Site Post » Reviews! Round 36 · 7:56am Feb 4th, 2014
Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good fics with low views. You can find us here.
A dark room was illuminated suddenly by a spotlight. In a large easy chair sat Pav, wearing a fine tweed suit with matching top hat. “We now return to our regularly scheduled programming,” he said, steepling his fingers.
“Regularly scheduled! That’s a good one,” said the squirrel standing on the coffee table next to him. “I think we’re the only group that says that says ‘not a week past the deadline’ is on time! Man, we suck.”
“Ignoring the scurrilous sciuridae to my immediate left,” continued Pav, “we have for our viewership a variety of tantalizing tidbits sure to propel your palate and vitalize your verve.”
“Listen to old-timey alliteration as a backdrop to all our reviews,” said RedSquirrel, “and then wonder how we got put in charge of something important like critiquing.”
Pav sighed and gritted his teeth. “The spectacular line-up we have chosen today highlights some of the very best that Friendship is Magic Fiction has to offer. We are sure you will enjoy them.”
“Hey, why is it that I’m always a squirrel in these intros?” RedSquirrel cut in. “I have a personality beyond that, you know.”
Pav calmly gave the table a kick and sent the squirrel flying at the camera, knocking it over. With a loud clatter the camera collapsed. Only a view of the blank ceiling was visible now.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” called a voice from off-screen. “Those are our only props! We got tons of squirrels, but watch the furniture!”
“Shut up Alex, you’re the backup reviewer!” Pav shouted back. “I don’t know why I have to deal with this constant haranguing from a lower order mammal! I’ll be in my trailer!”
“It’s all our trailers, there’s just the one!” shouted off-screen Alex. “Our budget doesn’t really allow for multiple trailers. Or a set. Or more than one camera.”
Pav sighed in the background. “We never should have sold the space station…”
“Sank it,” corrected Alex. “A couple times, if I remember right.”
Pav sighed louder.
ROUND 36
The Firework Lotus Celebration, a grand festival which celebrates the dawn of a new year, is a tradition held near and dear to Spike's heart. But when the winds of change threaten to take this special time away from him, Spike is forced to make a difficult decision. Which is more important: what he knows to be right, or what he feels to be right?
And as Spike soon discovers, it's a choice best made with the help of some friends.
I’ma cut right to the chase: this is easily one of my favorite stories I’ve been able to review as part of the Angels.
If I had to pick one central idea that this story is “about”, I could pretty easily settle on the recurring concept of “change”, or really of “evolution”. Beyond that, it gets a bit more dense (the good kind of density) in its subject matter. Twilight’s overblown alicornification plays a role in the central conflict, to be sure, but it’s far more than that. The fic also touches on the character growths of several characters… Twilight, Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle… and of course, Spike.
Seriously, little lizardbro needs some love.
Now certainly, Spike’s reluctance against this change is important, but what really drew me into this is that ArgonMatrix really gave him some nuance: not playing him as the S4 buttmonkey, nor completely reinventing him for the sake of a narrative. Writers in this fandom are eager to explore the nuance characters of the Mane Six and supporting cast—and that’s absolutely present here, I loved the Fluttershy bit—but far too often, writers will look to send Spike “off to Canterlot on royal business” at earliest convenience. It’s rare to see a good Spike story, and rarer still to see that same blossoming of characterization that fanfic writers eagerly give to the Mane Six. Spike’s confession to Rarity (no, not that kind) really jumped out at me, a sign this was striving to be more than a simple “Spike is sad but they hug and now he’s happy” feels fic. And I definitely think it succeeded.
What can I say? It’s a great story. It’s got an episodic feel, great imagery, and is just a really nice celebration of how far the show has come in three-and-a-half seasons. Go check it out.
A very rare feeling I get in fanfiction is that sweet, sweet moment when an author manages to nail the canon personalities of the entire cast, and yet still manages to make a believable bit of character development within the confines of those characters. That moment when you just ‘know’ you’re reading about the actual characters and watching them develop in a way that is not only satisfying but show-friendly.
The Firework Lotus is one such fic that manages to strike such a high mark, and it is well deserved praise.
