Review: Imposing Sovereigns Stories, Partiers · 3:31pm Apr 21st, 2017
Alright, sorry for this one taking a bit longer, weekend was a bit busy what with the fangasming over the new Pony eps. (They were amazing BTW!) Maybe not the greatest stories ever, but both really fun, touching stories with a lot of heart and feels. As well as comedy. Yeah I loved them. Then some really long work days. But, back to what you're here for. My thoughts on some Princesses partying down!
However, one thing to fix first from the last set of reviews. I derped at the end and forgot to actually give a final "Best of" choice for those. While all were really good stories and I enjoyed them all very much. When it comes to judging primarily on the best story of a Princess Survivor. I'd have to give the gold medal to The World Fades to White. Now on with these reviews.
Princess Celestia's Best Night Ever, by: Norad2
A very simple story. Both in premise and execution. Simply seeing the events of The Best Night Ever from Celestia's POV as well as a little build up just before it starts. About the only revelation that isn't fully apparent already just from what you can tell watching the episode is a bit about Luna being in the gardens, which in turn is meant to give a reason for the animals to be so scared and run from Fluttershy like that. A bit I'm not sure how I feel about. It is funny, does mostly work. But I was never really upset about it just being Fluttershy failing to work her magic with the animals. If you watch she is being far more aggressive, direct, and rushing towards them from the start. Enough to startle them when they don't know her already. Then she simply loses it and stops trying right. So, indifferent I guess overall. I could go either way. I do love the reasoning for Luna not attending, that was very well thought out.
As implied by it being simple, not a whole lot for me to say about this. Well I could if I really wanted to. But not much I really need to say that isn't way to detailed and getting past looking at the story and more doing character examination of Celestia as a whole. One touch I will note I liked a lot was this story being even kinder and more optimistic and just plain nice then even I would likely be in regards to the 'Nobles' in attendance. With Celestia even noting how she loves all of them, and enjoys talking to them, sharing stories. That even the stuffiest of stuff shirts has something worth getting to know them for. She is truly far, far more benevolent then I am. (And it plays in quite well with our next review to boot.) That her issue was not the ponies attending the gala and having to spend all night being bored by ponies she just doesn't like being around, like it could seem. But it's the Gala itself and how ponies she'd normally enjoy talking to treat it as so super serious and act as stiff and formal as they can. I very much loved that touch.
On the whole, this is just a sweet, simple, direct story showing us a mostly what you would expect look at Celestia's inner thoughts during an event we've seen. Nothing major, nothing huge, nothing beyond just good, simple fun that still manages to give a bit of the warm and fuzzies. Simply being a good little story meant to make you feel good. It's an old, warm, familiar blanket. Nothing major, nothing that will ever stand out. But something you simply feel good wrapping yourself in now and then. But better, because it has Ponies.
Prompt- Again, can't get more "Princess" then Celestia, and the Gala is the biggest party (for a certain definition of 'party', one a certain pink party pony would thoroughly argue with) in Equestria.
Overall: Good
Respect and Respectability, by:bookplayer
Speaking of snooty, hoity toity nobles at stuffy parties. Princess Platinum and the pre-unification unicorn Nobility. Yeah, buck those pompous flank-holes. As you may have guessed from above, and just here, I fully sympathize with Clover here and totally agree with her. Bunch of useless, spoiled brats that have never done a single useful thing for anypony else in their lives. Oh, wait.. the whole point of the story was supposed to be proving otherwise and Clover learning a valuable lesson here? Ehhhhhhh, it didn't really do that great a job of making a good case for that revelation for me.
Now, to be fair, when it comes to Princess Platinum herself I think the story did fairly well for the most part. I could tell from what she was saying, the general ideas and what not, and some other signs that there was more to her then Clover thought. Platinum is an exception to the above mini-rant and, while not the greatest of ponies, still one with a good heart overall and quite the flair and skill at social manipulation. I understood the idea behind throwing a party to celebrate from the start (for the most part). She did have a good plan and knew more or less what she was doing. Clover very much was underestimating her Princess throughout this whole thing and was letting her personal issues blind her to some things. That said, still have some issues with her and don't think Clover was wholly unfair in her anger. Platinum never once even tried to simply explain anything. Even when just telling the real reason and being direct would have saved way more time and effort then trying to bash through other ponies' resistance with brute force of personality. The fact we never see her actually stand up for Clover directly to the snobs that kept insulting her. Just tries to deflect them away a bit rather then directly tell them to shut the buck up like she does when they start in with the racial slurs. Or her browbeating Smart Cookie and Clover into not doing anything to start trying to work out a plan for integrating the three tribes rather then let them work on getting a basic idea set for the larger groups to start work on tomorrow and show these new leaders had a plan.
