Fandom Classics Part 43: Of Age

To read the story, click the image or follow this link

Well, with this weekend behind us, my annual donation to the college basketball bracket pool at work has become 100% assured of posting a 0% ROI.  Improbably enough, I was still alive after the first two rounds, but an Arizona-Michigan State final wasn't in the cards.  Oh well; given my track record at this sort of thing, I probably wouldn't even know what to do if I won.

Check out my review of paleowriter's Of Age, after the break.

Why I Edit

Time for a guest post!  The title of this one is properly "Why I Write Edit," but I can't figure out how to get the strikethrough to appear in a title.  Oh well; Chris 0, Technology several thousand.

But leave me now to my confuzzlement, and click down below the break to read Scott "InquisitorM" Mence's thoughts on editing and otherwise assisting others with their creative writing--why to do it, and what benefits it reaps for not only the editee, but the editor as well.

Fandom Classics Part 42: What's Eating Rainbow Dash?

To read the story, click the image or follow this link

Ah, spring! That magical time of year, full of whimsy, frolicking, and basement-flooding. Actually, mostly just that last one; when you're laying down towels every few hours, it tends to dampen the mood too much for the first two. But hey, at least it's towels and not buckets, right?

Somber's What's Eating Rainbow Dash?, reviewed below the break, as always.

How to Write a Horribly Offensive Sadfic

I tried to sit down and write my next review on Sunday, but I wasn't quite there yet.  Instead, I ended up typing this out.  It's a lot more passive-aggressive than I usually am--than I like to be--but I'm going to go ahead and post it anyway, because the fact is, I don't really disagree with the meat of what I wrote.  The presentation, maybe, but not the facts.

Anyway, I'm feeling somewhat better now, but if you want to hear my thoughts on where sad stories cross the line from bad to offensive, click below.

Mini-Reviews Round 33

First, a notice: for unexpected, personal reasons, there will be no post on Friday.  I'll either resume normal posting on Monday, or put up another notice before then, depending on the circumstances.

I had a few mini-reviews already typed up, though, so I'm going to go ahead and post them.  Below the break, as usual.

Episode Talk: S4E18, Maud Pie

My Little Pony, huh?  Great shared universe, that.  There've been a lot of wonderful stories set in the milieu, and I've found a few nooks and crannies of the community that are worth frequenting.  Very nice setting to work in, all told.

...Say, wasn't there a TV show or something, too?

Head on down to see my thoughts on the newest episode, presented a good day or two after everyone else's because "timeliness" is not my strong suit.

Fandom Classics Part 41: The Age of Wings and Steel

To read the story, click the image or follow this link

Ha-HA!  You didn't think this review would be ready so quickly, did you?  Doubting old Chris' ability to read that much that quickly?  Well, you best be respectin', because here I come, reading 200,000+ words like it ain't no thang.  Click below the break to see my review of DSNesmith's The Age of Wings and Steel.

Mini-Reviews Round 32

Among my non-pony hobbies is assisting with the high-school chess program.  Now, I'm not terribly good at chess, so mostly what I do is help anyone who's still learning the basics and/or keep the rowdiness at practices to a minimum (and enforce etiquette when we're preparing for tournaments--you play like you practice, and all that) as needed.  But recently, when I've also been going to the tournaments to volunteer, and the director's got it in his head that he can use me as a gap-filler if we have an odd number of junior varsity players show up.  So, for the last month or so, I've continuously found myself playing kids from other schools whose ratings are probably at least a couple hundred points higher than mine, hoping desperately that I don't do something stupid enough to make everyone wonder why I'm listed as an "assistant coach."

Improbably enough, I've yet to lose one of those games.  But I'm definitely in over my head, here.  Anyway, short-form reviews of my casual pony reading, compiled below the break.

Fandom Classics Part 40: Mood Wings

To read the story, click the image or follow this link

As I sit here typing this, I've got no fewer than five different kinds of chocolate sitting within arm's reach.  I'm not eating any of them; they just seem to have accumulated near my computer.  I've got a couple of leftover chocolate hearts, the last of some cookies that I eat with my coffee in the afternoons, a bucket of almond toffee that my mom gave me, some white chocolate bark that I got from work, and an Easter Bunny from last year that I discovered hiding in the Easter decorations.  And somehow, they've all accumulated within a few feet of me.  I'm not sure how that happened, but I think they might be trying to gang up on me.

Anyway; click down below the break for my review of Tchernobog's Mood Wings.

Mini-Reviews Round 31: AugieDog's Luna Contest Edition

You all knew this was coming, right?  My review of the seven not-written-by-me stories for Augie's recent contest.  It's a nice mix of known talent and budding (or even first-time) authors, too, which is always nice to see in an event.  I may not be the one deciding who wins and loses, but click down below the break to see what I thought of the other entries.

Fandom Classics Part 39: Thrown Abroad

To read the story, click the image or follow this link

It's funny; my most recent story, Wyrmlysan, has only gotten a fraction the story views and favorites of my next-most recent story, To Make a Spark... and yet, I've gotten about ten new followers on FiMFiction since I put that story up--that's about the same number of new followers To Make a Spark brought in after its first couple days, and that story had something like ten times the views in that space of time.

I'm not sure what, if anything, that means, but I'm sure there's something interesting to be made of those numbers.  But rather than try to parse that, let's talk reviews!  Click down below the break for my thoughts on Niaeruzu's Thrown Abroad.

Wyrmlysan

Prophecy is a dangerous game; meanings which are obvious can become obscure in an instant, and fates are laid bare only in hindsight. 

After the fall of Discord but before the rise of Nightmare Moon, a dragon breaks the peace between his race and ponykind, and Princess Luna flies to mete out justice.

*****

Yes, I've written another story--and it's coming out only a few months after the last one!  I must be on some kind of role.

Wyrmlysan is my entry into Augiedog's Luna story contest, and my own take on the ambiguity of prophecy.  Like everything of mine seems to these days, it went through several incarnations (of varying but mostly minimal completeness) before arriving at its final form--a final form which, by the way, Pascoite was very much a part, coming through at the eleventh hour with some great advice and editing assistance.

Anyway, read the story here!  And if there's anything that stuck out to you (in a good or bad way (or both)), please let me know, either here or there--any feedback you have, I'd love to hear it.