Let’s get this out of the way: it is, on the surface, a feel-good fic. The basic summary is that Spike and Twilight have a lifelong tradition of attending the ceremony called the Firework Lotus Celebration that brings in the new year. Spike and Twilight gradually find their consistent tradition that is reserved for just the two of them enjoying each other’s company is interrupted by more ponies, more new traditions, more new friends… basically, the changes that come with regular life. Spike grows more and more distraught by this, and the story is he and Twilight’s attempts to reconcile the new with the old.
But if you look beyond the premise you find a surprisingly deep and detailed exploration of how lifelong friends deal with life coming in and saying ‘Hey! Your friendship isn’t the only one in the world. There’s other things happening too.’ Newness and change are big themes that we all know well just from the experience of growing up. Twilight and Spike’s struggle to keep their relationship special in their own way without sacrificing their other friendships and obligations is presented as masterfully poignant, not least in part because Spike and Twilight themselves are given such wonderful characterizations.
Spike is a child, not with wisdom beyond his years but the simple understanding that loving a pony means doing what’s best for them and not for you. Twilight knows that she is growing into her own role as leader of Equestria and her circle of friends, but through her anxiety she still thinks first and foremost of the happiness of her loved ones. Their interplay is what drives this story. The other mane six and their families all have their own stories to tell intertwining with Twilight and Spike, and I think this story deserves a gold star for not just giving them bit roles, but actual plot-driving segments that reveal how the characters are developing. A late conversation between Spike and Scootaloo, and later Spike and Rarity, are particular standouts. Everyone has a clear voice and a lesson to give us. This is not a short story, but it is concise in that few words are wasted.
The imagery is another strong point: I loved picturing the lavish celebrations, the little facial expressions, the small things the writing helps shine through. Go read this fic: it is one of those that defines how to write not just a good Twilight/Spike story, but how to write relationships between characters in general.
STORY 2
Tuesday, by Bok
A pony goes to the grocery store, then makes a sandwich. That's all that happens.
From time to time, we here at Seattle’s Angels get our share of detractors. One of the more frequent complaints is our elitism and pretentiousness—that our spotlighting reviews overanalyze simple horsewords and imply some perceived barrier to entry for new authors. Now of course, we could point out the ways in which this isn’t true: that we’re a service for readers, or that we’re promoting proverbial underdog fics and explaining what’s good about them, or that we’re a bunch of hobbyists not lit majors, etc etc. Those would be professional responses. However, I am not a professional man. Instead I’m going to talk about a story in which a pony makes a sandwich and nothing else happens, and why it’s so amazing. And I’m going to do so while sipping amaretto and wearing a bathrobe. Because 
you.
Based.
Ahem. No, but seriously. This is a story in which a pony makes a sandwich and nothing else happens. With a story description like this, your gut reaction would be to cry, “oh, there’s gotta be some sort of twist or subversion.” And I suppose it’s technically true that he goes to the store first. But seriously, that’s it. The author themself describes it as a “double-reverse trollfic”. So what the hell is a story like that doing up here, getting recommended? Excellent question. Allow me to take a step back first.
Describe to me some Season 1 episodes. Let’s see. There’s “Rarity makes a dress for each of her friends. They want different ones but eventually like the first ones.” Or there’s “Rarity and Applejack have a sleepover at Twilight’s. They don’t get along at first, yet their friendship blooms as they accept one another.” Don’t forget “Ponyville changes from winter to spring. Twilight isn’t sure to help, but eventually plays to her strengths.” Cool, you got the hang of it. Now, describe to me a Season 4 episode. “Well, Applejack’s crops are under attack. Fluttershy and Applejack have differing ideas on how to deal with the problem, but everypony agrees to AJ’s idea, which forces Fluttershy outside of her comfort zone. Despite Fluttershy’s worry, it seems like AJ’s plan was successful, until it’s revealed that when Twilight cast the reformation spell, the effects were reflected back onto Fluttershy who was in the middle of her Stare, thereby transferring batlike essence into her and…” I’m not trying to harp of Season 4. Pinkie Pride was top-notch. But, the difference with Season 1 was that several of its episodes took extremely simple preferences and excelled, riding on the philosophy that the journey is more important than the destination.
