Mar
2nd
2022
I'd like your opinion. · 5:59am Mar 2nd, 2022
So, we are quickly closing in on new content for G5, and that means one thing and one thing only:
Incoming annihilation for a lot of headcanons constructed using just the movie. Namely, the "Zephyr Heights is Canterlot" headcanon that is somewhat common, and is likely to be torn down with the first incoming comic.
So, simply put:
If I am so inspired, would you like me to continue offering branching storylines in the 'Forgotten' series that would NOT take the current three stories into continuity consideration, and instead be adjusted for new canon?
Why or why not?
Follow canon where it suits you, don’t where it doesn’t. It’s your art and you do r want to be bound halfway through your story by something the new gen suddenly says in canon
You shouldnt feel forced to create new stories if you don't want to, but if you feel like doing it, go ahead, its your story and you control it.
You can set your present stories between the first movie and whenever official canon begins to diverge from it. A great deal of history was lost, after all, and it would be no surprise if in the reconstruction of said history a few mistakes were made along the way. Having Sunset along for the ride actually makes that more likely, not less; of course she’s going to be considered the gospel truth at first, having actually lived through some of the events in the distant past, but even she wasn’t present for whatever caused the collapse, and she could easily leap to what are later proven to be wrong conclusions.
Gotta groove with your inspiration man, don't be afraid of that AU tag if you wanna use it, but don't feel like you have to ignore what the show's doing either.
I think that if your current content diverges from the source material in the way that it may very well do, then it might be time to break out the Good Ol’ AU tag. And hey, if inspiration strikes and you have an idea for a Forgotten story that involves plot points from the new content, perhaps you could branch off from the “main timeline” with a subtitle after “Forgotten” for each individual story, and make clear in the first line of the description that any given story in that series either does or does not only include the canon from New Generation.
From writer to writer (although I haven't written MLP fics in FOREVER) I would like to tell you that you are under no obligation to change the way your stories go. If you want to continue on the path you've made for yourself, you are free to do so! If you want to incorporate aspects of the upcoming G5 then go to town!
As a writer of fanfiction the first person you make these stories for is YOURSELF. The reason you post them here is because you want to share what YOU made and what YOU are happy with.
As a my little pony fanfic writer, on other pages, here I have few, I can tell you that you don't have to stick to the canon, but if there is a story that you want to do following the canon, go ahead. I have made stories considering the canon only until season 2, others only the first 4 seasons, and thus, you do not have to cling excessively to the canon of the new generation.
Personal opinion. Comics aren't canon.
Far too often they fair to remain consistent and that makes them unreliable as sources canon. Follow them where you can. Discard them when you can't or they are dumb.
Continue in the current thread, and adjust the stories to the cannon:
-- either retcon the pieces that need explaining
-- hand wave and say the information the characters in the story had was wrong
-- just leave it as is - it's fiction after all.
I wouldn’t rely on the comics as a source of canon information since they tend to heavily diverge from the show.
Example:
During the Accord arc it was shown that Twilight keeps the Elements of Harmony at her castle despite the fact that in the show they had been returned to the Tree of Harmony long before the point in time that the Accord arc takes place.
I didn't think it was Canterlot after we saw it in the movie. Zephyr Heights is on top of a mountain, whereas Canterlot kind of hung off the side of one. It might be the same mountain (I *think* it is, but we can't be sure yet) but it's definitely not the same city, or in the same place.
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That said, I hope Zephyr Heights got its name because Zephyr Breeze is remembered as a legendary warrior and hero of the Pegasi.
That would be hilarious.
I say use your own judgement. This IS fan fiction after all.
If you read the comics and decide you like it enough to use it go ahead.
If you choose to ignore it and continue to do your own thing, that's your call.
And, well, there IS such a thing as divergent timelines if you opt to do it that way.
The point is, this is your story series so go ahead and do things the way you see fit. I'll respect your decision one way or the other.
To build on what a lot of others have said already, consider the first G4 chapter book, "Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell".
Now, as far as official material goes, that thing is probably as thoroughly divorced from show canon as you're liable to find. It features Trixie and Gilda teaming up as the villains, for Celestia's sake. Yet, Cadance's backstory from that book has been used effectively in a number of very well written stories on this site.
Take the elements from the new material you like and fit it in where appropriate, but don't twist yourself in knots trying to make every element fit into the stories you've been telling. I've seen far too many authors of long-running stories do that with new G4 seasons and the results are rarely pretty. Most often they end up burning out and giving up when the show finally takes things that one step further than the rickety retconned scaffolding of their story can support.
One final note: People are saying you shouldn't be afraid to bust out the AU tag. I'm going to be contrary and say you absolutely should not do that. As long as the story you're telling fits the canon that was known up to a certain point, it doesn't matter how divergent it gets after that point, it's not an AU, otherwise we'd have to slap AU tags on just about every story written before season 9.
The tagging guide on this site is actually quite clear on this and it makes me sad that it's so hard to find good stories about genuine alternate universes thanks to people abusing the tag because "I wrote a Big Mac/Cheerilee shipfic five years ago and now I have to tag it AU because Sugar Belle got added to the show".
Twisting yourself into knots the second someone comes up with new material is never a good look.
I remember once I was writing a Naruto fanfic when it was at the height of it's popularity. This was about half way through Shippuden. But it was a crossover with the game Okami and as I wrote it the show continued on and everything was changing. So I thought I should wait until the show is over to finish writing it, then I can use all the current canon and have no flaws in the story to contend against the show.
So years pass, literally (hey, at the time it's not like I knew it was going to be over 700 episodes with filler), and what had happened in waiting till the end was:
1. I had lost the desire to finish the story.
2. Once Naruto had ended, so did my interest in it cause finally the story was over (Boruto was barely an idea at the time with the final manga chapter of shippuden)
3. i felt the fandom was done with it as well so my story wouldn't have gotten as many views as when it was at it's peak.
So don't wait on anything, have this be your version of equestria. There are still stories I re-read on here that know nothing about seasons 7-9 but I love em anyway. The Multi-verse is vast, so take advantage of it! Also keep on rocking!
You can do what dairies of a madman does. Only add cannon you want. There's aways going to be new content for ongoing series. Following cannon is somewhat boring. It loses it appeal of AU
I usually treat spin off/other forms of media in a franchise as it own thing as that stuff is usually retconned, ignored, or are declared non-cannon anyway.