Story Reviews » SA: Round 156 · 4:41pm Aug 10th, 2019
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“Put them over there, if you would.”
Intern did as instructed as best he could with his vision impared by a small hill of boxes and bags. Wobbling with so much merchandise in his grip to fill a Hot Topic shop, he somehow managed to set it all down with nary a single plushie falling. He sighed with relief, wiping some sweat from his brow. “Is that all of it?”
Cynewulf eyed him as though he had asked if she could speak color. “What? Heaven’s no, that was just the first hour at the con. I’ve got three days worth still for you to bring in.”
Intern looked at the pile he had dumped, then turned his gaze to the rest of Cynewulf’s office. Not a single spot was empty, every available surface dedicated to showing off some part of a fandom from every conceivable show, book, comic, or movie within the past thirty years. More sweat began to form across his brow. “Where are you going to put it all?”
Waving her hand dismissively, Cynewulf headed towards the door. “I’ve put in a request to get my office expanded. I’m sure the paperwork is being processed as we speak. By the time you get the rest in, I’ll have more space to work with.”
“What about reviews?” he called after her. “They’ll want those done before agreeing to that.”
Cynewulf stopped, pouting. “I suppose you have a point. Getting those done would help show that I’m worthy of the extra room.” She whirled back around, sitting down at her desk full of coffee mugs, pens, autographed posters, and countless other branded stationary, and opened up her laptop. “Let’s get this started, shall we?”
ROUND 156
STORY 1
Insecurities, by Shachza
Fleur Lumineuse, daughter of Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis, has made a mistake. A serious one. She never intended so much harm but, even with her eyes now open, can she make amends?
Sometimes, what a pony really needs is somepony else to reach out to them.
One of my favorite things in fiction is good dialogue. Nothing is as satisfying, as happy-hum-in-the-back-of-your-mind inducing as good dialogue that both fulfills a narrative purpose while also being true to life as we experience it. What this story does well is dip into that sweet spot.
Stories centered on social anxiety can be tricky, as it is easy to woobify characters, exaggerate or diminish the realities of anxiety, or to unbalance the narrative to create perverse aesops. But there is room for people to reflect on their own genuine experiences with something like anxiety, and to dream about better situations.
To start, we have a classic clash of class, the upper crust brushing against the working commoner. The drama is high as two worlds usually separated by social norms suddenly collide, resulting in some unfortunate explosions of emotion. And now, it’s time to make things right.
This one hit uncomfortably close for me. The male lead, Hyperic, has almost word for word the same experiences with women that I had growing up. Like, scarily similar. So I was engrossed from the get-go, hanging onto each scene, wondering how this would all turn out. I’m pleased to say that I’m satisfied with his resolution, as it's a very true-to-life sort of conclusion.
Yeah, I’m being evasive about the details again, but that’s what happens when I’m trying to get you to click that story link above. If you’ve ever had the self-doubt and lack of confidence that Hyperic experiences, wrapped up in excellent mood writing, give this one a go. It’s like this fandom’s version of Chicken Soup for the Soul, and who doesn’t like chicken noodle soup?
Centuries ago an apocalypse ravaged Equestria, scorching the lands, boiling the seas, and burning away the air. In that fateful moment, the embers of life were snuffed and the planet left a husk.
However, I survived, immune to the desolate environment I was unfortunate enough to inhabit. With nothing left to do, I began to walk, scouring what remains of Equestria in search of anything to give my life meaning.
It was only a matter of time before I returned to Ponyville.
What I love about books like The Road is that the more desolate a setting is, the more room there is for the mind to expand. If that sounds pretentious and eye-rolly, consider how easy it is to think about things when you’re walking in the woods with no one else. Imagine walking along the highway far away from towns or trees and ask yourself: what would you even do? You’d think. You’d have to think a lot.
Gara’s devoted this story’s space to exploring that wide open introspective feeling, and I adore what she’s done with that. On a personal note, it’s also pretty neat returning to an author’s earlier days. If you like introspective fair, I recommend this.
It’s all about mood and memories for this one. Twilight, having wandered the ravaged lands of Equestria for longer than even she can recall, heads back to Ponyville. Her goal is one of closure, no matter how difficult it is for her to see it all through.
