Fandom Classics Part 49: Post Nuptials

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I fear it says something terrible about my lack of interesting life experiences (or at least, my lack of small-talk skills) that these blurbs up above the reviews are often the hardest part of the post to write.  But really, what riveting things do I have to share from the last couple of days?  Um... I de-greased my bike's gears?  I watched the Wild force game seven on Monday?  I saw a muskrat on the way to work yesterday?

Actually, that last one was kind of neat.  He was right by the side of the road and I was stopped there, so I got a good look at him.  Those things are bigger than you (I) think!  ...Anyway, my review of Darth Link 22's Post Nuptials, after the break.

Minific Stuff

On Sunday, I took part in a write-off event: write a fanfic under 750 words with the prompt "One Little Mistake."  Writers were supposed to have one day to work on it, but I ended up doing mine in about 30 minutes, and submitting it moments ahead of the deadline.

Go me!

Anyway, there are 21 total entries, which folks can read and vote on over the course of the next week.  Given that all the stories combined total about 15k words, that's not exactly a daunting amount of verbiage.  If you like reviewing, or if you've been looking for a way to try your hand at it in a low-stakes environment, why not try reading and rating these stories?

Also, if you're interested, I've got mini-even-by-the-standards-of-my-mini-reviews-reviews of all the fics here (and PresentPerfect's right below!).  This is actually the sort of thing that got me started on ponyfic reviewing--I used to make a hobby of reading and leaving a one- or two-line comment on every story in the compilation posts on EqD, because I felt bad that many of those stories never got any comments at all... and three years later, here we are.  Anyway, go check it out!

Fandom Classics Part 48: Twilight Sparkle: Night Shift

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We're trying something new today: spoilered star ratings!  In order to prevent your roving eye from taking in the 1-5 number before you've properly steeled yourself, you'll now have to click the show/hide box to view it.  If you have strong opinions about this being a positive or negative change, let me know.  Otherwise, enjoy my review of JawJoe's Twilight Sparkle: Night Shift, safe in the knowledge that you needn't see those stars until you're good and ready for them.

Mini-Reviews Round 37

By unspoken accord, this week appears to mark the start of the "counting down the days until summer" phase of the school year.  I mean, there are guys who can tell you how many days are left when we're still in October, but now we're to the point where everyone's counting down, even those (like me) who try not to.  I mean, it's a watched pot sort of deal; if you count the days, they just go slower!

So instead of doing the math, let's all distract ourselves with a few short looks at what I've recently read for fun, below the break.

Fandom Classics Part 47: Minuette's Lesson

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Hope you all had a happy Easter weekend!  Between time with the family and a surprisingly enjoyable (if scattershot, moral- and intent-wise) episode, it's been a good one for me.  Once you finish sleeping off your Easter dinner, drop down below the break to check out my review of Airstream's Minuette's Lesson.

Fandom Classics Part 46: The Sky Is Falling

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It's that magical time of year: the Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway!  As with most sports stuff, I'm going to assume this is of zero interest to most of the folks who visit this blog, but as a hockey fan I've got to at least mention it.

I understand the NBA has something or other starting this weekend too, but meh.

If you can draw your eyes away from the spectacle of grown men body-slamming each other into walls at 30mph, click on down below the break to read my review of Bronius Maximus's The Sky is Falling.

Mini-Reviews Round 36

I've been holding off on sharing this, since the author wanted to keep a low profile until he'd made sufficient progress.  But now...

IT'S HERE.

SEQUEL COMING.

GET HYPE.

Once the hype has been gotten, feel free to click below the break for a few short-form reviews of a few fanfics that've recently come across my plate.

Fandom Classics Part 45: Integration

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Don't forget your taxes, everyone!  You're almost out of time, and if you're like me, the 15th has a way of sneaking up on you.  Get those returns filed!  Alternately, if you aren't American or don't pay taxes, enjoy your 15th (jerks).  Either way, feel free to drop down below the break to check out my review of Raugos' Integration.

Mini-Reviews Round 35

I was given a box of Chiclets today.  I didn't even know those were still a thing; it was the candy equivalent of dredging the coelacanth up onto my deck.  Which I think is my tongue, if I've still got my simile straight.  In any event, they're still just as quick to lose their flavor and turn into unappetizing semi-chewable pellets as I remember.  Point is, some nostalgia trips aren't worth taking.

But enough about the past; on to the future!  A future to be briefly dominated by mini-reviews, assuming you click below the break for all the fanfic-thought goodness I'm spewing down there.

Fandom Classics Part 44: Equestria From Dust

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After the better part of two years, my new cat (which will remain the "new cat" until it dies and I get another--my understanding of "new" works in funny ways) has finally realized that sitting on my lap is a better way to get attention than stalking around a room adjacent to me and yowling.  That's good; I like warm laps!  The only downside is that I can't really keep a feline and a computer perched on that lap at the same time, so his newfound ardor is cutting into my typing time.

I still found time to type this review up, though!  Click on down below the break for my thoughts on Equestria From Dust, by Soundslikeponies.

Episode Talk: S4E21, Testing Testing 1, 2, 3

Well, thank you to everyone who made The Purloined Pony's FiMFiction debut such a rousing success, launching it to the top of the feature box for the better part of a day.  I was surprised but gratified by how many people still have fond memories of that story; thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed it.  And heck, thanks to the one guy who downvoted it, too; sorry it wasn't your thing, and no hard feelings.

For now though, let's talk about the newest episode of the show.  My half-collected, weekend-old thoughts, below the break.

A Couple of Odds and Ends

I was going to write up my review of Equestria From Dust on Thursday, having finished reading on Wednesday.  But a couple of things have stopped that from happening, so I'm going to go ahead and share them with you.

First of all, I spent much of Thursday afternoon triple-checking the FiMFic version of The Purloined Pony, which I've now put up, for broken links, messed-up formatting, etc.  Any of you waiting for me to port that over, it's finally happened!  And any of you who haven't read that (it is about three years old, now, and I realize that a lot of the people who visit this blog weren't around then) and are interested in reading the only CYOA, and the only second-person fanfic, ever to get six stars on Equestria Daily, now's your chance to take a look.  Also, I'd like to re-call attention to the six people who reviewed it on this very blog, as long as we're blast-from-the-past-ing.

Doing all that was a stressful experience for me; I don't always get along well with my old stories.  But considering that it was written during season one, and considering how much (I hope!) my writing's improved since then, I think it's held up reasonably well.  Be that as it may, just getting this thing ready for posting raised my stress levels a lot more than, say, actually writing a new story.

So, what did I do to relax?  This.  Don't click that link if you're still avoiding the 2048 craze.  Simple strategy, frequent gratification, and add cute pony .gifs to the mix?  Yeah, beating that pretty well ate up the rest of the day.  I regret nothing.

In any case, Equestria From Dust will be coming Monday.  Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Mini-Reviews Round 34

As you may have noticed, no April Fools stuff from me.  To be honest, I've never quite gotten on board with that particular "holiday:" it's not that I can't take a joke, but delivering one on a day when everyone knows it's coming seems kind of self-defeating to me.  I prefer to save my pranks for when they're least (or at least, less) expected.

Hope all of you who were part of the joking yesterday enjoyed yourselves, though!  Don't let me be a wet blanket; you guys do your thing, and enjoy it.  But now that your 24 hours of "lol jk" are up (I'm assuming that some of the links I'm using will be restored to their un-fooled state around about the time this goes up; if you click the first story and see MidnightShadow's King of Diamonds, give it a day and try again), recover with a round of mini-reviews, below the break.