Present Perfect vs. The Games We Play · 12:28pm May 18th, 2018
I can't think of a story I've had more requests and suggestions to read than AbsoluteAnonymous's The Games We Play. The bitch of it is that I actually started reading an audiobook of this story waaaay back when I first started using audiobooks… and it wasn't finished. I don't think it was even close to finished. And now, I can only find a single chapter on Youtube, so it's back to Fimfiction Reads for me.
As for what I know about the story itself? Not much! It's a romance mystery, about Rainbow Dash being stalked by somepony in the Mare-Do-Well costume, and I have no idea what to expect beyond that. Granted, it's written by AbsAnon, one of the fandom's legendary authors, who disappeared years and years ago (though apparently she's been by Fimfiction as recently as 2015 last month, which is surprising). So, my hopes are high. Let's see what this story holds! :)
The first thing to note is that, while they are definitely parts of a cohesive whole, the mystery and romance elements of this story can be approached separately, and that's what I'll be doing. It's also impossible to really discuss this story without spoilers, and if you haven't read it yourself, you owe it to yourself not to go into the mystery knowing ahead of time who Mare Do Well is. So I'm going to use spoiler tags in the review, and there will be a lot of them. You can go ahead and read the story first, if you want, I'll still be here when you get back. :B
Interestingly, we begin in Mare Do Well's POV, the first scene of many like it, and never once do these scenes give us any hint who MDW actually is. Suffice to say, I was impressed and intrigued.
That said, we're thrown directly into something I really hated about The Mysterious Mare Do Well, something I tend not to talk about because, when I'm busy lambasting that episode, it's usually over the gross inability of anyone who appears in it to friend properly. Specifically: since when does Ponyville have dark back alleys? I think the only other time we ever see anything of the sort is in Magic Duel, when Trixie buys the Alicorn Amulet from a shady dealer in a similar back alley. Between that, the friendship failure, and the unfinished skyscraper that never ever showed up again, it's like Mare-Do-Well takes place in some alternate, darker Ponyville that never truly existed.
This is the Ponyville to which we're treated, for maybe the first third or so of the story. In what is one of my more favorite scenes, after they've met up a few times, MDW takes Rainbow heroing, and they break up a crime ring. (Seriously, think about it: A crime ring? In Ponyville?) I can't hold this against the story too much — this is, after all, a middle-of-season-two fic, and there was nothing yet saying that this wouldn't be the shape of Ponyville, moving forward — save that the whole thing is dropped more or less after this happens. Mare Do Well has shown up in the papers again, but then that just kind of stops. There's a crime ring and robberies happening, that Mare Do Well needs to stop, but Dash gets hurt and they don't go heroing again, and there's no repercussions to this. The darker, grittier Ponyville presented to us in the episode is utilized in this story for only so long as it needs to be.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. The plot, as it turns out, involves Mare Do Well saving Dash from a mugger, Dash getting mad about this because A) having to be saved, ergo not as awesome as could be, B) Mare Do Well is obviously back to ruin her reputation, which sets Dash off on a crusade to find out which of her friends is wearing the costume again and why.
I have to pause and say that this characterization for Rainbow Dash was great. Yeah, maybe she learned her lesson during the episode, but what her friends put her through was still embarrassing and humiliating, regardless of whether she was actually wrong. And, to hear Dash say it, she really wasn't wrong. She's Ponyville's hero, darnit!
Anyway, Dash's attempt to uncover the secret of the "new" Mare Do Well is stymied by a big problem: no one will fess up. Twilight gave her costume to Rarity, Rarity sold it to somepony else, Fluttershy and Applejack have no reason to go do something like that anyway, and Pinkie's costume was eaten by Gummy. Thus begins one of the most thrilling and exciting mysteries I have ever had the pleasure to read.
What makes this mystery work is a series of one-on-one character interaction scenes, during which Dash interrogates or otherwise just chats with her friends, and by the end of each scene, the reader is left both more and less sure that that friend is the culprit, nevermind that the three scenes before it left you sure you knew who the perpetrator was. And, as Mare Do Well's motives come more and more to light (in short, she wants to get closer to Dash but is too scared to approach her for realsies), this does absolutely nothing to make the mystery easier to solve.
For example, Twilight is, no spoilers, ruled out as a suspect early on. Or, well, at least 40% ruled out. Her story about giving her costume to Rarity holds water, after all. But the early scene between her and Dash had me still thinking she was suspicious, thanks to a throwaway line about not dressing up "just to bug" Dash. And that's the kind of thing I subjected myself to, again and again, looking for tiny slip-ups and double meanings in literally everything said by every character in this story. XD It took me until well into the second half of the story to feel any kind of certainty about who the culprit was, and even then I was never 100% sure. I loved it.
But, to segue into more of the romance aspect, the thoroughly (Ed.: ???) of the mystery could potentially be laid at the feet of poor characterization. The penultimate chapter, wherein everything is explained, showed that there was at least a consistent character here, but it takes a somewhat broad reading of said character to go from "as presented in the show" to what we read. Further explanation will require spoilers.
