[M/MShipping] [Sad]
Author: RadaVonVon
Description: Braeburn Apple has always been raised in a conservative household, as a member of the Apple family.Social Standards (Update Part 10!)
Throughout his life, he's been taught what's 'wrong' and what's 'right', who he was allowed to love, and who he wasn't. Above all, he was told what to be, and how to be it.
When he meets a certain blue Pegasus stallion buying a pie at Sweet Apple Acres while he just so happens to be staying there, he discovers feelings he never knew he had.
Unfortunately, they happen to be the same ones he was always taught to suppress.
Can Soarin convince him that it's not wrong to be in love, and that, sometimes, in order to be happy, you need to break out of your comfort zone?
A story about discovering who you are, and being that person, no matter what others tell you to be.
Additional Tags: M/M, Homophobia, Braerin, Coltcuddling, Cute
123 comments:
Tracking this on FIMF - Congrats Rada!
ReplyDelete~LUC
>inb4 "OMG THIS SHOULDN'T BE ON EQD."
ReplyDeleteCause you know it's coming.
LET THE HATE MAIL COME TO MEEEEEE.
ReplyDelete-- RadaVonVon
It is a bit hypocritical of some bronies to like Mare/Mare shipping but not colt/colt shipping. I can say I dislike this simply because I dislike pony shipping in the first place. But those are just my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteWhy do my comments keep disappearing oh well. I'll just post it again. I hope no one tries to be an asshole in the comments like what happened with Triple x. This is different though so I hope we get some different results.
ReplyDeleteUgh...why?
ReplyDeleteSeth, how are you managing to post on EqD and play TF2 in the livestream at the same time?
ReplyDelete;s;lakjf;lkjsdrfpoieruuq;eokrjlaslmncvasl;dkhjfpoiewr;lasdfjl;acsvcn;alsdkfj
ReplyDeleteMY OTP I LOVE YOU EQD
Good job posting and kicking ass on tf2 AT THE SAME TIME!
ReplyDeleteYay Rada ftw.
ReplyDeleteM/m shipping scares me.
ReplyDelete@Pegasus Rescue Brigade
ReplyDeletehe has it set up so that these post on an automated schedule.
>m/m shipping
ReplyDelete>doesn't 1-star it
There's a good guy Greg in all of us!
I do agree however that it's highly hypocritical that people don't mind girl on girl but bitch and moan endlessly about guy on guy. Ya'll need to grow some tolerance.
I just might give this a look. If the shipping is executed in just the right way, I truly don't mind. Remember, it's just a story.
ReplyDelete@goldenCapitalist
ReplyDeleteNot really.
Some people don't like seeing two dudes together while they like seeing girls.
Call it the homophobia in me. I'm not a fan of seeing or reading homosexual acts between males but you can love who you want.
I am, however, a fan of seeing or reading two homosexual acts between females. And you can still love who you want.
It's not that hypocritical, more preferential.
@Nostalgia Schmaltz
ReplyDeleteI can only understand some of the source. they hear m/m and they get flashbacks of obsessive yaoi fangirls in other fandoms.
not an excuse, just a reason. doesn't make it right.
I can't remember exactly but i'm sure there's been at least one other m/m ship up here and that wasn't starbombed.
ReplyDeleteI hope people can still be mature about it.
Conrgats RadaVonVon.
ReplyDeleteAs for any "controversy" - it's simple, people.
You read the description, then you decide whether you want to read the story.
If the subject manner is objectionable to you, then skip it.
@Pegasus Rescue Brigade Magic
ReplyDeleteCool, I've been meaning to read this on FiMFiction.
ReplyDeleteDon't rate it down just because it's M/M
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly support M/M shipping. Remember everypony, love and tolerate.
ReplyDeleteI'm not really into colt-colt shipping, but I might give this one a read, though. I hope it doesn't get starbombed like my fic did, and I will pre-emptively rate it 5 stars. They'll be coming in the morning...
ReplyDeleteI don't like shipping at all, but I'll defend anyone who gets down-rated unjustly.
ReplyDeleteI you don't like the material - don't read it, don't rate it.
I am not a fan of shipping to begin with, much less any form of F/F OR M/M shipping. It disappoints me to see those sorts of fics, but I won't tell you you're wrong for liking them.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I don't really understand why people want to write about this sort of thing any more than they'd want to write something like Cupcakes.
I guess it's true how everyone's gay for Braeburn. Well, except for me that is.
