tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post2808417941906750798..comments2024-03-04T02:09:30.979-06:00Comments on One Man's Pony Ramblings: Fanfic Classics Part 13: Brony Hero of EquestriaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-67459766693652323512013-10-14T22:30:13.993-05:002013-10-14T22:30:13.993-05:00Not sure how I missed your replies before. Danny,...Not sure how I missed your replies before. Danny, double-spacing is The One True Way and I will duel you IRL to end your heathen practices!<br /><br />Chris, I don't think Gygax would be a poor influence on spelling. Organization, yes, but not spelling. He is, however, wrong on this one. I reserve "ether" for alcohol. I suppose it could've worked if you'd gone with "e-ther", thoughHolly Oatshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01703437987958922954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-88311365546066343482013-10-14T14:00:46.890-05:002013-10-14T14:00:46.890-05:00I don't mean to make a big deal out of it. I a...I don't mean to make a big deal out of it. I appreciate Chris' reviews, I know Chris has thought about the ratings a lot, & I realize giving ratings "correctly" is an undefined & inherently impossible task.Bad Horsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10735227563256689679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-7105981968210604832013-10-14T12:30:48.622-05:002013-10-14T12:30:48.622-05:00Look at the list of 5-stars and it's pretty cl...Look at the list of 5-stars and it's pretty clear that's not a requirement. <i>It's a Dangerous Business</i> had plenty of problems (enough that I almost quit early on) and <i>Fallout</i> had even moreHolly Oatshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01703437987958922954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-89729055201800922622013-10-14T11:40:44.003-05:002013-10-14T11:40:44.003-05:00I don't deny the problems, but it sounds like ...I don't deny the problems, but it sounds like you require a story to have "no problems" to give it 5 stars. I can imagine this working for short stories--there are short stories that I think are nearly perfect. But it doesn't work at all for novels. Most "great" plays and novels have horrible problems. Hamlet has an opaque theme, a bunch of flat characters, and a lazy, unfocused ending because Shakespeare never really figured out what it was about. The Sound and the Fury is nearly unreadable, and Faulkner would get rejected from EqD for his speech tag use alone. The underlying drama in The Great Gatsby is smothered in detatils about the lifestyles of the rich; Fitzgerald relies almost entirely on the readers' imagination to construct any feelings at all. Hemingway's novels have no sense of time, no before or after for the characters. /Persuasion/ sets up the "good guys" and "bad guys" in stark black and white. Et cetera.Bad Horsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10735227563256689679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-9843623001877408892013-10-10T17:58:16.432-05:002013-10-10T17:58:16.432-05:00I occasionally spell it "aether," but on...I occasionally spell it "aether," but only in an obviously historical context. For modern phrasings and general use, I use the Gygax-approved spelling.<br /><br />Gygax has had rather more influence on my spelling choices than I'd like to admit, honestly.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11581572699330155065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-64354773939829927182013-10-10T17:56:25.008-05:002013-10-10T17:56:25.008-05:00I've never even heard of this story! Time to ...I've never even heard of this story! Time to go check it out...Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11581572699330155065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-26122559173911027242013-10-10T17:55:17.310-05:002013-10-10T17:55:17.310-05:00BH, I'm actually not a big fan of the star rat...BH, I'm actually not a big fan of the star ratings, either. I think they're overly simplistic and don't necessarily do a good job encapsulating my feelings about a particular fic, and they practically demand that one make comparisons between fics which are patently inapt. Nevertheless, I keep giving them out because 1) lots of people like them, 2) I've found that having to come up with a "score" helps give me some focus when I'm composing reviews, and 3) it provides a not-useless (minimally useful, maybe, but not TOTALLY useless) summation point. I've actually talked about my dislike of star ratings before; <a href="http://onemansponyramblings.blogspot.com/2012/05/star-ratings-why-i-bother-with-them-at.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>, if you haven't read it.<br /><br />As to what, specifically, pulled Brony Hero down from "pretty much the best thing ever, even outside of the sub-subcategory 'ponyfiction,'" that would be the fact that pages frequently fail to link together cohesively, even within the context of a random comedy, and the general ephemerality of the piece (not something I touched on in the review, as I didn't feel it was likely to be a deciding factor in whether or not one read the story based on my other comments about the story's style and sense of humor, but this is, ultimately, a story you enjoy, then forget. I don't consider that a failing, particularly, but the stories I five-star (including the comedies) are generally ones that I think are more likely to stay with you--stories that make you think about something in a new light, re-evaluate the story or yourself, etc. I'd like to hope Brony Hero doesn't demand too much introspective self-evaluation from most people). <br /><br />As for Pipsqueak's Day Out, it fell into the "'just' top-tier fanfiction" category based on the fact that, while much of it was twistedly hilarious, significant segments were dull and/or vaguely uncomfortable (in a non-literary, non-story-advancing way--discomfort to make a point I'm more amenable to), and that first scene was just awful, and not merely in a "I took it in a bad light based on first expectations" way; a group of teenage boys taking dick-pics and threatening blackmail (obviously jokingly, but that only partly ameliorates the point) is just a... I don't even have words for it. "Unconscionably creepy and awkward" comes to mind, and the first impression you receive of the characters is very much more negative than the rest of the fic ultimately paints.