Paul's Thursday Reviews CCCXXXVIII · 8:00pm Aug 24th, 2023
As we rapidly approach the most wonderful time of the year, I find myself on a search. What, Christmas? No, no, no, you silly person.
I mean Halloween.
As I know I’ve mentioned before, every year I get together with my cousin and her family for a weekend to celebrate the holiday with scary movies and/or games. We only have a weekend to do this, so we have to be picky about what we do. And since I’m the horror aficionado among us, it’s usually up to me to narrow down the options. This year will be unusual: all three of us are taking a day off for it, plus they’ve decided to hand the kids off to my aunt and uncle for the event. So this time we’ve got three full days without any responsibilities, and we’ll have a lot more room to enjoy ourselves.
A few decisions have already been made. We’ll be playing the classic Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, which my cousin and I once enjoyed many years before her husband came into the picture. That will likely take up most of the weekend. We’re also going to watch Beetlejuice, since neither of them have seen it (for shame!) and Repo! The Genetic Opera, which got voted out last year in favor of The Conjuring. I’ll probably select a few other movies, just in case we have the time/inclination to do more, but I suspect we’ll be more interested in just hanging and discussing what we’ve already got.
Two years ago I did something extra: every day for the month of October I shared with them a video thematically appropriate for the season. Some were horror, but others were comedies or dramas and whatnot.
I want to do that again this year, so I’ve spent the last few days searching for appropriate videos for the purpose. So far I’ve got 21, so I need another ten to fill out the month. So far I’ve got music, I’ve got short movies, I’ve got a comedy or two. Collected a few videos from the YouTube horror channel ALTER. Yes, I’ve even got some pony in there. I could keep hunting on my own, but at this point I’d like to ask you guys for suggestions. There’s a good chance that I’ll miss some quality stuff otherwise.
So how about it, anyone got some horror or horror-adjacent stuff you’d like to share? It can be spooky or spoopy. Only serious limitation is that the videos shouldn’t be more than 20 minutes long; I want to send shorts, not full movies. Admittedly I broke that rule with one of my current selections, but I thought they’d really appreciate it.
If you’d like to explore what I’ve already got and get an idea of the kind of stuff I’m after, you can see the current YouTube playlist here.
Alright, enough of my scheming. To the reviews!
PS - I’m planning a Halloween-centric review blog. It won’t land on Halloween because the timing is all wrong, but that’s alright.
Stories for This Week:
My Darling Sugarcube by Seanessy
The Sweet Spot by Piccolo Sky
What I've Done by BlazzingInferno
Death Of The Author by Soufriere
Nighttide Star by Vertigo-01
Timescales by Bicyclette
Bionic Titan: A New Dawn by KorenCZ11
Flash Sentry Is Not a Hero by Bad Dragon
Hard To Find The Right Words by Nameless Narrator
Cobalt Blue by sunnypack
Total Word Count: 257,762
Rating System
Why Haven't You Read These Yet?: 0
Pretty Good: 3
Worth It: 6
Needs Work: 1
None: 0
My Darling Sugarcube
15,870 Words
By Seanessy
Rarity, being free for once, goes to help out at Sweet Apple Acres. One thing leads to another, and suddenly she and Applejack are… Well. She’s not really sure what, but she knows she likes it.
I grabbed this one for no other reason than to enjoy a simple RariJack fic. Alas, the end result was disappointing. I don’t fault the story for being simple – in fact it’s exactly what I was looking for – but there are a number of issues that prevented me from getting into it, grammar being the first.
But let’s forget the grammar. Yes, it’s bad in several ways, but also bad in those ways that I expect the average reader won’t care about.
No, the real problem is in the story logic and flow. The affection seems to come out of nowhere, complemented (so to speak) by Rarity and Applejack each having their own epiphanies that are, at best, laundry lists of “what I like about so-and-so”. Rarity’s felt particularly rushed; at least Applejack had the benefit of a few chapters’ consideration before love bitch-slapped her.
But the part that really bugged me was their fear of being caught and everypony’s (un)natural responses to the whole affair. When Rainbow catches them kissing, she acts as if she’s genuinely never even considered the possibility that same-sex relationships are a thing. Heck, even Rarity and Applejack act like they can’t comprehend their own actions, as if homosexual relationships are so ridiculously rare that there’s no terminology for it in the Equestrian lexicon. They even go out of their way to talk about how Celestia might banish them from Equestria if she finds out about it!
Okay, I get that writers might create an Equestria where homosexuality is taboo. I don’t think there’s anything whatsoever to support the suggestion in canon, but I’m at least willing to acknowledge that some people might do this for the sake of a story’s themes. But to have it so that homosexuality is literally unheard of?
Adding to the issue is Twilight’s reaction when she finds out. She’s visibly disgusted and even angry about it. She runs off, thinks about it for a while, then comes back to the library to write a letter to Celestia painting her friends as having committed some heinous act!
Then, with no prompting or reasoning, she changes her mind at the last second and is suddenly completely onboard with her friends being in lesbians with one another, and writes a new letter about the importance of love and tolerance.
…
What?
And because it bears reiterating:
What?
To summarize: Homosexuality is so taboo that nopony’s ever even considered the possibility of it existing, when it does come up ponies are confused or furious about it, but then they miraculously do a 180 and decide it’s totally cool in only an hour or two and without anypony having to debate them into it.
Is homosexuality a literal virus in this world? That would track. I mean, when Rainbow finds out about it she tells Fluttershy and wants to try it. Then Fluttershy resists for a few days only to suddenly want to try it herself. And then Twilight sees it and goes from furious to accepting in a matter of hours. It’s got to be a literal virus, it’s the only explanation. If there was a sequel, would it involve somepony outside the Mane Six realizing that there’s a “Homo-Virus” spreading like wildfire across Equestria and futilely trying to put an end to it?
Actually, I think I’d read that.
But I’m pretty sure that’s not what Seanessy intended. I think Seanessy didn’t consider a lot of things when it comes to this story. I might have been gentler on it if there’s been some effort to justify all the characters’ weird behaviors regarding homosexuality, but there’s nothing and we’re left to flail wildly for our own answers.
Bookshelf: Needs Work
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author!
The Sweet Spot
15,679 Words
By Piccolo Sky
Twilight & Co. are off on a friendship mission and thus aren’t available to help Tempest Shadow with her reintegration into Equestrian life. But it just so happens that Tempest has a cutie mark problem, and there’s only one group of ponies to turn to for cutie mark problems! Thus do the Cutie Mark Crusaders find themselves stuck on their hardest case yet: discovering the blank flanked Fizzlepop Berrytwist’s special talent.
