History YMMV / TheAssassinationOfTwilightSparkle

* {{Sequelitis}}: Due to how [[TooBleakStoppedCaring bleak and hopeless the overall setting is]] as of the epilogue of ''Aftermath of a Fallen Star'', subsequent sequels were not as well received as the previous works. [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/835299/low-numbers-for-path-of-dragon-and-tyrant This has not gone unnoticed by the author, who is asking for reasons why.]]

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The first story had a BittersweetEnding while the sequel ''Aftermath of a Fallen Star'' further explored how it effected her loved ones while developing into a {{Deconstruction}} of Equestria's SugarBowl setting. This [[CerebusSyndrome increasing darkness]] culminated in a HappyEndingOverride revealing the seeming good to come out of it [[AllAccordingToPlan played into the hands of the true mastermind behind the assassination]] and Equestria was so intolerant and backwards the attempt to modernize the country is met with civil war, leading to a GenreShift away from the personal tragedy that made the story popular. In its place was an increasingly CrapsackWorld so bleak it now came off as meaningless shock value[[labelnote:example]][[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/804677/deities-of-assassinationverse-seremora-goddess-of-sirens Seremora's bio]] reveals countless innocent souls (including ones whose '''''afterlives she attacked''''', meaning you're not even safe in {{Heaven}}) are stuck in a FateWorseThanDeath in her belly, and her own mortals must put their souls in {{Soul Jar}}s to avoid the same "afterlife."[[/labelnote]], [[ANaziByAnyOtherName villains too evil to be compelling]] yet would [[YouCantThwartStageOne inevitably come out ahead]], and the heroes being useless to stop this or [[NiceJobBreakingItHero making things worse trying]], leaving seemingly no chance of a worthwhile ending. The sequels to ''Aftermath of a Fallen Star'' took over six months to receive 100 likes while the author's later one-shot stories easily breached that number in a couple weeks. They [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/916953/important-news-assassination-of-twilight-sparkle-remake-and-commissions-are-open later admitted they mishandeled the story]] such they're canceling the sequels and rebooting the series.

* CompleteMonster: [[AbusiveParents Amadeus Blueblood]] is a [[AristocratsAreEvil powerful Canterlot noble]] who at first just treated ponies of lesser status, especially the guards and servants, like trash. He's soon revealed to be far worse, involved in, among other deeds, bribery, blackmail and outright assassinations. [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulating his own son]], who he's heavily implied to have corrupted into becoming what he is at the time of the story, he has him assassinate Twilight Sparkle; [[IHaveYourWife blackmails Gallant Heart with his beloved brother's life]]; and has the entire conspiracy, including his son, brutally killed [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness to cover his tracks]]. After the princess punishes his clan for his association with his son, he poisons his own wife so he can escape to Unicornia with his daughter, Majesty, who he drives down the path of evil, just like he did with her brother.

** Marble's personality in this fanfic was established before her canonical personality was revealed, and they're almost exactly the same: shy, cute and innocent.

** [[spoiler:Amadeus Blueblood]] has two major candidates for his crossing the line.
*** Option one is [[spoiler:masterminding Twilight's assassination, convincing Blueblood (who was having second thoughts) to go though with it, ''and'' blackmailing Gallant Heart, who was supposed to be a [[TheMole mole]], into doing it for real.]]
*** Option two is [[spoiler:fatally poisoning his wife Alura (who had spent the last five months grieving over the loss of her son) just to cover his tracks when he and the rest of the Blueblood clan move to Unicornia to plan their next move to take over Equestria, and then the rest of the world after that.]]

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Princess Luna taking CruelMercy revenge against Amadeus Blueblood was supposed to be a TragicMistake with the unforeseeable consequence of leading his daughter Majesty to become a more dangerous threat. But after her knowing of the plot against Twilight but failing to do more like warning Celestia[[labelnote:note]]Luna's justification for not telling Celestia was that her overprotectiveness of Twilight would clue in to the conspirators that their scheme was discovered and go into hiding while Twilight being informed that there are assassination plots against her would make her GoMadFromTheRevelation due to her fragile mental state.[[/labelnote]], Luna leaving him alive and sane enough to corrupt Majesty, who'd have even more reason to oppose Equestria, came off as her [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom repeatedly screwing over everyone]] with her bad judgement. The author [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/860419/looking-back-at-assassinationverse-warning-spoilers-for-those-who-have-not-read-the-series admitted]] Luna's actions were a mistake that cost fans.

