R4 (Reactions, Reviews, Reference, Redirection) #0052 · 4:47pm Jan 2nd, 2015
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Here are five slightly edited old reviews:
Darkest Before Dawn by Obselescence
Case and Gaze by I had no idea
Interview with a Batpony by Gulheru
Moonlight Becomes You by Dalek
And Let Me Sing Among The Stars by CesareBlanc
Darkest Before Dawn by Obselescence
[story link] [my original review]
Story by the same author who wrote In Memory Of…which is still one of my favorite fanfics, even if it wrenches apart my insides each time I’ve read it. This story has almost nothing in common with that one. Except perhaps the same sense of slow tragic sliding towards oblivion, but this one having a extra touch of hopeful striving for a better outcome. A good story with a wonderful ‘what if’ situation that works as a wonderful character study of both Princess Luna and Twilight Sparkle, and even a brief look at Applejack despite her not showing up at all except for a single line of dialogue between the two main characters referencing the farmpony.
For comparison, I got more of a feel for Applejack’s character from a single throw-away line in this story, when she is merely talked about by other ponies, than I got about her in the last story I read where she was present in several scenes and had long-ish conversations with the main character at least twice. It really highlighted just how poorly done the previous story was. Also, turns out this wasn’t part of the batpony contest and was just another story that I had downloaded and it got mixed in. Oh well.
Case and Gaze by I had no idea
[story link] [my original review]
This story was pretty much what I wanted from the story Ponyville 911. This story had some rough spots, but it was a fun read with interesting characters so I didn’t care as much about the technical side of it. I wouldn’t mind reading more about these characters. The author still needs some practice writing witty banter between the two main characters, but that just takes practice. Which would be a great reason to write more about these characters, nudge, nudge. This author has plenty of talent (not that I believe in inborn talent that much, but that’s beside the point) which when compared to Choosing The Guard just shows how unskilled that author is. This story won’t be one of the three I vote for, but I will likely read it again in the future.
Interview with a Batpony by Gulheru
[story link] [my original review]
Interesting story. A bit longer than some of the others so far in this batpony reading list. Written entirely as dialogue and sound cues, as it is a audio record, and quite well done. One or two places got a little confusing, but for the most part it was a fun read. A bit simplistic content-wise, but well thought out and well presented. Almost considered adding some of this stuff to my personal MLP headcanon, but it clashes a bit too much with a few things. Plus isn’t nearly weird enough. I like more mystical/surreal pieces to my headcanon as a general rule, not counting stuff I just copy right out of really good fan fiction. Which this isn’t quite up to that level of quality.
Moonlight Becomes You by Dalek
[story link] [my original review]
Bleh. Couldn’t even finish this one. Writing was just so bad that I gave up about 2/3rds into the story.
And Let Me Sing Among The Stars by CesareBlanc
[story link] [my original review]
This was something of a bittersweet story. The emotional tone switched between hope and sadness, but it didn’t mix as well as some other stories so the edge to the emotions was dulled rather than sharpened by the contrast. A bit of focus could have made either one very powerful. Really good story despite that little nitpick. A interesting things at how Equestria might have been during the decades right after Princess Luna got banished to the moon. The mysticism bits were very well written, but didn’t quite match up with MLP. Was more like classical fantasy, such as non-horror Lovecraft and Lord Dunsany. Not enough to be jarring, but it felt like I was reading a piece of original fiction instead of a pony fanfic.
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. It might take a while, as more precision means I need to actually think about things instead of just doing stream of consciousness typing.
