Paul's Thursday Reviews CXXXIV · 8:48pm Oct 11th, 2018
I was going to make this the “end of Bulletproof Heart” blog, but then I realized I didn’t want my reviews battling for attention against that story. I’d have made the blog yesterday, but then it would have been up for less than 24 hours before this popped up. So yeah, proper BPH blog this weekend.
So this week has been a ‘vacation week’, meaning I’m not obligated to do any reading for these blogs whatsoever. And you know what I did? I started re-reading a favorite of mine. Not going to specify which one it is, but I will note that it’s a romance with an unusual ship. But as I’m re-reading this story and smiling the whole while, I had a thought: much of my free time is devoted to ponies (or unrealistically colored high school girls characterized after ponies). Oh, I play video games (currently going through a new Fallout 4 playthrough with copious modding), and obviously I do some writing (which has kicked into gear these last few days; writer’s block over!). But really, I’m starting to think I should find something else to do.
The problem with that, of course, is writing and general ponefanning is free, whereas most everything else I’ve a mind to try…. isn’t. I’m trying to make cooking a semi-hobby – I have to buy food regardless – but I’m not sure what my other options are. I’ve been thinking about my health lately, but my intended solution to that (once the last of my major bills is paid this month) is to get a treadmill desk. Yes, they make those, and it seems like a great way to get my horsewords done while also cutting down on the whole “sitting in a chair all day” thing.
But that doesn’t resolve my hobby conundrum.
Of course, if I asked my parents they’d say I need a woman. 
Meh, don’t really have a point in all this. In truth I’m fairly happy with things as they are. I’m just getting a little restless, I suppose. Want to try something new.
On a completely unrelated note, does anyone have an idea how I could follow a story’s referrals list to the actual referrals? The way they changed it to be nonspecific is really annoying; what if I want to take a look around the interwebs to see what people are saying outside of FIMFiction?
But enough of my idle ramblings. We’ve got reviews to get through!
Stories for This Week:
The Tempest by Carabas
The Birth of Harmony by AugieDog
Pick Me Up At Seven by Jondor
Love Countdown by Glimglam
Princess Celestia Goes to Costco by Grand_Moff_Pony
The First Flame by Rune Soldier Dan
The Person in the Mirror by Quicksear
Of the Valley by archonix
Innavedr by Imploding Colon
Culling of the Hives by law abiding pony
Total Word Count: 485,667
Rating System
Why Haven't You Read These Yet?: 2
Pretty Good: 6
Worth It: 1
Needs Work: 1
None: 0
The Tempest
27,857 Words
By Carabas
In the eternal words of Charlie Brown: good grief. It seems I’m still getting material in my RiL that with today’s system should be in my sequel list for fast-tracking. I’ve been doing my current system for… what, over a year? Let this serve as an indicator to all of you just how long it takes me to go through stories in my RiL. I’ve been seriously considering adding a slot for ‘what Paul wanted to read’, i.e. picking something and reading it now instead of when my schedule permits it.
Anyway, I was really looking forward to this. The sequel to Moonlight Palaver, The Tempest is an identical concept that reveals just what Discord did to Celestia when he first broke free of his stone prison. Specifically, he put her and every other significant leader in the world in a giant magic cage from which there is no escape. After all, what better way to ensure chaos reigns than by dealing with the dullards who keep it so boring?
What follows is a hearty helping of epic worldbuilding through semi-casual discourse. Leaders from a wide range of races are introduced, from the diamond dogs to the cows to the donkeys to the dragons to the rhinoceri to the… yeah, you get the idea. To put this into proper perspective, imagine if God grabbed every major world leader of the day – the U.S.A., England, Russia, China, North Korea, Iraq, Iran, so on and so forth – shoved them into the U.N. General Assembly Hall, flung said Assembly Hall into space (with necessary survival measures, mind), and told them all to ‘play nice’ before leaving them to their own devices. Chaos, my friends. Pure, lovely chaos. Of course, Celestia does her absolute best to keep order while also working to resolve the situation with a last-ditch and certainly not-desperate-at-all trick up her metaphorical sleeve (she sends a lot of letters).
For the second time straight, Carabas handled the situation wonderfully. The story, mostly told from the perspective of the donkey leader Burro, re-introduces us to a huge cast of colorful world leaders, reveals the general nature of their homelands, and gives us a solid view of their individual cultures. And does all of that without ever going into exposition. This is how you worldbuild. Through witty narrative and the interactions of our high-ranking prisoners – be they friendly discussions, thinly-veiled barbs, or open threats – we get a delightfully clear picture of politics on Equus and exactly what Celestia has to deal with to maintain some semblance of global order.
