Fallout: Equestria, Reviewing Schedule · 4:38am Nov 14th, 2015
Soon, I intend to begin my series on the various stories in the Fallout: Equestria milieu. I intend to review ten (plus) stories, Fallout Equestria by Kkat, Pink Eyes by mimezinga, Heroes By NoOne, Project Horizons By Somber, Murky No 7 by FuzzyVeeVee, Daily Unlife by Nyreguds, Anywhere But Here by Stonershy, Misfits by DancingOnTheAshes, Heroes with Wing by JustMoth, and Origin Story by Kkat.
Heroes, Murky No7, Anywhere but Here, and Misfits are all incomplete. Misfits is cancelled, the others are still in in the works. If I get the urge and it is in demand I will review what I consider the worst FOE story, Duck and Cover.
I generally prefer to review thing I love rather than things that make me nauseous, but Duck and Cover is special with how bad it is, and how much of an example it serves of tropes and ideas to avoid. If you like your comedy mean spirited and illogical, Duck and Cover is right up your alley. The other Ten stories on this list all exemplify something I love in storytelling.
My planned schedule looks something like this:
Fallout Equestria
Pink Eyes
Daily Unlife
Origin Story
Project Horizons
*Project Horizons Short Story Compilation
Misfits
Heroes**
Heroes with Wings***
Anywhere but Here
Murky No 7
Duck and Cover****
*not listed, but there are some nice stories in here
**Will be bounced up in the que if it finishes, I love this story
***Will be reviewed after Heroes for obvious reasons when I get to it
****I am not committed to this story. If I review it I have to finish it... I'm not sure I want to. I only made it three chapters in on my initial read.
PS: I own Fallout Equestria and Pink Eyes in dead tree format. I am on the mailing list to get Project Horizons when it prints. I love these stories enough to pay through the nose to own them in physical form. However I am well aware of the shortcomings of these tales. Hope you stick around!
PPS: I will read each story fresh before reviewing, even those stories I have read multiple times.
Contrary to what the start of the story would make you think, Duck and Cover is not a bad story at all. In fact, it's pretty brilliant, once you realize it is a deliberate and meticulous satirical parody of the original story, with "your average gung-ho gamer" put in the seat of the main character. All these tropes and ideas to avoid? They're completely deliberate.
As the author summed it up...
pre12.deviantart.net/cc30/th/pre/f/2014/008/3/4/good_luck_shaun__by_captainhoers-d71d625.jpg
The gang's all here! Murder Problem, Hat Accent, Prissy Whine, Doomed Mascot, Racial Diversity and "Vinyl Scratch is Cool"!
It's definitely worth a re-read after that realization.
(also, Atom Smasher gets some really chilling reality checks at the end of the story)
See, I got through three chapters and it seemed to wallow in "these are all the ways FOE is bad." It was unpleasant to read, but I seem to recall my break point was being expected to take nerf darts seriously as weapons.
I have seen a number of people recommend the story, but what I read was either a 'take that' to FOE or 'LOL Random', and neither are things I like in a deconstruction.
I am glad that Atom gets a reality check later in the story, but the opening leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Lampshading what you are trying to do does not make it better, it only makes it obvious, and in this case, obnoxious.