Fic Reviews: He Was Number One · 4:17pm Oct 20th, 2018
Okay, back to reviewing fics, the real nitty-gritty stuff. And I mean fics, not that schlock I reviewed last time. If you could even call it a review. And I'm happy to report, this will score much, much higher. Not that's very hard compared to last time. Now, this week, a fic devoted to someone who truly was Number One.
Now, before we start it's time for a bit of a history lesson for those of you who don't know who Stefan Karl Stefansson was. And if you didn't, shame on you! Stefán Karl Stefánsson... well, he was an actor. An actor from Iceland. And his character... well, he was truly Rotten. Robbie Rotten to be exact, from the Nickelodeon series Lazytown. From Wikipedia:
Stefán Karl's career started in 1994. At the age of 19, he worked as a puppeteer for television. During his years as a puppeteer, he had also been studying at the Drama Academy of Iceland. However, he was unsatisfied with the perspectives of Icelandic drama standards. He recalls that his principal at his high school said that "acting is not about making faces and changing your face", which he disagreed with.
Later, Stefán Karl had been invited by Magnús Scheving, an Icelandic gymnast, to portray one of the characters in the second LazyTown play. Scheving created the plays due to his concerns about Iceland's younger generation lacking sufficient physical exercise. Stefán Karl explained that "[Scheving] wanted the kids to get healthier, so he created this musical called LazyTown. He played Sportacus, the fitness fanatic, and I was Robbie Rotten, the guy who liked to stay indoors and sleep". After initial success with the musical, Nickelodeon eventually made a deal with the creators of LazyTown to air the first 40 episodes of LazyTown along with a special studio built in Iceland. During the first few years of LazyTown in the early 2000s, Stefán Karl initially knew no English, but soon became fluent.
A little snippet from the show.
(...I may have annoyed my parents quite a bit with this song when I was younger.
)
Sadly, after defeating stage four cancer and going into remission, a scan on March 8, 2018, revealed Stefán had tumors of the inoperational variety and quite sadly, on August the 21 the same year he passed at the age of 43.
Anyways, back to the real nitty-gritty. Let's get this thing together shall we? Cracks knuckles Now, as ever with muliple chapter stories, I'll only be doing the first chapter as like I always say: First Impressions do count!
"This sure is mighty unusual," a familiar orange mare with a blonde mane and tail said. She pushed the brim of her hat back up so that it wasn't blocking her vision.
"What do you mean, Applejack?" the Princess of Friendship had stopped by for a visit. She overheard her friend's statement and was curious.
"Twi, you remember my crazy cousin, Rotten Core? He tried to take over the Orchard that one time by sending in a bunch of clones of himself? Then he broke into song, proclaiming himself and his clones to be 'Number One'?" she explained, attempting to jog Twilight's memory.
"Oh, yeah, I remember. Crazy is definitely the right word to describe him," Twilight laughed.
"Well, one day, he apologized to me for doing that, and I hadn't heard from him since. I don't know what he's planning, it could be something bad," Applejack worried.
Okay, first off, I do like the intro, sorta establishes the mood of the story even if there are no real descriptions of the location. I would like that honestly, I would like to know where exactly on Sweet Apple Acres they are. Are they in the barn, the family household, in the orchards? Also, perhaps a flashback or two. Show, not tell. Don't just tell us about Rotten Core's schemes, show us what happened. I mean, show us a flashback of Core's little number, or perhaps some other crazy scheme he tried to pull. Mind you, I have to say, a Robbie Rotten Pony is perfect for Ponyville, as considering all the other types of oddballs Ponyville seems to host, he wouldn't exactly stick out like a sore thumb.
"Perhaps he meant it? Maybe something happened to him? You never know," Twilight attempted to come up with a rational explanation.
"All I know is, I'm gonna be ready for whatever souped-up plan he's going to try to unfold," Applejack remained paranoid.
Before Twilight could respond, there was a knock at the door. Granny Smith, who was teaching Apple Bloom how to properly bake an Apple Pie, walked toward the front door, "Don't worry, young'un, I'll get it."
She opened the door to see Rotten Core standing on the other side. He said hello, then looked away when he saw the look on Granny Smith's face.
"Now, I done told you not to show your face around here again, Rotten Core. What do you want?" Granny Smith inquired.
"I was hoping to speak with Applejack. I have some news. I don't know how she'll feel about it, she might not even care, but it is good news. Well, good for me, at least," Rotten explained.
Okay, I stand corrected. There's the location, inside the family home. Now, I have to say, the accents. Really, and I mean really well done. Southern Accents, and I speak from plain experience here are really hard to get right and such a pain in the neck, it's not even funny. And honestly, everyone feels in-character really. The reactions feel natural, and there's no awkward sections of dialogue.
Granny Smith sighed and reluctantly agreed to let him in, "Alright, fine, come in," she grumbled.
He entered the house, closing the door behind him, "Thank you."
Applejack heard a familiar voice and followed it to the room that it was emanating from. She turned the corner to see her cousin, "Speak of Tirek. Y'know, I was just talking about you," Applejack stapled on a smile. Truthfully, she wasn't really happy to see him at all.
