Paul's Thursday Reviews CCXC · 8:42pm Apr 7th, 2022
For those of you who were part of the Gen 5 Bingo contest, rest assured that the reviews are coming. My current plan is to use my next Break Week to post them, and thus far I see no reason not to expect that to happen.
I’ve been behind on my reading ever since I moved in. It was originally just two days, then it became four days. I thought I’d use my next Break Week as an opportunity to catch up, but recently said “screw it” and blew through all the material in two days. That was… a lot of reading. Fortunately, the material was interesting. Now I’m all caught up and, oddly, feeling eager for more.
On an unrelated note, I’ve taken to watching movies over the weekends, leaning particularly on horrors (which have always been my jam). I finally got to watch Korean film The Wailing, which everyone was praising as amazing. I get why it’s praised; it combines a wide range of tropes in a way that doesn’t feel cluttered or gimmicky, the actors all brought their A-game (especially Kwak Do-Won), the set pieces, the directing, the sound design, it’s all solid. The story for the majority was great. Then that ending came and ruined everything, and I’m like “Why? You were going so strong, just why?” A pity.
I also recently watched Japanese film Howling Village, which was meh, and UK film The Isle, also meh, although I’ll point out that both films mostly had some good acting. In lighter fare, I watched Ghostbusters: Afterlife and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Anyone out there got some suggestions for me?
Let’s get to them reviews.
Stories for This Week:
Past Sins by Pen Stroke
Old Habits by James Pwyll
Simply Rarity by Somber
Sohndar by CTVulpin
Total Word Count: 262,110
Rating System
Why Haven't You Read These Yet?: 1
Pretty Good: 2
Worth It: 0
Needs Work: 1
None: 0
Past Sins
201,810 Words
By Pen Stroke
A cult has been working behind the scenes to summon none other than Nightmare Moon. Their plan is thwarted, or so it seems. The remnants of their spell has left behind a little filly whom Twilight manages to find in the Everfree Forest. A filly who looks an awful lot like the dreaded alicorn the cult was trying to summon…
I originally wasn’t all that interested in Past Sins. I’d heard of it in passing a few times, knew it was popular, but otherwise it was entirely outside my radar. Then the 2019 Bronycon Bookstore happened, and I watched as it practically flew off the shelves. I decided then that perhaps I should see what all the fuss is about. A shame it took me two-and-a-half years to get to it, but hey, better late than never, amiright?
Anyway, this story operates under the idea that Twilight has – kinda-sorta unintentionally – begun raising a filly Nightmare Moon who goes by the name of Nyx. The story is told in two parts: first, the few months where Twilight and Nyx bond and gradually come to realize their familial roles towards one another, and then the return of Nightmare Moon proper, due largely to Celestia’s characteristic incompetence. The former is all Nyx being an adorable goody four shoes. The latter is her trying to figure out who she is and what is the best course for her to take: Eternal Night or Caring Leader.
I had a lot of fun with this, and I can certainly see why it’s such a beloved tale. It’s got drama, humor, high stakes, some action, character and relationship growth, moral conundrums. Just about the only thing it’s lacking is romance (for shame, Pen Stroke, for shame). The writing is solid for the most part, although there were a few moments that gave me pause and made me think the author could have handled things differently, mostly in the Battle of Ponyville near the end.
I think the one and only thing that really bothers me in all this is Celestia getting away scot-free with dooming Equestria, even if only for a few weeks. She made all the wrong decisions here, and yes, she did spend a little time banished to the sun, but after that? Seriously, the worst she got was a stern talking to from Luna. Which was well deserved, but once she’s back on the throne it’s pretty clear that nobody else is aware of or interested in the fact that she bears the brunt of the responsibility for what happened. For all the constant theming of consequences to actions, particularly as they apply to Nyx and Luna, why is Celestia essentially being let off the hook?
Eh, it’s a minor thing. For the vast majority of the time, this story was great. It certainly deserves all the praise and attention it has garnered over the years. Pen Stroke (and the mysteriously anonymous Batty Gloom, who I suspect deserves more credit than has probably been given) have crafted something that has stood the test of time and canon to age like fine wine. If you somehow haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it.
