fJd Review: A False Hope by Emotion Nexus · 4:59pm Nov 2nd, 2020
Overview:
Twilight Sparkle has brought Fluttershy back from death, and she didn’t use necromancy. Maybe. How does Fluttershy feel about it?
My Thoughts:
Wow. This was really good. Profound, poignant, very deep and even a little dark. Heart wrenching at the right times, too. What sold this to me most was Fluttershy and her inner thoughts, they were just so very Fluttershy. And, really, this was believably Twilight, or even Sci-Twi, to the fullest too.
It’s a powerful reminder of how hard it is to lose someone we care about, whose presence in our lives we have come to just accept as routine, and how hard it can be when that is upset, when they’re really gone and how difficult it can be to accept it and let go.
Twilight fulfills that role, that need for either closure or to take her friend back, but Fluttershy fulfills the role of the voice of reason so magnificently. I just loved reading this, even teared up a bit.
Characterization:
Twilight Sparkle
She’s grieving, in a way that is uniquely Twilight Sparkle. It is an incredible characterization that, really, the show didn’t take an opportunity to explore, so I can’t really argue that this wouldn’t fit there. I really think that it would.
Fluttershy
She’s the subject of Twilight’s grief, and newly returned to the land of the living, in a synthetic proxy built by Twilight, and she stays faithful to the core of her character and the strength she developed over 9 seasons of MLP. She’s terrifically spun, feels quite natural, and is still so sweet.
Character Development:
Twi has to grow by the end of this story, and she actually does. The line is blurred on whether or not that was because of Fluttershy, or her own designs, but either way she’s very much gotten to the “letting go” part of grief. All in all, it achieves this goal amicably.
Theme:
Grieving, Mourning, and Letting go. A tough set of subjects to address, though don’t with real skill and artistry here.
Logic:
Well, the method by which Twilight manages to install Fluttershy’s soul into a construct is never explained, but that doesn’t really mean much. It isn’t a point against the logic, just an intriguing question really. I love fics that spark new questions, that tends to imply the logic is rather sound.
Rating:
Story Idea: 9.5
Writing Style: 9.0
I really only found 1 hiccup in the story, and that was a half-formed thought in the narrative that should be addressed. Otherwise, well written and… well… breathtaking.
Entertainment Factor: 9.5
Oh very. Really sparkling and lovely for a dark fic, but then it isn’t really all that dark. It simply has dark elements, but the end result is actually very nice.
Inner Logic: 9.0
This feels like a story that demands a wider arc, an expanded few to see the universe that holds this remarkable technology and the applications thereof. If not this specific story, then others set in this universe. It’s really that good, to me.
Final: 9.25
Feedback/Final Thoughts:
A terrific exploration of the grieving process under supernatural conditions. Even so, it also explores a very realistic outcome, without going dark and nightmarish. How wonderful. I loved reading this.
