Ghost Mike's Ponyfic Review Monday Musings #68 · 5:30pm Jun 26th, 2023
And so the catchup of missed Author Spotlights concludes on the same month that marks a full year’s worth of them. Which is a good time to put them on ice, least as far as being regular features goes. Enough of them were strains to assemble that it’s better to do them when they come going forward. But if they are to finish now, I could hardly think of a better author to do so with than Impossible Numbers.
Believe it or not, Impossible Numbers is the oldest author on this site of the twelve I’ve done for these, having joined in December 2011 (though not the oldest overall; Chris’ early fics cite early 2011 EqD dates). They started writing fics right away (like many, I gather fondness is not a description that applies to these earliest works in retrospect from the author), and while they did take a lengthy two-year hiatus from Ponyfic writing from July 2013 to May 2015, they have more or less been a consistent, active writer otherwise through to February 2021 (since then, they’ve alternated between stretches of not publishing for seven-nine months with brief burst of activity again). And in that time, they’ve amassed over 131 stories – even omitting incomplete ones (all abandoned), there’s still 110. And unlike most authors with that hefty story counts, nearly all of it was eligible for this: only three of those 110 fics were longer than 24K. Though often not by much – while Impossible may be largely a short story and novelette writer, with attempts to do novel-length stories largely fizzling out (the source of most of those 21 incomplete fics), they are often hefty, chunky affairs. There’s a reason I often mentally default to their work as the “10K oneshots”.
It’s strange to see an author with that body of work across nearly the fandom’s whole history, and often using major, liked characters (about which I’ll get to shortly) have a follower count of not even 400, and numerous stories with comparatively pitiful views – it beggars belief, but there are Mane 6 stories here from the 2011-13 ‘fandom explosion’ corridor with barely 1K views. But there are a few reasons. Chiefly, Impossible is an author who really likes to do canon extrapolations, whatever form that may take. Often, especially in their hefty output years of 2016-2020, this would take the form of spotlights a minor character from the show, sometimes years after their one and only appearance (Impossible often only watched the later seasons years after most folks, and both tuned out before the last stretch but also invoked CINO – Canon In Name Only, TM Ghost Mike – with anything that rubbed the wrong way). And while sometimes this would be about reasonably popular characters within that range, like the Apple parents or a Pie sister, more often it would be someone on the level of Gladmane or Toola Roola. And it is this bouncing around characters and show topics, ranging from popular to no following, that does make it difficult for many casual followers who latch onto someone for their character or genre type, as opposed to their consistent quality of their writing, have something to stick with.
I mentioned before how their stories are often “chunky”, which I think contributes to some of their low following too; their packaging often doesn’t seem like what might justify such hefty-for-one-shot lengths, while the stories are still too self-contained to appeal to those longer for longer, deeper works (it doesn’t help that the one-shots almost all remain one chapter, even when approaching 15K). This chunkiness is sometimes justified, sometimes not, but always earnest, and coming from a place purely of the author’s desires. That’s another thing I admire deeply about Impossible as an author: they write purely for themselves, as writing exercises, as explorations or a character or aspect, and so forth. Which is both a great triumph, and probably another reason for both a lower reach and why, ultimately, their fics, while often clearly good and well worth the read, can sometimes seem a bit distant and oblique to the reader.
Or, put another way: this author mostly doesn’t write “beach reads”, lest not after their early 2011-13 years. And the degree to which these heavier reads are constructed to still come across clearly and not get too thick or lopsided with the density and communication can sometimes be a bit… mixed. I like a lot of Impossible’s works (with today’s stories, I’ve read 22 of them), but they are not an author I find I can just grab something and read. I need to be in the right, clear, sharp mindset, otherwise I run the risk of the fic going right through my eyes and out my protoplasmic back.
Don’t misunderstand me. Even when the fic’s energy, focus or clarity goes askew, I’m nearly always glad to have read something of Impossible’s, even when it’s sometimes something I endure rather than enjoy. It’s for this reasons that I struggled to pick five fics that I felt represented most of their common fic “types”, while being quality ones that showed off the author’s skillset, yet also largely being easy recommendations I can sell as something you can read right off this recommendation, no psyching up required. But I think I managed it in the end. We’ve got a main character pairing exploration barely touched on in the show, three different focuses on minor, barely-used show characters of different types (one-off minor character, lore character that is mostly a plot vehicle in canon – Impossible has written quite a few Pillar fics, though that’s not what this is – and background pony so minor they lack even a fandom name) and one fic I chose myself purely because I wanted some quality comfort food to round out the package (
).
As both an author I admire and a friend, I’m sure Impossible will have choice words to say on the sampling I settled on, finding many legitimate angles whereby this misses communicating a key angle of them or their resumé. But when you have an author with that many stories and that wide a range of characters and fic “types”, this is probably as good as you’re gonna get. Rest assured there’s plenty beyond this, so if you’re curious, you can browse and dig up everything from Twilight’s Canterlot friends to a few EqG/Sunset groups, to flashfic compilations/expansions, to genre experimentations (horror has popped up a few times in recent years), and much, much more. And while their fics sometimes have conditional caveats attached, ones that can make them seem imposing, they nearly always work, and quite well, once you’ve read them. I wish more readers would take a chance with such daunting-looking work, but for those who will (and I gather most of my readerbase has read Impossible Numbers’ work before), there’s plenty of treasures, here and further afield. Dig in!
This Week’s Spectral Stories:
The Sister Sidestep: Scootaloo by Impossible Numbers
Too La Roo La Roo Lar (That's a Skyrish Lullaby) by Impossible Numbers
Awe by Impossible Numbers
Midnight Bloo by Impossible Numbers
Limestone Pie Meets Petunia Paleo by Impossible Numbers
Weekly Word Count: 46,205 Words
The Sister Sidestep: Scootaloo by Impossible Numbers
Genre: Slice of Life
Scootaloo, Applejack
9,468 Words
December 2020Reread
For a change of pace, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are spending a day not with their big sisters, but with one of their friend’s big sisters. Scootaloo is with Applejack, a prospect that seems super lame. She likes being fast and awesome and radical; being fun. Applejack is sturdy and boring and lame, the polar opposite of fun. And yet, though she’ll never admit it, there’s something about Applejack and her family that is compelling to her. Something that keeps her around. If only she and the farmpony can reach a middle ground that facilitates digging it out.
Impossible Numbers wrote three stories centred around this theme of the CMC spending time with a different big sister than their usual one, as a means of exploring different character chemistry from personalities that rarely interact being thrust together while still facilitating the sisterly relationships that is so key to all of these ponies. And while the Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom stories are connected to this and take place in parallel, they are completely standalone, just variations on the same theme, like The Hunting Trilogy from Looney Tunes. It is appropriate that these stories cite the last as being the one it is a follow-up to in a circular manner anyway.
This one has always been my favourite of the three, sometimes by more, sometimes by less. Hopefully not my Applejack bias talking (
). I think that’s in part because the foundation of these particular characters lends itself to some delectable depth. It’s easy to imagine an atypical fic of Scootaloo being annoyed and fed up with Applejack being a stick-in-the-mud, yet coming to understand way of thinking and warming up to her. Chances are there’s plenty out there. Yet though following the above, this is anything but atypical, least in the execution.
There’s the added wrinkle of this happening on the day when Applejack and co. are setting up for an Apple engagement party they’re hosting later that day, and thus she cannot pay full attention to Scootaloo. At least, that’s how Scootaloo sees it, doing stunts for attention because that’s what works for Rainbow Dash, and it’s all she knows. Scootaloo is always doing everything she can to act and think like Dash, it’s a core facet of her characterisation, yet I’ve rarely seen a fic where the full meaning of that, and the difference in how an Apple will pay attention to their kin, is explored. And this isn’t just in Applejack’s early explanation of earth magic helping her feel Scootaloo’s actions through the ground either.
