Hey! It looks like you're new here. You might want to check out the introduction.
I like what you're going for, author! This story has a lot of promise, I appreciate the topic of dealing with disability and loss, and your writing is generally very good. There are some small mistakes that are more common in authors who haven't had a lot of feedback before, but your writing is still very strong so let's talk about the more important thing first: the story.
Scootaloo's disability is something most fans really regret the show not taking on directly, so it's a great topic for fixfics and dramas, and it's one that speaks to me personally. I wasn't expecting this to head into such dark terrain, but the transition downhill (so to speak) made enough sense that it wasn't jarring for me.
The topic of suicide is one with a very high degree of difficulty to pull off realistically, especially when constrained by time and space limitations (and, in full disclosure, one in which I have personal lived experience). This was a challenging narrative to approach, and most of what you did here was good.
My main critique concerns realism and resolution. Scootaloo's change of heart appearing to come quickly is actually normal in this situation, because her subconscious is desperate to convince her everything is okay. But she's still in extreme danger after an attempt, even if she didn't quite decide to take that last step. Princess Celestia would know this and immediately inform her guardians of the attempt, because if untreated it is very likely to recur at some point over the next year. This Scootaloo is in dire need of an intervention. That might seem like a minor thing to focus on, but not addressing the danger she's in makes the ending feel unresolved and unrealistic for me.
I do have a theory that makes the ending make a lot more sense, but I don't think it's what you intended because there isn't enough indication in the story to provide a hint to the reader. I'll come back to it.
As it currently stands, the ending didn't feel entirely realistic to me for a couple of reasons. First, Celestia's appearance felt too much like a convenient deus ex machina.
There's a simple solution to both of the above issues: have this take place in a dream, and use Princess Luna instead. Princess Celestia is an effective teacher (just like her VA's other major character), but her ability to understand the psyche and comfort ponies pales in comparison to her sister, plus Luna can commiserate with anyone.
This is precisely the kind of story Luna was designed for. Then the dream attempt doesn't necessarily indicate suicidality in real life. You might want to review s4e19 ("For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils") or s3e6 ("Sleepless in Ponyville") to see a couple of great examples of her at work. Even though the latter is literally a Luna+Scootaloo episode, I think the former is a better example with more depth.
If you do want her to be suicidal, Dash is a better choice for her rescue. The moment Dash discovered Scoot was missing she would take off to find her, she has a close relationship with her already, and she's uniquely fast enough to get there in time.
The other part of the ending that felt a bit rushed was the denouement. How did all the ponies immediately know where Scootaloo was and manage to run there, and why would Twilight grab Scoot's parents and round up lots of other ponies instead of organizing a smaller search party? It's nighttime (another reason Luna makes more sense here) (EDIT: I may have misread that) but even in daylight they probably wouldn't be able to see her far in the distance.
Honestly, Scoot's parents are such trash in the show that it seems more likely to me that Twilight would just grab her true guardians (her aunts). An entire episode was dedicated to Scootaloo and the rest of Ponyville literally fighting her parents over custody so she wouldn't have to leave her friends, so this definitely feels out of character to me.
The one theory that makes all of this make sense is if she died on the mountain, and the ending is not 'real'. That would be significantly darker than even I like to write, so I would question the intended message of the story. This is pretty random, but have you seen True Detective season 2? It has the problem of its apparent message being 'everything is awful' with no payoff for the audience's investment in the characters, so the ending of that season fell flat for me. If this was your intent, it needs foreshadowing, but also a purpose, a message, or some takeaway for the reader to feel like they learned something or experienced loss in a way that resonated with a positive takeaway.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. It just needs a little more realism at the end, or else a good reason why it isn't realistic.
Onto the writing notes! Your writing is good, but there are still a couple areas for improvement.
I was worried at first about microparagraphing which appeared in the early part of the story, but this improved so I don't think it's a consistent problem you have. Just be aware that separating sentences for emphasis doesn't work as well as it feels like when you're writing. Anything that draws the reader's attention to something unusual in the writing itself makes it a little harder on the reader's immersion.
You use a lot of saidisms. This is difficult to learn to avoid. Just like the overuse of emdashes and ellipses in the story "FOBO", saidisms are another convenient way to quickly tell the reader something complicated, but they're usually bad in practice. In almost all cases you should avoid using words other than 'asked/asks/ask' or 'said/says/say' for dialogue. If you've written the action around the dialogue properly, the reader will understand when a character is replying, asserting, or retorting. It feels weird and boring to always use 'said' (it's a tough habit to break!) but it's much less invasive for the reader. As much as I love using pulp-fictiony gimmicks like: "Saidisms are great," lied Trixie; I still try not to succumb to the temptation. They're usually too telly.
