@Freeman: The whole "After the End" thing? Yeah, based on what I've seen and heard, the show seems to be very much in a Crapsaccharine World. I mean, when I think of "Saccharine Villain, Vile Show, " I picture a Grim Dark Darker and Edgier Hotter and Sexier Bloodier and Gorier world with a Tastes Like Diabetes Big Bad. Which is...difficult to imagine.

@Ginger: Yes! We could have one 90s-themed combatant who does a gratuitous rap, one who's a J-Pop Vocaloid pastiche, a rock opera sung by a metalhead, etc. Oh man, if only it wasn't as hard to convey musical numbers in writing, I'd be so on it.

Pagetopper already? I'd hate to see how fast this thread moves during pony season.

edited 14th Jun '12 12:15:23 PM by romanticaveman

@Ginger: You hate pinkie for her Rule of funny quirks {Something I'll never understand about you}, yet you'd be okay if it was a villain who does the same thing? That seems a little hypocritical to me.

edited 14th Jun '12 12:18:49 PM by marston

@mars Yes, almost everything becomes okay for me as long as it's a villain doing it.

Ew, Vinyltavia shipping.

Ew, The Vinyl Scratch Tapes. I dislike that fic.

A grimdark story with a cutesy villain? Maybe something like a villain who wants to create "candy land" but does so by forcibly turning people and objects into dessert items. And for extra grimdark points, they're still conscious when transformed so they can feel the pain of being eaten. The setting would be a Crapsack World gritty city kind of place, and the villain thinks that he/she is making things "happier" by making "candy land" but it's still evil because it's basically a type of cannibalism.

Or like the infamous Cupcakes fic, where the villain is someone who cheerfully tortures and cuts up her victims while cracking jokes.

@Applelight: I was thinking more along the lines of a decent-sized oneshot; I don't know if I could drag out the idea into multiple chapters. It's possible, but I think I'd have to stretch things. And I already have a couple multi-chapter works in progress, so I'm a bit reluctant to add another one.

@marston Something to understand about Ginger is that when he looks as a character, he's looking at them as a plot element, not in a vacuum. To him, antagonists are fundamentally different than protagonists or side characters thanks to their role in the story, even if they are otherwise characterized exactly the same.

edited 14th Jun '12 12:22:28 PM by PerpetualLurker

Happy Cutesy villain with dark world? Does Yangire count?

Meh. Still don't see it. Seems more like the production crew, or at least the people involved in the promotional videos, went along with the fans after the fact. Then again, I don't really ever notice things like that, so whatever.

And I was going to say something about ginger, but Lurker already covered it.

@ JT

Whatever suits you, I was taking a shot in the dark. That seems fair btw.

@Lurker It's true.

but it isn't foolproof though. I don't like Littlefinger at all, and he's the most competent villain in ASOIAF

@Lurker Not in a vaccum?

About that alternate universe thing, I guess my opposite would be someone who hates the Kid Hero trope and writes gory fics where the CMC get killed off for daring to speak up in front of the all-powerful adults or something. And would be very sexist and racist and would probably want the ponies to be more traditionally feminine like in the G3.5 stories.

@Apple: So would something around the length of this (totally not linking this for self-promotion purposes) be okay? Price is still completely negotiable, of course.

Yes that would be grand. For...say...$25? Is that ok?

Grimdark story with cutsie villains?

There are takes on that with The Conversion Bureau. Earth kinda sucks. Now the ponies are trying to assimilate everyone. Too bad a lot of the authors tend to treat the genocide as kinda fluffy.

edited 14th Jun '12 12:33:34 PM by Pannic

@Ginger You judge a character based on their role in the story and how well they perform them, rather than their characterization. In other words, you look at what's around a character and what they do rather than what's in them. Of course, there are outside influences on characterization, so I guess "in a vacuum" isn't the right phrase to use. This is all sweeping generalization, of course, as we all know you have plenty of exceptions to everything.

edited 14th Jun '12 12:34:40 PM by PerpetualLurker

@Applelight: Sure; given that I'd probably have written it eventually anyway. I honestly didn't expect any payment at all. I suppose I should get started soon then. But again, I'm going to be gone for about a week, so don't expect anything in the near near future. Also, what payment method were you planning on using? Only thing I can think of at the moment is paypal.

You have any other thoughts on what it should include? All I have at the moment is "Pinkie Pie tries to plump herself up to get chubby chaser pony's attention".

edited 14th Jun '12 12:37:50 PM by JapaneseTeeth

@ JT

Hey, if it's within the month I am happy. And Pay Pal is absolutely fine by me.

Ideas?

Hmmm...I guess we'd need to know who this pony is, how Pinkie meet them, and why she likes them. And how Pinkie would react in such a scenario, because imo the best fics stay true to the show.

edited 14th Jun '12 12:45:56 PM by ApplelightLimited

Sounds good to me. I'll email (or PM, more likely) you the relevant info when I actually get started on the story.

edited 14th Jun '12 12:47:26 PM by JapaneseTeeth

Excellent!

Maybe we ought to take this to the fanfic thread?

Grimdark Story with cute villain?

WH 40K with Kirby as ultimate Big Bad?

I still wonder how pony Xenomorph would look like, and if it got some race trains form host.

Applelight; might as well, although there isn't really much else to discuss until I actually start writing the thing.

@DC I know a saw a pony Xenomorph figurine somewhere. I don't have time to look for it though.