Hap Recommends Scribblefest #8: My Flight · 4:12pm Mar 25th, 2016
This story was introduced to me after reading Hat Man's reviews on other Scribblefest stories, and it immediately piqued my interest for a large number of reasons. The first was some similarities between this and my own entry, as both featured an Earth pony taking to the skies, as well as being more interested in the technical aspects of it, which appealed to my engineering background. I have, in fact, studied aerospace and find it very interesting.
So, I decided to give this one a look, making it the twentieth Scribblefest story that I've read and reviewed (excluding my own, of course). It came recommended from Hat Man, so I was keen to see what it had to offer! Let's dive in.
I enjoyed this story, but less for the story itself and more for the rather meticulous way it made use of all the characters and the theme it presented. I was particularly interested in listening to Cherry discuss the matter of flight with Rainbow Dash as well as the materials used with Rarity, as both were much more related to the engineering and technical side of things. I particularly liked the use of resins, which tickled my student interests.
I couldn't help but draw comparisons between this and Weatherpony, if only because I had picked this one up partially due to my interest in stories bearing similarities to it (as I did with Aerial Dreams, I think it was called). Whilst there is a similarity in terms of protagonist and the idea of earth ponies flying, it became very evident that the similarities ended there. This story has a much more relaxed tone and doesn't have much in the way of stakes or consequence for failure. The only reason Cherry Berry is doing her thing is simply because she wants to. I might have enjoyed reading her wanting it even more than she did, as she was only really shown to want to fly in a very matter-of-factly way, and didn't go into why she wanted it all that much, which would have been a cool thing to explore in the 2k words the story had to spare.
Even so, I feel the story made up for it in other ways. The voices of the characters were on point, which was great (although it did mean that Cherry became rather more boring by comparison) and the attention to detail was a treat. It stopped just shy of becoming really technical, entering the area where I'd have to put my smart-person hat on, but I'm fine with that, as I tend to enjoy things less when I have my smart-person hat on.
As I mentioned briefly, I found Cherry to be a tad dull. Her goal is very colourful and kooky, but her actual personality is a bit of a blank slate. I wish she was a bit more fun to read, as I think perhaps might have been the final step between me appreciating the story to really enjoying it.
I also could have done without the poetry, but as we've established when I looked over the Mare of the Equestrian 8th, I have a singular loathing for poetry, so that might just be me.
Recommended to: Pretty much anyone who's interested in the concept of flying machines, ponies developing rudimentary technology, or a light version of an 'engineering-centric' story. I think you'd have to find the idea of building a plane worth reading to really get a kick out of this story beyond just 'finding it interesting', but if you do, this shouldn't be a story to miss. It's short, it knows enough about flying to be interesting but doesn't go so deep into details that it either makes mistakes or becomes tedious or pedantic. If you don't find that interesting, though, you might have a hard time getting invested in Cherry Berry's character and there isn't a really big struggle to overcome.
That's it from me today. I had actually read this one during the week-end, but hadn't intended to speak my mind about it since it had already been looked at, but then decided, nah, I don't care. I'm my own man. I do whatever I want. You're not my mum.
Unless you are. In which case, I definitely didn't write this when I should have been working on my coursework.
Cheerio.
Glad you liked! Your reaction is pretty much my reaction: enjoyable, though not spectacular.
3826238 I'd have loved for the story to have a bigger challenge with some more 'oomph', I guess. Like, instead of just making a plane as a hobby, she might have to make a plane to win a super-important bet or get to someplace in record time or something. I dunno.
I really did like the resin bits. I've actually just come out of using resins for STL 3d printing, so I've been inhaling resin fumes for a week straight. I'm all about resins right now. Resins are exciting!
3826250 Heh. Engineering nerds.
Oh, also, congrats on your 100th blog post. Pointless milestones, huzzah!
3826264 You underestimate the power of using resins as a matrix material, Hat Man. Their power is immense.
I did notice I went into triple digits. There was a time I didn't think I'd do a lot of blog posts. Evidently, times have changed.
3826278
I'm sure I underestimate a lot of engineering things. I have had to learn a fair amount to try and keep The Iron Horse remotely plausible. Hell, I even had to learn about Faraday Cages and made it into a plot point.
Speaking of which, now that it's been accepted into the Goodfic Bin, I suppose I don't have to bug you to read/review it. I still hope you eventually do, though, because I value you your opinion and apparently enjoy it when engineering/technically-inclined people tell me my story is accurate or how my robot character is supposed to work.
But anyway, I know what you mean. Yesterday was my one-year anniversary here on FiMfiction and I've got 86 blog posts to my name.