Ghost Mike's Ponyfic Review Monday Musings #102 · 6:00pm February 26th
Anyone else ever remember giving something up for Lent when they were young? Even though it hasn’t been a thing in close to two decades for me, I’m reminded of it by two people in the house doing it for the first time in donkey’s years. Okay, one person, my mom to combat her sweet tooth: my brother is merely relaxing on the soft drinks outside of before and after sports training/matches. But that’s still 1.5 more than usual.
Obviously by the time I was a kid, the incentive for doing it had long since given up on connecting it to Jesus’ biblical sacrifice (the 90’s saw the Catholic Church’s control and authority in Ireland go from insurmountable to yesterday’s news quite quickly). It was all just about teaching kids self-control and to not over-indulge on your favourite things. Thing is, it was rarely that big a sacrifice for me, as I never liked chocolate, and the standby of sweets like pastilles and wine gums, even for Li’L Ghost Mike, were always something I could go a while without having. My parents certainly did try and push me towards relinquishing video games instead on occasion, but I was pretty good at resisting this (plus, our playtime was monitored anyway). It couldn’t compare to the amount I had to shelve them during exam season as a teenager! 
I suppose the other reason it never registered hugely outside of the start, and the end easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday (with sweets for me), was because traditionally, Irish parents would give up their vices to get a good example, usually alcohol or smoking. But my folks had stopped the latter when I was born and only drank in moderation outside of parties or social events. I’m not sure I can remember what they gave up, actually. I should probably ask them.
There’s little payoff to this musing, besides Pancake Tuesday having let into Lent just under two weeks ago. I’m sure, even with how less emphasised Catholicism and going to church is these days, a fair share of families still follow the practice to teach their kids well. So like many things, it’s probably something you stop noticing once you become an adult but notice again once you’re a parent.
…You know, not that Lent wasn’t/isn’t followed in America, but it’s possible I have never had an opening blurb so rooted in Irish culture. 
On the Ponyfic review side of things, excepting this month’s novel being covered here (and I’m betting you’ve heard of it 
), today’s mostly a bridging week to next Monday, the two-year anniversary. Unlike the 100th blog a fortnight ago, haven’t skimped on preparation this time! 
Though veteran readers might recognise the theme. Otherwise, I was very slack with reading during the last week, a lot going on (energetic, productive things, if some that left me rather whacked and cream-crackered), so while the fics for next week are fully assembled, I’ll need to redouble behind the scenes to keep the backlog in shape. 
As a side note, this month’s novel is technically (and practically) only a novella, but on top of kicking off a trilogy with two more actual-novels (still sub-100K ones, mind), the density of content and what it gave me to talk about still elicited the longer Ponyfic novel review treatment. In fact, at 2.3K, it’s probably the longest review I’ve done yet of a fic. But then again, this is a fandom classic whose reputation precedes it like almost nothing else, so it deserves the space.
This Week’s Spectral Stories:
In Memory Of by Obselescence
Cross Words by Alaborn
The Sister Sidestep: Apple Bloom by Impossible Numbers
Solving for Death by Majin Syeekoh
Hard Reset by Eakin
Weekly Word Count: 61,610 Words
In Memory Of by Obselescence
Genre: Sad/Slice of Life
Twilight, Spike, Celestia
7,186 Words
December 2012Listened to via Scribbler's reading
Even all these years later, Twilight still lives happily in Ponyville, and still writes letters to Celestia. Lately, though, she’s been having trouble remembering things, and while she chalks it up to old age, Spike is more concerned, especially as he’s paying her concerns that she ask the princess, or go see someone, little heed.
Yep, it’s a pre-Twilicorn story about Twilight’s slow slide into senility, and as told through letters she writes to Celestia (with the occasional one from Spike). I had read enough of these kinds of stories that I put this one off until I happened upon Scribbler's new reading of it (which classifies it as an AU, because apparently people on YouTube can’t grasp fics that were written before certain canon decisions). Now having read it, while I can’t say it’s a codifier of the form, it is solid.
Outside of a little crossed-out text, the letters mostly feel authentic, with the content of them (or the writer) often making their length and prose style fly. Which leaves just Twilight slowly succumbing to her illness, and while some of the story decisions therein don’t fly – Rarity’s role, chiefly – they largely work for the focus on emotions and reactions. You feel Twilight’s desperation as she is denied the books she doesn’t realise she can’t read, her audacity at Spike going behind her to the Princess, her regret everytime she writes something rude she quickly regrets. And the inferred parts between the letters too.