Impossible Numbers, somehow, manages to find a way of defining family as the Apples go by, a group of ponies you’d think would have had every definition of family done in Ponyfic six ways to Sunday, that is fresh and new, at least to me. Or perhaps it’s just that Scootaloo’s discovery of it feels so natural and lived in. Helped by the writing style, which is a little less dense than their normal work, a little more frantic in the prose, enough to feel like a Scootaloo perspective story, yet never while being obvious or distracting about it. It’s an unstressed yet very effective marriage of content to form.
Adding to that, the fic has plenty of convincing thoughts and dialogue, ranging from a short pick-me-up from Granny Smith mid-story to the other Apples at the shindig. All the beats, expected and otherwise, ring true, from AJ losing her temper at Scootaloo nearly being hurt in fear to how the two mend things and come together for a middle ground that works for them both. There’s enough layers to make a fic where not a lot happens, and it takes its time, not run out of steam (put it this way: it could and should be shorter, but that’s largely not felt while reading it). A modest story, but a probing one that comes out with a fun and satisfying result.
Rating: Really Good
Too La Roo La Roo Lar (That's a Skyrish Lullaby) by Impossible Numbers
Genre: Comedy/Slice of Life
Toola Roola, Coconut Cream
10,869 Words
August 2020
Toola Roola has learned many things from many ponies. This time, such lessons stem from Princess Twilight SparkleTM's Journal of FriendshipTM (only $12.99, while stocks last!), and include such takeaways on the subject as letting your friends win sometimes when you argue, otherwise it’ll look suspicious. Unfortunately, she has the misfortune to have this pressure burst in the midst of an important family dinner with her best friend and her friend’s parents. Thus, to curb her off the out-of-control path, she’s sent to live with her uncle for a couple of weeks, in the backwards, antiquated country of Skyra that the family came from before becoming successful. All to make her humble and instil some maturity for the adult world ahead of her.
It does not quite have the intended effect.
Here we have a case example of what Impossible Numbers often does: take a one-off character, sometimes not even a major force in their one episode – and often a barely-used one in the fandom – and craft a story that piles on madcap left field choice on madcap left field choice that you would never guess, not even from the long description (which gives away less than I did, but I gotta be somewhat spoiler-y to discuss this one at all). Most writers would have Toola Roola and Coconut Cream taking the friendship lessons directly and ending up in trouble from it be enough to go on, maybe with Toola’s parents being rich workaholic bankers too (I got a good deal of amusement from picturing her dad as like a pony version of Mary Poppins’ Mr. Banks without the character arc).
Not here: that ends up being mostly the pretext to what is largely Toola Roola being in the sticks with her kooky uncle, having her outlook on life turned around a bit by the pleasures of a rural culture. This aspect pleased me greatly, not least for, in a welcome throwback to early fandom fics when invented nations stood in for non-American countries and their cultures, Skyra being a gloss on Ireland. One Impossible Numbers clearly did their homework on to capture the culture in a pleasingly off-culture way, from throwaway lines like the Skirmish Tiger and the cadences of the pub culture to a more relevant role for a special book (if missing the needle on occasions: “You bleeding eejit!” is less accurate of a colloquialism than “Ya feckin’ eejit!”).
All this without even getting to the fic’s style. It’s not hard or too unusual, if you’ve read a decent amount of fiction where the dialogue is mostly relayed via reflective narrative rather than directly. And this aspect works very well, allowing the fic to veer from comedy that wouldn’t feel out of place in Futurama to naked sincerity and back again, without losing a certain level of irony connecting the two. It also makes for a really dense fic: both sentences are often short and clipped, with many scenes only lasting a few hundred words. Fitting for a fic that switches angles quite a few times.
I cannot lie, though: this brisk density and refusal to stick with one angle does turn portions of the fic into something to endure more than enjoy. Perhaps it’s taking nearly 4K of such brisk material just to get to Skyra, something I’d certainly argue could have been done in barely half the space. Now, it’s not just setup, the end material after Toola’s time away does come back to the point of these earlier scenes (and with a very cynical takeaway that would kill the fic were it not so funny and ironic and sharing space with a saccharine one that balances it out). Perhaps it’s just that I found the Skyra material more consistently entertaining, or at least not draining, and I won’t rule out enjoying the spin on Irish culture, folklore and society as a part of that (you’d better believe the notion of having to move to Equestria to be successful hit me hard). Regardless, the Equestrian-set half (the word count division ends up almost exactly an even split) only has so many varieties of joke and takeaway to play, and while it might be funnier, the biting cynicism makes it weary after a while. Next to the more light and jolly angle of Toola’s uncle threading the needle between his tall tales being what he believes or just humouring her, anyway.
You can see how this is a very tricky fic to summarise merely in story, never mind tone (‘dark comedy’ is a rather appropriate label at times). And it is for sure one I liked and enjoyed far more than the opposite. A little more refinement and restraint might have helped it not finish as a little less than the sum of its parts, but as those parts are pretty delightful, it’s largely a keeper. Just don’t go in expecting anything reasonable for this take on Toola Roola and the surrounding elements – par for the course for Impossible Numbers! Though a little less so here, as comedies aren’t that common from this author outside of the early-fandom phase.
Rating: Pretty Good
Awe by Impossible Numbers
Genre: Drama/Dark
Commander Hurricane, Chancellor Puddinghead, Private Pansy
5,972 Words
February 2020
As the latest commander of the pegasi, Hurricane has a duty to protect its citizens from any threat. This, she takes very seriously, to the point of never breaking ranks and always holding the line. Of course, she doesn’t have the faintest clue how to deal with a threat that is not a physical force, but an eccentric earth pony leader who wields ideas like the sharpest sword. Hurricane's left to fallback on nature itself, the power of the storm, to quench this rebellion. Which is exactly what she wants, to put the grounded equines in their place.
…Right?
Set sometimes before the events dramatised in the pageant in “Hearth’s Warming Eve” (and presumably before a harsh winter had yet descended on Equestria), here we have a Commander Hurricane being pushed quite a ways beyond the mild tribal superiority present as-played-by-Rainbow-Dash in the show. For up until recently, the earth ponies were in effect free servants of the pegasi and unicorns, growing all the food in return for being left alone, and considered unintelligent mules. Now with Puddinghead staging something of a political revolution as well as an industrial one with inventions (the Chancellor’s depiction here is like if Pinkie were calculated and political), and her usual methods of intimidation not working, Hurricane’s brain scrambles to react to Puddinghead’s advances.
There’s a very delicate tonal balance going on here: even as Hurricane squashes any moment of personal weakness and frames their actions as right, the story makes it abundantly clear the actions of the pegasi are borderline fascist. Yet at the same time, this is first and foremost a character tragedy. It’s a story of somepony very set in their ways, a hardened warrior unwilling and unable to accept that the world, and ponies, around her are changing, given how simple and straightforward the tactics she usually employs are. And this drifts to the forefront round the middle, when Puddinghead calls out how stumped Hurricane is (and, thought she doesn’t say it, afraid) at the reality of the earth ponies passing out the pegasi via inventions to compensate for their lack of wings, and how the pegasi would be nothing without it. It’s good Hurricane’s retaliation is still of the non-lethal variety, otherwise there’d be no sympathy for her (though this is still a really dark fic to have an E-rating, even as Puddinghead’s eccentricities keep it from being too sombre).
The fic loses the needle a bit in the aftermath, especially with a scene between Hurricane and Private Pansy whose point is clear but feels a rather strange deflation from what just happened. But the core character tragedy, the character voicing for Hurricane, and the personality for Puddinghead and her interactions with Hurricane make this quite the depiction of the founders in the time before their oppositions forced them properly together. Even if it does fumble at the margins a bit.