On the one hand, I’m very glad to see someone assign Tempest a role in post-movie Equestria that doesn’t involve, say, the Royal Guard. It’s seems to me that somepony with the name “Fizzlepop Berrytwist” would have a talent geared in a certain direction, as is conveniently traditional with pony naming conventions. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the show creators had something like that in mind when giving her the name in the first place, a sort of nod towards her real potential. Piccolo Sky follows this convention and does it… generally well.
The story runs more or less like you’d expect: the CMC convince Tempest to try various things in an attempt to discover her special talent, hindered by their own ignorance and the fact that everypony in Ponyville only knows her as a former conqueror of Equestria. In the end they do find her special talent, which was almost what I expected. It’s simple, but that doesn’t make it bad by any means. The added aspect of all other ponies fleeing Tempest on sight was kind of silly, but the author was going for a show-like feel so that tracks.
I did have a few issues, and unfortunately they were big ones to me. The first is the CMC’s methodology, which felt like utter nonsense. They focused all their attention on what Fizzlepop Berrytwist has done in the past, things she learned to do while under the Storm King. Uh, excuse me, but this whole story started with the pronouncement that they’ve just helped their 150th client. You would think that after helping so many ponies they’d understand that it’s not what you can do, it’s what you like to do. How do they not understand this after so many successes?
And then there’s the market scene in which Tempest is trying out the thing she likes for a change and nopony is giving her a chance. Uh, excuse me again, but don’t the CMC have 150 ponies they’ve helped, 150 friends who trust them, 150 friends who might be willing to return the favor and help out in this situation? What they’ve got is a network. And when you take into account the work of their respective sisters – which are actively referenced in-story, might I add – surely they should be aware of how to use that network to achieve a goal. Such as, I dunno, recruiting publicly visible and eager volunteers to demonstrate that you can have a friendly conversation with Tempest without getting your head bit off?
But no, instead of doing all the perfectly obvious things that would have made this 100 times easier they had to act completely ignorant of all the tools readily at their disposal as if they’re complete newbies to the thing they’re supposedly the experts at.
I get it. Piccolo Sky wanted a story that was show-like and needed to create some drama, and this worked well to achieve that. Most people will not (and going by the view count and like ratio, have not) notice or care about these issues that are so glaring to me. From my perspective, they are close to being dealbreakers, but I get that I’m in the minority here. Besides that, the story isn’t bad in general, especially when you look at it from the lens of trying to be “show-like”. In that case it works very well.
So I’ll sit back and not rain on everyone’s parade. Enjoy it if you want to see Tempest reintegrated into Equestria in a way that isn’t the typical route (or just like Tempest, I suppose).
Bookshelf: Worth It
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author!
What I've Done
1,667 Words
By BlazzingInferno
Sequel to Where We Belong
Moon Dancer was once Princess Celestia’s personal student. Too bad she didn’t take those stupid friendship lessons to heart. Now Equestria is enshrouded in eternal darkness. It’s all her fault.
This one takes a minimalist approach to storytelling. It’s told in a journal format and Moon Dancer doesn’t feel like talking. It’s set in the same timeframe as Where We Belong – a Nightmare Timeline drama in which Rarity and Spike survive together in isolation – but provides very few details.
In a way, that’s the story’s primary strength: BlazzingInferno’s ability to make us understand so much with so very little.
In another way, it’s one of the story’s weaknesses. You need to either read this slowly and really delve into Moondancer’s mental state, or you’ll go by it so fast there’ll be no time to let the dire situation have an impact.
So yeah, something of a mixed bag. The story stands well enough on its own, but I can’t shake the feeling that the reading would be better if I had hit it immediately after reading Where We Belong. There’s nothing wrong with the story though, and in fact I feel I should applaud BlazzingInferno’s efforts to condense so much into so tiny a space. I’m just not sure how wide of an appeal it will have.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
The Secrets We Keep — WHYRTY?
Where We Belong — Pretty Good
A Dragon's Age — Pretty Good
Cleave — Pretty Good
Sugar, Cubed — Worth It
Death Of The Author
1,600 Words
By Soufriere
Sequel to One Does Not Deny A Lady (kinda (sorta (not really)))
Sunset Shimmer has been facing a lot of problems in the last few years, but now she thinks she knows who is responsible. And so does SunShim use her Sunshimmy powers to SunShimmer her way through the folds of reality to find… the author. Said author is unrepentant about their vile actions against Sunset, but that's alright; she brought along a little helper named Mister Stabby-Stab.
This isn’t labeled as a comedy, but I simply couldn’t take it seriously. Not that this is a bad thing in this case; it’s entirely possible that FIMFiction wouldn’t let Soufriere use the comedy tag because, due to a certain nameless individual’s shortsightedness, the site prevents it from being present when certain other tags are.
Anyway, this is exactly what you likely expect: Sunset Shimmer meets the author Soufriere via dimension hopping (through sheer willpower, might I add) and then kills them for all the misery forced upon her for the last few years. It’s gimmicky, and rendered silly by virtue of the gimmick itself. If that sounds appealing to you, then by all means try it out.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get back to the canon line of stories for this AU.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
One Does Not Deny A Lady — Pretty Good
Night Of Faded Sun — Pretty Good
Exes Meet — Pretty Good
Sunset Shimmer: Spider Queen — Pretty Good
Lows And Highs — Worth It
Nighttide Star
106,551 Words
By Vertigo-01
Requested by Vertigo-01
Nighttide Star is a cyborg created by the nation of Roanne for the specific purpose of being a living weapon. Today, she is to be the first living test subject in an attempt at teleportation using something called “the fourth dimension”. You all know what this means.
This story follows the titular character after she gets transported to Equestria by accident with no means of getting back to her homeworld or, for that matter, even contact said world. The first half of the story rehashes the obligatory “meet the Mane 6” material that comes out of practically (but not technically) all stories of this sort: Pinkie party, racing Rainbow Dash, showing off of abilities, and so on. Given we’ve all seen this a bajillion times, it was the least interesting bit of the story.
The second half is where things pick up. We get a strange stallion mage kidnapping a perky princess, rescue efforts, idiot bombs aplenty, dream sequences, possession, and Luna proving once again that she’s a badass. Yeah, I definitely enjoyed this part a lot more.
