Caffeinated Reviews - Installment 2 · 10:19am May 21st, 2020
(Art by Littledarkdragon).
Been a while since I made the first installment in this review series. Truth be told, I haven't read too much. I focused heavily on my art, and ignored most of the reading, and writing I had to get done. I seem to be one of those people who shift through multiple different phases every now and then. Now, I'm back in a reading and writing phase. Which means it's high time I review the stories I've read over the course of little over a month.
To start things off:
A Puppet To Her Fame
(Story by Kaiden)
This story is dark, tragic, and hits you hard multiple times throughout the course of the story. Worst Best part is... I Love it. The strongest aspects of the story are the flow, the characterization of Octavia and her abusive parents, as well as the mystery lying underneath it all. That being the Lovecraftian influence Kaiden had as he wrote this. It doesn't read like a Lovecraft story, rather it is just inspired by the fear of the unknown, which manifests itself as the hooks that force Octavia to compose her music.
I found myself personally invested with the abuse aspect of the story, having an abusive parental background myself, and seeing them slowly get what's coming to them was soooooo cathartic.
Though, with all of that going for the story, it does have a rather lackluster ending that felt forced and not expanded upon enough. Which is a shame, because the build-up was some of the best I've read on this site.
Aside from that one complaint, I don't have much more to nag on about. It's a wonderfully put together story, aside from the end, and is one of my new personal favorites on the site. Easily a highly caffeinated story.
The Archetypist
(Story by Cold in Gardez)
Gotta say, love the cover art for this one. Cold in Gardez is both a strong writer, and a strong artist. I wish to be like that someday with my writing and art.
This story, however, while strongly written, is interesting but has some elements that hold it back for me. I'll get into that.
The one thing that really makes me enjoy this story is the way it is written. Dreams are something of an oddity, in that they flow in such a way that leaves you both captivated and lost all at the same time. This story flows much like how I imagine a dream would. It is a bizarre world created after Discord frees ponies from their archetypes, their dreams fully being realized in the waking world.
Everypony seems to be happier, despite the creepiness some of the changes bring. some changes, and the idea behind them all, sometimes making me outright against them in some way. Others, on the other hand, are brilliant and have some wonderful lines of dialogue attached, Fluttershy's change to be more animal-like and brave, for example.
It's with this change that I previously mentioned that turned me off from a major aspect of the story. The way Applejack changes, despite wanting freedom, I don't believe deep down she'd go from the family orientated mare she is to a lazy, selfish at times, impulsive mess. I won't spoil one scene, but it truly showed how far she had changed, while working for the narrative, gives me a sorta dissonance on what I believe she would have become.
The ending was really good though, and should have warranted a tragedy tag. It's a doozy. As much as I enjoyed this story, some aspects of it drug it down for me quite a bit, so I'll put it in my caffeinated folder for overall good stories.
Hypoesthesia
(Story by Flashgen)
This story is one that'll hit deep for those who have every lost feeling in their life, such as I.
Twilight slowly loses her sensations. Tastes begin to be tasteless, sounds less crisp, smells less fragrant, so on and so forth. She fears this change, as anyone should, especially for what it means for the love she shares with Rarity. Yes, this is a Raritwi fic, but the subject matter is the true key to the story. The romance only serves to make the story more poignant.
Though the ending is bittersweet, there is not much to say than that it is written well and captures the essence of losing one's own sensations. I recommend it to those looking for stories that hit deep in personal notes of depression and depersonalization. Otherwise it's just a bittersweet fic with heartfelt moments that won't hit as hard otherwise.
To caffeinated it goes!
I mentioned in the last review installment I would do more than three, but I think three at a time is the perfect amount for me. Less to write in one stretch, as I often do with these, and lets me just pour out my thoughts more easily without the daunting task of doing it five times in a row. Three is my magic number, I believe.
Hopefully I can get the next review installment out faster than this one, and extra hopefully be able to write more based on the inspiration I get from reading such lovely stories.
Until we meet again.
~ Not Enough Coffee
These were some excellent choices. It’s good to see your reviews back since you always review stuff I would probably read myself.
5266511
We seem to have a similar taste in fiction, I noticed.
And yeah, glad to get some of these reviews out since they have been itching for release for a bit.
5266538
It's a shame I've already read these stories.
5266539
I would be surprised if you haven't, given your extensive horse library.
5266565
I have many extensive horse libraries. Get on my level.
The Archetypist was interesting because of the constant feeling of unease it seamlessly folded into every paragraph. Very remarkably good use of character voice in that one. I still am not super jazzed about the ending, but that's just personal preference.
Glad to see you doing these again, my man :)
5266592
Yes, the creepiness factor in a dreamlike style of writing is what makes the story stand out the most to me.
I think I enjoy good tragedy and consequence in stories, and I believe The Archetypist did that well. That's my personal take on it.
And yes, writing these are fun and help me further engage in the stories I read.
I do miss the Socratic seminars I had in AP literature in high school. They were great for discussing the plot and themes of the stories we read and connecting it to the argumentative essays we had to write at the end of the unit.