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The Hat Man


Specialties include comedy, robots, and precision strikes to your feelings. Hobbies include hat and watch collecting. May contain alcohol.

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Aug
18th
2016

The Hat Man Reviews: "Silver Glow's Journal" · 12:57am Aug 18th, 2016

As the title suggests, I'll be looking at a story I've wanted to talk about for a while now, Admiral Biscuit's daily serialization,

Silver Glow's Journal


As many of you may already know, I tend to dislike Human in Equestria (HiE) stories. Not universally, but with few exceptions. I'm much more sympathetic to Pony on Earth (PoE) stories, and that is the category Silver Glow's Journal falls into. It also has the benefit of taking place at a university, and as a university instructor myself, it holds a lot of personal appeal. Both of these factors caused me to check this story out and follow it. So, that said, let's get into the nitty-gritty of this tale, shall we?

First of all, the title tells you a good portion of what this story is. It's a journal belonging to a pegasus named Silver Glow, a weatherpony from a coastal town back in Equestria. Silver participates in an exchange program between Earth and Equestria, specifically enrolling at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. Though there are other ponies in the program, they are at different schools, so Silver keeps a journal to chronicle the events of each day along with her thoughts, feelings, and opinions.


Illustration by Centchi

Now, when I say "each day," that pertains to how I said this story was a "daily serialization." As in, there's a new chapter in this story every single day. The chapters are quite short, but they are well-written and easy to follow (generally), which is quite a feat. I think I do well to update every two weeks, but to keep up a daily schedule is very impressive, so hats off to Admiral Biscuit for the effort.

But that alone doesn't make for a good story. So, what about the story itself?

Well, as a journal, it is told very plainly, with everything being told exactly from Silver's perspective. That means that there is no dialogue. If you like your stories with flowery, ornate prose, then this story will disappoint: Silver is pretty direct, and while she does offer some sensory descriptions, they are brief and to the point. On the other hand, this means that some of her musings and her versions of certain events are quite amusing to us due to her naivete about human society.

However, underneath this simplicity is a pretty rich narrative with a large cast of characters, including Silver's roommate Peggy, her handlers Miss Cherilyn and Mr. Salvatore, a student who does theater lighting named Aric, a student of Equestrian named Meghan (Equestrian is treated as a unique language, which I personally find fascinating to speculate about), several professors, a group of friends who play Durak, a group of football players, and more. The interactions she has with these characters weaves in and out of this tale, and they range from dramatic and touching to outright ridiculous and silly.

There are a few elements that aren't for everyone, of course. The story has a few headcanon things that you might find hard to swallow. And on that note, there's one more element to get to that I'd be remiss if I didn't mention:

This story has sex in it. A lot of it. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not explicit or pornographic. It's just treated with the same matter-of-fact attitude that Silver treats everything else. It might be a bit jarring for some to see Silver be cute and sweet one moment, but then to see her be so nonchalant about sex the next. And it's pretty clear that she has very few hangups about it. Related to the last point about headcanons, Silver seems to have no reservations about the gender of her sex partners, nor does she get the idea of monogamy or marriage. Considering the way the show portrays both of these things (monogamy and marriage, I mean), I found it a bit odd, but Admiral Biscuit has claimed that this may only apply to Silver's part of Equestria, since she lives in a fairly remote fishing village. In any case, it wasn't a major hangup for me, but I think any review of the story needs to mention it. :twilightsmile:

The story is a bit behind current reality, but real events are part of the narrative, including the primary elections through the winter, a real-life shooting that happened near Kalamazoo, and others.

This review is already getting long, but to sum up, here's what I think of Silver Glow's Journal: it's excellent. It hides a deep, character-driven narrative that perfectly captures that "stranger in a strange land" feel beneath a seemingly mundane chronicle. Everything feels genuine and the sheer amount of detail and research that goes into each chapter can verge on the staggering when you notice it, but without bogging down the story. It's very readable, save for the fact that it's quite long and getting longer each day. As Silver has currently gone through half a year in the current narrative, you've got some time to catch up before it comes to a close with Silver finishing her year of study on Earth.

Recommended?: Highly.

Comments ( 1 )

It's my favorite part of the morning. And indeed, Aric is (ahem) quite a stud. Ahh, youth.

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