By finishing on the takeaway of how important it is to spend all the time we have with those we love, it hits plenty hard (for me, heightened immeasurably by Scribbler’s line reading for Twilight towards the end), even if it’s a bit shapeless at times. It’s not one of those sadfics so powerful as to overwhelm that it’s not a cheery experience, and thus it is not a must-read, but at the same time, its 43K+ views aren’t totally just a case of getting to its topic early in the fandom’s life.
Rating: Pretty Good
Cross Words by Alaborn
Genre: Slice of Life/Comedy
Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Cheerilee, Mayor Mare
5,546 Words
November 2013Reread
Becoming an alicorn has only changed so much in Twilight’s life, and one thing she’s kept up with is weekly Sunday brunch with Cheerilee and Mayor Mare, a place for the three to have some friendly competition over the Manehattan Times crossword puzzle. Alas, this week, it turns out the puzzle is one she wrote many years ago. Discussion over how she came to dabble in that field with her companions mysteriously leads to her barely leading to sleep…
The above blurb likely made the transition between the easygoing slice of life scenario of three of Ponyville’s smartest mares testing their brains against each other to alicorn headcanon sound smooth and graceful. The transition does make logical sense, as regards what triggers Twilight’s relative lack of sleep. And said alicorn headcanon is interesting and different enough from the norm (turns out there have been others throughout history, and Twilight is the 18th after the royal sisters), so the fic doesn’t sink into the groan-worthy pit many such fics in 2013, in the wake of Twilight’s ascension, often did.
That said, as an actual reading experience, whatever the tone doesn’t turn grave or gloomy, it does leave the story not feeling like the way it started or appeared from the outside. Compounded further by the fic’s final note fitting with neither of these approaches. The result is amusing and engaging enough (there’s certainly plenty there for anyone who’s dabbled at crossword puzzles), and both modes have strong points, even if, in the end, they don’t exactly coalesce into a unified whole.
Rating: Decent
The Sister Sidestep: Apple Bloom by Impossible Numbers
Genre: Slice of Life
Rarity, Apple Bloom
9,503 Words
December 2020Reread
Standalone Side-Story to The Sister Sidestep: Scootaloo (Reviewed here) and The Sister Sidestep: Sweetie Belle (Reviewed here)
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. Apple Bloom has been around Rarity enough to have an inkling there’s more to her than being “s’phisticated”, and she’s not just the prissy pony one might assume. Alas, her early attempts to forge a middle ground over a good eatin’ didn’t go quite to plan, and once back at the boutique, Apple Bloom sees afresh how different they are. Apples have no aspirations beyond Ponyville, while Rarity has her heart, mind and manners set on the whole of Equestria. Yet perhaps these two, both socially sensitive to quite a fault, have more in common. Even to a middle ground that requires compromise on both ends…
The major element separating this third one-shot from Impossible Number’s prior two Sister Sidestep (all standalone, don’t forget), is that it’s not just the featured CMC filly that learns more about the bigger sister they’re with for today, and makes a compromise of understanding to know and gel with them better. No, though she spends much of the fic inwardly a little frustrated at Apple Bloom’s lack of grace, she comes around a bit too. Not as much as Apple Bloom, but when the filly feels less assured than she once did, that’s when Rarity brings out the best in others. An personality trait Apple Bloom herself was applying in other ways throughout the fic, steering Rarity back towards being inspired herself. It’s one of a few very clever and effective points of parallelism.
Truth be told, I’d always remembered this as the weakest of the three fics, largely for losing the needle on applying the swapped dynamic and unravelling a bit, and coming across as chunky and dense in a manner the prior two avoided. That’s not untrue, but honestly, it largely didn’t drag for me this time. Partially this is for the first scene being from Rarity’s perspective, and while this does mean the story and series isn’t perfectly about the CMCs, and it’s not altogether clear what this gains it (the rest of the fic, like the prior two, does fine getting everything regarding the older pony from an outsider perspective), it does freshen it up. And the switch back to Apple Bloom later gets through the recalibration of a differing perspective quick enough, and into the core of the problem. As the switch takes place when the environment switches who’s in their comfort zone and who’s out of it, it has thematic reasoning and payoff too.