Bookshelf: Why Haven’t You Read These Yet?
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Morsel of Truth — WHYRTY?
Old Habits
2,184 Words
By James Pwyll
Mandible is a changeling who refuses to reform. He’s been staying in Canterlot, on the hunt for love while waiting for his queen’s inevitable return. This gets complicated when a certain fashionista appears before him, one he has fought before…
Not buying it.
This story involves Rarity trying to convince Mandible to abandon the old ways and become a reformed changeling like Thorax and the others. She knows who and what he is on sight, but it’s implied that he’s been under surveillance for quite some time now, so I’m willing to buy that. I did have some questions, though.
Why Rarity? It’s suggested that she’s part of a team hunting down and trying to reform rogue changelings like him. But why? You mean on top of running multiple boutiques, teaching at the School of Friendship, managing the Ponytones, spa dates with Fluttershy, business activities, and all the other things she’s doing with her day-to-day life, she has time to be part of some national changeling task force? The author could have picked any character, even made an OC, for this job and yet we’ve got Rarity. Is it because she has direct, personal history with this particular changeling and she was asked to do this just once for his sake? I might have been willing to buy that if there were any evidence of it.
Then there’s how easy it was. She walks in the room, tells him “you will reform”, and he says “no.” Fair enough.
Then she says “Pharynx reformed” and boom, instantly willing to reform!
No way. Nope. Nuh-uh.
I’ll grant that if we go by the simplified standards of the show, there is plenty of precedent for villains changing sides on a dime because of a quick speech, but I have trouble accepting such an excuse. For Luna’s sake, Mandible accepts that Rarity is honest about Pharynx with nothing more than a token resistance! Why did he fall apart so easily?
I get what the author was trying to do, but this one fell into place far too neatly. I think this story would have been better served if A) we had a legitimate reason given for why it’s Rarity of all ponies talking to Mandible and B) we’d been given a little time to show that Mandible had doubts and was considering the possibility of reformation before Rarity ever showed up. As things stand, it’s all too unbelievable for me to accept at face value.
All that being said, I must reiterate that if you take in the standard operating procedure of the show, then there is definite precedent for how Mandible was so easily reformed. As such, I recommend you all take this review with a heaping spoonful of salt.
Bookshelf: Needs Work
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Perfectly Natural — Pretty Good
Simply Rarity
8,846 Words
By Somber
Requested by Ikindalikedogsalittlebit
It’s Twilight’s birthday. Rarity’s gift to her is something small, simple, and cheap. Their friends find this absurd. Surely Rarity is the wealthiest of them all. Surely she could afford something better. Their reactions leave her visibly distraught, prompting Twilight to go to her friend and ask what is wrong. In response, Rarity gives her a journal…
Although this was published in 2014, Somber claims it was written back during Season 1. It shows, especially in the opening, which is fast-paced in a scene that absolutely shouldn’t be fast paced. Really, that intro seems more slapped on than anything.
At any rate, this is Somber’s original idea for Rarity’s history and origins before we knew anything about her. In his rendition, Rarity was born among the elite of Canterlot but, well before she got her cutie mark, gradually lost everything over the course of a year. The majority of the story is written in a journal format, and in this it excels. Somber is able to keep things vague enough to make it feel like a proper journal yet provides just enough information to make the events clear.
The end result is a strong story about one filly’s fall from grace, her desperate efforts to survive, and finally crawling her way back up through the kindness and generosity of others. The material is dark, but it works phenomenally.
If you have any appreciation for Rarity, this is a must-read. The only caveats are the rough introduction and the fact that it’s a Season 1 AU, so you have to go into it abandoning everything you know about the character. As long as you can do that, I highly recommend this one.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good!