And that’s exactly what’s going on here, in Tuesday. There is a conflict, technically, but it’s minimal and mundane. Unlike Season 1, there is not (as far as I saw) any overarching message or moral to this story. Dude just makes a sammich. In most any other fic, that’d be a recipe for disaster; you’ve got a non-story on your hands. But yet this is still thoroughly enjoyable and pleasant, and the resolution just feels satisfying, far moreso than it has any right being. At a measly 1,001 words, this is definitely one of those cases where I’ll just tell you to go read the thing and see what I’m talking about.
I mentioned in my earlier review that a story does not have to be short in word count to be concise, only that no words should be wasted in the telling of the story. This is a story that is concise in both word count and story compactness. It tells what it needs to and isn’t long enough to overstay its welcome. I love it for both of these reasons.
You wanna know why it’s short? Because this story is about a pony who goes out to get ingredients to make a sandwich. He then makes that sandwich. That is all that happens. There is no great inversion, no grand twist, no zinger at the end that makes the reader go ‘eureka!’ None of that. It is literally what it says on a tin: a pony goes to make a sandwich, and that is all that happens. So why the heck are we reviewing it? Well, because sometimes these stories are extremely fun to read.
Our protagonist is not boring or dull, but he is very, very normal. And yet, aren’t we all glad that so many of the ponies themselves can have moments of refreshing normality? I am reminded of early episodes that were so much more the slice of life stories that drew us all in: Nightmare Moon was the highlight of the week. Barring of course the Ursa Majors, the Sonic Rainbooms, the cockatrices, etc., but these all took place within a very normal context. There was no huge story arc that we all needed to pay attention to. Just little ponies doing normal pony things. This is as bare bones a story as it gets, and yet it somehow stays entertaining by staying true to that old spirit. I hope that we find many more stories like this. I am sure they’re interesting challenges to write, because this was certainly interesting to read. Do not be driven off by simplicity, for simplicity often means efficiency, and this story tells itself very efficiently.
Sometimes, just being there for somepony can be enough.
For all that I complained about the underutilization of Spike, Big Mac probably has it worse. It’s odd, but it seems that they’ve gotten better as the years have gone on, in writing male characters. Cheese Sandwich, Flim and Flam, Fancy Pants, they’re all solid characters who’ve gotten a sizeable amount of love on Fimfic. Spike and Big Mac have gotten Fimfic love, certainly… but… It’s more in spite of their canon than because of it. Spike episodes can be a touch hit-or-miss, and EeyupNope really doesn’t get much of any canon elaboration (well, aside from his IDW comic). That passing reference in Pinkie Apple Pie confirms the fanon we’ve had for a while, about him being this deep and introspective character, but unfortunately a Big Mac episode would just a really hard thing to market in a cartoon for the target demographic. Luckily, it’s tons easier in fanfiction.
I’m all for more Big Mac.
To me, The Silent Type rings similar to Tuesday in its simple slice-of-lifeness. I grant that this story has more of “a point” than simply “enjoy the journey”, but like its main character, it’s not in a rush to reach the end. We see Big Mac going about his day, working the fields, and having simply far too much time to be lost in his thoughts, poor guy. No matter what he tries to think about, his thoughts keep circling the drain and hitting the same themes of uncertainty.
A setup like this, with a bad execution, could very trivially result in an angsty, meandering fic. Similar to Tuesday, though, The Silent Type takes a risky premise and soars on the merit of its execution. MrAskAPirate crafts a solid level of empathy for Big Mac and for his concern, largely by how selfless those concerns are. You really feel for the way in which Big Mac has stood firm and endured for the sake of his family, and the emotional baggage that results. Yet, rather than wallow in this malaise, we push through in the ending, and without even reaching any conclusionary note we yet grab a moment of bittersweetness. And it’s that moment of bittersweetness that really stamps the fic with its moral, its point.
I’m definitely more than a bit envious of the fics this round. It’s one thing to show ingenuity in your premise, to come up with that idea that hasn’t been done and which grips you at once. It’s another thing altogether to put complete faith in your execution, and to ride on talent alone.
