Site Post » Reviews Round 6 · 4:57am Dec 4th, 2012
If I had a penny for every time someone asked us where we got the stories featured each week, I’d have—hang on a moment—$0.12.
Anyway, the answer is that they were lying around and didn’t look as though they would mind being pushed up to the front page of Fimfic.
The stories sit in cyberspace in the heart of Fimfic’s servers. It’s one of the great finalities, found wherever men, ponies and word processors were gathered together; the featured box was a New Age sophistication. The stories have been lying in the lumber rooms of cyberspace for centuries months. All we had to do was grab them and run away before the alarms went off.
Since this is the sixth edition by popular demand—gosh—of the first post in the series that will, eventually, contain at least ten, there’s a very good chance that you already know what happens in these, which is more than we did when we wrote them.
Fimfic is not a coherent fanfiction site. Its geography is fuzzy, its chronology unreliable. A small travelling circle of pone in a chilly infinity has turned out to be the home of many things, hidden gems being one of them.
There are no maps. You can’t map fiction. Anyway, what is a map but a space beyond which There Be Quality? In Fimfic we know that There Be Quality Somewhere. They might not all have characters that will live in your hearts forever, or plots mind-blowing enough to warrant a $59.99 cleaning fee, but they Be Here all right, sitting, waiting quietly, until they are yanked from obscurity into the harsh light of public viewing once more.
Enjoy.
MY LAMENTATION: I NEVER INSTALLED A MUFFIN BUTTON!
The fandom’s obsession with background characters never ceases to fascinate me. Volumes have been written on the love and loss of what are, essentially, extras in a much wider production. It’s kind of like how every single on-screen character in Star Wars has some convoluted, entirely-canon backstory that led to them being at that precise location at that precise moment. Hell, I could probably write an epic about the exploits of a pair of Wedge Antilles’ socks.
Making a mental note of a great idea and moving on, my point is that an audience appalls ambiguity in storytelling. Thus, background characters, who are essentially blank slates, are great fodder for interpretation and exploration. Perhaps no character has seen more of this than Derpy/Ditzy/Grey Pegasus Mare with Blond Mane and Bubble Cutie Mark.
You know her, you love her, you’ve undoubtedly read any number of like-minded treatments of her, and in this fic, you’ll get a markedly different take on the clumsy, happy-go-lucky pony with a penchant for muffins and mayhem. This fic challenges the common perception of the character with a rather despondent view into her mind, revealing a much more abrasive individual behind the wall-eyed mask. It’s a notable inversion of the common interpretation that is, quite honestly, compelling in its depressing outlook.
If you’re tired of the same-old, same-old with regards to our luckless mailmare, give this one a shot. If nothing else, it ought to open your eyes to the potential stories behind those familiar smiling faces in every shot of the show.
I’ve never really understood the obsession people have with Derpy and muffins being a thing. Sure, she has this one line, and happens to have more or less centre screen, but it could have very well been a different pony, right?
Today’s feature is, at the very least, interesting. It explores a premise that cunningly parallels fanon, in that everypony thinks Derpy Ditzy loves, and is obsessed about muffins—everypony except Ditzy herself. Some may find her less-than-cheery personality jarring, but others will find that it makes perfect sense. After all, what else would you be if the world imposed a single, incorrect trait on your existence? But that’s not all the story is about, else it wouldn’t be here.
I can’t help but feel that there’s some wasted potential in there. The concept could have been explored in greater depth—just under 2000 words is, no matter how you look at it, short—yet even so, this story gave me a sense of closure, because Ditzy proves herself to be somepony despite nopony acknowledging it. And that’s, I dare say, inspiring, which is more than you would expect from a fic with Derpy and muffins. Give it a spin; it’s worth the short while.
Watch the infamous [url= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usYRXYdBG30]muffin scene carefully, and you might notice that Seafoam, Derpy and Colgate have identical mouth flaps. Bum bum buuuuuum!
At the heart of this story lies the idea that people will cling on to a notion long past the point where it makes sense, perhaps even impressing their views upon others. Why do we insist that Derpy has a thing for muffins? Why is this particular piece of fanon inarguable? What dastardly-devious decision deluded us into deducing Dinky is Derpy’s daughter? Okay, maybe not that last one, but you get my point.
