Ritalin comments on Friendship is Optimal: A My Little Pony fanfic about an optimization process - Less Wrong Discussion
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Comments (145)
This is quite good. I like how you managed to make the ponytopia both extremely attractive and more than a little creepy at the same time. I feel like you presented the situation without trying to argue it was either good or bad, leaving that decision to the reader, and I quite like that approach.
From a storytelling perspective, I only had two real complaints. One is your beginning. There's no conflict until halfway through the first chapter, when Lars and Hanna start arguing. You do a good job setting up the premise before then, but it still makes for a slow start, and I can easily imagine myself recommending this to people with a "no, really, it gets better, stick with it" disclaimer. The second is that there are lengthy stretches where the story consists only of talking heads, with no action or movement. Chapter 4 was the most notable example.
I also found myself wondering about the ethics of creating a sentient being like Butterscotch tailored specifically to the desires of someone else (assuming they weren't lying about her sentience; I don't know how you'd test that). I realize you can't fit everything into the story, but I thought that might have been a cool topic. You made me think about the ethics in ways you didn't directly discuss, so you're clearly doing something right.
Grammar note: the possessive form of "Light Sparks" is "Light Sparks's," since his name is a singular noun.
Wonderful job with the MMO aspects of life in Equestria. After the "what the literal fuck" line, I had to step away from the computer for a minute to savor it before I could keep reading.
If/when you submit this to Equestria Daily, feel free to let me know. I'm one of the prereaders, and while I wouldn't feel comfortable judging something I feel this philosophically invested in, I'd at least try to make sure it didn't get discarded for lack of pony in the very beginning. (We receive, and reject, a fair number of stories that are about bronies rather than ponies. This is a borderline case, but the pony content increases as the story progresses, and I can tell people to look at the post-uploading chapters before deciding.)
It's arguable whether those are actual ponies. In some philosophical sense. Urgh.
As for the Featureless Plane of Disembodied Dialogue, I suggest you use the same tricks as the animators of the show did. Have the characters move around. Sit down. Get up. Interact with the environment. At the window or sitting on the stair. Blowing candles. Sipping coffee. Silhouetted. Glancing. Breathing lightly. Combing out their hair. Little ponies... are a wonder... At their mirrors. In the garden. Letter-writing. Flower-picking. Weather-watching. How they make a maaan siiing...