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Fallout: Equestria – Project Horizons — Pretty Good
Rarity's Rodeo — Pretty Good
In Aitran, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash got to experience the game of MYST, albeit with some changes, specifically with Starswirl taking on the role of Atrus while his two apprentices take on the role of Cirrus and Achenar. They successfully found and saved Starswirl while also dealing with the wicked apprentices, then went home to a presumed happily ever after. Until now; Starswirl has determined that his wife and daughter are trapped in an unstable world called Sohndar. He needs to use his prodigious world writing talents to keep Sohndar stable while somepony else rescues his family. Twilight and Rainbow are up to the task.
Anyone who has played the games will immediately recognize what’s going on: Sohndar is the story of RIVEN, the sequel to MYST. Unlike its predecessor, RIVEN had a clear underlying plot, goal, and conclusion, making it much more accessible to the average player despite still having some pretty tough puzzles (or at least they were tough for my thirteen-year-old brain). As before, there are some significant differences between the game and this story, although they make perfect sense to make in this literary format.
For starters, we have a diamond dog (or a close cousin to the species) named Aldro. He serves as the replacement of the original villain, Gehn. Right away we see a big difference, as Gehn was Atrus’s father whereas Aldro is merely a former friend and companion of Starswirl. But if you know the lore of MYST, you’ll recognize that the substitution is kind of clever, because Gehn’s race was originally an underground society (yeah, I’ve read the original book trilogy).
Mimicking this excellent awareness of the source material is Starswirl’s wife, Clover (who is confirmed as not Clover the Clever). Turns out her real name is Kovar. CTVulpin doesn’t expressly state it, but this lines up with the original material: Atrus’s wife is (if I recall correctly) Caterin (or was it Catrin? C’tarin? Bugs me I can’t exactly recall) but he calls her “Catherine” because he could never pronounce her real name correctly. I have zero doubt the different names are an allusion to this.
My point is that I am impressed by how the author has worked their knowledge of the MYST universe into the Aitran AU. It’s familiar enough to make those in the know such as myself go “Ah-ha!”, but at the same time different enough to act on its own. There are plenty of other similarities and differences, but I think the point is made.
As much as I like what CTVulpin is doing here in terms of this being a thematic crossover, I do have a couple issues. The biggest one is the author’s unfortunate penchant for over-description. There are many moments where they are trying very hard to recapture the exact setting of Riven. This inevitably leads to huge paragraphs of description that do less to paint a clear picture and more to leave the reader staring at the screen in a stupor. I get the intention, but it’s just not working. Hell, I played through the game four times in my day and even I struggled to grasp exactly what CTVulpin was trying to paint. My suggestion to the author at this point would be to stop trying to create a perfect literary recreation of a scene in a game and focus on being more vague. Those familiar with the game will get it regardless, so focus on what the unfamiliar audience needs to know. The only thing you’re achieving with these massive descriptions is scaring people off.
The other issue is that there’s really no character or relationship growth in the story. Twilight and Rainbow go to Sohndar, they do what they set out to do, they go home. That’s it. They didn’t evolve, they didn’t learn anything, they just went through the adventure. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s something I feel is important to make a story particularly good so it’s worth pointing out.
Overall, I like this one. I think it was better than its predecessor by a long shot, especially since it’s not so deeply focused on solving puzzles. Don’t get me wrong, the puzzles are still there, but the story is less confined to them, with Twilight and Rainbow having to interact a lot more with the natives (another big but welcome difference from the game) in order to progress. I really liked how CTVulpin demonstrates an awareness of the deeper lore of the source material, and while I ragged on the descriptions a bit I find they did a better job at it than last time.
If you’re a fan of the MYST series, this is a must-read. For the rest of you, your mileage may vary.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Aitran — Pretty Good
Stories for Next Week:
My Little Investigations: Wonderbolts Under Fire by Metool Bard
Monsters Can't Cry by Pale Horse
Advice from Pinkie Pie by HopeFox
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Now you need to read the Sunset's Isekai chapter for Past Sins.
A why-hurty for Past Sins? Scandal! Betrayal! Clearly, PaulAsaran can no longer be trusted :V
I'm kind of glad to hear the sequel to Aitran has, like, plot. I never could deal with the original, so I wouldn't read that one either, but... Eh, it's better than not.
