Fandom Classics Part 40: Mood Wings

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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.



Impressions before reading:  I'm pretty sure I've read this before; I remember the setup, the plot, and the twist (such as it was) at the end.  And yet, I don't actually remember reading this--I just remember what it's about in enough detail to convince me I didn't just hear about it or something.  I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not, but there you are.

Zero-ish spoiler summary:  While on her continuing quest to read every book in the library, Twilight comes across a book about how pegasi show emotions through their wings.  Intrigued, she decides to go make some observations around town while she reads.

Thoughts after reading:  I don't really have a lot to say about this story, but here goes: this is a thoroughly predictable story, in its broad strokes.  It doesn't take long to figure out what the twist will more-or-less be, and given that the story is pretty much a straight march to that destination, there's not much excitement to be had on the plot front.

Of course, that by itself doesn't mean a story can't be good.  The main appeal of Mood Wings lies in its shameless worldbuilding; Tchernobog does a nice job of framing all the wing-theorizing in the trappings of "accessible academia," and the bits and pieces of Twi's book which we get to see are interesting enough (and, although it's true that they bring the narrative to a halt time and again, I find I can't really hold that against them--like I said, that narrative didn't hold much interest to begin with).  In fact, I'd have liked to see a bit more on that front; the story deals mostly in broad generalities, where adding a few more specific details (either in the book, or via Twilight's observations) would have given the whole thing a greater sense of depth.  Still, there are some well thought out ideas here.

But that's basically the appeal of this story.  Despite the comedy tag, there's not a consistent thread of humor through the work.  Despite the romance tag, there's not a lot of that here, either (though to be fair, there's plenty of "comedy"-of-errors sort of stuff).  In fact... there's just not a lot here.

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

I definitely didn't mind reading this, but there's not a lot to recommend it beyond a thought-through look at how pegasi use their wings to express emotion.  Take that away, and what you're left with is a thoroughly typical example of slice-of-life fanfiction--nothing I have any desire to denigrate, but nothing I'd consider an exemplar, either.

Recommendation:  If you enjoy a bit of well-fit headcanon, this is certainly worth looking at.  But anyone interested in the story beyond that will probably find this competent but, ultimately, unmemorable.

Next time:  The Age of Wings and Steel, by DSNesmith