"Is that right? Hopefully, it was positive. Probably not. I have good news and bad news, I figured that since you're family, you deserve to know," Rotten got straight to the point, not wanting to force any pleasantries that he knew he wasn't going to receive.
Twilight had entered the room with Applejack, but she had stayed silent during the little exchange. She took this moment to speak up, "What's the bad news?"
Applejack turned to look at her then back to her cousin, "Yeah, start with the bad news. Bad news for you is probably good news anyway, all you have ever been is bad news," she scowled at him.
Taken aback by the insult, he hung his head with a sigh, he then looked back up at his cousin, "I was diagnosed with cancer," he spoke up.
Applejack was shocked to hear this. She immediately regretted her harsh words, "RC, I'm sorry, really. If that's the bad news, then I'd love to hear the good news."
He gave a half-smile and said, "The doctors said it is going into remission, so I might make it. I don't want to get too excited because it could also relapse and go right back to eating me alive. We'll have to play it by ear and see what happens, however I remain optimistic."
As I said, character reactions feel natural. The Apples, true to form remain stubborn and skeptical, however as soon as AJ (Best Southern Pony by the way) hears of Rotten's condition, she immediately switches tunes and becomes kind and regrets everything she's just said. And even better, there are no obvious grammatical errors that Grammarly is screaming at me to fix. Maybe some of the word choices are a bit simplistic at times, I dunno, but not really an issue. Or, at least a major one.
Rotten Core smiled at the thought, "I liked being a Pirate, that was fun. Stealing the sports equipment was kinda stupid though, I will admit. Just 'cause I'm sedentary and lazy doesn't mean everypony else is," he laughed.
Granny Smith had fallen asleep in her chair and was oblivious to the conversation. A half-knitted sweater was hanging over the arm of the chair. The other glanced at her and laughed as she let out a loud snore.
Rotten Core turned to his cousin once more, "I want to apologize again for trying to invade the Orchard with clones of myself. I just wanted a little of the glory, you know? This place has done nothing but good for this community and I wanted to contribute. Instead, I got too greedy and tried to take the whole thing. It was wrong of me, but you got to admit it was hilarious when the clones kept trapping me instead of you and your friends."
Applejack laughed, "Yeah. Like that time y'all were hiding behind a wall with a net and instead of catching me with it, they threw the net at you. All I heard was: 'THROW IT AT HER, NOT ME!' and I couldn't stop laughing."
Twilight stifled a laugh, also remembering this ordeal, "Yeah, you kept saying something about being Number One. It was almost like you were singing to yourself. It was definitely interesting, to say the least," she added.
Mythology gags! Gotta love those. Still, I must say, don't cram your chapter or story even if it's a homage or tribute to the brim with them.
"I figured that since nopony got hurt, that I wasn't doing anything bad. I actually thought it was good because I was making everypony laugh. Looking back, I understand that it was definitely wrong of me to do what I did. In the heat of the moment though, I was completely oblivious to right or wrong. I was in a selfish state of mind, where it was all about me. I had total disregard for everypony else. I really don't know what came over me. I just envisioned myself at the top. All I could think about was being the best, I wanted to be Number One," Rotten Core explained his point of view.
Applejack smiled at her cousin, "Don't worry, Rotten Core. You'll always be Number One in my book."
END OF CHAPTER 1
Think I'm tearing up now. I think I'm legitimately tearing up by that ending scene, knowing what's about to happen and the heartwarming little conversations between AJ and her cousin. Now honestly, while this chapter was a bit on the short side I admit, just barely topping 1,000 words, I don't think any more were needed for this first chapter. They established the setting, the characters, and the lead-up to the main plot. Honestly, and perhaps it's bias and nostalgia speaking, I can honestly only rate this story's first chapter one way.
10/10.
Bam. 10 out of ten, only one other story's managed to do that. Even the minor things about this chapter that I pointed out, they didn't put me off. It's just that good.
Rest in peace Stefán, you will never be forgotten. And now, to send you off...
Stefán Karl Stefánsson, 1975-2018
Man, he was young...
4955708
I know right?
4955710
42-3. Ouch.
Well nice to see you reviewing a good fic for once. I must say for a while I thought you were punishing yourself in reading/reviewing only bad fics. Doing some kind of AVGN kind of review.
Anyway real sad that such a tremendous person left us at such a young age. And I am ashamed that I never knew who was Stefan until just before his demise.
Though, in my defence, it may be possible Lazytown never aired in Europe. It happens so often because of how many broadcast networks and with different policies they each have, a show might air years after is original debut. Then again it does spare us sometimes of utter garbage content. For example, the Cartoon Network live-animation / Snyder period, never happened here, but good content does also get scrap.
Thank you so much for the review!
4955757
You're quite welcome.
4955771
I hope others enjoyed it as much as you did
4955745
I admit I only remembered who Stefan was when his death was announced. I'd actually forgotten about Lazytown really so you're not alone in a way.
Aww yeah. I might place this in a folder to read later. It has intrigued me. A fresh spin? Shocker!
4956080
And you're no longer the only one with a 10/10 fic.