Alexstrazsa 1,275 followers · 15 stories

A guy who did pony stuff at one point.

News Archive

  • 113 weeks
    SA: The Last Round

    "So, what do you think, Corejo?" Wanderer D asked, politely showing off the stack of papers in his claw.

    The burlap sack with the printed (in color!) face of Corejo remained silent.

    "I see, yes, yes!" Wanderer D cackled. "Ahahaha! Yes! I agree! This story should do fine! So, who's reviewing it? RT?"

    The sack that had the picture of RTStephens on it tilted just enough for a single potato to roll onto the table.

    "And we have two! Alright, team, I expect you all to figure out who's doing the next one, okay? Let's not keep the readers waiting!" He glanced expectantly at the several sacks with pictures around him. "Alright! Dismissed."

    "Sir?"

    "Ah, intern. Is that my coffee?" Wanderer D took the proffered mug and downed the contents in one go. "Excellent! No time to rest! We have to edit what the guys just handed to me."

    Read More

    110 comments · 8,849 views
  • 134 weeks
    SA: Round 186

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    The Dodge Junction train ramp was not where Floydien expected to be part of a reunion.

    He especially didn’t expect it to happen four times in a row.

    “Wait, Winter? What are you doing here?”

    Winter’s eyebrows raised. “On Summer vacation. What about you?”

    “Uh, same.”

    “Guys!”

    The two Angels looked to where the voice came from. Cynewulf came running up to them, a wide brimmed sunhat and sunglasses adorning her head. “Fancy meeting you two here!”

    Floydien scratched his head. “Same. Are you on vacation too?”

    “Yep! Had a blast down on the Horseshoe Bay coast.”

    “Well, ain’t this something!”

    All turned to the fourth voice. Knight strode up, his body decked out in fishing gear, complete with a fishing pole balanced over his shoulder. “Haven’t seen so many of us in one spot since vacation started.”

    Read More

    12 comments · 4,650 views
  • 149 weeks
    SA: Round 185

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Winter and Knight stared out at the bleak townscape. All around them, the fires raged unchecked as Ponyville's former occupants stumbled mindlessly about, their undead faces ravaged by rot and decay as they moaned for sustenance. Knight turned to Winter.

    "Ready to go?"

    Winter nodded and shifted a backpack. "Got everything with me. I guess it's now or never."

    Knight gave a wry smile. "That's the spirit. You do have your reviews, right?"

    "Of course!" he said, patting his chest. "Right here."

    Knight nodded and said, "Alright, here's the plan: we stick to the shadows as much as possible. From what I can tell, their eyesight isn't that good, but their sense of smell is excellent. We just have to stay upwind."

    Read More

    10 comments · 4,264 views
  • 156 weeks
    SA: Round 184

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    “I see. Alright, I’ll let him know.”

    Intern twisted a dial on the small mechanical piece attached to his ear, retracting a blue, see-through visor from across his face. He turned to Floydien, crossing his arms. “It’s confirmed. Generation 5 is on its way. Season 2 of Pony Life is just around the corner. And the series finale of Equestria Girls was scrapped for a holiday special.”

    Floydien lifted an eyebrow. “And, what does that mean for us?”

    Read More

    10 comments · 4,423 views
  • 160 weeks
    SA: Round 183

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Over their heads the flak guns peppered the sky. The planes roared and sputtered. The clouds were dark, heavy with the child that was war. It was all noise.


    Cynewulf looked around the bend. “You know, I’ve been reading old fics. Remember Arrow 18?”


    Floydien slipped—a Floydien slipped—One Floydien came through the fractured time in the lower levels of the Sprawling Complex. “Uh, human in Equestria?”


    “Yeah. You know, we were probably too mean about those.”


    “They were terrible. I mean some of them. I guess a lot of everything is terrible.”


    “Well, yes. But anyway, I was reading it, and it occurred to me that what I liked about it was that it felt optimistic in the way that Star Trek was optimistic. It felt naive, but in a way one wanted to emulate. To regress back into it.”


    “Uh, that sounds nice?”

    Read More

    7 comments · 5,921 views
  • 165 weeks
    SA: Round 182

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    “Okay, Winter, hit it!”

