Site Post » Reviews Round 10 · 8:07pm Jan 9th, 2013
It is a dark and stormy night, so perfectly dark and stormy that the cliche stings you, almost as much as the acidic raindrops falling in your eyes. The sign at the end of the street is hardly visible beyond the haze of rain, much less the brewing clouds above, drenching everything in shade. Usually, the shadows cast by the hundred-storey office buildings come as a blessing during the merciless summer days, but now, they only serve to make this filthy city more of a depressing hole than ever.
You shrink into your coat a little more, press the ruined hat down on your head afresh, and force yourself against a fresh opposing gale. You ignore the shop windows to your left, which are either smashed or boarded up; a couple of rare cases were both at once, until that upset Big Larry and he had the entire lot torn down. You ignore the pavement on which your booted feet tread, even though it’s all you see with your head ducked low. You ignore the empty four-lane road to your right. You don’t need any more of the city following you except for that which you came here for.
The sign reads “Konami Street”. You sigh in relief; after an hour’s walk, you’re finally here.
You walk forward, passing two junctions, and then turn around, walking back to your starting point. Then you head left, passing one more junction—“Green Bar”, reads the only coloured doorpost you’ve seen all day—before returning once again. You repeat the trek and nod to the doorpost as you turn back.
You take out a crumpled piece of paper from the folds of your coat. It is sharing its plastic sleeve with a lighter.
It is your degree in Liberal Arts—a B.A..
You gulp, take it out, set it on fire, and watch with trepidation as it burns into ash despite the rain.
Oh well.
This was probably the most useful it had ever been.
And on cue, when the last of the black flecks are washed away, the signpost glows. When the pulsing red glow behind your eyelids fades, the signpost is gone, replaced by an open door.
You step in. It closes with a tiny click. Your clothes become a good deal less heavy, on account of having dried up, as if you had not been enjoying Nature’s complimentary showers for the past hell-knows-how-long.
You take off your hat and give it a tentative sniff. It smells of peaches.
“You shouldn’t do that,” says a pleasant female voice, and you look up to see her.
“The hat’s supposed to stay on your head. What can I do you for?” asks best character ever.
“I’m here,” you finally manage to say, as phlegm fills your throat and a hot searing fills the corners of your eyes in an onslaught of awe, relief and pneumonia, “for the Seattle’s Angels Round Ten reviews.”
Every week, we put on the googles, hike the pickaxes, don the floppy orange suits, and go mining for quality in Crap Hill. Sometimes it’s a matter of simply getting something better than average. Sometimes we find gems. On the metaphorical scale, Burning Man Brony is the haul of the century, the diamond as big as an ostrich egg.
And because that apparently isn’t enough endorsement—word quotas and being convincing, hah—let me explain.
Burning Man Brony is many things. It’s a first-person fic, and it’s about a brony, yes, calm down already, but it’s also an insight into the Burning Man culture. Many of us have probably never heard of it, in the same way many of us might not have heard of alluvium or the Runge–Kutta method. But it exists, and it’s part of contemporary culture, and above all, it’s interesting. It’s a fresh element, a unique setting, and a look into a corner of the world I’d otherwise never see, and there’re not many fics I can walk away from and be able to say “I learned something new about my generation”.
It’s also written in such a way that you really get the idea that the author knows what he’s writing about. Maybe you’ve heard it—“write what you know”—and the effect shows in this story. Simple details about breakfast to recollections about walking come together to create—perhaps, recreate—the experience of being there. These little things, actual things, which go on are the experience, which is the key to engaging the reader’s imagination and establishing the world in their head. And Bad Horse does it so well because these details are seen through the eyes of the narrator, which makes it personal rather than just there.
For first-person stories, there’s a range of detachment possible between narrator voice and event. Personally, I prefer the least detachment, where the narrator just snuggles up to you and gets comfy with the text from the get-go. This is one such story. Nothing goes by without at least a reference to the emotional feedback or opinion of the narrator, and thus descriptions not only describe action and setting but also character. Who this guy is, to think of such a thing as so, and such.
