6-Star Reviews Part 60: The Vinyl Scratch Tapes

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Welcome to One Man's Pony Ramblings, the pony fanfic review site so controversial it's banned in China!  Is it bad if this made my day?  Don't bother trying to kill my buzz by telling me that China blocks all blogger and blogspot web addresses; I think it's obvious the PRC fears me and is willing to silence me by any means necessary.  But I will not be cowed!  Behind the break, my review of Corey W. Williams' The Vinyl Scratch Tapes.

Impressions before reading:  This is the first time (though undoubtedly it won't be the last) that I've come across a complete story with an incomplete sequel attached to it.  Rather than reviewing everything written to date (which would be, obviously, incomplete) or leaving the whole thing for later (since the first story/season is finished, why should it wait?) I'm going to go ahead and review the completed first story, and return for the rest whenever it finishes.

This story has codified a lot of the Scratch/Octavia fanon--and as I've mentioned before, I really dislike a lot of the Scratch/Octavia fanon.  But I'm not going to pre-judge Tapes for that.  After all, if I were to form my opinions on works based only on their imitators and derivatives, I would probably come away with very uncharitable opinions of Dracula, The Lord of the Rings, and Beethoven's fifth symphony, among other things.  In point of fact, I remember reading the first chapter of this fic when it was posted, and enjoying it well enough.  So, leaving aside the legion of mediocre shipfics and slice-of-life "dramas" involving these two ponies which have followed in its wake, I have high hopes for The Vinyl Scratch Tapes.


Zero-ish spoiler summary:  Shortly after the invention of the radio, Equestria's first talk show began broadcasting.  Starring the absurdly mismatched Vinyl Scratch, DJ sensation, and Octavia, a straight-laced classical musician, these are four of the transcripts from the show's first month on the air.

Thoughts after reading:  The first thing that needs to be noted about this story is its format.  Each of the four chapters is presented as a transcription of a radio broadcast, and as such are written entirely in script format.  For the most part, I thought the style was well executed, although the fourth chapter does contain some missteps in the early going, and ends up looking more like a movie treatment than a radio transcript due to overuse of movement and direction commentary.

The tone of the story is inconsistent at best.  The author never seems to decide how seriously to take the radio broadcasts as a story vehicle, and so varies from having the characters be barely aware of the medium (the first two chapters both contain heartfelt asides where the characters forget/fail to mute their microphones, for example, and frequent arguments about finances, sponsors, or general decorum suggest that the framing device is being treated, at best, with great levity) to the radio format being integral to the structuring of the dialogue.  The variable treatment of the setup, and an inability to decide whether it should be primary or subsidiary to the comedy in the story, was a real weak point throughout all four chapters.  This inconsistency of tone crops up in other areas of the story as well--the story's premise is that radio technology is in its infancy, yet houshold microwaves (a shoutout to the Progress series of fanfics, though I found this one less grating than most.  That said, I think I only found it less annoying because of the novelty of it being the microwave instead of the abacus that was referenced), modern sound equipment, and the like make appearances as circumstances dictate.  Again, perfectly fine for a lighthearted comedy; more jarring for a piece with a serious tone.

When the story does focus on its comedy, it really shines.  An interview with Celestia in the first chapter, for example, includes gems such as "Please explain the context of hurling your little sister into the dark reaches of space."  Obviously, this is not a line that belongs in a "serious" story, but it (and other lines throughout) give the piece plenty of humor value.  Yet to try and transition from jokes about mooning Luna to a touching attempt at reconciliation is jarring to say the least.  Likewise, the bits of narration at the end of each chapter, while not poorly written, were so much softer and fuzzier than the transcripts of the shows themselves that they failed to mesh into a coherent unit.

Although each of the four chapters is fairly episodic in nature, and each are capable of standing alone, there is obvious character development between each, as well as a loose narrative which orders them.  Interestingly, Vinyl and Octavia are very well realized characters; both have distinct personalities and goals, and with one glaring exception which I'll mention in the spoilers, both show organic and believable growth throughout the story.  I say this is interesting because one of the hallmarks of far, far too many subsequent fanfics about these two is that they are defined and developed solely as "the cool one" and "the classy one," which is hardly interesting to read about.  Both characters are well rounded and complete in this story, which came as a welcome surprise to me.  Furthermore, the setup provides a fairly reasonable explanation of why these two are together in the first place, which I feel is important; there would seem to be little reason for a DJ and a professional classical musician to be thrown together under normal circumstances, but here I was able to accept the setup.