    Winter pulled a lever that ignited a rocket placed underneath the communal Christmas Tree. The tree blasted through a cylindrical hole and out into the skies beyond. It only took seconds for the tree to become a tiny red dot against the blue sky.

    Winter stepped away from the control panel and down to where Intern was standing behind a fifty-five millimeter thick glass wall. “We could have just picked up the base and tossed it in the garbage bin outside, you know.”

    Intern scoffed. “Yeah, we could, or we can go over the top in a comedic and entertaining manner that leads into our reviews.”

    “You’re getting all meta, now.”

    “Exactly! On to the reviews!”

    ROUND 182

    Read More

    6 comments · 7,953 views
  • 170 weeks
    SA: Round 181

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    For the first time in the year that he worked there, FanficFan finally experienced quiet in the Seattle’s Angels Compound. All the other reviewers had gone home for the holidays, leaving him and Intern to submit the last round of reviews of the year. However, with Intern off on an errand, FanficFan was left alone.

    With stories ready to be read by his partner, all the reviewer could really do was wander around the empty building, taking in all the holiday decorations left behind from the Office Christmas Party a few days prior, like office space holiday knick-knacks, lights strown about the ceiling and wreaths on nearly every door. Plus, there was some leftover cookies and egg nog, so that was nice. 

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    8 comments · 6,366 views
  • 174 weeks
    SA: Round 180

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Cynewulf lay in a grassy field. This was a curious occurrence, as the Seattle Angel’s Dyson Sphere-esque compound basement labyrinth did not usually have grass. 


    But like she had many times before, she’d been teleported here, and whether or not the sky above her was real or not, she didn’t mind. The grass was nice, and the wind was nice, and whatever happened happened.
    f

    There was a great crash and Corejo stumbled into the grass to her right.

    “Oh, god, are we out? How did—”

    “No clue. I suspect that it’ll just take us back anyhow. Did you have the reviews? The machine came for me a few days ago, so I’ve got mine.”


    “I… Uh, I was late. I mean, we both are, unless you’ve been here for days.”

    Read More

    9 comments · 8,123 views
  • 178 weeks
    SA: Round 179

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Winter peered cautiously out the corner of the broken window, surveying the damage outside. He turned to his companion.

    "Looks like we're trapped in here," he said quietly.

    Intern grunted and adjusted the bandage on his arm. "Nothing we haven't gone through before." He looked up at Winter. "Got your reviews?"

    Winter nodded and patted his chest pocket. "Right here, where they're safe." He turned and looked once more out the window. "Now, it's simply a matter of getting through all those ponies." Winter shuddered as he took in the horrors before him.

    Read More

    10 comments · 5,223 views
  • 181 weeks
    SA: Round 178

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Matthew stumbled through the basement, crouching low to avoid all the pipes on the ceiling. Floydien hadn’t told him much, just that it was extremely important, had nothing to do with Intern, and to take the last fire door on the left.

    After what seemed like eternity in an instant, Matthew finally came to said fire door, damp with sweat and condensation. He carefully undid the latch and opened it with one arm raised just in case of any traps. Only to be greeted with the sounds of maniacal but joyous laughter as he spotted Floydien sitting in the center of the room surrounded by thousands of stacks of papers.

    “I found it!” Floydien said, tossing a stapled pack of papers to Matthew. “I finally found the answer. The answer to all of our questions. To our very existence!”

    Read More

    4 comments · 4,521 views
Sep
7th
2014

Story Reviews » Reviews! Round 51 · 12:05am Sep 7th, 2014

Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


A chill wind rippled across the plain, sending a cloud of grey dust swirling in its wake. It had once been a happy wind, of the sort that regularly blew through green fields filled with bunnies and butterflies and other such cutesy critters, but it had traveled far from such idyllic surroundings. In place of the scent of flowers, it brought the musty scent of decay, the stinging taste of ash, and—curiously—a hint of abused ink.

A sheet of paper whirled and danced in the wind, defying the cracked and broken ground beneath it. It fluttered above deep craters and worn trenches, mounds of upturned earth and muddy defiles, until it finally came to rest in a hole. But this was no ordinary hole; in this hole sat two figures.