ReplyDeleteHorseapples have hit the fan
ReplyDelete@goldenCapitalist
ReplyDeleteActually, no it's not. You shouldn't give it a bad rating or hate it, but I can absolutely understand it.
I'm a straight guy. I don't particularly want to read about a gay romance. The point of shipping is to pair two people who will never be paired in canon. I can understand a straight guy only wanting pairings involving females.
I don't read shipping anyway, but if I did I doubt I'd read gay shipping. Girls read yaoi, not guys.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis fandom needs more M/M to balance things out.
ReplyDeleteSuch nice comments so far. Makes me want to live on this planet again.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I was always hoping for a fic exactly like this to show up at some point. So off I go *Reads*
I don't see whats wrong with M/M shipping being that 99% of the shipping we do have is F/F...
ReplyDeleteShip ALL the orientations!
ReplyDeleteI'm straight, but there's nothing wrong with M/M shipping. Well-written gay romance = well-written romance. I'm laid up in the hospital for the next week, so keep the chapters coming!
F/fF ships = normal
ReplyDeleteM/M ships = gay.
Alright alright alright!
im all for M/M shipping
ReplyDeleteI've been following this over at FIM, it's really pretty good. Glad to see it make it's way over here. Wait...did this update with another chapter?!
ReplyDelete*runs off to find out after leaving stars and cupcakes for the author*
I don't hate it, I just don't like M/M shippings of ponies. It feels wrong somehow.
ReplyDeleteThis looks interesting, and I may have to read it to balance out the lesbian pony ships that I've read.
ReplyDeleteHmm, from what I read this fic is more about being gay in a conservative environment more than just the ship.
ReplyDeleteI dare say this might not be a shipping fic, just a fic that has shipping in it.
I take forever to read though so I'll be a while. took me this long just to read the first chapter.
Description sounds really good! Like @Adrian said, it seems more like a fic with shipping in it than a shipping fic. I hope there's no big flame wars... and it's been said on the internet many a time, "if you don't like something, there's an 'x' for that"
ReplyDelete@ElMikkino
ReplyDeleteI'd like to apologize on behalf of the fandom for that. I didn't rate your fic myself, as I haven't read it and I'm not sure if I will (if I'm honest I don't like what I've heard about Dash's backstory), but I'm certain the rating it has now is not the one it deserves.
hmm, maybe what we should do is if your fic has more than one element to it, you have it so the elements go from greatest focus to least.
ReplyDeleteso in this case it would possibly be [sad][shipping] or even [normal][sad][shipping]
Only read the first chapter, but based on that I'd say it's at least a solid 5-star story.
ReplyDeleteCome now, there's very little drama between us lot. I'm straight, and don't really care for shipping, and hate sad fanfics to the tune of blacklisting, but that doesn't mean I'm going to start a shitstorm here.
ReplyDelete@Ace2401
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the sentiment but it really is rude to apologize on behalf of other people if they didn't ask you to.
POOOORNNN!
ReplyDeleteOh wait, that was yesterday, nevermind. I've been tracking this fic on FIMFiction for awhile now, and really enjoy it. 5 stars
Thouroghly thought out comments? Hmm, I call murphy's law on this.
ReplyDelete@Adrian Brony
ReplyDeleteI'm aware of that, but I feel bad for the author of Triple X, so oh well. It's not like the starbombers are going to say sorry themselves, are they?
Don't feel bad guys. I was totally expecting a shitstorm of epic proportions when Apple Branches first went up, and I was pleasantly surprised that one didn't happen then too. We can actually be loving and tolerating sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI'll give this a look over in the morning. I thoroughly enjoy Apple Branches, so I'll give it a shot even though I don't really like Braeburn in fan works.
@Ace2401
ReplyDeleteno apology at all is better than a forged apology is all I'm saying I guess.
but I digress, there realyl wasn't much of a drama over this so this was mostly people waiting for something bad to happen that never did, thankfully.
Finnally! some Buck on buck shipping. I'm not gay or anything, nor am I probably gonna read it but good on yah mate!
ReplyDeleteLOL
ReplyDeletewow I can't believe I'm the first to post this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VChI9RhNR20
I'm no fan of Yaoi/male on male but it seems every brony is a Yuri/female on female type reader.
this should help balance it out if anything.