Rating: Pretty Good
Midnight Bloo by Impossible Numbers
Genre: Drama/Slice of Life
Other, Luna
14,666 Words
September 2022
Even in the wake of Luna’s return to Ponyville and acceptance of the fun side of Nightmare Night, there remains one mystery, albeit one nopony ever seems to question. Just where does all the candy gathered on Nightmare Night go? Turns out, the stuff is gathered by a local filly and her mother for the Monsters-in-the-Closet. Which is fine: they’re more docile and harmless than a duck crossing the street, after all. It might even be fun, except li’l Bloo is never permitted to have anything resembling fun, her mother one of the politely strict types imaginable. Unbeknownst to any of them, the very princess the monsters used to serve centuries ago is not only back, but in town tonight. What should happen when she senses what is ahoof and drops by?
This is Impossible Numbers’ most recent story right now, and what a banger to have at the top of one’s Stories tab for nearly a year. There are many reasons why this is pretty fantastic, but the chief one would have to be how it balances its fun lore and worldbuilding (off a tiny aspect of canon given virtually no attention before, an author signature 
!) around a deep and intimate character story, such that neither is more important, they compliment and are interwoven around each other deeply, and the story is equally engaging no matter which is at the forefront at any given moment.
The lore is especially interesting for how it works, as unlike other such fics, it isn’t being played all solemn and serious, and is kept largely frothy; only the presence of a tangible backstory divulged over the fic’s length (as opposed to in one exposition dump, a good call) keeps the tone from being akin to The Nightmare Before Christmas or Monsters, Inc., what with the monsters being what happens when the foals’ fables they were once a part of haven’t been told in a millennium, timid sorts lurking in hidden corners outside of this one annual feast, and those that speak and have focused moments here given comic personality quirks.
This is, to be clear, a strength: whimsical mythos beyond words, yet so utterly playful I had a big grin throughout it all. And then there’s the actual character story: it benefits from the tone of the lore during the early establishing stages, making the uncomfortable edges of the filly’s situation (technically not an OC, but a very severe instance of Impossible Numbers using a blank slate show character, lacking any name at all) not be uncomfortable to read about, yet without sanding the edges off. Thus, when Luna drops by and assesses the situation of her former monsters and the two ponies, and manipulates the situation to prompt Bloo to voice how she really feels against someone she normally can’t say much beyond “Yes, mother”, the lurch it takes into showing the mother’s side of things feels natural, and an earned evolution. Helped by taking an outside perspective of one of the monsters and Luna for a part of it.
In essence, the fic has a core tone and knows how to module the sub-tones of the given moments within to create a seamless flow throughout the whole thing. This is perhaps why it speeds by despite taking its times when appropriate: Luna doesn’t show up until over 5K in, for instance, yet the material to that point was so captivating and interwoven between Bloo, her mother, the asides and observations, and the cute creepy-crawlies, that I barely noticed. And that applies to the whole fic too. Which, considering many of Impossible Number’s fics approach 10K tangibly dissipate in energy and become something to endure towards the end, is no small feat, to make a 14.7K fic race by and never exhaust.
I’ll refrain from turning this into a laundry list of the remaining strengths – Luna herself hits the right balance for this “Luna Eclipsed” timeframe and this tone, mysterious, practical and sly all at once, knowing what to do, yet with a certain wry amusement about the proceedings that just clicks – and finish that, outside of a somewhat soft delivery of the far-back origins of the monsters and Bloo’s mother’s past from before they did this tradition in Ponyville (unlike the rest of the fic, the injection of the main tone dissipates the credibility here, for something that was a bit of a stretch to take already), there was almost nothing about this fic that didn’t entertain immensely, and often blow me away. I know many folks, even if they are fans of Impossible Numbers’ work, often find the same niggles prevent them from being the must-reads they might otherwise be, so rest assured: this one’s a keeper you need to add to your collection. Whether you wait till Halloween or not. 
Rating: Excellent
Limestone Pie Meets Petunia Paleo by Impossible Numbers
Genre: Comedy/Slice of Life
Limestone Pie, Petunia Paleo, Pinkie, Cloudy Quartz, Igneous Rock
5,230 Words
June 2018Reread
Pinkie has invited a budding archaeologist filly to the rock farm for a week, to learn and observe the act of ground digging and other related skills in action. Limestone is mighty pissed off about this, or she would be if it were worth getting pissed off about. But, with her hooves tied by her parents already agreeing to it, there’s little she can do but monitor the tyke.
To keep her away from Holder’s Boulder, of course. It’s not as if this filly would be the sort Limestone could relate to whatsoever, after all.
Alright, I’m cheating with this last one; after mostly fics that fit Impossible Numbers’ “type”, while bordering or breaching 10K with an indulgent length (though usually justifiably so), I’ve gone with something I’ve read before that’s shorter, simpler, and has little to its mind beyond being cute. Hay, I looked at a fic of grouchy Limestone getting warmed by an outsider wanting to learn about rock farming, How to Farm Rocks (in three easy steps), just four weeks back. But even the phantasmal deserve a treat and a light read. My blog, my rules.
Being honest, there isn't much borne out in the fic you couldn’t guess from the pitch. Limestone has to accept the matter, meets Petunia at the station and takes her back to the farm while her barbs largely just bounce off the filly, there’s a light scene with the rest of the family, a proper learning experience for them both as they work in the field, and an epilogue where Limestone has been undeniably softened (and hardened Petunia). Even the dive into earth pony magic and rock farming culture, a staple of fics of this story type, is emphasised less than usual, content to just be a decent but not indulgent sampling of dialogue and a few actions, on top of not being too unique (though still rather effective and feeling right).
And yet, despite all that, and the fic being mostly a surface-level gloss relative to the layered depth of most of their writing (side effect of being a writeoff entry, though others by Impossible Numbers in that category reached 8K) – to the point it could stand to be longer, probably with a bridging scene between the main one in the field and the epilogue – the fic just works. Or maybe fics of Limestone warming to outsiders while remaining herself just hit me where it hurts. But the beats are executed very well here, from Limestone’s indifferent, brittle attitude that feels grounded and not disrespectful without justification (a common pitfall), to brief moments of intrigue at the parts of Petunia’s personality that don’t make Limestone want to gag, to the transition from playing off Petunia’s difficulty with some aspects of rock farming life only because of her parents’ words/gaze to doing so of her own volition, and the rest. Petunia herself is kept as a peripheral player we don’t get the perspective thoughts of, but even in outsider mode, the layers to her research into the matter of rock farming as expressed through her chipper personality work (even the necessary, show-mandated merging of archaeology and palaeontology is charming).
And the prose isn’t slacking; it’s simple and to the point, but well-thought out and using quite a few puns and turns of phrase as points of character or world-building without being corny, never an easy task. There’s a reason this has remained as one of Limestone’s most vivid fics I’ve read in the years since, anyway, showing simpler, more predictable material can excel just as well as the more complex stuff when done right. If you’re even remotely interested and compelled by Limestone, this is a great read.
Rating: Pretty Good
Spooky Summary of Scores:
Excellent: 1
Really Good: 1
Pretty Good: 3
Decent: 0
Passable: 0
Weak: 0
Bad: 0
Apple family values always gets my attention. I'm surprised that Sidestep is a 2020 fic - there's a S1 wholesomeness to it, when the fandom had about 20-odd named characters to work with and so help us each of them would have costar fics with all of them. On the face of it there's no reason a similar fic couldn't be done with, say, Pinkie, Autumn Blaze, or Rarity (Three Gems and a Scooter is one of my all time faves), but Applejack really does have that natural combination of patience, stubbornness, and emotional intelligence to make most any pairing with her believable.
I should bump up the IM fics on my kindle higher on the list. I really enjoyed the Toola Roola one.
Ohh, dark comedy! Into ever growing 'read it later' list it goes
Just kidding, I would love to give a good author a piece of my time, any day. Kudos!
The Bloo fic is already on my RiL list and will, at some point, be read. I'm sure of that one. I saw another glowing review of it somewhere, so it's definitely been going down well.