Gonna have to keep this one brief as saying too much will ruin the purpose and journey Twilight is taking. It does capture what a few hundred years of loneliness and monotony can do to a person very well. Simple sentence structure and quick descriptions help convey just how worn down Twilight is and how tough it can be to keep her thoughts from slipping. Not to say that it’s all doom and gloom, as she does gain a new purpose by the end.
Have a look and see if Twilight reminiscing about the past peaks your interest.
Rainbow Dash is a hungry, hard working mare, and after a long day, she needs a real meal.
Surely you don't doubt her prowess as a cook, do you?
I see the skepticism in your eyes. Very well then. Watch and be in awe of her culinary talents as Rainbow Dash cooks a Marewich. She'll prove you all wrong.
Holy hairballs this is old.
So, your mileage will vary here, but it is kinda fun and also fascinating to go back in time and look at the things we used to make and the way we used to make them. The story itself is fun, and you’ll chuckle. It’s of a breed of story that you scroll through on your phone waiting for other things, and that’s not a bad sort of story to be.
More interestingly is the peak into an older layer of FimFic, with different faces and different expectations and conventions, and a very different culture.
And now for some silliness. This is pure, undistilled Season One Rainbow Dash up in this house, and it was a treat to see her again. Yeah, character growth and development are important, but sometimes you just want to read characters at their base level, just for the chance to compare them to their future counterparts.
You’ve all been there, right? Coming home, hungry, but finding out you forgot to get groceries and are too lazy to get take out. So you rummage around your cabinets until you find that one packet of manwich that you bought on a whim but never got around to using. Well, Rainbow Dash is now in that situation and she’s not going to let a lack of ingredients get in her way of making the best marewich the world has ever seen!
So yeah, read this if you want to see Rainbow Dash go about making supper in comedic and eye-rolling ways. It got a few chuckles out of me, and given its length, that should be plenty to fill you up.
Princess Luna, as Warden of the Night, responds to a request of aid from a beleaguered town subject to a magic most foul. However, Luna confronts more than she bargained for, when a mysterious creature offers her a glimpse into her future and the potential realization of her darkest desires.
MacBeth is not my favorite Shakespeare play (King Lear is the best) but it is a very good one.
This story is more or less a Luna-filled take on part of that play, wherein the soon-to-be king MacBeth encounters the witches who will prophesy his inevitable coronation. These witches will also plainly spell out how he will be destroyed, but he is too foolish to understand or to even take it seriously.
Luna does much the same here, tho she is no MacBeth. She is presented with truth and falsity in a visage which is cruel and barely communicative, and she cannot comprehend or accept it.
Or as I like to call this after reading: Prophecy is a bitch.
I’ve got a love/hate relationship with prophecy in stories. They are both a means to drive the plot forward and a crutch to fall back on. It depends on the author and how they present it. In this one, Luna, out of entitled curiosity, allows a witch to speak of her future and what she will one day obtain. Also, her downfall, but we don’t speak about that part.
As will some of the other features in this post, I really liked the mood set here. The realm of the witch is lovingly detailed in all its grotesqueness with Luna standing right in the middle of it all, confident in her power over the darkness. Even though Luna is definitely the more powerful of the two, the narrative happily gives the witch the advantage by being that niggling voice that promises the world.
A story of unstoppable destiny or giving a push that leads one rolling down a hill? I’ll let you decide. So have at it! Make it so!
Cynewulf slapped her laptop shut, giving a satisfied nod. “There, now there’s no reason to decline my request.” She stood up and made for the door. “Come along, we’ve got a busy day of unpacking to do.”
Sighing, Intern followed her out. “Why not get the anti-gravity gun from storage?”
“We’ve been over this,” Cynewulf said as though berating a child. “Requesting anything from the brass takes way too long and far too much paperwork to fill out. Besides, you weren’t doing anything else today.”
Intern cursed his current lack of office chores. One of these days, he really needed to get a hobby.
Feel free to visit our group for more information and events, and to offer some recommendations for future rounds. See you all next time!
whoa, thank you so much you two. i really appreciate the mention!
These sound pretty cool.
Hey Intern—was great meeting you at BC!
5103415
Same!
Also, Cynewulf wasn't the only one to come back with swag! I got a nice wooden coaster with Sunburst's cutie mark.
Wait a second, Intern doesn’t have enough office chores? Well, now, we can fix that right up...