Paul's Thursday Reviews CXLIII · 8:34pm Dec 27th, 2018
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, folks, and welcome to this, my last blog of 2018!
Two things I wanted to address today, and we'll get the smaller one out of the way first. Thanks to me being stringent with my finances and paying way more out on my bills than was actually required of me, I've finally put enough of a dent into my obligatory monthly payments to have a little extra money on hand regularly. One of the first things I want to do with this is take some of my better fanfiction and do the whole hardcopy thing, making those stories available to anyone who'd like to pay the non-profit cost. Of course, first I have to decide on a place to do this. So I'm asking you guys for suggestions: what businesses out there do this, how user-friendly are they, and what are the potential pitfalls? I'd love to have some copies for the Bronycon Bookstore that's being planned! I may also set up a poll to see what stories people most want to see in hardcopy form. That, however, can wait until I'm back at my apartment; my setup at my parents' place delayed this post by twothree hours, just to give you an example of what I'm dealing with, and attempting to get Discord on this laptop was an unmitigated disaster.
Now to the second topic. I read a Hearthswarming story today. Alas, we won't see the review until early January, but I will note now that it was very good. It got me to thinking about the nature of the story of Hearthswarming and what it means to Friendship is Magic as a whole. I don't know that I've ever seen anyone comment on this, but just think about Hearthswarming for a second. Obviously, it is meant to be the MLP:FiM equivalent of Christmas. Which is fine. Hasbro needs its specials. But there's another aspect that is equally important in all of this: Hearthswarming is Equestria's founding holiday.
Today, that suddenly struck me. The creators decided that the MLP equivalent of Christmas wasn't just going to be a carbon copy of Christmas, it was going to be the day Equestria in its current style came into existence. And it dawns upon me just what this says about Equestria in general. Imagine an entire country founded on the concept of joy, giving, caring, and to use perhaps the most common phrase, "Peace on Earth, and goodwill to all." (Yes, I know it's "towards men", but let's be politically correct this time.) It really says a lot when you pause to think about it, and the fact the creators did this suddenly feels more poignant. I can't help but wonder if they were aware of the potential implications when they made the decision. I mean, sure, some Hasbro executive probably pointed the Finger Of Commandment at them and declared there would be a Christmas episode, but nobody told them that Christmas had to coincide with Equestria's founding.
Alrighty, I've bored you guys enough with my ponderings. Let's have some end-of-the-year reviews!
Stories for This Week:
First and Last by SPark
Cadance's Educational Video by Masterweaver
Red Barn (Over Yonder) by Dash The Stampede
Featured on 08/31/1014! by alexmagnet
Conversation Piece by dungeonguy88
The Hangover: Equestria Edition by ToixStory
Late for Hearts and Hooves Day by The Wizard of Words
Stardust Bridge by Ice Star
Summer Days by Nicknack
Thweet Geniuth by JMac
Total Word Count: 178,746
Rating System
Why Haven't You Read These Yet?: 1
Pretty Good: 5
Worth It: 2
Needs Work: 2
None: 0
First and Last
2,803 Words
By SPark
In this tale, we learn that all the world was created by Discord, and Discord was created by darkness. Now an epic battle is being waged, and Luna holds the key to ending it. Except that it won’t be a ‘happy’ ending.
SPark seems to think this story qualifies as horribly dark. Maybe for them, it is. But frankly, I’ve seen so much worse. Heck, I’ve written so much worse. This lacks the atmosphere and presence; it’s like a MINI Cooper calling itself a giant without noticing the space shuttle behind it. Which makes the long warning the author insists on throwing at the reader in the story description and at the start of the story feel like empty promises.
Even so, I’ll grant that the bar is set differently for different people. If this is what SPark considers ‘dark’, then that just tells us where SPark’s bar really is.