5735052
Me too! If you couldn't tell.
I'm certain I've brought it up enough to make folks sick of it, but I really don't like when a fic very much has the tone and sensibility of an early-season fic, and often was leading that way, only for later-season timeline stampers to be dropped in with no real benefit to doing so.
In any case, I really like when a more recent fic feels like a homespun, wholesome S1/2 fic, because when an author goes to the effort of replicating that time in both the show and the fics, it usually means a higher quality than the average if you pick such fics from way back when. Because an author won't likely go to that effort unless it's worth if and they know what they're doing.
I don't remember if this Sister Sidestep entry had any timeline stamps at all, and it's possible the other two might have (as Applejack doesn't really change over the show, while Rainbow Dash and Rarity do, least in terms of their professions or reach). Personally, I found myself thinking of this one as a S4-set one, off Applejack running this family gathering peachy as opposed to "Apple Family Reunion". But it's up in the air, and has that cozy quality in any case.
Looking up that fic intrigued me enough to add it to me RiL list, which is NOT an easy thing for old novel-length fics that look to be of the "soap opera" type of drama from the outside. Because with the oldies, views is little indication of quality, so I rarely tend to grab them without trusted endorsements. It's still long enough that I don't know if I will read it, but it can't hurt to mark it.
She is my favourite character for a reason, and ironically (or not, depending on how you look at it), it's for these traits that I'm not actually that fussed that she's a tricky character to have as the protagonist, in the show and fanfiction. Because she's just so useful in supporting roles (I feel the sae way about Spike too, honestly, though in a different kind of supporting role). I'm reminded of one of the official comics' writers stating that he and several others cited Applejack as their favourite because of how useful she was in her personality allowing for getting to the point and hurrying the plot along, but in fun ways. Similar deal here: her bluntness, intelligence and strength make her really well suited to propelling along any intimate character story with almost anypony.
5735086
This basically marks three reviewers that have given it the top rating: Present Perfect, PaulAsaran, and Casper here (👻). It really just excels and is never a "dense" read the way many of Impossible Numbers' fics can be, all while remaining intelligent and impeccably crafted. There's my endorsement to bump it up your queue, buddy!
5735057
Ha, I was thinking that, after Midnight Bloo (which yes, do bump it up, mate), that the Toola Roola fic was the one most suited to your reading sensibilities.
5735095
You're the one who's supposed to be transparent, man!
5735093
That is true - a lot of early works were more passionate than good, and often repetitive. Perhaps the 100s of Rainbow Dash shipfics/breaks-her-wings dramas don't age as well in an era when we're not ravenously consuming every scrap of highly-limited content.
I found it very pleasant. You always know where it's going, but it has the wonderful combination of plenty of conflict to keep it interesting with no one at all being 'the bad guy.'
Certainly, she's my favorite of the Mane 6.
As much as I've read by this author, the only one of this group I've read is "Awe," and I agree with your assessment of it. An enterprising rock might have done a spotlight of the same author...
5735136
An occupational hazard when said author has over 100 complete stories to their name, my friend.
For what it's worth, Awe was probably my least favourite of the five featured here. Which does speak highly to the quality of these five and the author, doesn't it?
In the long-forgotten time of 2018, aye!
And that's not just a joke, as Impossible's follower count has more than doubled since then, mostly off the Sister Sidestep series and a Chrysalis fic being featured box hits in 2020.
5735095
Bumped and read. Wow. Excellent, indeed!
Can't add much to your grisly dissection of the "why oh why is Impossible Numbers' follower count so low" phenomenon, though you seem to have found the heart of the matter. That's mostly because it squares with my own best guess and other people's. (Do like Pascoite's phrasing of a similar conclusion: that I have a "marketing" problem
).
Seems I'm just an awkward customer and a moving target. The closest I have to a consistent theme is a bias towards slice of life stories, and even that's difficult to pin down because of the constant character-jumping.
Interestingly, you did mention in another context (the PaulAsaran review of "Midnight Bloo", I think) that a breakout fic - say, a notable big one - could draw quite a crowd. Since I aim to be a novelist - a consistent novelist, 2018's fluke notwithstanding - our interests align there, at least.
Really, though, I'd take one enthusiastic ghost over dozens of silent followers any day of the week. In followership as in anything else: Quantity doesn't mean much without quality.
I think this has been a consistent problem for a long time, enough that "getting too flowery or purply in the prose" is an ongoing concern of mine. Slice of life arguably both helps (because it's one of the few genres where slackness is encouraged) and hinders (because it's poor practice for tight plotting).
Unfortunately, it's hard for me to think of a remedy beyond practising with other genres, which tend to be trickier than slice of life to pull off in their own right. It's one of those "working on it" scenarios, alas.
You're in luck: I have no such words. To be honest, when you told me you intended to give me an author spotlight, I was just as stumped as you were in trying to suggest a "representative" sample. One side effect of that jumping around I like to do is that, as you indicate, any attempt to narrow it down will inevitably neglect something. Which in turn makes it hard to make gateway recommendations.
Given my slice of life bias, I think this is a reasonable set for casual readers. No complaints or quibbles here.
I think I'll be different and talk about each review of yours in "quality" order - from what seems to me your least favourite to your absolute favourite. It makes the game more interesting. For me. 🐯🐅
- MLP: FiM
- Dark
- Drama
Nowadays, “awesome” is such an overused, weakened word. Not in the old days. Back then, it used to be the province of pegasi. Of the lords and ladies of the heavens. Of thunder and lightning. Of life and death. Of gods.It struck me while reading your review that this is very much like another Hurricane fic I wrote, which is also about her difficulty adjusting to change (that'd be As Winter Dies, So Spring Is Born). Wonder if that's consistent theming or just narrow thinking on my part.
No idea if it makes more or less sense to point out the Benjamin Franklin influence here. He was an appropriate inspiration, both because of the lightning kite reference and because of the general Founder analogy and resistance to the tyranny of his time. Plus, Franklin was a bit of a social Big Fun in his time, apparently.
Huh, that was unexpected. Maybe I'm simply acclimatized to goofy animated shows with a bit of dark punch to them (Avatar: The Last Airbender being one such; heck, go to Disney films and this is tame compared to the sort of carnage implied in the original Mulan movie), but it didn't strike me as really dark, not even by show standards (example: the Crystal War).
Maybe I'm missing something, but I think the threat is pretty much bloodless (if intense), and mostly boils down to a battle of wills between the two main Founders depicted. Plus property damage.
I think I see your point. Logical necessity isn't the same as dramatic flow, and I can easily see how the aftermath scene (I hesitate to call it an epilogue) gives the fic a "whimper, not a bang" finish. Do you think it would have been stronger without that scene, or if the scene had come first, say?
Hey, a pretty comfortable baseline!
Now for the love of all that is holy, please never read my old stuff.
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I know that when you acknowledge adding a fic I’ve recommended to your backlog, it’ll be ages till you get to it, unless it’s an Excellent. And even then, only sometimes. So I’m always well chuffed to hear you did so right away and loved it enough to come back here and say so! It’s happened before a few times, and always brings a smile to my face, knowing the smile on yours as you read it. 
And yep, the ending punchline to the fic was gold.
- MLP: FiM
- Comedy
- Slice of Life
Limestone Pie is more than a little annoyed to discover a budding archaeologist wants to try her luck at their rock farm, but nevertheless takes it upon herself to look after the kid. And to make sure she stays the hell away from Holder's Boulder.(I'm guessing this scores slightly lower than the Toola Roola fic, since that review comes across stronger than the "it's cute" conclusion of this one, but feel free to correct me should I be wrong).
Oh damn, I've been outclassed.
OK, to be fair, my fic was going to be the less well-designed one regardless, because... well, we'll get to that soon.
