Wanderer D 5,502 followers · 65 stories

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  • 113 weeks
    SA: The Last Round

    "So, what do you think, Corejo?" Wanderer D asked, politely showing off the stack of papers in his claw.

    The burlap sack with the printed (in color!) face of Corejo remained silent.

    "I see, yes, yes!" Wanderer D cackled. "Ahahaha! Yes! I agree! This story should do fine! So, who's reviewing it? RT?"

    The sack that had the picture of RTStephens on it tilted just enough for a single potato to roll onto the table.

    "And we have two! Alright, team, I expect you all to figure out who's doing the next one, okay? Let's not keep the readers waiting!" He glanced expectantly at the several sacks with pictures around him. "Alright! Dismissed."

    "Sir?"

    "Ah, intern. Is that my coffee?" Wanderer D took the proffered mug and downed the contents in one go. "Excellent! No time to rest! We have to edit what the guys just handed to me."

    Read More

    110 comments · 8,849 views
  • 134 weeks
    SA: Round 186

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    The Dodge Junction train ramp was not where Floydien expected to be part of a reunion.

    He especially didn’t expect it to happen four times in a row.

    “Wait, Winter? What are you doing here?”

    Winter’s eyebrows raised. “On Summer vacation. What about you?”

    “Uh, same.”

    “Guys!”

    The two Angels looked to where the voice came from. Cynewulf came running up to them, a wide brimmed sunhat and sunglasses adorning her head. “Fancy meeting you two here!”

    Floydien scratched his head. “Same. Are you on vacation too?”

    “Yep! Had a blast down on the Horseshoe Bay coast.”

    “Well, ain’t this something!”

    All turned to the fourth voice. Knight strode up, his body decked out in fishing gear, complete with a fishing pole balanced over his shoulder. “Haven’t seen so many of us in one spot since vacation started.”

    Read More

    12 comments · 4,652 views
  • 149 weeks
    SA: Round 185

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Winter and Knight stared out at the bleak townscape. All around them, the fires raged unchecked as Ponyville's former occupants stumbled mindlessly about, their undead faces ravaged by rot and decay as they moaned for sustenance. Knight turned to Winter.

    "Ready to go?"

    Winter nodded and shifted a backpack. "Got everything with me. I guess it's now or never."

    Knight gave a wry smile. "That's the spirit. You do have your reviews, right?"

    "Of course!" he said, patting his chest. "Right here."

    Knight nodded and said, "Alright, here's the plan: we stick to the shadows as much as possible. From what I can tell, their eyesight isn't that good, but their sense of smell is excellent. We just have to stay upwind."

    Read More

    10 comments · 4,266 views
  • 156 weeks
    SA: Round 184

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    “I see. Alright, I’ll let him know.”

    Intern twisted a dial on the small mechanical piece attached to his ear, retracting a blue, see-through visor from across his face. He turned to Floydien, crossing his arms. “It’s confirmed. Generation 5 is on its way. Season 2 of Pony Life is just around the corner. And the series finale of Equestria Girls was scrapped for a holiday special.”

    Floydien lifted an eyebrow. “And, what does that mean for us?”

    Read More

    10 comments · 4,423 views
  • 160 weeks
    SA: Round 183

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Over their heads the flak guns peppered the sky. The planes roared and sputtered. The clouds were dark, heavy with the child that was war. It was all noise.


    Cynewulf looked around the bend. “You know, I’ve been reading old fics. Remember Arrow 18?”


    Floydien slipped—a Floydien slipped—One Floydien came through the fractured time in the lower levels of the Sprawling Complex. “Uh, human in Equestria?”


    “Yeah. You know, we were probably too mean about those.”


    “They were terrible. I mean some of them. I guess a lot of everything is terrible.”


    “Well, yes. But anyway, I was reading it, and it occurred to me that what I liked about it was that it felt optimistic in the way that Star Trek was optimistic. It felt naive, but in a way one wanted to emulate. To regress back into it.”


    “Uh, that sounds nice?”

