Read it Later story count: 345 (-8)
My RiL list is under 350 stories for the first time in... a long time. Probably several years. Considering it made it up to 499 at one point, I'm quite pleased. I do get the occasional person asking me to review their fic, but not many; it's not just because there are better reviewers out there, but probably also because I don't review on Fimfiction itself. I don't mind, though, as "I might review your story, but it'd be in about 2021" might not go down too well. :P Also, six stories for review today!
Diary of a Pliant Tyrant by xjuggernaughtx
A Tail by MyNameHere
A Requiem for Lost Libraries by Mitch H
The Cadance Conundrum by Super Trampoline
The Cup Cake Killer by Saddlesoap Opera
The Very Literal Rise and Fall of Pinkie Pie by 4EverfreeBrony
★: 0 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 2 | ★★★★★: 0
Diary of a Pliant Tyrant by xjuggernaughtx
Discord
Comedy/Slice of Life; 16k words; Aug 2013; Everyone
When Fluttershy finds out that Discord used to keep a mental diary while imprisoned in stone, she begs him to continue it. Grudgingly, he promises to document his thoughts about his new life among old enemiesDiary of a Silent Tyrant was reviewed in PR 189, and this is its considerably superior sequel – though you don't need to read the first one. Featured by the RCL and the Royal Guard, it's excellent, and not only because there's a fair amount of Fluttershy. For a start, it has a wonderful Discord. This was written after S3, so "Keep Calm and Flutter On" was as far as his canon story had got. (It'd be interesting to know how the fic might have differed had it been written post-Tirek.) Bearing the story's age in mind, Discord's characterisation is well-nigh perfect. Satisfyingly, xjuggernaughtx doesn't make him flawless even in his chaotic powers – at one point he boasts about how well-informed he is, but shortly afterwards he unintentionally reveals a significant blind spot. As one of the fandom's few Angel fans, I don't find the nastier aspects of Discord's feud with him entirely to my liking, and that does take the very edge off, but that's not the author's fault. Finally, there's Celestia – a really interesting look at Tia through other eyes. There's a clunky meta joke late on, but as a whole it's great stuff. ★★★★
A Tail by MyNameHere
Apple Bloom and Winona
Sad/Slice of Life/Alternate Universe; 1k words; Feb 2014; Everyone
Some truths can't be learned from a story. Sometimes life must step in as the teacher, and life has a way of teaching us that every dog has its day.In an unspecified alternate dimension, Apple Bloom (who narrates) takes Winona to the vet's. Given the plot of the tale I'd guess she's supposed to be older than in the show (certainly in 2014), as her voice isn't all that much like FiM AB's. Unfortunately, that disconnect takes away much chance it has to provide a real emotional impact, despite the strong feeling that the story is written from real-life experience. ★★
A Requiem for Lost Libraries by Mitch H
OC and Other
Mystery; 3k words; Dec 2017; Teen (Death)
Some mortal clay retain the shape of the life that lived them. Even when that clay is bound up with the roots of a dead library-tree.Well now, this is really interesting. I started off thinking that it was going to be about Twilight's longing for her old home, and it is, sort of, but it's actually more of a cross between a paranormal puzzle and an exploration of the meaning of loss, with a touch of Terry Pratchett's L-Space concept added in. I found the prose a little overdone on occasion – I don't think the determined avoidance of Twilight's name really adds a great deal – but the concept is, to me at least, entirely original. Well worth a look. ★★★★
The Cadance Conundrum by Super Trampoline
Twilight and Cadance
Comedy/Random; 3k words; Apr 2017; Teen (Sex)
Cadance needs Twilight's help getting the parental controls on her TV disabled so she can watch porn.What I was expecting here, and actually very much looking forward to, was a rambly and generally ST-ish takeoff of iisaw's The Celestia Code series. With a few exceptions – there were a couple of fun riffs on the series' shipping – I didn't really get it. Mostly what I got was a sex comedy, but not one I found that sexy or that funny. It probably didn't help that the meta was off the scale, whereas in Fluttershy is best pony (PR 189) it was reined in just enough for me to like it. I was amused by the main reveal, but I didn't like the detailed scene that led on from that. I mostly found this one a slog that overdid the funny peculiar and underdid the funny ha-ha, and it only gets a two for the bits that are referencing iisaw's epic. That said, this is definitely a YMMV fic, and if the humour does touch your funny bone, you'll probably wonder how on earth I rated it so low. ★★
The Cup Cake Killer by Saddlesoap Opera Here's the full review.