* WhatAnIdiot: [[BigBad Amadeus Blueblood]], the true mastermind of Twilight's assassination, having long been able to keep [[DreamWalker Princess Luna]] from uncovering his connection to the conspiracy thanks to the Dreamless Sleep Potion, is now on the run for the Kingdom of Unicornia.\\
'''You Would Think:''' That Amadeus, now more than ever, would shield his mind from Luna's intrusion, at the very least until he reaches Unicornia, which is presumably outside of her range.\\
'''Instead:''' Already thinking that he was out of range, Amadeus doesn't take the Potion. The story tries to justify this in that Luna has a self-imposed limitation which forbids her from probing people's minds for evidence under the grounds of being unable to properly separate memory from dreams, but it's very hard to swallow that a supposedly Macchiavellic figure would trust their opponent to always play by the rules.\\
'''Result:''' Luna is able to detect Amadeus' dreamscape and enter it, which she otherwise would have been unable to do.

* RonTheDeathEater: Yet ''another'' fanfic that turns Blueblood into a villain. At the very least, though, he has a FreudianExcuse, and died seeing the error of his ways.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The first story had a BittersweetEnding while the sequel ''Aftermath of a Fallen Star'' further explored how it effected her loved ones while developing into a {{Deconstruction}} of Equestria's SugarBowl setting. This [[CerebusSyndrome increasing darkness]] culminated in a HappyEndingOverride revealing the seeming good to come out of it [[AllAccordingToPlan played into the hands of the true mastermind behind the assassination]] and Equestria was so intolerant and backwards the attempt to modernize the country is met with civil war, leading to a GenreShift away from the personal tragedy that made the story popular. In its place was an increasingly CrapsackWorld so bleak it now came off as meaningless shock value[[labelnote:example]][[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/804677/deities-of-assassinationverse-seremora-goddess-of-sirens Seremora's bio]] reveals countless innocent souls (including ones whose '''''afterlives she attacked''''', meaning you're not even safe in {{Heaven}}) are stuck in a FateWorseThanDeath in her belly, and her own mortals must put their souls in {{Soul Jar}}s to avoid the same "afterlife."[[/labelnote]], [[ANaziByAnyOtherName villains too evil to be compelling]] yet would [[YouCantThwartStageOne inevitably come out ahead]], and the heroes being useless to stop this or [[NiceJobBreakingItHero making things worse trying]], leaving seemingly no chance of a worthwhile ending. The sequels to ''Aftermath of a Fallen Star'' took over six months to receive 100 likes while the author's later one-shot stories easily breached that number in a couple weeks. They [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/916953/important-news-assassination-of-twilight-sparkle-remake-and-commissions-are-open later admitted they mishandeled the story]] such they're canceling the sequels and rebooting the series.

** The episode "The Gift of the Maud Pie" reveals that, yes, Pinkie's abilities do run in the family.

* {{Sequelitis}}: Due to how [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy bleak and hopeless the overall setting is]] as of the epilogue of ''Aftermath of a Fallen Star'', subsequent sequels were not as well received as the previous works. [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/835299/low-numbers-for-path-of-dragon-and-tyrant This has not gone unnoticed by the author, who is asking for reasons why.]]