Of course, it also helps that the narrator isn’t one-dimensional. The greatest pitfall any first-person story can fall into is to have a boring main character, and Mr Brony here is far from boring. He isn’t merely whiny, and indeed is not at least for the first chapter, until he gets some proper establishment, and it isn’t mere whining, per se. He shows in-depth thought. He shows capacity for great emotion. He is, among other things, a dick and an asshole (which aren’t the same if you ask the right people—ha ha, it is funny because it is lewd), but he’s also more than that. He’s human. And that’s where the depth of Burning Man Brony shines.
Life is struggle. And struggle is exactly what the narrator is faced with. Stories are often about dealing with struggles; this story is about knowing you need to but don’t. Escapism. Resentment. Feigned ignorance, undue self-justification, self-rationalization. Giving up. All the nasty, squicky elements of the human psyche are played in full force unflinchingly, resulting in something so sickeningly real that it comes alive in the way only a human character can. It’s a thought in some circles that human characters have a much greater a capacity to be vivid than any pony, but this story is the only one I’ve seen that realizes this potential. It brings out the worst in a character, and that provides a stark perspective to reflect upon oneself that no amount of sunshine and rainbows will bring.
Burning Man Brony isn’t for everyone. For some of you, it won’t be relatable. For some of you, it won’t be acceptable. It’s pretty controversial as far as good ol’ family-friendly Seattle’s Angels go. But the style is so strong, the craftsmanship so skilled, the pathos so well-detailed that it should be at least comprehensible, and when you come around to the close, then you can decide what to think of it.
You know all those self-hating brony stories? This is that done right. And I haven’t seen, nor can think of any way else to make it work. This, friends, is it.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go stock up on ways to call this piece of craft amazing.
Shrooms don't lie, but they don't tell the truth. They just show you what's already inside you.
If you submit to Sturgeon's Law, the idea that 90% of everything is crap, then it stands to reason that you would believe that 90% of ponyfiction is crap, and you'd be right. But that's why we're here, why Seattle's Angels exists, to sift through the piles of shit in search of that one shiny turd that glitters in the muck and blinds you with its beauty. We aren't the first group to don our crapdiving gear, and we certainly won't be the last, but at least we'll have the dubious honor of being the first to pull Burning Man Brony from the reeking depths of Crap Hades and display it for the 1500 or so people that read this world to see.
Not pictured: dignity
As you undoubtedly have seen, and will see, my colleagues are quite infatuated with this story, and for good reason. This is one of, if not the, best fic we've ever reviewed, and certainly one deserving of more attention. But I differ from them in one important way, one that I'll get into later on. For now, let's discuss why this thing is so good.
Burning Man Brony is a lot of things, not the least of which is interesting, but one thing it's not is nice. The narrator, a human, and, technically, a self-insert character, is a dick. He's a dick to his friends, he's a dick to himself, he's a dick to everyone he meets, but it's all part of his character. I know a bunch of you probably got scared off at the idea of a human fic with a self-insert main character, but this one's different, it truly is. Not only is BMB fully aware of what it is, it revels in that self-awareness and uses it to its advantage. I came into this expecting a self-hating brony story with a whiny narrator and nothing worth reading. What I got wasn't that far off, but with some very important distinctions. Bad Horse, aside from being the thoroughbred of sin, is quite the writer. His descriptions are excellent, and his narrator is not a one-dimensional, boring asshole. No, he's a multi-layered, depressed, and possibly neurotic asshole... and it all works beautifully.