There are some curiosities. For example, one would expect the major conflict to be directly related to Nighttide and her world. Instead, Vertigo-01 creates an entirely unrelated threat involving some sort of evil spirit of war that goes around possessing ponies for the sake of spreading violence and death wherever it goes. I think there might have been some intended connection with Roanne eventually, as in a sequel or something, but Vertigo-01 never actually wrote the heavily implied sequel, so…
Also, despite being the central character, Nighttide has pretty much no agency in the latter third of the story. She essentially plays the role of unwitting damsel in distress much of the time, including the finale. Don’t get me wrong, she has some moments prior, such as rescuing Twilight from the villain and helping the team hunt said villain down later, but there comes a point where she’s effectively put out-of-commission for the rest of the story. It was a curious choice. Not necessarily a bad one, just curious.
Then there are the weird issues, some of which are plot holes and some of which involve the writing. Regarding the latter, the writing is mostly fine save for a few awkward and repeated moments. For example, how the heck does someone “suggest at” something else? Vertigo-01 regularly wrote this as if it were a ditransitive verb (I had to look the exact term up in order to articulate why it bothered me), but I’m pretty sure you can’t use “suggest” that way if you want it to make any sense. Is Vertigo-01 trying to indicate some sort of gesture with this terminology?
Going into the plot, issues abound. Celestia sends a significant number of Royal Guard to the mountains ahead of the Mane 6 to hunt for the villain. Said Royal Guard are never seen again. This is quite the mystery brought up several times in-story… until it’s dropped entirely. No explanation for what happened to them ever arises, and after a certain point it’s like everypony has forgotten they were ever sent in the first place.
The villain is defeated! No, seriously, he’s unconscious, the heroes hold all the cards, and there’s nothing whatsoever to stop them from finishing this now. So naturally they’re going to… uh, go away? No, seriously, they just walk away, fleeing back to Ponyville. They don’t damage his equipment, or steal his airship, or imprison him, or anything. No real reason is given for this decision except a bit of a handwave. I get that the author had a particular climax in mind, but for Luna’s sake, at least give us a legitimate excuse for the heroes not doing the most obvious thing!
Nighttide is now the possessor of a great, nameless evil! And so Luna and Celestia decide to… not tell Twilight and her friends, i.e. the ponies in the best position to make sure said evil remains in check. Worse, they convince Nighttide to keep the secret too, and then convince Twilight to keep secrets from Nighttide regarding her dreams. Yes, because keeping things hidden from the ponies who most need to know these things has worked out so well in the past! Why are they making such monumentally dumb decisions, and why are they so blatantly unaware that said decisions will only lead to catastrophe and potentially ruined friendships (to say nothing of death) down the line? Seriously, I see this specific route taken in so many stories and it is monumentally stupid every. Single. Time.
At one point, some ponies are hit with magic that forces them to walk in a specific direction at the villain’s behest. This was a blatant and powerful magic that should stick in everypony’s minds, right? Except a chapter or two later when the exact same thing happens to Twilight and literally everyone who sees it, including those who already saw this once, are acting like they have no idea how it’s possible.
Also, the villain is a waterbender. No, I’m not using an Avatar reference to emphasize the point, I mean Vertigo-01 literally uses the term “waterbender” in-story. Which felt odd to me, as it has certain implications regarding the nature of Equestrian magic. This might just be me, but I feel like the whole “bending” terminology is by now so ingrained in popular culture and Avatar-centric that using it anywhere else runs the risk of either hinting at an ongoing crossover or perhaps concept theft. I’m sure Vertigo-01 didn’t intend either of those and threw the term in without thinking about it. I’m just saying I wouldn’t use the term unless we are actually dealing with an Avatar crossover.
The next one isn’t so much a criticism as it is me highlighting a missed opportunity. To be clear, Nighttide comes from a shit world. It’s trapped in constant warfare, she herself is little more than a slave to an unfeeling government determined to use her as a bioweapon, her family is dead, her friends have been turned into unfriendly rivals, and her only remaining father figure is willing to put aside what appears to be a genuine concern for her if his orders mandate he do so. In summation, Roanne sucks. Then she spends this entire story in Equestria, where war is so uncommon some of the terminology related to it is only known to the princesses themselves. Everything is cheerful and inviting and warm and loving. She’s not told what to do all the time, nobody expects her to act like an unthinking killing machine, and she’s entirely free to be herself.
Which begs the question: where’s the big inner conflict in regards to returning to Roanne? Why is it when a way is found and she is ordered to come home, Nighttide does it without so much as a “do I have to?” What the heck is tying Nighttide to this hellscape that makes her willing to abandon paradise? Granted, it’s hinted that Nighttide isn’t eager to go home, but she doesn’t even consider the possibility of saying no. And how are they going to force her? The machinery required to make the journey is literally built into her body. At best they might be able to send another cyborg in after her one at a time, but that risks vilifying themselves in the eyes of Equestria.
You would think this topic would at least come up, but no, Nighttide just goes back to her prison, willingly and without question. Back to where they expect her to behave like a machine. Back to where she’s nothing more to her leaders than a tool of war. Back to a father figure perfectly willing to sacrifice her when ordered. And all I can think is why?
I haven’t even gotten started on how most of the latter quarter of the story is Twilight visiting Nighttide’s dreams and seeing her harsh past, supposedly to help her deal with the villain, only for it all to lead nowhere. No, seriously, the entire dream exploration sequence leads nowhere and is eventually dropped entirely in favor of a more flashy duel between the villain and Princess Luna. I get that Vertigo-01 probably wanted to flesh out Nighttide’s past a bit, but they could have at least done that in a way that furthered the story rather than it being what amounted to several chapters of filler material.
All that being said, it’s entirely possible that Vertigo-01 was planning to expand upon all of this in a more rounded way via sequels. I might have been willing to accept that, presuming the sequels existed. Heck, I can even see the whole “why did Nighttide go home?” subject being addressed in a sequel, and that would have been perfectly acceptable. But all we have is this, so instead it feels awkward at best.
It may sound like a negative result is incoming. After all, I’ve found a lot to be critical of. But despite several oddities (like leaving the defeated villain alone to threaten the world again for no reason at all), I don’t think this is a bad story. At worst, I feel like it was meant as the start of something bigger that never came to be. I can definitely see some of the strange elements, to say nothing of certain secrecy-related idiot balls, leading to something else in a continued tale. I think it’s alright overall, even if the first half somewhat bored me with its obligatory regurgitation of tropes older than Celestia.
So no, I will not be giving this a negative rating. I think the middle ground is more fitting.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
An Orphan's Curiosity — Pretty Good
Sisterhooves Squirt — Pretty Good
A Moment in the Snow — Worth It
Timescales
11,540 Words
By Bicyclette
Requested by NumberFifth
Imagine having a chance to go back and save the person you love. Now imagine that this chance was no chance at all. Now imagine that person just proposed…
This was a curious one, very unusual in its presentation. It starts at the microscopic level – or perhaps I should say nanoscopic – with a depiction of various cells working together to achieve some unified, lifesaving goal. Then we get to the macro scale, in which Maud Pie proposes marriage to Starlight Glimmer, and Starlight is thus forced to confess to something terrible. The final chapter then shifts to a scale of geographical ages, leading finally to a conversation between two entirely alien creatures that exist millions of years after the age of ponies.