    Read More

    7 comments · 5,921 views
  • 165 weeks
    SA: Round 182

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    “Okay, Winter, hit it!”

    Winter pulled a lever that ignited a rocket placed underneath the communal Christmas Tree. The tree blasted through a cylindrical hole and out into the skies beyond. It only took seconds for the tree to become a tiny red dot against the blue sky.

    Winter stepped away from the control panel and down to where Intern was standing behind a fifty-five millimeter thick glass wall. “We could have just picked up the base and tossed it in the garbage bin outside, you know.”

    Intern scoffed. “Yeah, we could, or we can go over the top in a comedic and entertaining manner that leads into our reviews.”

    “You’re getting all meta, now.”

    “Exactly! On to the reviews!”

    ROUND 182

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    6 comments · 7,953 views
  • 170 weeks
    SA: Round 181

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    For the first time in the year that he worked there, FanficFan finally experienced quiet in the Seattle’s Angels Compound. All the other reviewers had gone home for the holidays, leaving him and Intern to submit the last round of reviews of the year. However, with Intern off on an errand, FanficFan was left alone.

    With stories ready to be read by his partner, all the reviewer could really do was wander around the empty building, taking in all the holiday decorations left behind from the Office Christmas Party a few days prior, like office space holiday knick-knacks, lights strown about the ceiling and wreaths on nearly every door. Plus, there was some leftover cookies and egg nog, so that was nice. 

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    8 comments · 6,366 views
  • 174 weeks
    SA: Round 180

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Cynewulf lay in a grassy field. This was a curious occurrence, as the Seattle Angel’s Dyson Sphere-esque compound basement labyrinth did not usually have grass. 


    But like she had many times before, she’d been teleported here, and whether or not the sky above her was real or not, she didn’t mind. The grass was nice, and the wind was nice, and whatever happened happened.
    f

    There was a great crash and Corejo stumbled into the grass to her right.

    “Oh, god, are we out? How did—”

    “No clue. I suspect that it’ll just take us back anyhow. Did you have the reviews? The machine came for me a few days ago, so I’ve got mine.”


    “I… Uh, I was late. I mean, we both are, unless you’ve been here for days.”

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    9 comments · 8,124 views
  • 178 weeks
    SA: Round 179

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Winter peered cautiously out the corner of the broken window, surveying the damage outside. He turned to his companion.

    "Looks like we're trapped in here," he said quietly.

    Intern grunted and adjusted the bandage on his arm. "Nothing we haven't gone through before." He looked up at Winter. "Got your reviews?"

    Winter nodded and patted his chest pocket. "Right here, where they're safe." He turned and looked once more out the window. "Now, it's simply a matter of getting through all those ponies." Winter shuddered as he took in the horrors before him.

    Read More

    10 comments · 5,223 views
  • 181 weeks
    SA: Round 178

    Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


    Matthew stumbled through the basement, crouching low to avoid all the pipes on the ceiling. Floydien hadn’t told him much, just that it was extremely important, had nothing to do with Intern, and to take the last fire door on the left.

    After what seemed like eternity in an instant, Matthew finally came to said fire door, damp with sweat and condensation. He carefully undid the latch and opened it with one arm raised just in case of any traps. Only to be greeted with the sounds of maniacal but joyous laughter as he spotted Floydien sitting in the center of the room surrounded by thousands of stacks of papers.

    “I found it!” Floydien said, tossing a stapled pack of papers to Matthew. “I finally found the answer. The answer to all of our questions. To our very existence!”

    Read More

    4 comments · 4,521 views
Feb
8th
2020

Story Reviews » SA: Round 166 · 10:00pm Feb 8th, 2020

Seattle's Angels is a group that promotes good stories with low views. You can find us here.


Drake marched back and forth in front of the desk, hands clasped behind his back. “So, you think you have what it takes to be a Seattle’s Angel reviewer, do ya?”

Winter_Solstice darted his eyes to the side. “Well, I applied and you guys accepted me, so…”

They accepted you!” Drake thrust a finger at Winter. “I haven’t yet! I need to make sure you’re up to snuff!”