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Paul certainly should! :D
Oof, rough to hear Old Habits turned out rough, was intrigued in that one.
That appraisal of Simply Rarity is about right; some early fic rough edges, and a shaky start, but though not a masterpiece, it's easy to see why it became a minor classic in its own right.
I'm still divided on whether to bother with Past Sins, for despite your praise, fics doing that kind of Nightmare Moon conceptual usage are… well, yeah. And Present Perfect's opposite take isn't helping matters. In any case, it's long enough it's may be a long time before I get to it, if ever. Certainly not a high priority, anyway.
But glad you checked some lengthy fics off the list, with a few others approaching completion soon! Backlog's really starting to nicely shrink up, even more so than it had in the last year.
I'm honestly surprised you thought Past Sins was a WHYRTY. I think it is a phenomenal story up until Chapter 13 (which is my favorite chapter of the book), but then just kinda trips over itself once it reaches that high. It's not that it's too predictable as the journey was why I got on board in the first place, but it just kinda feels like "okay, now what?" until the end. I suppose that captures the MC in feeling lost, but it does feel like it squanders a little bit of potential tension. Again, not to say it's bad. I still recommend it to those looking for a good heroic Nightmare Moon story, but the Heartshwarming sequel is much better as a complete package.
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And agreed.
5649311 TBH you wouldn't be wasting your time with Past Sins, IMO. It's one of the main fics of the fandom for a reason... granted, not for everyone's tastes and I hated some of the later edits at the time, but all in all it was an entertaining read and worth the relatively short amount of time it takes to read.
I read it back in 2011 or 2012 . . . I know for sure I’d read it by 2012. I remember when some of those fics that were only available on other sites showed up on FimFiction.
Ah, horror films. I adore them. What type of genre of horror would you say you are most interested in? Slasher, psychological, apocalypse, meta-commentary? Mainstream or Indie? Comedic or Tragic? Or something else completely? I have suggestions aplenty, and would be happy to share them with you.
5649347 Yeah, that was published in EqD way before it was on fimfic. IRC, Somber actually took some time before he published his stories here.
Ahkshully, it is not necessary to have read the books in order to know the D'ni lived underground- the cavern city is depicted in the intro cinematic to Myst III, and it is explorable in Myst V and the spinoff game Uru: Ages Beyond Myst.
Now that that's out of the way, I think I'll go ahead and give Sohdnar a read-through, since most of my gripes about Aitran are things you're saying it fixes. And also I've just been replaying Riven and The Starry Expanse Project hasn't updated in three years after posting some truly tantalizing screenshots.
I wonder why so many people, seemingly independently, have made the Diamond Dogs the vestiges of some incredibly sophisticated underground civilization. Sohdnar does it. I plan to do it, although there's been very little mention of it in anything I've actually managed to write yet. The IDW comics at the very least heavily imply it. What gives?
Hmm, count me amongst the people surprised that you gave Past Sins a WHYRTY. I recall getting worn out by some aspect of the story in its latter half; it could've been an excessive amount of angst or melodrama. Maybe I'm just misremembering stuff.
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'Cause it's fun! The same applies to changelings.
Also, it could be thanks to latent inspiration from Atlantis: The Lost Empire. (Seriously, it's one of Disney's most underrated movies, in my opinion.)
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Hmm. Well, I wanted to read something by WD other than Isekai, seeing as the last two times I reviewed him that's what the subject was. I suppose I could do it anyway. Just need to add you to my lists.
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You sound surprised! We've already established your bad taste.
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PP and I have often taken opposite positions with stories. I wouldn't have it any other way. I think it's good for potential readers to get such different takes. Not everyone's going to agree with mine and not everyone will agree with Present Perfect's, and in both cases not consistently. Having multiple, differing viewpoints can only be a boon.
Yeeah, I wanted to say something last week when you mentioned being interested in it (by then I'd already read it weeks ago), but decided not to. For one, I figured the review would be out before you could read it anyway, and for two, I prefer not to give out opinions before a review has been released.
