Place Your Bets · 10:31pm Jan 8th, 2015
As some of you know, I read through my RiL in the order that I put stories in. So I get to reading during my work break this morning and take a look to see what stories are next... and what do I see at the top of my RiL page?
Lyra: Click me, I take you to magical places!
I've heard lots of stories, some good, most bad. There are those who say it is a must-read, and others who tell me they couldn't get past the first two chapters. I hear it is overloaded with enough purple prose to choke a Shakespeare devotee, and heartache to shatter the Crystal Heart. Plus it's 430,000+ words long over only twenty chapters.
So... who out there thinks I'll get two chapters in and say "fuck it, you can't pay me for this shit?" Who thinks I'll manage to drag my bleeding, brain-damaged mind all the way through it but never recover? Who thinks I'll walk right on through unscathed?
I've got to finish Upheavel: Breaking Point and two short stories before I hit this. Perhaps I should be bracing my mental fortifications?
Update Schedule
The Gentle Nights: Audience of One: January 10 or 11
Frequency: Saturday, January 17
Reddux the Tyrant: Sunday, January 18
Stats
Total Word Count: 1,065,000 (+12,000) over 24 stories
Follower Rank: 476th (1 week)
Overall Ratings Average: 94.42% (+0.05%)
Highest-Rated Story (Not Counting Stories at 100%): The Gentle Nights @ 99.02% (6 Weeks)
Story with the Most Votes: Tyrant @ 1836/48 (6 Weeks)
Story with the Fewest Votes: Sweet to Eat: Tales of Nightmare Night @ 18/1 (5 Weeks)
Longest Story: Trixie vs. Equestria @ 144,000
If you can get down with skirts' usual prose, you'll have no issue. Its length is but a mere dream, and the story should pass as though one as well.
It's one heckuva mental trip, so be prepared to keep track of things and brace yourself for some real cool ideas over a dark premise.
I loved it, at least.
2709502
What exactly do you mean by 'keep track of things?'
You know, I enjoyed the story, but it's not anything I freak out about. I know plenty of people who say its one of their faves, I know people who say it's not that great, and all shades in-between, but there is one thing that I have heard everyone say, universally, regarding this story once they've read it, to anyone thinkinf of reading it: Prepare to have your soul crushed.
This story, make no mistake, is sad-- and I mean that in a very real sense.
So... whether you chose to go through with it or not, just... get your tissues handy.
Reading Background Pony amounts to basically getting slapped in the face with skirts' big literarydick for five hundred thousand words, and then getting punched in your own dick. Hard.
So of course you will love it.
All joking aside, it is a story unlike anything you've read, or ever will read, on this site.
Hoo boy, that story. As someone who read Background Pony I can tell you that it deserves all the praise it gets and I personally never found the purple prose to be that big a problem. However it is not a story for the faint of heart, not for it length but for the fact that it well and truly earns the sad tag that it has and (without giving away to much) could easily justify the tragedy tag as well.
I still have that on my read later list. Might have to slide it up to the top. Then again, not sure I want to read something that sad at the moment. Hmmm... I think I'll let you go first. I'm interested in what you think of Breaking Point too.
I tried to read this 1.5 years ago, got three chapters in, and gave up.
It just seemed to drag on and on, and the written language had my brain begging for respite.
Of course, that was then. I don't know if I'll ever attempt it again... maybe...
I'd like to say you will get through it all eventually, but I'd save your efforts when it comes to commenting. 1) any questions you ask won't be answered, and you will end up talking to nobody but yourself, and 2) it will probably make you want to make comments as long as the story itself in response. As for how it affects you? Well, since you're a soulless bastard capable of utterly destroying his own characters, you'll feel more for your overloaded brain as it works through the prose, than for the characters themselves. I'd liken the feeling to that of a single dip of peanut butter being spread over an entire loaf of bread.
Background Pony is most assuredly worth the grind to read, it is astoundingly good at what it is - an emotional epic written at a level worthy of its appraisal. Enjoy the read.
What does RiL stand for?
Considering our conversations and what you yourself have written, I think you'll be just fine.
2709532 I mean, don't get lost in the veritable ocean that is skirts' prose.
Cerulean's being melodramatic. It's not that bad. And there's jelly on that sammich too
I read all of Background Pony not too horribly long ago. I found it to be a really good story. I think you'll like it and read the whole thing. It'll rip at your heart throughout its length, but it's worth every second of the pain. I hope you read it, because I want to hear what you think of it. Best of luck!
~SolidFire
2709735 Read it Later
2709540
I've crushed a few souls myself, so I know the drill. I shall pretend to be prepared.
2709563
You shouldn't say things like that to me, for it gives me expectations that usually aren't met. At the same time, I'm a little worried, because the story description suggests to me that it may be reminiscent of a story concept I've been nursing for a long time.
2709578
So I have heard.
2709594
Well, perhaps I'll have to write a review. We shall see.
2709595
Fortunately, I don't suffer from your mental disorder that makes perfectly legitimate prose seem unbearably gut-wrenching. Thank God for that! I'll probably be just fine.
2710447
I'm used to Cerulean taking acceptable prose and acting like it's the worst thing ever. I shouldn't poke fun at him, though; it's that highbrow attitude that got TvE past the censors.
I've read SS&E's stories before. I seem to recall liking his prose overall, but I can't recall for certain.
2710497
It wouldn't be on my RiL unless I intended to read it. Also, I know a thing or two about ribbing hearts out. Well, it was an eye (and a wing), but you get the idea.
2711039
To some it's life changing, to others it's boring, to me it was thought provoking. Whether it's good or bad is something that you'll have to decide for yourself. But it is a unique story.
I've had it on my RiL for quite a while... I should probably get to it some day.
I actually just started reading this a few days ago. I'm on chapter 17 right now, so that should tell you what I think of it.
Yes, this thing is swimming in purple prose. I was close to giving up on it in the second chapter. But, I pushed on just a little further, and soon found myself unable to stop reading. Regarding how sad it is, well, so far it hasn't been nearly as sad as I was expecting. There was a certain scene that had me sobbing, but nothing too bad so far.
Of course that just has me dreading the ending.