Of course, despite how excellent the majority of the fic is, I still had a few problems with it. Mainly they're just personal gripes, so I won't bother elaborating except on a few things. For one, I'm not a fan of including pictures in your narrative, nor links. To me that speaks to lazy writing because your descriptions should be able to create vivid images in the reader's mind's eye, without the need to include actual pictures. And Bad Horse's descriptions are vivid enough, which is why I think including pictures and links is unnecessary, and more than a little distracting. Secondly, in the second chapter the narrator speaks with several ponies, and they all talk in colored dialogue, which is an interesting technique... when it works. I kinda liked it, for the most part, but when it got to Applejack's part, which is written in an eye-searing orange, it actually became difficult to read and a little annoying. Again, these are merely personal complaints, and none of them stopped me from appreciating Burning Man Brony for the excellent piece of work that it is.
However, now we get to the interesting part of this review, the difference between me and my colleagues. Casca and Nietzsche, as you saw and will see, love Burning Man Brony. They have been very vocal about that, and I'm not saying they're wrong, not at all, but I differ from them in that I don't love BMB, not even a little. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I dislike it outright, but I can appreciate it, which is an important distinction. There are many reasons I don't like it, the narrator is an asshole, and I can't sympathize with him at all, his self-loathing, while an interesting part of his character, is very grating to me. It's painful to watch him talk about himself like he's so above everyone else, but then turn right around and talk about how much he hates his life. All of this makes for a very interesting story, and an excellent one at that, but that doesn't mean I have to like it just because it's good. Understanding why something is good, and liking it, are two entirely different things, things that we as reviewers have to separate.
At this point, I feel I've written entirely too much on the subject of Burning Man Brony, so I'll step aside and let Nietzsche have his say, but not before one final complaint. The complaint that was a major factor in preventing me from liking this story. At the end, there's no catharsis, no development. The narrator is the same asshole he's always been, and he's still refuses to see how selfish he really is. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, in fact I think it works in the context of the story, but I still would've liked to see some recognition of his own psychoses. To use an example from contemporary cinema, Patrick Bateman, at the end of American Psycho, confesses his crimes to his lawyer, and admits to all his psychotic behavior. However, he realizes that even after admitting this, “There is no catharsis. […], and I gain no deeper knowledge of myself.” The difference between American Psycho and Burning Man Brony is that, Patrick Bateman understands and admits to what he his, and gains nothing from it, no release, and the narrator of BMB doesn't admit, and doesn't understand, and still gains no release, but in a less meaningful way in my eyes.
All in all, Burning Man Brony is still one of the best pieces of My Little Pony fanfiction that I have ever had the pleasure of reading, despite the fact that I couldn't help but feel disappointed by it in the end, and I strongly encourage anyone stalwart enough to read through this entire review to give it a whirl. It certainly isn't for everyone, but maybe it'll speak to you like it did to Casca or Nietzsche... and that's all I have to say about that.
Hello, my name is Nietzsche. I occasionally write reviews for this publication. It's recently come to my attention that interesting prose is something that our readers value. I want to assure you that this concern will in no way affect the style of my reviews. I have always been concise and spoken to the point, with a minimum of meandering, melancholy, and malice. I intend to continue in this manner for the foreseeable future. You can count on me for short, unentertaining reviews that are handwritten with the stick that is lodged in my butt. Thank you for your attention during this brief and highly stressful digression, and now on with the review.
***
At the violet hour, when memories swim in concentric circles around the mind's eye, forming a pattern that eludes mortal grasp; when chaotic fire cools and dims in an adoring meditation upon peaceful eternity; when the love that light has for darkness manifests itself physically, and the colors of life are splayed out in rich, otherworldly harmony upon the canvas of the sky: remember this story and its message.
Burning Man! Has a more primeval archetype been found by our learned philologists and anthropological experts? Burning Man! Indulge my whimsy, my experiment: imagine that you are a human being. What song would you sing, amid the flames? What dance, what emotion, what prayer would you offer? Stay, I have misled you: every answer is untrue. Once fire dies down and wind and water are sated, only the desert remains, and songs are of no avail.
