Present Perfect vs. Forever Is Forever · 9:19pm May 5th, 2017
Guys, I'm pretty sure I've gone insane.
First, if you go to the story and scroll down (there aren't too many comments), you'll note that I last read Fon Shaolin's classic sadfic Forever Is Forever in June of 2016. As in one year ago. And I never reviewed it. o.o Why?
Furthermore, if you read my comment, you'll note that I remember having read it long ago (when it was newer), but was confused at the apparent lack of certain details. From this, I can only draw one conclusion:
Forever Is Forever is my Berenstein Bears.
I mean, I do the Berenstein Bears thing, too, but it's obvious there is some kind of temporal or reality rewriting going on, centered on me reading this story. Well, let's see what else has changed since last time and maybe actually review the damn thing, eh?
Reviewing this story today is hard. First of all, it's a fic with Princess Twilight, written well before that actually happened. Second, it's likely the source of many well-worn tropes in ponyfic.
And third, that comment I left? Sounds like I didn't read the damn thing at all. @_@ What I was looking for is what happens in this story. So I must have come back from that alternate dimension since writing the original review, with that comment being the only link through the planes of existence to show evidence of my passing. Good to know I'm so well-traveled. :B
Anyway, this starts out with Applejack, in her seventies, accompanying her daughter and granddaughter to Canterlot for the Summer Sun Celebration. We learn in short order that, while AJ has gotten old, her friends haven't, and they're trying not-too-subtly to get her to join them in magically-fueled eternal youth. Also, in what might be the hardest part of this story to swallow, not only is Twilight a princess now, in charge of Equestria, but so is Rainbow Dash.
Seriously, Princess Rainbow Dash. What?
Anyway, things take a turn for the dramatic when AJ expresses her distaste for Rainbow's roughhousing with her granddaughter, and Rainbow responds in a less-than-politic manner, go figure. Applejack and Twilight have a little chat outside Canterlot, and then Twilight sends AJ home.
From here, things get interesting. During their conversation, Twilight tells Applejack that when you die, you go to a place where you get whatever you wanted forever and ever. And it sounds, from the end of that scene, like Applejack has died; unsurprising, given the tags. Taken this way, the final scene tells us that she's been so cranky about everything since Twilight and Rainbow's coronation because she was in love with Rainbow, who was taken away from her. (It's worth noting that there's no Romance tag, despite the fact that it's made clear Rainbow and Twilight are together.)
However, the denouement is just vague enough that the final scene could be considered either a narrative dream or just a helpful flashback, in which case, AJ wasn't just in love with Rainbow, but engaged to her. Though lower on the 'feels' scale, that interpretation actually throws her actions into a much stronger frame of reference. What happened to drive them apart? One can't know, but it seems AJ blames Twilight for it.
Either way, the end result is the same: Applejack has set herself on a course of mortality despite being given an option otherwise (the narrative even calls immortality alongside her friends a 'sane' choice), essentially dying out of spite for Twidash. Kind of selfish, when you consider Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity are going to suffer losing her, as well. "Applejack is the last mortal holdout when her friends are immortal" is a concept I've seen in other stories, and this is likely where it stems from.
As for impact, I feel like it's not as strong today as it was back when story numbers were four digits long. The ending can be taken as sad or tragic, but again, there have been so many imitators, not to mention those who did it better, that this mostly has its place in fanon just for historical value. And, of course, there are many readers who won't appreciate the shipping-from-nowhere.
3.5/5
A classic sadfic that paved the way for many to come.
This was kind of a slapdash review written in a fit of pique and attempt to cling to sanity. :B To find out why I suddenly decided to (re-re-)read this story, stay tuned tomorrow!
I hope the answer involves bagels.
I remember reading this one back before this site existed. I thought it was interesting, but it didn't really get me jazzed for pony fan content the way some of the other early fics and art did.
shrug
Still kind of a pretty story though.
This made me go check my own story numbers. My first fic barely made it in before it rolled over to five digits!
Ha, I wondered why I got a review spike!
Yeah, I wrote this during episode...4? 3? Something like that. Also, just so it's not ambiguous: Applejack and Rainbow Dash were never together. She just had an unrequited love for her best friend until she died and, in her afterlife, was the one engaged to Rainbow Dash instead of Twilight during the coronation.
The curtain has been lifted! Thanks for the review and the walk down memory lane! Weird to hear that one of my fics started a whole series of tropes, though.
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I'm pretty sure it did, anyway! :O You are of course welcome.
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It was scones.
I don't get the Berenstein Bears reference.
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A lot of people remember the title being spelled with an ei when it's actually spelled with an ai today. (I specifically remember the title being spelled differently from the authors' names!) This is used as proof of alternate realities/timelines. See also this, I guess.