R4 (Reactions, Reviews, Reference, Redirection) #0029 · 7:47pm Nov 23rd, 2014
[<<<Previous] [Index] [Next >>>]
Here are five slightly edited old reviews:
Family Matters by RainbowDoubleDash
Longest Night, Longest Day by RainbowDoubleDash
Boast Busted by RainbowDoubleDash
Helping…Hands? by RainbowDoubleDash
An Awkward Day by RainbowDoubleDash
Family Matters by RainbowDoubleDash
[story link] [my original review]
This is a really good story. This is the first big alternate universe pony fan fiction I have read. As in a fan fiction that can’t be considered a addition or re-interpretation of the source material. I’ve been sticking mostly to more or less canon-focused (but often not canon-accurate) fan fictions so far, but I ended up really enjoying this one. I want to both read more of this alternate universe and more by this author in particular. Another good find that will keep me poking around FimFiction myself instead of relying on reviews as much.
As for details, Ditzy was a little too normal for my tastes. I really liked the version of her that has been shown in other fanfics that had her less complex. Look Right Through Me has been the best Ditzy story for me so far. Not that I’ve read a lot of them. On the other hand the story is almost entirely through the viewpoint of her daughter so I can forgive it as a perception/style choice.
Longest Night, Longest Day by RainbowDoubleDash
[story link] [my original review]
Another story in the same alternate universe as the previous one. This one was actually written before that story, so it is good to see that the same level of high quality is maintained. This one is more of a core story in that it is a retelling of the show’s premiere, but with the different world and characters. In this alternate universe it was Celestia that went crazy and had to be exiled to the sun for a thousand years and our main character is Trixie who is the personal student of Princess Luna, with the rest of the mane six roles filled by various background ponies.
The really cool thing about this story is how close to the show everything is. Not in theme or details really, but we meet several of the main characters of the show and they are nearly identical to what they are like there. It is a great example of how little they have to be changed to make them totally unsuitable to be heroes. Even just taking what the show presents and interpreting it slightly differently turns Applejack into a jerk, Fluttershy into a wreck, and Trixie into a believable main character. A great look at how slight changes to how a character is presented can change so much about them.
On top of the little character-based changes it was interesting to see the bigger changes to the world. One is something of a spoiler that I’ll skip over, but the big one deserves mention. Since this is based on the very first two episodes of the show, anyone who is a fan knows how it turns out so that crazy Celestia gets defeated is not a spoiler. The change is that Celestia doesn’t get redeemed. In the show one of the big recurring themes is redemption and second chances (more or less) and in this story Celestia is not purified by the elements of harmony, but simply defeated and her power drained. She is still insane and manages to escape to be a continued threat. This was the big thematic change from the source material.
The author does a great job characterizing insane Celestia. Instead of having a jealous Nightmare Moon we get a greedy Corona who is a overbearing tyrannical dictator trying to control everything. It is just a good reflection of how Celestia’s personality would express itself to dangerous extremes. Though this, and a few other details elsewhere, I can’t help but think the author might be trying to put forth some comment on parts of the show. Yet it is done so gradually I can’t tell if it’s commentary or just good storytelling. Corona was the best part of the story and a excellent introduction to this re-interpretation of MLP.
Boast Busted by RainbowDoubleDash
[story link] [my original review]
This is the very first story written for the Lunaverse. Which is the name of the alternate MLP universe that I’ve been reading lately. Shows that the author was just as good right from the beginning. This is the third one I’ve read and I’m liking this alternate universe more and more. This is by far the best Trixie I’ve seen to date, though I must admit most of my Trixie exposure has been second-hand through fandom comments about things.
This one is a retelling of the Boast Busters episode, but with Trixie and Twilight’s positions reversed. Once against the author does a great job showing that the slightest adjustment can dramatically change a character. Twilight Sparkle is not a very healthy person if she doesn’t become Celestia’s student and that fanatical focus is not distracted by things other than her study of magic. Once again I’m inspired to take more care with the characters in my own writing. To see if they are complex enough that a slight change gives me different reactions.
Helping…Hands? by RainbowDoubleDash
[story link] [my original review]
Each of these alternate universe stories as a opening scene, then a tweaked version of the opening credits song from the show. It’s one of the best ‘story as episode’ tactics I’ve seen in fan fiction. I really like that it’s not just the opening song with the character lines slightly changed. All of it is tweaked just a bit to represent that Trixie has different friendship troubles than Twilight Sparkle does. Trixie’s struggles come from that she’s actually really good at meeting ponies and making friends, but horrible at maintaining and/or keeping friendships. Twilight has the opposite problem given her anti-social bookpony personality.
I love that Lyra dreams in rhyming fairy tales. It is a really good picture at what her character is like, the very essence of showing without telling. It’s just the first scene and doesn’t directly tie in with any of the events of the story, but the dream perfectly tells you so much both about her and how she sees herself deep down.
This was a fun story. Felt very much like a episode of the show, if the show was set in the Lunaverse. It also stands as a wonderful way to reference fandom without drawing attention to the connection. The entire problem in this story is from the fandom’s conception of Lyra’s character, but you don’t need to know that to get the humor involved. It’s just another layer of comedy for those who do know to enjoy on top of the actual story. I am really enjoying the Trixie shown in these stories. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite MLP characters.
An Awkward Day by RainbowDoubleDash
[story link] [my original review]
Another funny story. Quite enjoyed it despite that the Cadance in this story clashes with the version already in my head. Mostly in the history of the character and not the basic personality. Skywriter’s Cadance from his Cloudsdale Cycle stories just got lodged in my brain first. Still, the reveal of what is going on in this story is hilarious.
As always, The Big Master Review List is here: { THE MASTER LIST }
If you know of a text-format reviewer I'm not keeping track of, please let me know and I'll see if they meet the criteria to be assimilated into the list.
If you are an author who wants a more detailed review of a story I've covered feel free to message me. My reviews tend to be fairly light, mostly just reactions to a story right after reading it. I am happy to give a more careful read and reply to anyone who wants more precision and/or feedback.
2612304
The reviewer Illuminati has spoken!
In response to what you said on Pony Stories 279: there's a pretty easy way to count the number of overall reviews. Just set up a cell in an unused corner somewhere (or on another sheet) using the COUNTA function. Since cells with no reviews are empty, it should just be 30 seconds to make sure you're counting the correct cell ranges (excluding the cells with author name and story title).
2612436
Piff. Sure, if I wanted to get all fancy and knew what I was doing. I was just gonna add together what each reviewer has done and use that. Lemme see if I can figure out the fancy way to do it.
2612460
Easy peasy. Just paste the following into a blank cell you want to see the results in:
=COUNTA(XX:YY)
and replace "XX" with the row and column of the cell in the top left of the review-link area (e.g. if columns A and B are story data and row 1 is the headers, then the start of your data area is C2), and replace "YY" with the very bottom right cell (e.g. Z9999). It's a little more complicated if you're cross-referencing data from a different sheet, but not by much.
2612479
Already ahead of you! Of course, if I head checked back here I would have saved myself about ten minutes of frustration as I figured out the count function can't include it's own cell.