“Aren’t we just reviewing fanfics?” Winter shrugged. “I’ve got experience with that, shouldn’t be a problem?”

“Is that so?” Drake glared and crossed his arms. “What have you done for reviewing before?”

“I was a reviewer for Twilight’s Library.”

Drake lowered his arms a bit and his glare softened. “Really?”

“And then Tag-a-long’s Bookclub, Rage Reviews! and The Goodfic Bin.”

Drake’s jaw dropped. “Whoa. Dude, you should be marching around my desk yelling at me!” Drake grinned. “Can you do that?”

Winter raised an eyebrow. “I think we have some reviews to do first.”

“After?”

“...Sure.”

ROUND 166


Everywhere she goes, Wandering Star takes her humble mason jar and its precious contents.

And she goes everywhere.

Someday, she'll find the place where the jar is meant to be opened. But not yet.


This is a short but emotional and sticking piece about the nature of grief and how some people handle it. Wandering Star is a simple but effective OC, endearing and relatable in her struggle, and the story’s use of Twilight as a Celestia figure is perfectly executed. The story is short, but the emotions it presents are very substantial.

One of the many perks of being a story reviewer is one gets the opportunity to find gems like this one. Here we have a very sweet but poignant glimpse into one pony’s search for “the perfect resting place.” In just a few short sentences, the author has given us an unknown character and breathed life into her, so that we the readers are immediately invested. Wanda Star,the unicorn protagonist, is searching for a place to lay the ashes of her friend, Autumn Flash. She’s traveled far over Equestria, even close to its borders in her search, but nowhere is good enough. The author makes no attempts at a cheap pulling of the heartstrings with flowery dialogue or overlong descriptions, but makes every word count, even as short as this tale is. This story needs no sequel nor is it any longer than it needs to be. So, if you wished to be moved by a tale you won’t soon forget, take ten minutes and give this one a read.


Mrs. Cake’s life isn’t always a piece of cake. The bakery needs running, Pound and Pumpkin are always up to something, and babysitters aren’t always easy to come by.

Original draft was an entry for Everfree Northwest 2018 Iron Author Contest. Received an Honorable Mention by Xepher.

Credit to Xepher for the short description.


There is perhaps nothing else so chaotic in the world than a baby, and that chaos reaches geometric levels as there are more of them. Seeing through the eyes of Mrs. Cake here, we see what her day is like trying to care for the twins and dealing with all manner of antics from them. It’s a frantic, funny piece that really paints a picture of the life of a parent, and has a sweet little ending to take the edge of the poor girl dealing with such a thing.

Ah, parenthood! It was said best by Ellen Canterow: “Making the decision to have a child–it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” Here we have (what we hope) is an atypical day in the life of the Cakes, from Cupcake’s point of view. Being a parent myself, I can remember days like this, and laugh now. 

I didn’t laugh then.

It’s not easy to craft a great story solely from one character’s perspective, but here we are. From trying to get the twins in bed, to dealing briefly with Pinkie, to trying to keep a date with her husband, we get to see a side of the Cakes a child’s television program was not able to show, and we love it!

And no, Mrs. Cake...your child wasn’t playing in chocolate.

It’s never chocolate.


Note: Story is rated M; link directs to author profile

I have a great life. I have an amazing daughter and a best friend that I couldn't love more even if she is a bit too high-energy for my tastes. I love a nice glass of wine before bed.

My name is Berry Punch and I have a problem.


I tend to avoid dark fics, so I really appreciate when a talented author can go dark places, take me there, and keep me sticking around without being run off. The story’s first line contains a promise and as it keeps going you begin to realize what that promise is and that it is going to be kept, and it’s a heck of an emotional ride to get to the end and see the payoff.

This is a tragic, sad, heartwrenching tale of Berry Punch’s life, or what’s left of it. Seeing the squalor of her own creation she lives in and the struggle it is for her just to have a normal day really make you ache for her. How her life became this way isn’t given in much detail, but that isn’t the focus, the focus is on the present, and the present is not looking good for her.