One of them turned to look at the sheet of paper.

“You’ve got one on your head,” said ambion.

“Your turn,” said Belligerent Sock.

Reaching up, ambion plucked the crinkled page from Sock’s threadbare cranium. His eyes roved the text in detail, squinting against the ambient dust. After a few long moments, his squint turned to a frown.

“No go,” he said, tossing the sheet back to the wind. “Just about Luna and her twisted love for a villainous OC. Missing basic grammar, too.”

“Hm,” said Sock, nodding.

Silence reigned for several moments.

“I want to get out of the hole,” said ambion.

Sock offered a flawless counterargument. “No, you don’t.”

“I’m pretty sure I do.”

“You don’t want to get out of the hole.”

“We’ve been in the hole for, like, a week.” ambion crossed his arms. “I’m tired of subsisting on the sporadic rain, occasional midge, and my fear of death.”

“I don’t think you understand. The hole is where we’re safe.” He pointed out at the blasted wastes. “Out there are things that will bleed you given half a chance. Things like self-inserts and clop and…” He shuddered. “…anthro.”

“And you really think we’re that much safer sitting in a hole like this?”

“I know so.” Sock waved at the surroundings. “See this meta-narrative of which we are a part?”

ambion’s eyes glazed over. “Uh…”

“Right. It’s all around us, transpiring even as I speak. And every narrative has a certain plot, right? Well, right now, we’re operating according to such a plot. And the plot says to stay in the hole.”

ambion blinked, then broke into a grin. “So, what you’re saying is, we’re in a plot hole?”

“The hole has a proper name and you know it,” Sock snapped. “But yes, you could say that.”

“And so I did. Now, here’s a question. Wouldn’t being in a plot hole imply something’s gone wrong with the narrative?”

“Nothing’s gone wrong. We’ve been sitting here, looking for stories to review for a whole week. It’s not our fault they haven’t decided to walk into our midst.”

“Yeah,” said ambion, rolling his eyes, “I don’t know how they could have missed us. Couldn’t we just take a peek out there?”

This called for a drastic and powerful argument. Sock took a deep breath. “You don’t want to get out of the hole.”

“Hm,” said ambion, nodding.

They went quiet. The sound of the wind returned to fill the silence.

“Meh, I’m bored enough.” Without another word, ambion clambered out of the hole and disappeared into the dust.

Sock sat and stared for a moment, blinked twice, and stared some more. Had any crickets been nearby, they would have chirped their laughter at his expression. He blinked again.

“Plot twist!” he cried, and scampered after ambion.


ROUND 51


Cheese Sandwich is all about making ponies smile, just like the preposterously popular pink party pony of Ponyville taught him all those years ago. As a party planner, that usually means he makes 'em smile in droves. Droves! But when he encounters a certain down-on-her-luck unicorn illusionist, well, who needs droves when a single smile says just as much?


This story can be read in all of a few minutes. It doesn’t break any new ground where pony fiction is concerned, but it’s not aiming to. Here we get a simple, short and sweet encounter of two well-liked secondary characters. The setting is lightly adorned and the story short as it is, is content to be carried largely on the scene’s dialogue and the playfulness of its characters. This one isn’t going to be bringing you any surprises, (except that, yes, Trixie can be playful) but it could well bring you a smile and people fond of the silliness and lightheartedness intrinsic to Cheese Sandwich will find something to enjoy.

CHEESE ON CRACKERS?! WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS?!

One of the things I like to do on this site is hunt up curious character combinations. After all, we see pairs of white socks every day—sometimes you need to try the polka-dot socks with your striped ones, just to see what comes of the mix. Sometimes, you get fics like this, whose two principal characters seem like totally obvious choices in hindsight.

Seriously, Trixie and Cheese Sandwich are pretty much made for each other. Not romantically, mind—you ought to know my stance on the sinister science of shipping by now—but in the traits they have in common. They’re both traveling perfomers; that alone is fertile ground for exploration.

And it is those green fields this fic wisely focuses on. Set shortly after each character’s last respective arcs, they both present themselves with personalities and outlooks which feel very much like the show. Trixie’s carrying a bit more baggage, but that’s what helps establish the conflict and give her something to think on in her introspective moments.

