Wanderer D 5,502 followers · 65 stories

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  • 113 weeks
    SA: The Last Round

    "So, what do you think, Corejo?" Wanderer D asked, politely showing off the stack of papers in his claw.

    The burlap sack with the printed (in color!) face of Corejo remained silent.

    "I see, yes, yes!" Wanderer D cackled. "Ahahaha! Yes! I agree! This story should do fine! So, who's reviewing it? RT?"

    The sack that had the picture of RTStephens on it tilted just enough for a single potato to roll onto the table.

    "And we have two! Alright, team, I expect you all to figure out who's doing the next one, okay? Let's not keep the readers waiting!" He glanced expectantly at the several sacks with pictures around him. "Alright! Dismissed."

    "Sir?"

    "Ah, intern. Is that my coffee?" Wanderer D took the proffered mug and downed the contents in one go. "Excellent! No time to rest! We have to edit what the guys just handed to me."

    Read More

    110 comments · 8,849 views
  • 134 weeks
    SA: Round 186

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    The Dodge Junction train ramp was not where Floydien expected to be part of a reunion.

    He especially didn’t expect it to happen four times in a row.

    “Wait, Winter? What are you doing here?”

    Winter’s eyebrows raised. “On Summer vacation. What about you?”

    “Uh, same.”

    “Guys!”

    The two Angels looked to where the voice came from. Cynewulf came running up to them, a wide brimmed sunhat and sunglasses adorning her head. “Fancy meeting you two here!”

    Floydien scratched his head. “Same. Are you on vacation too?”

    “Yep! Had a blast down on the Horseshoe Bay coast.”

    “Well, ain’t this something!”

    All turned to the fourth voice. Knight strode up, his body decked out in fishing gear, complete with a fishing pole balanced over his shoulder. “Haven’t seen so many of us in one spot since vacation started.”

    Read More

    12 comments · 4,652 views
  • 149 weeks
    SA: Round 185

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Winter and Knight stared out at the bleak townscape. All around them, the fires raged unchecked as Ponyville's former occupants stumbled mindlessly about, their undead faces ravaged by rot and decay as they moaned for sustenance. Knight turned to Winter.

    "Ready to go?"

    Winter nodded and shifted a backpack. "Got everything with me. I guess it's now or never."

    Knight gave a wry smile. "That's the spirit. You do have your reviews, right?"

    "Of course!" he said, patting his chest. "Right here."

    Knight nodded and said, "Alright, here's the plan: we stick to the shadows as much as possible. From what I can tell, their eyesight isn't that good, but their sense of smell is excellent. We just have to stay upwind."

    Read More

    10 comments · 4,264 views
  • 156 weeks
    SA: Round 184

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    “I see. Alright, I’ll let him know.”

    Intern twisted a dial on the small mechanical piece attached to his ear, retracting a blue, see-through visor from across his face. He turned to Floydien, crossing his arms. “It’s confirmed. Generation 5 is on its way. Season 2 of Pony Life is just around the corner. And the series finale of Equestria Girls was scrapped for a holiday special.”

    Floydien lifted an eyebrow. “And, what does that mean for us?”

    Read More

    10 comments · 4,423 views
  • 160 weeks
    SA: Round 183

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Over their heads the flak guns peppered the sky. The planes roared and sputtered. The clouds were dark, heavy with the child that was war. It was all noise.


    Cynewulf looked around the bend. “You know, I’ve been reading old fics. Remember Arrow 18?”


    Floydien slipped—a Floydien slipped—One Floydien came through the fractured time in the lower levels of the Sprawling Complex. “Uh, human in Equestria?”


    “Yeah. You know, we were probably too mean about those.”


    “They were terrible. I mean some of them. I guess a lot of everything is terrible.”


    “Well, yes. But anyway, I was reading it, and it occurred to me that what I liked about it was that it felt optimistic in the way that Star Trek was optimistic. It felt naive, but in a way one wanted to emulate. To regress back into it.”


    “Uh, that sounds nice?”

    Read More

    7 comments · 5,921 views
  • 165 weeks
    SA: Round 182

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    “Okay, Winter, hit it!”

    Winter pulled a lever that ignited a rocket placed underneath the communal Christmas Tree. The tree blasted through a cylindrical hole and out into the skies beyond. It only took seconds for the tree to become a tiny red dot against the blue sky.