You might wonder what any of these three things have to do with one another. The answer is both nothing and everything.
The second chapter is the meat of the story. It largely has to do with Starlight and Maud redefining their romantic relationship based upon information that the former had been keeping from the latter. The first chapter is the shortest, and it’s impossible to understand what it’s really relating to us until you find the correlation between it and the second chapter. The third chapter is itself one really long tangent that mostly feels pointless beyond its inherent humor, but features a conclusion that finally ties it – albeit loosely – to the second chapter’s theming.
It’s different, and it wins points for being different, even if it’s questionable whether any of the differences were necessary.
While the third chapter does feel like it went a bit longer than it needed to, I nonetheless enjoyed it as part of the whole. This is a story for those looking for an unusual direction. It’s certainly a well-written piece. I’m willing to rate it highly, although I’m still left with a certain uncertainty in how wide its reach will be.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author! (Wait, really? I could have sworn…)
Bionic Titan: A New Dawn
47,212 Words
By KorenCZ11
Requested by KorenCZ11
It’s the year 2279, and the world is trapped in a seemingly eternal arms race between four all-powerful conglomerates. On the islands of the Cavalisa Archipelago live mercenary titan pilot Zap Flash and his significant other, Helium Delight. They are about to receive the offer of a lifetime. Whether they survive to appreciate it or not is in question.
I can see why this has so few views. When you look at the story page and are hit by two huge paragraphs of backstory before even getting to the tiny third one that relays what the story is actually about… well, it’s not exactly encouraging. It proves an accurate reflection of the insides too, for the background of this tale is complicated with a capital C. Celestia supposedly missing and yet manipulating the world from the shadows with an extreme and lethal ruthlessness, Luna as the CEO of the most powerful conglomerate, a family tree so big that you’ll very quickly lose track of who is related to whom and in what way (and yet you’re somehow expected to follow it), constant references to dozens of Titan classes that will quickly leave you flailing to make any sense of what the individual names are supposed to imply, so on and so forth. All of this and it’s just background to the actual story.
So what is the story?
It involves an earth pony that is inexplicably a badass titan pilot and his uninformed pegasus best friend. For the record, titans are basically Gundams, or perhaps Evangelion units, or any other big-ass mech you can think of, some of which are so powerful that even Luna couldn’t beat them in a one-on-one fight. I’m sure this entire story exists as a big love letter to the nonsensically over-political anime involving these things (the Gundam franchise in particular comes to mind).
Anyway, Zap Flash and Helium Delight (AKA HD) are offered the chance to steal a brand new titan that redefines what titans are capable of, and making like kings afterwards as a reward. In the meantime Zap doesn’t know where he comes from or why he’s so unnaturally good at piloting titans, and is also keeping a dark secret from HD about how they met. He’s overprotective of her and does everything with her welfare as the top priority. Meanwhile there’s HD herself who lost her parents tragically, also doesn’t know where she’s from, and has been left completely in the dark regarding Zap’s career as a mercenary titan pilot. Despite all the nonsensically complicated political stuff going on in the background (“nonsensically” in that you will struggle to make sense of it), the real story is about Zap and HD’s relationship and how it changes thanks to this new opportunity.
Part of me feels like the story would have been loads better had it focused solely on the perspectives of Zap and HD. On the other, I see all this talk about royal bloodlines and political changes and doing terrible things for the greater good and… I get it. I know where it’s coming from, assuming my guess on the inspiration for this is accurate. If this is meant to emulate the complicated political maneuverings of shows like Gundam, then Koren more or less pulled that off.
The problem: they didn’t give themselves enough time to do it. In order to create a background this complicated and have the raiders truly grasp every aspect, it needs to be fed to them over time so that there’s an opportunity to absorb it all. You can’t just throw down a single scene dropping all these different names and relation ties in a massive info-dump and expect any of it to stick past when the words are on the screen. As it is, it’s more confusing than anything. If Koren really wanted this element of the story to work, they should have created a much bigger story.
I’m left with mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, when we finally get to the big titan battle we all know is coming, it works really well. Especially if you’ve seen the material that it’s paying homage to, in which case you might feel some nostalgia. On the other, the ending comes so quick, and the consequences are supposed to be so big (both on a personal and political level), that it felt rushed and even underwhelming. Which really fits my impression of this story to a T: underwhelming and overwhelming in equal measure.
I enjoyed most everything related to Zap and HD. I liked the scenes involving Twilight, but was miffed whenever they didn’t lead to anything. I thought all the prep work leading to the climactic showdown was well done, but every time Oxford and his scheming became the focus I questioned if it was really necessary. Don’t get me wrong, finding out the truth behind Zap’s origins and their genealogical ties was good for clarity, but a lot of what we saw just felt… superfluous, especially since little of it goes anywhere.
Ultimately, it’s hard to say who will and will not appreciate this story. Aficionados of giant mechs and Gundam-style anime might get something out of it. I’d argue the political intrigue might attract some readers, but I’d be more confident about that if I thought the political intrigue was handled well. Fans of romance, particularly low-key romances, will probably enjoy the central focus on Zap and HD.
But the story as a whole? Eh, mixed bags all around. I can’t shake the feeling that this needed to be a bigger story in order for it to utilize all the different elements at maximum effectiveness. But I don’t blame Koren for not taking that route. After Sometimes They Call Me Super and the ongoing Star Overhead, I wouldn’t be inclined to start another massive series either.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Star Overhead — WHYRTY?
Like Mother, Like Daughter — WHYRTY?
AND THEN! — Pretty Good
Sometimes They Call Me Super — Pretty Good
Ground Control to Major Twi — Needs Work
Flash Sentry Is Not a Hero
4,428 Words
By Bad Dragon
Flash Sentry comes from a long line of heroes. Today, at long last, he has a chance to make them proud. Provided, of course, that he can account for the incalculable, also known as Pinkie Pie.
I am entertained. The humor here is in the juxtaposition. Specifically, that which exists between the events and the narration. On the surface, what we are seeing is a simple public event involving Princess Celestia in the Crystal Empire. But in Flash Sentry’s head, it’s a matter of light and dark, heroes and villains, good vs. evil. Flash’s perspective is depicted with an outright robotic efficiency, with talks of ceaseless calculations for any event that may transpire. Every possible outcome is observed as best as possible using only the strictest prediction models and every variable available.
