Present Perfect vs. The Best Night Ever · 12:19am Mar 12th, 2020
I don't usually do news before vs. posts, but Wanderer D is in need of your help! He doesn't deserve this, go give him a hand!
Capn_Chryssalid's The Best Night Ever was, if I am not mistaken, voted the fourth-best story in the fandom back during the RCL panel of the last Bronycon. It was also one of the two really big-name stories I hadn't read (that was also short).
It's also got something in common with that other story, being a time loop tale like Hard Reset. So let's do a little comparison, shall we? How do these two classics stack up? There will of course be freely-discussed spoilers because this thing is so old. :B
Okay, first off, I have to make a confession: I think I oversold Hard Reset just a bit. :(
It's still a really good story, but I had intended to give it a 4/5 when I began writing the review. By the end of writing, I had hyped myself up to a 5. I'm not going to rescind that rating, since that's not a thing I do outside of extenuating circumstances, but if you happen to keep a close eye on my Fimfiction group (and why would you?) and noticed me add it to the Top Ten of 2019 folder but not feature it in the accompanying review blog, that's why.
Happily, The Best Night Ever is just as good. Important, since the foundations of their premises are so similar. Let's compare and contrast.
In BNE, Prince Blueblood wakes up the morning of the disastrous Grand Galloping Gala when he should have woken up the day after. He soon discovers that he is trapped in a loop that ends whenever he goes to sleep. Try as he might, he's never able to stay up for the entire night. He does end up killing himself a few times, and that also serves to reset things, whereas Twilight in HR always resets by dying, because she has a scant few hours for her loop, as opposed to Blueblood's full day.
Blueblood also has something of a disadvantage, not just because he's not as good at magic as Twilight (though that changes over the course of the story), but because his attempts to get direct help are not generally believed. I seem to recall the instant credulity of the Princesses being a hallmark of Hard Reset.
Last, and perhaps most important in a direct comparison, BNE is a much lighter-hearted story than HR. Yes, Blueblood tries and succeeds at killing himself a number of times, and he actually does some pretty bad stuff while trying to grapple with his situation, but this is understandable. The story tries to stay close to show-tone otherwise, and where Twilight slowly grows darker and madder over the course of her ordeal, Blueblood gradually becomes a better pony.
Yes, this is a classic piece of Blueblood redemption, and if there's anything this story does well, that is it. In the penultimate chapter, when Blueblood's machinations to design a perfect Gala go off without a hitch but don't break the loop, I was heartbroken, because I was so deeply invested in his success. When that success comes in the final loop, it was so incredibly sweet. Even if at times, it seemed Blueblood was improving as a person solely because he said he was, there was nevertheless a lot of introspection and reflection on who he is as a person, not to mention trying to broaden his horizons and try new things. It all paid off by the end.
There's a good deal of explaining his canonical behavior at the Gala, too. I mean, I never really felt the need to justify it, myself, but a lot of MLP fans quite missed the subtleties that explain his character as portrayed in the show. Whether it was an intentional snub just to mess with Rarity during some of the loops, or him trying to avoid having yet another gooey noblemare become a hanger-on, I appreciated the extra effort here.
I should maybe point out here that I have never seen Groundhog Day, off which this story is based, so I can't really comment as to what sort of crossover or adaptation it is. The concept of a person being stuck repeating the same day is such a common one anymore, though, that I'm not really going to sweat it.
Gosh, I'm not sure what else to put here. Most of this story really works, from Blueblood slowly learning how to solve others' problems almost before they happen to the difficulties present in trying to gussy up Pinkie for the Gala because she never acts the same way in any two time loops. There were shifts to other characters' perspectives that always shocked me — one expects the only ever be in the looper's POV — but nevertheless were good storytelling techniques. And I most especially loved his visit to Sweetie Belle in the middle of the story.
I guess now's the time to talk about what didn't work. The writing was overall good, though there are still a few typos that linger on to this very day. Worse were some hand-related descriptions, and a preponderance of referential jokes that, yes, I got. Every single one of them. The one thing that really bugged me, though, was the music. It's not just that I had to skip over the chorus of "Equestria Girls" (remember when Hasbro parodied "California Girls" and then made a whole show based off that? Crazy, I know) at the start of every single goddamn time loop, but there's a lengthy song and dance number in the final loop that… Look, portraying music with the written word is not easy. Many others have tried and failed. I just had no idea what was going on and tried to skim it as best I could.
Still, this was a really solid story, just enjoyable from start to finish. Capn Chryssalid turned Blueblood from the fandom's public enemy #1 into a hero, almost an underdog, someone you can root for. I'm glad I finally got to read this.
4/5
A distinction well-earned.
Next one will probably be a while, as I'm heading back to Fallout: Equestria territory!
Ooh, this fic remains one of my "can go back to indefinitely and enjoy each time" fics.
To be fair, the identity of the messenger would be a factor there.
Yeah, this is on my favorites list, (which is equivalent to a four-star rating) and one of only two stories that ever legitimately got me to like Blueblood.
You've never seen Groundhog Day? It's frikkin' brilliant! And I say that as a person who has to be kidnapped or bribed into seeing anything with Bill Murray in it. Satisfactory redemption is a big part of that story as well, so the similarities are fairly close, at least in tone.
I should probably reread this now that I finally did see Groundhog Day late last month.
As far as Hard Reset goes, that's one of those stories where I enjoyed it so much I was able to overlook it's flaws. Kind of like the Micheal Bay movie The Rock: Yeah, it has a lot wrong with it, but it's just so damn enjoyable that you don't care.
As for The Best Night Ever... I haven't read it. And for some reason, I don;t think I will. Not out of any malice or dislike for the subject. I tend to really enjoy "Blueblood Redemption" stories, or any redemption story, to be honest. It's more that I simply... don't really read anymore. Huh. Can't write, don't read, barely comment. Why the fuck am I still on this site again?
This is a great story.
And I am still waiting for the author to finish This Platinum Crown so that I can friggin' read pony!Game of Thrones without getting blue-balled.
The office assistant at work had Groundhog Day playing on constant repeat this last February 2nd in the break room at work this year, which was cute because we're in part a weather science outfit. It's honestly one of the best movies of the Nineties.
The Best Night Ever almost equals the inspiration, which is saying a lot. And it was easily the best part of Wanderer D's Sweetie Chronicles. (Speaking of the crisis du jour. Go check that out, if you have a spare dollar or two.)
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I mean, he's still around, but he's been writing that story for seven years now, I'm not sure what the chances are it'll be finished. :/
Such a great fic if you want to get a pony fan started in fanfics.