Oh, Big Macintosh. Where have you gone? Once you were the go-to for anypony who needed a male perspective or an easy romantic ship. Once you lorded over the homestead of Sweet Apple Acres like unto a great stone sentinel, impressive and stoic from afar, and all we bronies bowed at your hooves as the undisputed master of manliness in Ponyville. Alas, the likes of Iron Will, Bulk Biceps, and Shining Armor have usurped your title many times over. And yet there are still some authors who like to turn to the old tropes, most relevantly, the one where Big Macintosh actually has a heck of a lot to say but only says it to himself in the form of flashbacks, musings, and introspection.
This story is a good example of those Big Mac fics that we all like to read. Big Macintosh is on the farm for a day of work, and as he goes about his day certain things remind him of certain other things, leading to long yet somehow never rambling thoughts on said things. Granny Smith’s age, his and Applejack’s parents, days of pride and joy and sadness too all cross his mind, and AskAPirate (points just for the name) gives us the rundown of things we’ve seen before and yet somehow it’s not boring. The story does suffer from some descriptive issues and clunky writing, overly describing some things and not quite setting the scene in some others, but these don’t stand out enough to make the story overall bad or even mediocre. The goal is to tell us what kind of pony Big Mac is and how he helps around the farm, most pertinently in being the big silent rock that AJ sometimes has to break upon when the stress starts getting to her. Dialogue is sparse as befits a Big Mac story, and even the “eeyups” are few enough that we know Big Mac really is a pony of few words, not just a looped soundtrack. Props for that.
I haven’t seen good Big Mac portrayals in some time ever since the comics came out, but this story’s Big Mac managed to scratch that itch and then fix my fence, water the crops and bring in the apple harvest all before dinner. AskAPirate has good taste and writing skills that could reel in some real attention, and I hope that this review goes a ways towards that. Go and read it, and see if it doesn’t recall all the thoughtful musings we used to have when all Big Mac really needed to say was “eeyup,” and none of us got tired of it.
Twilight has always wondered what it was like to be in love. Madly in love. She might just get the answer she desires in the form of the Love Countdown; a spell that, for one hour, sets the caster in a state of hopeless infatuation towards the first pony she sees.
But what she didn't read, was that the Countdown isn't specific to just one pony...
Allow me to show you a bit of the behind-the-scenes. A peek behind the Seattle’s Angels curtain, if you will. I found this fic, nice cover, intriguing synopsis. Sounded right up my alley. Start to read, and I have a few chuckles. And then upon hitting that one moment, I had to nope right out. Allow that to sink in, if you will. Pav nope’d out. But a few minutes later, I was right back in, wincing and laughing all the way through, and sharing quotes with the group. I think Sock was the next one to take a peek, and based on the comments I’d issued, he felt the need to put on a hazmat suit first.
Ladies and germs, cringe comedy.
I think what works so well here is how medium-aware the fic is. The premise is goofy, and TheAuthorGl1m0 sure as hay knows it. Rather than playing to the tropes and go for the sexy innuendo, it plays the idea straight, for how disturbing and dysfunctional such a spell would be. I nearly consider it a satire of shipping, for how much it lampoons the whole notion of “pony meets pony and falls in lurve”. There’s certainly plenty of that abound…
I was instructed that I was required to embed this in my review, or else I would be
unceremoniously expelled from the Angels. I don’t think I regret anything.
But then it cranks it up to 11, with the scene that briefly caused me to Ctrl-W. When I finally read the scene, and saw how Gl1m0 was using it, I quickly changed from cringing to laughter. Well, cringing and laughter anyway. The scene was saved by how medium-aware it was. “You’re squirming right now, aren’t you? Excellent.” It’s the (physically) aged-up version of that kid who would find frogs down by the creek at recess and would use em to gross out the other kids.* It might not be the most hoity-toity sophisticated humors, but being grossed out—and grossing out others—can absolutely be hilarious. Sue me. By being so deliberately irreverent with the shipping fuel, Gl1m0 cues you in that yes, this is wrong, and yes, the face you’re making right now is hilarious.
* Seattle’s Angels does not condone acts of animal cruelty. The Angels would also like to issue a formal, overdue apology to Miss Sarah Newell from the 2nd Grade.