As for the story, it’s not a lot. It’s basically a nonsensical end-of-the-world scenario with Twilight at the helm. I say ‘nonsensical’, but only because there is no reason behind her actions. While an excuse is slapped on, said excuse makes no sense without giving us the full context, which SPark makes no attempt to do. In their defense, it’s clear they never intended to. The author calls the story a ‘rant’, though I’m not sure exactly what they’re ranting about. Maybe they think the show should have ended much earlier? Maybe they hate Twilicorn? Maybe they just went through a terrible breakup? No way to know. So the story is basically just ‘bad things happen to ponies’, except without any details.
On the plus side, the worldbuilding background of this is interesting, and I can’t help but wonder if more could be done with it. I love the general concept. It could have been used for something better than this, but we all have those stories we write ‘just because’, don’t we?
Not an amazing story, and not half as dark as I was expecting (eh, maybe a fifth). But interesting in its own ways.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Over a Cardboard Sea — WHYRTY?
Imperfect (Story Deleted) — Worth It
Immortal Blood — Worth It
Cadance's Educational Video
2,893 Words
By Masterweaver
Cadance decides she needs to do her part in educating the citizens of Equestria, and so she makes a video. A video about sex. A video of her and Shining Armor having sex, to be more specific. But she can’t just throw it out there willy nilly, and so she sends it to the other princesses in order to get their professional opinions on the matter. Twilight does not appreciate this gesture.
But I sure do!
I expected to see the video in question given some detail while the princesses reacted. Instead we start the story after the video is over and watch as Twilight, Luna, and Celestia discuss the matter. I dare to say this works even better. In my interpretation of the characters I feel all three reacted more or less perfectly, from Celestia’s mild indignation to Twilight’s immediate and desperate desire for brain bleach. The story is humorous, but realistically so, and that’s something I can approve of.
I have no complaints. This went where it needed to go, hit its goal perfectly, and ended. It might not have any staying power, but for what it was after I am pleased. And really, I feel the content is such that it could have easily gotten through with a ‘Teen’ rating, since no specifics are given.
If you’ve got ten minutes to spare and don’t mind discussions of sex in general, there’s no reason not to give this one a go.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good!
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Psychadelic — WHYRTY?
Floral Embrace — Pretty Good
Red Barn (Over Yonder)
1,689 Words
By Dash The Stampede
Alternate Title: Twilight Has Yet Another Freakout Over Something Trivial
Twilight spends three months on a research trip across the nation of Equestria and finally comes home. She’s really looking forward to being with her special somepony, Applejack! At least, she was… but the farm seems curiously abandoned.
This was… poorly thought out. Very poorly. Dash the Stampede has an exaggerated idea of how long total desolation takes. Twilight, being gone for only three months, returns to Sweet Apple Acres to find peeling paint, broken and crumbling floorboards, and more. Again, we’re talking three months, and that doesn’t take into account how long the Apple Family’s been gone, which could only be one month for all we know. And yet, somehow, the farm looks like it’s been abandoned for a few years? Not buying it.
Wait, why is that piece of paper on the door explaining the situation still nicely intact when the rest of the place looks like it got hit with a superpowered aging ray? Paper exposed to the elements like that probably won’t survive very long and certainly wouldn’t be legible.
And why in Equestria did the Apple Family leave? Because their matriarch died? So what? It’s impossible for me to conceive that Applejack and Big Mac are such poor workers and terrible managers that they’d lose the farm in less than three months, and extremely unlikely that they’d give up the fight in that kind of time.
And what about Twilight’s ridiculous reaction? Applejack left an explanation. She’s moved. That doesn’t mean the relationship is over, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t still care about Twilight, and Twilight has access to all the necessary resources to go to Manehattan whenever she wants. And yet Twilight acts as if her world’s destroyed and the only solution is to abandon everything she’s worked for in the last several years – her library, her friendships, everything – over this? She’s been known to have some epic freakouts, but damn.