That was a criticism back in the Writeoff too, and I agreed with it wholeheartedly. So I think it's about time I explained this fic's origin.
Basically, I wrote it in a rush during the last few hours of the contest, literally right before the deadline. Back then, I'd think nothing of writing multiple entries for each prompt (partly self-challenge, partly runaway enthusiasm), but this was a case where it worked against me. Without the dedicated focus I lavished on Everyland and Nothingland and Fire Burns Both Ways, this started and ended as little more than a writerly frolic. Well, "frolic" when you're writing on the edge of your seat against the clock.
The reason it feels like there's a scene missing is because there is! Originally, I'd planned to work in at least one more scene of Petunia and Limestone adapting to each other's ideas and customs, with another cameo from the rest of the family (as it stands, they're little more than one-scene wonders). Too late, though, I realized I wasn't going to have time to submit the fic if I kept to the original plan, so I skipped to the ending, sent it off, and crossed my fingers.
Why, then, did I not add the missing scene after the contest? Simply put, I didn't feel up for it. Not for a fic that seemed to go down well as a fluffy bit of entertainment anyway. So the "good enough" reception, combined with my lack of fire after the fact, meant I was leaving this boulder well enough alone.
Nowadays, I see it more as a monument to chillaxing. 😎
I don't know if she qualifies as a tsundere, so I can only suspect that's part of her appeal. Personally, I like to think there's a traditionalist, even dutiful method in her madness, even if it's a method she probably shouldn't be trying in the first place.
Chalk it up to my interest in psychology, but I tend to the view that everyone has a history and logic to their behaviour which explains their (mal)adaptations and (dys)functionalities in the present. Similar to the Hurricane fic, even reprehensible people are people with a psychology.
Yeah, the other reason I'm not all that excited about this fic is that it doesn't feel like a good showcase for Petunia personally. Not that I don't have my own idiosyncratic take on her morbid yet child-friendly hobby, but very little of it can be seen here. I'd love to give her another go at the spotlight someday.
A necessary weasel, unfortunately. That ticks my pedantry off too.
I am ineffably proud of the metamorphic pun. 😏
Well worth considering...
- MLP: FiM
- Comedy
- Drama
Where did they come from? Where did they get their love for Friendship Journals? Where are they going from here? And more to the point: what in Tartarus are they fighting about THIS time?An Irishman reviewing an Irish-inspired fic written by an English author.
Uh oh...
I feel like I should shed some light on this one by pointing out the debt I owe to Cartoon Saloon's treatment of Irish culture (it was how I knew anything about the Book of Kells, for instance). In fact, there's a specific scene late in the Skyra section which is one long salute to The Book of Kells, and it's honestly the one bit of the fic where the comedy largely gives way to something more... "serious", though I suppose "religious" and "spiritual" would be more accurate.
I'm just as honestly surprised no one's ever commented on it, because when I reread the fic, it stuck out to me like a vicar at a comedy conference.
Comedy has always been a thorn in my genre side. The problem is that I'm not averse to opportunistic comedy - chucking in a funny moment when a moment calls for it - but my idea of a dedicated comedy is - ironically - a heavy slog, trying to crack jokes on a regular basis to justify the genre tag. So I end up in an awkward place where you'll probably see comedy in my fics a lot of the time, but hardly any dedicated comedies overall.
You didn't use all the trademarks. I sue you now.
For some reason, this is my favourite sentence in the whole blog.
Oh my God, you're right! I wasn't even aiming for that. Good comparison! 👍
I wonder what this says about Ponyville as presented, given you could argue that place is a form of rural culture in its own right.
Funny thing is that "Skyra" is normally used as a placeholder fan name for an obscure background pegasus who looks like Lyra. But when I was making the reference to "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral (That's an Irish Lullaby)", I wanted a name that captured the cadences of "Irish", and eventually landed upon "Skyrish" and hence "Skyra". It sounded pleasingly mythic, (I like the idea that it echoes "The sky's the limit", at least in the cluttered contents of my head), but also a pretty strong start (the "sk-" part). It's one of my prouder creations, if I may toot my own horn.
As for where I'd place it, I generally assume the 2015 map of Equestria is not meant to be literal, but impressionistic. So I feel no problem inventing more islands off the east coast and placing Skyra among them, even if that means mentally increasing the scale to allow a good-sized country there.
I was kind of disappointed to find The Last Unicorn isn't all that tightly bound to Irish culture: it turned up on a list of Irish books I checked, but later investigation revealed it's barely even set there. In reality, it's an American fantasy that just happened to be set in Ireland for the 80s animated adaptation. Thematically, it fit where I wanted it to (in the sense of lost romance and magic compared to the more mundane modern Skyrish citizens), but in terms of harking to Irish literature as written by Irish authors, I could have done much better than that.
Also, I think if I ever return to Skyra, I'd like to emphasize the urban culture next. A ponified Dublin alone has a lot of potential; I hinted at its existence during the Book of Books scene, but it would've been going too far off target to relocate the fic there this time around. Not when I wanted a more idyllic town.
To be fair, even "eejit" is already a risk for a self-bowdlerizing author like myself. "Feckin'" had no chance.
I'm really struck in hindsight by how cynical this fic feels at times. I'm guessing that, beginning bagginess aside, that's more to its benefit than not (and I say this as an eager fan of Futurama).
Another weasel, I'm afraid: at some point, I got so carried away with the Toola Roola fics that I realized I was neglecting Coconut Cream. She does get the shaft a bit in this one, doesn't she? But since the bulk of the fic was blatantly in Toola's favour, I didn't feel it was worth more than a few token nods to Coconut here and there in the Skyra stretch.
Unless you're referring to the early part of the fic?
OK, correction: this is my favourite sentence in the entire blog. 😈
I'm curious as to whether that's because of my own extreme dislike to "Fame and Misfortune". The first chunk of the fic is explicitly mean-spirited in its approach, as much as I want to think I at least kept to a professional level of telling a story with a worthwhile point rather than just venting my frustrations artlessly. Perhaps that inevitably leaks through: most of the comedy early on is just blatant mickey-taking, not least of Toola and Coconut's starring episode.
Whereas the Skyra material was a chance to play my own game instead of scrambling someone else's, so the added goodwill of exploration and construction reflects better in the comedy. Plus, it's clearly the point where the fic has a recognizable pulse, i.e. any kind of heart.
Have to admit I was wondering if Uncle Gadda would be criticized for being an example of the "romanticizing Ireland" stereotype, especially given the doubly awkward implications of an Englander depicting him. I mean, the Skyra material could be accused of that anyway, but I did wonder if he was portrayed as a bit "too good to be true" rather than as, well, just a good-natured guy with a few Irishisms and a playful streak.
Fair's fair, I'm guessing that wasn't your takeaway, since you'd likely have mentioned it. Still, I wonder if it ever crossed your mind at the time, or seems at all convincing in hindsight?
I wonder if I could have made more out of the Skyrish immigrant angle? If nothing else, it seems to me a cool idea to retcon a chunk of Equestria's citizenry as Skyrish (something Uncle Gadda alludes to at one point, though in his case it's ambiguous how seriously he meant it).
Or even as immigrants from various pony countries outside Equestria. I've never fully bought the idea that Equestria is the only one, and especially with ponified countries available as an option, that seems like it could be a rich worldbuilding detail.
I don't think I've ever quite forgiven myself for the Leaper Con interlude, even if I'm too indulgent and amused to actually remove it. Allowing that Uncle Gadda is potentially only joking, jeez that's a dark joke.
It's hard to judge, given how interwoven the Friendship Book line is, but I wonder if you'd have enjoyed the fic more as a predominantly Skyra-centric fic, rather than as a fic which uses Skyra alongside the Equestria focus. Basically, if the rating would have gone up with the weaker scenes exorcised.