Not to mention all the stuff in the past she failed to explain to Clover when it was clear the Mage did not get what was going on. Even if she had good reason in those particular scenes. The fact is stuff like this has been going on for years and Platinum never apparently tried to talk to Clover about this stuff but expected her to figure out the hints. Her whole Winter Party thing of trying to hint Clover could find a patron to support her research falls more then a bit flat given Clover already has a patron. Or at least is supposed to. She is the Royal Mage after all. And she was asking that patron to fulfill her part of the arrangement. Not only that, but is having a rather (supposedly) high ranking and important member of the ruling Court financially beholden to private interests really a good idea? Plus, she never really does a good job selling her points even when she does finally reveal them. She does make sense, but it feels a tad simplistic and requires ponies to start with some base assumptions about how things work that are not actual hard facts of reality. She gets how to play to a crowd, how to maneuver deftly through social minefields. She is by no means as dumb as Clover thinks she is. Yet at the same time, she isn't as smart as the story seems to be trying to make her. Within her limited sphere of experience, dealing with Court dynamics and social situations, she is very competent and knows how to use what she knows well when dealing with ponies who likewise care about that stuff. But she does not seem to get how to interact or deal with ponies who do not have the same mindset about socializing as her.
Still, I did overall like this version of Princess Platinum. She wasn't a total airhead and she did care about other ponies. She may have been rather limited in her toolset, but knew how to use those few tools deftly. She simply needed to be better at dealing with ponies that did not fit into the same mold of highly social ponies who place more value on form over function as her and the other Nobles. Expand her concept of the world to include ponies who just don't give a buck about that stuff, rather then trying to bludgeon them into that round hole. When it comes to Platinum herself, yeah the story did a good job at proving Clover was being far to harsh and really needed to see beyond her own personal issues. Which I think might be what gives me the biggest hang up over how things worked out. Clover was portrayed as the only one that needed to change how she thought between the two. That this was all on her needing to learn a lesson, while Platinum learned nothing, changed nothing, was made out to be right all along and in no need to developing. Rather then both finding a lesson in this and improving. Platinum never tried to better understand Clover's point of view, just expect Clover to come around to hers without even a realization that maybe she should handle explaining things better if nothing else.
Okay this is dragging out so, try to be a bit briefer. The above is one of my two biggest issue with how things played out. That the whole thing was so one sided in Clover being fully in the wrong and Platinum not needing to learn anything at all. The other, and the one I think does the far larger disservice to the moral the story wanted Clover to learn and kind of hampers it's message. Is just how over the top, cliched, pointlessly dickish the rest of the Nobles were. While Clover did learn Platinum had more to her then it seemed, the rest? We see not one redeeming feature or one hint of anything but them being stuffy, boorish, pompous, racist, useless assholes that Clover has ever damn right to feel nothing but contempt for. Given even Platinum's plan for integrating them into the new Equestria is to try and get them to give up their titles on their own by putting Clover above all of them. It makes the moral that she should have been playing along with their pointless games and giving a damn what they thought ring rather hollow. Given what the story wanted the end lesson to come away as, it really made all the other nobles too superfluous to anything productive of any kind or even lacking in basic equinity to feel like Clover was being at all wrong in treating them like the utterly useless wastes of biomass they were. Who mock, disparage, and actively hinder her trying to actually discover things with a point to them and work on something with a tangible benefit. Then scream for the only pony in the castle that knows how to do anything beyond stand around being useless to save their asses, and bitch that she can't because, hey, turns out if you do everything you can to stifle research, people don't discover stuff that could save your life. Then, when she actually DOES save all their flanks. Go right back to insulting her for not giving a shit about useless crap. At that point, I would be fully understanding if she stood on high above the masses of courtiers, nobles, flops, floozies, aristocrats, and gentry, and as they called up for her to save them, she looked down and softly whispered 'neigh'.
But, despite all the above stuff, I did really enjoy this story, I simply feel it does not present a good case for the eventual lesson we are supposed to take away from this. Yes Clover was being overly antagonistic and was in the wrong in some parts. She did need to learn to chill out a bit. But it was for fully understandable reasons that she was as pissed off and contemptuous towards these ponies as she was. And the story made the Nobles too one-dimensionally assholes to see any point in not treating them with the same contempt. While Platinum was much better then Clover believed, she still had her own flaws. Yet the story treated her as fully in the right and not needing to learn anything from all of this beyond "Don't be racist". Rather then both learning a lesson. But beyond the dissonance between what we saw, and what we were supposed to learn from that, the story was well handled, fun, and I really liked Clover here and fully sympathize with her. The overall situation works well. It's a quite fun story that is well done on the whole, just with some issues. But a lot of great stuff as well.