When looked at that way, it can seem quite serious.
Then you realize that the evil things Flash is on watch for include such dangers as incorrect greeting protocols, cats eyeing cakes, and party balloons. It is monumentally silly, made all the more so by how Flash idolizes his ancestors for exactly these sorts of non-issues. I can’t tell if the rest of Equestria treats such threats with equal seriousness, there are indicators going both directions, but it’s fun to imagine either way.
A goofy story told in a highly detailed, somewhat convoluted way. I absolutely appreciate the writing gimmick, as I imagine most writers will. Give it a go if you’re feeling like some silly fun.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Princess of Friendship — Needs Work
Wait, that’s it? Could have sworn I’d read more…
Hard To Find The Right Words
41,150 Words
By Nameless Narrator
Sixteen was one of Chrysalis’s elite warriors, a part of her personal guard. Then the Canterlot Wedding happened and she finds herself splattered on some ex-paladin’s floor after making a neat changeling-shaped hole in his roof. And I do mean ‘splattered’; her body’s so wrecked she can’t transform, use magic, and is even blind. Now she has to figure out how to get out of this mess with what’s left of her chitin intact.
This is an experimental story in which all information comes from dialogue and written-out sound effects. In short, no narration whatsoever. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this done, and like the last time it has its ups and downs. There are times when it can be difficult to surmise who is speaking, or the intended emotion doesn’t quite come through as it would with narrative accompaniment. That being said, the issues aren’t as common as you might think, and I feel Nameless Narrator did decently overall.
The story follows Sixteen – later renamed Half-Hearted Fury – as she schemes and tries to decide whether to brainwash all these walking lunchboxes and hoof-deliver them to her queen or try… ick… integrating into pony society. Assisting in this decision are the local police chief and his aids/deputies who all get to know Fury to some degree. Plus the fact that she’s now permanently crippled and blind owing to her injuries to the point that she can’t move unless somepony moves her. Yes, it’s exactly what you’re thinking: a changeling redemption fic.
Fortunately, the stylistic gimmick, the decently interesting characters, Fury’s physical condition and her ceaseless snark more than make up for the common trope. That last one makes up the majority of the fun for this fic, although seeing how Fury works around her total inability to see and move helps a lot.
One thing to bear in mind is that this isn’t entirely a happy story. Fury’s dilemma and hesitation to act cause a lot of issues, and not everypony she meets will survive the coming conflict. Honestly, I consider this a point in the story’s favor.
The writing gimmick is a bit odd and definitely has its problems, but overall I enjoyed this one. It’s fun in many ways but knows how to be serious when the moment calls for it. Definitely give it a go if you’re into literary experimentation and/or changelings.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Happiness Is What You Make Of It — WHYRTY?
Cobalt Blue
12,076 Words
By sunnypack
Private surveyor starship Cobalt Blue just fell out of FTL and landed right on top of another starship. Which, y’know, is ridiculous. How phenomenally unlucky do you have to be to just land on another person’s starship like that? But Captain Amelia Finegold’s got more on her plate than she realizes, because the creatures onboard the other craft are the last things she expects.
This is a First Contact story, nothing more or less. It’s supposedly set in an AU where Equestria is starfaring, although I would like to point out that it could simply be very far into Equestria’s future. The first two chapters involve a bumbling attempt at communication between the humans and ponies, which includes awkward naming translations, expected misunderstandings, and royal assault via bellyrubs. What it lacks is any sort of “histrionics”, as sunnypack refers to them; no xenophobic militarists here, which is honestly a welcome change from the usual.
Then the third chapter shows up and suddenly we’re all-engines go towards the ending. It felt rushed and somewhat anticlimactic. This is the second time I’ve had that impression from this author, which makes me wonder if it’s not an MO. It felt like there was so much more that could have been done with this premise, but once the actual first contact scene is over… Well, I guess that’s what sunnypack was here for. There are also a few odd narrative oddities, like the one time in the third chapter sunnypack inexplicably slipped into first person for a single sentence.
Ignoring the ending that came much too quickly, this is a nice feel-good story where Princess Twilight and some human OCs get to know one another, sometimes in very awkward ways. I enjoyed myself and recommend it to anyone with an interest in science fiction or First Contact stories in general.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
All Her Hopes and Dreams — Worth It
Hell Yeah — Worth It
Stories for Next Time:
by PseudoBob Delightus
Shifting Sides by Moonatik
Finding Daylight by RaylanKrios
And That's Good Enough by Soufriere
Two Ponies by TwilightSnarkle
The New Hacker In Town by AlexTFish
Kill Phil by TheAshenKnight
Goldilocks and the Three Months Spent in Young Offender's Prison by Impossible Numbers
To Rekindle the Sun by Donraj
Changeling Space Program by Kris Overstreet
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Heh, I always knew you were a heavy Halloween man, but planning it all this early? That's… actually pretty on-brand for you, but still surprising enough that I grinned. Can't say I have much in the way of suggestions – what little I experience that's in any way horror-themed or horror-adjacent and fits your criteria isn't springing to mind.
If something does that's a winner, I'll come back and suggest it, but I'll bet you'll get enough from the others here after me.
Ooh… it's been a while since I've seen a week of yours with that low a rating average. Not just the lack of WHYRTY?, that happens enough times to not be of note, but having only three of the ten stories scrape a Pretty Good. I guess because of your inclination towards longer stories, and also low rating not being too common a reflex, it makes a week like this stick out all the more.
For those plot-blindness problems on The Sweet Spot… I dunno, I never noticed them, and with all the leaps of faith many stories, especially random comedies, require one to make, even if I had, I probably would have brushed it off. But I can see it.
Re: Nighttide Star,
The first four chapters were written during the first four weeks of my exposure to G4 - as in, I was actively watching through the available seasons (only S1 - S4 at that time) when I began it, out of sheer want. I had always wanted to write something, but G4 made me know what I wanted to write. I ended up doing the Meet the Mane 6 trope instinctively, and it felt great. Super overdone of course, but it was a blast to write - my way of meeting the characters in exposition.
There was a sequel planned - just one. I didn't want to overreach and plan to do something that would, 1) Be likely to fall flat on its face because so many ambitious projects do, or 2) Be unreasonable for my time and energy. In late 2015, I wrote a few initial chapters to feel things out, then wrote a proper synopsis, overview, made plans to tie up loose ends from the first story that were intentional vs incidental, etc. Structured things which I hadn't done for the first story, but which I had been learning over the course of that year. I even hired a well-known writer on this site to do some edits with the first story.