- MLP: FiM
- Slice of Life
For a change of pace, the Cutie Mark Crusaders spend a day with their big sisters: just not the ones they were born with. This is Scootaloo's day...Not a lot to add for this one, I'm afraid. Of all these fics, it's the most "I am what I am" - and that's including the Limestone-Petunia one, which is more "I am what I - whoops ran out of time happy ending everybody!"
Plus, it's simultaneously pretty easy and pretty hard to sum up Applejack's appeal as "domestic life, kinship, simplicity" - which, like most things in life, are filled with layers and subtleties. And how many times can someone praise Scootaloo as a strange mix of "endearing fan" and "cool sister wannabe"? A fair amount of digital ink has been spilled extolling their virtues, which means I don't think I can spill much more.
A few minor topics it is, then.
I'll be interested to see what Equestria Daily make of them, then, because my current plan is to treat each one separately and ignore the sequel status for precisely this reason. Yet I can also see one of the prereaders insisting on putting them together as a set, if only as a by-the-books technicality (in which case, I'm tempted to disable the sequel connection on-site: tidy as it is, the case is stronger for treating them as standalones).
As far as I can tell, that seems to be the general consensus. Heck, even I agree it's the strongest of the three.
In part, this was a deliberate echo of "Apple Family Reunion", if only because that's my go-to reference episode, and I wanted to make the family angle more explicit. Including the part where Applejack bites off more than she can chew, of course.
If anything, I wish I'd done something more involved for the other two big sisters. However awkward it might have been to cart Sweetie Belle off to Wonderbolt HQ, I am wondering if there would've been more opportunities for parallels if I'd done so, instead of Rainbow Dash generically practising in the countryside. And I missed a trick not taking Apple Bloom to a Manehattan branch of Rarity's franchise, notwithstanding the violation of early-seasons consistency (though given its centrality, keeping the action at Carousel Boutique seems just right).
That's what fascinates me about Scootaloo's interest in Rainbow Dash: it's clearly wish-fulfilment fangirling, which is a different kettle of fish from an actual sisterly relationship, warts and all. That automatically suggests a character arc and a reliable source of conflict and confusion, especially since Rainbow's mindset isn't too different from that either.
Hm, I wonder if that was too much or if it went down smoothly? After all, one could make the argument that Applejack's a stronger "everymare" character if an author keeps her magical abilities - even earth ones - to a minimum. (Give or take where one stands re: her apple-bucking superstrength).
Oddly, that's what superfun concluded in the comments too. It's an odd bit of feedback to get, because it suggests there's a problem I should address, but it seems to use it as a sort of compliment. Very mixed messages!
I think that should do it. Oh, and...
I so want this to be my batting average (Excellent is a bridge too far, methinks). Much as I'm coming to appreciate the compliment of "Pretty Good"... well, we wants it!
OK, last fic!
- MLP: FiM
- Drama
- Slice of Life
What happens to the candy on Nightmare Night? And why's Bloo so depressed about it?Funny thing is that this version of the fic is actually a truncated version of a prior draft. Since the prior version was a longer fic intended to be a novel-length attempt, it obviously collapsed and never saw the light of day. However, I didn't want to abandon the concept altogether, so I cobbled together this fic out of what seemed to be the essential elements of the prior - for the planning stage - and then wrote the thing from scratch as a test run. I liked it enough to add it to my collection of background pony fics. That was how it modestly came to be.
Life... Life... Life is a funny ol' thing, ain't it? 🤔
(To be fair, that might be part of why it works so well: it's a distillation of something that might've come across as bloated and unwieldy in its original form, especially given the "chunky" criticism).
Two funny things about that name: one, it did (briefly and initially) put at least one reader in mind of the Foster's Home character, which is a bit unfortunate as that Bloo is a known jackass. Nothing like Bloo in the fic. I wonder how many people were turned off by the unfortunate reference, mistaking this for a crossover.
Two, I'm duty-bound to point out that "Bloo" wasn't my coining: she's listed as such on the wiki's list of foal characters. I kept it anyway because the mixture of "Blue" and "Boo" (ha! another Monsters Inc. reference!) was too good to pass up. Libertee, Squeaker, and the one monster with the unpronounceable name were original coinings, though (Libertee was partly based on the blue-theme - Liberty Blue is a subcategory of blue colours - and partly a nod to similar-sounding "liberty" and "libertine", which is pure irony given her fun-oppressing ways).
I should have said this to the PaulAsaran review, but I'm amused at how spoilery the reviews tend to be. Not sure if that's an inevitable side effect of the fic's simplicity, or if I should rap you both round the knuckles for it.
Then again, Luna is a major draw, so her role pretty much has to be discussed somehow.
This makes me realize how complacent I've been. Combined with your observations about my output patterns, I can only say: "Perfectionism is my goddamn bugbear."
Well, there are so many of them, for a start! 🤓
It's kind of inevitable, though, given the "stewards of the world" nature of ponydom, that someone's going to ask how this-that-and-the-other detail works. Especially with the incongruous statue of Nightmare Moon in the forest, I always wondered if there was something "other" going on.
I love this. Translating the show-tone approach to a fic works much better with a tongue-in-cheek attitude. It's easy to forget between serious analyses of Twilight's ascent, the emphasis on (un)intentional nightmare fuel, and criticisms of the show's lore and such, but MLP:FiM really is a breezy little shelter of fun. And, taking after my literary role model Terry Pratchett, I don't see a contradiction between being funny and being serious: they can work shockingly well in tandem.
I mean, this is a fic in which one monster gets around by flushing itself down the toilet. You won't get much "Serious Business" glumness from me. 😜
It's a testament to my low-grade paranoia that I can read a glowing review of an apparently much-loved fic of mine, and my first reaction is: "Well, what's wrong with it?"
I wonder if you could clarify this part (I'm guessing you specifically meant Libertee's backstory)? Not that I can't guess, but I'd prefer a more accurate testimony from the reviewer to any second-guessing I might do.
Apart from my utter glee at such flattering comparisons, I'd also like to add another: the march of the spirits from two Studio Ghibli movies (Pom Poko and, more obviously, Spirited Away). The parade of really weird, surreal supernatural entities in a more modern world struck me as quite a contrast, especially given the nostalgic fairy-tale element in both movies (tempered by the fact that the supernatural is genuinely threatening at times, not just whimsically liberated).
Squeaker gets a bit lost in the shuffle, or so I suspect, but I do like how his presence casts the mother-daughter relationship in a more fleshed-out light than they might have been otherwise. To Bloo, he's a sympathetic confidant for her frustrations/dutifulness, and the first clue that the monsters are just friendly regular Joes in spirit (in his case, basically renting his space in the house). To Libertee, he's a sort of family friend and a revelation-by-proxy that, for all her fun-hating suspiciousness, she does have a genuinely charitable, unflappable side that's more than ceremonial duty.
I'm really proud of his inclusion, right down to the name, the origin of which I cannot fathom for the life of me but which seems perfect now I've used it.
😁 Music to an author's ears.
I think we mentioned this before, but I'm tickled pink to find the fic's word count has a "666" in it. Very darkly appropriate for a Nightmare Night story! 😆 I wasn't even aiming for that: it was a complete coincidence.
The Sisters are goldmines for complex characterization, not least because of how the early show could strike a balance between regal dignity and a more playfully silly side (helped somewhat by their blank slate natures beyond that). Luna's unapologetic association with darkness, her rehabilitating royal status, and her oddly bombastic approach to communication struck a chord with a lot of people, me included.
I did wonder at first if using the "ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE" Luna early on was a bit out-of-character, but I liked the idea that she just sort of slipped into it accidentally and then "switches" it off when she realizes. Both because of how she's caught between official duty and an informal modern vogue, and because it was just a funny, relatable idea.
Well, you got four months to wait, otherwise...
But seriously, thanks a ton for these reviews! 🤠 They were better than I was expecting, and I was already expecting good stuff. Plenty to chew on here... and to get a soul thinking, naturally. 🤔
Oh go on, then. Replying to a few comments too.
