Site Post » Round Robin Reviews # 1 · 2:31am Mar 7th, 2016
The Round Robin Reviews are written by different groups and reviewers taking turns each week. If you are a story reviewer or part of a group that reviews stories and would be interested in joining the Round Robin Reviews, feel free to PM me (Wanderer D), Professor Plum, or ElDorado to tell us about it.
We look forward to your feedback!
The Royal Guard—HashtagTwentySixteen Edition
Every few weeks, we recommend six high-quality stories from a variety of authors and popular genres. From action/adventure to slice of life, from drama to comedy, from stories about ponies kissing to stories involving pink hairless apes, we feature a wide variety of stories so that every post has something for everyone.
We’re always looking for a tip-top tale, so if you’d like to submit your fic, here are some links you’ll probably find useful:
-The Royal Guard Group
-Submit Your Story!
-The Royal Guard's Official Handbook
Finally—and I cannot emphasize this enough—we are always recruiting. If you think you’ve got what it takes to be a prereader, then don’t hesitate to send us an application. If you have any questions about the application process, please direct them to Prak.
AND NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO... STORIES!
This Week:
Action/Adventure
Goldie Delicious and the Three Heads, by Cosmic Cowboy
Romance
The Djinni’s Tale, by Snake Staff
Comedy
Rarity Loses her Innocence in a Poker Game, by MrNumbers
Slice of Life
Under a Tree, by Noble Thought
ACTION/ADVENTURE
PR Recommendation: We could all do with more adorable in our lives. Thankfully, Goldie Delicious and the Three Heads is more than ready to provide you with enough fuzzy feelings to fuel a changeling hive.
It's always fun to see how an author delves into the writing mind of a child. Seeing how this story goes about bringing the reader directly into young Goldie's perception has a way of bringing out that childlike youth in all of us. Not understanding why dumb, stupid rules exist, being naive to danger and consequences, just wanting to get outside and explore... these are all things we've experienced in our youth (or depending who you are, things you still do).
What we have here is a true-to-universe style pony tale, told from Applejack to Apple Bloom about their ancestor, that helps explain why Applejack knew exactly how to save Apple Bloom from the deadly chimera. If I have one minor complaint, it's that the story just feels like a story in a book, rather than Applejack actually being the narrator.
Still, the style is easily forgiven when you can't help smiling from each paragraph to the next. Goldie Delicious is an adorable character through and through; her accidental encounter with the chimera has a way of feeling both a little scary and a little funny at the same time. This is because we as readers know the danger, but our childlike narrator has absolutely no clue. It's tense and endearing at exactly the same time, because it had a way of reminding me about when I was in pre-school myself, having stories like Goldilocks and the Three Bears and We're Going On a Bear Hunt being read to me by a teacher with all the right voices.
Definitely worth the 5 minutes or so it will take to read. And who knows? This might just be one of the few ponyfics you might take away as an actual real life fairy tale... if that makes sense. Read it to your kids if you have any—they'll love it. —Cerulean Voice
DRAMA
PR Recommendation: A beautiful trio of Hearth's Warming Eve stories tied together with the powerful central theme of spending the holidays with your family, presented in three different contexts at three different points in the life of Princess Cadance.
The first story shows us Cadance's first Hearth's Warming Eve that she can recall, a bitterly cold day when an orphaned filly was taken in by a warm, loving adoptive family.
The second story shows us Cadance's first Hearth's Warming Eve away from home, spent foalsitting a young Twilight Sparkle, and connecting with a new family even as she misses her old one.
The third shows us Cadance's first Hearth Warming Eve in the Crystal Empire, isolated and alone even though she is surrounded by her subjects, as every member of her family is stuck on a train which has been delayed. By far the longest piece, this really ties it all together, showing us not only the importance of family to Cadance, and what Hearth's Warming Eve has come to mean for her, but the emotional yearning she feels, both to help out other ponies and to feel the warmth of family around her herself.
It has just the proper mix of joy and melancholy, and each story is more powerful than the last, with the final - and longest - one putting an excellent emotional cap on the piece. —Titanium Dragon
ROMANCE
PR Recommendation: It's difficult to imagine anybody not knowing what a Djinni (Genie) is in these days. We've all seen Aladdin, or at least heard the story: a young man finds a magic lamp, containing a being with the ability to grant almost any wish(es) he desires. You might think you know, glancing at the conservative description, roughly how The Djinni's Tale is going to go. You might think you know how genies work.
But you would be wrong. Or maybe, at least not as right as you might assume.
Ask yourself: if you had absolutely no idea what a djinni was, how would you genuinely react to its discovery? And I don't mean after it explains what it is, I mean as soon as you found it. I know what I'd do, and with that in mind, the unnamed protagonist acts as realistically as one would expect. I actually love how they assume absolutely nothing about their accidental discovery.
Although the story goes out of its way to explain what the djinni is and how it came to be—information you might feel is totally unnecessary (see above)—this never feels like padding or blatant exposition. The way that the djinni tells its story is fascinating and fresh; here lies no such Aladdin-esque clone, but a unique portrayal of a popular mythical creature.
A large range of emotions are present here: curiosity, apprehension, fear, enthusiasm... sympathy... but most of all, wonder. It takes a bit to launch into the main part of the plot, but how it does! The sheer amount of imagination present really gripped me with its rich-yet-compact amount of adventure. Although, without a doubt, the strongest aspect of the story is the djinni itself, and the way that it and our unnamed protagonist—its new master—interact with each other with certainly take anyone on a roller coaster ride.