I didn't notice any Lavender Unicorn Syndrome on my first pass through, which is good. I'm a little ill at the moment, but I'll look again later to be sure.
Despite the dark topic, some of the scenes are just a little bit emotionally overwrought. I think one of the best things you can personally do to improve your writing is to try writing subtle details in the action portions of your dialogue. This is a good idea for any artist to practice! Your audience will appreciate being able to suss out the true intentions and feelings of characters when they aren't so vulgar (by this I mean direct/obvious). I should stress that this isn't a big problem here, because the topic deserves some obvious and strong emotion, but I think it can shine better if the expression is dialed back just a little. This is particularly true when the topic is suicide, because flattened affect prior to an attempt is common, though not universal.
Really minor stuff:
The reference to Season 1 "Dragonshy" was accurate, but felt a little forced. It would make sense if Scoot were thinking about how a dragon once used to roost here, and also if that thought was related to what she was doing. Although I'm not sure how she would know about the event, so that might also need a little more to make it work.
You can't stutter or stammer an 'h' sound, and stuttering and stammering are both pretty rare. I overuse them myself, as well as blushing (or showing any color), and I need to watch that better in my writing. Subtle cues are better: a tense jaw for anger, a quick tap from a hoof for nerves, a lick of the lips for concentration. This requires a little less hoof-holding for the reader and a little more effort to pull off, but it's worth it.
Also this was probably an oversight but, "They never were, Scootaloo," should be either, "They never were going to, Scootaloo," or, "They never would have, Scootaloo."
I enjoyed the ride, and would love to see you stick the landing on this. It's a sure thing for top three.
Scootaloo's disability is something most fans really regret the show not taking on directly, so it's a great topic for fixfics and dramas, and it's one that speaks to me personally. I wasn't expecting this to head into such dark terrain, but the transition downhill (so to speak) made enough sense that it wasn't jarring for me.
The topic of suicide is one with a very high degree of difficulty to pull off realistically, especially when constrained by time and space limitations (and, in full disclosure, one in which I have personal lived experience). This was a challenging narrative to approach, and most of what you did here was good.
My main critique concerns realism and resolution. Scootaloo's change of heart appearing to come quickly is actually normal in this situation, because her subconscious is desperate to convince her everything is okay. But she's still in extreme danger after an attempt, even if she didn't quite decide to take that last step. Princess Celestia would know this and immediately inform her guardians of the attempt, because if untreated it is very likely to recur at some point over the next year. This Scootaloo is in dire need of an intervention. That might seem like a minor thing to focus on, but not addressing the danger she's in makes the ending feel unresolved and unrealistic for me.
I do have a theory that makes the ending make a lot more sense, but I don't think it's what you intended because there isn't enough indication in the story to provide a hint to the reader. I'll come back to it.
As it currently stands, the ending didn't feel entirely realistic to me for a couple of reasons. First, Celestia's appearance felt too much like a convenient deus ex machina.
There's a simple solution to both of the above issues: have this take place in a dream, and use Princess Luna instead. Princess Celestia is an effective teacher (just like her VA's other major character), but her ability to understand the psyche and comfort ponies pales in comparison to her sister, plus Luna can commiserate with anyone.
This is precisely the kind of story Luna was designed for. Then the dream attempt doesn't necessarily indicate suicidality in real life. You might want to review s4e19 ("For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils") or s3e6 ("Sleepless in Ponyville") to see a couple of great examples of her at work. Even though the latter is literally a Luna+Scootaloo episode, I think the former is a better example with more depth.
If you do want her to be suicidal, Dash is a better choice for her rescue. The moment Dash discovered Scoot was missing she would take off to find her, she has a close relationship with her already, and she's uniquely fast enough to get there in time.
The other part of the ending that felt a bit rushed was the denouement. How did all the ponies immediately know where Scootaloo was and manage to run there, and why would Twilight grab Scoot's parents and round up lots of other ponies instead of organizing a smaller search party? It's nighttime (another reason Luna makes more sense here) (EDIT: I may have misread that) but even in daylight they probably wouldn't be able to see her far in the distance.
Honestly, Scoot's parents are such trash in the show that it seems more likely to me that Twilight would just grab her true guardians (her aunts). An entire episode was dedicated to Scootaloo and the rest of Ponyville literally fighting her parents over custody so she wouldn't have to leave her friends, so this definitely feels out of character to me.