Dash, I get what you were trying to do, and I can appreciate it. But just trying to capture an emotion isn’t enough if the plot aimed at getting to that emotion makes no sense. And there is nothing whatsoever that makes sense about this story. I couldn’t feel anything Twilight was going through because I was too busy being incredulous. If Twilight had been gone for more than a year? Alright. If AJ had written that she couldn’t handle the long waiting and hooked it up with, say, Rainbow Dash, okay then. But you haven’t given us anything that would warrant what we’re seeing, and so it all came out forced.
Needless to say, I won’t be recommending this one. It’s well written in the technical sense, but in every other way it is severely lacking.
Bookshelf: Needs Work
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Coming Home — Pretty Good
Bait Them — Needs Work
Featured on 08/31/1014!
5,288 Words
By alexmagnet
Twilight Sparkle wrote an article about the importance of checklists. It gets in Ponyville’s local newspaper. She feels very excited and accomplished about this, because hey, she’s a celebrity now! If only she knew that literally everyone who tries gets into the Ponyville Gazette…
This was an entertaining story clearly intended as a reflection of those new authors who get so excited because - le gasp! - they got featured! Of course, this was written way back in 2014 when it was a bit harder to get featured than it is now, but if anything the point is all the more pertinent today. I’m sure a lot of people out there think they’re hot stuff when their first work graces that coveted feature. It’s an easy trick to fall for.
Then they go for something bigger because, hey, they’re famous now! Ah, I still remember the first time Equestria Daily lowered the boom on me. Fun memories.
Of course, the most important thing is how you deal with the results. Twilight deals with it… poorly. A shame we don’t find out if she recovered from the ‘insult’, but I don’t think alexmagnet was interested in that part. This is all about poking fun at those starry-eyed newbies convinced that getting into that small group makes them the greatest thing since sliced bread, and it’s pulled off wonderfully.
Bookshlef: Pretty Good!
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Legality Abnormality — Pretty Good
Letters From a Friend at the End of the World — Worth It
Conversation Piece
22,091 Words
By dungeonguy88
Sea Breeze was once a regular, if homeless, pegasus in a seaside town. Now she’s a bat pony and member of Luna’s personal Night Guard. She is by no means your typical Night Guard, either; she’s talkative, curious, and not very big on protocol. Her direct superior Star Shade has no idea what to make of this. At least it makes guard duty outside Luna’s office interesting.
This is, in some ways, a character study of one of dungeonguy88’s OCs. That might be a turnoff for some people. But really, this is an endearing story. Sea Breeze is absolutely not what anyone thinks of when they imagine a royal guard, and that plays wonderfully in her favor. We get to learn her motivations for becoming a guard, her personal issues and doubts, her appreciation of Princess Luna… and why it’s a Night Guard’s honor-bound duty to flirt with the princess. The more I read, the more I agreed that Equestria needs more bat ponies like Sea Breeze.
Frequently cute and funny, sometimes sliding into seriousness, but never taking itself too seriously, this story is endearing in all the right places. The writing and grammar could use some cleaning up and it’s not like there’s any big, important lesson learned here, but it achieves what it aims to do. Read it for a laugh. Read it for fun. Read it to learn a little more about bat ponies. As long as you go in open-minded and without looking for something that takes itself seriously, this’ll do you just fine. Figuratively.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
A Very Merry Chrysalis — Pretty Good
Advanced Lessons — Worth It
Discord's Reformed Villains Anonymous — Worth It
The Hangover: Equestria Edition
10,387 Words
By ToixStory
Wow, I haven’t read a Toix story in a while. Why didn’t you finish The World at Large, ToixStory?! Ugh…
So, I never saw The Hangover. Frankly, it doesn’t look even remotely like my kind of humor. But ToixStory is a decent author with not a lot of completed fics for me to peruse. My options were limited. In this one, we learn that Rarity is getting married. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie have decided to treat her to a massive bachelor party in Las Pegasus. When they wake up the next morning… the hotel room is wrecked, Twilight’s an earth pony, and Rarity is nowhere to be found. Just what the heck did they do, and is there any chance they’ll find the bride-to-be and get her back home in time for the wedding?