Much as what's revealed about Dash's background relies heavily on Griffon the Brush-Off and Mysterious Mare Do Well, so too is Pinkie's portayal derived almost entirely from Party of One. It's not to say she's out of character, just that there's a serious rabbit hole down which the story goes to build her character, with a certain amount of blinders on, extrapolating entirely from that one episode, until what you get at the end almost doesn't look like her at all. I can believe Pinkie struggles with depression. Lots of authors have made that claim and made it well, it's not hard to accept. But there's something to be said for the fact that Mare Do Well's behavior is hard to pin down because it doesn't resemble Pinkie at all.
Almost worse, that penultimate chapter goes into territory I was really dreading, i.e., the Pinkie/Pinkamena split. It doesn't quite get into "she literally has a second personality that manifests when her mane goes flat", but it's pretty damned close. She says Mare Do Well almost ended up being a second personality for her, and her jealousy at herself is honestly bizarre, for all that, again, I can kind of understand the "why did you show interest in me immediately when I was trying to be somepony else, but not me-as-me when I've been your friend forever?" But it's silly as hell, and honestly I think it was a bad decision made to throw readers off the scent. The self-doubt, the fear, that all makes sense as Pinkie, but the depths to which she sinks into this second personality I just couldn't really accept. When she's being herself, she's written quite well, but Pinkie is not herself for far too much of this story, and what she does is just hard to reconcile.
As for Dash, I actually really liked the ways this plumbs her character. Again, some of it was silly — of course Dash checks her friends out from time to time? I mean, it's cute that she thinks Pinkie and Fluttershy are too innocent to think dirty thoughts about, but still — but her arc mainly comes down to misunderstanding the difference between love and friendship, and having been hurt by the former. There's some really strong character-building supporting this, everything from a childhood crush going awry because of sexuality differences to the fallout with Gilda being due to the latter's crush on Dash. For once, I was pleased to see background Gildash in something. :) Rainbow Dash in this story is built as a somewhat childish pony, who doesn't understand pretty much anything about how other ponies work, and between this and her ego, Mare Do Well's plan to win her heart was more or less doomed to failure from the start. It's one of the better aspect of The Games We Play, backed up by the theme of "your friends are considerably more nuanced than you give them credit for" (which I took as sly meta-commentary on fanfiction, to boot).
So that's character; what about the romance? Honestly, I'm not too sure.
This has a lot of things to say about love, but it doesn't quite avoid the pitfalls of shipping. The main problem, as I see it, is that obsession and infatuation are not love, and for all that this story at least makes lip service to that notion, it nevertheless lets its character blunder boldly forward, confounding the two despite all sense of "this is wrong". When Mare Do Well starts chasing Dash, all Dash wants is to unmask her and do to her what she did to Dash, humiliate her and lord her triumph over her. Slowly, as the "game" unfolds, Dash starts to become obsessed, getting upset when she doesn't see Mare Do Well at their usual meeting place, for all that she goes on and on about how much she hates her and doesn't want anything to do with her. She becomes wrapped up in the game, which causes her to become wrapped up in the mare, figuratively and literally.
By the way, did I mention Dash is way tsundere in this fic? It's kind of dumb. :| Then again, Dash at one point literally thinks, "Celestia, am I dumb," so I guess that's the point.
The turning point is admittedly not as abrupt as I think I remember it being, but it is based around Mare Do Well being very forward: nuzzling Dash, kissing her hoof, doing a lot of hugging and sitting close to her, all while Dash lambasts her for doing it. And… I guess, the conclusion I come to while sitting here, writing this review, is that this is rapey. Mare Do Well invades Dash's personal space, Dash doesn't like it because she thinks she's being put on, until, oh, wait, Dash does like it and wants more of it and refuses to admit to herself that she does. Just keep touching someone you like until they like it, there's no way that can go horribly wrong! :|
But yeah, the turning point comes in the form of Dash, getting drunk at a Grand Galloping Gala-esque party in Canterlot and — in a conversation that, I have to admit, is fucking hilarious — spouting off about how "hot" and "sexy" she thinks Mare Do Well is to Applejack. And just like that, Dash is one halting, sputtered confession away from being in L.O.V.E., and I just can't stand it. D:
I can't help but feel a lot of this could have been avoided had Dash just invested in a winter coat. <.< Seriously, I couldn't tell you how much of this story's attraction is based around "it's cold out and this other pony is warm". That's not love, that's not even attraction! I was thoroughly baffled.
For all that half of this story is really great, half of it is most decidedly not, and that is arguably the more important half. There are other issues, as well, in the writing: POV shifts early on; lots of referents, which aren't always clear; some repetition, including one whole scene where Dash goes back, detail by detail, over all the evidence she's gathered to this point, essentially reiterating a scene from earlier in the story. There were a few fandom references, too, which I didn't appreciate; then again, how many people are going to recognize that oblique "I emptied your fridge"? Like, damn, who remembers that?
I feel like I've been going on for a while. Let's see if there's anything I've forgotten in my notes.
