• Member Since 14th Feb, 2012
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Not a changeling.

More Blog Posts309

Nov
22nd
2015

Pony Island: Reviews, reading, and a poem · 12:23am Nov 22nd, 2015

(First things first: If you'd like a little mental exercise this weekend, Prawo Jazdy posted some nifty episode-name-based brainteasers. Click through and engage your puzzle gears!)

[1] I am now required by site rules to inform you that this link is provided as a request for prereading assistance. If you have time to waste, please leave a comment there informing the authors of one or more of the entries how you think they should change their entry in order to get my collection to pass moderation.

In the event that you happen to think that this rule is a bullshit, counterproductive waste of time, please complain to the moderators directly.

My "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" contest — in which entrants were asked to solve the murder mystery of my Rashomon-meets-Spoon-River piece "The Last Dreams Of Pony Island" — brought some amazing talent out of the woodwork. Anyone who has read the entries [1] could tell you that.

But now, you don't have to! In case you missed it, a little while back Present Perfect posted reviews of all 23 competition entries, offering a wonderful glance at the quality of writing which the competition drew. (Hint: 2/3 of them received a Recommended or higher rating!)

Speaking of quality, Dubs Rewatcher also recorded an amazing audiobook version of the story and the winning epilogue:

The variety of voices is impressive for a one-man operation, and really brings to life the diversity of the story's cast. I've been remiss in not posting it, but I really do appreciate the effort involved and the quality of the finished product.

Finally, I'll leave you with a short poem KwirkyJ wrote when the contest was announced — a butterfly cinquain, to be precise. (Someone paid attention during Thou Goddess, I see. :raritywink:) I kept meaning to spotlight it during one of the contest announcements, but never quite found the right place, and wanted to make certain that this little moment of beauty didn't get forgotten:

The moon
So high o'erhead—
My Lady, prison'd—watch'd
The deed intended, bred in fear,
That Dawn
For lover's sake brought down on her,
On her who slighted love,
To sink beneath
The sea.

Comments ( 11 )

Hmmm. I know about haiku, and limericks, and I've heard of sestinas, but I don't think I'd run into a butterfly cinquain before. Of course, I don't really know that much about poetry. I should really read up on it more sometime.

--Sweetie Belle

That poem rocked my mind

Maybe I should try an' write more poetry. I suppose I know how to write limericks.

There once was a pony from Kilkenny
Whose wife thought his awards were too many.
Battling domestic strife,
He hurtled his wife,
But the first prize still went to Miss Harshwhinny.

--Sweetie Belle

Regarding counterproductive bullshit:

As was pointed out to me elsewhere, it can be argued "Dream a Little Dream of Me" consists of published chapters that simply have not been submitted (for mod approval) and thus is not subject to the ban. What do you think of this interpretation? I mean, you clicked "publish" for all the chapters in question, right?

Still trying to forget I ever entered. :facehoof:

3559577
This limerick is objectively perfect.

3559596
knighty's defense of the rule in the thread I linked was (boldface in original):

The issue is that unpublished stories are inherently pretty hidden and it trivial to post actually illegal content in them to be linked around.

Let's forget for a moment that the site already has a rule against law-breaking content, and evaluate his words just in the context of your argument, which makes pretty clear that "an unpublished story" is the situation the rule is targeted at.

In other words, I hope you weren't doing anything reasonable like offering Patreon supporters early access to your stories.

As soon as things calm down a bit for me (and as soon as I get the time for some research to refute their assertion that FIMFiction publication of "non-MLP stories" is a problem significant enough to require a rule so otherwise counterproductive) I fully intend on an act of civil disobedience.

3560315
You need a Guy Fawkes mask for your avatar now.

3560163

Yay, thanks! I should try one of those sestina things sometimes, but it always looks really hard. And it's not like there's really much in the way of places to share poetry here anyways.

--Sweetie Belle

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