Where is the man who is not the protagonist of his own story—a horror with an uncertain end? We are all unnamed narrators whose trial is to find ourselves; tragic centers of our own universes. The very fabric of life wavers, and relations shift and obscure. Only love allows us to reach out to one another as spirits, cross the gaps between worlds, and engage in jolly cooperation! And that, that is the heart of it all. If today you were asked to leave behind all the falsehoods to which you cling in desperation, and live freely in love, would you do it? I have my doubts. Could you even conceive of the enormity and impact of the question? Would you not rather cower back, and stay put? He who hesitates...
To understand Burning Man Brony, you must understand both the perversity and avarice that dwell in the depths of human despair and the brilliant radiance of a free and honest spirit. It is not a message that everyone can hear—for many are asleep. But for those who are awake, it will ring out clear as a bell in a pure, stark tone that will echo for years.
Will you awaken?
STORY 2
Pony and Prejudice, by Softy8088
We had a discussion once about what to do for rounds numbered with, eh, digits of wider appeal. Round 10 isn’t any more special just because it’s a 10! What about 15, or 23? Numbers are equal! Any action to indicate otherwise is prejudice!
...is what I’d say, except Round 10 is pretty special, because after the brony-centric one we’ve got a changeling fic*.
Just for the record, I’m as indifferent to changeling fics as I am to Daring Do fics. They’re just, for the most part, there. Oh, changeling gets adopted, how sweet, yay, bla bla bla. Today’s feature, thankfully, is not such, and gets in for primarily two reasons: the twist, and the fact that it doesn’t suck the good writing.
This is also a first-person story, and while the character isn’t as multi-layered as seen in BMB, he/she has a distinct, clear voice all the same, and the developed personality shows well through word choice (the particularly well-placed “immolate” comes to mind) and tone. He/she has motives and is very well fighting for them, and it’s interesting to see the way the sides play out when it comes to the topic of love between changelings and ponies—it’s not gone into too much depth, but enough details are given to let you play the rest out. And so it is for the rest of the story, where not describing the full picture gives you the idea more vividly than doing otherwise, until that ending hits.
Then you realize the twist, and that there’s two layers to it. How can you not love a double-layered twist?
Prejudice is the central theme of the story, and while it presents an idea of who isn’t prejudiced, it also brings to awareness—self-awareness—of who is, even if it’s merely pony-changeling prejudice, both of which are fictional anyways. And you’d be surprised at who you find. That kind of baited revelation is, egad, fun, and that’s what earns from me my recommendation.
*Also, I’m not a number nut, that Runge–Kutta reference wasn’t even mine, the very thought, no way, Hosea... but surely you knew that already, right?
I never considered myself brave. But love will make you do foolish things.
It's hard to followup something as good as Burning Man Brony; it can warp your view of what 'good' is. So when I picked up Pony and Prejudice and read through it, I couldn't help but feel a bit underwhelmed. It was certainly 'good', but it just didn't hit me the way BMB did. So I let it sit for a bit, then read it again. That was a good choice...
What's that you say? You've read a thousand changeling fics, and they're all crap? Well, sir, you clearly haven't read Pony and Prejudice. Softy8088 takes the conventional changeling fic plotline and boots it straight to the moon. What's really great about this fic is how sure you are of where it's going right before Softy whips the wheel in the opposite direction. The twist, children, is what makes this fic go from 'eh, pretty decent' to 'damn, that was pretty good', and it's executed quite well. Granted, the writing isn't the best I've ever seen, and some of the dialogue is a little lame, so that prevents this from being 'shit, that was awesome', but regardless, it's still better than the usual fare, especially in terms of original characters.
The usual fare...
But you know, it's not just the twist that makes this story interesting. It actually deals with some very relevant themes, like prejudice, and racism, and it does so in a way that doesn't feel like it's immature, or pandering. Softy8088 may not be the best writer, but I have to give him credit, he knows what he's doing. First-person narration can be quite difficult to do, especially if you're trying to make it not suck, but Softy manages it, and he manages it with a character that isn't one-dimensional. He has wants and needs, and goals to strive for. The fic is relatively short word-wise, but it's not short on heart (which is ironic considering).