I had a number of problems with the final chapter, which I don't feel I can fully discuss without resorting to spoilers.  Up here, I'll say that I thought it contained some developments which were not set up by the chapters which led up to it.  For more details (and, you know, spoilers), click below:

Let's start with the shipping angle.  Through the first three chapters (mostly the second and third), Vinyl constantly makes lewd but PG innuendos and jocularly flirts with Octavia, who mostly responds with shock and angry denials.  Since most of the story involves Scratch trying to get a rise out of Octavia, this makes perfect sense; after all, she gets plenty of reaction from Octavia whenever she offers to practice kissing her or what have you, and it's a pretty funny running gag.  Then, in the final chapter, Octavia's revealed to be a lesbian and the two abruptly fall in love and move in with each other.  There was no hint of actual (i.e. not manufactured by Vinyl to play to the audience) attraction between the two prior to this; the two were clearly learning how to get along and becoming friends, but to suddenly drop a genuine romance into the last chapter was jarring and unconvincing to me.

Then there's the question of Blueblood himself.  Through the first three chapters, here's what happened with him as I understood it: after hearing Scratch bully and abuse Celestia in the first episode, he quickly canceled his appearance on their show.  For this, he was repeatedly mocked in absentia.  Later, Octavia and her ensemble performed at a venue owned by Blueblood; after hearing them and finding their music "mediocre," he canceled their remaining performances there.  Scratch then called him up on air and hurled invective at him for a minute and a half, including accusing him of canceling the rest of the performances as a way to snub Scratch's radio show (I took this to be a baseless accusation, since obviously Blueblood wasn't offended enough by said show to stop her ensemble from performing there in the first place).  Through three chapters, it seemed to me that Blueblood had been acting pretty reasonably, if with his signature arrogance, and I was looking forward to seeing the author's interpretation of the Blueblood/Scratch dynamic.

Unfortunately, the last chapter made him into a supremely inept, cartoonishly single-minded villain, discarding any suggestion that his actions weren't universally unreasonable and idiotic.  The Blueblood in the first three chapters was a stuck-up noble with outsized influence, sure, but he was hardly being stupid or villainous when he refused to come on a show that had already set a precedent for mocking authority, or when he canceled a performance series at a theatre he owned based on the music (he confessed to canceling it as revenge in the last chapter, but I can't reconcile that with his letting the initial performance go forward.  Personally, I suspect this was a continuity slip, with the author forgetting that Vinyl had insulted him on air prior to that show).

One last thing: Octavia punching Blueblood so hard she knocked some of his teeth out?  I admit that I'm a bit more squeamish about dental destruction than most readers, but that was way out of line with the tone of the rest of the story, and felt wildly inappropriate to me.

But with that said, the quality of the humor throughout the last chapter was consistent with the rest of the story.  Vinyl's gross misinterpretations of concert etiquette remain hilarious to me, if only because I've actually seen similarly clueless behavior at concerts I've attended.   And there are some genuinely sweet moments scattered throughout the story.  I only wish the two had been fused more effectively.

Star rating:   ★★★☆☆ (what does this mean?)

This story is quite touching and funny at turns; it's no mystery why it's so popular.  I only wish that the story connected these elements better.  The characterizations were clear and effective, and despite my dissatisfaction with the final chapter I can clearly see why this version of Vinyl and Octavia's personalities has taken hold among the fandom.

If only other authors would write them as well as Mr. Williams!

Recommendation:  Few stories pull off script format effectively, but this is definitely one of the better ones I've read.  If you're willing to give it a try, and can forgive the occasional (okay, honestly pretty frequent) wild mood swings, there are some excellent elements to this story.  My problems with the final chapter notwithstanding, I have no trouble saying this: I don't read many stories starring these two characters, but this is without a doubt the best one I've read.

Next time:  What Do You Do With a Drunken Unicorn?, by Tumbleweed



...Free Tibet.