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HapHazred


It's called garbage can, not garbage can't.

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Mar
11th
2017

Hap Recommends Scribblefest 2017 #1 · 10:17pm Mar 11th, 2017

Hello gents and gentesses. We did this last year and we're doing this again, although admittedly I won't be able to go through nearly as many stories as last time due to this being my final year in university and me being busy as all get-out. What am I doing, anyone who wasn't with us last year may be asking? Well, I participated in this years Everfree Northwest Scribblefest 2017, and in a grand and magnanimous show of solidarity I like to review my own opinions of some entries as well as try my best to recommend the stories to people who may like them.

Sometimes I can recommend stories to basically everybody, sometimes to people who might just be interested in a certain aspect of the story, or on very rare occasion, nobody at all.

It is a gruelling process which sees me struggle to find inventive pictures of ponies reading to put in a blog, as well as a cute gif to put at the bottom. It makes me feel special. Please indulge me.

In any case, only a few stories today. Let's begin, shall we?

Freedom Flourishes, by Hat Man

I made a quick beeline for this story as soon as I knew Hat Man had entered, because I was super happy with Marble's Horizon last year and was one of the stories I most warmly recommended. This story similarly did not disappoint me. Although I confess I prefer last year's entry by the same author, this story entertained. I have read a few stories featuring Sombra's tyrannical rule, and they tend to be somewhat grim. This story followed a similar trend, which is perhaps my biggest complaint. The first half of the story was rather straightforward and predictable, and whilst certainly competent, it didn't do all that much for me. It was the second half that I'll likely remember this story for, which featured a heartwarming and impressive ending which I think did a lot for the story. It is difficult to discuss without spoiling too much, but for a story that is contained within 5K words, it ties into a lot of the background of Equestria and even characters existing in the universe.

Recommended to: Most people should be able to enjoy this story without any great fuss. Perhaps if you've read a lot of stories featuring ponies under Sombra's rule, you might finding yourself skimming the first half, but frankly, I can't imagine that'd prevent anyone from enjoying the end or having a positive experience of the story as a whole. It also ties very neatly into the EFNW prompt, which is a neato burrito plus.


Pink Diamonds, by ajvasquesbrony28

I feel a bit weird talking about this one since I actually helped preread it and point out some typos and stuff, so reviewing it is a bit uncomfortable for some reason. Regardless, here I am. Doing it anyway. Pink Diamonds is about Diamond Tiara and Starlight Glimmer trying to get Diamond forgiveness from Twist, who still hasn't forgiven her for being a bit of a wanker. There's stuff to enjoy in this story. I particularly liked the parallels between Diamond Tiara and Starlight Glimmer. I did note pacing issues in the story as well as some stuff I thought was a bit weird, but at worst I daresay that sort of stuff is harmless. It's a decent story at the very least, and the issue of forgiveness is a surprisingly prickly one to tackle.

Recommended to: anyone interested in Diamond Tiara and Starlight Glimmer being affected by a lack of forgiveness. I daresay there's a bunch of gents out there who think one or both were forgiven far too easily, so at the very least I can't imagine there won't be people at least curious about the matter. That said, I'm still not 100% convinced as to its adherence to the EFNW prompt, but that aside, if you want to read about the characters, it's nothing you shouldn't be able to get some enjoyment out of.


That's all from me today. If any of you gents have recommendations, please feel free to give them. Until the story list comes out it's a bit random whether I'll notice an EFNW story or not, so being helped along is great. Also please do check out any of the above or following stories if they sound halfway interesting, otherwise there isn't much point to these things other than hearing a snotty Scottish student prattle on about some pony fanfic he read that one time. Although that said, if you're into that, I'm not one to judge. It takes all sorts.

Cheerio, and see you lads around.

Comments ( 4 )

Thanks for the mention, pal! I'm glad you liked my story, though I also think last year's was better. If I'd realized the deadline and given myself more time, I might have been able to craft a slightly better final version. Still, I think it's got a shot!

I've got yours on my list of Everfree entries to read as well. I'll be sure to read/review it along with any others I come across.

For the record, the list I have so far, in addition to yours, is:
-"Asylum" by Admiral Biscuit
-"The Next Best Thing" by Posh
-"Pink Diamonds" by ajvasquezbrony28 (which seems pretty similar to the previous story, and which you've already reviewed here)
-And "Nihtmer Niht" by Apple Bottoms

I look forward to seeing the official list when they publish it. :pinkiehappy:

4453131 Yeah, me too. I'm vaguely aware Winston probably published a thing and I have another by a new author sitting on my list. I'll have to give the others a look when I'm not knee deep in medical device regulation coursework.

Neat reviews :)
Oh well, I mostly wrote my story in mind with the premise: if my friend Lightingsword could like a Starlight episode, I could win XD

4456325 I have a pretty rocky relationship with LightningSword's stories, but that kind of pales in comparison to my relationship with the user himself. He did a real number on one of my fellow admins. : (

This is all old history, so hopefully stuff has changed, but I've tried to maintain some distance from him where possible. It got to the point where either gents were very vocal about disliking him or became very vocal towards anyone they perceived as 'attacking' him, and I didn't want anything to do with that. Still don't, actually.

But anyway, I don't really want to rehash all that or peddle gossip. That aside, good luck for the contest!

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