Once the two start interacting, well, I won’t spoil anything, but it goes pretty much how you’d expect. It’s a dynamic that works; their shared experience in showbiz serves as a good icebreaker as well as the topic of further discussion. It comes so naturally that I find myself wondering why you don’t see more fics like this.

It opened my eyes to the fertile ground that is these two ponies’ interactions. I find myself wanting to see more interaction between Trixie and Cheese, especially if it’s as enjoyable to read as this fic is. If there’s better praise for a piece of writing than “I want to see more”, I don’t know what it is.


The surly but brilliant police inspector known as "The Lens" has spent her entire career putting thieves and burglars behind bars... but only one of them was ever skilled enough to evade her. "The Magpie" is a masked pony responsible some of the most daring and spectacular thefts in Equestrian history, and despite his fame nopony knows who he is or what he wants.
After seven years of pursuit, Inspector Spectacles is determined to stop his most brazen heist yet and put him in prison one and for all... but nothing is ever so simple. Even in defeat, the charming and enigmatic pony has the city of Canterlot in an uproar. Although the Inspector knows everything about his methods, she must now unravel the truth about his personal motives—and in so doing, face a fearful moral quandary.


Flight of the Magpie has something of a fast, intelligent feel about it. It doesn’t do well despite having a near exclusively OC cast but because of it, and clips along at a quick pace well suited to the cat and mouse premise of the story. The characters are distinct, well developed and interact believably with manners and foibles all their own. Minor characters play their roles well, bringing humour and excitement at just the right times at just the right levels. The world feels well-founded, with references to fictitious places and the jewels therein that bring to mind daring heists and ingenious cunning.

The frustration of Lens as she deals with her opponent’s celebrity status and the fundamental realigning of her own understanding of, not the how, but the why makes this moderately sized story nonetheless a considerable journey for our protagonist.

The line of questioning that underpins the story is fairly apparent early on and the lack of anything pedantic or argumentative about the way its addressed meant that I was interested to read on to find out what conclusions the story came to not just on the narrative level but on another one too. Disagreeing with the conclusions is as satisfying as agreeing with them, and makes Flight of the Magpie a solid, flashy story that’s entertaining and brain-chewable also.

The story does not have any tags, but potential readers should imagine it as being Adventure, or Adventure-Comedy.

THIS ONE FLIES OVER A CUCKOO’S NEST!

So, let’s talk about character. No, not integrity or honor or anything like that—I know there’s a dearth of that around here, and I’m a prime example—but what it means to craft a unique, individual personality within the confines of a story.

A character is, like any sock, the product of multiple ingredients. Personality is the thread which constructs them; their role in the story is the elastic which dictates how far they can stretch. Onto this can be added any number of stains and little holes and threadbare places to highlight their history, and bam! Slap that fellow in the shoe of context, and he’ll walk on his own.

Here’s the thing, though. It’s not enough to simply come up with a character and hope they can march their way to wherever the story takes them. You need to start them off on the right foot, and the way to do that is to make them memorable from the get-go. Ideally, the first scene where they appear is a situation which perfectly encapsulates everything about them.

You can probably see where this is heading, and yes, this fic does precisely what I just described. Its opening is a great interweaving of both character and plot; it throws you right into the mystery, right into the characters, and right into the heart of the story. We’re quickly introduced to our protagonist, Inspector Spectacles, and she quickly demonstrates her prowess in the realms of security and counter-intelligence.

From this springs a narrative that is equal parts intrigue and well-conceived political drama. The events of the opening act are merely the tip of the iceberg: the initial heist quickly turns into a battle of wills as Spectacles meets the titular Magpie and begins unraveling exactly what makes him tick. I guess that’s another thing you can chalk up with this fic: it’s an intriguing character study, as well.

Now, no fic is perfect, and I think this one does lose some of its initial “oomph” toward the end. The prose tends to fall to the background in place of the characters’ interactions, with an emphasis on simply moving the story forward. That aside, though, it does all come together into a conclusion that feels both complete and satisfying. The mystery underlying the mystery is one which runs the gamut from simple caper to legal drama to moral dilemma, all without skipping a beat.

And that certainly makes this little bird worth chasing.