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The first story had a BittersweetEnding while the sequel ''Aftermath of a Fallen Star'' further explored how it effected her loved ones while developing into a {{Deconstruction}} of Equestria's SugarBowl setting. This [[CerebusSyndrome increasing darkness]] culminated in a HappyEndingOverride revealing the seeming good to come out of it [[AllAccordingToPlan played into the hands of the true mastermind behind the assassination]] and Equestria was so intolerant and backwards the attempt to modernize the country is met with civil war, leading to a GenreShift away from the personal tragedy that made the story popular. In it's place was an increasingly CrapsackWorld so bleak it now came off as meaningless shock value[[labelnote:example]][[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/804677/deities-of-assassinationverse-seremora-goddess-of-sirens Seremora's bio]] reveals countless innocent souls (including ones whose '''''afterlives she attacked''''', meaning you're not even safe in {{Heaven}}) are stuck in a FateWorseThanDeath in her belly, and her own mortals must put their souls in {{Soul Jar}}s to avoid the same "afterlife."[[/labelnote]], [[ANaziByAnyOtherName villains too evil to be compelling]] yet would [[YouCantThwartStageOne inevitably come out ahead]], and the heroes being useless to stop this or [[NiceJobBreakingItHero making things worse trying]], leaving seemingly no chance of a worthwhile ending. The sequels to ''Aftermath of a Fallen Star'' took over six months to receive 100 likes while the author's later one-shot stories easily breached that number in a couple weeks. They [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/916953/important-news-assassination-of-twilight-sparkle-remake-and-commissions-are-open later admitted they mishandeled the story]] such they're canceling the sequels and rebooting the series.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The first story had a BittersweetEnding while the sequel ''Aftermath of a Fallen Star'' further explored how it effected her loved ones while developing into a {{Deconstruction}} of Equestria's SugarBowl setting. This [[CerebusSyndrome increasing darkness]] culminated in a HappyEndingOverride revealing the seeming good to come out of it [[AllAccordingToPlan played into the hands of the true mastermind behind the assassination]], leading to a GenreShift away from the personal tragedy that made the story popular. In it's place was an increasingly CrapsackWorld so bleak it now came off as meaningless shock value[[labelnote:example]][[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/804677/deities-of-assassinationverse-seremora-goddess-of-sirens Seremora's bio]] reveals countless innocent souls (including ones whose '''''afterlives she attacked''''', meaning you're not even safe in {{Heaven}}) are stuck in a FateWorseThanDeath in her belly, and her own mortals must put their souls in {{Soul Jar}}s to avoid the same "afterlife."[[/labelnote]], [[ANaziByAnyOtherName villains too evil to be compelling]] yet would [[YouCantThwartStageOne inevitably come out ahead]], and the heroes being useless to stop this or [[NiceJobBreakingItHero making things worse trying]], leaving seemingly no chance of a worthwhile ending. The sequels to ''Aftermath of a Fallen Star'' took over six months to receive 100 likes while the author's later one-shot stories easily breached that number in a couple weeks. They [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/916953/important-news-assassination-of-twilight-sparkle-remake-and-commissions-are-open later admitted they mishandeled the story]] such they're canceling the sequels and rebooting the series.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy:
** With the fact that this version of Equestria is incredibly racist, intolerant and backwards to the extent that any attempt to modernize the country is met with [[spoiler:civil war]], and the Princesses having done NOTHING at all to address this until Twilight came along, it's a little hard to get invested in the story.
** Even part of the background lore has been criticized for this. [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/804677/deities-of-assassinationverse-seremora-goddess-of-sirens Seremora's bio]] reveals that [[spoiler:countless innocent souls (including ones whose '''''afterlives she attacked''''', meaning that you're not even safe in {{Heaven}}) are stuck in a FateWorseThanDeath in her belly, and her own mortals must put their souls in {{Soul Jar}}s to avoid the same "afterlife."]] For some readers, this just took the bleakness UpToEleven for seemingly no other reason than shock value.

** Even part of the background lore has been criticized for this. [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/804677/deities-of-assassinationverse-seremora-goddess-of-sirens Seremora's bio]] reveals that [[spoiler:countless innocent souls (including ones whose '''''afterlives she attacked''''', meaning you're not even safe in {{Heaven}}) are stuck in a FateWorseThanDeath in her belly, and her own mortals must put their souls in {{Soul Jar}}s to avoid the same "afterlife."]] For some readers, this just took the bleakness UpToEleven for no clear reason but shock value.

*** Option one is [[spoiler:masterminding Twilight's assassination, convincing Blueblood (who was having second thoughts) to go though with it, ''and'' blackmailing Gallant Heart, who was supposed to be a ReverseMole, into doing it for real.]]

** Even part of the background lore has been criticized for this. [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/804677/deities-of-assassinationverse-seremora-goddess-of-sirens Seremora's bio]] reveals that [[spoiler:countless innocent souls (including ones whose '''''afterlives she attacked''''', meaning you're not even safe in {{Heaven}}) are stuck in a FateWorseThanDeath in her belly, and her own mortals must put their souls in {{Soul Jar}}s to avoid the same "afterlife."]] For quite a few readers, this just took the bleakness UpToEleven for no clear reason but shock value.