I might not have laughed, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t amused. I have no idea if ToixStory simply retold the events of the movie in pony form or made everything up from scratch. I’d like to hope for the former, but ToixStory has developed a reputation for directly ripping from movies, so I can’t put any faith in that.
Ultimately, this is everything you might expect. It’s all about three ponies acting outrageously irresponsibly for a night and then doing everything they can to fix it. The best part is that I can’t even say the characters are OOC because of this; ToixStory covered her ass well in that regard. While the overall concept isn’t my cup of tea, it’s amusing and fun enough that I’m willing to give it due credit. Plus ToixStory is a pretty good writer even when writing comedic goofiness. I’d complain that she’s wasting time on this when she could have been writing something compelling like The World at Large, but I can’t even do that. Let’s face it, we all want to take a break and have some fun every now and then.
So… yeah. I’ll give this my nod of approval. It’s certainly a lot better than I expected.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Freeze Frame — Worth It
Reach — Worth It
Late for Hearts and Hooves Day
5,318 Words
By The Wizard of Words
“Up and atom”? 
“Up and at ‘em”, bro.
Pinkie Pie and Applejack? Not a relationship I see very often. That alone was enough to make me curious, so even though it was rated ‘Mature’ and had the Sex tag, I went in hoping it wouldn’t be a clop story. Oops.
Curiously, this isn’t like most clop stories that I’ve heard of. It doesn’t jump straight to the point, but instead gives us a scene, a setting, and some general reasons behind what’s happening. It’s still nothing more than an excuse for some plot, but at least the Wizard put in some effort to make it feel more like a proper story. Which, curiously, may make it unappealing for those looking for nothing but sex, which itself is largely tame if you ignore certain, er, size-based fantasies.
All this makes it okay in my book. While I don’t really buy the idea of Applejack wanting to go at it with a pony for no reason other than to cheer her up, the Wizard did a decent enough job with what they had. If your tastes are more ‘wild’, if you will, then this might not be your cup of tea (or other bodily fluids), but for those of you looking for a bit of (somewhat) realistic clop that at least reads like a proper story, well, here you go.
A bit of a risk on my part, but not a bad outcome overall.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
For Sonnets and Harmony — Needs Work
I'll Love You Forever — Needs Work
Stardust Bridge
7,354 Words
By Ice Star
Requested by Ice Star
In Stardust Bridge, Ice Star recreates the moment in which Nightmare Moon escapes her imprisonment and returns to Equestria. It also proves that Ice Star is trying too hard.
The first chapter is ~3,000 words of Luna escaping the Moon. That’s it. And it’s all written in longwinded, flowery prose probably intended to sound dramatic and artistic, but to me sounded forced and tiring. Then you find that the entire story is like this, with a continuous and continuously strained effort to be as vivid and visual as can be. I was not moved. I’m sorry to say it, but I was even a little bored.
Here’s the thing: everything that Ice Star is trying to do with this story is good. The manner of Nightmare’s escape, her unconventional method (by horsewords standards, at least) of getting back to Equestria, the way she isolated herself with Celestia, it’s all enough to make a tired concept a little more interesting. If the author hadn’t worked so hard to try turning this into a visual showcase and waxing on for 300 words about what filly Luna looked like while running with sticks, this might have been a great story.
And don’t even get me started on that opening disclaimer about how space works. Seriously, Ice Star? You’re going to assume your readers are complete idiots who don’t understand a fantasy setting when it is presented to them? Ugh. It’s a technical writer’s job to assume the audience is stupid, not the creative writer’s.
I think I’ve said enough. A solid story idea ruined by trying to make it into more than it needs to be. I get ambition, I really do, but this was thoroughly misdirected.