This is the kind of thing I like to see in a [Random] tag: shipping everypony with everypony awareness and deliberation. Organized chaos, perhaps? A bit of trope deconstruction, maybe. It’s not always enough, to just throw together a hodgepodge of gross and satirical moments and expect a gold mine of comedy. [Comedy], and yes even [Random], don’t automatically exempt themselves from the rules of writing. Having a focus of your story and building to it is just as important here as in any old dramatic piece. And TheAuthorGl1m0 gets that. Oh, he gets it, alright.
So yeah, I might be a gross shipper of ponies, but in spite of that… no, because of that, the lampooning in this fic was all the funnier. Because it’s a clear showing of one’s comfort level if they’re able to laugh at themself. And if there’s one fic that’ll getcha laughing and regretting every moment of it, it’s this one.
I’ll say it before and I’ll say it again: innuendo inversions—wherein the reader believes a sexual situation is going on when really it is/isn’t—are not funny. It’s like the first time you hear a knock-knock joke and then everyone seems to think that they have to repeat it over and over and over to get the same laugh that they did the first time. But it was really only funny that first time and you kinda wish that people would just stop.
In this story, the sexual situation is happening at all times, and it’s not embarrassed at all. There’s nothing blatantly graphic; the general gist is that Twilight is trying to research what it is to fall in love without actually falling in love. She casts a spell on herself in hopes of just getting the feelings down, but ends up with some kind of screwed-up prankster supreme spell that makes her fall in love with anything and everything she sees every few minutes. The result is hilarious.
I’m not generally a big fan of flat out random comedy, but this is one of the few fics that really get how to do funny. The entire story is Twilight being afflicted by this condition and hitting on everyone she comes across, including inanimate objects. It doesn’t delve into cheap erotica… well, not the cheap erotica we’re used to anyway… nor does it try to do anything except be amusing, and this it accomplishes with some clever wordplay and flat out bizarre statements from Twilight as she attempts to sweet-talk her way into pony and pastry hearts. Yes, pastry. You heard me right.
One thing that’s always bugged me about comedy is that many authors try to go for all out randomness rather than letting cute imagery and witty dialogue speak for itself, and the author has not fallen into that trap here. I was able to breeze through the story not because it was boring, but because it was just that easy to read, which is a big plus. There are no eye-rolling references, no lame reaching for memes, and no YELLING IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE THAT’S JUST FUNNY RIGHT WHEN YOU WRITE IN CAPS TO SHOW YELLING?!!?
Far from it. The writing is technically sound without meandering description or boring action that I could see, or none that drags down the story much anyway. A solid thumbs up from this squirrel. Definitely read this if you want to exhale through your nose a little harder than usual.
Red stepped away from the camera, holding his little paws up to keep the picture steady as he did so. “So, with the rest of the Angels tied up in their own… whatever happens when we aren’t reviewing, getting captured by foreign powers or stuck in icy wastelands or whatever… any ideas how to improve the show?”
“The duos seem to be working out,” said Pav. “Apart from you getting kicked across the room. Sorry about that by the way. I was hoping you’d land on the sofa.”
“Eh, I’ve had worse. There was that time I got an acorn stuck up my left nostril.”
“Too much information of the wrong kind!” retorted Pav. “We need to draw in more viewers and your fluffy tail and my amazing facial hair just isn’t cutting it.”
Red scratched at his squirrel stubble. “Well, I’m sure with some aggressive advertising, a few well-placed posters of Celestia going ‘obey’ because that joke has totally not worn out yet, and some subliminal messages implanted within our own review blurbs, people will be lining up for chances to read and participate! Maybe a few gold stars to sweeten the pot, and after that: inclusion in meta-jokes in future reviews!”
“By Twilestia’s all-seeing eye, you’re evil,” said Pav, shaking his head.
Red shrugged. “It’s not like I got a whole lot else to be doing. By the way, I totally get top bunk in the trailer tonight.”
Feel free to visit our group and offer some recommendations for future rounds. See you all next time!
Spike is truly the one and only based God.
Tuesday is one of those stories that doesn't need to exist, unfortunately. It has no purpose in existing, and is not terribly well written - it repeats the protagonist's name far too much - and is rather bland.
Love Countdown and The Silent Type were both enjoyable.
Didn't read the last one, but marked it as RL.
Awesome review just for the song.
