Frequent Blues? · 11:29pm Jan 29th, 2015
Creative title is creative?
First, some good news, then a review. What good news might that be?
Frequency has been accepted (and was just featured a short time ago) on Equestria Daily! That marks three stories on EqD for me, to my great pleasure. And, to be frank, I didn't expect Frequency to make it. I submitted it hoping I could maybe get some feedback on it, so this comes as a pleasant surprise. It makes me wonder what's next? So I ask you, the handful who actually read these blogs: if you had to choose one story of mine to submit to EqD, which would it be and why?
A few other things and a review after the jump.
Before we hit today's review, I wanted to point some things out regarding my story progress. First: Frequency is almost finished! I'm going to guess that the entire story will be a mere 13 chapters, so we're already winding down. Expect big time jumps from here on in, folks.
The practically ignored Reddux the Tyrant is soon to start hitting the exciting bits – read, battles – but we're not quite there yet. My current estimate has the story running at 20 chapters. Expect the action to start at Chapter 15.
Last but by no means least, I predict that The Gentle Nights: Audience of One will have a total of 23 chapters, which will have it running into June at the current update pace. My expectation is that its conclusion will mark the beginning of my writing the TvE prequel Order of Shadows, but that may happen earlier.
Okay, enough of that: to the review!
I actually read this story three weeks ago, but seeing as of how I'm still deep in the depths of Background Pony (currently 48% finished!), I wasn't going to be finishing up anytime soon. And y'know, I'm okay with that, because I should have reviewed this story in the first place.
Tangled Up in the Blues is the life story of the titular (and pictured) Blues, who lives up to his name in so many ways. From the moment he loses his intended life's work to a blast from an mysterious rainbow (hint hint, nudge nudge) to a tragedy of cake, this guy's got bad luck. Or, as he likes to say, he's 'painted blue.' Yet this isn't some comedy of errors where poor Blue just keeps screwing up time and time again and nothing seems to go right. Far from it.
The story follows Blue's life, beginning in the bustling city of Manehattan. After his ambition to earn his cutie mark in music is crushed, the colt Blues meets an old saxophonist named Moody Blues. Moody recognizes Blues' situation and, after talking to him for a while, decides to bequeath him his own ancient saxophone and informs him that his real calling in life is to become one with 'the blues.' After this curious encounter, Moody leaves home and begins his cross-Equestria journey in life.
What happens next can best be referred to as a series of unfortunate events. Blues travels all around, settling for a while in Ponyville and later in Appleloosa, always living, even if unhappily, by his unfortunate namesake. From ruined romances, friends who just don't seem to understand, poor lodgings and bad break after bad break, nothing seems to go right.
But then we find the beauty of this story: with every event, every sad turn, every sigh-inducing moment, young Blues learns a little more about what it is to live. He takes the lessons learned in life to forge his path, growing from a hopeful youth to an unhappy teen to a world-wise traveler. Gradually, his bad turns start to feel less like cruel jokes and more like guideposts on the path to a brighter future, and by the time our traveler returns to Ponyville, he's learned to read the signs. With wisdom comes clarity comes fortune: Blues makes a name for himself and learns what it takes to avoid all the worst possible pitfall. He still has his 'painted blue' moments, but by the end of the story they're more worthy of a chuckle than a sob. With all these lessons learned, Blues finally finds his way to happiness and begins bequeathing unto others his knowledge, just as an old saxophonist once did for him.
This is one of those stories that takes you for an emotional ride. Sometimes I felt so terrible for poor Blues and you wondered if things would ever get better, but by the end I felt so good about where our intrepid non-hero ends up that it can only be called 'right.' There's a powerful effect in The Descendant's story: within short order, you come to care and fret over Blues and root for him. I've never seen an OC that I could get so deeply attached to like this in another author's story.
The writing is superb, the style is worthy of study, the characters are engrossing, the scenes are emotional. Every location Blues visits comes alive with vivid descriptions that never linger into purple prose and give you a real feel for the atmosphere of a location. There's one pivotal moment in the 6th chapter – "The Taffy Twists Blues" – that continues to stick in my brain long after I've finished the story. That alone is enough indication for me that Tangled Up in the Blues is a grade-A product of literature. It is a perfect example of scene setup, character growth and life lessons, all blended in with delightful canon references, cameos and MLP lore.
This is easily one of the best MLP slice-of-Life fanfictions I have ever read, standing toe-to-toe with the likes of The Father of My Children (also written by The Descendant) and TheBrianJ's Exit Through Canterlot. You have absolutely no reason not to read this story. Truly it is a gem.
Update Schedule
Reddux the Tyrant: January 31 or February 1
Frequency: Wednesday, February 4
The Gentle Nights: Audience of One: February 7 or 8
Stats
Total Word Count: 1,094,000 (+10,000) over 24 stories
Follower Rank: 461st (+7)
Overall Ratings Average: 94.66% (+0.09%)
Highest-Rated Story (Not Counting Stories at 100%): The Gentle Nights @ 99.06% (+0.02%, 9 Weeks)
Story with the Most Votes: Tyrant @ 1861/49 (9 Weeks)
Story with the Fewest Votes: Peach Fuzz @ 20/1 (2 Weeks)
Longest Story: Trixie vs. Equestria @ 144,000
Oh God. I wanted to read No Heroes after Reddux was finished, and now you tell me that Frequency and Audience of One are going to be wrapping up too!? Come on! Man!
As for EQD . . . uh . . . Peach Fuzz?
No wait! Scratch that! What about Foundations? I don't recall you ever saying anything about that one.
2756439
Good call! I'm pretty sure Peach Fuzz would never be accepted in its current form, I'd have to go back and do an editing number on it to make it presentable, and I'd rather not do that. Even so, it would be nice to have it earn a little more attention.