The one theory that makes all of this make sense is if she died on the mountain, and the ending is not 'real'. That would be significantly darker than even I like to write, so I would question the intended message of the story. This is pretty random, but have you seen True Detective season 2? It has the problem of its apparent message being 'everything is awful' with no payoff for the audience's investment in the characters, so the ending of that season fell flat for me. If this was your intent, it needs foreshadowing, but also a purpose, a message, or some takeaway for the reader to feel like they learned something or experienced loss in a way that resonated with a positive takeaway.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. It just needs a little more realism at the end, or else a good reason why it isn't realistic.
Onto the writing notes! Your writing is good, but there are still a couple areas for improvement.
I was worried at first about microparagraphing which appeared in the early part of the story, but this improved so I don't think it's a consistent problem you have. Just be aware that separating sentences for emphasis doesn't work as well as it feels like when you're writing. Anything that draws the reader's attention to something unusual in the writing itself makes it a little harder on the reader's immersion.
You use a lot of saidisms. This is difficult to learn to avoid. Just like the overuse of emdashes and ellipses in the story "FOBO", saidisms are another convenient way to quickly tell the reader something complicated, but they're usually bad in practice. In almost all cases you should avoid using words other than 'asked/asks/ask' or 'said/says/say' for dialogue. If you've written the action around the dialogue properly, the reader will understand when a character is replying, asserting, or retorting. It feels weird and boring to always use 'said' (it's a tough habit to break!) but it's much less invasive for the reader. As much as I love using pulp-fictiony gimmicks like: "Saidisms are great," lied Trixie; I still try not to succumb to the temptation. They're usually too telly.
I didn't notice any Lavender Unicorn Syndrome on my first pass through, which is good. I'm a little ill at the moment, but I'll look again later to be sure.
Despite the dark topic, some of the scenes are just a little bit emotionally overwrought. I think one of the best things you can personally do to improve your writing is to try writing subtle details in the action portions of your dialogue. This is a good idea for any artist to practice! Your audience will appreciate being able to suss out the true intentions and feelings of characters when they aren't so vulgar (by this I mean direct/obvious). I should stress that this isn't a big problem here, because the topic deserves some obvious and strong emotion, but I think it can shine better if the expression is dialed back just a little. This is particularly true when the topic is suicide, because flattened affect prior to an attempt is common, though not universal.
Really minor stuff:
The reference to Season 1 "Dragonshy" was accurate, but felt a little forced. It would make sense if Scoot were thinking about how a dragon once used to roost here, and also if that thought was related to what she was doing. Although I'm not sure how she would know about the event, so that might also need a little more to make it work.
You can't stutter or stammer an 'h' sound, and stuttering and stammering are both pretty rare. I overuse them myself, as well as blushing (or showing any color), and I need to watch that better in my writing. Subtle cues are better: a tense jaw for anger, a quick tap from a hoof for nerves, a lick of the lips for concentration. This requires a little less hoof-holding for the reader and a little more effort to pull off, but it's worth it.
Also this was probably an oversight but, "They never were, Scootaloo," should be either, "They never were going to, Scootaloo," or, "They never would have, Scootaloo."
I enjoyed the ride, and would love to see you stick the landing on this. It's a sure thing for top three.
I like the story here. It fits the theme with Easter eggs for fans. The character voices are spot on, though Star Swirl could be a little more consistent. There're a lot of creative ideas inside, even if the high fantasy goes a little over the top. I was glad to see it doesn't get bogged down in emotion despite the emotional nature of the events (I feel you drew down the curtain at just the right points). I think it fits the prompt well enough, though it feels a little shoehorned in (the 'usefulness' is not totally clear) but this is probably an artefact of my main critique in the next paragraph.
I think it needs a little more focus. My main issue is that it isn't entirely clear to me what the lesson is that Rarity needs to learn, or why she can't simply be told directly. This makes Star Swirl's motivations very difficult to understand, especially given the Hinnyculean effort he goes through. I'm left wondering why this happened, and the story really needs this. It isn't clear why Rarity can't remember much of what she experiences in previous cycles, since that doesn't seem like a power-level ability. It also isn't obvious to me how Rarity will use what she learns to improve herself. How does this make her a better pony? How is this any different from what would have happened had Star Swirl not intervened? She really needs a clearer story arc, since this is a story principally about her and her failings and struggles.
Also, I see what you did with the picture opportunity drop. That was cute, and I'm tempted.
Technical stuff: you rely upon emdashes and ellipses waaaaaaay too much. Also, you can use bbcode here similar to Fimfiction.
Don't take my criticisms here as a suggestion the story needs a ton of work, I think you can pull this off with a little adding and not much modifying, though I might be making assumptions about how easy it is to relay the message you're trying to convey. I very much enjoyed the ride, and this is certainly going in the top three.
