tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post8110945961801493609..comments2024-03-04T02:09:30.979-06:00Comments on One Man's Pony Ramblings: Author Analysis: GaPJaxieUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-38259294504145918432014-08-20T16:32:09.303-05:002014-08-20T16:32:09.303-05:00Nice to see the Great and Powerful Jaxie get some ...Nice to see the Great and Powerful Jaxie get some attention!<br /><br />>be sure to drop a comment on his user page asking where his handle comes from. Then, if he answers you, drop a line on my page so I can find out too.<br /><br />See above.Bad Horsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10735227563256689679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-48836265230611982592014-08-13T23:30:48.608-05:002014-08-13T23:30:48.608-05:00You forgot JapGaxie.You forgot JapGaxie.DeftFunkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15383241789583487786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-50831856682691929112014-08-13T23:30:16.879-05:002014-08-13T23:30:16.879-05:00Oh hey! I read I Forgot I Was There! ...Or at leas...Oh hey! I read <i>I Forgot I Was There</i>! ...Or at least I would have, but something repelled me about two chapters in. I don't remember what it was.<br /><br />I also read the <i>Sex Education</i> one. Don't remember much about that either, but I'm pretty sure I got a good laugh out of it.<br /><br />I have been continuously hearing great things about these other two stories though and have really been meaning to get around to reading them. I have some time off coming up so I suppose I'll do exactly that.<br /><br />Word of the Day: Indemnity.DeftFunkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15383241789583487786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-30626612418173899572014-08-11T01:34:20.299-05:002014-08-11T01:34:20.299-05:00I thought at first that "arbitrage" was ...I thought at first that "arbitrage" was a synonym for "arbitrariness" and that the title was merely okay. When I looked it up its definition, the title made a lot more sense. Tick Tock values additional time more than Twilight does, assuming she's immortal. All else equal, Twilight giving up an infinitely small proportion of her life to significantly extend Tick Tock's life is a net gain in utility due to a difference in market prices — and that's the arbitrage of moments.Professor Whooveshttp://www.fimfiction.net/user/Professor%20Whoovesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-8945826039921079152014-08-10T13:45:12.706-05:002014-08-10T13:45:12.706-05:00Will do.Will do.DannyJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13273313206696087395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-63735261797894910822014-08-10T05:03:27.653-05:002014-08-10T05:03:27.653-05:00Hm. I read "The Arbitrage of Moments", a...Hm. I read "The Arbitrage of Moments", and while there is the outline of something interesting there, the almost episodic nature of the chapters made this feel disjointed, almost to the point of feeling incomplete. No one here really develops enough of a personality to make me care about them, so while this works as the exercise GaPJaxie made it out to be (writing a horrible character sympathetically), it never goes a single step beyond that into actually making the character sympathetical. To horribly misquote "Who Framed Roger Rabbit": He's not sympathetical, he's just written that way.<br /><br />Also, why in the world would anyone use a word like "arbitrage" in the title of a story like this? I just looked it up, and it's a technical term from the world of finance. I could understand using "interest" or "account" (especially in the story's context), but "arbitrage"? That just seems unnecessarily complicated. Even if it does make sense, it will fly over the heads of a lot of your audience. (Says the guy who used Eurovision song titles, including quite a few non-English ones, as chapter titles for his stories. Make of that what you will.)Osperonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-89896282465149924612014-08-09T16:25:45.478-05:002014-08-09T16:25:45.478-05:00Read "The Arbitrage of Moments" first.Read "The Arbitrage of Moments" first.Professor Whooveshttp://www.fimfiction.net/user/Professor%20Whoovesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-38123238460493959792014-08-09T11:02:53.723-05:002014-08-09T11:02:53.723-05:00*Sigh*
Goddamnit, Gardez. I guess I have to read ...*Sigh*<br /><br />Goddamnit, Gardez. I guess I have to read <i>Moments</i> and <i>Siren Song</i> now. I am never going to clear my read later list.<br /><br />At least <i>I Forgot I Was There</i> was already on it, so I'm only adding two stories instead of three.DannyJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13273313206696087395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-40098022336477527592014-08-08T14:03:36.272-05:002014-08-08T14:03:36.272-05:00I've enjoyed Jaxie's writing as well. I me...I've enjoyed Jaxie's writing as well. I met him way back at the beginning, when he submitted the first chapter of <i>I Forgot I Was There</i> to The Training Grounds for review. I offered him ongoing private reviews, and so I've read most of what he's written. Aside from that one, <i>The Arbitrage of Moments</i> is the only one I might have chosen to read on my own. I don't much care for epic adventures, particularly in a crossover universe, and innuendo comedy just isn't my thing. I even had a couple of problems with <i>Arbitrage</i>, but I'd still count it as the one of his I most enjoyed. It's possible those problems aren't even there anymore, as I've never reread the revised versions after I finished with them.<br /><br />So I ended up reading a lot of good stories I never would have chosen to, and it's been a fun ride along with Jaxie. Until this year's Bronycon, he was the only one from the fandom I'd met in person. He even puts up with previewing some of my stories.Pascoitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05861834765162800926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-82021941762123628092014-08-08T05:29:39.260-05:002014-08-08T05:29:39.260-05:00Sex Education is the kind of one-joke story that k...