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That's probably on me for being a hopeless nostalgic: my favourite parts of the show tend to be front-loaded. Not exclusively, but mostly. It means that even a decade later, I have no problem writing as if we're still in Season One/Two territory (OK, with a helping heap of hindsight influencing things...).
Also, yes, let us start the Applejack Appreciation Association. Best Team Mom ever. Yeehaw!
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YA BLEEDIN' EEJIT!
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To be fair, it's not all dark comedy. Just a few bits here and there. I wouldn't want you to expect too much of the comedy going in (well, unless you've already read it, in which case never mind me).
5735086
Are you going to add it to a Nightmare Night featured selection? That'd be very appropriate.
5735093
I don't think so. Rainbow in the first fic is generically practising for the Wonderbolts, which could mean anything after "Wonderbolt Academy". Not sure that Rarity ever mentions her business outside of Ponyville either.
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It reminds me of the rise in gatekeeping standards that Equestria Daily imposed over the years. For example, I submitted fics back in 2012 that I wouldn't even consider today, and that wouldn't have made it even if I had. Not sure when exactly the standards rose, as I had a long submission-free gap early on, but those fics definitely wouldn't have made the cut even back in 2016 when I started submitting again, so I'm guessing around 2013-2015.
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Oh dear, I never replied to that spotlight, did I?
In that case: a very belated THANK YOU!
🌟✨💥🌈
Although looking back, I definitely feel like I've come a long way all these years later. It's weird to think about the changes in my portfolio since those primitive fics. Is this normal, growing up?
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Let me hit you up with a comment there as soon as I read it, then
I have only a vague understanding about irish culture, so basically my take wouldn't be diluted by anything. For good or ill
5735306
To be honest, right now getting any reviews out is something of an achievement! But in the probably wild hope that life calms down a bit at some point, reading it at Nightmare Night time does appeal, yes.
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For my own EQD journey, I suppose I got popular *enough* that I stopped caring to submit except what I considered my best. They've always billed themselves as a fanzine valuing both quality and interest, so I definitely don't mind some quality control on their end (much as I hate editing works after I've already published them).
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Because you're responded to so much here, buddy, I might keep my responses on the selective side as far as points go.
Yeah…
Didn't mean to go on like that! It'll happen when you really feel an author deserves a far wider reach and really should have it, mind.
Especially ironic, given how you know, off me stating it many times in many places, that prior to doing these Monday Musings, I was terrible for lurking and lacking the drive to comment on a fic I'd read. But it's irony that fits in with your observation on quality, I think.
It is something we can all fall victim to: it's just that it takes a very characteristic form with your works and is present in most of the, as opposed to some. That said, I feel Midnight Bloo (more on that later) was an exemplar of how this wasn't a problem really at all. Only deep into the back half that is all one scene did I feel the length, and it wasn't a length I minded feeling (a counterpoint would be the Scootaloo Sister Sidestep fic, where I felt the length for pretty much the whole fic but didn't mind it; I always think of this as LotR syndrome, for a long 3-hour film where you feel the length but don't mind that you're feeling it, or where you feel it could be shorter but can't agree on what, and it's only a niggling concern). Perhaps Bloo's origin as a truncated novel has something to do with that? Regardless, I'd bear it in mind going forward. It may help.
I think merely the fact that I was deliberately choosing the fics to show your range, rather than assembling an author spotlight from fics by the same author I had stockpiled reviews of, alone was enough to make it pretty representative as a introduction sampler (though having to ignore lengthy fics that may have been the author's raison d'être didn't help). Many prior author spotlights fell into the latter camp, alas; outside of the ten-fit jumbo editions for authors that have left us, only Chris' sampling strikes me as more comprehensive in representing the author that yours (and he only has 21 fics, albeit one an anthology of small fics).
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Not a bad tactic at all! It was fun for me too, working my way up.
- MLP: FiM
- Dark
- Drama
Nowadays, “awesome” is such an overused, weakened word. Not in the old days. Back then, it used to be the province of pegasi. Of the lords and ladies of the heavens. Of thunder and lightning. Of life and death. Of gods.It would be fair to say that Awe was last, yeah; the only fic of the five where my enthusiasm was of the more muted variety, admiring it more than being enthralled, if you get me. I picked it as a Founders/Pillars because of it being more recent (and, frankly, most of the Pillar ones didn't look too appealing to me from their long descriptions), and As Winter Dies being older. After reading thus, I did wonder if perhaps that other one might have been a better call.
There's almost nothing wrong with the fic – even the soft final third is still needed and ties into the story, we couldn't just end on Hurricane's deed without at least a scene afterward to contrast it. I just don't think it had that element that really grabbed me, if you get me. Hopefully that should tell you that it still had a baseline competence to score a low Pretty Good – with an ending third on the level of the rest, it would have been a mid-range Pretty Good.
Possibly it's that I just really respond to dark internal thought that people and ponies go to in situations like Hurricane's. I suppose it's still more implied than stated outright (albeit implied without room for doubt), so it's probably fine. This was a tough fic for me to write up a review of, being honest.
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- MLP: FiM
- Comedy
- Slice of Life
Limestone Pie is more than a little annoyed to discover a budding archaeologist wants to try her luck at their rock farm, but nevertheless takes it upon herself to look after the kid. And to make sure she stays the hell away from Holder's Boulder.You are right, and it surprised me; I previously had this fic rated as a Really Good. I can only assume that came from the time when I didn't have the Pretty Good tier and this was clearly too high for a Decent.
Being honest, this fic felt like one I has heavy personal affection for, but after rereading it and seeing the low ambition was a little more noticeable then I remembered and that it lost impact from skipping a potential bridging scene (great background to the fic, by the way!), I couldn't honestly put it into Really Good, even though I wanted to.
But hey, you can take pride in four of the five fics today being a top-tier Pretty Good or better!
Not quite the Really Good baseline you wanted, I know, but it's a start. 
For sure, and any author who can make a character with such traits interesting and feel like they have depth, all without needing to rely on exposited backstory elements, has a long going for them.
I think the fic mostly got away with this for the reasons that I mentioned, but it is true that Petunia is mostly a placeholder and the fic could have been stronger still with more to her, yep.
Well, good thing this corner isn't the Fimfic equivalent of a masonic lodge, full of snobs trying to clone another load of snobs.
Anyway, don't fight your writing tendencies. Own them, and control them. Then, you can steer them towards avoiding the overindulgence dragging your writing down.
Best advice I've got, anyway. But I think it's good advice.
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- MLP: FiM
- Slice of Life
For a change of pace, the Cutie Mark Crusaders spend a day with their big sisters: just not the ones they were born with. This is Scootaloo's day...[I need a longer free period to respond to the Toola Roola pic's points, seven screens worth on my computer (the prior two fics were barely two). So I'll finish up tonight's reply with this fic instead.]
I do get this, and it wasn't the easiest review to write either. It is doing things with the characters we have seen before, and while the pairing here produces unique enough results, they're natural evolutions of these characters for sure.
But this fic did earn its Really Good rating, man; no personal biases here.
Take pride in that!
You are not a crafty person…
You're as cunning as a lighthouse rat.
As I feel all three deserve their own page, I say, go for it! And due to their titles, they'll keep the other two fics in the suggested fics anyway, plus you're closing in on three years since their release; views are at a trickle now anyway.
I'll have to wait till I reread the other two, but my memory is that the Sweetie Belle one was a satisfying of slight introduction to the topic, like breaking it in, with you feeling it out; meanwhile, the Apple Bloom one unravels a bit from third syndrome (I definitely remember finding it chunky and dense the way this one avoided). So both would be Pretty Good, albeit for different sets of reasons.
