electreXcessive: Howdy there guys and girls, fillies and gentlecolts! It’s time for the second installment of our Under-appreciated Extravaganza. Thank you guys so much for all of the support that you’ve given this little project. I mean, seriously. Within just three days, our meager little crew of two has grown into a group of over seventy members! Well, we’re here again today, and we’ve got another three stories here for you today that we think deserve more attention than they’ve got right now. Without further ado, we’re about to jump right into these reviews!

CartsBeforeHorses: I am shocked, awed, and exceedingly grateful at how much attention we’ve gotten for this. Thank you all.

electreXcessive: Geeze… I really seem to have an affinity for Slice of Life, now don’t I? Well, the first fic we have here today, chosen by myself, is a little Slice of Life story a little over eleven-thousand words long. I know, right? You rarely ever see a one-shot of that length, and to carry a story out for that long without it falling flat on its face is no small feat at all. The real criminal part though? This story only has nine likes to show for it.

Now, what do I think of this story? I like it. I like it quite a bit. It’s a simple little Slice of Life observing human (pony) interaction, and I feel that the dialogue between the characters feels believable for the most part in my opinion, and it manages to go the whole eleven-thousand words without letting itself get too stale. The grammar is also pretty spot on for the most part with only a few mistakes here and there, and the events and environments are described pretty well. You can actually envision the scene easily, and what the characters are doing.

If I had to say some bad about it, I’d say that the story is actually a little too descriptive. There are large portions of this story where it goes from descriptive and straight into purple prose territory. This isn’t necessary a bad thing if done correctly, but here it feels like the author is just trying a bit too hard to make us feel certain emotions during certain parts of the fic. Trim down on the excessive wordplay and you’ve got yourself a pretty decent story. It’s not for you if you can’t ignore a bit of jarring over description, but if you like Slice of Life and you can, then this is a good story for you.

Carts: I agree with the characterization piece. The story strays a bit into purple territory, but if that’s your thing then I definitely recommend this story since the author is quite masterful with it. Also, it’s rare to see a one-shot story with just OCs in it, and even rarer for one to connect the characters with the reader in such a short time-span, but I’d say that if any story does it, this one does.

electreXcessive: Overall, it’s a great little fic that deserves way more attention than it’s recieved. Be sure to check it out!

Carts: Next up is a story I chose, called Adventures in Cake Sitting. Now, this is a story that I wanted to get around to reading since before our group was created; it was even in my read later list before the author added it to the group. So, it’s a story starring Pound and Pumpkin Cake, an OC named Quizzical, and Pinkie Pie. Also, it stars the Windigoes. Yeah, those horse-like creatures who feed off of hatred and make it cold.

So, given that I’m a fan of both the Windigoes as well as the Cake Twins, as I think that they are tertiary characters who need a bit more fandom attention, I went into this story with high expectations. Giving these characters some personality and flavor is as close to making an OC as you can get without actually doing so, seeing as how the only personality that the Cake Twins exhibit during the show is misbehaving and making a general mess of things to teach Pinkie Pie a valuable lesson about how she shouldn’t assume responsibility over too much too quickly. (To be fair, I kind of empathized with her in the episode Baby Cakes because let’s be honest, here… she did as well as any pony in her position could have been expected to do when faced with a jet-speed flyer and a magical prodigy who can walk through walls. Given that, the episode’s moral about responsibility kind of fell flat.)

Of course, in this story, the twins continue to misbehave and make a mess of things, but it’s a more refined and character-driven mess. We actually get to see someone connect with them and rein in their mischievous tendencies by connecting with them as characters. Granted, not the most well-developed characters, but they are still very young in the story and have only just begun speaking.

Now for the hero of our story: Quizzical. I actually think that Quizzical was the weak link in this story. She seems to be somewhat of a mix between Commander Data from Star Trek and Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory. She makes Twilight Sparkle seem like a jive-talking 70’s disco enthusiast with an Afro by comparison. For one, she NEVER uses contractions. I mean never. Not even when writing magical notes to her friends (which is a proxy for cell phone texting) and it would make sense to conserve characters and get the message out quicker because the storm is messing with the reception “magical energies.” For two, she seems to be a bit of a nerd. And by “a bit,” I mean that she literally has invented new spells and is using words that most high-schoolers don’t even know, and she’s only in middle school. And finally, she has very little social awareness. She has more of it than Sheldon Cooper, but less of it than Twilight.

What Quizzical lacks for in social awareness and ease of reading her dialogue without cringing, she makes up for in magical ability. At least, everything except telekinesis, which even baby Pumpkin Cake bests her at. So, good job in avoiding making a Mary Sue. But honestly, having her say “can’t” or “doesn’t” or “it’s” occasionally won’t kill the character. We get it, she’s a nerd. But there’s a difference between establishing character and making dialogue so grating that I grind my teeth more than a meth addict eating a box of Nerds. The candy, not Quizzical.

Now, for the Cake Twins. They get very little dialogue, but after reading Quizzical’s dialogue, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But as the stars of the story, they do a pretty good job in carrying the story by driving Quizzical mad. And by mad, I mean they drive her to repeat her catchphrase of “Bother” again and again, and for her to fear such outrageous things as the mayor signing a law that will outlaw her from ever babysitting anypony again. The Twins’ antics and Quizzical’s reactions to it are the best part of the story, and could probably have carried the story on their own. Also, Pinkie is pretty hilarious.

