TIt Hurts to Cry

• Equestria Girls
• Romance

Twilight Sparkle just ended a long relationship. Fortunately, she has a friend who's willing to listen. Who might, just might, be a keeper.

• Sex
• Flash Sentry
• Sci-Twi

Dewdrops on the Grass · 3.4k words  ·  61  8 · 3.1k views

Twilight Sparkle just ended a long relationship. Fortunately, she has a friend who's willing to listen. Who might, just might, be a keeper.

Opening remarks

It Hurts to Cry by Dewdrops on the Grass is a romance fic in line with Dewdrops’s other series Danganronpa: In Harmony’s Wake. The story appears to be a cute fluffy romance with Flash Sentry, a favourite character of mine, and I look forward to reading it. 

Note: though in the same universe as Danganronpa: In Harmony’s Wake, the main series will not have any bearing on this review. The story will be judged on its own merits not those of its predecessor. 

Technical

Minor issue of missing commas within the text. 

9.5/10

Character

The two main characters in this piece are Flash Sentry and Twilight Sparkle (EQG variant). Flash Sentry is characterized as a “guy next door” type with a lovable goofball personality and Twilight as the brainy nerd going through a recent breakup.

Both characters bounce off of each other nicely and Flash’s mature patience is a nice addition to the story.

It’s very clear that high school has since past as both characters feel like natural extensions of their projected futures from the canon timeline of Equestria Girls. 

They’re adults and, though still young, feel more mature than their past selves. In addition, the small details added through their descriptions and various talking points help flesh out details about them which allow readers to fill in the blanks giving a fairly complete picture of their lives. 

This is excellent character work for such a short story. Full Marks.   

10/10

Concept

The concept is very much a basic fluffy romance between Twilight and Flash. It is very well written, but still stays within the safe boundaries of the well trodden idea. 

The hook is well executed, Twilight’s cold opener is well done, and the story as a whole is engaging throughout with both of their very likeable personalities. 

The themes of consent and moving on from a bad break up are also well done and ring true through the piece. 

Though a very common premise, the story is well above average.  

7/10

Vibe

Firstly, I would like to talk about consent in this fic. It’s splendid. Twilight’s vulnerability is handled wonderfully, and it is incredibly refreshing that Flash is respectful of her boundaries. Situations like this are ignored a lot, and I am glad to see it given properly here. 

The flow of the story is good and the pacing on point. I never felt that any particular scene dragged on too long nor were there hiccups in the prose. It was an easy read from start to finish. 

With all that being said, the fic is very safe. Removing the aspect of excellent execution of consent, the story is very familiar. Each of the emotional beats and progressions over the course of the plot are very rote and I never feel that new ground has been tread over the course of the fic (except for that consent bit because seriously you never see that).

In that way, the story is a kind of comfort food. Familiar, something to have when you’re feeling down and need something cozy when you feel gloomy. 

It’s an excellent story, but I feel that it plays too safe. 

8/10

Closing Thoughts

It Hurts to Cry is a great cozy story as a pick me up when you’re feeling gloomy. It’s fluffy, it’s cute, and it’s familiar. 

I give it a full otter recommendation. 

8.6/10

<For archive purposes: 8.6/10>

Personal Score

I enjoyed this. It was a cute romance piece and I liked both Twilight and Flash in this. It was a fun piece.  

8/10