tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post4468775567010111700..comments2024-03-04T02:09:30.979-06:00Comments on One Man's Pony Ramblings: Mini-Reviews Round 24Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-30974243988625920002013-12-16T20:11:37.190-06:002013-12-16T20:11:37.190-06:00Don't let him fool you, there was editing invo...Don't let him fool you, there was editing involved! :VPresent Perfecthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16195959811544391904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-52235895422128761702013-12-16T15:24:40.076-06:002013-12-16T15:24:40.076-06:00I hate people who can do this, too. This was entir...I hate people who can do this, too. This was entirely unprecedented for me. Normally, a story of this length would take me a good 3-5 days of mulling over. To be fair, this is also a revised version that I spent several additional evenings on. The original was a write-off entry I didn't start on until I'd finished my first idea, with about 4 hours to go until the deadline. It was also only about 65% as long.Pascoitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05861834765162800926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-72693433875897696602013-12-16T12:24:04.818-06:002013-12-16T12:24:04.818-06:00"... cranked the story out in about three hou..."... cranked the story out in about three hours."<br /><br />I hate youHolly Oatshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01703437987958922954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-68546971942103923752013-12-16T11:04:35.195-06:002013-12-16T11:04:35.195-06:00Thanks, Chris. I struggled with a bit of this on m...Thanks, Chris. I struggled with a bit of this on my own. Regarding her ribbon, I hesitated to use it that way, but I ultimately decided to for a few reasons. First, it's another demonstration that Apple Bloom doesn't attach the same importance to certain things that Applejack does. Second, I couldn't really envision anything else she'd have reasonably brought along that she could have used in the same way that would have had a similar importance. Frankly, I'd considered going without it at all as being impractical for that purpose, but I looked at a picture of her, and that thing is <i>huge</i>. So at least it seemed feasible to me. Lastly, I had it envisioned that she has more than the one bow, and this isn't her normal one. She wore it for the special occasion, not thinking anything might happen to it, but I didn't really communicate that. I just had this burning idea in my head about Apple Bloom's relationship with her mother and cranked the story out in about three hours.<br /><br />This is only the second one of my stories I've shared with my creative-writing-professor sister (a de-ponified version, of course, which <i>does</i> necessarily take a bit of weight out of some of the things that happen), since it really requires no prior knowledge of the universe in which it takes place, and she brought up a good point about what she felt Apple Bloom's reaction should have been, one that could have possibly superseded the issue with the bow. But that die is cast. However, I want to give this a bit of thought and might write that as an added chapter.Pascoitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05861834765162800926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-33434235705869753202013-12-15T09:13:54.828-06:002013-12-15T09:13:54.828-06:00Just read both of 'em. They were alright. I ...Just read both of 'em. They were alright. I really can't picture the characters in the show ever agreeing to Harmony, or Twilight ever thinking it was a good idea in the first place. If anything, it sounds like the type of thing a villain would propose and Twi might give some speech about it being perverse, followed by a Rainbow Cannon of FRIENDSHIP!Holly Oatshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01703437987958922954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-84834661580831631692013-12-14T23:47:54.399-06:002013-12-14T23:47:54.399-06:00We can't like the same things because then we ...We can't like the same things because then we couldn't be arch-nemeses! Trust me, it's more fun this way.<br /><br />I did like Discord's characterization, but... oy, everyone in Equestria either gets eternal chaos, or they lose everything that makes them individual, unique, and relevant. That's a tough pill to swallow.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11581572699330155065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-58315655938713901192013-12-14T17:49:49.736-06:002013-12-14T17:49:49.736-06:00Having now read Never Was, I'll say that I thi...Having now read <i>Never Was</i>, I'll say that I think you over-hyped it for me. Yeah, I'm just as morally and ideologically opposed to the idea of the Harmony, but it's just sort of something that I found I disagreed with, not something that induced feelings of horror or revulsion.<br /><br />I do agree that it seems a little odd for everyone in Equestria to have gone along with it though, or for Twilight to have even come up with it. I don't quite understand the reason why it needed to happen in the first place, to be honest. Seems rather pointless, unless Equestria was expecting to come under attack from the Anti-Spiral or something. In fact, the way you described it, that's what I thought was going on. When you talked about it being either Harmony or something almost just as horrific, I pictured Harmony as being some last resort measure made to survive some kind of cosmic disaster or angry god bearing down on them.<br /><br />And above all I think that despite the Harmony playing such a large role in things, it wasn't <i>about</i> that. It was a story about Twilight and Discord, really, and I think that your getting hung up on the Harmony caused you to miss that. Which is a shame, because I really liked this story's take on Discord. He's one of my favourite characters, so there's nothing I love more than a fic about Discord that gets him right.<br /><br />I'm just going to add this story to my "I like this" pile. Yeah, the Harmony is sort of disturbing and it could have been handled better, but like I said, I can get over it and I consider the story to be about more than just that, and its other elements are good, so... yeah.<br /><br />God, Chris, why can you and me never like the same things in these mini reviews?DannyJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13273313206696087395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-8795089337297960762013-12-13T18:03:49.038-06:002013-12-13T18:03:49.038-06:00I felt the same way about Never-Was. It bothered m...I felt the same way about Never-Was. It bothered me on some deep level that this all-consuming singularity was really what Harmony in the show could mean. The fact that it was Twilight's end goal kind of made me ill.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-75440695473506853772013-12-13T15:29:03.641-06:002013-12-13T15:29:03.641-06:00I think I saw Never Was in the feature box recentl...I think I saw <i>Never Was</i> in the feature box recently. I kind of glanced over it at the time, but now my morbid curiosity may just get the better of me.DannyJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13273313206696087395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-38586263043878442542013-12-13T00:54:10.715-06:002013-12-13T00:54:10.715-06:00I had to go back and re-read your review of Daring...I had to go back and re-read your review of <i>Daring Don't</i> about half-way through. The bit about the red line had me thinking I'd misread something and you were talking about the episode, or that this was some joke where you reviewed the episode as though it were a fanfic. I actually spent a good second trying to figure out the punctuation issue, figuring it to be some clever jab at the writers<br /><br />I've already read Pilgrimage. Good story, but the ribbon part bugged the crap out of me!<br /><br />Adding <i>Until the Moon Rises</i> and <i>Never-Was</i> to the queue. I'm especially interested in the latter because, depending on how they're done, disturbing stories can be some of the most enjoyable. <i>More Than You Know</i> was a great example of this and - oh hey, they're written by the same guy!<br /><br />I should take a break from my "real" book soon and get back to fanfiction. The queue's getting too big for my tastes and I'm pretty excited about <i>Never-Was</i> nowHolly Oatshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01703437987958922954noreply@blogger.com