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I enjoyed it from start to finish, if I'm honest. The latter half where Nightmare Moon was all confused and depressed and had no direction struck me as an intentional decision on the author's part. Her indecision was a big part of her entire situation, and I thought the author played it well. It reminded me of Deathly Hallows when Harry, Hermione, and Ron were lost with no leads and no idea what to do next for ages. It was a slow, staggering, indecisive part of their 'adventure' that effectively reflected their situation, forcing readers to face the same frustration and uncertainty as the characters, and I caught that same effect in Past Sins.
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There was certainly some angst on Nightmare Moon's part. At the same time, I don't consider that a downside, at least not on its own. NMM was depressed, she had good reason to be, and people who are depressed... well, they're angsty and self-defeating. I thought that was captured well.
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I didn't get started with Pony until 2013, so I certainly missed that stage. I've never had to go anywhere else for my horsewords.
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Oh? I never played MYST V. Started URU but didn't get very far with it, and it's been an eternity since I played EXILE despite it being my favorite when it came out. I should have known they'd made references to it in-game at some point. Still, reading the initial trilogy still gives you some more insight into some of the things CTVulpin is doing with the lore.
I had no idea The Starry Expanse was a thing. That said, I'm kinda-sorta mystified. At this point they've released "real" versions of MYST, and I find it hard to believe they wouldn't have released official remakes of the other games, RIVEN included. Is that not the case? I'd really like to play RIVEN again someday, so it would be cool regardless of who did it.
As I said in the review, there's not really anything in the way of character growth and CTVulpin's descriptions are a bit too dense. It's still an improvement in many ways though, so perhaps you'll like it more.
Sometimes I feel like the diamond dogs are being used as human stand-ins in this regard. People don't like HiEs, so how do you add modern or advanced technology made by humans and not include humans? You take the closest approximation the show has to the human form in G4: diamond dogs. At least, they were the closest form until the movie made the lame decision to make every non-pony race anthro.
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I dunno how Atlantis could inspire the idea of diamond dogs specifically as a formerly superadvanced race considering how long ago it came out and the apparent differences between diamond dogs and Atlantians, but I will vehemently agree that the movie is criminally underrated. Or rather, I think it was too far ahead of its time.
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Oh no, hard agree, I’ve observed that across the months here. And in other places too, especially as regards hard disagrees between other Ponyfic reviewers, often retired ones. Chris. Titanium Dragon, you name it. It’s all good, and variety is the spice of life.
Also reasonable, and I partly held off to see what you said, as I wasn’t so intrigued that it couldn’t wait. If it wasn’t clear already, I do largely trust your judgment.
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Right now my interests are leaning more towards the supernatural, although I wouldn't be opposed to science fiction. I don't like gore-fests and torture porn, the former because they tend to be stupidly unrealistic (shouldn't she have run out of blood thirty seconds ago?) and the latter because... yeah, just no. I've also never been much for body horror, although every once in a while I'll find one that works (2011's The Thing comes to mind).
I'm okay with slasher fics, but I find they're usually dumber than other horror types so I have to be in the mood for it. Although I haven't seen the latest Halloween movies yet and definitely want to, they look good.
I do enjoy horror comedy. As dumb as it was, I had a lot of fun with Freddy vs Jason, for example. Somewhat meta horrors are good too; Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is one of my favorites, and Cabin in the Woods was immensely entertaining.
If you have any game recommendations, I'll take those too. My Steam horror library is pretty big as-is, but there's always those that slip under the radar.
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In all seriousness, Past Sins is very much worth reading. Just don't go in expecting it to live up to the hype and you'll find plenty to enjoy. :)
I play up the hate just because of its position in the fandom. :V
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You filthy contrarian! How dare you disagree with things on the Internet!
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I'm certainly inclined to agree that while very good, Past Sins is not a masterpiece. I would still rank it as WHYRTY because, even if its quality is only "pretty good," its cultural impact on everything FiM is absolutely undeniable. There are stories that are Past Sins, but with different villains. There are stories where Nyx appears so the author has a chance to show how much they loved Past Sins. There are stories where Nyx appears so the author has a chance to show how much they hated Past Sins. Past Sins physical books. Past Sins women's apparel. Past Sins breakfast cereals. Past Sins barbecue pits (too soon?). And of course, everyone's favorite, Past Spins; official Past Sins spinoff stories.