Mane Six, Spike, Luna, Mr Cake and Mrs Cake
Dark/Sad/Tragedy; 4k words; Jan 2015; Teen
"Pinkie Pie invites a friend over to Sugarcube Corner. Little do they know that they’re in for a dark surprise." An entry for EQD's MMDG contest.MMDG was the More Most Dangerous Game, which challenged authors to take a horrendously bad premise and make it work. Saddlesoap Opera chose to reinvent Cupcakes (GDocs link, if you must) – and instead of being a tiresomely gory grimdark piece, this now places far more emphasis on the psychological and emotional impact of what Pinkie has done. It's undeniably chilling and the twist is interesting once you realise what it actually was, but in a canon!Equestrian context (given something else we're told) the ending seems contrived. I also have problems with aspects of the judicial process, though in this case my not being American may have some bearing. So, fascinating but not entirely satisfying. That's a three, I think. ★★★
The Very Literal Rise and Fall of Pinkie Pie by 4EverfreeBrony
Pinkie, Twilight and Derpy
Comedy/Random; 3k words; Jun 2014; Everyone
When delivering a gift to a sick Twilight, Pinkie finds herself lacking sense of ground, in the most literal way possible.Yes, that 4EverfreeBrony. I love this guy's music (I paid actual money for "Smell the Roses") but it turns out he had a very brief ponyfic-writing career, too. He's definitely better as a musician. This is a very old-fashioned story that barring one passing S2 reference could have been written in mid-2011. It doesn't fall into the trap of making Pinkie horribly hyper, which I appreciate, but there's nothing surprising – it's a simple, gently amusing scene. It does lack proofreading: there's quite a bit of stuff like "...quite attached any kind of shade". Not terribly memorable, but old-fandom Pinkie fans might enjoy breezing through it. ★★
Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: stories reviewed will include horizon's Pratchettian crossover/homage Watch! Watch!
What, 4everfree wrote ponyfic? :O Shit, I gotta read that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm starting to wonder what the heck is up with that review group. :|
He has two stories published; the other is described as "a snippet of rock-farm life". I think I might give that a look, too.
DeleteSee Pascoite's comment below. :P
I just reviewed that one! :D
DeleteSo you did! :D
DeleteThat review group is extremely suspect. I didn't even know they existed until a few days ago, but they were called to my attention recently (more on that in a moment), and I read over a few of their reviews. Some of them seem fine, if unenlightening. Seriously, lots and lots of them are very vague, to the point I wouldn't know what they wanted to see changed if I were the author. They're also internally contradictory in places. On one review, for instance, it praises the author for using telliness in an effective way, then later calls the story too telly.
ReplyDeleteIn another instance, an author was invited to submit his story, only to have a very negative review posted by the same person who offered the invitation. That's a very inconsiderate move.
The most prolific group admin has only 18 stories, and two of them have only 4 stories. I've only read stories by one of them, and of the 3 I read by that author, 2 have been deleted, and the other has been unpublished. This does not instill confidence.
My biggest bone to pick? These reviews should not be stated publicly. If they want to publish the positive reviews of stories they want to feature, fine, but the negative reviews and scores? Really, what's the incentive to submit there? They don't have a very big audience, and they're going to air your dirty laundry. Not a winning combination.
Imagine the outcry if The Royal Guard, Equestria Daily, or the Royal Canterlot Library posted harsh critiques of the rejected stories. Such things should be confidential. Another reviewer I will not name was asked to stop noting in his review blog when he'd included a story because it was in The Royal Guard's submission queue, since that would lead to an easy way to find out if the story got rejected.
Blogs like this are different, because they're just a review or not. If I asked you to read a story and you didn't like it and said why, that's fine, but this whole accepted/rejected thing doesn't play well with this kind of blog, and they're trying to play it both ways. Consider me unimpressed.
Ah, "The Cup Cake Killer." If i remember right, "Cupcakes" was one of the prompts that got the fewest responses, or maybe just the fewest finalists, but that's the one I chose as well. "Happy Birthday, Dear Twilight" was my take on a different interpretation of it, and it got 4th place overall, if the concept interests you.
That review group is extremely suspect.
DeleteThanks for the enlightening comments; I always find this sort of thing interesting from someone who has such a wealth of experience. I must say, though, it doesn't sound that different from what happened with the old Twilight's Library group. It's been a while, but I think every submission there was reviewed publicly even if rejected.
Imagine the outcry if The Royal Guard, Equestria Daily, or the Royal Canterlot Library posted harsh critiques of the rejected stories.
I don't really have to, since way back something very similar happend in the furry fandom. There was a very well-known art site called Yerf, which had (for the time) quite strict quality standards, and to "get in" artists had to submit a picture they'd drawn. Every one, whether it was accepted or rejected, got a detailed public review, sometimes quite a harsh one. It did indeed cause ructions, and Yerf's policy was quite controversial. There was (and is) nothing remotely like Fimfiction for furry, though, so I can't say whether writing might have been treated the same way.
"Happy Birthday, Dear Twilight"
Already in my queue. Since your stories tend to be both good and short, most of them interest me to some degree!
Now I have to go and read that story again. I have no idea what that clunky meta-joke is. I don't even remember having meta-humor in that fic.
ReplyDeleteIt's shortly after the word "aromatherapy". I think that's a spoiler-free way of putting it!
DeleteEh. On one hand, it's a little forced. On the other, it still makes me chuckle. It's a weak one, I'll admit.
ReplyDeleteI will grant that it being Discord who says it helps.
DeleteI don't think the determined avoidance of Twilight's name really adds a great deal
ReplyDeleteI don't remember deliberately avoiding using Twilight's name, but I might have done it by accident, since when I wrote this I was also working on an AU EqG story where human Twilight was going by a pseudonym due to plot reasons. Huh.
Thanks for the review.
Thanks for the insight! It struck me when I was reading, because Twilight is referred to numerous times -- but always as "the Dusk Princess" or whatever, never once by her name. Since Rainbow Dash is namechecked, I came to the (it seems, erroneous) conclusion that the omission of Twi's name was deliberate.
Delete