Over the course of Lament of a Muffin, we get to know how Derpy, as a character, would feel to have the whole world see her as nothing but a klutzy ditz whose only personality trait is her love of muffins. It’s a first-hand look at how frustrating this would be, how oppressive it would become, and how resigned you would end up feeling about it. At the end, it really gets the message across that a character can have much more underneath the surface than they seem to show.
Give it a shot if you’re looking for an alternative take on a background character.
FRICKIN’ PONIES WITH FRICKIN’ SPORKS ATTACHED TO THEIR HEADS!
So, you’ve got an established setting, right? You’ve got characters, locations, rules and themes all rolled up into a neat little package. You’ve got a nice, relaxed little world that’s easy to predict and simple to understand.
And then there come fics like these, which throw rainbow-striped stockings over the frilly pink ankle-socks of the show and go running cross-country in them, laughing the entire time.
Seriously, what else can be said about this fic’s premise? Well, actually, there’s quite a bit more to it than appears at first glance. At first glance, this seems like just another alt-Twilight story, with all the kooky fish-out-of-water shenanigans that implies, but as it goes on, we start seeing hints that our utensil-headed protagonist comes from a very different world than what we’re familiar with, and her experiences in that different world have rendered her much-removed from our bookish Miss Sparkle.
It is these hints at a much bigger backstory, which stand against the absurdity of the premise, that I find keep the story moving, and which make it worth a read. It’s kind of a shame the story only has a little over 8,000 words to offer, as it seems to be begging to explore this some more. Nonetheless, such a short read means it’s unobtrusive, and, in a word, enjoyable.
As you can tell from the picture, the synopsis and the title, this story is about AU Twilight with a spork for a horn. Usually that’s enough to get people reading, but somehow this must’ve missed everyone’s radar, because it deserves more views. I’m not here to tell you what you can figure out for yourself; I’m here to tell you that it’s definitely worth reading, and why.
Needless to say, the premise is wacky and unique, but it’s also done well in that the fic does not consist of HAI GAIZ SPORKS LAFF NAO or something as lowest-common-denominator as that. The author does well with pacing; there’s no headlong rush into anything, and this allows Twahlaht to be given a character with very real woes and worries, likes and dislikes, which is crucial for the story to develop beyond its novelty. The events at play flow into each other nicely. There are no epic battles or game-changing spells at work; what there is is a tender look at somepony who has been an outcast for her whole life, dealing with being in a completely new environment. Kinda like Ugly Betty, I’d think.
The conflicts are mostly low-intensity, and this is more [Slice-of-Life] than [Adventure], but that doesn’t stop it from being interesting. Now, if you’re an explosions addict, or just don’t like low-intensity conflicts, then this won’t be for you, but for the rest of you who enjoy silly yet wholesome fun, this should go on your reading list, or hey, just read it now.
What if Twilight Sparkle’s horn was replaced with a spork?
Well you’d have this story, that’s what! The thing that caught my eye at first was the glorious and ridiculous premise. Alternate universe Twilight Sparkle… who has her horn replaced by a utensil? Okaaay… Then I kept reading and was not sorry one bit (most of the time when you get a crack fic, the execution is nowhere near as engaging as the premise—definitely not the case for this story). The opening line made me smile far harder than it had any right to, and the thing I kept asking myself as I read was constantly, why is this so funny?!
Her horn is a spork, her cutie mark is a spork, and her talent is that she can turn things into food that can easily be eaten by a spork. She has a pet chameleon that needs to shave once in a while because of a spell gone awry. Occasionally she wakes up under a blanket of cottage cheese! It’s an AU story with an utterly stupid premise, but it’s also one of the silliest things I’ve ever read in this fandom, and for that, I love it to death.
For those of you who’re looking for something a little more serious, you might want to give this one a pass, but if you’re a nerd for the absurd, then don’t just take my word for it.
SUBJECTIVITY IS THE GREATEST ILLUSION, IN MY OPINION!
I am a pessimist. I make no claim to anything resembling the contrary. I view the world as a glass half empty, and that’s just how I like it. Thus, this fic strikes a chord with me, not because it’s well-written, has a great narrative voice, or because it’s got a different take on the MLP ‘verse (all of which are true), but because of how cynical its interpretation is.
Really, I’d almost have to call this one out on its tags, because while it is most certainly a wildly different interpretation of canon, it is anything but random. There is a dark edge to everything underlying this fic. Like a stone caught in the threads of one’s sock, it grates against the comfortable coziness that is the show, a niggling point of misanthropy against the heel of the reader’s perceptions.