@Adrian Brony
ReplyDeleteWell, I personally disagree. If I was in ElMikkino's position I'd be happy to see someone say that my story didn't get the rap it deserved. So do unto others and all that jazz is where I'm coming from I guess.
coltxcolt shipping?, not my thing, I see no problem with this though, it's not like NSFW stuff or something like that, seth, you are just making a big fuzz about the "so ignore the start rating" thing.
ReplyDelete@Ace2401
ReplyDeleteoh I agree with that. it's just that when someone goes "on behalf of ______ I'm sorry" instead of like "I feel bad about this happening. sorry it happened." or something to that effect.
but don't mind me, I'l must a jerk who gets wrapped up in semantics.
Just gonna add this to the list of things I want to read but probably will never get around to reading.
ReplyDeleteNO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!
ReplyDelete@*Xatz*
ReplyDeleteNo really. The star bombers primarily target regular shipping.
Seriously, if you don't like people not liking things, just remove the rating system all together. (looks like its got 4 stars to me, should I ignore the fact that it has a good rating?)
ReplyDelete@Karl N. Hauber
ReplyDeleteThink it's more the fact that the fic gets 40+ ratings before anyone could have possibly read enough to properly evaluate that may lead to the "ignore the rating" bit.
Honestly, this is well written. I don't care about the pairing if it's well written. I'd rather read this than a bunch of terrible ship fics of Mane 6.
ReplyDelete@Nostalgia Schmaltz
ReplyDeletehow in the world is not liking m/m hypocritical? I'm a dude, girl on girl shipping is awesome because I'm straight, and I don't like m/m because i'm straight. it's personal preference. very few straight guys will like m/m because why in the world would they?
well, after reading allk that was available, I can honestly say that I like the story but I hope that soarin' eventually has to at least come to own up for how much of an utter douche he's being. I can't tell if it is intentional or not but the way it's written it seems he really doesn't understand the extent of the hate braeburn grew up around, and that he will have to face his own conflict when this causes a problem like say, him shoving braeburn out of the closet in front of his family expecting them to accept him anyway but it backfires.
ReplyDeletethat and outing braeburn in public. I don't care if you are gay and you know the other guy is gay, you never do that because you don't know what consequences that can bring on the closeted guy.
he seems like he means well but because he was raised in an accepting culture he just doesn't realize that sometimes people are in the closet for a reason other than cowardice or denial.
@Adrian Brony
ReplyDeleteFair enough, I probably could have gone without that.
@Ben Gibson
ReplyDeletebecause it's a cute love story (or serious story that involves gay romance) that isn't necessarily intended to be a form of self insertion or tantalization.
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ReplyDelete@Ben Gibson
ReplyDelete"very few straight guys will like m/m because why in the world would they?"
Because even though I'm straight, I can appreciate a good romance. I rather like the genre, and when it gets down to what romance is REALLY about (emotions, feelings, relationships), the fact that it's m/m, m/f, or f/f tends to matter little.
It's also pretty strange to see so many people commenting with the words "I'm not a fan of shipping."
Anyone care to answer me as to why so many people who don't like shipping are viewing this...?
Weird... the basic story (from description), with Braeburn staying at Sweet Apple and finding male love, seems rather familiar ?
ReplyDeleteM/M and it directly deals with homophobia?
ReplyDeleteFuck anybody who starbombs this.
@Josh Spicer
ReplyDelete>Call it the homophobia in me. I'm not a fan of seeing or reading homosexual acts between males but you can love who you want.
NO, YOU MUST ENJOY GAY PORN OR YOU ARE INTOLERANTS ಠ_ಠ
@Corky64
ReplyDelete"Anyone care to answer me as to why so many people who don't like shipping are viewing this...?"
Because people like to bitch about anything they can.
Well This is a fun read, and I can't wait to read more.
ReplyDeleteFair enough.
ReplyDeleteStill freaking out about this~~
ReplyDeleteFive star from the author of How Does Your Garden Grow- http://www.fimfiction.net/story/3282/How-Does-Your-Garden-Grow%3F which is also gay Braeburn shipping, but with Big Mac (gonna assume they weren't prob'ly relatives on that one, and it ain't nohow explicit)
ReplyDeleteJES' to help fight starbombing. I got 'Trixie' starbombed for bein' over-cloppy and it was most depressin'. Fight th' power!
Your personal preferences are all perfectly fine.