Lieutenant Commander Firefly and her Timberwolf flight are combat fliers of the highest caliber and seasoned veterans of the Continental War, a massive conflict from which the world is just beginning to rebuild. When a nation lost to time suddenly resurfaces in the frozen north, it is her fliers that are tasked with keeping peace in the frigid skies over the Crystal Empire.
But even the best cannot escape the scars of war. Images of battle continue to haunt Firefly, demons that she cannot seem to exorcise on her own. Meanwhile, she still has a squad to lead, a new recruit to train, and patrols to conduct. But what begins as routine patrol work rapidly escalates into deadly dogfights and furious fleet actions. There is more to this fight than just a few rogue griffons out for blood and coin. As the situation rapidly spirals out of control, the Timberwolves find themselves embroiled in a conflict that will determine the fate of not just the Crystal Empire, but the entire free world.


Equestrian Horizon begins in the aftermath of an Equestrian World War, drawing heavy inspiration from the Ace Combat games, and I will simply say right here that I know nothing at all of these games.

That being said, I never found there be the exclusive-feeling awkwardness typical to stories derivative of something and so will vouch that ignorance of Ace Combat is no reason to shy away from this story.

Equestrian Horizon lovingly embraces the jargon and the culture of military life and applies them with a familiarity and confidence that gave it a lot of credibility for me. The world-building, which definitely needs to be strong for a story of this nature, holds up well and makes for a vivid, albeit violent, Equestria.

Another almost exclusively OC cast, the characters of Equestrian Horizon are distinct and hit the ground running (or not...’cause wings...you get the idea) and our protagonist, Firefly, is a strong, likeable, and ultimately fallible character.

A good balance of action and character driven downtime keeps the story fresh and while the story is Incomplete, it is one to follow with interest and enjoyment.

SO, HAVE YOU FOUND A REASON TO FIGHT YET, BUDDY?

Full disclosure: I freely admit that I might be a bit biased with this one, because I am an Ace Combat fanatic. Long have I desired a proper crossover with that series, and this is about as close as I’ve seen anyone come to meeting the standard. A fic like this, with some honest effort put into it, makes me happier than Baron Von Richthofen’s socks after yet another aerial victory.

Now, I’ll also say this up front: this one probably isn’t for everyone. This is a straight piece of military fiction, with all the requisite tropes and jargon in abundance. If that’s not usually your cup of tea, this one probably won’t do anything to change your mind. If, however, you’re fine with the idea of ponies waging war, and are up for some in-depth worldbuilding and high-flying action, then this might be one for you.

Because that’s exactly what you’ll get with this fic. The author has obviously put a lot of thought into this setting of theirs—the exhaustive prologue being one such example—as well as the weapons and methods of the war being waged by our pegasus pilots. The real-world analogues are obvious, but work well enough that they don’t feel too out of place; rather, they feel like a logical extension of the setting. As long as you can swallow the basic premise, the rest all falls into place.

Underneath all the worldbuilding is a pretty character-centric work. The Timberwolves, as they are known, all have distinct personalities, and feel three-dimensional enough to garner attention. Firefly herself is the focus of the work, and well, she certainly begs attention. She’s abrasive, prone to heated outbursts, and seemingly lacks all respect for authority—in all honesty, she’s the sort of personality that grates against my military sensibilities. What saves her, though, is that her antics are acknowledged as a problem within the story itself, and it seems there’s still plenty of time for her to experience some character development.

If there’s one nitpick I do have, it’s that I wish the author had resisted the temptation to include music links with this fic; that’s always struck me as an odd and, dare I say, detrimental, sort of behavior. It breaks immersion, distracting the reader from the fic itself and substituting the meaning of the author’s words with that of another artist. That said, I do understand that with a musical pedigree like Ace Combat’s, you’ll want to trumpet the soundtracks as loudly as possible. Hell, I’m guilty of it with this very review.

In conclusion, while this fic doesn’t necessarily push any boundaries in its respective genre, it hits all the right marks for a story of its type. It’s got the action, it’s got the worldbuilding, it’s got the characters, and, if I may say so, it’s got a bit of genuine Ace Combat flair to it. This is worth watching the skies for.