I suppose there is a silver lining in all this. Even though I didn’t like Ice Star’s efforts this time around, it’s clear a lot of people do. This could very well be a case of me being in the minority.
Bookshelf: Needs Work
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
All That Lingers — Worth It
Bathophobia — Worth It
Autophobia — Pretty Good
Summer Days
73,036 Words
By Nicknack
Sequel to Heart of Gold, Feathers of Steel
In the previous story, we learned that Gilda has been banished from her home for three years now with her return strictly conditional of her murdering Rainbow Dash. And at the end of Griffon the Brush Off, she came very close to doing so. In an effort to get her life back on track, she’s instead joined the city guard of the town near her cave home, Farrington.
This one continues right where the last one left off, with Gilda starting her training to become a Farrington Guard. The story is rife with her moral and cultural internal conflicts, with her trying to figure out who and what she is as a person. The result is an extremely complicated character facing deep internal struggles, and Nicknack makes full use of that. Along the way we learn more about a dying culture, from its holiday activities to its religion. Throw in there a review of Farrington politics and local issues, racial bigotry, a sputtering attempt at romance, friendships on the razor’s edge of being ruined, and a smattering of criminal elements.
Nicknack does a lot with the few words he has. It’s quite impressive.
It’s also a problem. The author isn’t writing this as a sequel to the prior story, but as part of the prior story. Elements from Heart of Gold, Feathers of Steel that are unanswered return out of the blue. New elements of seeming significance are introduced then all but forgotten in this one, presumably to be picked up in the next story. A prime example is the criminal underworld of Farrington, which is introduced with enough focus and care to appear as though it’s going to be a major factor in the story, only to be largely dropped in favor of something entirely different that dominates to the end.
Ultimately, I’m left with the sense that Nicknack should have written this series as a single, big story, not three or four medium ones. The arrangement of information is such that if you’re not reading each story immediately after the previous (which I can’t do because of my schedule), you’ll forget important elements and miss out on things that can be really jarring when they inevitably rear their ugly heads again.
Still, taking what I’ve seen so far, the story is great. I love all the different elements that are coming together in this, and I’ve seen enough of Nicknack’s material to suspect they’re all going to come to a head in time. I’m eager to see where the next one is going, even as I lament the fact that I won’t be reading the next entry for a very long time.
I do have one curiosity, though. If the griffons are a dying race, and most would rather go extinct than give up their prideful isolation and arrogance… what’s Gustave le Grand’s story?
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Dusk-Lit Waltz — WHYRTY?
Taking Care of Animals — WHYRTY?
Heart of Gold, Feathers of Steel — Pretty Good
Thweet Geniuth
47,714 Words
By JMac
Sequel to Quizzical
Say, who here remembers Twist? You know, the filly with a lisp who was once Apple Bloom’s friend but mysteriously disappeared after Season 1, Episode 100 cameo aside? Well when this story came out she was still somewhat relevant as a side character. More importantly, she was one of the friends Quizzical made in the prior story. In this instance, she decided to represent Ponyville at the Manehattan Fair’s All-Equestria Candy Making Contest. To everyone’s surprise, she wins first place, and so earns the honor of being the youngest pony ever invited to challenge Equestria’s greatest cook, Grand Chef Blitzen ‘Lightning’ Éclair, in a reality show-style candy making contest.
The Grand Chef is not pleased.
I enjoyed this story far more than I expected. It stars what may be the most underappreciated pony in the show engaging in a struggle against a pony whose narcissism makes Blueblood look like an eagle scout. While this sounds fine on the whole for a story concept, I didn’t expect the sheer pleasure that the story would produce. Of course, the story really stars Quizzical, but the entire time it seems like the ‘mood’ of it was centered on Twist and her struggles.