ReplyDeleteI think the hypocrisy is when people unfairly judge M/M shipping but give F/F a chance. You don't have to read M/M if it doesn't interest you. What people are saying is that giving an M/M story 1 star without even reading it, despite giving F/F and M/F a shot it unfair. If you aren't even going to try and read it, leave the star button alone.
It really shouldn't matter in the case of this story, considering it isn't clop. Love is love. Romance is romance, and this isn't only romance, but drama. A full-on lesbian could read this and get as much out of it as a gay guy because it isn't only about sex. I'm sure plenty of gay people enjoy movies about people in conventional straight relationships. It is POSSIBLE to read these things as outside observers and consume them as STORIES. Sure, I bet a gay man could relate to the themes more, but people should be able to enjoy this regardless of demographic.
Again, this doesn't mean anyone WILL enjoy it, or that they MUST read it. But complaining about stuff you haven't read based on only the most vague information about it provided in a short blurb is ignorant. Literally and in this case politically as well.
@mycutiemarkisagun
ReplyDeleteWell, for one, it isn't porn, so that all caps statement is irrelevant.
Second "homosexual acts" sounds like sort of thing that a cult leader would say. Not really helping your point. Though "the homophobia in me" is also a good contender.
Third, why are you commenting here if you don't have any interest in the story? Why does anypony do that on this site for that matter?
Braeburn and Soarin, huh? Well, it's certainly an unusual couple choice, since we've never seen them having anything to do with each other in the show and their lives aren't even related in some manner, like some shipping couples--*coughOctoVinylcough*--but the idea sounds fairly cute.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll give this story a shot.
Been reading this since it was started. Love the M/M shipping instead of the usual F/F shipping
ReplyDeleteConservative and anti-gay upbringing? I sense a southern stereotype coming on!
ReplyDeleteOkay, maybe that was a little unfair...
It's not so much the homosexuality as it is the sex. I'm not for any sexual themes in My Little Pony, and that stance will never change. It isn't an appropriate topic to be discussed in this medium, especially with the intended demographic or those who like it due to its intended demographic. All sexually obsessed people should and need to steer clear from areas that invoke innocence and other areas alike that others do not want to see perverted in any way. People need to understand that and not just think about themselves and the few that think the same way at the expense of exposing indecent material to others (and yes, just seeing that it exists is distraughting enough for most).
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe that one of the great failings of a conservative or puritan value system is the belief that sexuality and innocence somehow exclude one another. It is not so, these are orthogonal concepts. Similar to the ridiculous notion that sex is somehow dirty or something not to celebrate but to be ashamed of. Double so, if that sex (between consenting adults, natch) somehow does not match up to your perceived 'community standard' (that's a toxic term right there). Guess what, you do not get to make judgement for other people's choices and preferences, and while stating that you do not, e.g., like a specific type of pairing is certainly within your freedom of speech rights, there is such a thing as appearing boorish, uncultured, and close minded.
ReplyDelete(And yes, I realize the irony of being intolerant of intolerance. Such is the price for civil liberty.)
As a European brony, I find few things more disheartening about the discourse in the US (and yes, I have lived in the States, and I follow US news closely) than the hate heaped upon GLBT or gay rights. They are not gay rights, they are human rights. That anyone would even try to stop other consenting adults from forming relationship and marriage simply boggles my mind. Such people might as well be aliens, given how foreign their mindsets are to me—our ontological horizons do not overlap.
As you mature as a person, I think that you will find that it is far better to let things you do not personally like pass, and move on. Unless you can contribute (and intolerance is not much of a contribution), you should probably remain quiet.
So yay for this story appearing at EqD. May many more follow (baring the rather limited number of M/M options given the apparent rather skewed gender ratio in Equestria). I shall read it anon.
When I started out in the fandom eight months ago, I was strictly interested in the canon and the fanart. Soon however, I discovered fimfiction (while a voracious reader, I have never read fan fiction before), and much of it is very good indeed. I have not read much romance outside fimfiction, but shipping has certainly opened my eyes to the genre. It is about the relationships, how they develop, and how believable the characters are. Minutia like what gender a specific pony might have is really not important, and folks focusing on that are missing the point completely. I like my ponies happy, and sometimes that involves ponies in love.
Wow, 4 stars for a M/M story? I'm impressed that the people here are starting to learn the "love and tolerance" we've strived for since the very beginning! This may be an emoty wish, but I'm still hoping for a m/m story that's as well written as one of the most popular f/f stories on here, CoffeeGrunt's "Allegrezza".