Long story short, Pony and Prejudice ain't the best, but it's better than the usual crap, and it has an interesting twist, so here it is, put on display for a chance at (semi)fame it never knew.
All right, all right, calm down, Nietzsche. Go ahead and have your say...
Tomorrow, I have to post my review of Pony and Prejudice. Hence, I ask, in desperation: how did I get roped into this? Every element of storytelling, every aspect of a writer's craft, has been so stunningly, meticulously ignored in this fic, that it really begins to feel as though the author was trying to produce some appropriate material to fill the world's grodiest shitpot. Softy8088—what the hell is that? Even the author's name is a steaming pile of literary offenses.
After reading Pony and Prejudice, I felt like amputating my skin. Rancid run-ons, mortifying misattributions, and festering fragments are just some of the monstrous grammar errors that inhabit its foul, swampy prose. Even worse was the persistent use of thick, impenetrable changeling lingo, such as "everyling" instead of "everypony", which made the thing nigh-unreadable. And as for the plot? Laughable. Love in the face of obstacles is an antiquated, bourgeois, comedic, disproven, extremist, fantastical, guilt-ridden, heretical, impractical, juvenile, lurid, monstrous, nonsensical, overdone, poisonous, quixotic, risible, selfish, terrible, unscientific, vain, whimsical, xenomanic, yawn-inducing, zany idea, and has no place in My Little Pony fanfiction.
Leaving aside the grade-school grammar mistakes and a plot that could literally be used as evidence of mental incapacity in a court of law, are there any positives in this fic? I looked, and looked, and looked, for anything at all that I could possibly mention in the positive category, and came up empty-handed. Everything about Pony and Prejudice is bad, and everything that comes into contact with it becomes unclean for seven days. Simply put, I hated it, and if nothing else, the hidden message in the first letters of each sentence of this review should convince you not to waste any time on it.
STORY 3
It’s Tricksy, by Ezn
If the title doesn’t give you enough clue as to what you’re gonna get, you’d better brush up on your skills of implication.
It’s Tricksy is the bowl of peanuts, the ham sandwich, the cheesy fries to chase down that vodka-and-soda and that small, funny yellow drink with an umbrella (which is which is up to your interpretation), and is easily the easiest to appreciate in this round’s recommendations. You may know Ezn as the guy who wrote Long Distance, which tackles the rarely-explored issue of dragonfire; the writing chops which carried that particular story through serve well when it comes to Trixie and zebras flinging rap at each other. Well, not rap per se, but rhymes with a tone suspiciously fitting of rap. Totally unrelated fact: I dislike most rap. You’d think it odd, but it’s pretty hard to fill in the gaps between rounds without the use of uninspired run-of-the-mill beats an audible drumline. And yet Ezn does it, just enough to keep it all together.
No, this isn’t Epic Rap Battles in prose. It’s better. Not hard, since most rap sucks, but...
See, what this story has going for it is a perfect length. Admittedly, it’s not the first thing that comes to mind when you think “praise”, but knowing when and where to end is pretty consarn vital for flash fiction such as this. The pulse of the story is often the novelty of the idea, and you’ve got to lay it down soon as it stops beating.
Oh, also, Trixie isn’t a whining sob-story who demands attention and acts bipolar with every scene break. Did I mention that? Because I particularly liked that, and it’d be nice if there were less “oh poor Trixie, come and cry in my comment section” stories.
All in all, give it a whirl. It’s not ruby, but it’s at least pearl.