I think it needs a little more focus. My main issue is that it isn't entirely clear to me what the lesson is that Rarity needs to learn, or why she can't simply be told directly. This makes Star Swirl's motivations very difficult to understand, especially given the Hinnyculean effort he goes through. I'm left wondering why this happened, and the story really needs this. It isn't clear why Rarity can't remember much of what she experiences in previous cycles, since that doesn't seem like a power-level ability. It also isn't obvious to me how Rarity will use what she learns to improve herself. How does this make her a better pony? How is this any different from what would have happened had Star Swirl not intervened? She really needs a clearer story arc, since this is a story principally about her and her failings and struggles.
Also, I see what you did with the picture opportunity drop. That was cute, and I'm tempted.
Technical stuff: you rely upon emdashes and ellipses waaaaaaay too much. Also, you can use bbcode here similar to Fimfiction.
Don't take my criticisms here as a suggestion the story needs a ton of work, I think you can pull this off with a little adding and not much modifying, though I might be making assumptions about how easy it is to relay the message you're trying to convey. I very much enjoyed the ride, and this is certainly going in the top three.
I like the story itself, which is the most important thing. It fits the genre, addresses questions diehard fans all have, has a minor non-canon twist I enjoyed, and the voicing is accurate. The prompt drop is unsubtle, but as I recall most authors will ding you if it isn't clear, so I can't blame you.
The biggest issue here is how telly the first two-thirds of the story is when it honestly doesn't need to be. This would imo be a much better story if you trusted the reader to piece things together and actually showed us the dreams and the emotions rather than solely using tToH's voice to tell us what happened and what they theirself are feeling. This would make it more immersive: readers love to figure things out, like whether something is real or a memory or a dream, who the dreamer is, what it symbolizes, and so on.
I do agree that much of this information still needs to be provided by the Tree, but preferably in a way that doesn't feel like a lecture. You could probably even write this in third-pony limited without stretching too much. I might also suggest separating the dreams from reality by using past tenses for the former and present tenses for the latter.
Technical stuff. There are two horizontal rules in the middle of a single conversation, which is not the right way imo to do emphasis (I assume that was the intent). Also, I don't think 'waver' works in the way you're using it.
That said, I enjoyed this. It's definitely going in the top three.
The biggest issue here is how telly the first two-thirds of the story is when it honestly doesn't need to be. This would imo be a much better story if you trusted the reader to piece things together and actually showed us the dreams and the emotions rather than solely using tToH's voice to tell us what happened and what they theirself are feeling. This would make it more immersive: readers love to figure things out, like whether something is real or a memory or a dream, who the dreamer is, what it symbolizes, and so on.
I do agree that much of this information still needs to be provided by the Tree, but preferably in a way that doesn't feel like a lecture. You could probably even write this in third-pony limited without stretching too much. I might also suggest separating the dreams from reality by using past tenses for the former and present tenses for the latter.
Technical stuff. There are two horizontal rules in the middle of a single conversation, which is not the right way imo to do emphasis (I assume that was the intent). Also, I don't think 'waver' works in the way you're using it.
That said, I enjoyed this. It's definitely going in the top three.
I'm trying to be in this one, for the record, and I invited a close friend, though I don't think they can participate in time as they're at work and I think submission ends at 8pm EST today (in 10 hours from now) if I remember how the submission deadline works.
EDIT: I appear to have been off by twelve hours, so maybe they'll submit something after all. We'll see.
EDIT: I appear to have been off by twelve hours, so maybe they'll submit something after all. We'll see.
Post by
Trick_Question
, deleted
Post by
Trick_Question
, deleted
Post by
Trick_Question
, deleted
Post by
Trick_Question
, deleted
Post by
Trick_Question
, deleted
>>Bachiavellian
Keep in mind my memory over the past few years has been really bad for medical reasons.
And there's nothing to apologize for. You're not the ones who drilled it into the ground.
Keep in mind my memory over the past few years has been really bad for medical reasons.
And there's nothing to apologize for. You're not the ones who drilled it into the ground.
Post by
Trick_Question
, deleted
>>Miller Minus
Can I please stop writing fiction now
I have to grade exams :raritydespair:
I'm currently writing something for the R-Rated competition and I didn't even want to enter that anymore but I can't stop my hooftappity halp
Can I please stop writing fiction now
I have to grade exams :raritydespair:
I'm currently writing something for the R-Rated competition and I didn't even want to enter that anymore but I can't stop my hooftappity halp
Post by
Trick_Question
, deleted
The biggest problem here far and away is that the story is mostly telly exposition, and it's super-detailed, massively complicated, long-winded tell.