I have no complaints. This hit all the right spots, casts a grander scope in a smaller space, provides a warning hint at things to come, and somehow manages to maintain its charm and fun narrative from beginning to end. It is without a doubt superior to its predecessor. If you want to experience first class worldbuilding; if you want to see how to deliver information without exposition; if you want to just have some fun, you can’t go wrong with this one.
Bookshelf: Why Haven’t You read These Yet?
P.S. - Don’t try to look this up by a clean search. Now that there’s a character named Tempest Shadow in the way, you’ll never see this without doing some refining or going directly to Carabas’s story page.
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
The Motion of the Stars — WHYRTY?
Moonlight Palaver — Pretty Good
The Birth of Harmony
9,077 Words
By AugieDog
Seeing stories about the Princess’s past always interests me to some degree, if only because so many people have so many different interpretations of it, and they’re usually far more creative than anything Hasbro could conjure up. In this case, we end up with a story where Clover the Clever, Smart Cookie, and Private Pansy collectively create from thin air a solution to the Discord problem.
There’s one issue that rears its ugly head more or less instantly: the force is strong with this one. AugieDog chose to forgo all that messy character growth, scene setting, and rising action in favor of jumping straight to the climax and apparently not expecting anyone to question anything. The end result is that nothing felt real, no attachment is formed with any of the characters, and every solution we see is inexplicable and comes out of nowhere. I am not enthused.
The good news is that this was written very early in AugieDog’s FIMFiction writing career, and I know from experience they are capable of making great stories. This… just isn’t one of them. Maybe if time had been taken to really set up the world, the problem, and the solution. Maybe if we’d been given time to better grasp the relationships at play. Maybe if the creation of the Princesses and the Elements hadn’t been waved off as a case of literal wish fulfillment. But as it stands? This only belongs in one place.
Bookshelf: Needs Work
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Foreigner — Pretty Good
Pick Me Up At Seven
6,448 Words
By Jondor
Rainbow is having a fairly typical day (read: taking a nap) when Applejack wakes her up and informs her that they are going on a date that evening. It catches RD so off guard that she fails to even ask where this sudden declaration came from. That doesn’t stop her from going through with it, but she still wants to know why. She’ll ask… just as soon as Applejack stops fogging her brain with her unexpected seductiveness. And why does she keep hearing the sounds of coins changing hooves?
This one was short and sweet. It’s little more than a touch of AppleDash for the sake of AppleDash. Believe me, I have no objection, even if AJ’s forwardness during the dates surprised me as much as it did Rainbow.
On the whole, there’s nothing wrong with the story. Yet it’s also very straightforward: I read it, I smiled, and now I’m moving on. There’s not really anything here to help it rise above the crowd of AppleDash stories – or any shipping combination, really. That’s not a bad thing per se, but it does limit its value. Fans of AppleDash, shippers, and fans of slice-of-life stories will get something out of it, absolutely. For everyone else? Your mileage may vary.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Since When Were You So Playful? — Worth It
Love Countdown
6,410 Words
By Glimglam
Twilight, ever the curious sort, wants to know what it’s like to be in love. But without, y’know, all that messy dating stuff. As with all things, magic holds the answer in the form the the Love Countdown spell, a self-inflicted enchantment that causes the wielder to fall in love with the first pony he or she sees, but which auto-resets every six minutes for an hour. In other words, it’s a love poison targeting ten ponies at random. And of course Twilight failed to read the fine print…
This was everything I expected. For once, that’s not a complaint. We get to watch as Twilight falls head-over-hooves in lust (yes, I do mean lust) with a range of ponies, one dragon, and one inanimate object over the course of an hour. With only six minutes to spare each target, nothing goes where she wants it to, and she ends up performing some incredibly embarrassing acts of sexual misconduct. She leaves behind a lot of confused and offended ponies in the process.
