Weekly Reading Report III, and 311 Just for Sidekicks · 4:19am Jan 29th, 2013
Hi everypony! 
Okay, I can comfortably call this thing weekly now. I admit I started it for the fame & fortune, but it's turning out to be a good way to recap the week in some ways, and I'm loving it. Besides, I've already tasted a small degree of both fame and fortune and I can safely say that my best odds of achieving them in a more permanent way are not by writing about stories about stories for little girls.
But hay, it's fun! 
This week I read 281268 words, most of it in the weekend. This is turning out to be a pattern because, frankly, work has been rather mind-draining lately and I'm kind of too tired to wrap my head around some of the world-building stories I love so much.
The Holy Crap It's Long Support Group elected Time Waits for No Mare with its current 56kw. I tend to avoid adventure stories when they're already too big, but I will admit the Rarijack promised in the cover drew me in. The story is your standard dystopian dictatorship in the future, with lots of fantastic racism with some actual new physical differences to explain it (though of course nothing justifies racism), and some really interesting twists on the fates of our known characters, most of which seem to be still alive in interesting ways (as a matter of fact, there's only three I'm over 90% sure are dead). Alas, the amount of actual Rarijack so far is quite pitiful (and therefore I'm still short of a good Rarijack story), but the rest of the story did grab my attention and I'm really eager to see what happens next.
The Time Travel Historian Hypersphere didn't enjoy the story above much as much as it enjoyed Three Hundred and Fifty with its 31kw. As Twilight and Sweetie Belle go to the future and seem unable to go back, the story seems to focus on them struggling to adapt. There were a few leaps in the characterization that stretched my WSoD too far, particularly in the whole "mom" issue, but the little world-building details and the plot are making me very curious. I can't tell what's going to happen next, but I can tell that the writer isn't undecided, and this is eating me with anticipation.
The I Love Changelings Hive dominated my choices of new stories this week, but most of these were small. I'm slightly tempted to plod through the full list, but there are many sequels in it, and explaining context is boring, so I'm going to choose the biggest: The Irony of Applejack and its 57kw. Hey, it's longer then the HCIL choice, isn't it? Yeah. But the thing is, the plot advances slowly. This is a characterization-centric story, and if you like being in the minds of all the characters (insert all the things meme here), that one is for you. That said, I am really enjoying how the author is addressing full-on all the implications of the Element Of Honesty being a changeling, instead of handwaving it. It really got me thinking. Now only if the plot advanced a little faster…
The Where's My Jaw? Investigative Team is still struggling to come to terms with the 5kw of the newest chapter of Ditz and Spitz: Origin of Derpy. The story started rather unpretentious, establishing a link between Spitfire and Derpy. Then as the story progressed it started being about striving and struggling… a very interesting story, a bit dark but not in an 'evil antagonist' way at all! And then, suddenly, the evil antagonist that was foreshadowed, comes in and… well… let's just say it was a very serious action scene. My blood boiled at the whole thing. It was actually pretty difficult to get to the end of the chapter because I got so scared of what that could result in. But very well written stuff. If you like… uh… I don't know how to describe that. :\ I can't say I like it. But it serves the story remarkably well, adds new and intriguing plot points to the whole story, and, as I said about the other stories above, I'm curious about what comes next, so I'm sticking around.
There are actually more stories I want to talk about, but since they're all ongoing, I'll just wait for the next opportunity to bring them up. 
I kind of just watched Just for Sidekicks and I'm not sure if I like it or not. I do know I don't dislike it. I'm actually happy with the fate of Peewee even though it means less phoenixes for us to admire and SEE BURN!!! BWAHAHAHAHAH!!! *ahem* As with the previous episode, the visual gags are what I enjoyed the most. The eyedscreen was my favorite, but it was played a bit too modestly. I enjoyed how the pets were finally fleshed out a bit, particularly Tank and Gummy (I do mean "a bit" here). The plot… meh. Could be better. The whole train deal was pushing it too far, particularly Winona. I'd rather see Spike staying in Ponyville (or going elsewhere) and having different mane-6-less shenanigans. The CMC participation was great, they cracked me up several times! Zecora's made no sense and I still think it's stealing, no matter how noble her cause is… the gems weren't hers to donate!! Um… yeah… I'd better stop rambling and go to bed.
Love!
Ekevoo
P.s.: I need to start thinking of creative titles for these blog posts…