    Winter stepped away from the control panel and down to where Intern was standing behind a fifty-five millimeter thick glass wall. “We could have just picked up the base and tossed it in the garbage bin outside, you know.”

    Intern scoffed. “Yeah, we could, or we can go over the top in a comedic and entertaining manner that leads into our reviews.”

    “You’re getting all meta, now.”

    “Exactly! On to the reviews!”

    ROUND 182

    Read More

    6 comments · 7,953 views
  • 170 weeks
    SA: Round 181

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    For the first time in the year that he worked there, FanficFan finally experienced quiet in the Seattle’s Angels Compound. All the other reviewers had gone home for the holidays, leaving him and Intern to submit the last round of reviews of the year. However, with Intern off on an errand, FanficFan was left alone.

    With stories ready to be read by his partner, all the reviewer could really do was wander around the empty building, taking in all the holiday decorations left behind from the Office Christmas Party a few days prior, like office space holiday knick-knacks, lights strown about the ceiling and wreaths on nearly every door. Plus, there was some leftover cookies and egg nog, so that was nice. 

    Read More

    8 comments · 6,366 views
  • 174 weeks
    SA: Round 180

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Cynewulf lay in a grassy field. This was a curious occurrence, as the Seattle Angel’s Dyson Sphere-esque compound basement labyrinth did not usually have grass. 


    But like she had many times before, she’d been teleported here, and whether or not the sky above her was real or not, she didn’t mind. The grass was nice, and the wind was nice, and whatever happened happened.
    f

    There was a great crash and Corejo stumbled into the grass to her right.

    “Oh, god, are we out? How did—”

    “No clue. I suspect that it’ll just take us back anyhow. Did you have the reviews? The machine came for me a few days ago, so I’ve got mine.”


    “I… Uh, I was late. I mean, we both are, unless you’ve been here for days.”

    Read More

    9 comments · 8,124 views
  • 178 weeks
    SA: Round 179

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Winter peered cautiously out the corner of the broken window, surveying the damage outside. He turned to his companion.

    "Looks like we're trapped in here," he said quietly.

    Intern grunted and adjusted the bandage on his arm. "Nothing we haven't gone through before." He looked up at Winter. "Got your reviews?"

    Winter nodded and patted his chest pocket. "Right here, where they're safe." He turned and looked once more out the window. "Now, it's simply a matter of getting through all those ponies." Winter shuddered as he took in the horrors before him.

    Read More

    10 comments · 5,223 views
  • 181 weeks
    SA: Round 178

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Matthew stumbled through the basement, crouching low to avoid all the pipes on the ceiling. Floydien hadn’t told him much, just that it was extremely important, had nothing to do with Intern, and to take the last fire door on the left.

    After what seemed like eternity in an instant, Matthew finally came to said fire door, damp with sweat and condensation. He carefully undid the latch and opened it with one arm raised just in case of any traps. Only to be greeted with the sounds of maniacal but joyous laughter as he spotted Floydien sitting in the center of the room surrounded by thousands of stacks of papers.

    “I found it!” Floydien said, tossing a stapled pack of papers to Matthew. “I finally found the answer. The answer to all of our questions. To our very existence!”

    Read More

    4 comments · 4,521 views
Apr
17th
2016

Story Reviews » Round Robin Reviews # 4 · 2:52am Apr 17th, 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.

The Royal Guard—Prelude to Summer 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!



ACTION/ADVENTURE



PR Recommendation: Harissa is a story of shadowy magic, distant empire, and royal heartbreak... and it's named after a hot sauce. Close to half of this (not very long) story is devoted, in fact, to the creation of said hot sauce.

Does this sound like a bad idea? Well, prepare to be surprised, then: Harissa is very, very good within a pretty sparse wordcount of 6k. The author sets up a distant world, and a secret history and character arc for Zecora, in about half of that time—while the other half, the half with the hot sauce, serves as a perfectly placed series of counterpoints. It's a contrast that not only accentuates the more fantastic elements, but serves as a crucial part of them by the ending.

In short, this story offers up unique world building and character development for a relatively underused character, and it'll definitely be worth your time for a read. —R5h



DRAMA



PR Recommendation: Bon Bon goes to visit Lyra in the hospital. It looks like a standard visit to an insane asylum, until Lyra's madness seems to point towards a secondary explanation. But Lyra really IS crazy, right?

