Goodness, it’s been a while. I was checking through the folder of documents I use to write these reviews up, and the last time I touched one was in January.

And that review didn’t even get posted because someone else beat me to the punch.

So here I am, reporting for duty after a long hiatus! What’s on the table for today?

I have to admit, I pounced on this one as soon as I saw it in the folder. You see, this story was one of the first ones I ever encountered when I joined the site back in 2013. In fact, I wound up grabbing this one out of the new stories feed on the homepage on the night it came out, before I even made an account on this site.

So yes, even though I’m probably just a bit (okay, more than a bit) biased when it comes to this story, I think I can give it enough of an objective look to form valid opinions regarding the quality of the horsewords. And if I do wind up being a little skewed in my assessments, well…

Now then, without further ado, let’s dive in!

Cheerilee’s Thousand is a story that follows Cheerilee as she is forced to endure one-thousand (not really) terrible dates. In general, the chapters are about a thousand words and episodically structured, with loose continuity between them. Now, it’s been a few years since I read this story, and I didn’t remember a lot of the specific details, so I reread the first ten chapters to make my review.

Also, I won’t be using my usual review template for this because, frankly, I don’t think I need to. That system works better for stories that are more traditionally structured. Also for when the author needs more specific analysis of their work, which I just don’t think is necessary here.

In general, Juggernaught (leaving the x’s out because those are just annoying to type) did a fantastic job with the basic mechanics of the story. There’s nothing much to say on them besides they are done beautifully. I’ll admit, I took a few notes on the way, particularly for the silky smooth flow of the dialogue.

So, the thing I want to talk about in this review is the way the story handles its comedy.

I’m usually not the kind of person who delves too deeply into comedy. I love the stuff, but I rarely think about it in the same way I would about a good drama, slice of life, or adventure story. I’m more of a blind consumer when it comes to comedy, but I went out of my way to do a few minutes of research into basic comedic techniques, and now I think I can explain what it is that I just sort of accepted about this story.

Before I get to what that is, I want to talk about something that I see far too often on this site, and that is the general lack of wit when it comes to comedy on this site. I get it, 99% of the people here, myself included, are amateurs. It makes sense that a lot of the “comedy” stories on this site feel dull, and I think I finally realize that there are two widespread reasons for why so many stories just don’t get the job done.

First, they’re too quick to lay all of their cards on the table. All the time, I come across comedy fics that just seem to throw everything out there at once, and they leave little to the imagination. Comedy, on some very basic level, can be described as a branch of the art of misdirection. Things are funny to us when there’s something benignly off or surprising about them, and by just revealing every important detail outright, they lose a lot of the comedic effect.

Secondly, there is a very heavy reliance on one specific comedic device: Exaggeration. Even I am guilty of overusing this, specifically when I got drunk and wrote a story with Famous. The entire basis of what we wrote was essentially shock humor, exaggerated to the point of absurdity without much care for adding any wit to it. That’s what the typical comedy one-shot is comprised of on this site. Lots and lots of exaggeration and completely absurd jokes thrown together into a stew of forced laughs.

But Cheerilee’s Thousand doesn’t fall into those pitfalls. I’m not usually moved by written comedy to the point of laughing out loud, but there were several moments in this story that got me that far. Juggernaught has a great sense of timing, and he masterfully withholds key details in the story until the right moment, and the jokes have a healthy habit of landing where they’re supposed to. Now, I might have given the impression earlier that I am opposed to using absurdity for humor, and that just isn’t true. As with anything, using it in moderation is key, and there is a very nice element of wackiness in here that doesn’t overdo it. My favorite bit has to be the recurring joke of the Duck Mafia, which I won’t go into detail about. You’ll just have to read the story for yourself in order to find out what that is

Aside from the comedy, virtually every other aspect of this story is strong. Cheerilee's characterization is just stellar, and the plethora of OC characters that come in to serve as her dates are a load of fun, and are quite memorable oftentimes. The situations they wind up in because of these dates are always a fun, silly ride, though unfortunately for Cheerilee, they're always at her expense.

I'd be hard pressed to find something I didn't like about this fic, but I will say that this isn't a story to come to if you're looking for depth. While the comedy is stellar, the characters rock solid, and the mechanics tight, there is a bit of an absence of deep characterization to this. Not that it was aiming for that sort of plot, but sometimes that lack of substance can leave me searching for something deeper to fill the void.

So, what did I think of Cheerilee’s Thousand? All biases aside, this is a story that I highly, highly recommend. It’s comedy that definitely packs a punch, and makes use of multiple avenues to deliver the laughs. Despite being built off of one single recurring theme, this story manages to keep itself fresh for a long time, and that speaks bounds of the author’s skills. If you’re looking for a story that will keep you entertained for hours, definitely give this one a look!

Now then, before I leave you all, I have but one question for the author. Could I take a whack at a guest chapter?

Can confirm, this story is an absolute blast.

I'm biased. I have a chapter in it :D

I gotta read this one.

All you gotta do is ask Jug if you can do guest chapter (and abide by his limits). It's fun. I did Date 48 and had a blast.

5918983 I think any book where the reviewer wants to write a guest chapter must be pretty good :P

Also, where are you getting these cutesy pictures of Cheerilee from?

Oh crap! I remember starting this one so long ago and never got around to moving past the first three or so chapters. I think I was waiting for it to be completed or something, though waiting for a story that basically designed to go on forever to be completed is rather foolish when I reflect on that.

Either way, I've got some catching up to do.

5918983 This fic came out around the same time I joined the fandom. I didn't join the site until early February of 2014. By then it had, like, twenty-two chapters. It's been collecting dust in my Read It Later folder for quite some time, so I think it's time to finally check this out.

5918983 Thanks for the review! I'm glad that you've enjoyed the story. I didn't realize that you'd read it before. I just saw Cheerilee and figured that I'd drop it in your folder. I mean, when do we ever get enough Cheerilee?

When it comes to the guest chapters, I've stopped doing them because they ended up being a lot more work for me than just writing one. However, I'm super busy at the moment, and therefore not writing anything at all. I might be open to some guest chapters. I'll have to think about it.

5919815 Yeah, this monstrosity won't ever be done. The idea was that it was going to be a thousand chapters at exactly one thousand words each, but Fimfiction's weird word counter messed that up. When I discovered that, I probably should have renamed it Cheerilee's Hundred or something like that, but finishing it was never the point. I just wanted a place to write some ideas when I was between other projects. It was a project that I could pick up and put down into the far future.