As mentioned, there is a slight ennui over this third entry, and a little straining at the margins in finding ways for these two to interact that are as fresh as the others (that they have interacted onscreen a bit, whereas Sweetie Belle basically never has with AJ solo and Scootaloo with Applejack only concerning Rainbow Dash, probably doesn’t help). So parts of it are a little less inspired. But most of it, from a dress fitting through to the activity the two bond over in the end, strikes just as solid a chord. So while probably my least favourite of the three, it's awfully close to a dead heat with the Sweetie Belle debut entry.
Rating: Pretty Good
P.S. I had a whale of a time trying to pin this one’s chronology down. Despite the character dynamics lying firmly in the same vague Season Three/Four place as the prior two, it has two markers that violate this. Rarity mentions considering a boutique in Manehattan, which doesn’t hard confirm she had the one in Canterlot yet, even if it points that way, but Dash is also in a Wonderbolt show next week here… apart from her practising to become one in the Sweetie Belle story, “Newbie Dash” happens when Rarity is already set on a Manehattan boutique and done scouting for a location in “The Gift of the Maud Pie”. Pretty irrevocable, that!
Solving for Death by Majin Syeekoh
Genre: Dark/Comedy (Alternate Universe)
Starlight, Celestia
3,017 Words
January 2017Reread
Listened to via Scribbler's reading
While preparing for the dinner with Twilight and Celestia that she’s supposed to bring a friend along to, Starlight inadvertently kills Twilight with a fork. Of course, since she’s done the impossible several times, and deliberately off her own will, she isn’t too fazed by this, and instantly sets herself to the task of magically reviving Twilight. Even Celestia’s arrival midway through her struggles doesn’t phase her. She’s got this!
While I wouldn’t say “Twilight is killed and the other character(s) go about resurrecting her” is exactly a genre where if you’ve read one, you’ve read them all, I’ve certainly read (and reviewed!) enough that diminishing returns sets in for the cases that don’t heavily plus themselves with other factors. This isn’t quite one of those – it’s appreciated the story doesn’t go for a Frankenstein solution or dark magic, but nothing particularly fills up the space. It’s just Starlight trying energy spells, even after Celestia comes in, until she gives in and asks for help.
This would probably be fine if the dark comedy was stellar, but it feels oddly subdued. Given the warm-and-abrupt conclusion, it feels like the fic wanted to still be sentimental and promote friendship, but the balance between the two isn’t struck, and thus that feels like an obligation, while the comedy feels restrained and like it's pulling its punches. Even Celestia being unfazed emotionally by Twilight being dead doesn’t produce much of a reaction.
To be fair, this is older than most of the other similar fics I’ve read, and it does at least feel true to Starlight being stubborn and adamant in herself and her reckless ways. But with very little of the fic leaving an impression beyond “it happened”, it didn’t stand out for me in any of the sub-categories it’s a part of.
Rating: Passable
Hard Reset by Eakin
Genre: Dark/Adventure
Twilight, Spike, Chrysalis
36,358 Words
January 2013Reread
It’s bad enough the spell of Star Swirl’s that Twilight dug up to peer into alternate timelines blew up in her face. It’s even worse that this happens just a few hours before changelings return to Canterlot for vengeance. But the real shocker is, when she’s killed in the invasion, that she finds herself back right at the spell’s failure. And again when she attempts to stop Chrysalis. And again when she tries to flee but finds out there’s a definitive time limit before it all blows up.
Realising she’s caught in a time loop, Twilight vows to fix all this. No matter how many deaths this takes. And it will take a lot.
…Should I have just copied the fic’s blurb? Yeah, probably, but that’s not my style. Technically, this fic is slightly shy of the commonly-agreed-upon minimum word count for a novel (40K, or even 37.5K, depending on where you check). Plus, it’s only 34K once we slash off the Alternate Ending bonus chapter. AND, the story originally ended a chapter earlier at only 24K, but Eakin wrote an aftermath chapter off of viewer feedback that spooled to over a third the length of the story as it then stood (more on that later). All that definitely makes it a novella, no question. But, between the density of content, how much I have to say on it, and especially its legacy and reputation, there’s no way this was ever not going to get the longer novel review treatment. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up closer in length to one of Present Perfect’s “vs.” posts (read the one on this fic here).
