First Sentences In (Fan)Fiction the 16th

Good lines from mini-reviews edition!  Usually, I take First Sentences posts from semi-recent Fandom Classics, and mix good, bad, and "fine" firsts together without much concern.  Today, we're doing something different: I'm going back through some of the more recent mini-reviews, and highlighting some first sentences that I thought were particularly effective, for several very different reasons.  As such, there's also a different format today: rather than a rating, I'll give the line, and some thoughts on what makes it effective.  Click down below the break for some firsts!

Mini-Reviews Round 161

Hope you all had a pleasant Thanksgiving!  Now that you've had a few days to recover from your turkey-induced coma (a joke I'm pretty sure I'm the first person to ever make), here are a few reviews of stories you might consider reading.  Check them out, below the break.

Fandom Classics Part 189: What if: Rarity from The Three Sisters met with Chrysalis

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

It is surprisingly difficult to get young children with limited English and little cultural background on America to grasp the subtle differences between a chicken and a turkey.  In case you were curious.  The Thanksgiving lesson was heavy on "not 'bawk bawk,' but 'gobble gobble,'" and other related trivia.  Anyway, with the seasonal note out of the way, let's move on!  Head down below the break for my review of Wanderer D's What if: Rarity from The Three Sisters met with Chrysalis.

Mini-Reviews Round 160

It's a two-day week!  I love Thanksgiving for many reasons, but not least among them is the two-day school week.  It's like you go straight from Monday to Friday, with none of those other days in-between.  Truly, this is the way the weekday was always meant to be.

Now head down below the break, and I'll tell you all what fanfictions I've been reading recently, and what I thought of them.

Fandom Classics Part 188: Dear Idiot

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

Every time I see something of The Descendant's on FiMFic, it makes me sad because he's been gone going on half a year and, given his level of involvement and all-around friendliness, I have trouble imagining that he just got bored and left the community.  I really hope I'm wrong; I want him to be happy and healthy.

In any case, he left behind plenty of great fics (and several more I've mini-reviewed).  Is this old (circa 2012) piece be up to his usual high standard?  Click below the break to find out.

How I Picked the Fics I Picked When I Picked Fics

Go on, say that ten times fast.

Now, it's no secret how I pick stories for the Fandom Classics: people recommend them to me (which you can do anytime! I have plenty to get through the next couple of years, but more suggestions are always welcome, and if several people are asking about the same fic, it's more likely to make it to the head of the list), and I keep a list of what the next five-ten fics will be based on spacing out genres, lengths, authors, and the like.

But what about the stuff for mini-reviews?  Well, it's a mix.  Some of it is stuff that's been recommended to me, but doesn't fall under even a very generous definition of "Fandom Classic."  Sometimes it's something I see another reviewer recommend, or just talk about it a way that piques my interest.  And sometimes, it's just something that grabs my attention on its own.  So for the last couple of mini-reviews, I kept track of how, exactly, I came across each story, why I decided to read it, and what the results were.  Click below the break for a look at how Chris picks "Chris Fics!"

And say that one ten times fast, too.

Fandom Classics Part 187: The Parliament of Dreams

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

I'm ready for Thanksgiving, now.  I realize it's still a week and a half away, but my family and a couple of friends from out of town will all be around, and I'm looking forward to seeing them.  It'll be nice.

To help us pass the time, here's another review!  Click down below the break for my thoughts on Wheller's The Parliament of Dreams.

Mini-Reviews Round 159

Forgive me for not having much to say up here.  Instead, I'll save my saying-things-ness for below the break, wherein you will find ensconced several reviews of the mini- variety.

Your Post Election Safe Space

I'm setting this post up before the results have started to come in.  Regardless of your leanings, I'm sure some things didn't work out the way you'd have wished this cycle.  Maybe the wrong person is president.  Maybe they're facing a hostile senate.  Maybe your school board got taken over by flat earthers.  Whatever the case, take a moment to breathe deeply, and remember that it could've been worse.  America's been through worse (it's true!  Remember that one time we had a civil war so fierce and protracted that one out of every fifty people in the country died fighting it?), and no matter what, we'll make it through this too.

Carrot Top, you are not helping right now.

Regular posts resume Friday; for now, enjoy some calming Carrot Top cuteness.  It's all going to be okay.

That's about how I look the morning after an election.  It's legitimately uncanny.

WARNING: Comment section may be less than 100% safe.  Stay up here with the cute pictures if you don't want to debate politics.  If you do want to debate politics, though, by all means keep scrolling.

One More Day-Of Reminder

Go vote!  Today's the day!  I just did, and it was awesome!  I got a sticker like the one above and everything!

Even if you have somehow managed to avoid having strong opinions on the presidential race (in which case, I don't know if I should be impressed by your ennui, or disturbed by your inability to identify any salient distinguishing factors between Clinton, Trump, and your third party options), there are downballot races and/or ballot initiatives that you almost certainly should take a chance to peruse.  Not sure what those are?  Ballotpedia is just one resource you can use to look up your sample ballot, though the fact that it also gives brief summaries of the candidates and issues for each vote you'll have the opportunity to make, and can help you find your polling place, makes it a convenient all-in-one prep tool.

As my high-school government (we had "government" instead of civics at my high school, for some reason) teacher liked to say: "not voting isn't a vote for none of the above, it's a vote for any of the above."  Take the time to get to your polling place today, if you haven't already sent a mail-in or absentee ballot.  And, you know, are an eligible US voter.

Fandom Classics Part 186: Couchtavia

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

Don't forget to vote tomorrow!  Unless you're not a US citizen, in which case you're excused.  Or if you're under 18.  Or if you've already cast an early/absentee ballot, in which case, don't vote a second time; that's pretty illegal, and it'll be hard to keep up with OMPR when you're in prison.  But everyone else, definitely get out there!  And as a preemptive reward for doing your civic duty, head down below the break to check out my review of shortskirtsandexplosions' Couchtavia.

Mini-Reviews Round 158

So, as part of an arts grant that we won, the drummer from The Foo Fighters came in to our school today!  An if your first thought after hearing that was "how many second and third graders who've only been in the country for a year or two even know who The Foo Fighters are?" then the answer is "exactly as many as you'd suspect."  Still, kinda neat, right?  Right.

So, in the spirit of minor celebrity, here are some mini-reviews of stories by ponyfamous authors.  Check them out, below the break.

First Sentences In (Fan)Fiction the 15th

I didn't see any pony costumes for Halloween this year :(  I kind of assumed I would, not that I'm at an elementary school, but the closest I got was a generic unicorn.  Ah well, seeing a FiM costume may have always made me smile in previous Halloweens, but it hardly ruins my day not to see one.

But now, on to first sentences!  Some story starters and what I think of them, below.