If I were writing this, I'd start by showing the disaster. Or, if you want to start in the wastes, have a flashback to the disaster very early on. Don't tell us what happened, show us. This is especially relevant when what you have to show is incredibly theatrical! Who wouldn't want to write word-porn about Amblegeddon? Who wouldn't want to show us the Mane 6 surviving and coping, or Fluttershy's funeral? If you're pressed for time or space, keep in mind it doesn't take many words to do this, but even a few words with some questions unanswered is better than telling us rote. This is a wasted opportunity, and without it the story languishes in exposition.
Same thing for Discord telling Twilight what happened. Please don't give us paragraphs of Discord telling us the technical details of the past. Do a flashback. Show us.
Show canon disagrees.
One huge unspoken issue here is that even if they save the world, Discord will lose his mind yet again when Fluttershy grows old and dies in sixty years. He'll probably try to go back in time yet again to be with her, and what effect will that have? Her mortality and its effect on him needs to be addressed or at least lampshaded, because anything they do here is at best a very short-term fix for his loss. There's no way he wouldn't be aware that all he's doing with centuries of effort is potentially buying another small dose of his drug.
The ending is a little weak. Part of the reason for this is that your explanation for what Twilight needs to do differently is not as cohesive as it needs to be.
You tell us that Twilight's despair is lifting, but I'm not seeing it with show, nor does it seem believable. The story at that point is terribly bleak, and Discord is starting to cry. Convince me better.
If I were writing this, I'd start by showing the disaster. Or, if you want to start in the wastes, have a flashback to the disaster very early on. Don't tell us what happened, show us. This is especially relevant when what you have to show is incredibly theatrical! Who wouldn't want to write word-porn about Amblegeddon? Who wouldn't want to show us the Mane 6 surviving and coping, or Fluttershy's funeral? If you're pressed for time or space, keep in mind it doesn't take many words to do this, but even a few words with some questions unanswered is better than telling us rote. This is a wasted opportunity, and without it the story languishes in exposition.
Same thing for Discord telling Twilight what happened. Please don't give us paragraphs of Discord telling us the technical details of the past. Do a flashback. Show us.
It was a skeleton, it had no gender.
Show canon disagrees.
One huge unspoken issue here is that even if they save the world, Discord will lose his mind yet again when Fluttershy grows old and dies in sixty years. He'll probably try to go back in time yet again to be with her, and what effect will that have? Her mortality and its effect on him needs to be addressed or at least lampshaded, because anything they do here is at best a very short-term fix for his loss. There's no way he wouldn't be aware that all he's doing with centuries of effort is potentially buying another small dose of his drug.
The ending is a little weak. Part of the reason for this is that your explanation for what Twilight needs to do differently is not as cohesive as it needs to be.
You tell us that Twilight's despair is lifting, but I'm not seeing it with show, nor does it seem believable. The story at that point is terribly bleak, and Discord is starting to cry. Convince me better.
I agree with >>Posh that switching from Rarity to Ocellus is a mistake, especially since you also show us Starlight's personal thoughts between the two. It seems like the primary reason you do this is so you can have a surprising reveal at the beginning of the story, but there are other approaches you could take that don't necessitate glomming onto Rarity's headspace. Maybe have the same character who sees the reveal also help to defeat the Pseudocellus (which is totes what Twilight would call it) so we can stay consistently with a character who can appreciate the payoff. Here you're toggling between perspectives and it doesn't help the story.
However, I don't agree that there's anything wrong with the title, nor do I think it's intended to be meta. It just sounds like a response to the title of the picture that inspired the story. In FiM they've murdered potentially sapient magic beings before, so an exoskeletal golem doesn't seem like a big ethical quandary to me if you're not focusing on that aspect of it (though it's fun to do that for drama).
Totally confused here. Did she say it, or did she think it to herself? Context suggests she said it out loud. Choose one. "You may also want to use formatting to separate the two," said Trixie. Gosh I hope I'm not offending the author with my comments. I'm always so bad at this. I have no right to criticize anypony here. What's wrong with me? Why am I such a bad person who needs to die? Forgive me I'm sorry I'm not crazy I'm not crazy. Thank goodness nopony can hear my thoughts. Whew, she thought, badpersonbadpersonbadperson.
vagina
You have an issue with microparagraphing. This is a problem I have in my writing, and you have it a little worse than I do. During dialogue it's okay to have a single paragraph be a sentence, but normally you want to combine sentences into larger thoughts than this unless you have something super-important to isolate. You need to push yourself to make your paragraphs larger. For this paragraph in particular, it really stands out because it's in the middle of an action sequence and you just hoof-wave over all the action with a single sentence paragraph that says "this stuff happened". But there are other less severe examples throughout.