Semantics done, now we can look at Hard Reset. There’ll be no preamble about its reputation: it’s the 12th most-read (still-active) story on the site. It placed 2nd at the Royal Canterlot Library’s There Can Only Be One panel at the final BronyCon (and is the second most-read fic of that shortlist of sixteen fics, just trailing Background Pony). I’ve learned from my retrospective reading that it practically transformed the genre of Ponyfic time loop stories from being overwhelmingly Groundhog Day-style character dramas (themselves popularised by the amazing The Best Night Ever), leading to a whole subgenre of thrilling (and often dark) action and wars stories using that hook. To say it is an important and famous fic would be a gross understatement. Plus, unlike even a lot of heavily fandom fandom oldies, it’s still read a fair share today: in 2023, a decade after publication, it still racked up almost 5K in views.
And unlike some other fandom classics that are just something I read as a fic like any other years later, I have a bit of history with it too: it was, after The Secret Life of Rarity, the first concrete series of Ponyfics I can vividly recall reading in that foggy period of 2018 before I set up an account here. Its two sequels and AU side novella continuation too (though not horizon’s incomplete reimagining Hard Reset 2: Reset Harder, though I’ve certainly heard enough raves for it regardless), and Li’l Ghost Mike found them all most engaging. Finally returning to the original story (sitting in that sweet spot of being standalone while also perfectly setting up the threads the sequels would capitalise on), over five years later, was a much anticipated moment.
I’m giving myself carte blanche on this one to not withhold any spoilers, because if anyone still hasn’t read this fic yet, you’re obviously never going to (if you’re new to the fandom, go ahead, I’ll wait). The actual plot is simple enough, going through many of the beats of time loop stories, of confusion, then desperation, then self-deception at figuring out a solution to the loop, then depression, reignition of will, and finally resolve through repetition and memorisation to close it, and release. On that front, it’s mostly the dark elements that set it apart. Well, okay, not “set it apart”, fanfic writers are given to grimming the source material up all the time. And while the changelings often killing their victims and Twilight’s mental anguish in her lower moments are certainly potent, they are firmly within mild T-rated territory, content largely to hint or imply at the truly disturbing elements, but otherwise brush past them. Alternate ending chapter excepted, of course.
Mostly, then, it’s the way Eakin has chosen to tell the story that sets it apart as a reading experience. It’s told from Twilight’s first-person perspective (which is also present tense, to little discernible benefit, but I digress), and there’s never a moment you forget that. Having her snarky Season Two character is part of that, as is the progression from her combat-naive self at the start (arguably too naive; in the first chapter, she does little but force-push some changelings aside) to a hardened war veteran grappling with PTSD by the final loop. But mostly, it’s the little things.
Whether they be asides like a goth phase, a certain rhythm to how she refers to the terminology of all that’s going on here (she calls the energy wave that ends each loop a “Wall of Horrible Shiny Death” at one point), some of her more choice one-liners, and the nuttiness she indulges in during her “it’ll all reset anyway, I’ll let myself go phase” halfway through (which leads to the cover art of her in a dress with earrings and decapitating a changeling with a baseball bat). It’s very firmly rooted in a late-2012 edgy fanfic exploration of her character, somewhat closer to the memetic, random brand of snarky folks tended to approximate her as, but at the same time, there’s a guileless sincerity to how Twilight is voiced which suffices. I wasn’t surprised to read an author interview and learn Eakin identifies and relates with Twilight strongly, to the point of some of her thoughts throughout being just how he would react.
Given basically every other character here is a prop, as they would be in these loops where Twilight alone remembers the details, nailing Twilight this well is crucial, as otherwise the story would be nothing but surface-level tension overshadowed by any fic it inspired that went bigger and bolder. So even though I don’t think it’s the number one reason this fic endured throughout the years, Twilight’s character is crucial to the fic.
The length of the fic may seem rather short to truly let its material breathe, but it actually works really well. Primarily, this is for knowing when to skip over chunks of loops or entire loops altogether, which once Twilight has gotten to grips with things, happens aplenty. It’s so rooted in her perspective and hardened resolve, especially later on, that it gets a lot more mileage from having her be unable to get past four changelings guarding one room and get killed in battle, then skip to when she has their attack patterns down well enough to basically walk through them. In terms of plot incident, the fic has pretty much exactly the right amount for what it’s wanting to tell.