Cadance receives a letter which no one delivered, written by two little fillies who never lived. It mentions a daughter Cadance didn't know she had, and a great wolf no one's ever heard of. Cadance decides to find the two and grant their wish, but why did she go alone, and what did Clover the Clever write on a rock in the middle of nowhere?


Back and Forth is a story that, as of writing this review, poses a great many questions. From nearly the moment it gets underway the story fills you with the feeling that there is a lot going on here - in past, present and future, all - that we aren’t privy to. Not yet at any rate, so that these revelations are lurking. Waiting. There is a lot going on in this fic, and seeing how it will all piece together will make Back and Forth the kind of story where updates are hungrily devoured.

Princess Cadence is a character that tends to get a lot of flak in this fandom, so seeing her not only lead a story but lead it well - in a story dark as this, no less! - is a nice plus for her fans. Here Cadence is intelligent, competent, and bold, all in line with the better iterations of her character. But the tags to this story don’t betray themselves and what would otherwise make for a preppy, perky pink princess adventure gets thunderously, brutally subverted.

How well do pretty colours, glitter, and good feelings size up against violence and evil?

About as well as you’d think.

NO, THIS ONE IS NOT ABOUT PONY PING-PONG!

In case the impression hasn’t rubbed off on you yet, I love mysteries; it’s been my long-standing belief that this site is diminished without a proper “Mystery” tag. Mysteries, by their nature, invite thought on both sides of a story’s presentation. They require considerable forethought by the author, and they challenge the reader to a higher level of thinking than simply parsing the words on the page.

Any story that has the balls to withhold information from its observers—like a casual sock—is one that garners my attention. This fic makes it apparent that it’s holding all the cards right from the description. It digs its claws into you even further with its opening lines.

Narrative hooks are important in any story, but are especially true in mysteries, where the reader must be engaged with constant little hints as to the bigger picture, or otherwise provided with challenges to their perceptions. Again, the fic succeeds in this right from the start, and the effect is only compounded as things progress.

Like I said, any good mystery requires its reader to pay attention, and things happen in this fic which very much warrant you to pay bloody attention. There’s a subtle uneasiness that builds throughout—little things that are somehow wrong, which create a compounding sense of dread. And when the story drops all pretense, it only begs more questions—exactly as it should be.

Now, be forewarned, readers: this one is very much deserving of its “Dark” tag. By the point the story currently stands at, Cadance has been through a life-threatening gauntlet, with all the injury and death that implies. The antagonistic forces at play here are not very friendly, and the laws of narrative dictate that they’re only going to get nastier as things head forward.

And as for exactly where things are headed, well, even I have no clue. Again, this is what I love about mysteries—waiting for the other shoe to drop and seeing if it either blows your mind or makes you go “Aha!” Or both. Suffice it to say, this is one I have marked for future reference, and I highly suggest you do the same.


“So, long story short, we managed to find the four.” Sock dapped some iodine on a cut on his cheek. “Could’ve gone a little cleaner, admittedly.”

“Yeah, I’d say so,” said Alexmagnet, his hands folded on the Desk of Authority. “You guys spent way longer out there than you needed.”

Sock shrugged. “I told him to stay in the hole.”

“Did you, now?”

“Yeah. Said it multiple times. Even tried listing off the hole’s virtues. Like how it only floods half the time, or how worms sometimes turn up inside it, or how if you smell a certain spot at certain times of the day, it smells kinda like licorice.”

“See, I think it’s stuff like that that makes people averse to the hole. The name doesn’t help.”

“It’s called the ‘BS-Hole’ for a reason. Not changing it.”

Alex sat back. “Well, a job done’s a job done. How’s ambion?”

“He started mumbling ‘The horror…’ about an hour ago. Pretty quick recovery for taking multiple self-insert clopfics to the face.”

“Hm,” said Alex, nodded. “Well, now that it’s over, what are your plans?”

“I think,” said Sock, lifting a shovel out of nowhere, “I am going to enlarge my hole.”

Alex sighed. “Not helping, Sock.”


Feel free to visit our group for more information and events, and to offer some recommendations for future rounds. See you all next time!