Girl, I got words for days, I'm a certified dictionary and thesaurus
I'll be bringing fresh rhymes long after you start to bore us
As the legendary Reverend Run once said, “It's tricky to rock a rhyme to rock a rhyme that's right on time; it's tricky!”, and it is indeed... tricky. But, despite the obvious challenges associated with dropping mad beats, Ezn has shown us that he not only has the ability to thrown down with the best of them, but he can also make an entertaining story out of it to boot. It's Tricksy stars none other than, you guessed it, Trixie (best pony) and a lowly Zebra with a penchant for rhymes (who is not Zecora). If the idea of a rap battle featuring the Great and Powerful Trixie, and a crowd of zebras providing the, 'Oh, snap!'s and the, 'No she didn't!'s, done in a style eerily reminiscent of In Living Color's The Dirty Dozens, with Trixie sitting like Ed O'Niell atop her throne of verbal smackdown doesn’t appeal to you, then you are a person that I never want to meet, so you can go ahead and stop reading this review right now.
For those of you still left (which better be all of you, so help me Krishna), lemme give you a quick rundown of why this fic is so funny, awesome, and kickass that it makes me want to shout to the lyrical gods, screaming my love to the heavens like that guy on 34th street, you know the one, because apparently I haven't filled my quota for references yet, which frankly is bull because, c'mon, who else is gonna make references to Ed O'Niell's work outside of his Married with Children fame?
Trixie heard someone was making Ed O'Niell references...
Anyway, what makes It's Tricksy so appealing, and entertaining, is how accessible it is. According to Ezn's note, Trixie being a dope ass rhymer is apparently part of a larger story, but no knowledge of that is necessary to enjoy this fic. It's quite short, only about twelve hundred words, and that's the perfect length. This is a fic that knows exactly how long it has before it wears out its welcome, and it never starts to drag or be anything other than wonderfully entertaining. The story is a simple one, but that also works in its favor. Ezn doesn't have try and force some kind of hackneyed story to get us to believe that Trixie would have a rap throwdown with a zebra. It simply happens and we, as the audience, accept it for what it is... awesome.
I don't really know what else to say about this fic. It's short, funny, and not a goddamn sadfic (which is apparently what 95% of all Trixie fics are). It's kinda like The Other Guys of comedy fics, enjoyable enough to be remembered, but not quite funny enough to be a 'classic', which is not necessarily a bad thing. For what it's worth, Ezn manages quite a lot in a little over a thousand words, and as he proved with Long Distance he has a talent for writing, especially dialogue (at least in the case of It's Tricksy). Even if you hate Trixie, and you hate zebras, and you hate rap, and you hate battles, then you should still read this if only to see how to do a comedy fic without the use of silly slapstick humor. So go put on your laughing pants and have a quick read of Ezn's It's Tricksy.
A rhyme is a rhyme is a rhyme,
But you've got to keep it in time.
The meter, the stress, the words coalesce
To something unique and sublime.
When speaking the words of your heart,
Remember this musical art.
For form is to matter what cake is to batter;
Don't put the horse after the cart.
It's Tricksy is simple and funny,
As sweet as a comb full of honey.
Wait—that's imprecise, so I'll try it twice—
As sassy as Angel the bunny.
Its strength, as you've no doubt been told,
Is ending before it gets old.
It opens up quick, it's done in a tick,
And just like that, Trixie's been trolled.
There's not much to say beyond that,
Though often the meter falls flat.
Attention to meter would make this fic sweeter...
Do kids today still call things ‘phat’?
Now when you go write your own fic, see,
Remember the errors of Tricksy.
Don't write rhyme, write song, as bold and as strong
As The Great and Powerful Trixie!
Reluctant to leave the heavenly glory that is Patchouli Knowledge’s presence, but bound by duty, you do so anyways.
The rain has stopped.
It is hailing instead.
As you run, the ice bruising you top, down and centre, you begin to wonder just why the hell are you on this mission. Why the hell you’re in a strange, deserted, smoky town looking as if it was lifted right off a black and white movie from when unrealistically fat cigars were cool. Why the hell you have, in the folds of your jacket, a styrofoam cup, with a smudge of yellow paint on the bottom, instead of anything remotely resembling a set of fanfiction reviews.
