R4 (Reactions, Reviews, Reference, Redirection) #0002 · 4:35pm Oct 26th, 2014
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Here are slightly edited versions of five old reviews:
Memories of Those Friends Who’ve Gone Before Us by WTFHIW
4 Conversations About 1 Thing by Gofindnova
A Cup Of Joe by The Descendant
The Contest by Cold In Gardez
Celestia’s Teeth by Abalidoth
Memories Of Those Friends Who’ve Gone Before us by WTFHIW
(story link) (my original review)
The second story is Memories of Those Friends Who’ve Gone Before Us by WTFHIW. Just as short as the previous one, and not quite as intense, but still good. This one is a little more fixed to MLP. Not knowing the show won’t ruin the story for you, but the characters won’t be nearly as vibrant. It involves the loss of friends, of not being there when they pass, and the legacy of memory, or lack thereof.
As I said, not quite as powerful as the first one, but the same theme of a person’s life is never really over as long as you remember them and share the memories and ideals of their life. Oh, I have to quote at least a bit near the end here. As far as I can tell it’s from the author and not taken from anywhere else, or at least a google search didn’t bring anything up:
“A book in and of itself can sit on some shelf somewhere, gathering dust and rotting away, but a good story will stay fresh in a reader’s mind forever.”
I think one of the reason this type of fanfic really grabs me as honest MLP fiction is that sadness seems to be the other side of the coin. Not realism or anything, but the cheerful nature of the show is mirrored by sadness and the show actually has a running theme of consequences and acceptance of mistakes that matches cheerfulness or sadness. The consequences connects the two sides of that almost mythical cheerful/sadness that go together with the show so well in my head.
4 Conversations About 1 Thing by Gofindnova
(story link) (my original review)
I really need to start reading longer works. I’m tearing through one or two of these a day and my energy to blog about them is unable to keep up. I actually finished this one yesterday and wrote down my thoughts in my notebook, but this was the first time I felt like posting anything online. On to the story. This one is another short story that involves the relationship between Celestia and Luna, as well as the consequences of immortality. Though in this case it is more focused on how things change over the centuries than the sadder aspects. A large part of it is about Luna trying to adjust to modern life after being away for a thousand years.
I have really been thinking that short stories are the best way to practice writing. This story has four semi-connected shorts that all together add up to a single short story in length. It is a wonderful example of word use and language choice to be as clear, concise, and yet evocative as possible. Not all short stories are like that, especially fanfics, but it is much harder to hide lack of talent in a short story. In a novel you can hide the weak parts of the writing in padding or simple plot advancing prose, but in a short story you have to cut everything down to the barest essentials. This has made me even more determined to try my best in my own writing endeavors. All the great examples of writing that I’ve been experiencing reading the best of the pony fanfic offerings has inspired me greatly.
Back to the story. This one is not nearly as bittersweet as the others. There is a broader range of less subtle emotions in it. It could easily be a episode of the show, or more likely a handful of scenes in four episodes of the show. All in all it was quite good and is getting added to my personal headspace for MLP.
A Cup Of Joe by The Descendant
(story link) (my original review)
This is a longer story than most of the others in this. It’s not a full novel, but it’s longer than a short story. Call it a novelette? Who knows. On to what I noticed. It is a good example of how to do worldbuilding without resorting to exposition. Using just a word here, a phrase there, each one hinting at a whole world expanding beyond the tight focus of the story. Indicating whole social/cultural structures with just the right word choice. The mythology about what seems to be a afterlife, or that the cutie marks might be the result of a covenant between the pony races and the sister-goddesses.
I also really like the idea that Equestria has a normal army apart from the royal guard we see in the show. With the idea that to join the royal guard you have to be a normal guard that gets injured going above and beyond the normal line of duty. There wasn’t really a big battle scene, but even just a sentence of the pegasi being skirmishers and scouts inspired me to spent a few moments thinking about how all three types of ponies would work together in a military fashion.
The story also brings up the idea that there are spells that anypony can learn. Using the idea that there is magic different from each pony’s special talent. Which is supported by the fact that in the show there are books by famous mages and Twilight talks about spells and learning magic from ancient wizards.
In the end this is a well written story about loss, letting go of the past before you drown yourself in guilt, letting yourself start to heal from great loss. This didn’t push the same buttons in my brain as say, Eternal, but I wasn’t completely immune to the strong emotions present. Probably says a lot about me that I’m having more emotional reactions to My Little Pony fan fiction than most stories I buy that have been through the publishing industry machine. Also says quite a bit about mainstream books as well.
The Contest by Cold In Gardez
(story link) (my original review)
This one has a much lighter tone than the previous one, as well as being shorter. A straight up comedy piece that would make a perfect episode of the show.
This one is a perfect example of what I like best about MLP. To take some throw-away bit from a children’s cartoon and treat it like this big worldbuilding exercise just to see where it takes you. My Little Pony is great for this because it somehow manages to have the best of two worlds. On one hand it is cohesive and consistent enough that it does feel like there is a world beyond the edges of the episodes, but on the other hand it is so random and ‘whatever fills the needs of the episode’ that it really does feel like everything outside of the show is whitespace just waiting to be filled up with anything.
The author does a great job at capturing the personalities of the main characters from the show. I could practically hear their voices in my head when I read most of the dialogue. Keeping with the tone of the show this story is funny as heck. I was giggling out loud in several places as I read it, even when re-reading it. Which I’ve done like four times since I read it like a month ago.
Celestia's Teeth by Abalidoth
(story link) (my original review)
Another comedy. This one doesn’t hit the same ‘perfectly like show’ vibe for me, but I still enjoyed it immensely. This one pretty much springboards from that one moment where Princess Celestia pretends to drink from a cup that a pony is refilling after every individual sip. That’s the Celestia this story follows. Not exactly from that episode, but that humor angle of a princess a little tired of being treated as a immortal divine ruler. Not worldbuilding exactly, but the same thing as before when I mentioned taking a tiny piece of the show and using it as a springboard to see where your imagination wanders to.
Even in the humor of this pure comedy piece is a few touches on serious topics. The loneliness of a immortal ruler, how even Celestia wants some time to relax and just be normal, and how even with the best intentions your actions might hurt someone unintentionally. Plus the reverse friendship letter from Celestia to Twilight at the end It is written just like the letters in the show.
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