<i>Sex Education</i> is the kind of one-joke story that knows how to keep things short and sweet. It's good for a quick laugh.<br /><br />Hmm. I'm coming off as quite the GaPJaxie fanatic aren't I? Now if only I could remember how to type his name properly on the first go.TorpidBergnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-72891629647818927462014-08-08T05:19:31.351-05:002014-08-08T05:19:31.351-05:00Sorry for the wall of text! I'll have to doubl...Sorry for the wall of text! I'll have to double my paragraph spacing next time.TorpidBergnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-52762269412717272552014-08-08T05:18:00.432-05:002014-08-08T05:18:00.432-05:00Vision is my all-time favorite fanfic at this poi...<i>Vision </i> is my all-time favorite fanfic at this point. I found it right after a <i>Fallout Equestria </i> binge, and the tone and setting were similar enough to catch my interest. The comparison doesn’t do either story justice I’m afraid, as they’re fundamentally different at their core. Where <i>Fallout Equestria</i> was a coming of age story, <i>Vision</i> is more a tale of rebirth. It has its fair share of action, but where it really shines are the moments of quit introspection. I recall having a negative first impression due to the immediate departure from the tone of the show, but after the initial dive into cold waters –in both a literal and figurative sense–, the strong characterization and use of first-person-limited perspective really hooked me on the tale.<br />Fish puns aside, I have to mention that <i>Vision</i> may not interest everyone. There is the obviously dark nature of the story, but there’s also the fact that Siren Song, the protagonist, is a seriously flawed individual. In my opinion, this is one of the <i>Vision</i>’s greatest strengths, but others might find that 300,000+ words are too many for a narcissistic, manipulative coward with sociopathic tendencies. I still find Siren likeable, but more in the vein of characters like Dexter from the TV drama (I’ve never read the novels), or Nathaniel from <i>The Bartimaeus Trilogy</i>, rather than any character you would see in <i>Friendship is Magic</i> proper.<br />For anyone who is on the fence, I highly recommend giving it a shot. The attention the story has raised on FimFiction is criminally low considering the care and thought GaPJaxie has put into it. Plus, the first arc, <i>Siren Song</i>, leaves readers in a good spot if they choose wait for the completion of the second volume before continuing on. I wouldn’t call it a standalone piece, but it’s worth reading even if the sequel is in progress. As a final note, the crossover tag isn’t very important. There’s nothing a reader would miss if they’d never heard of Bioshock before, other than a few small nods to the game. Now, <b>would you kindly</b> move along and enjoy your reading.<br />TorpidBergnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-30569808570182170502014-08-08T05:15:28.571-05:002014-08-08T05:15:28.571-05:00If you liked "The Arbitrage of Moments",...If you liked "The Arbitrage of Moments", then you'll like "Siren Song". They both contain characters so complex that I'm not sure if I love them or hate them.Professor Whooveshttp://www.fimfiction.net/user/Professor%20Whoovesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-64731107875106747782014-08-08T03:01:11.317-05:002014-08-08T03:01:11.317-05:00I Forgot I Was There has the dubious honor of bein...<i>I Forgot I Was There</i> has the dubious honor of being the only work of fiction I've ever read that I really enjoyed... but had to stop reading because it depressed me too much. <br /><br />And that is <i>really</i> strange because "sad" stories almost never affect me. I can read about people dying and characters grieving and other psychological torture without my emotions changing much at all. It's just a story, after all. But <i>IFIWT</i> really got to me for some inexplicable reason. <br /><br />I think it might have something to do there wasn't something bad that happened that caused the grief, it just... naturally became that way. Everyone acted with good intentions (from their perspective), and no one was entirely unreasonable, and yet it resulted in Twilight considering suicide and having a fairly understandable reason for it. Watching something play out where nothing really went wrong but it resulted in grief and ugliness anyway... I guess it felt too much like the murkiness of real life. I dunno. Either way, I had to stop reading.<br /><br />I still highly recommend the story. I got a weird reaction from it, but I suspect that was unique to me and probably wouldn't even happen again if I reread it. It's an excellent fic, and, hell, it even has a "Comedy" tag. Form your own opinion; don't take this post too seriously.Unknownlighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09278487323218605513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8184562969471581744.post-67555353692865218862014-08-08T01:02:09.872-05:002014-08-08T01:02:09.872-05:00Yet another excellent analysis! Great job, CiG. ...Yet another excellent analysis! Great job, CiG. Now to point out your mistakes (and for such a great writer, you sure do make a lot of 'em! :p):<br /><br />You've misspelled GaPJaxie's name as GaPJazie, GapJaxie (technically not a spelling error, but still incorrect), and GaJaxie. There's also a weird gap between "being" and "human", and one sentence should be "To use them [is] to exchange..."<br /><br />According to an interview with the RCL, the creative origin of GaPJaxie's pen name is so subtle as to be beyond our comprehension<br /><br />Only GaPJaxie fic I've read is <i>Arbitrage</i>, but that's in my favorites, so I should probably check out more of his work. <i>Siren's Song</i> has been sitting in the queue, but I think I'll add <i>Sex Education</i> since I recall being intrigued back when it made EqDHolly Oatshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01703437987958922954noreply@blogger.com