Not sure if Twi would say this, especially since the crime in question is she just has a book in her office? I'm not sure why having that particular book is a bad thing.
The payoff is very flat because we already knew Ocellus was going to ask Sandbar that. Make it a surprise.
However, I don't agree that there's anything wrong with the title, nor do I think it's intended to be meta. It just sounds like a response to the title of the picture that inspired the story. In FiM they've murdered potentially sapient magic beings before, so an exoskeletal golem doesn't seem like a big ethical quandary to me if you're not focusing on that aspect of it (though it's fun to do that for drama).
Starlight said, thinking to herself.
Totally confused here. Did she say it, or did she think it to herself? Context suggests she said it out loud. Choose one. "You may also want to use formatting to separate the two," said Trixie. Gosh I hope I'm not offending the author with my comments. I'm always so bad at this. I have no right to criticize anypony here. What's wrong with me? Why am I such a bad person who needs to die? Forgive me I'm sorry I'm not crazy I'm not crazy. Thank goodness nopony can hear my thoughts. Whew, she thought, badpersonbadpersonbadperson.
vagina
Gallus, Silverstream and Smolder emptied the contents of their jars on Pseudo Ocellus.
You have an issue with microparagraphing. This is a problem I have in my writing, and you have it a little worse than I do. During dialogue it's okay to have a single paragraph be a sentence, but normally you want to combine sentences into larger thoughts than this unless you have something super-important to isolate. You need to push yourself to make your paragraphs larger. For this paragraph in particular, it really stands out because it's in the middle of an action sequence and you just hoof-wave over all the action with a single sentence paragraph that says "this stuff happened". But there are other less severe examples throughout.
"I take that as a sign that I should stop reading for a bit."
Not sure if Twi would say this, especially since the crime in question is she just has a book in her office? I'm not sure why having that particular book is a bad thing.
The payoff is very flat because we already knew Ocellus was going to ask Sandbar that. Make it a surprise.
Okay, I give up. I'm ranking this one near the top.
It'll be very funny if it turns out I wrote it.
It'll be very funny if it turns out I wrote it.
>>Pascoite
I admit when I say "realize" the syllables are so close together you can hear two when I'm actually pronouncing three. It's more how I think about it in my head that controls how I see it in a poem.
I admit when I say "realize" the syllables are so close together you can hear two when I'm actually pronouncing three. It's more how I think about it in my head that controls how I see it in a poem.
*** ROGER ***
The "Last event" section needs to be "Recent events" and put stuff that has concluded in the past five days to a week. This event never appeared there for any length of time because two events ended simultaneously.
Somepony please get this suggestion to him, I dunno if he'll see this and I can't join the chat.
The "Last event" section needs to be "Recent events" and put stuff that has concluded in the past five days to a week. This event never appeared there for any length of time because two events ended simultaneously.
Somepony please get this suggestion to him, I dunno if he'll see this and I can't join the chat.
>>Posh
It's rough, because the story is otherwise excellent. This would be a solid candidate for first place were it not for that one issue.
It might still make first place, actually. The story I really like isn't likely to do well because it's too disturbing, and I still think this one tops all the others I've read so far. I still need to finish two of them, though.
It would be really, really weird if I end up top-slating this story, or more likely ranking it second after the one that was practically written for me. Abstention is also likely. I'm not sure what to do here. The writing is amazing but it's so painful to read and the ending doesn't carry through the evil, so that theme seems unintentional.
It's rough, because the story is otherwise excellent. This would be a solid candidate for first place were it not for that one issue.
It might still make first place, actually. The story I really like isn't likely to do well because it's too disturbing, and I still think this one tops all the others I've read so far. I still need to finish two of them, though.
It would be really, really weird if I end up top-slating this story, or more likely ranking it second after the one that was practically written for me. Abstention is also likely. I'm not sure what to do here. The writing is amazing but it's so painful to read and the ending doesn't carry through the evil, so that theme seems unintentional.
>>Pascoite
I can't pronounce realize in two syllables unless I'm trying to mangle it, so in a poem it should be three (for me). I wouldn't see it as two unless you made it re'lize.
I can't pronounce realize in two syllables unless I'm trying to mangle it, so in a poem it should be three (for me). I wouldn't see it as two unless you made it re'lize.
By far the biggest problem with this story is that Timber Spruce, like Flash Sentry, is a total Gary Stu. You make it even worse by having him save the day with magically incredible athletic prowess (he even saves her mother's life!), having him be perfectly understanding of Twilight's flaws and immediately forgive them, his only emotional development is that he's shy about making a good impression on Velvet because, being perfect, he desperately wants to be Twi's boyfriend, and so on. It's irritating beyond words. His Gary Stuness is just terrible, and it makes him incredibly boring and grating. He needs some flaws to show through, even in a story of this length. You did it for Sparkle and Velvet, so I know you can do it for him.