Really, though, the plot details are playing second fiddle to Twilight’s arc and journey (as they would, for a fic where the action is over in 24K), and it’s here where some interesting choices, if mixed ones, reveal themselves. The writing style is very tell-heavy and progresses largely in just saying what’s happening, then moving on. This works like gangbusters for the plot mechanics, lending a mild ironic detachment where it would fit and scaling back to sincerity in key moments. But when the fic slows down from action to scenes of despair, grief and introspection, it makes it feel more like a highlights reel or an outline of what happens. This isn’t even about being darker, but just about showing rather than telling what Twilight’s feeling and letting such moments breathe.
Obviously my feeling that it is rather less emotionally-piercing than it fancies itself in such moments is not the consensus (though others have had it), and in both this stretch of the story and the lengthy denouement, there are tons of individual moments that are hugely piercing. Twilight realising she fixed everything else, but not herself, lands just right. And the character beats are correct and accounted for, they just feel diluted. Plus, I’m not even sure this was a slip of green writing, parts of it feel deliberate. But it does contribute to the fic, on this read, feeling like the shock value elements often inherent in early Ponyfic hits were the chief concern here.
As regards what happens, Twilight’s trauma and PTSD are presented and accounted for, and probably the second most-impressive thing was how Eakin made a nearly 10K epilogue chapter of Twilight’s mental state after this earth shattering event not drag and work wonders. There is some plot there, namely in what this fic does with the changelings after the battle is over (it remains surprisingly original all these years later, which kind of just makes their usage to that point as bloodthirsty revenge monsters rather crass). But it’s really about Twilight finding she can’t let go of all the intense, hardened feeling she’s built up over the loops. She deals with many things poorly: she freaks out at any unpredictable situation after having gotten so dependent on rote loop memorisation, she constantly shoves others away, and she reacts badly to a staged intervention. Even in the surface-level tell mode this story employs, it hits hard.
There’s only a few odd choices in the actual incident that register weirdly. Twilight is revealed to be a closeted lesbian halfway through, and it has its place, both in coming out to her parents during her depressed phase and gaining resolve from their blind acceptance, and in its integration with her PTSD fears later on. But mostly, it doesn’t feel related to the main thrust or talk to it, and outside of Twilight having some sexual fun during one loop, it feels largely tangential. Possibly this felt more natural to make a bigger deal out of in 2012, when the state of the world meant coming out was still common-ish in Ponyfic, but that doesn’t change how it grinds the fic somewhat whenever it shows up. Branching off from that is a distracting characterisation of Cloud Kicker as a sexy flirter in a cameo that, even before I learned was a Winningverse reference, broke my immersion the few times she appeared.
To wrap up, I need to be a bit more openly personally subjective than I usually am. On top of the views, comments and reviews of this fic, plus all it inspired, knowledge of the hype it got at the Bronycon 2019 panel mentioned earlier, where it won every match in the 16-story elimination tournament by 75+% of the crowd votes until the final against The Enchanted Library, lingers in my mind. This is a hugely important fic to lots of people, and I completely understand why. On top of all the strengths and flaws above, it’s got an energy that keeps it going even through the rougher patches, makes its oft-copied ideas still feel distinctive, and makes the surface-level gloss on the plot and character feel closer to a deliberate choice than a byproduct of green writing as is usually the case. I wasn’t surprised to learn Eakin did virtually no editing after writing the chapters and worked alone on the fic, and while that approach definitely left it feeling bumpy, in a weird way, it probably would have been less popular were the technical approach more polished.
Still, that approach is likely the chief reason why I didn’t love it on this read. Possibly I’ve mellowed on Twilight as a badass being enough to carry a fic for me (this does made me a little apprehensive about revisiting The Celestia Code soon), and have shifted my preferences to wanting my characters to be more modest and less egotistical. Though, relative to many fics, Twilight only has scattered moments of irritating ego here, even if it’s more than I’d like. It could also be that, character PTSD or not, this fic clearly exists because it wants to do cool things like have Twilight bat-decapitate some changelings, and that’s all the justification it needs. More likely, it’s the writing approach and execution to the non-action moments, which was enough to contribute to the fic feeling rather like an early fandom fic using shock value with some novelty, on balance. A far better example of the form than most, naturally. But if I read this afresh now without the context of its reputation? I don’t know how much I’d remember it.