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A few classic supernatural films are The Shining and, to an extent, The Evil Dead. For more mainstream films, the first Paranormal Activity (the sequels don't live up to the original), Hereditary, and It Follows are all pretty solid. For some lesser known films, I would recommend The Ritual and The VVitch.
Straying away from supernatural, a few interesting artistic horror films include The Lighthouse and Midsommar.
For comedies (most of which are zombie films), I would recommend the Zombieland Saga, Shaun of the Dead and its sequels, and Cooties.
Some really good horror games I would recommend (although a bit dated graphics-wise) are FAITH (both Chapter 1 and 2), SCP - Containment Breach, and Monstrum (although I don't know much about its sequel). Others include Darkwood, SOMA, Outlast and its sequel, Layers of Fear, and Kholat.
I'm probably missing plenty of other film and games, but this is all that I can come up with off the top of my head right now. Hope this helps.
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The Shining – Seen it.
The Evil Dead – Seen it.
Paranormal Activity – Actively avoided this one as it was mainstream and that really killed my faith in it – I have a low opinion of popular opinion. Still, might be worth my while. Considered.
Hereditary – Seen it.
It Follows – I keep forgetting this exists. The premise sounds awfully silly to me, but I'd be willing to give it a go.
The Ritual – Oh? I've never heard of this one. That puts it a lot higher on my priorities list.
The VVitch – Seen it.
The Lighthouse – I keep seeing this one advertised off and on. I want to see it, but it seems like the kind of nonsensical piece I really have to be in the right mood for. Also, I suspect this still falls under the guise of supernatural, although from what I've heard there's no clarity on exactly what's going on or why.
Midsommar – Spoiled myself on this one with the Kill Count, but I'm still curious.
Zombieland – Seen it.
Shaun of the Dead – Seen it.
Cooties – Another one spoiled by the Kill Count, but definitely something I'd like to see for myself eventually.
FAITH – Never heard of this one, probably due to my preference for Steam games. Looks interesting, though. Might have to add it to my lists.
SCP - Containment Breach – Heard of it (and have read through some SCPs in my time), but I just didn't have any faith that it would be a good game. Eh, maybe I'll give it a go.
Monstrum – This looks like it'll be hard, but if I can get through Alien Isolation then I'm sure I can get through this too. Definitely going on my list.
Darkwood – Already on my list.
SOMA – Also already on my list.
Outlast – I have this one, but I never got around to playing it. Perhaps I should fix that.
Layers of Fear – Played it, but I intend to do so again in the future for achievement hunting purposes.
Kholat – I remember hearing about this one ages ago, but completely forgot about it. It definitely looks like my kind of game. To the list it goes!
Thanks for the suggestions! I'd make my own, but I'm on my work computer right now and, yeah, there's no way I'm putting Steam on a company laptop. And without seeing my Steam library I'm sure I'll forget a lot.
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They're both underground.
I know, I know - they're underground for very different reasons, but brains like to take shortcuts like that.
If there was ever a reason for a live-action remake... But of course Disney won't even attempt a remake if it wasn't already a mega blockbuster in the first place.
Then again, given Disney's track record of modern remakes... it's probably for the best.
Ahead of its time in having a very diverse cast of characters who aren't solely defined by their diversity, yeah. And also in exploring some pretty dark themes, too.
One plot point marks it as a product of its time, though. And it's one that I foresee Disney changing if they ever attempt a remake: the Atlanteans, an ancient, super-advanced, non-white race needed a white guy to come and teach them how to use their own technology.
That's not gonna fly in today's political climate. 
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Just having a white man as the protagonist is a big, hand-in-front-of-gasping-mouth no-no these days. I wouldn't be surprised if they removed Milo entirely and had... I'm gonna say Audrey as the main character. Minority and female checkboxes, and she's a legitimately interesting, strong female character (in the 2001 movie; in the remake they'd 'modernize' her and ruin everything). She'd probably be in lesbians with Kida by the end, too. Also, Lieutenant Sinclair would become the main bad controlling Commander Rourke from the background, because stupid military gorilla male stereotypes and Neo-feminism.
