Mini-Reviews Round 171

Time continues to be a precious commodity this week; testing, now coupled with the rigours of getting kids ready for Valentine's Day (when many of them had never heard of Valentine's Day until they came to America!).  Well, that and catching up on Tom Hardy's Taboo.  Look, I've got to have some sources of entertainment outside of ponies, right?  Regardless, I did manage to put a couple more reviews together for you, my adoring public.  And a changeling edition, no less!  How... appropriate?  Whatever; check them out, below the break.





Spot That Changeling, by Inspector Brown

Zero-ish spoiler summary:  Thorax agrees to help the main six practice their changeling-detection skills by playing a game with them: one of them is led out of the room and he replaces them while they all keep their eyes closed, and then they have to decide who's been replaced.

A few thoughts:  I found the story terribly dull, enough so that I didn't finish it despite its relatively short length.  Each of the rounds of the game (at least, each round that I read) basically consists of the girls taking turns asking each other "are you the changeling?," answering "no," and then bickering about what can be gleaned from "no."  Honestly, it reminded me of playing games like One Night Ultimate Werewolf or The Resistance with the kind of player who thinks they can "totally read people."  Such games are inevitably frustrating, since those people tend to miss the actual clues in voting and outcome because they're so focused on asking questions to which they know the answers they'll hear, just so they can see if it "sounds like you're lying."  Anyway, digression over.  The point is, the girls talk in circles for no obvious reason aside from idiocy, and I got tired of it pretty quick.

Recommendation:  It's entirely possible that this story gets better after the first few chapters, and moves away from the repetitive pointlessness which marks the earlier ones.  If the core concept intrigues you and the main six being ridiculously obtuse (or maybe just super-bad at social interactions) isn't a deal breaker, you might consider trying this and seeing for yourself if it improves.  Otherwise, it's not one I'd particularly recommend.



Hunter 23129, by The Lunar Samurai

Zero-ish spoiler summary:  A report on the reconnaissance mission of the "disguised" changeling from Cranky and Matilda's wedding.

A few thoughts:  The joke here is that the changeling's disguise failed, and he didn't realize it until he was in the middle of the wedding.  And to be fair, that's a pretty reasonable joke, especially when it only needs to cover a bare 1000 words and change.  Unfortunately, the writing is weak, with many editing errors and a strange mix of formal and conversational language which failed to meld well.

Recommendation:  If the core joke intrigues you and you don't mind writing problems, consider this an adequate two-minute filler fic.  Don't expect anything more than that, though.