Somewhere in your memory, the faint image of a short, smiling, bespectacled Asian, holding one too many martini glasses in his hands than is possible, rises from the depths, and is lost as you trip and fall. The memory is replaced by a sharp pain across your face, and, oddly enough, the smell of asparagus.
It is in your lowest moment that you hear the calling of quality discussion.
You feel the need to visit a cache of previously reviewed stories.
You will join the Seattle’s Angels Fimfiction group, because you enjoy receiving the latest updates, being part of a community that supports good fanfiction, and are an all-around cool bropone.
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New favourite image.
Might have a look at 'It's Tricksy', actually. I haven't read a good Trixie story since Magic Duel.
burning man brony is one of my all time favorite mlp fics. it's what made me want to go to burning man to begin with.
693963
god I am laughing so hard at that pic right now
693970 I call it 'Trixie: Dafuq is this?'
693963 Oh god it's merging with my soul get it off
693986
> Regidar
> Soul
693990
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Jèsus Christo, Nietzche, that was a bloodbath of a review... Now I have to go read that changeling fic, just to see what got you in such a tizzy.
Not a fan of Burning Man or brony related stories, so skipping the first one. Do like some of Bad Horse's other stuff though. Seems to be the type of writer that puts a lot of time into his stories. His Sherlock Holmes crossover in particular I'm fond of.
The changeling story I read, did not care for. It tries too hard, forces too much, and has to invent too many things to work, to feel natural. End result, it fails to achieve its goal, at least on me. Did enjoy Nietzsche's review for it though, though he's missing a 'K' word.
And It's Tricksy was good, though short. A nice way to kill a few minutes.
694033
Might want to read the last sentence of his review
694186
...
Damn it, Nappa.
I actually knew about and greatly enjoyed Burning Man Brony already. I admit some small degree of smug pride in that foreknowledge. I suppose we all have a little hipster in us...
Still, definitely checking out the other two.
Uh, I was not aware that it was difficult to not suck at. My first fic, in fact, was in first person, and was generally well-received. I thought it was pretty easy to be honest. [/shameless self promotion]
Wow, that review from Nietzche was cruel until the last sentence. Then I understood.
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... Patchouli? Best?
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... these reviews are great but should we be at all troubled by the fact that these posts are usually more rich and entertaining than the stories they look at?
694888
Perhaps, but as long as we are entertaining you guys in the process of convincing you to read these fics, then I don't see the problem. I mean, if you're reading these posts just because they're entertaining, then that's awesome for us, but it also means we're not really doing our jobs. We do these reviews because we want to expose FiMfic to stories that the general userbase may have passed over, not because we want to entertain you. Now, don't misunderstand me, it's not that we don't want to be entertaining, it's just that that isn't our priority. I guess what I'm trying to say is: we do this out of our mutual love of literature and ponies, and we try and share that love with you guys. If we're entertaining in the process then all the better, so long as we never lose sight of our true purpose.
694888
If it keeps us coming back and potentially checking out some stories, then nah.
Besides, with three stories a week and a wide variety of genres available, I only expect about one story a week on average to be my type of story. But I still get some potentially entertaining reviews even for the one's that aren't my thing.
Seattle's Angels' recommendations are like Pokemon - you gotta catch 'em all.
I also prefer them to Digimon, even though I thought Renamon was bad ass.
... I forgot what we were talking about.
"I felt like amputating my skin" is perhaps the greatest epithet ever penned.
What in the fuck is a "doorpost"? :|
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Oh I'm just teasing, anyway. I certainly don't think it's a problem. I think these reviews successful at spotlighting the stories. I usually end up at least looking at if not reading them myself.
I wasn't prepared for this.
I'm humbled. I feel undeserving. I don't know what to say. I'm no good at speeches. I think I left my oven on.