Simply a powerful, well-done piece of dark literature.

This. This is a dark, disturbing and insightful view of the pains of addiction. It reminded me of It Spills Over, by ambion. I have a folder in my Library labeled “The Very Best,” and both those tales are in it. In this one, the author takes us step by significant step down to its conclusion, one the reader does not see coming.There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a very long tunnel.

This was so well written I contacted the author out of concern for his wellbeing. His reply? “Write what you know.” Once you read it, you’ll see what I mean.


Blades are drawn and passions ignite when Twilight the Student catches Lady Rarity stealing a book from the Forbidden Archives.


Shipping and swordfighting, a recipe for a great story as far as I’m concerned. The banter as the two duel is top-notch and I cannot help but wonder how strong an influence The Princess Bride played in this. If unintentional, it is still welcome for helping to paint a picture of the battle and the ponies dueling it. It’s also quite entertaining to see how an attraction can grow between the two even as they exchange insults and sword blows, but it works.

This is only a one-shot, but it ends with a promise of more and makes it clear this is a larger world than what we see. And if Twilight and “Platinum” ever do spar again, I’d be very eager to read it if it’s half as intense as this one.

It never ceases to amaze me how some authors can take familiar, beloved characters and present them as if we’re meeting them for the first time. Here we have a duel, not only of swords, but of hearts as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if the author did indeed watch The Princess Bride before writing this, or even V for Vendetta. The tale manages to recreate the excitement of watching two swordmasters at work on the screen, to the written word, and that is no easy feat. It also fits into my headcanon for Rarity. She is the most feminine of the Mane Six, but in my mind, (and in this tale) she is also a skilled fighter. 

I’m looking forward to a sequel, if one is ever written, and I’ll have my popcorn ready for another exciting ride!


“Come on, pick it up!” Winter glared as he leaned over Drake’s shoulder. “You’ve been on that chapter for half an hour!”

“It’s over twenty thousand words!” Drake groaned.

“Then read faster!” Winter shook his head in disapproval. “A good author can type over sixty words a minute, a good reader should be at least three times that fast!”

“Reading a hundred and eighty words a minute?” Drake tilted his head. “I’m not sure that’s all that fast.”

“How do you know? Have you ever sat down and timed how much you can read in a minute?”

“...No.”

“Then shut up and keep reading!” Winter paused. “I’m not being too mean, am I?”

“No way!” Drake grinned and giggled. “This is awesome! I’m living the dream!”

“You have weird dreams.”

“I know.”


Feel free to visit our group for more information and events, and to offer some recommendations for future rounds. See you all next time!

Report Wanderer D · 7,913 views ·
Comments ( 14 )

"The Mason Jar"

Fool me once... :rainbowderp:

PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

Yay for Epic Yarn! :D

Thank you for reviewing another one of my stories! And yes, parenthood is both hard and rewarding. Let’s just say that I’ve definitely had my fair share of “that’s not chocolate” moments.

You’re right. It’s never chocolate.

5199645
lol...how did it fool you once?

I can't believe it. Thank you.

Positive comparisons to "It Spills Over" are always welcome. That fic is such a gem.

5199948
Do yourself a favor and don't search the internet for pony mason jar.

5200399
Must...resist! Can't...search...meme...

How bad could it be...?

...kill it! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!

Uh... You guys realise you did Round 164 twice? :twilightsmile:

5200770
Now, how do you figure that? It's different stories with different reviewers.

5201020
I feel like I've maybe missed out on a joke, but I was wondering why this is 166 and not 167.

5201071
Now I see what you're talking about: 164 WAS created twice. You're right, this should be 167. I'm sure the admins will fix it.

5200770
5201099
Whaaatt? Noo.... you're just seeing things...
This totally isn't like that time we labeled #110 as #104, nor is it like when we lost #123, I think it was.

5200399
..should’ve listened:facehoof: Anypony got brain bleach lying around somewhere??:twilightoops::rainbowlaugh:

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