Prompt- Another nice usage of Princess Platinum, and do enjoy using the party idea like this. Showing that parties can have quite a point to them beyond just being boring pits of uselessness like the GGG is made out to be. A very good use of throwing a party.
Overall: Great
Oh boy, another one of these. No not an 'accusation fic' but rather another story where... I just did not enjoy reading it at all, but it was merely a case of it being a type of story I have no interest in and simply do not like rather then anything actually wrong with the story itself. It's a bunch of ponies, only one of which we know, hanging out at a nightclub getting drunk, getting high, and just all that kind of thing. Now, that alone is not enough to kill a story for me, it might be able to be used right, but only if it was having fun with that concept. If that happening was the background to what was going on. Here, it is played fully serious, fully straight, and them sitting around getting more and more wasted as the night went on while complaining about how tough a life of being rich is and how rough they have it is the whole focus on the story. Just... I see no appeal in this sort of thing at all. Either doing it, or watching others do it.
I do like this was all a plan on Flurry Hearts part, I did see that coming as making the most sense. But even then, I figured it was along the lines of sweet talk him, use a bit of her mother's (non-magical) love mojo to get him to like her, get on his good side and use that to convince him to give the Empire what it wanted. Going the route she did is... a further layer of unsettling to things. The whole thing simply does not feel in anyway 'pony' beyond the nouns chosen. It feels to much like something meant to be IRL simply had a pony skin slapped on it rather then something arising naturally from the setting. Between the club itself, the mocking of Friendship and belief in ponies simply being good and helping because it's the right thing to do versus the strong doing what they want type mentality (yes it was from the guy we aren't supposed to identify with, but the story doesn't prove him wrong), the ending and Flurry's plan (again, does not disprove the guys early mocking of doing the right thing, just because it's right.), the fact it only works at all because the story decided to slap the Saddle Arabians with a full on 'Arab' skin including religious objections to certain behavior. (Yes it's not listed as religious here, but those beliefs stem from their religion IRL and are not given another reason for them to exist in 'verse, so the implication is there.) But even then I'm left a bit baffled how her revealing what went on that night would be such a huge deal.
All in all, again, I do not think it's a bad story, and don't really see any issues with it as a self contained narrative. it's just a story about stuff I have less then zero interest in, and that fails to capture that spark of what I enjoy about Pony.
Overall:Fair
The Road Goes on Forever, by: AugieDog
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
Yes, not directly the same and not what the title is referring to, but A. You were thinking it too. And B. Those words are such a perfect fit for this story.
This section of reviews has had an odd synergy. One fic that has Celestia remark how even the stuffiest of nobles have there value to her leading to a story that tries to make that same argument, just not as well. Now we go from a story lacking any real spark of 'ponyness', lacking that ephemeral sense of warmth and hope and friendship and harmony that makes Pony so wonderful, to a story that not only fully embraces all these, but turns that spark into a massive beacon. This is another story where, the shear amount I could talk about is overwhelming. How every scene has something amazing, something deep to it. Where I could just spend hours engrossed and immersed in this story examining everything about it and thoroughly loving every second. Yet in a much different way then the last one like that. To use a Starcraft phrase, Waxing Gibbous has purity of form. The writing, the structure, the word choices, all told far, far more then they seem. Each sentence holding many layers of meaning, all exquisitely crafted to be so. This story however? It has purity of essence. It's not the writing itself, but the story being told that make it so grand, so amazing, so deep.
Is it the single greatest, most comprehensive examination of Twilight Sparkle as a character ever? No, this is just one day in her life and there are complexities, nuances, and aspects to her that don't show up and yet are part of her. It's not trying to be that either. This is a more specific look at Twilight Sparkle as the Princess of Friendship, and in that role it succeeds SO beautifully. This may be as close to an expression of the platonic ideal of what a Princess of Friendship as is possible. (or at least that I have ever seen.) It is a distillation of everything that makes Twilight worthy of, and the perfect choice to be, the Princess of Friendship. All wrapped up in amazing interactions, wonderful insights, and just an all around beautiful look at what it's like to be her. That by the end had me grinning, had me filed with such pure joy and warmth, and yes, even a few touches of liquid pride, how could I NOT love it?