As a shipper, I am entertained. The story’s really just a long gag piece, and as such it isn’t really a great story. But if you’re in it to have some silly shipping-based fun at Twilight’s expense, then you can’t go wrong here. It even has a bit of misdirection, ending at a spot I most certainly didn’t expect. Not bad, author.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Machina — Pretty Good
Princess Celestia Goes to Costco
5,057 Words
By Grand_Moff_Pony
Patreon Request by Grand_Moff_Pony
What’s that? Paul has a Patreon? Yes, yes I do. I don’t really need it so I stopped advertising it in any way, but I never deleted it and GMP has been contributing for years. So when he asked if I was still offering the old review request shortcutting reward I said yes, because why wouldn’t I? The guy’s probably given me enough money at this point to earn a hundred of the things.
At any rate, this story and its predecessor held no interest to me when it first came out. It looks… well, stupid, if I’m to be frank. And if there’s anything Paul doesn’t like, it’s ‘stupid’ funny.
I was surprised when I found that this wasn’t that kind of story. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly silly, but it casts that silliness in a somewhat realistic light, making Celestia into a curious and eager newcomer to Western Civilization's love of big box stores and shopping sprees. By making Celestia out as cute but understandably ignorant (as opposed to annoying and idiotic, which is what I expected), GMP created a fun but expensive scenario that’s more than a little entertaining to watch. Poor Steve is going to be in debt for the rest of his life at the rate this is going.
All in all, consider me pleased. I’m planning to read the earlier story now thanks to this. Simply put, this is my kind of nonsense.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good!
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Frequency: An Epilogue — WHYRTY?
Ciphers — Pretty Good
Handmade — Pretty Good
Night Rose — Pretty Good
Sins of the Fathers — Worth It
The First Flame
5,758 Words
By Rune Soldier Dan
Patreon Request by Grand_Moff_Pony
To be an academic is a noble passion, and one too often divorced from politics.
Someone needs to educate Rune Soldier Dan on the reality of academics and politics.
In this story, Celestia attends a meeting of the world’s leaders called by none other than Chrysalis. After five years of scheming, the Changeling Queen has managed to align every nation in the world against Equestria. Celestia has no allies to call upon as this united front demands the complete surrender and dissolution of her nation. Betrayed by old friends, it would seem that Celestia has indeed lost everything she’s fought for in her long, long life.
If only Chrysalis knew what she was really dealing with.
This is a story told in two parts. The first shows the meeting in which Celestia is betrayed by every nation she endeavored to bring peace and prosperity to. The second shows the aftermath, and a conversation with a lone individual who has a dark theory regarding Celestia’s true identity.
In a way, this story seems to exist purely to posit the author’s headcanon of Celestia’s origins. The inherent issues with these kinds of stories is that Rune Soldier Dan grows into the idea and situation, creating a thoughtful and troubling topic that lingers beyond the story itself. It’s very effective, especially with how the first chapter works so well to give the illusion that there is no hope. The story does still suffer from the second half’s manner of ‘this is the idea’ that is inevitable with these stories, but I’m okay with that given how the author approached it. Honestly, it’s about as effective a method as can be for this kind of tale.
So in the end I approve. This one is well-written and directed, giving us everything we need and nothing we don’t. But it does leave me wondering exactly what Celestia is really capable of, not just in terms of magical prowess, but in terms of manipulation as well.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good!
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author!
The Person in the Mirror
5,504 Words
By Quicksear
Recommended by Pascoite
I had a bit of trouble coming to grips with the situation at first. The tags are intentionally deceptive and leave out a critical point, and as such I thought this was a HiE story until, gradually, I realized it’s the opposite: a PoE. Except the pony got turned into a human along the way. So this is, overall, a story about a pony-turned-human who has no idea what to do with her new life on Earth.
It goes a little deeper than that, but it’s as much as I can provide without the wrong kind of spoilers, so it’ll have to do.
Regardless, this story wins based on atmosphere alone. I loved the raw emotion that constantly flowed through every sentence. Which was the point; Quicksear acknowledges that this was intended to be an experiment in emotive writing. I am glad to say they pulled it off wonderfully. Alicia’s swirling vortex of loss, hatred, love, and ecstacy bleed out of the screen, making her ceaselessly interesting and so very easy to connect with.
This is a lovely piece filled with emotion, and I am happy to recommend it. The one and only serious drawback to it is its deceptive tags, which combine with some blatant canonbreaking elements to put a nasty dent in what is otherwise a flawless stream of immersive content.
Bookshelf: Why Haven’t You Read These Yet?
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author!
