Drops of Jupiter, by PaulAsaran
Review by SwordTune

EDrops of Jupiter

• MLP: FiM
• Sci-Fi
• Slice of Life

Ever curious, the Explorer journeys across the great eddies of space. Her goal? To make new friends.

• Twilight

PaulAsaran · 7k words  ·  117  4 · 1.3k views

Much has been said on this story in its comments, but every reader should experience this blind. Do not look for the answers. Experience it.

That’s ultimately what the author succeeds in making the reader feel. Emotions and experiences are often difficult to talk about because they involve complex connections between past memories and our current experiences. Most people can probably remember a time in their life when they had a feeling they needed to express but couldn’t find the right words for it.

And through vibrant imagery, “Drops of Jupiter” is able to push past those impossible feelings with its excess of colours and actions at the cosmic scale. 

The writing can be hard to follow, carefully balancing on the line between prose and poetry. This, however, is one of its strengths. While adventures, mysteries, or any other kind of fiction have a clear and straightforward narrator, this story exists with very little sense of place or time. Again, it takes the ideas of memories and emotions and puts them on the cosmic scale.

The result, if you really are interested in reading a story that makes you think, is that there’s no point in the story where you’re not trying to figure out the puzzle. There is a message left behind for everyone to find, and for you as the reader to make sense of it in your own way and your own time.

“Drops of Jupiter” stands as a unique story because it is devoid of messy characters and plot that can distract from the centrepiece of what the author is trying to give to the audience. As much as it is meant to be a My Little Pony fanfiction, it touches upon methods of coping and accepting with how our world simply is. Plain and pure existence is a very hard concept to make interesting, but PaulAsaran succeeds in putting it into words.

By succeeding with its message, execution, and particular style, the quality of this story sits comfortably at a 9/10 kind of rating. The only thing I’d criticize, and what prevents it from achieving a perfect score, is the excess of imagery. There were some points that, when visualized, end up appearing very similar. Certain patterns of describing the way a light moves or how a colour feels end up feeling repetitive after a while.

I would have liked to see how the author integrates the other senses to enhance their vast and lively imagery, combining sound or even smell to transform the feelings that the story expresses into real experiences. But, that doesn’t take away from the resounding skill and effort put into this story.

A very nice review! I’ve recently become aware of my own repetitive descriptions and have been trying to find ways to deal with it but, as can be expected, it’s an uphill battle.

Thanks for the review. I’m glad you enjoyed it so much!