Mini-Reviews Round 71

"One deceptively springlike winter day, Brewmaster Dan walked home from the brewery, sat down to dinner and said, 'Boy, there are some fat squirrels out there.  They're running all over the place.  I think I should brew a Fat Squirrel Nut Brown Ale.'  Deb agreed and so another beer legend was born."

That quote comes from the label on New Glarus Brewing Co.'s Fat Squirrel Nut Brown Ale, a semi-seasonal regional beer which is a personal favorite of mine, both because it's a a good mix of hoppy and drinkable coupled with a pleasant aftertaste, and because I seriously love that quote.  I read it out loud every time I drink one in company.  I'm having a beer with dinner while I begin to type this up, and so I thought I'd share.  Cheers!

Now that we've got that out of the way, click on down to see what not-for-Fandom-Classic-ing fanfic reading I've been up to lately, and what I thought of it.

Fandom Classics Part 98: A Joke Too Far

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

Do you ever have one of those days when you decide to make a nice fruit salad to enjoy over the next few days, but by the time you get finished slicing the pineapple you're already ready to be done making any effort and it's dinner time anyway, so you end up just eating an entire fresh pineapple and going to bed?

No?  Just me?  Huh, okay then.  Anyway, more reviews below the break--go on down to check out my thoughts on ZOMG's A Joke Too Far.

Fandom Classics Part 97: One in a Million

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

It's a well-known fact that children in many parts of the world play their preschool games wrong, so I was both relieved and proud to hear from a friend who works at a nearby preschool that the hispanic students there play "pato, pato, pato gris."  Classic games know no linguistic boundaries, it seems!

On the subject of avians (or at least, equavians), click down below the break to see my review of ocalhoun's One in a Million.

Fandom Classics Part 96: Believing Stories

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

Tis the season for standardized testing.  Yay.

And trust me, the kids are just as excited as the teachers.  Nothing like spending all day writing, and then not even getting to find out your grade for two months, right?  The only plus, if you can call it that, is that I've got plenty of time to read when there's no lesson to plan.  At least, until testing's over and we all have to scramble to figure out how to fit three weeks worth of end-of-semester stuff into six eight days.  But for now, have my review of Typewritererror's Believing Stories, after the break.

Fandom Classics Part 95: Words Failed Her

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

So, somehow, I hadn't noticed that the "black" background at the top of each FiMFic page (you know, where the author and/or story information goes) isn't actually just black, but has a very dark close-up of the author avatar.  So when I opened up my own page and suddenly noticed this glaring back at me...

...it gave me a bit of a start.  Maybe I should get a happier-looking avatar, because that's a bit disconcerting.  While I ponder that, feel free to hop down below the break and check out my review of Nonsanity's Words Failed Her.

Mini-Reviews Round 70

So, my barbershop chorus is adding a Mills Brothers medley to our repertoire, and as we were rehearsing last practice, it suddenly occurred to me that Paper Doll--a song from 1942--is basically about having a waifu.  I mean, sorta.  If you squint at it right.

I dunno, I just couldn't get the thought out of my head all practice.  Anyway, have a few short reviews of stuff I recently read.  All comedies this time; I guess I've been in a funny mood.  Anyway, get it below the break!

Fandom Classics Part 94: The Elements of Harmony and the Savior of Worlds

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

It's almost Valentine's Day!  I love Valentine's Day; I always do singing Valentines with a quartet, and there's nothing more fun than watching someone turn fifteen different shades of red while you croon "Heart of My Heart" at them, as all their co-workers look on.  Makes it kind of a bummer that the holiday fell on a weekend this year, actually, but it'll be fun nonetheless.

But enough about holidays!  Instead, let's talk about RK_Striker_JK_5's The Elements of Harmony and the Savior of Worlds.  Review below the break!

Go Read This: Slightly-Edited-By-Chris Edition

I'd intended to post a blog recommending this story after it finished... but, being me, I forgot, and didn't think of it again until I was reminded that I hadn't done so by the author posting a followup/deleted scenes bit on Monday.  Um, go me?

Anyway, Cerulean Voice's Essenza di Amore is the story of Cadence's youth and ascension to alicornhood, starting with her being raised in an isolated earth pony community and culminating in her coming into her own.  As mentioned above, I also had a small amount of input into this, through the first few chapters.  The entire story is wonderful, though, and anyone who likes tales of adventure and self-discovery will definitely want to check this out.  If you haven't given it a look already, it definitely gets the Chris seal of approval!

Playing Around With Silly Websites

Depending on who you follow over on FiMFiction, you may already have seen a few of the "I Write Like" posts which have been making the rounds over there.  This post is mostly not about who I write like.  It is about toying with the site, though.  Click down below the break if that sort of thing interests you!

Mini-Reviews Round 69

Real life is kinda kicking my butt just at the moment, which means I'm not even close to finished with the next Fandom Classic.  It's not even that long, by longfic standards; I'm just not finding any time to read!  Luckily, I've got a few short fics that I can type up some short impressions of (and even that is something I seem to be having a great deal of trouble making time for).  Anyway, get some reviews below the break.

Even More First Sentences in (Fan)Fiction

I really enjoy doing these, so I'm going to keep doing them.  Click below the break for my thoughts on the first sentences of eight of the Fandom Classics I've recently read!

Mini-Reviews Round 68

So, how about that Super Bowl, eh?  Brady and/or Wilson sure did do enough to win!  And Gronk/Lynch's catch/run in the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th quarter really sealed the deal.

...Look, I'm typing this up on Saturday afternoon, and I probably won't get come back to update it between the end of the game and posting time; just fill in the appropriate reaction.  With any luck, it was less of a snooze-fest than last year's drubbing.

So, on to mini reviews!  Below the break, just like usual.