Taster's Notes on the Dramatic Reading of 'To My Princess' · 12:48am Aug 13th, 2014
I'm not really a books-on-tape guy, so I haven't listened to any dramatic fan fiction readings before now, but I'm quite impressed with Scribbler and Goombasa's presentation of "To My Princess, on the Day of My Departure."
The story consists of two letters, one from Flash Sentry to Twilight Sparkle and one from Twilight Sparkle to Flash Sentry. Goombasa plays Flash and Scribbler plays Twilight. Each reads as some light music plays in the background to set the mood. The presentation is close to professional quality, though there is perhaps an excess of reverb, which I assume was added to give the sense that these two monologues are missives rather than speeches.
Goombasa has a bright voice that's excellent for Flash Sentry. He effectively conveys the image of a naïve and idealistic youth disenchanted and heartbroken by a tragedy he cannot avert. His letter is the more challenging of the two to read, since it's a great deal longer and written in a higher style; Goombasa trips occasionally over my sentence structure, but his is nonetheless an excellent reading.
Scribbler's presentation of Twilight's letter is flawless. She reads with such sincerity and passion that she improves significantly on her source material. The story was originally meant to be complete with Flash's letter, and I simply added Twilight's letter at a later date as an afterthought, but Scribbler makes the letter feel like a necessary part of the tale, a grand conclusion. Perhaps I shouldn't say so since I wrote the text, but she actually had me tearing up at the end.
After the reading, the background music continues for a brief space, accompanied by some tasteful images of Flash Sentry and Twilight Sparkle together, which make for a fitting final note.
At the end, Scribbler makes a few personal comments. She mentions trouble pronouncing my name (which I find hilarious), and she recommends A Mighty Demon Slayer Grooms Some Ponies, but says she hasn't attempted to present a dramatic reading because of its length. I don't know if it would be apropos, but I'm considering suggesting to her that she produce a reading of the short story in Chapter 6 based on the G1 comic, "Applejack's Amazing Adventure." That segment is meant to stand alone; simply do a search-and-replace to change "Megan" to "Applejack," and it's a self-contained tale.
I think it would be acceptable for you to suggest a dramatic reading of your version of Applejack's Adventure. I'm sure I'd love to hear that too. The worst she can do is refuse.
It would still be a somewhat more complex project, involving probably half a dozen different voices...
2366326
Perhaps I shall mention it to her at your suggestion. I take it she must use a different voice actor for each part when she presents something with multiple characters.
Somewhere around here, I have an audio file of my own attempt to do a dramatic reading of "Applejack's Amazing Adventure." I have some modest ability to change my voice, and I used a different voice for each character. When I played it back, I thought I acquitted myself well, though I think I also got a few of the voices mixed up.
It would still be better, however, if Scribbler did it, partly because she's all-around better at it, but also because I simply think it would be best if the female characters were played by females. Some women can convincingly imitate men, or at least boys, but men never do good women's voices. Pony stories, which will usually have an entirely or almost entirely female cast, are best read by a woman.
2366443 You could offer to play the role of the Jewel Wizard, in case Scribbler might go for that....
2366478
Ha! That would be fun. I tend to drone a bit, but that might be appropriate for his "soft, reasonable voice."