That's right, it was five years ago today that
Six-Star Reviews Part 1 hit the interwebs. You know, back when Equestria Daily was the hub of all things ponyfic, had star ratings, all that jazz. Since then, I've reviewed round about 850 stories, (and that's not including anything from the RCL, which I joined just over three years ago, and nearly all of who's 150-odd stories I've
also contributed to blurb-ifying) including about 350 long-form reviews of popular and/or well-known fanfics and, occasionally, their sequels.
That's kind of a lot. And I've been doing it for kind of a long time. And personally, I think that's pretty neat. Back when I started, I had no idea I'd keep going this long, or that I would achieve some small measure of popularity in the process.
I only started doing reviews in the first place because the fandom had finally reached the point where reading everything that looked vaguely promising was no longer practical, and I had searched without success for someone doing reader-oriented reviews for a few months. Eventually, I decided to give reviewing a try myself, threw together a .blogspot page, and went at it. I had planned to do a dozen or two reviews, see if I enjoyed it, and then maybe go tell some friends... but to my surprise, ponyfic author Ezn discovered my blog on his own after only a couple of weeks (I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted to see some reviews!), and others soon followed. Since then, as the show has proceeded from the start of Season 2 to the end of Season 6, as FiMFiction rose and became the hub of all things ponyfic, and as tens of thousands of authors have come and, sometimes, gone, I've been plunking away over here, three times a week.
I didn't assume there was ever going to be anyone besides me who cared about fanfic reviewing in the first place, but over the years a vibrant reviewer culture has developed flourished throughout the fandom, and being a part of that has been fun.
What comes next? Well, more of the same, of course! Why stop when you've got a good thing going? My plan has always been to quit doing this when I stop enjoying it, and although there have been peaks and troughs to my enthusiasm, certainly, I've yet to start seeing this blog as a chore, rather than a hobby. That day
will come, sooner or later... but until then, it's full steam ahead.
Now, in celebration, I thought about linking together a few classic OMPR posts--but I don't really know how to define "classic OMPR posts." Instead, I'm going to put together a set of links below the break to some my best lines--or at least, the ones that were most memorable to me. Go take a look at a few of the quips, comparisons, explications, and what have you that I've bandied at various stories over the past five years.
And one more thing: thanks to all of you who've come by, who keep coming by, or who just dropped in once or twice and left a comment on my reviews. Reviewing stories may be fun, but it's seeing other people agree, disagree, and discuss that's a real treat for me. Also, it's definitely helped me improve--my early reviews may have the same format as my more recent ones, but I like to think I've gotten rather dramatically better at marshaling my thoughts, and laying them out in a manner both interesting and illuminating. Thank you all!