Whoa, didn't expect to wake up and see this on a Tuesday morning (pun intended,
).
ARRR! Me name be MRAskAPirate, ye lilly-livered landlub-AHEM! I mean... thank you wise Sir, thou art both a gentleman and a scholar; thine good looks are exceeded only by thine brilliant personality.
Thanks for the review guys!
Sheesh, guys. And you're supposed to be the professionals here! For shame!
Dat bagel tho.
Well, Pav, that's because Spike is a main character while Big Mac is a minor character. And measuring the former's status as a main character against his treatment in canon...Spike technically has it worse.
1795247
I blame Pav.
1794582
That's not how you spell Kim Jong Poop Tickler.
I'm still waiting for this group to find a good crossover to feature. 101 stories reviewed and not a single one with the Crossover tag.
1795247
Totally deliberate. There are other groups that say ‘not a week past the deadline’ is on time, but I assert to you that we are the only group that says that says ‘not a week past the deadline’ is on time! That's our commitment to you.
1795350
Of course.
Quite the nice surprise to wake up to, I gotta say! Thanks a ton for the reviews, y'all.
1795037
Mmm... Don't get me wrong. I absolutely understand "a story where nothing happens" is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, and that's part of the reason we suggested it. And you do make some fair points against the story. But "no purpose in existing", though? Is that simply due to the lack of a traditional plot? I'm just personally curious to hear your reasoning.
Myself, I'd sooner see something original like this, rather than something that features a traditional plot yet is completely devoid of originality. But to each their own.
1795282
I'm not going to deny Spike's a major
sidekickcharacter, and that Big Mac's a minor character, and that ergo Spike should have more screentime and probably more fanon focus. But, writing Big Mac off as just a background character seems like an unfair argument to me.[source] Leading up to S4E12, Big Mac has appeared in 5 + 11 + 3 + 2 = 21 episodes. By comparison, Apple Bloom was in 7 + 11 + 8 + 3 = 29 episodes. Now I already hear you complaining about me comparing Big Mac to one of the CMC, yet that's exactly my point. In S1E1, we get just a quick flash of Applejack's family, but an assurance that they are extremely important to her. In S1E4, we even see a cold open with AJ and Big Mac, reaffirming that AJ's family bonds are something that she holds dear. But, from that point on, Big Mac mostly gets relegated to either a) joke scenes or b) moments where The Apple Family is present as a unit. Apple Bloom, meanwhile, gains a posse of friends (foreshadowed in the opener) and gets a number of episodes dedicated to that friend group and to herself as an individual.
Or the shorter argument is that Vinyl Scratch is infinitely more popular than Spike and Big Mac put together, despite not having any actual lines.
I suppose that my initial complaint was more rooted in the fact of missed opportunities moreso than appealing to fairness or authorial intent. *shrug*
1797397
The problem is that it is too mundane.
The story isn't actually very original at all - there are tons of stories about people going out and doing normal things on a normal day. They're boring and pointless, unless there's more to it than that - some sort of message or theme that isn't meaningless or vapid. Some sort of hidden meaning, or some twist to it which lends the actions extra significance, or something else which changes things around so it isn't the everyday.
Everyone goes out and gets groceries. That's not an interesting story on its own, because it is what everyone experiences. A story is about experiencing something meaningful vicariously, or even something meaningless, but so that the reader has their life enriched by the experience of reading.
A lot of other stories include stuff like this to establish a sort of routine for a character, so as to contrast with what goes on other times or elsewhere in the story.
As it was, the story was very empty - it had no meaning, no clever twist, nothing really. It just kind of existed, and it doesn't need to, because it doesn't say or do anything or enrich us in any way.
1795343
I'm definitely aware, and saddened. Can't speak for my colleagues as to how much they're into crossovers, but I'd certainly like to see some up here. Maybe I can
make excusesexplain why we're in the current situation.Seattle's Angels was founded on the principle that popularity != quality, and that there exist a number of highly worthwhile stories languishing in < 1k views. Of course, there are plenty of not-quite-as-worthwhile stories down in these viewcounts, so a lot of our group's work is just slogging through Fimfic's archives and finding the "hidden gems."