Nietzsche: Never before has anyone ever seen through my layers of pretensions and judged the true soul of my writing as you have. You, and you alone, understand me completely. Thank you.
I still have a mini freakout whenever I see Alexmagnet's profile picture, because it's the exact same one I use for my tumblr account
Oh wow, this is the best thing to wake up to. Thanks for the reviews, you guys!
693963 It's close, but I'm gonna go with
i46.tinypic.com/2mdia1z.jpg
694454 Yeah, well, I knew about you before you knew about Burning Man Brony.
694888 ... these reviews are great but should we be at all troubled by the fact that these posts are usually more rich and entertaining than the stories they look at?
I don't know if you should be, but I definitely should be. Who wrote the intro and outro?
THANKS! I already have 6 new favorites on Burning Man Brony since this came out. I'm gonna try submitting it to EqD again, and quote the esteemed reviewers to try to get the pre-reader to reconsider his assessment that the writing "does not quite meet Equestria Daily's standards."
GhostOfHeraclitus deserves developmental editor credit. He convinced me that the original version didn't hang together thematically, and suggested some of the broad outline I used to rewrite everything after the first chapter. This was back when he was my secret weapon rather than my deadly (but polite) nemesis.
And now I'm gonna shut up to avoid falling short of the impossible expectations you've set for my writing style.
P.S. - It's only a partial self-insert. In real life, I am a dick. But not an asshole.
Patchouli Knowledge’s seems to be a realy nice character.
695945
Casca penned 'em this week. He's such a boss.
696019
"Nice" isn't the word for it. I'm thinking something a leetle loftier, like "amazing".
694888
royal flare > master spark 4evar
Ah, but seriously, I can't really say I thought of it in that way. More often than not our reviews are praise of varying degrees of adulation, and it's my hope that if you enjoyed the little 500-word snippets, you'd love what we loved.
695007
Do doors not have posts where thou comest from? >:O
695945
Ah, yes, and because I said I would notify you: Pipsqueak's Adventure Journal is awaiting moderation, and should be up soon. =3
EDIT: Regarding EqD, not to sound like that guy, but I think they'd reject it on grounds of "not being what we're looking for". The subject matter is way out of left field (or right), and the feelings it invokes are more likely to be negative than positive. While its ability to invoke such emotion is exceptional, negative emotions are probably not what EqD wants to sell. But it doesn't stop this story from being one of the most honest and well-crafted in the fandom, and if the above review wasn't enough to let you know that at least someone thinks so, well, now you do.
696184
I GUESS NOT :|
696184
i barely did a wiki research, asmatic/anemic small girl, fucking awesome at magic, smart, and reliable... or erverybody seems to think so...
the intro and outro of the review round was the only thing i could get out this post, im not interested in adding more fics to my read later list and i dont know any of the fanfics here and i am not a fan of the writters.
697073
Oh dear. Well, you don't need to know about them to enjoy them, nor do you have to be a fan of them to enjoy it - to spotlight under-appreciated stories, and thus under-appreciated authors, is what we're here to do after all =) I have and will vouch for this round's recommendations as being good, so in case you want something to poke at, you don't need to look too far!
Sometimes there's a fic that I want to check out on these reviews, sometimes it's two and at times, all three.
But in this round, you guys didn't entice me to check out even one of these.
The only thing that drew my attention was the name Softy8088, because I'm sure I've read something of his before and enjoyed it.
I particularly disliked Nietzsche's review of Pony and Prejudice. I understood the intent, but the execution really sucked and didn't tell me anything about the story at all.
698702
no, no, i meant that i didnt read the anything but the intro/outro because im swiming in unread fanfics and homework... which i have 4 days to finish...
i have been skiping reading a lot of blogs like interviews and reviews, gota save time for Homework and stuff
maybe one day, when im dont have ton of stuff to do, and if i remenbe it, i`ll read Burning Man Brony: Fear and Loathing of Equestria, by the litle that i read of the review, it sounds realy interesting. them sad feels.