ReplyDeleteWoo! Congratulations RadaVonVon! I've been waiting for this :)
ReplyDelete@Understatedly Hyperbolic
ReplyDeleteMost of the stories that show up on Equestria Daily have been posted elsewhere, read by pre-readers and so on.
But even if that wasn't the case, there's no formal rubric for grading a story. Its entirely a matter of personal opinion. People vote whether they like it or not. Who else has the right to tell them how to reach that opinion? Who has the right to tell them their feelings don't count?
Imagine if for whatever reason the shoe was on the other foot and Sethisto was saying "They're just gay, please ignore them," how would that make you feel?
@Niels Olof
ReplyDeleteI was going to say the same thing, but now I don't need to. Thank you. Ideas like that are what constitute actual decency.
@Astrophel Agonistes
ReplyDeleteThank you! Wouldn't it be something if the thing people complained about with this story was the notion that intolerance might be found in the innocent Equestria...
@Niels Olof
ReplyDeletething is I wouldn't complain about that because I really can believe that.
Equestria is a very good place, but in many ways it still has the same faults of real life. heck this last episode showed that there are travelling conmen who want nothing more than to make a quick buck by taking advantage of people.
@Niels Olof
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautifully written post. I agree 100%. You have restored some of my faith in humanity.
You know, there can be some issues with getting this type of story to be accepted online and I wonder about the implications of M/M shipping being a special tag all its own when F/F Shipping or even M/F shipping are not identified as such (though in this case it may have been author requested).
ReplyDeleteSince we seem to be talking about the controversy and difficulties of the subject, I feel it may be relevant to note that when I was writing The First Prince (Shameless,though actually relevant, self plug), I deliberately didn't mention anything about Prince Blueblood the First being gay until the very end of the first chapter specifically to avoid this problem, (though it did make for a nice surprise as a bonus).
As for the story itself, I actually feel that the first chapter was a bit stronger than some of the later ones oddly enough. Still it seems like it's an interesting story and I'll be watching to see how it develops.
@Chanticleer
ReplyDeleteI agree. It is an unnecessary double standard that should be done away with. Either use [shipping] regardless of the genders of the pairing, or create [F/F shipping] and [M/F shipping] tags.
MALE/MALE SHIPPING IS NOT ALLOWED. ONLY WHOLESOME AND MORAL LESBIAN SHIPPING SHALL BE ACCEPTED.
ReplyDelete@mycutiemarkisagun Later that day, furries found out that M/M pony love had been written. And soon the bronies found themselves overwhelmed by the masses of unwashed fanbois. By the very next day, over 9,000 M/M slash fics had been written in the predictably poor grammar of the average furry fan. Then came 'baby-ponies'. The decay of the fandom had begun in swift earnestness.
ReplyDeleteYOU FOOLS!! YOU'VE OPENED PANDORA'S BOX!!! D:
(I am a furry, by the way, delighting in taking some cheap shots at the... more disturbed members of the fandom.)
@Niels Olof
ReplyDeleteYou are officially my new favorite person.
The only thing that even remotely bothers me about this is the M/M Shipping tag. I don't see why a plain old Shipping tag couldn't be used.
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to read some colt/colt stuff. I'm reading this.
ReplyDelete@Adrian Brony
ReplyDeleteI know, I was speaking hypothetical. Bridle Gossip demonstrated that our little ponies are by no means perfect (good thing too, what a boring show it would be then). Even there, love and tolerance are ideals that you have to strive for (though they do seem a good deal closer to attaining it than we do here on Earth).
@HellFireSoul
Thank you! Humanity does seem to be doing its damnedest to destroy that faith from time to time, does it not?
@Fluffy
ReplyDeleteAww, shucks! ;) Anyway, I think that most of the intolerance exhibited in cases such as this are due to ignorance, which in a way is good, as we can do something about ignorance.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRadaVonVon you suck and should go die in a hole now :) <3 hehe love ya! (Was that hateful enough for ya???)
ReplyDelete"Due to the nature of this ship, you should probably expect a lower star rating than is actually real. Please ignore it!"
ReplyDeleteUm...somehow 4.7 out of 5 doesn't seem all that low to me...
Anyway, M/M shipping isn't my cup of tea, so I won't be reading it, but it's good to know that the Brony fandom is tolerant of that sort of thing. In most other fandoms, this kind of story would ignite a flame war between crazed Yaoi fangirls and homophobic morons...