At under 20k words, picking up The Djinni's Tale would be an hour or so very well spent. Everything about it is beautiful. Expect nothing, yet wish for everything, and you may in fact end up with all you desire. —Cerulean Voice
COMEDY
PR Recommendation: One of our prereaders describes Rarity Loses her Innocence in a Poker Game as "far funnier than it has any right to be". When you consider the premise, this is pretty high praise, but more importantly it's a testament to what this story does well.
You see, I often feel that the secret to comedy in prose is escalation—but this story manages to stay funny throughout just by taking its ridiculous premise to its conclusion. The gag about Rarity being outraged at how much her virginity is worth is funny every time, and of course hangover jokes are always funny... well, it's a bit silly to explain what the jokes are in advance of you reading it, so suffice to say that they hold up well. On top of this, the fic knows not to wear out its welcome, ending before things become tiresome.
Basically, this is a great comedy that won't take up too much of your time, but will likely give you at least a few laughs. Please, give it a shot! —R5h
SLICE OF LIFE
PR Recommendation: Under a Tree is one of those stories in which not much happens on the surface, but a huge amount of deep emotion lurks beneath the surface of the characters' thoughts and actions. At its heart, this is a story about Applejack dealing with loss - not only the loss of her parents, but the potential loss of Granny Smith as well. It uses the story of Applejack planting a tree with her father to illustrate not only Applejack's emotional connections with her family members, but what it means for Applejack to lose them as well.
This is not a fast-paced story, but it is rich in emotional texture, and Applejack's conversation with Fluttershy, and telling the story of her father, serves as a means of us coming to better understand Applejack as a person. If you like pieces rich in emotion, this is the story for you. —Titanium Dragon
HUMAN
PR Recommendation: By the logic exploited in this story, I should be able to convince you to read The Loneliest Laundromat by pointing out that Derpy—that is, Sudsy—takes her clothes off in this story, as do a great many other characters. So what are you waiting for? Go read it!
Oh, that wasn't enough?
Well, it can be a little hard to pin down what makes this story so good. It's got emotion without being super-dramatic, it's got humor without being super-hilarious, and it's certainly not epic or adventurey or whatnot. Rather, this story is fundamentally decent—not in a quality sense (I think it's better than decent in quality), but in a morality sense. Sudsy helps out Sonata, and Sonata's actions end up helping Sudsy in return, even if she can't quite figure why: there's a human decency in there that's nice to witness. That's something I've always liked about Friendship is Magic in general, even when the decency is not strictly speaking human.
In short, if I were advertising this like one would a film, I'd call it the feel-good movie (fanfiction) of the year (sitepost). I think you'll enjoy it if you read it. —R5h
Addendums
If you guys have any questions about our sitepost policies, or our approval guidelines, feel free to browse the handy dandy Official Royal Guard Handbook, and if you still find yourself lacking answers, feel free to ask Prak so that he can find the right person to give you what you need.
See you guys next time!
...seriously? The Royal Guard got the first exposure from this? I was kinda looking forward to seeing some fresh perspectives.
3795016 They had theirs done first. Next week comes the next, and so on.
WHOO! 8V
Is the bit about being in a reviewers' group or doing independent reviews a requirement? I have written anything up, but there are tons of stories on this site that I feel could use more recognition.
Hey woah, came here to leave a sarcastic comment about the Round Robin, found out my fic was featured.
I really hope someone does read it to their kids. That would just make my week.
EDIT-
Whoops, almost forgot to leave my sarcastic comment!
*Ahem*
Oh, so now you are explicitly inviting individual reviewers, and not just groups? I see how it is. Now you come crawling back to me.
...
It's just not the same, now. Thanks, CV.
You know, it's nice to see this happen. Heard about it. Was looking forward to seeing it.
You know, I think I've been away from the guards for too long. Should go back to do a few reviews again.
Glad to see the round-robin get started, and also glad that the Guard is still doing their thing. Some good story selections, too. Kudos all around.
3796584 The first step in getting what you want is to know where the right place to ask for such a thing is. In other words, not in a blog post that has absolutely nothing to do with that. The second step would be to investigate if your request hasn't been made before. It has. The third step would be using this information to decide whether to ask unnecessarily or to approach a member of staff by PMing them instead of jumping into the first place you can to ask something that again, has absolutely nothing to do with what's being talked about.
3795016 Aw, c'mon, be nice. They already lost their regular site blog and got relegated down to PCaRG, Twilight's Library (Rest in flaming pieces), and whatever other flavor-of-the-month review groups three friends can come up with on the fly. They're due for another round of dying off and fading out of existence in a couple months anyway, might as well cash in while they can.
See you when the... um... what will it be? Fourth? Will it be the fourth incarnation next time around?
See you there!
3796658
The fools. When will they ever learn? You need eleven friends coming up with it on the fly. Last about four times as long that way.
3796658
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ZOMG, are you sure you don't have some gay genes?
3795341
Not even a neck honcho, but from what it seems like: Round Robin reviews can be done by groups or individuals, provided you can prove you have the staying power and organization capabilities lol of a group. I mean, makes sense, they want commitment, not a one hit wonder.
The Royal Guard however accepts individuals, and you probably don't need to make as convincing a case for it. Either way, no harm in trying! Always interested in new perspectives (and great old ones like TRG too =P).