But then 2016 came around, which at the turn of the year was when I just lost all interest in writing. I've mentioned this in response to a prior review or two, but it really can't be understated just how much of a switch seemed to flip magically in my brain. There were no extenuating circumstances, irl or otherwise, that seemed to trigger it. I just... didn't want to write anymore!
I made the mistake of trying to push forward anyway, despite the vanished interest. I even changed my mind about having the editor tackle the first story as it sat and went about rewriting the story from three first-person perspectives - Twilight, Luna, and of course, Nighttide. I'm very thankful I didn't finish that, not just because it was burning me the hell out real fast, but also because it was making the story WAY more convoluted. Not to mention first-person perspective was not remotely something I was practiced in.
So despite plans, Nighttide Star II never came to fruition, the first story still remains unedited by a third-party, and incidental plot holes were never assessed by anyone outside of myself (thanks for taking on the review, I never saw a couple of them, so I can at least do some quick basic edits to resolve them!) The sequel will not be written, unless I hire someone else to do so in the future, and the sequel "project" as it was planned (with chapter artwork, a single commissioned music piece with a single-scene animation for a finale scene, and a couple limited-release pieces of merch for some long-term supporters) was quietly cancelled.
Addressing some of the points brought up, starting from the mention of curiosities (spoiler warning),
_____
Evil spirit was meant to tie in with Roanne. tl;dr: The ponies of Roanne are descendants of the ones magically banished in Maretania, repopulated on a planet that is NOT in a separate dimension, but squarely in the physical universe within which Equestria exists. The reason Nighttide even showed up in Equestria at all was because the warp drive uses principles of magic that were documented very early on when the descendants of Maretania found themselves in a new and foreign land, which just so happens to suppress (or not promote, perhaps?) magic - the warp drive is not magical, it's just manifesting something once only accessible via arcane magic. Regarding the earlier point though: Take an individual Roanne pony and drop them in Equestria for a couple of years, and they'll begin to feel phantom pains in their forehead, barrel, or hooves. Magic still exists within them, but it's physically never been able to manifest due to the world they live in. Important to note though is the evil spirit did not "beckon" Nighttide, nor did it play any part in influencing the development of warp drive technology back in Roanne. In fact, the evil spirit had no clue anything was occurring at all in any space outside that which Riptide existed, and had not been "conscious" for millennia. The fact that Nighttide's arrival and Riptide's actions had lined up was gonna be played up as potentially being "prophecy fulfilled" until eventually someone stepped in and said, "Y'all ever heard of a coincidence before? They do happen, y'know!" In any case, Roanne ponies - including Nighttide - are more closely related to the deceased and suffering spirits that make up the now singular "spirit" which Riptide has awoken, and are thus distantly related to Equestrians as a whole. Does the spirit know? No, not explicitly - at least not within the timeline of the first story. That wouldn't occur until much later, at the same time that everyone begins to figure out what's going on, and a big conflict between Equestria and Roanne begins to develop when the ponies of Roanne find out they are the equivalent of the people living on the desert planet in the first Homeworld game, seeking to reclaim Hiigara as their home.
Nighttide being the damsel was not-insignificantly influenced by the fear of making her too OP and giving her too much agency. Her abilities are right in line with what I envisioned, but I probably would've given her more time to play around and be a pony all her own somewhere within the story had I written it some months later, although her falling victim to the spirit, etc. would've still occurred.
As far as "suggesting at"... it's a phrase used commonly in Alabama south of Montgomery
My bad!
Celestia and her guard not being further explored was an incidental plot-hole; I'll probably look into giving it a fix sometime later!
Riptide is left to fly away into the sunset unpunished 'cause that was my interpretation of how Twilight would have wanted things handled, by herself or any of those close to her. Bing bong, def not what she'dve done, but not an easy fix, so gonna stick around for now
Celestia and Luna not telling Twilight was very intentional, but I think I should've fleshed out some more conversation between the two on why. I wanted to keep it subtle - partly due to plans for the sequel, partly just to keep some mystery around - but tl;dr is, Celestia (given this was mid-S4) was becoming increasingly worried about Twilight's stress levels, so one reason she wanted to withhold the info was that. Another and not explicitly-highlighted reason was because of the time-period from which this spirit originates, and the still-as-of-yet-disclosed information that surrounds that time-period in general. Sure, Twilight has access to the Forbidden Section of the Canterlot Library, but as was demonstrated in the story, it doesn't hold every single written record ever. Later seasons went on to show that Celestia still had more history to teach Twilight (as did new villains), so I wanted to play on the idea that Celestia was still selectively withholding some info from her star pupil-turned-princess in order to, 1) Not overwhelm the fledgling alicorn, and 2) To still keep some cards held close to chest, in the rare and unforeseen event that Twilight ever were to fall away from her chosen path. All that said... Luna wanted to tell Twilight. It's why she was so pissy with her sister, aside from wanting to keep Nighttide close to both help her, and prevent her or others from being harmed in the future.
"Waterbending" was def a common phrase used for water-based magic in the spaces I existed back in 2015, so that one I'll def fix later!
Nighttide not pushing harder against the idea of returning to Roanne is definitely a missed opportunity. I felt a bit of internal pressure to wrap up the first story around August of 2015, so as ideas came to mind, I pushed a fair few off to the side in favor of getting to the finish-line sooner than later. Had I to do it over again, I would've fleshed out her internal struggle a fair bit more.
Once upon a time, I wish I hadn't used the dream-dive trope at all, but in recent years, what I wish I had done was still used it to extrapolate on Nighttide's history, but given it a meaningful point at the end. I would've kept the physical fight between Luna and the spirit in place, but it would've come after another, more impactful event that would've occurred in the dreamscape.
_____
So, all that said, I wish so much that I had maintained desire to continue writing, as to date, not wrapping up Nighttide Star's story is one of my biggest... hm, I guess not regret, because I'm thankful I listened to myself and didn't continue trying to push forward with writing when I didn't want to. But I guess... it makes me sad? Cause I still daydream about her almost daily, still imagining all the scenes of the sequel. I just can't put them into words - or rather, I have no desire to. And now that I'm nearly ten years further into life, my time, energy, and health are also way more limited.
Thank you for your awesome review of Flash Sentry Is Not a Hero.
I'm really glad to see that you understood what I was going for with the story. I wasn't sure if anypony would.
If you think you should have reviewed more of my stories, I won't stand guard against your pursuit.
As for the short movies, I'd recommend the channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@watchdust
And if that's not scary enough, there's always Tales From the Crypt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAuWyPgdiPI&list=PLD052B39F0D1BD41A
It doesn't exactly have much substance, but this has always been one of my favourites.
