Z Reviews: Double Feature Part 1: Yule In A Donut Shop · 11:05am Dec 25th, 2014
This time's review will be of Yule in a Donut Shop, authored by Rune Soldier Dan, reviewed by me, TheifofZ. If you like this review, check my blog for other reviews, or follow this link to go to the post containing the mission statement and a list of all the stories I've reviewed so far.
As always, here's how I'll be doing this; First I'll cover the story idea, and writing style and quality of the story. Next, I'll look at the actual story itself, including character motivation, action (if the story has any), and the general plot. Finally, I'll throw down my egotistical and opinionated rating, declaring exactly how good, or bad, I thought this was. And yes, I will do my best to avoid spoilers for the plot IF POSSIBLE. If the spoiled events are integral to the story, I'll throw down spoiler warnings instead, and ask that you proceed with caution. Always remember, folks. This is all opinion. Disagree with me? Think I'm dead wrong, or spot on? Argue about it in the comments if you want. It's cool. Noone has a truly humble opinion, after all, but make sure you read the review first.
Oh, man. It's officially Christmas as of afew hours ago, so I missed my deadline, but... This story is so full of the Christmas Spirit that it'll make up for it, I hope. Literally. Now, we've all heard stories about people doing crazy things to help, or comfort, others on Christmas, or other times of the year, and I've always enjoyed those brief moments that remind you that people can be fundamentally decent creatures. Yule in A Donut Shop (... Brief moment to rant; noone spells it right. Ever. It's "doughnut"! From the word "dough". D'oh.) is a one-shot that takes place in Doughnut Joe's "Donut shop", and tells a somewhat touching tale about the various misfits that show up at the unpopular and downtrodden little doughnut store on Hearth's Warming Eve. The writing does a good job setting the scene (Originally the opening was clunky... but then it was changed. So there goes an entire paragraph of discussion. *Crumples up and tosses aside some paper*.) and also explores each character just enough, without wasting excess time. The grammar and writing style is well balanced, and ideas flowed naturally from one point to the next.
The story develops slowly, bringing in the full cast of screw-ups and explaining why they'd be at Joe's on Hearth's Warming Eve as known by Joe himself, which is a rather masterful touch. Quite a few fanfictions tell us what is either already known to the fans, but not the main characters, or take time to fully explain characters that shouldn't be understood yet, so this is an exceedingly strong example of good character set up. As the story progresses, the scene, and characters begin to grow, changing into something much warmer and cheery than the original feelings of the scene, expedited by a certain, mysterious white-coated, pink maned mare that requested aid for Sweetie Belle, and then vanished. Each of the characters stays true to what we know of them, and develops just enough for the story to have a satisfying conclusion for each of them, without any ridiculous "happy ever after" type endings. The conclusion each character reaches is brought about through their own personal desires and efforts, and it's all closed off on a cheerful high note.
Overall... I give this story 9 out of 10 moustaches, and 5 out of 5 home-sick Sweetie Belles.
Any opinions or major points you'd like to make go in the comments below. Advice, Major Corrections, story suggestions, and fan mail can be PM'd to me. ... if I ever get fans. HAH!
Final Note: As always, reviews of one shots end up rather short. Ah well. I'd like to briefly point out that it amuses me immensely that Prince Blueblood has an entire group here dedicated to building his character, and while it was different from the usual, how he was used here was both heart warming and a refreshing change of pace.
Final Final Note: Merry Christmas, and all the other seasonal holidays too. Thank you guys for taking your time to read these, comment, and follow me. It really means alot. ... Don't expect honest thanks from me often, though. So take that as your real gift. 