For all that I talk about Twilestia (yes, Twilestia is always relevant), it took me until Round 25 to find one to review. Part of this is because my colleagues are heathens. But part of this is due to an interesting issue. Simply having Twilestia in a story will attract Twilestia fans. If the Twilestia story is good, typically that's going to draw in a lot of the same names and faces into the comment section, which is going to bump your viewership out of Seattle's Angels' sweet spot. It took me until Round 25 because most of the good stories with that shipping pair had already gotten their viewerbase.
This same phenomenon happens in other groups on the site, and I highly suspect that [Crossovers] are in a very similar boat. Readers are naturally disinclined to read a crossover if they're unfamiliar with the source material, typically unless a friend assures you, "no, no, it's okay, you don't need to know the source, it's that good." (Granted, most-if-not-all crossovers really ought to be written without presuming the readers know the base material.) So generally, your crossover readerbase is going to be almost entirely composed of fans of both materials. If I see a crossover for a particular video game I liked, I'll probably read it, and I might even seek it out specifically in the search box. Like shipping, if people are fans of Call of Halo, that subcommunity is going to seek out those stories, and it's all the more likely that all the good ones will be popular (not necessarily vice-versa *sneeze*) It also doesn't help that most (certainly not all) crossovers tend to be epic length [Adventure] fics, and a disproportionate number of them are on hiatus. *sneezes again*
So, to find a good crossover fic for Seattle's Angels to spotlight, it will more likely end up being a crossover with something that no one's heard of. Something where the fans of the source material didn't go seek it out, and it's still written to be accessable for everyone who doesn't know the source material, and all the usual criteria for a "hidden gem". I'm confident we'll find one eventually, but it's far easier to find a good-and-popular crossover (like Stardust, the XCOM crossover that has 11k views and was accepted recently by The Royal Guard).
1797669
Yeah, that all makes sense. Apart from all the challenges inherent to writing a good crossover (whether fusion or adaptation), you can expect even a borderline mediocre crossover fic to get a lot of readers simply because it will attract enough fans of the source material to go too far over the 1000 view limit. So the only way around that would be to find a fic that crosses over with something a little more obscure.
... You know, to basically parrot what you said into a sentence or two.
I can actually attest to that personally. I've spent a year and a half writing an unfinished +100k word crossover that, looking back, suffers from a number of pervasive problems that will take me forever to go back and fix. And it's still managed to get over 800 story views.
But if I might provide a suggestion, has the group ever considered being a little more lenient about the view count threshold on those very lengthy crossover fics? Maybe a 1200 or 1500 view limit if the story gets to a certain number of chapters or words. Granted you might also have to extend that leniency to non-crossovers of similar length, but still.
Nice. That alone gets an upvote from me.
Dayum, Firework Lotus is 9001/10 would place as Top 10 Post-S3 fics ever.
1795343
I can't imagine why they haven't found a good crossover yet.
Sorry, couldn't resist. (In theory, I hold nothing against crossovers. In practice, I can't imagine many I'd want to read.)
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Sometimes you make art for art's sake, just to hone your work, going nowhere extraordinary with it. I've never thought that was automatically less valid than trying to sell a premise. (Heck, it's a major chunk of slice-of-life stories, vignettes of simple activity being laid out for virtually no impact save an appreciation of small moments.)
1797522 Big Mac and Apple Bloom are different cases altogether, though. They're both important characters in relation to Applejack and their family unit, but beyond that, Big Mac's only purpose is to provide an occasional male presence. AB and her friends, on the other hand, have their own role to fulfill: they're young and eager to grow up, but are miles away from understanding how. All three are representative of MLP's cutie mark motif, which is a very visible element in the show, and therefore needs a portion of the cast to repeatedly clue the audience in to its presence and what it means to any given character's identity.
Big Mac is like Han Solo; nothing going for him, could easily be frozen in carbonite for a few episodes.
Wow. I'm gone for the last couple of weeks on a trip, and this is what I come back to! Quite the pleasant surprise! Heh, I didn't really think I'd ever get a fic featured by you guys...
Thanks a ton for the kind words, and I'm glad that you liked it for what it was. Heh, not bad for a title inspired on whim by a song...
Oh, and those other stories all seem pretty neat, too. I'm-a gonna have to read them sometime, then.