There is definite sexual tension between Timber and Velvet in the first part. I don't think you intended this, but it's there. You're describing his charm, she's evaluating him, and cursing the fact he isn't Sunset, and the way it's framed it seems like she's irritated by his positive demeanor because she's responding to it personally. It doesn't make sense that she'd be irritated by him being too perfect, which I think is what you were trying to imply.
If you go this route, you need to indicate why Velvet would be attracted to Timber aside from his looks, and I think we need to see evidence of what she sees in him in order to understand why she's tempted: is she dissatisfied with her husband, or midlife crisis, or envious of her daughter's youth, or what? If you don't want to go that way, you need to more clearly illustrate that Velvet has distaste for him, and give us a hint as to why (maybe experience with former dates) because his Gary Stuness really makes it weird that anypony wouldn't like him immediately. That factor is not coming across right now, so it's creepy, and gets worse when he jumps on top of her.
Twilight's parents decided "long ago" (assumedly when she was small) to allow her to essentially raise herself, with no restrictions? Without even bothering to check up on her, unless she specifically comes to them for help? She almost burned the house down when she was twelve and that makes them watch her less! This isn't just free-range parenting, it's positively negligent. Children aren't tiny adults, and this is way too much. She doesn't even seem to care that she almost died today, or that her daughter could have killed herself. She just says "oh, sometimes I worry a little". Horse jesus, lady. You're a terrible, terrible parent.
By "wagging his fingers at Twilight", did you mean "waving at Twilight" or maybe "wiggling his fingers"? Wagging means waving side to side, and the only finger you can wag is the index finger, which is done to scold somepony.
I refuse to believe Twilight's middle name is "Matilda", or that anypony in this universe would be named "Timothy". Unless they're a Pie.
"I'd do it myself, but I was in such a hurry to get down here last night that I forgot my geode." You lost me.
I'm pretty sure Velvet would have Tylenol in the house. Offering somepony a pain reliever they all-but-certainly have access to in a modern household is presumptuous and weird. Oh, but wait: why miss an opportunity for Timber to be a Gary Stu even more! Maybe you could have her cough too, so he could pull a lozenge out of his ass for her. And then he can go volunteer at the homeless shelter! :trollestia:
(Do you see why Timber is incredibly annoying?)
The punchline worked perfectly, though if that's the payoff, maybe trimming the story down a little would help make it more solid.
That said, the story would be much more amusing if Twilight Sparkle had shit herself. Okay, maybe not. But if you were trapped in a bubble for an hour while being threatened by a robot, don't you think you might pee at least a little?
There is definite sexual tension between Timber and Velvet in the first part. I don't think you intended this, but it's there. You're describing his charm, she's evaluating him, and cursing the fact he isn't Sunset, and the way it's framed it seems like she's irritated by his positive demeanor because she's responding to it personally. It doesn't make sense that she'd be irritated by him being too perfect, which I think is what you were trying to imply.
If you go this route, you need to indicate why Velvet would be attracted to Timber aside from his looks, and I think we need to see evidence of what she sees in him in order to understand why she's tempted: is she dissatisfied with her husband, or midlife crisis, or envious of her daughter's youth, or what? If you don't want to go that way, you need to more clearly illustrate that Velvet has distaste for him, and give us a hint as to why (maybe experience with former dates) because his Gary Stuness really makes it weird that anypony wouldn't like him immediately. That factor is not coming across right now, so it's creepy, and gets worse when he jumps on top of her.
Twilight's parents decided "long ago" (assumedly when she was small) to allow her to essentially raise herself, with no restrictions? Without even bothering to check up on her, unless she specifically comes to them for help? She almost burned the house down when she was twelve and that makes them watch her less! This isn't just free-range parenting, it's positively negligent. Children aren't tiny adults, and this is way too much. She doesn't even seem to care that she almost died today, or that her daughter could have killed herself. She just says "oh, sometimes I worry a little". Horse jesus, lady. You're a terrible, terrible parent.
By "wagging his fingers at Twilight", did you mean "waving at Twilight" or maybe "wiggling his fingers"? Wagging means waving side to side, and the only finger you can wag is the index finger, which is done to scold somepony.
I refuse to believe Twilight's middle name is "Matilda", or that anypony in this universe would be named "Timothy". Unless they're a Pie.
"I'd do it myself, but I was in such a hurry to get down here last night that I forgot my geode." You lost me.