Edit: I was very silly and literally just linked you back to your own blog instead of the intended spoopy video. Now fixed.
Alright, for your horror videos, I have two that fit your parameters, a literal movie, and a long silly video about the RE4 remake.
Your best friend cover:
https://youtu.be/Ob8k-q83mCk?si=fU0mTVA0RlUeb5Hu
Classic PMV
https://youtu.be/JSUBuVdkskA?si=cXlL-OfiJghLCGKp
A literal horror film uploaded to youtube
https://youtu.be/V0ODG8bFme0?si=Iw3_cXjEPQFgazCE
An incorrect summary of RE4 remake
https://youtu.be/m3lzIfi8e_A?si=cRUd8gLRahR437b-
As far as the story goes I suppose that means I really captured the Tomino Gundam series, including the part where I don't explain things well enough or give the story the time it needs to make sense. (See ZZ, Victory, Char's Counter attack, Turn A, and Reconguista in G)
Initially, I wrote this for Bicyclette's Scifi contest II right before I moved to Japan this year, and the whole thing was written within the month of March. I wanted to do something gundam-y, and thought I could get away with it in a 50K word limit.
I still cut out an entire chapter of 7K words before I uploaded the story.
It got out of hand very quickly and when I was coming to the end, I didn't know where I was going to go with it. I think the mental math came in for how much work a story like this needed to have a satisfying conclusion and I'd subconsciously decided to not do that. It doesn't help that I never got this edited or preread in any way, so between your review and bicyclette's comments, that's all the feedback I have on it.
If I were to redo it, which I likely will what with armored core 6 coming out today, I'd likely move all of Oxford's parts to a second half where the political shenanigans take place on his side as he monitors Zap and HD and the world situation as a whole. I did think about cutting his parts entirely after I was finished with the story, but at the same time, I felt like that took away the why in the story.
As for the Celestia/Luna thing, this story is actually set in the far future of Star Overhead, which is what Oxford's part in chapter 4 is about since he kinda just recaps that story. Also part of why I thought about cutting it. Too much baggage, to much scope for 50K.
Formal request, please read:
- MLP: FiM
- Drama
- Slice of Life
- Tragedy
Rainbow Dash dreams of a foal in the sky, one she can never quite seem to make out. She always recognizes his eyes though as they're just like hers. Just who is he? And why does Rainbow feel like she knows him?and its sequel
- MLP: FiM
- Drama
- Slice of Life
It's been twelve years since the events of Grounded. Soarin has grown into a father, Prism has become a young hotshot, but Haze is still trapped under the overbearing weight of his mother's love. What is a Stallion to do when his family is fighting?Ooh, an impending Snarkle. :eyes:
It runs a tad longer (25 minutes, but that includes credits), but I'd recommend Kakurenbo. (Here's my review of it.) It can be found in the movies section of the site I linked you some months ago to watch Haibane Renmei. I found it to be a great creepy (but not gory) short film, but some of the logic behind it doesn't hold up to scrutiny, as I discuss in the review. It's odd to me that the only places I've found it posted online have quite low-res video of it, considering it's not that old, so it's not like it was copied from a VHS cassette or anything. Fortunately, it's not the kind of movie where that matters too much.
I've read "The Sweet Spot" and have pretty much the same issues with it. I also found that it was the same scene over and over again. The girls take Tempest to try some talents, each one fails in turn. They go again another day, same result. And it wasn't failing upward, either, where the repeated disappointment leads to higher tension and a building climax. The plot curve was very flat.
I have heard "suggest at" used as a synonym for "hint at," but it's pretty rare.
>sees someone randomly request review of 70k+ worth of stories after just having a nearly 50k one reviewed by request
I didn't know we could do that! Hey! Read all my stories! Except the meh ones. Which may possibly rule out all of them...
Maybe I should do something spookyriffic this year with my friends or my folks for Halloween. Probably a better, more entertaining and more involved idea than spending it as yet another day except knowing that the following day I can pick up loads of candy at greatly discounted prices from stores...
In sort of related/unrelated news, I find myself in the position of having just finished reading an awesome Rarity-centric adventure fic that I wanted to recommend to you but unfortunately it's a large one. And according to the current (temporary) rules on your page you aren't accepting any more long ones next year. Ah, well.
Of course for all I know maybe you've already had someone recommend it and put it on your list idkBicyclette is probably either my favorite or second-favorite author on the site (It's a tossup between her and Aragorn, I think?). Would love to see you review her other fics - especially Long-Distance.
Eh, Halloween's more a state of mind, anyway.
Congratulations on your longest-numbered review post! A record it will not relinquish until #388.
Wish I could help on the videos, but horror is very much not my genre.
I'd have recommended the David Pumpkins skit, but I feel like I probably got that from one of your previous halloween posts. Love it anyway
5743692
What can I say? I like me spookies and ghoulies.
Yeah, I noticed it was a bit of a lackluster week.
5743699
Ouch. Yeah, I can see why this ended the way it did in light of all that. One can't help it when the muse decides to look elsewhere. It really did seem to me like this was all planning a sequel to resolve a lot of the issues. Now I get confirmation of that, but also confirmation said sequel will never come to be. I get it, I've done that kind of thing myself. It's never a pleasant thing though, for the author or the readers.
Oh well. I'm glad you took the review so positively!
5743701
I'm sure I'll be reading more of your stories in time. I have a (very long) list for exactly that kind of thing. I just thought I'd read more by now. Maybe it just that I see you around the site so much.
Science fiction, eh? Might be worth a watch. Dunno if it'll fit the bill, but it definitely can work with what I'm after. ...and I just realized that my cousin and her husband probably never saw Alien. I might have to fix that...
I forgot all about Tales from the Crypt. Which is funny, because there was a time when I was a kid that I gleefully watched the cartoon version. Thanks for the reminder!
5743703
When I first saw the link yesterday, I honestly thought you were being cheeky.
Cute and silly, definitely something worth sharing. But probably during the actual visit rather than as a "31 Days of Halloween" thing.
5743705
I think my cousins would appreciate the Undertale song, being as they're fans.
A horror-adjacent PMV I've not seen before! Now that's a nice discovery. Many thanks! The TF2 movie looks genuinely interesting. I shall have to find time to watch it straight through. Interesting how TF2 has invaded the public conscience so thoroughly that I can get it without having once played the game.
The RE4 video is a lot of fun, I just don't know how much my cousins will get out of it since I can guaran-damn-tee you they've never so much as glanced at a RE game. Which I might have to correct someday. I was never as big on RE as some people, partially because I skipped the entire series in its heyday. Still, the video looks like a lot of fun on its own merits.