Quizzical continues to be a fun protagonist. Despite having the inflection and tonality of Maud Pie, she’s got Twilight’s magical genius, (and neurosis (and social issues)), and she never ceases to be amusing with her dry manner. Her interactions with her friends only builds the enjoyment, such as Sweetie Belle’s constant effort to raise Quiz’s self-esteem or Scootaloo’s efforts to have her ‘live a little’. Throw in a Dinky who knows how to weaponize her cuteness and an Apple Bloom with all the smarts necessary to give her friend a leg up on the competition.
But then there’s the villain of the piece, the Grand Chef, who sends his director Merry out to personally sabotage Twist’s preparations in every conceivable way, many of which are downright evil. Quiz being Quiz, she of course realizes that the deck is being stacked against her friend and does everything she can to stop it, even if it means (gasp!) ‘being bad’. Much of the story is devoted to Quiz and her friends running interference for Twist.
But the real joy comes with the last third of the story, the actual contest with the Grand Chef. I never thought I’d get that amazing, “holy wow that was fun!” feeling from watching a cooking contest, but here we are. This is easily and by far the most entertaining thing I’ve ever read by this author.
In the end, I really have only one complaint: the ‘adults’ of this story are rather ridiculous. I’ll grant that Merry had a nasty smear campaign going against Quiz to help, but even with that I can’t see Applejack, Rarity, or Derpy reacting this strongly to these events. The CMC have gotten into similarly hazardous situations entirely on their own numerous times in the past, and yet somehow now these three are blowing a gasket that makes them look like the worst examples of overprotective parents. It’s made all the worse with Rarity’s extremism, particularly when you consider that it’s Applejack who has a canon history of this, not Rarity. Basically, these characters were way OOC given the context.
I was also miffed by Twilight, who adamantly refused to believe Quizzical when she warned of the Grand Chef’s conspiracy. I’ll grant that some skepticism is warranted, but her cold dismissal of the topic without so much as a courtesy investigation struck me as extremely unlike her. I could understand dismissing the CMC or Spike, but Quizzical? This just felt like a character being forced to do things for the sake of creating a specific scenario.
One last thing, and this is a subjective issue: JMac writes Twist’s lisp. He writes it faithfully, from beginning to end, with no apologies. I didn’t mind this, but I know there are people out there who will reject the story on this alone. I think they’re making a mistake, but one can’t help the biases of others. What’s more serious to me is that Twist gets her lisp, but Apple Bloom and Applejack aren’t given their accents. You shouldn’t pick and choose these things.
Ignoring those points? I loved this story from beginning to end. Entertaining characters, fun scenarios, an over-the-top villain, a multi-chapter climax that is unexpectedly thrilling, vast improvements for the author in terms of pacing, writing style, and general directing. And all of this for a character most of us forgot and many actually loathe. I’m surprised to find something this good so early in the author’s FIMFiction career.
Bookshelf: Why Haven’t You Read These Yet?
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
"I'll Take That One." — Pretty Good
Being Neighborly — Pretty Good
A Little Game Of War — Worth It
Quizzical — Worth It
Stand Ready — Needs Work
Stories for Next Week:
Works Every Time by Forthwith
Diamond Tiara Buys a Little Sister by Georg
Hard Reset by Eakin
The Cold Streets of Baltimare by DemonBrightSpirit
The Lessons Left Unlearned by Donnys Boy
What's in the Box? by Daemon of Decay
Tear the Sky Asunder by Ice Star
Pinkie Pie's Shadow by Venomblast
All That Glitters by ellie_
Immortal Beginnings by Snake Staff
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I guess it's a good day for posting your last review blog of 2018! >.>
Hard Reset? Interesting – I will have to drop by for that.
That little (mostly jokey) bit stemmed from how often I've seen people seek to read about pony-space wanting to resemble human-space and all the debates about 'that's not how X works' when things are expanded upon. I didn't want a reader hoping for science fantasy or any kind or a heliocentric world to find something they didn't like because I decided to do something different right off the bat.