Still, I did remember it well-ish for five years, and so did thousands of others. It reads better than most fics that old, and unlike most novellas and novels, then and now, it’s quick and restrained with length, incident, and concept. Even if I eventually pulled the gun on the lower rating below, something I’m still absolutely choking on, I don’t begrudge its reputation and acclaim. I fully intend to reread the 70K sequel A Stitch in Time soon; checking some reviews, that takes its times more and gets into character depth more, and is less dark on balance, though it also has a greater share of strange choices in plot focuses. So, likely to be a toss-up on which I’ll prefer.
Rating: Pretty Good
Spooky Summary of Scores:
Excellent: 0
Really Good: 0
Pretty Good: 3
Decent: 1
Passable: 1
Weak: 0
Bad: 0
Oh yeah... Hard Reset is a classic for several very good reasons. My own personal rating of it (5-stars) has a lot to do with personal preferences and my own strong identification with Twilight's (original) character. I liked the action section more than the Closure chapter, but I am in close agreement with how Eaken laid out the emotional/psychological fallout of the event. I didn't even mind the tell, not show approach even though I couldn't precisely articulate why. I didn't care all that much for the alternate ending, because it seemed a mis-match in tone to all the foregoing, but that didn't affect my enjoyment of the story.
If I ever find a jinn in a magic lamp, I will wish for horizon to complete his reimagining of this story. I loved what he did so far.
Also eviscerating one (possibly the same one?) with an electric mixer, though it's hard to make out due to the composition of the art. Definitely overkill, in any case.
Oh shirt.
The one thing I like about Lent is that it means seafood is cheap and every restaurant has fish sandwiches.
Hard being the only person in your family who likes seafood. :C
Very good work on the Hard Reset review. :D It's nice having a lot to say about something now and then, innit?
Oops! Almost forgot two comments I wanted to make:
Hard Reset predicted the major story premise and even some of the critical plot beats of the movie Edge of Tomorrow. Even a baseball bat stand-in for a supporting character. Eerie!
Lent doesn't seem to that big a deal here in California, but I have seen many more people with crosses on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday. There was even a (very silly) controversy when it became a fad to add glitter to the ash!
5770042
I am weirdly finding, as I get older (yes, you may laugh at me having the audacity to use that phrase, I get it), that characters being badasses, and always (or near-always) being hyper-confident, competent and sure of themselves, isn't nearly as much of a plus or attraction as it used to be. I'm well aware the attraction of that has never faded for you, of course. But I think I've just reached a point where characters being in control of everything can't hold my interest unless the writing is really good, or there's a fair share of compensating factors.
Now, obviously I haven't swivelled around to gravitating towards characters being indecisive messes and lacking in skills: I suppose my ideal adventure protagonist is somewhere who is skilled and competent, but not insurmountably so (so, like, you're not reading through an action scene with their victory being an absolute foregone conclusion – not that that approach can't make for run reading, letting you focus on the how, but it's not my first choice), and who are uncertain at the right moments and in ways that are justified and built up to. Maybe from pressure of lots of tight calls wearing them down or something. That last part is key, as otherwise we end up with every Twilight arc in every two-parter once she becomes a princess.
I'm spitballing in the end. Hard Reset remains a cracking good read, and even if, making context for age and setting aside some of my shifting tastes, I can't see my way to "second best Ponyfic" ever, not nearly…
I don't know what it is, but personal identification with a character has almost never been a key reason why I've gravitated towards a story, even when there is a character I personally identify with. I know this a key thing for many, but nah, it just rarely plays a huge part in a story (though there are for sure character types I'm put off by). I wonder if it's instead telling that the characters in FiM I most have personal affection for are Applejack (the kind of dependable person you want in your life) and Spike (in who I guess I can see, if I really stretch it, my own insecurities, self doubt, being shadowed by those more impressive around me, etc.). I don't think that's so, but some folks might. No skin off my spectral nose either way.
Of course, I have always far preferred Twilight's original character, and I do find more in her to relate to her than her later one, but it's mostly for her entertainment value.
Comedic AND dramatic.