The funny thing about all this is, I wouldn't mind a lot of these changes, provided they handled them properly. Which they wouldn't.
I'm glad you liked it. Simply Rarity was me trying to make Rarity make sense. She didn't feel right. Like, generosity is easy when you're rich, so I wanted her to make sense in my head, so if she went through deprivation, it would explain her generosity. I edited it before uploading to Fimfiction, which is possibly why the start feels rushed.
I don't think I've ever heard much about Past Sins, oddly, other than that there is a character named Nyx and there was drama about her, I guess. It's not terribly long, I suppose it couldn't hurt to give it a look. I can't help being somewhat leery about a lot of these early fandom stories though, when ideas were impulsive and standards of quality varied wildly. I've long been hesitant to read Fallout: Equestria and Prey didn't especially inspire confidence in me that it would be worth the effort.
Are you sure you're not biased at all in saying that Celestia deserved more punishment? :p
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The Lighthouse is an extremely ambiguous movie. It is ambiguous as to whether the events that take place are supernatural, if they are mundane, or if they are even really happening at all. I'd highly recommend it myself, it's a fantastic experience, though it's certainly not a straightforward one, you will almost certainly be left confused after your first viewing.
I'd say it's still worthwhile to see Midsommar even if you've been spoiled on it because the metatextuality of it is a vitally important aspect. If you've seen Hereditary then you're already familiar with Ari Aster's style and how supremely fucked it can be; I don't think Midsommar is quite as intense in that regard but where it excels is in how it distorts the viewer's ability to understand the events of the plot, much like The Lighthouse.
Cooties is also pretty fucked but more importantly it is absolutely hilarious, the blackest of comedies.
And, speaking as a substitute teacher, more than a little cathartic.Personally though, as long as we're on the subject of horror movies, I can't go without recommending Annihilation, one of my favorite movies from the past decade. It is engaging in its imagery and it is profound in the sheer existential terror that comes with personhood and relationships. It shares a lot of themes with Prey (both the 2017 game and the Kkat story). Would recommend looking up the Dan Olson video about it after watching (or if you just want to skip ahead to learning more about it).
The book that it is based on, Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer, is also very good, by the by.
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5649453
I don't think being a white savior is a major problem that Milo has
(the real problem is that he's a klutzy milquetoast fuckboy who blunders through the movie and is barely competent even at the one thing that has been his lifelong passion). The crux of the issue with white savior narratives is usually along the lines that these primitive native folk are seen as being incapable of defending themselves and thus need a lone mighty whitey to step in to help them--see James Cameron's Avatar for a relatively recent example of this. It's a white guilt thing, desperate to paint over the systemic issues of racism and colonialism by insisting "oh they weren't all bad!" Atlantis, I would say, understood this better than most movies; it is a movie about colonialism. primarily from the perspective of the colonizers, and it puts its focus not merely upon race but the destruction of culture as a whole. Atlantis is not just being threatened by this foreign power intent on plundering its riches but also by its own erosion. Contrast this with Pocahontas which tries to both-sides the issue to a hilariously inept degree. And so, even though there is a bit of questionableness here with Milo having to step in to help the Atlanteans, it is not presented as an "us vs them" power dynamic, it is about the importance of this culture and a statement that it deserves to survive.The bigger issue, I would say, is that the reason Milo even needs to step in in the first place is contrived and poorly established. The Atlanteans have somehow forgotten their culture, how to read their language and how to use their machines. Usually this kind of thing happens over the course of decades or centuries as traditions are broken and new generations lose their connections to their ancestors, but the Atlanteans are immortal, the ones who are alive at the present time of the movie were probably all alive when the city first sank. Were all of the survivors just the ones who didn't have any practical knowledge? It was probably mostly nobility since it was the centermost part of the city, so perhaps that checks out, but you'd think at least they'd be able to read. Or were they just made to forget through divine intervention as part of the punishment for whatever hubristic act King Leonard Nimoy committed in his past (something which is also poorly explained)? It would have made more sense to say that "the old ways" were forbidden or something, for the greater good, which also would have played better into the movie's themes--you can't just lock away the past, you have to continue moving forward with it.