I so want to give examples, but I know I won't stop once I start working through every scene. Basking in the warmth, joy and love that permeates every interaction Twilight has with other ponies. How clearly the story gets not only her, but Starlight, Spike, and the bonds between all of them. Everything is just so touching and moving and wonderful. It captures the core of what makes this show and these characters so beloved and amazing. Even the simply amazing bookends of "It's not like I have a job" the way the meaning of that line changes so much between the first and last time it's said. Seeing just what she means, all the complexity, all the meaning behind it after seeing her normal day. This story is simply, flat out, GLORIOUS!
Prompt- Well it's an exploration of the Princess of Friendship, so good there. As to party? Sweet Shadowfax is this one hell of a take on that idea. So creative, so perfect, and so fitting. Life is a party, and Twilight wants to make sure all the guests have a good time. It's a take I never thought of, and yet now.. is just so perfect and so well used.
Overall: Exemplary
Do I even need to say what I think the winner of this category would be? Yeah, The Road Goes on Forever wins hooves down. It is simply pure concentrated heartwarming and joy. That still manages to really well done and unexpected take on the idea.
If I have one issue with this category as a whole, it's it's an entire section devoted to Princess partying... and no story about Princess Pinkie Pie!? How did this happen? Then again, "Princess Pinkie Pie" is more likely to lead to something from the 'Survivors' or 'Madmare' category. So guess I can let that slide. But still, some rather fun stories, and one that simple blew away any expectations and rocketed way up my 'best pony story' list.
Next up, Princesses that just want to get laid as I look at the 'Floozies' category.
To close us out... Ponies... LET'S PARTY!
Thank you for the review.
I've decided with this story that if you can't show that both sides have valid points, you can at least make sure that half the people see one side and half the people see the other.
4504448 Very welcome, and... good point there.
And then sit back with the popcorn watching them fight over it for your amusement.
Though again, I did feel Platinum had some valid points, she just didn't do a good job conveying those to other ponies, assuming they were self evident.
4504471
It wasn't so much that she thought they were self-evident as that she felt insulted by Clover pretty constantly while she was trying to run a kingdom of ponies who were jerks, but jerks who had the money and political clout. She constantly had to smile and entertain ponies she hated, so even if Clover assumed she was one of those ponies, to stomp in and be rude about it was doubly insulting and didn't put Platinum in the mood to correct her.
4504504 Fair point, and don't expect her to have done it there and then. But at no point in all the years before this did Platinum ever try to explain things to Clover? Though this was also mostly for the party prep. I get she was pressed for time, but wouldn't simply explaining the reasoning have been faster then trying to wear down Clover and Smart Cookies resistances? At the very least with the Robes. Just tell Clover she's just going to have them restored, not replaced, and save all that time spent arguing over it.
Even then none of that really bugged me to much, cause it did make sense for their personalities and what not, so it fit. Only real issue Platinum wise I had, as I said in the review, is she comes off as not having, or even having to have, learned anything from this.
Thanks for the review!
As I say in the notes, my original plan would've made this a much darker sort of a story--the last line was supposed to be Twilight saying, "I'll sleep when I'm dead. And y'know? That's never gonna happen." But when I started writing about the sun waking her up like a kitten, well, that was the end of any darker intentions.
Mike
4504880 Very glad you went with this instead. But even then, that line doesnt' seem quite so dark, given the 'That's never gonna ha...." Oh... ohhhhh I see.. ohhh yeah I see where it gets dark... ouch. Very glad the kittens turned it into what it is. ALL HAIL THE SUN KITTENS!
Yeah, that's a fair assessment of Snowblind; I said as much in my own post-contest blog. Still, thanks for taking the time to review it.
4505181 Had not seen that blog but... can't argue with the stuff there from what I've seen in this story.
Again it was very well written and managed to tell a story about stuff I had no interest in and tend to dislike in a way I still never really felt dragged down by or tedious to read. It made the premise work well, used what it had, by ever objective measure I could think of looking at it under, it is a well written story. Jut a matter of personal tastes, and as we both said, more being a story with a pony-skin mod slapped on it then a truly 'Pony" story. Which on its own should not be a big deal, but kind of is for me here, mostly because, well it's what I do, look at the stories as pieces of MLP based literature first and foremost.
Still, great writing quality and good luck on whatever you're planning next.
Hello! Late comment is late!
I read your review way back when you first posted it, but I never said “thank you.”
So thank you!
4647938 You are very welcome