** Even part of the background lore has been criticized for this. [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/804677/deities-of-assassinationverse-seremora-goddess-of-sirens Seremora's bio]] reveals that [[spoiler:countless innocent souls (including some whose '''''afterlives she attacked''''', meaning you're not even safe if you made it to {{Heaven}}) are stuck in a FateWorseThanDeath in her belly, and her own mortals must put their souls in {{Soul Jar}}s to avoid the same "afterlife."]] For quite a few readers, this just took the bleakness UpToEleven for no clear reason but shock value.

** Even part of the background lore has been criticized for this. [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/804677/deities-of-assassinationverse-seremora-goddess-of-sirens Seremora's bio]] reveals that [[spoiler:countless innocent souls (including some whose '''''afterlives she invaded''''', meaning you're not even safe if you made it to {{Heaven}}) are stuck in a FateWorseThanDeath in her belly, and her own mortals must put their souls in {{Soul Jar}}s to avoid the same "afterlife."]] For quite a few readers, this just took the bleakness UpToEleven for no clear reason but shock value.

** Even part of the background lore has been criticized for this. [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/804677/deities-of-assassinationverse-seremora-goddess-of-sirens Seremora's bio]] reveals that [[spoiler:countless innocent souls (including some whose '''''afterlives she invaded''''', meaning you're not even safe if you made it to {{Heaven}}) are stuck in an AndIMustScream scenario in her belly, and her own mortals must put their souls in {{Soul Jar}}s to avoid the same "afterlife."]] For quite a few readers, this just took the bleakness UpToEleven for no clear reason but shock value.

** Even part of the background lore has been criticized for this. [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/804677/deities-of-assassinationverse-seremora-goddess-of-sirens Seremora's bio]] reveals that [[spoiler:countless innocent souls (including some whose '''''afterlives she invaded''''', meaning you're not even safe if you made it to {{Heaven}}) are stuck in an AndIMustScream scenario in her belly, and her own mortals must put their souls in {{Soul Jars}}s to avoid the same "afterlife."]] For quite a few readers, this just took the bleakness UpToEleven for no clear reason but shock value.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: With the fact that this version of Equestria is incredibly racist, intolerant and backwards to the extent that any attempt to modernize the country is met with [[spoiler:civil war]], and the Princesses having done NOTHING at all to address this until Twilight came along, it's a little hard to get invested in the story.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Princess Luna taking CruelMercy revenge against Amadeus Blueblood was supposed to be a TragicMistake with the unforeseeable consequence of leading his daughter Majesty to become a more dangerous threat. But after her knowing of the plot against Twilight but failing to do more like warning Celestia, Luna leaving him alive to corrupt Majesty, who'd have even more reason to opposed Equestria, came off as her [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom repeatedly screwing over everyone]] with her bad judgment. The author [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/860419/looking-back-at-assassinationverse-warning-spoilers-for-those-who-have-not-read-the-series admitted]] Luna's actions were a mistake that cost fans.

'''Instead:''' Already thinking that he was out of range, Amadeus doesn't take the Potion. The story tries to justify this in that Luna has a self-imposed limitation which forbids her from probing people's minds for evidence, but it's very hard to swallow that a supposedly Macchiavellic figure would trust their opponent to always play by the rules.\\

* WhatAnIdiot: In ''Aftermath of a Fallen Star'', the chapter 'Sinful Dreams' displays this in abundance.
** '''The Premise:''' [[BigBad Amadeus Blueblood]], the true mastermind of Twilight's assassination, having long been able to keep [[DreamWalker Princess Luna]] from uncovering his connection to the conspiracy thanks to the Dreamless Sleep Potion, is now on the run for the Kingdom of Unicornia, fleeing on a ship together with his newborn [[spoiler: alicorn]] daughter, Majesty.\\

'''Instead:''' Already thinking that he was out of range, Amadeus doesn't take the Potion. The story tries to justify this in that Luna has a self-imposed limitation which forbids her from probing people's minds for evidence, but it's very hard to swallow that a supposedly Macchiavellic figure would trust their opponent to always play by the rules. This alone is why the chapter can happen at all.\\
'''Result:''' Luna is able to detect Amadeus' dreamscape and enter it, which she otherwise would have been unable to do. Which leads right into the next display of common-sense deficiency.