Story Reviews » SA Reviews #128 · 2:34pm May 13th, 2018
Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.
“So, Cyne?” asked Matthew, “whatcha up to?”
“Oh, you know, just getting some reviews in,” she replied.
“But… there’s no school anymore. And no school means no reviews! We’re free!” he shouted, literally leaping for joy.
Cynewulf slammed a stack of papers onto the table in front of her. “Ha! Shows what you know. Summer school is now in session.”
“NNOOoooOOooOOOooooo…”
ROUND 128
STORY 1
Darling, by Pickleless
The Tree of Harmony loved her little rogue ever so much, it was such a shame she could never voice it.
You may know Pickles for his silly, surreal stories that read like hilarious fever dreams. You may know him for his irreverent, vulgar, and occasional offensive humor-stylings. You probably don’t know him for serious and well-crafted prose. Perhaps you should.
This story is an odd one. It has a strange atmosphere about it that lingers and that is, frankly, refreshing. I really, really don’t want to spoil anything here, but the way it handles character for a story ostensibly about a tree is riveting. This is all of Pickleless’ skills with dialogue brought to bear on an ambitious project and every little exchange is delightful. Discord is the perfect character for this writer--a character capable of absolutely zany non-sequitur who nevertheless can still have a hidden depth of feeling and motivation. Chaos doesn’t mean without motivation. It just means that the pattern is hard to find. Keep that in mind as you read--and as you consider Pickleless’ take on who Discord really is.
So this is certainly something new for me. It’s a very strange and bizarre story that is so fascinating I just couldn’t put down, and that’s saying something since I was playing ME2 at the time. But this just drew me in instantly, with just enough mystery to make me crave more, and just enough answers to make me always gain something. It may be a little rough in some places, but the masterful use dialogue and the fantastic worldbuilding, coupled with somehow giving a unique and strong voice to a tree, had me rooting for our protagonists the whole way through.
Rainbow Dash is awesome. Of that there is no doubt, but even awesome ponies need a break every once in a while. As a weather pegasus and the Element of Loyalty, she doesn't really get all too many days off to just kick back. So, when she finally gets time off to go to the beach with her friends, she takes it.
Too bad the local lighthouse pegasus called in sick forcing the local weather crew to 'recruit' Rainbow for the task of manning the lighthouse. Boring work.
VERY Boring work.
Until a ship appears on the horizon that looks like it's going to wreck on the rocks.
They also serve, who only stand and wait.
I couldn’t help but think about that bit of Milton while reading this. If you like stories on lone characters who find themselves unstuck in time and place, then you are going to love this. Rainbow Dash has the unfortunate duty of manning a lighthouse on her lonesome as only Pegasi are cut out for it, or at least they are the go-to for it. Rainbow Dash is cabin-feverish in the extreme and desperate for a bit of adventure. If only there was a storm!
She gets a lot more than she bargained for, and yet also less. While I wish there was a bit more ambiguity here, there is plenty of it to dazzle the imagination. As a fan of the mystical and the mystifying, I’m always glad to find a story that can be both and be so in a way that keeps me invested. There’s just enough to go on to keep you there, just enough action to keep the plot tight, and just enough Rainbow Dash to go around.
You know that feeling you get when you have nothing to do, but you have to do that nothing for several hours? Well, that’s what Rainbow is feeling. And she wants something to do. Anything. So when a ship appears on the horizon, she is, naturally, excited… until the strangeness comes in. In a way, this one is a bit of a mind-twister, constantly subverting expectations and adding another level to the overall mystery. The ambiguous ending could have been left a little more open, but I really enjoyed it regardless.
Hearth's Warming in Chonamare starts the night before, as the weatherponies bring in fresh snow, and it culminates with a big feast on the village green for everypony. It doesn't involve a nor'easter blowing into town and all the weatherponies cutting their celebration short to deal with it.
Anyone who asks me about what stories they should read will find themselves turned around and marched to Admiral Biscuit. I love his stories, but the ones I love most are the most mundane. His series of HiE fics involving a human and Roseluck are beyond charming in their attention and obvious care, painting a beautiful portrait of life that’s half pastoral and half lyrical. The man is just Good. Good as in he is good at what he does, and Good as in these stories just exude something ineffably positive.
This story isn’t any different. We were first introduced to the setting through Silver Glow and her journal, which I have a long fondness for, but now we get the place itself. There is a lot to be said for the ordinary heroics of Community, and Biscuit knows how to say it. This is a story that will remind you of things like “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and Stan Rogers, while also feeling just alien enough. It invited you in, wants you to live for awhile among ponies who are Doing Live Together, and like all of the rest of his slices of life, I find myself pining for more when it’s done.