Of the Valley
1,848 Words
By archonix
Recommended by Titanium Dragon
This was nothing like I expected. I didn’t really know what to expect, but this certainly wasn’t it. I read the story, thought on it for a while, realized I was confused. Then I did something I so very rarely do: I checked the comments to see if they could provide some clarity. They did, and I promptly re-read the story and saw everything I missed the first time. And now I understand why it’s been so well received.
The good news: this is a great story that shows how to do things with utmost subtlety. The bad news is that it’s so subtle I imagine most readers won’t get it, much as I and so many before me did not. And I can’t really tell you what the truth of the matter is because that would be unsuitably spoilery of me. All I can say is that once you get it, it paints the entire story from beginning to end in a whole new light. It raises a lot of questions and possibilities and I love it for that.
I’ve always liked subtlety in stories. But if the Writeoffs taught me anything, it’s that I am also a repeat offender of making stories ‘too subtle’, such that readers can’t figure things out. This story easily wanders into that territory, meaning that it will only wow you if you can figure out the clues seeded throughout, clues you’re most certainly going to miss the first time through. I hate to dock a story for something like that, but I know from firsthand experience that there are a lot of readers out there who will turn up their noses and dismiss a story for that lack of directness.
But as a story in general, I am happy with this. It’s got great atmosphere, such that I knew from the beginning something was wrong and spent the entire story trying to figure it out. The fact I wasn’t able to doesn’t take away from that showing of skill.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good!
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author!
Innavedr
313,419 Words
By Imploding Colon
Sequel to Eljunbyro
At long last, I return to Imploding Colon’s endless campaign. This one starts directly where Eljunbyro left off, with Rainbow and her friends scattered across the Ledomaritan continent and trying to find a way to come together. That while a corporate magnate named Nightshade and the psychopathic Prime Enforcer Shell seek to capture Rainbow and Bellesmith for their own nefarious goals.
While the first story focused on Rainbow Dash being a loner and the second story had her meeting a few new ponies, this one expands the story so that Rainbow is no longer the central character. Or rather, the only central character. Dr. Bellesmith, Pilate, Eagle Eye, Josho, Phoenix, and Crimson all get plenty of time to make their own paths in yet another wild ride of superequine awesomeness. And now they’re joined by some new friends, including but not limited to a cyborg, an elk with some crazy speaking habits, and a squirrel capable of deflecting battleship ordinance with its mind.
The story ends up one half character driven and the other half badass butt kicking nonsense… in other words, more of everything that made the first two stories so good. There’s also more worldbuilding, more atrocities, more supervillains being total assholes, and even a hint of d’aawww or two in there. It is, without a doubt, a fun ride.
My only disappointment right now is that there’s really not much more for me to say. If you read my reviews for Austraeoh and Eljunbyro, you already know all the positives and negatives. Innavedr is nothing more or less than a continuation of the same stuff. Not that that’s a bad thing, mind you, and Imploding Colon does a great job giving us all kinds of twists and turns to keep things interesting. But in the grand scheme of things? The only thing ‘new’ about it is the characters getting introduced.
I’m certainly looking forward to seeing more of Nightshade and Shell, though. I fully expect the former to be reformed and the latter to grow steadily worse as Rainbow’s #1 pain in the flank for the rest of this series. Yes, I intend to continue to Odrsjot. This ride’s barely started, y’know.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good!
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Austraeoh — WHYRTY?
Eljunbyro — Pretty Good
Culling of the Hives
104,289 Words
By law abiding pony
Sequel to Aegis of the Hive
And so we arrive at this, the fourth entry in law abiding pony’s Hive series. In this one we are formally introduced to a new race, the Sphinx, who use an entirely different brand of magic and who are trying to colonize Equestrian land. In their defense, they had no idea the land was inhabited at the time. Along with this first diplomatic meeting with the (noticeably untrustworthy) race, we also have rival hives attempting to wipe out the line of Cadista, Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash for good.
The first thing I note about this story is the author’s continued disinterest in typical storytelling practice. law abiding pony blatantly refuses to deal in things like rising action and climaxes, instead making the biggest and most meaningful events of the story happen halfway through. It’s like the story’s going over a perfect parabola of a hill. Whether that’s a good thing or not I’ll leave to individual interpretation, but it does strike me as a terrible means of making readers want to continue past the epic siege that, in normal stories, would have been the climactic finale of the tale.
