• Member Since 5th May, 2012
  • offline last seen 12 hours ago

Seraphem


Writer of kinky horse words, and less kinky comments that can be longer than some entire fics.

More Blog Posts85

  • 162 weeks
    SOON!

    Okay, it's been far too long, and 2020 was... well 2020, but good news!

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    1 comments · 424 views
  • 228 weeks
    New sequel is live

    So, after much teasing, much hinting, far too many delays, and a whole lot of IRL junk getting in the way, a new Kinky Luna fic is finally started. If you enjoyed Luna's trip to the Borderlands in Lunar Ravishing, get ready for round two as she heads back and accepts Gregor's invitation to his Slave Camp in Lunar Enthrallment.

    0 comments · 331 views
  • 270 weeks
    I'm not dead (and other news).

    Sooooo, yeah, I haven't really done much around here in some time, sorry about that. Combination of IRL stuff, moving, stress, and just general not having much motivation due to a number of factors, but I'm trying to work on getting back into things. So, where do things stand?

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    0 comments · 447 views
  • 309 weeks
    Fianlly! A new fic!

    So yeah, I've been saying this thing was coming for several months, but IRL just kept kicking my ass with stuff that kept me from focusing on getting it out, but finally the fic about how Starsong and Luna met in CTS is started! This is a collaborative writing effort with the always amazing Wendy Crescent.

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    0 comments · 493 views
  • 318 weeks
    Dramatic reading

    So the amazing Scarlett Blade has done a dramatic reading of Luna's Guide that you can find below.

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    0 comments · 477 views
Jun
29th
2016

Review: The Celestia Code (book edition), by: iisaw · 12:48am Jun 29th, 2016

So, as most of you likely know,¹ fairly recently iisaw did a rewrite of The Celestia Code prior to getting it set up with Print On Demand provider Lulu. Yes I have a copy, yes it is still awesome. So do the rewrites alter my perception of the story at all? Well, let’s see what we got.

¹Given just how many of my followers showed up after my review of the original version was linked to by iisaw

The only major change to it was smoothing out the opening. After the very first in media res bit we jump back to Twilight finding the ‘Treasure Room” and then the story proceeds linearly from there. Which makes for a much much better story flow. Plus it wasn’t just a “Cut/Paste” moving of the sections of text, they’ve been reworked to better flow into one another and make a bit more sense over all. So that is one improvement.

The rest of the changes were mostly little things. Adding a few lines making some stuff clearer, tidying up a few less well formed passages, a bit more build up towards Jigsaws feelings for Twilight, adding a couple references to new stuff that had shown up in the show since it was written. Nothing major, but a good amount of little things that do all around make the work even better then it was.

So are these changes enough to make me change my mind on my earlier review? Not overall. It does remove one of the things I pointed out as a flaw, the above jumping around in the beginning, and there is one more thing I called out as not quite right that, had I been writing the review now, I would actually have noted as a positive, well done thing rather then a “Huh, this doesn't make much sense” thing. Luna’s interest in Twilight’s love life. But this is not due to any changes, since there aren’t really any beyond maybe a few lines being polished a bit. It’s due to reading the sequel, and so seeing how that was actually a subtle set up for Luna’s feeling in that story.

But, neither of those are enough for me to retroactively alter my final verdict, because the story did not alter my single biggest issue with it. The Changelings, and how.. kind of wrong the entire deal with them having to choose between giving up who they are, or never having friends and being accepted in Equestrian society. (Nor was I actually expecting it to, it’s such a rather core part of the setting itself, plus, well keep reading.) If anything it adds a little twist to further show just how off and out of place that is by having Jigsaw humming a few bits from The Heart Carol² just before we find out about the whole “Become a real pony” thing. A song celebrating the different pony tribes coming together in harmony. But Changelings need not apply.

²The Heathswarming Eve “Fires of Friendship” song.

Okay I’m not bringing this up to try and take another shot at the story over this. Throughout the trilogy, the seemingly schizophrenic nature of how the story treats Changelings has been my one biggest issue. That the story treats having to give up their very nature in order to be part of pony society as something good and any changeling who does not become a pony as a potential threat is totally at odds with the entire idea of Harmony to me. I don’t see how that is any different then saying unicorns have to cut off their horns, or pegasi have to give up their wings.³ I am only bringing this up in detail to put my point of view out there, and give context for me to ask... Am I just reading way way to much into this? I am really interested in hearing others thoughts on the way the trilogy treats changelings. Maybe I’m just being over sensitive and reading more into it then I think. Or do you also think something about it is not quite right? As above, I know a good, good number of you read this story, so what are your thoughts on the changeling issue with these stories? I am legitimately, incredibly curious if I am just totally off base with things and want to know some other people’s thoughts.

³Almost literally given that among the many other changes, they DO have to accepting losing their wings and the ability to fly.

But, moving on from that tangent, the book version is still an amazing story, and one that has been made even better then the original. Nothing radically altered beyond the timeline of the first few chapters, everything else, simply taking what was already there and adding a little extra polish. But enough changes that I would heartily recommend at least re-reading the edited version of the story if you haven't already, if not outright getting the book itself, it is well, well worth it.

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