I'm pretty sure Velvet would have Tylenol in the house. Offering somepony a pain reliever they all-but-certainly have access to in a modern household is presumptuous and weird. Oh, but wait: why miss an opportunity for Timber to be a Gary Stu even more! Maybe you could have her cough too, so he could pull a lozenge out of his ass for her. And then he can go volunteer at the homeless shelter! :trollestia:
(Do you see why Timber is incredibly annoying?)
The punchline worked perfectly, though if that's the payoff, maybe trimming the story down a little would help make it more solid.
First, story stuff.
So, Nightmare emerged from herself? I'm not sure I follow this.
I think the theme of the story could be a little more coherent. I don't understand what Nightmare represents to Luna psychologically. Why is she tormenting herself this way? How is this different from the Tantabus, apart from it not being magical in nature? What is her subconscious mind attempting to do here? It isn't clear to me. Your subconscious doesn't seek to torture you. That's the opposite of what dreams do for you, even nightmares. They're built to decouple emotional connections from memories so you can move forward.
Since the dreams are not necessarily connected to reality (the last dream for an obvious point), I'm left uncertain as to whether Luna did, or did not, elope with Twilight Sparkle.
I don't quite buy the ending yet. All of a sudden, Luna's fine. How did this happen? What was she thinking or deciding that led to her character growth?
I'm not sure Luna having no control in the realm of dreams is believable. Perhaps she should willingly remain within the dream because she is determined to learn from it.
Now, writing stuff.
This prose is super telly. You need to focus on showing us what Luna looks like, and allow the reader the latitude to determine what this means for her emotional and psychological state. The dialogue is also a little telly in places when you use it for exposition. Sometimes that's okay, but in other places it doesn't feel natural for Luna to directly describe things that happened to her in the past when she argues with herself.
Showing is something you should really push yourself to do. Even when you are showing details, you have a tendency to hoof-wave it a little. I don't know if it's a fear of trusting the reader, or a fear of trusting yourself to do it well. But, for example, when you describe the gore, you have an opportunity to paint with reds, and you don't take it. Instead you say "there's some gore and viscera". You don't have to get super graphic to show gore, and you can still speak poetically, "rivulets of red" instead of "blood" is fine if that mutes the rating. But you really need to work on painting a detailed picture and giving up control over the value judgments to the audience. Showiness is a very difficult thing to do, but it's the soul of good writing.
It should be "younger of", not "youngest of", and "sister's story" rather than "sisters".
EDIT: "Twilight would die by other means, the oracles assured her of that much." What is this about? I feel I'm missing out on important details here, as the reader. Invite me in.
So, Nightmare emerged from herself? I'm not sure I follow this.
I think the theme of the story could be a little more coherent. I don't understand what Nightmare represents to Luna psychologically. Why is she tormenting herself this way? How is this different from the Tantabus, apart from it not being magical in nature? What is her subconscious mind attempting to do here? It isn't clear to me. Your subconscious doesn't seek to torture you. That's the opposite of what dreams do for you, even nightmares. They're built to decouple emotional connections from memories so you can move forward.
Since the dreams are not necessarily connected to reality (the last dream for an obvious point), I'm left uncertain as to whether Luna did, or did not, elope with Twilight Sparkle.
I don't quite buy the ending yet. All of a sudden, Luna's fine. How did this happen? What was she thinking or deciding that led to her character growth?
I'm not sure Luna having no control in the realm of dreams is believable. Perhaps she should willingly remain within the dream because she is determined to learn from it.
Now, writing stuff.
This prose is super telly. You need to focus on showing us what Luna looks like, and allow the reader the latitude to determine what this means for her emotional and psychological state. The dialogue is also a little telly in places when you use it for exposition. Sometimes that's okay, but in other places it doesn't feel natural for Luna to directly describe things that happened to her in the past when she argues with herself.
Showing is something you should really push yourself to do. Even when you are showing details, you have a tendency to hoof-wave it a little. I don't know if it's a fear of trusting the reader, or a fear of trusting yourself to do it well. But, for example, when you describe the gore, you have an opportunity to paint with reds, and you don't take it. Instead you say "there's some gore and viscera". You don't have to get super graphic to show gore, and you can still speak poetically, "rivulets of red" instead of "blood" is fine if that mutes the rating. But you really need to work on painting a detailed picture and giving up control over the value judgments to the audience. Showiness is a very difficult thing to do, but it's the soul of good writing.
It should be "younger of", not "youngest of", and "sister's story" rather than "sisters".
EDIT: "Twilight would die by other means, the oracles assured her of that much." What is this about? I feel I'm missing out on important details here, as the reader. Invite me in.
Paging WIP