"Due to the nature of this ship, you should probably expect a lower star rating than is actually real. Please ignore it!"
ReplyDeleteAllow me to translate for you:
"Hey! Due to this story being about a concept that people generally don't like, we think you should ignore the rating system all together. It was put there for people to either rate stories they love highly, and stories they hate low, but hey, let's ignore that. Because the story is about a concept that people universally think is bad, because it lands itself in the yaoi fangirl community, which is CERTAINLY SOMETHING WE AS A COMMUNITY WANT TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH. Let's stroke this person's ego and make their story look good so that way if it IS bad it'll encourage more of it! YAY!"
I'm actually going to read this one so that I can make a PROPER analysis of the STORY, but this is what telling people to "ignore the rating" translates to me. I understand we want to give every story a fair chance, but why not let the people who LIKE to story fix the rating problem? If the story is that good, then despite people "star bombing" it, the amount of people who love it will make up for that. Plus what if those "star bombings" are actually people who legitimately didn't like the story? There is no way of telling, so telling people to IGNORE the star rating is basically like saying that you may as well just take the star rating system down entirely, and remove commenting while you're at it.
Hey, I'm not homophobic, but this isn't exactly a community that does a backflip over yaoi. Plus with the attention the yaoi fanbase gets I can SEE why people wouldn't want it within our community. Yes, yes I know, blind love and tolerance and all that, but really some of us are trying to preserve our image as a respectable fandom, and unfortunately the only way to do that is to try and weed out people that are going to fill it with garbage.
Now I'm not saying this story is garbage, as I am not judging it either way, just saying that it's based on a concept that is generally poorly received, and it MAY be higher quality, I don't know that yet, I'll get back to you on it. What I'm saying is that we walk a fine line trying to keep this fanbase from becoming like the more hated fanbases of the internet.
@Mist Skye
ReplyDeleteWow, a lot of very general statements in there...
Do you think that it is consistent with the notion of love and tolerance (values ostensively espoused by the show) to try to define a fandom in terms of exclusion? Do you think such a course will be productive, or can you point to fandoms where such discourse has not just been divisive?
Why do you suppose you thought it was necessary to specify in your statement that you are not a homophobe? Related, could you perhaps elaborate on the nature of "respectability" as you see it? This is a fandom where we celebrate marshmallow pastel ponies. What is it you think we stand to lose in terms of respectability and to whom?
@Chanticleer
ReplyDeleteYou mispelled Chaunticleer! Nooooo!
Anywho, I second all of the notions in regard to "star bombers" and other imbecilic actions of lesser courteous individuals.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of shipping at all, be it M/M F/F or M/F for several reasons, some including the way they twist the views I have on characters. That aside, this story caught my attention for a couple of reasons, my favorite being this:
To me the first two chapters were brilliant, being in Appleoosa and having centered more on the family kidna gave it an atmosphere similar to that of To Kill a Mockingbird with a tinge of Scarlett Letter emotions.
Conversely, I do feel that the homophobia kidna takes jab at Southerners, but I won't get too much into that. Otherwise, excellent piece, goes up there with some of the better works of the fandom. Excellent work Vonnie!
@Mist Skye:
ReplyDeleteActually, it's going to get a lower star rating than it should simply because it's shipping. Add in the M/M factor, which also tends to be downvoted, and it just gets worse. We ignore the rating because people star-bomb shipfics, thus breaking the reason for having a star-rating system in the first place.
Me? I'm not going to read this because I don't think homophobia works in the pony universe. (Despite having written my own take on it.) Also, I hate Braeburn and Soarin is too good for him. :V
@Present Perfect Out of curiosity: why should they get special treatment because they made a story within TWO genres that are generally poorly received. They clearly were aware of this when they made it, and they understood the risk involved. Why should we shield them just because the people who dislike this genre happen to be a few more? There's tons of people who despise Grimdark stories and downrate them, but no one is rushing to protect them. Where do we draw the line?
ReplyDelete@Mist Skye
ReplyDeleteIt's not about protecting the writers so much as it is about making sure people skimming through the blog don't skip over a potentially good story on the basis that a bunch of idiots who haven't read the story have thrown 1-star ratings at it.
That being said, I feel EqD should just, say, disable star ratings for the first few hours a story is on here to discourage star bombing. Enabling star ratings and then telling people to ignore just seems counterproductive.