Now for the ancillary plot. For whatever reason that the author couldn’t be bothered to tell us, the Wendigoes are attacking every city in Equestria. Now, normally I wouldn’t mind this, but given such a cataclysmic event, I would at least expect there to be a throwaway line about some fight between ponies that caused them to go beserk. There is a mention of a potential fight, but it would have to be a war or something to make the wendigoes attack everywhere. Instead, we as readers are left wondering exactly what the wendigoes are there for. Also, given that they are defeated largely offscreen, I am tempted to just say that this would work better as a straight “OC babysits the Cakes on a regular day.”

Also, there’s a phoned-in sideplot about Sweetie Belle and Dinky doing something or other over at Pipsqueak’s house. And by phoned-in, I mean that literally we only hear about it through “notes,” or the magical equivalent of text messages on a cell phone. Also, I mean phoned-in in the way that people normally think of it, too. This entire subplot could be dropped and the story would be roughly the same.

So, my recommendation? Read it and laugh at the funny parts, but don’t get too worried about any characters that are not inside of the Cake household, such as Sweetie Belle and Dinky, and also don’t worry about the Wendigoes, because they add little to the story in terms of enjoyment. However, what is there to be enjoyed is worth reading.

electreXcessive: Yeah… Can’t really say much more than what my associate just said. I will say that this story is enjoyable. The innate flaw with Quizzical is that she’s a deadpan humor character. The problem with this is that you have to have the humor spot on every time or they just come across as quite grating. It’s hit or miss. Another little quip that I have is that the formatting in the story is kind of wonky, and not really aesthetically pleasing. Other than that, it’s a pretty decent read. Final verdict, Carts?

Carts: Read it if you really like OCs or the Cake Twins. Do not read it if you do not like reading dialogue that does not include contractions and a story that does not explain subplots.

electreXcessive: So we come to our final review for today. Let me just say that this is a story that I’ve known about and been following for a long time. In my opinion this story is criminally underated, to the point where I’m actually legitimately offended by the relative lack of attention it gets. Now, this third slot that we rotate is dedicated to stories that fall just outside of the parameters of our normal reviews, and have over 150 views of 50 likes, but we still believe deserve more attention. This is one of those stories. Boy is this one of those stories.

Carts: Brief PSA, but please don’t submit these over 50 likes or 150 view stories to our submissions box, though. We only very rarely break our rules, and it’s usually for stories that we run across in our regular reading here on the site. Please continue, Elec.

electreXcessive: Resting at a whopping 106k and still incomplete, here comes my choice: The Lover’s Edda.

Now, what is The Lover’s Edda, you may ask. That certainly sounds like a strange name. And why are the chapter names in that weird language. Guess what. It’s nordic. Guess what else? The guy who wrote this fic had to learn an entirely new language that’s now relatively unused nowadays, and study a culture that’s long since passed on. What do I mean? This guy has put in hours, upon days, upon weeks on the nordic language and viking lifestyle to make this fic the best that it can possibly be, and it shows. He doesn’t take any shortcuts.

Now, this fic is about a viking pony named Drakkar, who is sent from the far lands of the frozen north in order to perform a mandatory map update for his native people. The story focuses on him trying to fit in with Ponyville society, and how the primitive viking lifestyle of Drakkar and the relatively urbanized lifestyle of the ponies of Equestria. It describes the lifestyles and cultural differences of these two cycles of life in an extremely in depth nature. This fic is actually really well written. Whatever small grammar errors are present are completely overshadowed by the extreme accuracy and attention to detail in this fic, and the effort put in just shines.

The characters are interesting. The story is compelling. Honestly, if I could complain about anything, it would be the fact that this story has not seen the featured box for more than ten minutes yet. It is seriously that good. I just… Your turn, Carts. Before I start fanraging.

Carts: Well, I’m normally not one for romance stories, especially between OCs. Unless it’s a romantic comedy, and even those I tend to be picky about. Or, if it’s a romance that takes a backseat to another, more important plot element. But, this story is just so unique that I was willing to bypass my “no romance” rule and read the first chapter. I really like that the author put in effort to learn a new language just to write this fic. That shows dedication. I have no real constructive criticisms to give. The author does a good job showing rather than telling, generally avoids the passive voice, and has good grammar. If romance were my cup of tea, which it isn’t, I would recommend it.

electreXcessive: My final verdict? If you love worldbuilding, unique romances, interesting characters, awesome environments, and great storytelling, this story is a must read. I cannot stress the sheer amount of effort put into this, and damn does it ever show in the quality of the fic. Check it out. Like it. Favorite it. Tell the author what you think, but at least give this massively underappreciated gem a good look. Those are my two bits.

electreXcessive: Well, that’s about it for this round of fics. We hope you enjoy these little treasures, and feel free to check them out. This is Carts and Elec signing off. Have a great night everyone, and happy reading to you all.

Carts: And keep sending us these fics! We will eventually read all of them, though with the sheer volume we’ve been getting, it may be a while before we do.

1874089
Someone new? What?

1874132
... Pfffffft. I'm so stupid :V

1874080
Oh wow, thank you very much for considering my work worthy of your time to review.

I guess I do have to concede the point that I can be a little purple, but hey, I grew up reading Kate DiCamillo, and her florid writing style and wordy description sorta rubbed off on me, but hey, if you thought that story was purple, don't read The Chancellor of Manehattan, you'll be puking purple rainbows. XD

Anyways, thanks again guys, much appreciated, and I'll try to monochrome my prose just a teensy bit more in any future stories I write. :D

Thank you. I found your review quite fair,