Whether or not you understand that convoluted metaphor, or if you buy into the background as established by this fic’s narrative, the picture it paints of our heroines is nonetheless fascinating. It challenges the upbeat attitudes of the characters we all know and love, and asks the question of whether they truly are governed by virtue or something entirely more fatalistic. This dissenting voice against the sugary idealism of the show is most definitely worth listening to at least once.
Oh, and it has quite a twist at the end, and who doesn’t like that sort of thing?
Lament of a Muffin had a unique take on Derpy, In the Twahlaht of Her Youth had a unique premise. A Certain Point of View has a unique presentation style, and that is what gets it into today’s feature.
There are plenty of ways a first-person perspective story can be written, but this is done in my favourite style: where the narrator is brimming with personality and gets engagingly comfortable with you from the first word. As the fic progresses, you truly get a sense of just who the narrator is in terms of essence and personality, not just actions or physical descriptions. This is presented through and with a cunningly, cleverly thought-out take on the nature of canon; despite how it is, ultimately, merely opinion, it is also vividly opinion. It expresses the mind of the narrator in every word, a task at which many authors fall flat.
The end has a twist. All three of us have mentioned it, because the review would feel incomplete if we didn’t, but I’ll go further and say this: when you get to the twist, read it a second time. You’ll find certain phrase choices to be suddenly ingenious, and you’ll find a couple of interpretations becoming suddenly a little more meaningful. That’s definitely a merit.
All in all, this is a hidden gem. It might be more of an unconventional jeremejevite than a ruby or diamond, but it’s a hidden gem all right.
A story without conflict? BLAM THIS PIECE OF—
Hem… What I mean to say is that having a protagonist going toe-to-toe with some sort of trouble is nice and all, but the requisite of conflict is only one way of looking at it. It would probably take too long to explain in full, but the ties between plot and conflict are not as unbreakable or even universal as you might expect. A story can be a good one without needing the main character to constantly struggle over their inner demons, or against some big enemy, or even to remove a pesky booger. Kishotenketsu, a Japanese narrative style, typically contains four acts, develops the main character in the first two, introduces a twist in the third, and reconciles all the previous acts in the fourth. This is pretty darn different from the Aristotelian narrative structure we’re probably all more familiar with, which relies on conflict to create rising action, a climax and then falling action (usually in three or five acts).
With that in mind, A Certain Point of View is one of those stories that takes the whole narrative ball and runs with it. With the potential exception of the narrator, there are no protagonists or antagonists. There is no conflict, or rising action, or climax. There is no plot. However, it is, without a doubt, a story. I will not spoil the twist at the end, but let’s just say that it makes the rest of the story all come together. As a troper would put it, you get yourself a Tomato Surprise that makes the rest of the story work.
Readers looking for something a bit more experimental than the average story, this one is for you.
And that concludes Round 6, folks! If you’d like to stay tuned, don’t forget to join the group, because that’s where all the cool kids are at. Or you could just keep an eye on the front page, y’know, that works too.
Seattle’s Angels, signing out!
If I had a penny for every time I saw a round of reviews on Wanderer's blog... I'd have 6 pennies... 6 bright, shiny, copper colored pennies.... 6 pennies which I could put on my mantle for all to see and appreciate... and they would be favorite of all groups of 6 pennies... because I got the 6 pennies from seeing reviews on Wanderer's blog
If I had a penny for every story I've created, tried, then deleted from existence before or after even releasing it, I'd have precisely (yes, I've kept count of my failures) 78 pennies. As for stories sitting in my box right now, I'd have 46 pennies.
An interesting bunch this time around. Never heard of the first two but I absolutely love "A Certian Point of View." Going to have to check out the others soon now.
Twalaht. Every time I read that name I imagine the
face saying it. That story is a good read; as one reviewer noted it makes one feel like there is a great deal more!
There is a lot on this site, and you have to tag it with 'Read Later' before it slips from your grasp, or you may never see it again... I read on this site for two months before becoming a member, and because I didn't bookmark everything, I still find stories I had almost completely forgotten about turning up in the Featured sidebar!
Not that different if you have watched Higurashi...
If I had a penny for each story I have..... I'd only have two, but I am proud enough to share it with the world. But if I had a penny for each story I never wrote but thought of, I'd probably have a dollar.
If only I had a penny...