<br /><br />Those points are all totally debatable, of course, but I don't claim that my reviews are objective and beyond question; just that they represent my best attempt at objectivity in an admittedly subjective field. Still, when it comes to three- and four-star fics, maybe I need to put a bit more effort into explaining what weaknesses I'm seeing.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11581572699330155065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-38356721646002889342013-10-10T12:25:52.807-05:002013-10-10T12:25:52.807-05:00I spell it aether, so you've always got me for...I spell it aether, so you've always got me for that.<br /><br />But double-spacing is heresy, and Satan grows stronger with every instance of it.DannyJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13273313206696087395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-16689631668289907942013-10-10T10:10:55.604-05:002013-10-10T10:10:55.604-05:00War and Peace... (voice recognition software fail)...War and Peace... (voice recognition software fail)Bad Horsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10735227563256689679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-83707300042902151462013-10-10T10:09:06.200-05:002013-10-10T10:09:06.200-05:00His 3-5 ratings don't work for me. Chris is li...His 3-5 ratings don't work for me. Chris is like an old-school Olympic gymnastics judge, who subtracts points for everything not done perfectly. I'm like a modern Olympic gymnastics judge, who gives extra points for things done especially well.<br /><br />His explanation of his ratings says that the five-star is something publishable. Well, I read about .001% of books that are published. Publishable is a very low bar. If fandom has only produced three publishable stories, we should all leave now.<br /><br />His explanation also says that one star means "There are significant, systemic problems with this story." If you look at great works of literature or literary prize winners, most have terrible systemic problems: Hamlet, Moby Dick, War and Piece, Madame Bovary, everything by Proust or Faulkner, Ulysses, Cloud Atlas, Infinite Jest. That's because great literature doesn't play it safe. It does some things especially well at the expense of other things. Literature like that can't get five stars in Chris's system.Bad Horsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10735227563256689679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-83698067376834346172013-10-09T21:56:31.175-05:002013-10-09T21:56:31.175-05:00Chris' star ratings have been a pretty good in...Chris' star ratings have been a pretty good indicator of how much I'll like a given fic, so they're very useful to me in deciding not only what to read, but what priority they're given. The actual review is what's important, of course, but the stars are a helpful shorthand for organizing purposes. That and I get off on a sense of hierarchy and numbers :PHolly Oatshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01703437987958922954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-73912351530928966952013-10-09T17:55:33.742-05:002013-10-09T17:55:33.742-05:00I've always taken Chris's rating system as...I've always taken Chris's rating system as "3 is good". If you get 3 stars from Chris, you should feel confident that you've written a good story. In a way, that does make the top three ratings somewhat arbitrary (because why wouldn't you feel good about a 4 or 5 as well), but really authors shouldn't be discouraged by them and focus on the meat of the review, as you say.Present Perfecthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16195959811544391904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-1868250375190054022013-10-09T13:45:20.692-05:002013-10-09T13:45:20.692-05:00Chris, last week you gave Pipsqueak's Day Off ...Chris, last week you gave Pipsqueak's Day Off a glowing review and 3 stars. This week you gave Brony Hero a glowing review and 4 stars. Brony Hero is approximately perfect at what it does, and taking off a star discredits your rating scheme more than it discredits the story.<br /><br />I don't think you should give star ratings. I agree with your 1s and 2s, but your 3-5 ratings seem arbitrary, and imply that only a handful of stories in the fandom are worth reading. These ratings only annoy authors and distract from your much more-useful comments and criticisms.Bad Horsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10735227563256689679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-88448675876312728262013-10-09T07:42:10.491-05:002013-10-09T07:42:10.491-05:00Ah yes, Tiarek, the Equestrian demon of jeweled he...Ah yes, Tiarek, the Equestrian demon of jeweled headwear. :V<br /><br />Brony Hero is absolutely amazing. The continued theme of "Seduce X" as choices throughout the story never failed to draw laughter out of me.<br /><br />And for those who like comedic CYOAs, "Tiny Equine in Everfree" is another. Not quite as amazing as this one, but still hilarious in its silly way.Present Perfecthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16195959811544391904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-67813076467221450232013-10-09T06:15:02.692-05:002013-10-09T06:15:02.692-05:00Didn't realize before this that, with a few ex...Didn't realize before this that, with a few exceptions, you haven't been linking to the EqD page for those Fandom Classics on there. I'm slow<br /><br />I absolutely adored this fic when it came out, my favorite part probably being that death scene with the Fluttershy pillow. My comments are pretty much exactly what I remembered: I compared the story to <i>Purloined Pony</i>, saying the latter was better structured, but that <i>Brony Hero</i> was " still pretty darn funny". Like with any other CYOA, I went through every possible path with this one to determine what I considered the best one. I don't recall the exact notation rules for this, but here it is: <br /><br />START 27 4 5 10/12/20 5 22 8 6 5 14 19 23 7 9 16 3 9 34 52(42)/56(50,38,41,54)/59(49) 34 51 45 35 53 43<br /><br />Also, I'm a little disappointed you spell it "ether". Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I was hoping to find a kindred soul - one who also referred to the quintessence as "aether". Well, at least... *coughs blood as vision swims and head hits ground* we still have double-spacing after periods...Holly Oatshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01703437987958922954noreply@blogger.com