Of course, modern Disney doesn't even understand its own movies, so I doubt they'd see any of that nuance. I suppose we should be grateful that, much like Hunchback and Hercules, Atlantis is hopefully safe from ever getting a live action remake thanks to its own initial lukewarm reception. We get to be content merely with the blight that is Milo's Return.
(Boy this post went all over the place.)
5650083
Not really. When I say "Celestia is incompetent", I'm not saying "I don't like Celestia." I'm merely stating a fact. I actually consider incompetence to be a character trait of hers, a trait that no characterization of her would be complete without. That incompetence isn't even consistent, as exactly what she's incompetent about varies from story to story. She's still imminently capable in a great many ways, but I find that one of the most common things I see in stories featuring her is that when she screws up, she screws up horribly, and often in ways that seem dumb in hindsight.
I think this stems from the show, specifically how Twilight seemed to hero-worship Celestia in the early seasons and how Celestia had this sort of matronly, "I know what's best in all things" manner to her. A lot of people like to write her failing in some way, and I think it's in response to how the show tried to paint her early on.
I do like black comedy...
Annihilation, huh? Now that I check the Wikipedia article, I realize I saw a few trailers for it back before its release and it certainly looked interesting. Consider it considered.
I do recall the Altantean's history being muddy and frustratingly vague, and I often wondered how they lost knowledge of their own language and technology. But it's not something I ever bothered to dig too deeply into so... Also, never saw Milo's Return. It didn't look very appealing from the start.
5650083
Yeah, it might not be as bad as Pocahontas, but enough people are probably going to see it as a white saviour thing anyway.
Pretty much this.
Did you ever review Samudra's Journal?
Edit: Nevermind, found it. IGNORE ME!!!
I finished Past Sins after reading your review. It's been sitting on my 'read it later' shelf for years, the shelf is in such a mess I've given up on it and started a new one. 😅
Re-reading your review and comparing it to PresentPerfect's is quite the juxtaposition. I would say I'm sitting in your camp, probably because I more of a go with the flow and think once I'm done with the book reader.
I would agree with your criticism of the handling of celestial, I'd even go so far as to say her actions are the most evil of anyone, which is another flaw with the writing. I think the story could of been more compelling if it was less black & white and more shades of gray. Ponies suffering from frostbite, civil unrest during the change of leadership, food riots & so on. There is a lot that could be done to make the reader question if nyx should be forgiven.
Even of you don't add new actions I think a lot could be achieved by showing the consequences of her decisions.
Otherwise the ending is too neat, it feels like we're back at the beginning when the reader when in my mind the reader should be questioning if things could ever go back to how they were after so much.
Maybe it should of ended in a massive cliff hanger, letting the reader decide what should happen. Maybe I'm a masochist.
5650880
I don't think the "Black & White vs Grey" analogy fits what you're describing. That Pen Stroke failed to show the deeper consequences of a few weeks of continuous night does not translate to "black & white", it just means they overlooked certain things in favor of keeping the story simpler and avoiding the Mature rating. If it was truly "black & white", Nyx never would have faced that long internal struggle in the latter half regarding her own nature.
That being said, I agree that seeing those consequences could have been interesting, but it was clear to me that that wasn't the kind of story Pen Stroke wanted to tell. Is it a dumbed-down version? Sure. But Pen Stroke wasn't writing for the sadficionados. He wanted a sweet story with a Happy Ending, so that's what he wrote. It's far better to land that pretty well than to try and throw in some dark material that screws with the theme and tone of the rest of the story.
In summation, I think if Pen Stroke had wanted to show the consequences as you suggest, the entire story would have to have been written in a wholly different manner in order to make it work.
To summarize the summary, perhaps you weren't the target audience.