I mean, so did I, you'll notice how I something found the depth and emotions the story was purporting to have not as there as the story fancied them to be. But it was still quite amazing how well Eakin made such a proportionally long denouement work. Couldn't not praise that.
Obviously it hasn't bothered most people, and even for me, it mostly others nicked during the quieter moments and chapters, as mentioned above. I can see why a viewer would be so invested as to barely notice it, though. And not just easy-to-please viewers, but even some with high standards.
On this reread, neither did I, though not in a way I felt I needed to call specific attention to. At any rate, I don't see myself reread that AU M-rated spinoff again, even apart from it having a share of clop.
To quote Rainbow Dash, "It's that good, huh?"
Even if he does finish it, I don't know if I'll read it: I don't often gun for time loop complexity stories. Not for getting confused – I can keep track of them plenty fine – but for the convolutedness, even when it's really good, still feeling like it's fighting the story rather than working with it. Though given that sequel had The Silver Standard levels of praise in more than a few corners, possibly it is among the best that can justify that. Moot point while it remains incomplete, anyway.
Yeah, even after rereading that moment a few times, and knowing that it is the same changeling, that muddles composition is one of the few blights on an otherwise cracking piece of cover art that, I'm sure, played a major part in the story's gargantuan view count.
You can relax, bud. We're talking "Ghost Mike Getting To Ponyfic Novels" levels of soon. That doesn't even necessarily guarantee it'll be in 2024. Certainly, I have the next few novels already chosen, and it's probably (?) better the selection isn't dominated by pulp adventure stories like this. As tempting as that is, and as much as you would adore that.
5770045
That is spooky! Pure coincidence, given film lead-times and it coming out a year-and-a-half after this (though not so close the bat had to have existed already). I haven't seen the film, so I can't common on it further, but these things will happen!
Ash Wednesday, even when I was a kid, barely registered except as the name of the day that Lent starts. Even the memories of church on that day are well foggy by now. Make of that what you will.
5770044
Aw, that bites, bud.
Seafood's awesome!
And I wouldn't say I ever liked anything about Lent either; it was just never a big deal for me in the other direction, is all. Even as an adult, I'm never the sort who needs incentive to stop doing things. It's doing things and committing to them that I have trouble with.
In the end, it did end up longer than your Vs. post on it, validating my wild guess. Also weird that I said more on this than on a novel near-exactly twice as long back in November too.
And I absolutely could say more on most of my reviews. Anyone who's read my blogs on other topics (or heck, any comment I make), knows I'm very much a "sorry I wrote a long letter, I didn't have time to write a shorter one" sort of spirit. Hell of a vice to have. 👻 Forcing myself to keep these only as long as they should be (with hiccups, granted) is good practice, even after two years of the things.
For it to be a good story, there has to be a balance somewhere for every sterling quality the protagonist possesses, internal or external. Simple overwhelming odds such as in the John Wick films usually results in Big, Dumb, and Loud,* and isn't really satisfying. I love action/adventure stories, but prefer the "cozier" versions such as the Brendan Frazier The Mummy, and the original Indiana Jones film. Ooh! The 1978 The Three Musketeers is also in that category! Vastly under-appreciated film!
Now, a stories where the protagonists are badasses, hyper-confident, competent, sure of themselves, and dead wrong can be a thing worth exploring. The Man Who Would Be King with Michael Cain and Sean Connery is an example. "Dead wrong" is a big balancer.
Hmn... Well, for me it's got a huge influence as far as initial selection goes. Given any two stories, one featuring Twilight Sparkle, and one featuring Apple Bloom, I will almost always choose to read the first. But that said, if the depiction of Twilight is kind of hinky, I will be more inclined to dislike the fic for that reason alone. Twilight is an obsessive genius; a very difficult character to write in a non-clichéd, non-superficial manner unless the writer is, themselves, an obsessive genius—as was demonstrated over and over again in the latter seasons of the show itself.
But for a story that really groks Twilight? That's almost always an extra star from me.
It's been years since I've read it, but that is my recollection. I met horizon at the last San Jose WorldCon, and practically begged him to finish it. I doubt it will ever happen.
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* Not to take anything away from the brilliant fight choreographers on those films! Some of the best murder ballet I've ever seen.