Foundations and Ordinary World would be what I would submit to EQD, frankly all of your stories are exceptional to me.
Neat! Waiting for Frequency to finish up before reading it, so happy to hear that'll be somewhat soon. Been excited about it since it popped up.
As for Tangled Up In Blues, I ended up not liking it at all. Glad you got enjoyment out of it.
Good on ya m8 though I've distaste for EQD.
Congrats.
1) Congrats on the EQD feature! That's quite a feat, and definitely some more exposure!
2) I'll give Tangled Up in Blues a shot this weekend, especially since your mention of Upheaval got me hooked on that series.
3) Can't wait for more Reddux, and to see how this thing with our favorite DJ goes down in Frequency.
4) How're you liking Backround Pony so far? I remember endorsing it to a few people recently but I don't know if you were one of them.
5) As for another story to hit EQD, I'd love for Lightning's Bolt to make it. Its easily my favorite fic out of all of yours at the moment. The way that timeline is set up though, I don't think they would take it, with it being a side story of a sequel.
2756451
I'd like to see Ordinary World get in. That story deserves more attention, in my eminently biased and unfair opinion.
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Yeah, I read your review of Tangled Up in the Blues. Ouch.
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I used to feel the same way. I still think some of their concerns are over-the-top, but I eventually realized my anger came from me being unwilling to adapt to a dumbed down age of literature. I've come to accept that the elite concept of quality is now translated at 'boring prose.' This is actually one of the big things I loved about Tangled Up in the Blues; it's written in a way that's actually interesting for the writing style alone.
2756877
Thanks!
2757373
I would love to see Lightning's Bolt make it on EqD, but you're right, they would never accept it. I'd have to get No Heroes in first, and that's not happening without some significant editing work that I'm just not prepared to do.
As for Background Pony, I'm enjoying it. The philosophical musings stretch on far longer than they need to and Lyra's dialogue is oftentimes very unnatural, but the content of the story is still solid. Also, watching SS&E write out every little grunt and laugh is rather annoying.
Hey man what should I read next?
2757648
Depends. What all have you read?
2757657 Redux, all of the no hero's, TvE, Twilights inferno and that lightning dust side story.
2757661
Then I would recommend either:
1) Tyrant and Foundations, both of which were instant hits that more or less took over the sight for a period of roughly a week. They seem to be the stories by me that everyone thinks need to be read, so...
2) Ordinary World. It's one part of the Fleur AU, which is an offshoot of No Heroes (I really need to set up a graphic showing how the timelines diverge), and there are other stories in the AU (as revealed by the collection of sequels and prequels). Even so, you can feel free to ignore all of that and just read Ordinary World if you want; it stands tall on its own.
You read those, and my response afterwards will be "whatever you damn well want."
2757628 Well theirs that and also the fact of many of the people there annoy me by just being pansies. Really tis sad when no one knows the humor 40K offers especially when morons think you support communism (Which i do but they mean what stalin did) and just fail to grasp that. So I say $#*& EQD for its people the news is what I go there for nothing more.
Weeeeeelllllll...
I know you said Tyrant wasn't that great compared to your other works, I still loved it. And even though that's probably just my love of alternate universe stories talking, I think it would probably be able to get onto EqD.
Congrats on Frequency, by the way! And I found out this morning that Adi is an Israeli name. I was never quite sure if it was Hebrew or not, but my mom assured me that it is. The English word closest to its meaning is "jewelry".
And Tangled Up in Blues is buried somewhere in my RL list... not that that means much. I have way too many stories on there.
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Actually her name is Adhiambo, which is an East African name that means "Born in the evening." but nobody wants to say (or can pronounce) Adhiambo, so it of course got shortened to Adi in conversations.
2759951 Ooooooh... I knew I was forgetting something.
What does that mean?
2759964
You're senile?
2760021 I'm less than half your age, grandpa.
2760027
Such a shame that it started so early. Alas, we can't all be champions of mental health.
2760037 Indeed. I do mourn for your loss; it must be terrible for someone of your age and with such a promising career to look forward to.
2760057
It is. Truly I am cursed.
2760099 Oh, you poor thing. How tragic.
Paul,
Thank you very, very much for this review. I was made aware of it when Rayvinne commented on Tangled Up in Blues and said that he only read the work on your recommendation. I thank you very much for inviting at least one person to explore the little world I created. Tangled Up in Blues is, unfortunately, one of the dozen stories I released in my first four weeks on FIMFiction... before I learned the mechanizations of the site and about the unwritten rules like "Don't post without followers." and how to use groups. While it is unfair of me to ask that any of my works receive much attention, I do often think about how it would have gone for stories like Tangled Up in Blues, The Purple Mare, and A Cup of Joe had I known.
I'm personally very, very grateful that there is enough "meat" left on the piece after all of this time for you to enjoy it as much as you did. The canon it presents is ancient and outdated, the grammar it presents is a stark reminder of the days when I did not know the importance of finding a good editor, and I'm left wondering what it would take for me to re-write it to bring it up to my current standards.
But, you are right, there is something about the piece that still speaks to me, even as its author. Blues is not just a pony who I wrote for, he's someone I got to know. I worried about him terribly, and at times I still "check in" with the piece to see if he's alright.
The hypothetical name for the sequel is A Noteworthy Situation, dealing in part with the way toys and canon interact to mess up the little world of our jazz-playing pony friend. I hope that someday I'll have that to offer to you to review. Thank you once again, I greatly appreciate it.
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It was my pleasure, and I really mean it. Tangled Up in the Blues is one of those stories where, whatever grammar mistakes might have existed, they went completely unnoticed or ignored due to my complete enjoyment of the story itself. I loved Blues as a character and I look forward to seeing more of his world, should you ever get to it.