- I am really not sure "client confidentiality" is a thing in the fashion industry, or even retail at large. I could be wrong. That said, the whole side plot about Rarity withholding important info from Dash's investigation was pretty amazing, when it comes to light.
- One very great thing is that, while Dash is in the early stages of said investigation, it really bothers her that one of her friends is lying to her. Like, she just doesn't want to believe it's happening, that's a very positive thing. It also means the romance is really getting off on the wrong foot, but we've been over this already.
- There really needed to be more mention of ponies eating flowers. :(
- Another thing to hate: wingboners are a major plot point. >.<
- This story has some amazing comedy. It's not everywhere, but a running gag with a bush is a highlight of the middle of the story.
- Foof, and I have to call out the final act, because, first of all, when Dash decides to hell with the rules, she's going to unmask Mare Do Well, we're stuck with a cliffhanger chapter ending. Then there's a chase scene. Then Dash captures her and spends a lot of time gloating and just kind of talking with her. Then she closes her eyes and takes the mask off. Then she kisses her, still with her eyes closed. Then they keep talking, until she can't keep her eyes closed anymore. And when Dash finally opens them, she first gives us a full description of what the costume looks like before the reveal. And it's just like… fucking dammit, come on, there's no reason to draw it out this long. D:
The Games We Play has a strong emotional core and a really stellar mystery setup, but it's sunk by a confusing approach to character and its romance. I can see why people like it, though; I certainly don't regret having read it. It just wasn't the masterpiece everyone has made it out to be in the years since.
3/5
A fantastic mystery wrapped inside a flawed romance.
Tomorrow: Boast Busted by RainbowDoubleDash.
I was there when this story was still in the process of being posted. The amount of shit this story produced in the comments after the big reveal is legendary. Here, and on Equestria Daily (though I think the comments on EqD are gone due to the comment purge from moving to Disqus). Readers took this story very seriously, perhaps leading to AbsoluteAnonymous' decision to quit the fandom. Though, from what the author said in follow-up blog posts, it appears she got her stories out, was satisfied, and decided she got everything she could out of fanfiction and wanted to move on to something else.
Either way, this story does deserve a place in Fimfiction history. Not sure what place, but it's there nonetheless. I actually applaud it for taking risks with the characters and the direction they went throughout. Perhaps a little OCC, but sometimes I like seeing characters walk the edge, forcing themselves and readers to see them in a different light.
Another milestone down. Looking forward to the next one as that spawned an entire network of authors working on an alternate universe.
4863353
I think the risk-taking element is something you can't really appreciate this far after the fact. I've seen all the ships, I've read all the mysteries. But you're absolutely right, nevertheless.
Might as well link AA's interview about The Games We Play here too!
I mean, isn't that the point? She used the costume as a way to escape the box Dash (and we, the audience) have put her in.
Absanon is a shipper unlike any other I can think of. I sincerely hope she writes her own literature some day.
4863409
She did write something at one point. But it got lost when she deleted her blog. It was some sort of superhero thing she linked to on another site. No clues where it is/was though :(
I miss AA.
Oh shit
PP. Did you ever get to read the alternate endings? They got deleted too but I've got a link to a copy I can post when I get off work.
4863421
Post it please! I still distinctively remember a couple of them and would love the chance to reread it.
4863421
I don't recall. <.< I might have.
4863650
https://fimfetch.net/story/11554/the-games-we-play-supplementary-materials
4863726
Holy shit. o.o That is way more stuff than I anticipated.
Fascinating analysis. Man, how different some of the classics look in hindsight.
This story is actually next on my "longfics to re-read" list, seeing as I finished doing my review of Twilight's List.
I'm curious to what extent I'll agree with you on this. I've actually read this story twice, but both were a long time ago now.
4864006
Rereading stories I read a long time ago has been a theme of mine lately.
It's not always pleasant. c.c
Ah, this has been on my list literally forever. It's the one story on my faves from before RIL that I didn't move because I heard good things about it and respected the author so much for being so mature and leaving the fandom in a healthy way, and liking her paint drying story. Time to dive in!
Sorry I didn't read this sooner. I'm pretty sure we've discussed Games before. I know I've been pretty vocal about how much I hate it (though not the author!), so I doubt you could've missed hearing my opinions
Honestly, I thought it was pretty obvious who Mare Do Well was. I figured it out early in the first chapter, though I'll admit I wavered at points
Um, I do. How can anyone forget the Carrot/Derpy comics? They were classics! That's like forgetting that Seth's a dragon-obsessed cube
This is exactly why I couldn't finish this story. Dash is being stalked by someone she's certain is one of her friends, yet they all deny it and make her question her perception of reality. She's clearly distressed, yet none of them particularly care. And when she tells MDW to leave her alone, the latter tells her "Too bad", informs her that she'll continue to harass her, and then makes a goddamn game out of it! I was fucking scared for Dash. Like, full-on panic mode as if I was in her place. I dunno if you've been in a situation like that before, but it's a miserable experience that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Yet everyone — including people I trust — treat it like the perfect example of romantic fiction
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Honestly? That's not their fault. We're saturated with a social perception of romance that is possessive and toxic. Something I've been wanting to write about for a while now...