Wow, Hard Reset... I keep musing on the idea of going back to read that one, since it was a very long time ago that I reviewed it. (Looked it up out of interest: Ponyfic Roundup 8, no less! Back in May 2014!) I really liked Eakin's series a decade ago, but it was a decade ago. I enjoyed In Memory Of in 2017 as well, so no major differences in our overall assessments for either. Solving for Death is the odd one out: although it's long enough ago (2018) that I can't recall all the details, I gave it four stars and really liked how Starlight was written. I'm the boring one who goes along with overall opinion (as in upvote:downvote ratio) but I now wonder how much of the effect was an "of its time" thing dependent on having read it when Glimmy was currently active in the show. Hmm.
Extra points for the Irish culture info! This kind of local colour is always appealing to read. Lent has never been a big thing in my own family, since even those who are believers are the mild Church of England kind, so having hot cross buns (which I still very much like) was about the only noticeable feature until Creme Egg Day.
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Even moe unusually for modern-you, you got to its novel-length sequels back-to-back just two months later. How times have changed, eh?
I was quite interested to see you (slightly) preferred the second entry to the first. Reading a few reviews of both, I think there's a not-zero chance I might too. We'll see.
I like/dislike ratio really is totally independent of a fic's actual quality, even just in the eyes of the beholder: all it means is how many people has it reached and how few elements does it have that rubbed someone the wrong way. But your point is taken. Though I think even when it was new, I wouldn't have been that much warmer to it. A rating higher, no more.
And that isn't just owning to the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism either.
Another thing hard for many outside to understand is just how late the relinquishing of religious control over life was for us here. In the early 90's, it was still basically socially mandatory to go to church (some masses were "quick-masses" that cut out the sermons and other things for the functionally amethysts and could be knocked out in about 20 mins, I want to say).
Myself, I can still remember around when I transitioned from single to double digits and… we just didn't go to church on the weekend anymore. I still did at school, but once I went to a non-denominational secondary one, I basically never looked at organised religion again. Can't say I miss it!
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Only the original Indy? Soured even on the two 80's sequels?
It's a great point of comparison, though, because Raiders is a film I adore, basically a perfect popcorn movie. And we can see what the balance between a character's badassery yet not being infallible in the legendary truck chase setpiece: even before Indy gets shot in the shoulder, then tossed out by the last Nazi on the truck, there's plenty of moments of him struggling even as he just goes in guns a-blazin. Wrestling with the wheel, splashing against the water pipes and knocking over the ladder, the works. It makes his utter dominance to take out the motorbike and other jeep all the more satisfying. Ditto for the legendary scale under the moving truck later. And of course, we feel every punch and shot he takes.
I presume you mean 1973? Couldn't find any from the year you cited.
In any case, I agree in preferring the cozier action-adventures that know when to slow down and have their quiet character moments, thus making the setpieces count all the more.
Very true. Though that doesn't really register in my mind, because the viewer is near-always in on the fact that they're dead wrong, and thus the scenes of them being egotistical throughout it all don't have the same tang of rote-ness that often might otherwise.
To clarify, personal identification doesn't have no impact for me. It's just not the major deciding factor it is for folks like yourself. And also that it overlaps with how much entertainment I derive from the character on balance.
But as for something that's tricky to get right, like Twilight's characterisation, being nailed? For sure I give big points for that and am mad impressed, even if it doesn't necessarily personally touch me the way it does for yourself.
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Oops! Dropped an s there. I enjoy 1-3, though the first one is still my favorite by a long shot.
Correct. I was working without
a netreferences, there. Has one of the best comedic swordfights ever, and for solid Watsonian reasons! Here's a Y'allTube clip of it. (You need to know that Porthos has just lost all of their money gambling, to understand why they're doing this.):It takes all sorts of ingredients to make a great meal. How boring would the world be if we all had the same tastes?
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I don't think I'd consider it entirely irrelevant; that seems a bit sweeping. Undoubtedly it's not something to take as gospel, since certain things can skew the balance. As an obvious example, even now, M/M shipping attracts downvotes. But I do think that an overwhelmingly positive ratio is at least often a genuinely promising sign, allowing for other factors such as the fic's age.
What we really need is for someone to do a big survey of something like all the RCL fics' thumbscores and to see how strong the correlation really is. But short of someone like hawthornbunny really deciding that's their next big project, which isn't exactly likely, we'll probably have to carry on as we always have. I can live with that!