Drink by Soaring is the next story that I will be reviewing today. We have a piece that looks into Berry Punch’s alcoholism, and the consequences it has had on the poor soul. Strangely, though it is perhaps interesting to note, Discord plays a role in this story as suggested by the story’s introduction. How does these two characters interact with each other, particularly around the concept of alcoholism? Let’s find out, shall we?

TDrink

• MLP: FiM
• Dark
• Sad

Berry Punch tries to drink reality away, while Discord drinks it in.

• Discord
• Berry Punch

Soaring · 2.6k words  ·  52  0 · 1.5k views

As with any of my reviews, there are spoilers ahead. I would advise reading through this rather short tale first before proceeding, though, like Cyonix, I predict you will probably ignore me again.

Summary

Berry Punch has a horrible drinking problem, but all she sees is a cycle that she indulges in. She wants to get out of it now, but why move on from something that tastes so good? Why move on from something that becomes natural to do?

Chaos and death have the answers, and it sure isn't pretty.

Content/Plot Analysis

The story starts out to show the degree and extent to which drinking has become a natural, if not integral part of Berry Punch’s lifestyle. The introduction to the story adopts a more poetic style, with short and concise statements that convey how natural Berry Punch’s movements and actions in the pub were. The swiftness and speed those sentences seem to ring through as one reads through the excerpt implies how Berry Punch didn’t even need to think about when going through the process of drinking. It has almost become a procedural methodology, a step-by-step guide that has been ingrained in her mind that she obeys without thinking, and via muscle-memory almost.

It then transits to another excerpt which adopts a similar writing style as prior that wishes to show the spiral of alcoholism catching on to her. It seemed as though that it was natural for her to be drinking and behaving in such a way, especially to observant ponies who were often there too. But it was this instance where the consequences of Berry Punch’s alcoholism had began catching up to her, and it was where she simply passed out, to the abject horror and concern for the crowd in the bar. Certainly, it was odd for them to see their most avid and frequent drinker to collapse on a whim such as this, and I would be too.

For me, I find that the way the author has started this piece was incredibly refreshing. The subtlety of the overall message adds greatly to the character who is Berry Punch, and it is rather enjoyable for me to glean upon. They layered the development of this character with a level of nuance that was clear and unmistakable. I believe that the amount of this in the piece was beautifully exact and it served to intrigue the reader.

The story was then told from the perspective of Berry Punch, who was suffering from liver failure or cirrhosis, as “The Doc” Seriff Pilcrow would most likely insist on, on the hospital bed. The story becomes very character-driven, with much development on the thoughts of Berry Punch as she remained hopeless, distraught and upset at herself on the hospital bed. Overall, I found that moving the story in this manner made me rather feel for Berry Punch; I almost felt that this would not perhaps her fault. Granted, it was her choice to dive into the world of alcoholism, but the chain of logic in her thinking made it almost seem that she did not have that luxury of a choice. Her experience in the bar was tied together with her narrated thoughts in the story, and it amplified the overall relatability of the character, where you could see yourself in that position if you were placed in her hooves.

What I would like to comment would be the speed in which this seemed to come through to the reader. During the development of this arc, the author utilizes the environment that Berry Punch was in; the sterile and clean environment that was the hospital. The blankness and cleanliness of the walls, the sounds and the sights to ride on the strengths of her thoughts and the emotions beneath.

While I definitely enjoyed that connection the author has elegantly proffered in this section, I did wonder whether it was minimally worthwhile to slow that tempo of the read down, especially for this section, via paragraphing or alternating sentence lengths. Granted, the speed of how all this came to be would hammer the point down and showcase how these thoughts seemed to flood through her memory as she would continue regretting her past, misspent days. However, I think that it would be better to perhaps regulate each descriptor of the environment to relate to each point and thought chain, and bundle them collectively at the end with them spliced into paragraphs to sharpen that impact.

Additionally, the conversation between the medical team and Berry that came next was conveyed as a genuine and authentic. That initial trance that Berry was in as she was reflecting over her past and the drunken stupor who she often was that interrupted the team’s dialogue. The denial that Berry had when the doctor revealed the dire complications that would soon befall her should no action be taken. The anger in Berry shown by her irritation in response to Nurse Redheart’s question. Bargaining to believe that the problem wouldn’t be a challenge to solve. Sadness at the future, potential ramifications. Acceptance and resilience to continue to fight her condition no matter the cost.

The Kuebler-Ross Grief cycle, or the so-called Five Stages of Grief, was beautifully woven into the story, and it was hence the process in which her emotions warped throughout the story was rather real.

The conclusion of the story focuses on Discord, who mulls over his own concept of chaos that he believes in. It’s a warped, disturbing, perhaps even perturbing philosophy that Discord delves in. I wanted to note how Discord was sitting on the fence; being on the sidelines as he continues to think and reflect over what has happened to Berry Punch, which was rather passive for a character such as him. However, he did wish to stay true to that promise he has made, to keep his own chaos at bay. But what about the others? Was that fair game?

Language

The piece is smooth and easy to screen through, other than a few formatting and technical errors, the most salient of which is –

I want my drinks brewed to perfection, or at least to the point where it slides down my throat without a seconds notice.

I want my drinks brewed to perfection, or at least to the point where it slides down my throat without a second’s notice.

Stance

This is a riveting story that explores the philosophy of chaos in the context of alcoholism that I would most certainly recommend for all to read.

Content/Plot: 8.3/10
Flow/Communication: 7.5/10
Language/Readability: 8/10
Overall: 7.9/10

<For archive purposes: 7.9/10>

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Meme aside, thanks for the review. Appreciate the feedback!