If I had a penny for every time someone said if they had a penny, I'd own this site.
If I pennied all the pennies that have ever been pennied by Penny, I'd penny all those pennies.
If I had a penny for every time these reviews were pretty good! Certainly made me want to read the stories. Also, can't complain about a reason to read Lament again, certainly one of my favorite one shots. Keep it up!
i.imgur.com/gXQ00.jpg
IF I WERE A BOY... I THINK I COULD UNDERSTAND / HOW IT FEELS TO LOVE A GIRL; I SWEAR I'D BE A BETTER MAN!"
Belligerent Sock lost my faith in this post by claiming I love Derpy,
but Sessalisk got it back by being someone else who remembers the name Seafoam.
These are all pretty good stories. Looking forward to some more!
25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3w9j9TqZi1r8nrkqo1_500.gif
The intro is a parody of Terry Pratchett's foreword for the reprint of The Colour of Magic. The more you know...
Ooh. An alternate take on best pony? Fun times.
EDIT: That wasn't fun! That wasn't fun at all!
Very well written, though.
Huh. Of all things I didn't expect to wake up to today...
However, much in the same way that I don't consider myself a cynic, I don't think of Chaos and Disharmony as cynical either. I suppose that's kind of the point: you could take it as being dark and misanthropic, or you could see it as making something good out of what we have. I would argue that it's the ones who take it as dark that are the cynical ones, overlooking the good and focusing on the bad.
I guess that's just me :)
-Scott
If I had a penny for every time I bragged about my writing skill, then jumped over to FIMFiction to see a ton of other awesome authors outclass me, I'd be rich enough to buy my own country.
Congrats everyone who got up there in the majestic blog!
Please can I have a penny for every word of pony fic I've written?
572484
Casca, I'm gonna let you finish, but BLAM! was the greatest reference of all time. OF ALL TIME.
For those of you uneducated fools who've never heard of it, BLAM! is arguably Disney's greatest transgression. It's a bastardization of everything you love about old Disney cartoons, made even worse by the "narrator" and the judicious application of the word BLAM!
(and now you know, and knowing is half the battle!)
572858
Hm. A subjective comment on the subjectivity of the author's opinions vis-à-vis a subjective review about their subjective work on subjectivity.
Touché, sir.
fimfiction.net/index.php?view=delete_blog_post&post_id=95421&confirm=true
fimfiction.net/index.php?view=group&group=1971&join
WARNING
If you are reading this...
Check your groups page. Somebody posted an autojoin comment, so you have (probably) been added to a group called...
(I shudder even to type it)
FAGGOT HORSEFUCKER AUTISTS
Yep. You read that right.
574189
You mean the comment right above yours?
571963 MOTHER OF GOD
574226
...Yes? Why is the fact that his is right above mine important?
574386
So that people who read your comment will know which comment you're referring to is the bad comment. Not many people know about this image exploit, so not many people will know who's responsible for getting them into that group in the first place. It may not help them actually avoid getting added to the group, but at least they'll know what to look out for and who to report.
So, to reiterate, Meepsheep's comment is the one that added you all to that group. Look out for his comments, and other comments like his.
574428
I'm not quite sure what that's supposed to mean. Um?
573326
You lovable bastard.
fimfiction.net/index.php?view=group&group=1979&join
Lawl. That 'Sessalisk' has a broken link in the first review. It's like she can't even use computers or something...
575564
Yeah. She's such a penis. idk where they even got her. Maybe a dumpster full of cum or something. Oh no wait. That's what she is. OH SNAP SESSALISK—
Oh. Wait.
Now I'm sad.
575720 What are you doing behind the sperm bank again, Sess? You know better than that!
575755
I was thirsty. :(
dildomugs.com/wikia.php
Well done.
573249 Pretty Sure that Blam was actually a reference to Newgrounds, Wherein the Lowest Possible Rating one can Give an Animtion is a 0:Blam this Piece of Crap, Wherein Blamming is Deleting the Video from the site. It's Quite Possible that the Newgrounds system is referencing this thing you mentioned or I could be Wrong and Sessalisk IS referencing this thing you said He/She was.
581737
...well, I feel dumb.
You're probably right. I think Sess is more of a Newgrounds person anyway.
Excuse me while I go crawl in a hole.
I wish clop stories couldn't get featured.
PREPARE TO HAVE THOU PENNIES RUSTLED!!!