The Sphinx race is an interesting addition, but to be honest? With their overall description I couldn’t help thinking “they’re humans, only HiE is a hated genre, so let’s alter them juuuuuuuuust enough to make them not”. I can’t tell whether it’s creative, resourceful, or blatant. Perhaps a bit of all three. It’s another aspect I’m not sure I approve of, especially when there are already plenty of established races that could have been used for the same purpose. Still, I wholeheartedly approve of the nature of their presence in the story, partially painting them as regular people with a wildly different culture but also making it clear that they can’t be trusted. I fully expect to see a future story in which the Sphinx invade as a means of subjugating their natural ‘prey’ (which, again, is a common griffon role).
It does make for a very interesting character in the form of Rasua, the young Sphinx who ends up visiting Phoenix Roost.
The best part about the prior stories, at least to me, was the constant changeling politics on display among the Queens. That still shows up here, but it’s less the center focus of the story, which is a little disappointing. Still, it has its major role, so I won’t complain too much about its dilution, and I’m really looking forward to learning what Chrysalis has planned long-term. I do so love watching that bug horse work.
Unfortunately, the story reads less like a proper sequel and more like a bridge between important stories. Yes, big things happen – we do get a massive siege battle, after all. But with the way it’s handled, particularly the parabolic nature of the plot, I can’t help but feel as though all of this is little more than a minor stepping stone to what’s really important… whatever that happens to be. The story’s format deadens the weight of everything happening, at least in my opinion.
It’s not a bad story. The universe continues to be interesting. But it’s really just more of the same scheming and plotting, and there’s no conclusion at all. The story just… ends. I’ll keep going, but only because of sheer curiosity. If this had been the first story in the set, I’d not be going any further.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Of the Hive — Pretty Good
For the Hive — Pretty Good
Aegis of the Hive — Worth It
Stories for Next Week:
Things Best Left Unknown by FoughtDragon01
Fluttershy's Tail by Alexstrazsa
Twilight has Writer’s Block by Selbi
The Sanctuary of Lights by SapphireStarlightPony
Spitfire's Pet Unicorn by Beware The Carpenter
Little things... by Smexy Sombra
Eventide by DivinePanzer
Run from Here by HerpDerp
The Old Hound by TheWritingWorkshop
Life Is Not Fair by Slate Sadpony
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Thanks for the review, Paul! I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
That's a review to make an author blush. Glad you liked it, and that it improved on the original in your estimation.
I shan't lie, I've sometimes vaguely contemplated writing something like that, as well as this. Based on my own daft interpretations of said leaders, at least.
I read Of the Valley about 5 years ago, and I had the same reaction you did: didn't get it, read the comments. There were fewer comments at the time, however, so that only made things worse.
As writers we are constantly told "Show Don't Tell". Of the Valley shows us why some tell is necessary to good storytelling. Your story can be the best in the world, but that doesn't mean anything if your readers don't understand or connect with it.
On an unrelated note, I also decided to get a non-pony hobby some years ago. I started going to a local board game night. Then I also started playing Magic: the Gathering. Now I have no money, but I've met plenty of cool people and do have non-fiction things to do.
If you want cheaper ideas, I recently got a library card for my local library, and some of their public events/lectures may actually get me out of my chair at some point.
Yeah, there's just no way to know anymore. :(
And usually, I go to a top-level URL from that list and it's like... a home improvement site or something. <.< Never anything even remotely relevant to fandom content, let alone ponies.
Woo, return of the Easthorse! Yours truly makes a brief appearance in Book V.
As for keeping an eye on your health, I recommend what I did when I was still able. Mountain biking! The cost of entry is a bit high but manageable if you start with a decent used bike, and not only was it physically challenging but it was incredibly rewarding to finish a harder track without a fall or to take a turn/jump perfectly. Just a thought.
I too, share this frustration.
Trying to figure out:
Where my brain was six years ago when I wrote "The Birth of Harmony" will only lead to madness, I'm convinced, but being new to fanfiction, I may have decided that I didn't need to do any set-up. Everyone knew the characters, the world, and the basic situation from the show, so all I had to do was say "the founders of Equestria vs. Discord," and I could leap right into the skullduggery.
I may have been mistaken in thinking this...
Mike
I'm with you on stories like "Princess Celestia Goes to Costco." I'd read a couple of the prior stories in this... continuity, I guess? One about Celestia being in your washing machine and another I don't remember at all. But this one was a pleasant surprise. It was goofy, but not random stupidity for its own sake. Just kind of a sweet naivete.