@Mist Skye:
ReplyDeleteIt's because the actions of an individual are polluting the system. It's not about this story, but everything with a shipping tag. There's nothing that can be done about it except this, short of completely disabling stars, which renders this site useless re: fanfiction.
I wish I could find a M/M fic without the wall of drama/debates/etc.. :/
ReplyDeleteI think people miss this point:
ReplyDeletef/ɟ = Few bat an eye, and the ones that do don't read it in the first place.
m/m = OH GOD WHY ARE YOU ALL SO GĄY HURR ITS A SIN¡¡!!11!!11 UR GAY LOL¡
Keep in mind we don't read either...
@Mist Skye
ReplyDeleteA search for grimdark on EQD Fiction Archive turns up 223 hits. 82 of those are 5 or 6 stars. Clearly, we are inundated with a bit of the grim, and those who despise it on principle are not significant enough in number to impact the rating of individual stories. Gay male shipping on the other hoof, it's a bit of rarity and always attracts attention in a broad and extreme form which no other type of story consistently does.
Like Fluffy said, it's not shielding the author, it's preserving the integrity of the rating system. It wasn't designed to broadcast genre preferences of readers, but reader reactions to specific stories after having, you know, read them. When I see a low starred m/m ship fic I can't know if it means that it's a bad piece of fiction or that a lot of people don't like male ponies in love. Though I usually have an inkling which.
Also, given Seth's history regarding m/m shipping, I can't tell you how amusing it is that you would suggest he's promoting it.
@Mist Skye
ReplyDeleteYou need to get out. Yes, the rating system on this SHOULD be ignored. Do you want to know why?
Your concept of a rating system is GROSSLY UNFAIR. It's not there for love/hate, it's for grading the quality of the fanfiction! If you hate seeing Pinkie sad, you don't rate one star for a fic that has Pinkie/Sad in the description, you JUST DON'T FUCKING READ IT.
Christ, you assholes are getting on my nerves. Trying to justify yourselves.
And your "preserve our image as a respectable fandom", you need to leave the fandom if that's what you think. We're not some fucking media club, we're just people who share a basic common interest that we view in different ways. Some of us like our fanworks to be true to the show, others want violence, others want depressing themes, others want romance, others want sex. It's not up to you or anyone else with their head up their asses to try and put a general image on the fans or the fandom, or to care what others outside of it think of us for it.
Besides, those outside of our fandom DON'T have a respectable image of us. The generally misinformed understanding is that we're all squalid manchildren squealing over little girls' toys, and some of them think we're all pedophiles. So your whole damn argument is invalid, much like your honestly offensive opinions.
Looks like we're still not quite mature enough as a culture to have the comment threads contain >50% social commentary and <25% actual comment about content. For my part, the descriptions of the settings give me some nostalgia about my hometown.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Braeburn's hearing was permanently damaged after his ears were boxed is a rather poignant subtlety. In a way, this fic is also about how homophobia can easily lead to child abuse when bigots discover they have gay children. It was a genuinely touching way to cover that idea. Also, clearly the things his relatives said to him have had a negative impact on his mental state. Poor Braeburn. It is rather tragic that real people actually have to endure hardships like that.
ReplyDeleteCan we have a M/M label so that they're easier to find?
ReplyDeleteThis fiction has changed my life!!!
ReplyDeleteSweet Celestia have mercy, Brokeback Mountain with ponies.
ReplyDelete@thedudewithnoface
ReplyDeleteMore like coming out, and exploring the sense of self, figuring out what to do, and how, and where you should go from there. I happen to like this particular fanfic, as it really does hit home what's to be expected within this scenario. Everything's well thought out, structure's very well done, and the character's are genuinely believable. The context this is written in doesn't really touch on anything sexual, focusing instead on the discovery of self, and the paths that this can go from here. I am, however, a bit miffed at the cliffhanger ending at chapter 8, and was rather sad then the next button didn't bring in anymore story...
But other than that, this deserves a look through for those interested in romance, as well as those who like to see a different perspective at the discovery of self. Bravo RadaVonVon, for such a well-written fic. It's certainly opened my eyes to this kind of shipping, and I wish others would see that.
I demand MOAR!!!
ReplyDelete1'd because I'm apparently expected to? Putting "Homophobia" in the tags is pretty much asking for it.
ReplyDeleteI don't really mine Male/Male shipping. As long they don't go over board with it.
ReplyDeleteI don't really mine Male/Male shipping. As long they don't go over board with it.
ReplyDelete