I have no background in Silver Glow stories. And part of the beauty is that I don’t need it for this story. But I do have background with Admiral Biscuit. And Slice of Life is his playground.
This is a rather simple story, about how a community of ponies work together to always give something to somepony else. Chonamare is an ocean town, and when an incoming storm threatens to ruin their Hearth’s Warming celebrations, the entire community volunteers to each do their part. It’s the manifestation of what Equestria is all about. And it’s so refreshingly… nice. But on top of all that, it’s presented with a mastery of words that you will only find in a Biscuit-fic. Just superb writing.
Daring Do solicits Rainbow Dash's assistance for her most dangerous adventure yet.
She needs a date to a nerd party.
As an ex-academic that misses her days at school quite a lot, this story resonates with me. Daring Do needs a date to a gala filled with prominent eggheads, and her options are… well, limited. Rainbow Dash proceeds to Rainbow Dash.
This story is charming, funny, but has a genuine heart to it. Daring is relatable on a lot of levels, and her plight as we are slowly shown it, is far less about filling a spot and far more about filling a role. That role is, not surprisingly for the show we all base ourselves on now--to be her friend. I love stories that build relationships between characters and this one does that in spades.
This is, simply put, a sweet story. It’s about Daring needing a friend, or date in this case, but the problem is that she doesn’t have a wide variety to pick from. So, along comes Rainbow. The only problem? This is a nerdy event. And Rainbow is not a nerd. But she does know friendship. And as she soon learns, Daring has some ghosts coming back to haunt her. Something she can’t deal with herself, and doesn’t want help with. And, well, I’ll let you see everything else for yourself.
“So, did you do all your work?” Cynewulf asked, totally completely innocently.
“Yes,” Matthew whimpered, handing over the packet.
Cynewulf took out a red pen and defaced said packet, then handed it back. “I am extremely disappointed in you,” she said, “this is only B level work.”
“But… but… but… I showed all my work!”
Cynewulf sighed. “It’ll have to do, I guess.”
“So I’m free?”
“For now.”
Feel free to visit our group for more information and events, and to offer some recommendations for future rounds. See you all next time!
Freedom!!
(Insert homework)
Oh, man!!
If you skip to many schools, your going have a bad time.
Good on y'all for featuring Posh! He's really good at what he does.
Thanks as always for doing these.
4859546
Basically, lol.
4859630
Posh is such a good Poshyposh...
4859632
Of course
Huh! I was wondering why my lesser-known contest entry from this winter was suddenly getting hits again. Thanks, guys!
AHHHHHHHHHHH-
4860113
Thank yoOOAHHHHHHHHH-
4862932
I think you misunderstood the mission statement, here, let me copy paste it from any of the 128 blogs...
It has nothing to do with follower count, although it sometimes is taken into account. But the point is the views on a quality story. Of course, promoting good authors with little following by highlighting their stories is ideal, so if you know many of them, you can always suggest their stories for the Seattle Angels to consider, instead of, you know, using an alt account to try and troll them.
You can find them here.
4862932
Hey, Cheers!
Just found this linked up on The Big Ultra Master Review List, and thought I'd see what folks had to say.
And just like the first time S.A. reviewed me, I got a kick out of reading their thoughts. Thanks for the bump, BTW, Seattle's Angels, always great to hear someone enjoyed one of my little tales.
About the whole disparity between authors though, I think the mod said it right: the reviews are focused upon low view stories... which normally cuts out some of the heavier hitters (normally, not always)... that are also somewhat above the curve. <shrugs> The good news is that they tend to find some real gems in there, but the bad news it that it means they have to dig quite a bit more and are gambling each time they do. They can't know that random author "I'mabrony" is going to have a great, or even decent, story. They can't just roll the dice either, so they have to rely upon folks to drop them a line to have any chance at all of filtering through the thousands upon thousands of stories/chapters written every day.
The heavy hitters, the folks like Admiral Biscuit, ShortskirtsandExplosions, and the like are all safe bets, but they tend to have their readership explode in no time flat. They also write a whole lot more (in general) so the number of followers tends to be higher as well... exposure and all that. So, it's kind of a toss up.
On the other hand, I appreciate the (apparent) vote of confidence. Always happy to see folks thinking and trying to promote in their own way.