Man, there are tons of self publishing sites out there. Which one you use really depends on how many copies you're wanting, the book size you want, and whether you want a limited run or print-on-demand service like Lulu.
Personally, I'd recommend looking into said Lulu(.com). It's the one I happen to like the most and has reasonable prices.
This is what I thought my readers in early 2014, when I'd largely read and posted only light-weight and even cutesy fare, would consider dark. It was nearly five years ago! It was the first time I did anything even remotely bloody in any way, and I was trying to not be jarring by flipping from entirely wholesome stuff like Lighter Shade of Gray to this. It's the same reason my first clopfic came with about five thousand disclaimers about how writing sex didn't mean I want to sext with you, and didn't mean I was going to be nothing but a clopfic writer.
Honestly, having only old stories (that weren't even remotely by best at the time) and/or stories I now hate and regret writing be reviewed by you is starting to put me off of reviewing even further than I already was. What's the point in diving back to five years ago when I've written so many other, better things since then?
I haven't read any if these!
As to Twist, I agree I'd like to see more stories of her by good authors. I only wrote her once and made an oblique reference to her one other time. The one time she was a major character, I only wrote her lisp intermittently, making a plot point that she was in speech therapy and working to overcome it.
4986869
I would prefer to think that if a reader can't get over the fact this is already a fantasy setting and thus things are different, they aren't worth bothering with. But meh, that's just me.
4986916
I'd definitely prefer print-on-demand. Why create a bunch of books I probably will never get rid of when I can just order exactly how many I need and let anyone who wants one order it on their own?
4986944
Oh, that's easy: progress. One of my favorite things to see as a reviewer is how far a particular writer has come over the years. If a writer created something five years ago that wasn't all that good, but now makes great material fairly regularly, then what I'm seeing is a legacy of personal growth. It's a great thing to see, and even inspiring. There is of course the caveat that you have to go in with an awareness of the age of the material. I ddn't do so this time, and thta's entirely on me.
But look at you, just for example. Yeah, this story ended up only so-so, but then you got my best rating for Over a Cardboard Sea. I know you can do good things. Now it's just an exploration of your library to see what is and isn't good and your personal growth as a writer. Which is what I want to see in the first place.
And, theoretically speaking, it's also what you want to see. If you don't want people to read your stories, why leave them available for public consumption? For that matter, what kind of reader only ever focuses on an artist's newest material? When they find an artist they really like, they don't just sit around waiting for the new stuff, they go looking to see if there's any old stuff they can sink their teeth into. If they don't do that with an awareness that the older material may not be as good, that's not the writer's fault.
I'm happy to read what you would consider to be your old junk. By the same token, I'm happy when people find my oldest material, even though I know it is significantly flawed compared to my recent material. That doesn't make it any less worthy of attention, as it reminds me (and my readers) of where I've been.
4986957
I don't think I've ever written a story featuring her, even in an offhand way. Oh, wait, no! She made a cameo in my Dinky-centric Nightmare Night story. Still, it would be nice to see more stories focusing on her.
4987241
That's true; I'm just used to it popping up in the comments pretty much every single time. Since nobody mentioned it except, I think, one person I like to think it helped a little.
4987241
But you've never once reviewed one of my recent stories. If you'd reviewed tons of my best work and were now working your way down into the meh stuff, that'd be one thing. You've only once bothered with a story of mine that I consider to be good, though. So far you've picked two vent fics (labeled as such), stories which I wrote solely to get something off my mind, which were never intended to be good stories, and one that I wrote because I have a fucking fetish for vampires, also not intended to be a good story.
Frankly, if I continue to get people who ignore my good stories only to read (and judge, it's reviews specifically that I have a problem with) my worst, then yeah, it becomes really tempting to pull down most of my work and only leave a "best of" gallery up.
4987258
In my defense, I only read the vampire-related one because someone else recommended it to me.
At any rate, I guess I'll just have to read one of your more recent ones, won't I?