Guest Review: Background Pony (C.1)

(Background Pony can be read here) 

[Now, a story review by Inquisitor M!  You may recognize him from his regular comments on this blog.  I'd say more, but 1. He doesn't have any published stories (yet) which I can link you to, and 2. He wrote his own bit to go above the page break.  So without further adieu, I cede the stage to him.  -Chris]

By Order of the Inquisition:

A Chapter 1 Review of Background Pony

Well the Chris is away, so I get to post stuff to his blog. I had a few ideas, but with the number of short stories that have come up lately, one thing stuck out that I wanted to talk about: the beginning. Rather than have me wax lyrical about what I think makes a good opening to a story, I would like to do a review of the first chapter of Background Pony, by short skirts and explosions, and see if my comments can spark some discussion.

Guest Review: Somewhere Only We Know

(Somewhere Only We Know can be read here)

In this post, Sessalisk (author of Darkest Before Dawn and frequent depositor of long, rambling missives in the comments section of this very blog (much obliged for the regular insights, by the way!)) breaks down one of the better-known stories in this fandom.  If you haven't read it already, you might want to before diving into this post: although it's (correctly, IMO) labeled a review, there's really no way to talk about the story without spoiling a lot of the effect of reading it the first time.  Besides, Patchwork Poltergeist's Somewhere Only We Know is only a few thousand words.  But whenever you're ready, you can read her thoughts below the break.

When the Cat's Away, and All That

So here I was, enjoying some moderately-priced scotch and enjoying my vacation, when I decided I should check in on the ponyfic world.  Surely, nothing important has happened in the last few days that-

>EqD eliminates all Star Ratings going forward

Huh.  Well, that wasn't totally unexpected, but it does put a damper on the long-term viability of the review format I've settled into.

To be frank, I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that yet.  Short-term, I'll keep plugging away at the 6-star stories once I come home.  Long-term... in truth, I haven't given it a lot of thought yet.  Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments, but don't expect me to respond to them right away (also, sorry for not commenting on the last few posts at all.  I'm working with an ancient computer and dial-up, and it takes more than five minutes just to load the blogger main page.  I'll ever-so-belatedly get to responses and e-mails and stuff once I'm back home).  But for now, the plan is to stay the course.  Guest posts will continue for another week, and then I'll be back with reviews of Fallout: Equestria (which I'm a little more than two-thirds done with as I type this, so I don't expect any delays on that front), and the Bronies anthology.

So, that's pretty much where things stand at the moment.  Now, back to sipping scotch and losing at cribbage.

Things We Love to Hate

Today, we have some commentary from Mystic: a ponyfic author, a law student, an Aussie, and the only visitor to this blog who cares when I talk about professional cycling.  He's come up with an insightful bit of commentary on how many readers seem to react to stories they dislike--or more often, to stories they think they're supposed to dislike.  His thoughts, after the break.

Stories About Ponies Are Stories About People

And now, it's time for a few guest columns.  First up, we have the inimitable Cold in Gardez, author of too many great fanfics to list (though you can check them out for yourself on his fimfiction page), who has provided some insights into what makes for a story, pony or otherwise, work.  Also, he's got a few fanfic recommendations, some insight into modern politics, a bit of self-inflated humor... look, he's pretty much produced the total package in terms of guest posts.  Find it all, after the break.

6-Star Reviews Part 79: Blueblood Returns

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

I don't know why people use the expression "would you like some cheese with that whine?"  Personally, I'd much rather have a porter or oatmeal stout with my cheese--maybe it's the midwesterner in me speaking, but beer seems like a much more intuitive match for dairy than wine does.

My review of Geldon's Blueblood Returns, Blueblood's Redemption, and The Blueblood Conspiracy, after the break.