01 PM.