Report Alexstrazsa · 2,806 views ·
Comments ( 19 )

Enlargement is best-ment.

“Out there are things that will bleed you given half a chance. Things like self-inserts and clop and…” He shuddered. “…anthro.”

And then there's the unholy trinity: self-insert anthro clop!

Also, I wanted to point out (because apparently, I notice this shit) that this is the first time in over a year that Sock has done a review round without Casca. Huh... I don't know where to go with this. Ho Yay seems too obvious.

Other than that, this is DuncanR's third story to get an SA review, after Bittersweet Music and Erase and Rewind. That reminds me. DuncanR. Seriously, update. Also, adcoon's second story to get a review here after The Nightmare Sonata.

Huh, that's all I got... read later.

What's wrong with anthro? That doesn't even impact the nature of the story all that much!

2433329

And then there's the unholy trinity: self-insert anthro clop!

Plz no

2433569
Such an abomination would probably be tagged Romance. Csquared, I think we've found your kryptonite. But on a similar note, the group is going to need a new folder now. No, not an Anthro folder. Don't panic. Flight of the Magpie has no category tags, so that warrants a None folder. Also, this round has the group's second crossover story.

2433638

Don't panic.

That's Pilate's line.

I'm panicking.

2433640
Pilate's not here anymore, now is he?

2433677
It's still his line.

And I'm still panicking! :raritycry:

2433404

What's wrong with anthro? What's wrong with anthro?

It's not that these sorts of stories stagnate invention by giving the characters hands and thus making all human tools simple to use. It's not that they give the characters sexual characteristics simply for titillation purposes. It's not that they—like you said—impart changes which serve no real functional purpose as far as the story is concerned. No, they are guilty of a far greater sin:

They give ponies feet, but they almost never give them socks.

That, simply put, is unacceptable. That's unacceptable by any sock-based metric, which are the only acceptable metrics there are.

Sad truth is, Mr. Sock, folks would likely abuse a Mystery tag by mindlessly attaching it to stories that lack the essential workings of a mystery. Were it made available, it would have to be on special request. It'd probably require FiMFiction staff to give each special submission a closer read-through to see if they qualify, and in some cases contact the authors. Sounds like it's a toss-up between hair-pulling frustration and a lot of extra work.

2433329

Ho Yay seems too obvious.

Plz yes.

2433863
A little late to the party, aren't you, buddy? Sock and Cas have moved on. As soon as his round comes up, Casca's going to be on his rebound with...

*checks the archive and resource thread*

Cor, maybe?

Then again, maybe I have this all wrong. Maybe Cas and Sock have been more brothers-in-arms this past year, in that cheesy 300 kind of way. But then that would ruin your fun, wouldn't it?

2433811 Ah. Well, first off, while I will admit that it does remove the challenge of making ponies use human tools, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Some authors are more concerned with working with the characters and plot and they might not be terribly interested in logistics.
The sexual element....yeah, that's definitely there, and it's annoying when it is. But there are some stories, rare as they are, that involve anthro for entirely chaste purposes.
And if their impact on the story is minimal, why should anthro stories even be judged as a group? There's not a heck of a lot really binding them in terms of purpose or quality.
But, yeah, ignoring socks is a pretty #@$%ing accusation. I'll have to ask Avenging-Hobbits if his characters wear socks.

Have you thought about doing a review from the viewpoint of a Breezie?

Things like self-inserts and clop and…” He shuddered. “…anthro.”

Glad to see that I'm not the only one with a strange aversion to anthro ponies...

The story does not have any tags

Wait, what?:applejackconfused: Isn't that like, not allowed?

2440916
Not really. There's no written rule against it, the site's coding doesn't prohibit it, and I'd say that the already existing story tags aren't encompassing enough to include every possible story premise. Fimfic's story approvers might place a little extra scrutiny on a story without tags, but they won't outright fail it.

In fact, Starwin's Veil of Thoughts is a very popular example of a story that doesn't have category tags. It's an old fic, but you might recognize it from its sequel, Fragments of Memories, which has been showing up in the Featured Box in recent months.

2441078
Dark, Sad and/or Alt Universe could all fit Veil of Thoughts to varying degrees. If I were to pick one, I'd say Alt Universe.

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