I'm glad you like "The Person in the Mirror" that much. Honestly, I had some more serious reservations about it. On the whole, it was good. Obviously, or I wouldn't have recommended it. Aside from some mechanical issues, there were some plot elements that didn't make sense to me. Like how the biggest conflict of the story resolves pretty early on, leaving a much weaker one for the rest of the way. Yeah, canon broke it, but iirc, it had that issue even when it was first written. I really didn't understand why Sunset stole Octavia's cello. She's someone with a grand plan, not petty theft. It's not like she could do anything with the cello, either, so she'd be stealing it just to be an asshole, and she's never portrayed in canon as doing things randomly like that. Not that it couldn't have been justified, but the story never tries. It kind of rankled me how Octavia changes her name, too, as we don't know why. I could see it if she got confused with that world's version of her but that never happened. Things like those kept it from being something I'd add to my favorites, but it's still strong on atmosphere, and it does a good job of the shipping.
On "Innavedr," it looks like you broke an italics tag somewhere. Because they just keep going and going to the next time you had a reason to use them and had the closing bbcode there.
4951849
One of mine goes to a pet hospice site
I have taken to singing in the last year or so, and it has been a great experience. I am part of a pop choir, and it is a great way to meet people and make new friends, as well as practice a new skill.
4951812
That makes two of us. I honestly wasn't expecting to.
4951823
Then I saw there was yet another sequel, and I couldn't help but grin...
4951844
I could do Magic, sure. I've got a huge number of cards already. But I couldn't possibly make a 'legal' deck with them because they're from a hundred different... editions? Is that the right term? Plus I've only ever played by house rules so I'd almost certainly get stomped even with a 'proper' deck. But it might be interesting to explore for a bit, see if it tickles my fancy again, maybe learn to play it 'proper'.
Library events, eh? Might be worth investigating. I've considered looking into reading/writing groups in my local area, just to find people I can meet face to face with the same hobby I have.
4951849
4951870
4951993
Talk about annoying. I get why they'd do something like this on the statistics page, but couldn't they have left some subtle, unobtrusive way to find the specific location of the reference? I used to enjoy looking around to see what people were saying on other forums. Especially if they were criticisms that people didn't bother to offer on the actual story's pages.
4951869
I appreciate the thought, but honestly? That doesn't sound like even remotely my kind of 'thing'. I've always been a 'slow and steady wins the race' kind of guy.
4951881
I can't help but think I may have made that mistake before myself...
4951907
When I said canon breakers, I didn't mean canon broke it, I mean it broke with canon. The whole excuse for Octavia being in the human world was... profoundly dumb, to be honest. But what really ruined things for me: why would you put that much effort to force the story to take place in the Equestria Girls universe when you distinctly describe Octavia and Vinyl as looking completely different from how they really do in said universe? It's directly self-contradicting. The fact that these discrepancies didn't completely ruin my appreciation of the story says something about the quality of the story in general, methinks. That or my shipper's bias is just that strong.
4952012
I haven't been in choir since college. It was quite fun, I'll admit.
4952078
There with you 100%. :C
4952078
Fair enough! There’s always hiking if you’re trying to get out. Granted, where you live, I don’t imagine there’s many places to go.
Regardless, I hope you find something! I know that feeling you were talking about and I don’t enjoy it one bit.
4952078
Ah, yeah, that too. I agree with you on the shipping, though. I'm pretty neutral toward shipping as a genre, but I enjoyed how it was written here.
4952078 Magic has lots of different formats: different game modes where different subsets of cards are legal, with different types of rules and deckbuilding restrictions.
One of the most popular formats is Commander. Almost every card is legal (including the really old expansions). You can only use one copy of a given card (except basic lands). You have a legendary creature to serve as your General/Commander. They exist outside of your deck, but you can cast them as if they were in your hand (and if they die, you can cast them again for a small additional cost).
There's also some formats where you play with other people's cards to ensure an even field, Cube being the most popular.
I'm always wary of recommending Magic to people: it can be an expensive hobby, even with all the tricks to make it cheaper. But I've met lots of cool people playing it, and the community around the game is easily it's strongest point.
I've also considered going to some sort of writers group on Meetup.com or the like, but that's a harder social leap to make.
Thank you for the review. I have mixed feelings when I think about First Flame (attracted a share of damn trolls
) so it's encouraging to see a positive response.