I really liked this, especially off me personally setting it sometimes in Season 4 (which also fits in with Dash doing Wolderbolts practice yet not being one, and Rarity seeming to just have the one boutique still). Having her learn from her past thing while still falling victim to the same tendency in a smaller, different, more subtle way. Growth ain't instantaneous, and without having to spell it out as the show would, it worked for being a subtle detail.
It felt right to me; present just enough to give earth magic its due, while feeling appropriate for AJ's "everymare" role. Even an everypony will still have some unique traits that the main character won't. You have them play a small role briefly, and then move on. I'm all for fics that build into earth pony magic, but this was the right level for this story.
I refer you to my "feeling the length but not minding it much" anecdote above. Even if obviously this ain't no 3-hour flick!
Were I seeing the fic before it was published, my recommended strategy would be to start the fic in a scene further or so (and fusing in the lost details worth retaining to the new first scene). There's probably more energy spend on Scootaloo doing stunts and not getting AJ's attention than is needed to get the point across. That and some snugging up in the rest. But again, fic's quality enough and inviting enough to not feel chunky.
M'kay, I'll tackle Toola Roola and Bloo's replies tomorrow. Until then, my friend!
And again, I'm well chuffed you enjoyed reading my words and replying to them so much. That's what it's all about sometimes, after all.
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- MLP: FiM
- Comedy
- Drama
Where did they come from? Where did they get their love for Friendship Journals? Where are they going from here? And more to the point: what in Tartarus are they fighting about THIS time?Okay, here we go…!
Me too. I half wondered if the readers just liked the more ironically cynical Equestrian-set material far more, as that generated just about all the context-specific responses prior to moi. It surely can't be that that many people they just didn't get it, but not making the connection is the only logical answer for lack of responses to that half of the fic.
Don't think I didn't know what I was doing.
Less so by Season Seven, and this is part of the ficus text, so I think you get away with it. Especially when rural Ireland, and the part of Skyra we see, is one where a road will extend to the horizon and you'll see maybe four houses along its length.
I somehow fully missed this reference first time through, and had to go back through to check it. So it was your nod to the book being mistakingly labeled as Irish-set, eh?
Whether it's the modern era or the vaguely Edwardian-era the show was kind-of set in (or a hybrid of the two that it transitioned into), there is always an absolute goldmine to be mined from the contrast between rural and urban Ireland. A lot of delicate steps are needed to not make it feel too distractingly outsider-written (this fic's tone and fantasy elements help to brush past the slips you made).
True, though "feckin" only makes tv/film a 12A rating, no matter how many times it's used. Though I also see the fic was originally E-rated, and you later changed it. Would have been different if you were aiming for T from the get-go.
I think this is true. I'll concede I find most fixfics or one with a hidden rant-on-canon agenda (even an unintended one!) largely just tire me out even when I agree with them, for being so mean-spirited. It's one reason I don't write such things, and largely don't read them; I prefer to just ignore canon I detest, even as reviewing Ponyfic doesn't always allow for that. Were the Equestrian-set half more like 1/3 of the fic (maybe about 2K shorter) it might have worked. Though even then, it's just such biting cynicism in the views and conclusions reached by Toola, Coconut and others.
I'm possibly not the best judge of this, since the unabashed nostalgia for the countryside and the old ways is something I love in media (it doesn't translate to real life much, make of that what you will).
It's okay; this is an angle only an Irish person could ever laser on to this degree. Not saying other countries don't have this, but, well… England doesn't, does it?
I don't know too much about retconing a chunk… it's true that too many Americans to count boast of their 1/8 or 1/16 Irish heritage, but the way Skyla came across here it felt like a small nation the size of, like, Malta, not an actual Ireland-sized place. But maybe that's just me and not wanting that aspect of the real world brought in here too much.
Honestly, I don't care for this angle much myself, as it feels a bit too real-world in mapping out the landscape of nations across Equus. I don't mind there being pony communities or heavy population segments among the various non-pony nations scattered around the world, and even some wholesale pony nations too. Odd ones like Skyra, sure. But not the way you're talking.
Not as-written; in terms of story and point of the fic, the Equestrian material is far more the point, while the Skyra side is only a means-to-an-end. In isolation, it is just "filly send away to her uncle on Ireland-analogue for a few weeks, gets in touch with a different way of life", and on its own, would need another angle to it. So it would need some hefty reworking to work that way, I think.
I should say that, in my youth, I read many stories of this kind of premise (I vividly recall one of some British kids staying with their Irish Grandads for a couple of months from May-August, and moaning about having to go to school while here for just the handful of weeks), so perhaps I'm just being rather nostalgic for it. Perhaps I'm just enjoying the gloss on Ireland. It's certainly more authentic than the taking-the-mickey attempts America had usually made throughout history with Irish-set works, which can be Dick-Van-Dyke-as-Bert (hey, another Mary Poppins nod!
) levels of hilarity in the accents and customs – they can't all be The Quiet Man, after all!
Well, you know who to hit up as a cultural accuracy barometer if you ever do that!
I think I was in just the right mood for the Skyra material to hit me. That, or splitting the reading of the fic across two days (I paused right when Toola Roola was sent off), reset me after the wearing setup. I won't rule it out.
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Last, but best:
- MLP: FiM
- Drama
- Slice of Life
What happens to the candy on Nightmare Night? And why's Bloo so depressed about it?They do so most scenes only need the middle, not the start and end. I guess this can apply to the whole work!
Fair, though names not in bold there are just placeholder database names. Even if some catch on from time to time.
I will say I've changed my policy slightly in recent times. I used to follow a barrier of not revealing spoilers beyond the long description (or what I felt should have been it in, anyway), but eventually came to the conclusion that it was hampering my ability to write reviews that were interesting to read regardless of one getting a recommendation for the fic or not. I still stay away from being too specific, especially further back in the fic, but overall, especially in cases where I feel knowing a fact won't impede one's enjoyment of the fic and discussing it will improve my review, I go all-in. Besides, 99 times out of 100, folks will forget those without-context mild spoilers by the time they get around to reading the fic.
If I had tried to review this fic on my old system (your long description was quite cagey, though not as much as the Toola Roola fic), it would not have been a fun review to read at all. And given how many lines you've loved for their hilarity in today's blog, that's a good thing, no?
I know, right? I appreciate it's a hard tone to nail, especially when most attempts at doing so go awry in how to handle the silliness and comedy like with the "lol random" approach to Pinkie much of the time. And yet it's far rarer in Ponyfic then it should be. So I really appreciate it when it shows up and is done right. Especially here, where it hadn't limited the character depth or emotional resolution
More or less, though also the origin of how this tradition was done by her and the earlier generation of her family, plus the whole "we actually royal!" angle. I think the fic would have been better with just the nugget of them having moved from Canterlot recently and having used to do this there (with the bits needed for Liberty's emotional breakdown preserved, of course).
It's a great inspiration for sure! I'm reminded of how, anytime in media I'm writing or reading, I have a moment where characters sense/hear something coming over a hill, and they wait all suspenseful-like, maybe with some close ups on some of them, and then whatever it is emerges, my mind always jumps to two specific moments – the Hun army over the snow in Mulan, and the decapitated forest spirit coming over the hill in Princess Mononoke.
Funnily enough, I kinda visualised Squeaker like a Studio Ghibli side animal/fantasy character, akin to Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service and the like. Has that whimsical tone while always being very telling and relevant to the plot and internal character of the key players.
Well, it is just after "Luna Eclipsed" for her. Baby steps and all.
I adopt a similar tic for her in the Ponyfic novel I'm working on (set late Season 2), though referring more to what pronoun she might use.
Thanks once again for such enthusiastic responses to the fics, easily the best I've ever had! For an author spotlight (which virtually never get responses to the fics individually like this) or otherwise. Hopefully you would have responded just as much even if you hadn't known this was coming…?
Anyway, you can look forward to other fics of yours popping up here now and then as regular entries. Fingers crossed the next is soon!