Horse Voice is a master of the disconcerting, and this story is a good example of the form, where the audience is left questioning their experience and wondering if the world is a much darker place than they previously imagined. Bon Bon's visit with Lyra in the hospital leaves both Bon Bon and the reader with a lot to think about. —Titanium Dragon



ROMANCE



PR Recommendation: Wow. Pinkie Pie is really bad at this.

It's funny, isn't it: Pinkie is arguably better at friendship than Twilight "Literal Princess of Friendship, it's in the job description" Sparkle... and yet when she screws up, her screw-ups are correspondingly epic in proportion. She just gets too wrapped up in herself and gets all sorts of insensitive. So when Pinkie Pie convinces herself that she's in love with Fluttershy—a pony more sensitive to insensitivity than most—the magnificence with which she torpedoes their first date is something to behold.

Speaking personally, I'm not a fan of 'cringe comedy', so I came into this story with a bit of worry. As it turns out, my fears were unfounded: this story manages to be funny without relying too much on awkwardness. The ending is surprisingly heartfelt, too—or at the very least, surprising. I don't want to give too much away, but if you're looking for an unconventional whirlwind romance that showcases Pinkie at her best and worst, then this is probably the story for you. —R5h



COMEDY



PR Recommendation: At once a completely solved murder mystery and a simple but effective comedy, "Pinkie Pie's Glamorous Giggle Gas" by Magello is a comedy that manages to capture both the spirit of a the best kinds of infomercials and the foolhardiness of weirdly colored mini-horses. Despite the story's relatively short stay, Magello manages to capture the attention of the reader with nothing but subtle wit and charm, and by the end, it actually managed to make me laugh.

Fans of well-executed comedy will enjoy their time with this, and I couldn't recommend it any more than I already have. Well done, Magello, very well done. —Daikatana



SLICE OF LIFE



PR Recommendation: On its face, this is a story about how Sunset became Celestia's student by performing a marvellous magical feat to catch the attention of the Princess of Equestria. Dig a little bit deeper, however, and you realize that this is also the story of how Sunset Shimmer stopped being Celestia's student.

A story rich in symbolism, this story does an excellent job of simultaneously telling two stories, one by developing Sunset Shimmer's character, and a second by implication.. —Titanium Dragon



HUMAN



PR Recommendation: There are friendship stories, and then there are… friendship stories. I’m not sure which category this one falls into. On the one hand you’ve got the cliché ex-baddie that needs a friend, and on the other you’ve got the subtle yet charming ridiculousness that is On Wings of Ashes. I say subtle because you’re not going to be beaten over the head by these jokes, and I say ridiculous because these same jokes are poised to sneak up behind you with an airhorn in hand.

Then there’s the characters. This story should be required reading for anyone who dares write Sonata Dusk. Pascoite adeptly presents a Sonata that is oblivious to the finer points of reality without simply being dumb; she’s neither genius nor simpleton nor average, she’s just… Sonata, and she’s very amusing to read about.

And then there’s Vice Principal Luna. I’m not sure if I should start with a joke about who she is or praise for how well she’s been written. I’m not even sure I like this version of her, and yet I can’t imagine this story without. You’re in for quite a ride, dear reader. Buckle up. —BlazzingInferno



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!

Report Wanderer D · 2,964 views ·
Comments ( 8 )

Thanks for the feature, sweeties. :raritywink:

Question Wanderer, do you guys only review stuff in the Royal Guard?

Wanderer D
Moderator

3876284 I'm not involved with them, best way to find that info is checking with them directly.

R5h

3876284
Hello! I am here from The Royal Guard.

I'm afraid I'm a little unclear as to what you mean. "Do you guys only review stuff in the Royal Guard"... are you asking if reviews are the only thing that we do?

3876538 3876336 Thanks Wanderer.

What I meant R5H was that do you Round Robin Reviewers Only review stories successfully submitted to the Royal Guard or do you just pick and choose? Or do you get recommendations from somebody?

Cause I definitely have a few recommendations.

R5h

3876611
Stories are submitted by their authors. Do not submit other people's stories.

Wanderer D
Moderator

3876611 You can also check the other groups that appear in the Round Robins to see if they take recs

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