Ah, so the story's faults come from a lack of time? I can understand that. Heck, that you released it so quickly and still made it as good as it is says good things. Maybe if you ever revise/upgrade it I might be willing to give it another pass. Also: never played an Armored Core game, but I have to admit 6 looks interesting.
5743730
I've actually seen Kakurenbo, although it's been a very long time. My sister introduced me to it; horror isn't her thing, but she is vaguely aware that it's mine. I'll have to watch it again, might be a great addition to the list.
What do you mean, "I didn't know we could do that?" Does it say anywhere that people can't request things from me? Bah. ...that said, it does feel like it's been a while since I last read one of yours. Might have to remedy that soon.
5743731
Oh Luna, the candy. Last year I bought some just in case the local kids wanted to do trick-r'-treating, They didn't, or rather, if they did it was in some other area. So I had to eat all that candy by my lonesome. Which, y'know, yay candy, but my waistline hated me.
Oi, if it's a Rarity-centric adventure, I'm interested by default. Point me to it and I can at the very least add it to my (surprisingly short) backlog I've created just for this reason. Also: that rule's not going to be around much longer, as I've almost filled up all the gaps in my 2024 schedule. Also also: you can check my archive to see if I've read the story already.
5743748
Best Robin Williams impression: "Is that an official wish? Say the magic words!"
5743751
Is there a Halloween version of Zen, then?
5743753
Technically it wasn't my cousin's genre either, but she indulged me when we were kids and that became tradition. It's the one time of the year she's willing to give that kind of stuff a chance, and yeah, she's come to enjoy it. So long as it's in limited doses.
5743781
Yeah, definitely one we've seen before. Oldie, but a goodie!
5743804
That guy covers a lot of undertale songs and songs in general, but that particular video he deliberately made to be unsettling.
It's pretty ancient and one of the first pony things i'd seen back when I got into this fandom like ten years ago.
I feel so old.Everything Max0r makes is amazing. How he manages to put so much adhd approved content in 30 minute videos all the time is beyond me.
After 8 hours in AC6, I can confirm it is a lot of fun. But it is also still a From Soft game and incredibly hard when it wants to be. As far as inspiration for the story goes, it does actually give me an idea on how to weave the poitical aspects in a lot better. Taking a more AC/86 approach and using Oxford like a handler who's constantly talking to Zap as he's working would make for a more solid character dynamic as opposed to two completely separate worlds, though, that's probably how the next part of the story would go. Ah, but who knows? A plan only stays in place until it hits the battlefield as they say.
5743806
I was just being facetious. I know anyone can request a review. It just seemed amusing, given that you mostly pick things on your own that interest you, that Koren's story review was listed as being requested by him, and upon it getting posted, he promptly requests two more reviews, leading me to envision just daisy-chaining requests until you've gone through the whole repertoire. As to mine, you did review something not long ago, two in the same blog, actually, with "Dinkin' Donuts" and "Second Draft."
5743844
Those don't feel very recent in my mind. As to people requesting stories on repeat, I point you to Trick Question, who not only had a habit of doing this, but often reached out with a new request the minute I applied a rating to a story weeks before its review. She's since stopped doing that for whatever reason. Still, I'll take that over someone sending me 20 reviews at a time (which did happen once, and I no longer allow it).
5743848
Now that I look, those last reviews were back in October. Strange, they feel a lot more recent than that. I would have guessed March.
Since you bring up Trick Question, that also amused me. In that last review, you kind of made a big deal of there being two of my stories in the same post, whereas you probably had multiple TQ stories in a post on 3 or 4 occasions. The ins and outs of perception can be interesting.
5743851
I don't think so. It might have happened once, but TQ would have had to have made her requests all at once for that to happen with any kind of regularity.
5743860
Probably my perception going awry then. If time is compressing in the same way I thought you'd reviewed "Dinkin' Donuts" just a few months ago, then it's probably that TQ getting reviewed in consecutive blogs several times felt like multiple times within the same blog.
5743808
Fairly certain you hadn't because I never saw a "you can has review" comment there but I'll look first for good measure™ before forwarding it over to you.
5743877
If it's a story that's been around for a long while and I reviewed it in the early days then the tag might not be there at all.
5743810
Abra Cadabra!
Seriously though - no super sure how you're 'supposed' to request, but I suppose if I can I'd like to request that you review Bicyclette's "Long-Distance", please!
She made a 'prequel' story recently in P-Value, if you prefer reading stories in in-universe chronological order, but Long-Distance came out first.
5743944
It shall be done!
When I saw you pick up Where We Belong I entertained the idea of mentioning that What I’ve Done is a tiny little companion piece best experienced directly afterward, but decided I’d let you figure it out (and decide if you even wanted to see what MD was up to for that matter)
.
If I could do Where We Belong + What I’ve Done over again, and if FimFic gave enough control over chapter organization and presentation, I’d cram them together into one story split into parts with the journal entries interleaved wherever they fit in the timeline. MD’s notes would be scrawled on lined paper in an handwriting-esk font and probably slanted like a bad photocopy.
Yes, I could fake most of that with funky chapter titles and text as images, but that’s an uphill battle I didn’t want to fight. I’ve got other fish to fry
5743705
Saw Emesis Blue last night. Talk about weird, but certainly a high quality product considering how it was made. I wouldn't share it with my cousins though, at least not until I had a grasp of what everything really means. I mean, I get certain high points, but specific events within the movie just leave me scratching my head.
5744273
There's a lot of actual TF2 lore at play here that helps to know, but a majority of it is self contained. I think to get most of my explanations, I just went down and read the comments on the video. There's quite a lot going on.
That's totally my jam!
Read it, and the characters were a lot of fun. Fury's snark was especially entertaining.
The not-narration sound effects were kinda off-putting, but I'm glad I was able to get past them.
Have you read Georg's Buggy and the Beast by any chance?
- MLP: FiM
- Romance
- Slice of Life
When a critically injured changeling is discovered by the ugliest and most disagreeable unicorn stallion in Baltimare, her only hope for survival is to somehow help them both to feel love again.It's tonally similar, and features another very snarky bug.
5744547
Snarky characters are best characters! Miss you, Seasons 1-3 Twilight.
Yeah, I didn't really like the onomatopoeia myself. I rarely do. But I was willing to give it a pass because in the complete absence of narration it could at least serve to provide some contextual assistance for the reader.
It's by Georg? Well then, consider me interested! And look, it's perfectly sized to slip nice and neat into my currently very tight 2024 schedule. I think I'll take advantage of that, thank you very much.