I figured I'd actually post something other than news or lectures. Maybe get into this whole review thing.
My Little Dashie
Author: ROBCakeran53
"When your life is as dull a gray as the world that surrounds you, the mundanities can make it all seem meaningless. Sometimes all we need is a little color -- or six -- to reintroduce us to what truly makes life worth living."
Oh, what's this? A fanfiction commonly considered to be the saddest thing ever written?
-Reads Story-
Manly tears...
They have not been shed.
I'm going to be honest. I didn't cry. I'm not saying that to degrade anyone who did as there is such a thing as manly tears. But in all honesty...this story isn't that great.
The plot focuses around a certain a certain down-on-his-luck brony (put lightly). This particular brony somehow finds a filly Rainbow Dash in a cardboard box, takes her home, and he raises her as his own daughter, and the plot centers on the lives of these two characters throughout the years.
The plot is, for the most part, easy to follow. The author really knows how to keep the writers interest with using those classic "How would a pony react this?" scenarios. I thought it was a clever touch having Rainbow Dash be interested in NASCAR. Each section details a small segment of the life of these two characters, from childhood, to moving to a new house, to the ending (which we'll get to later). Even though there are a few backstory nitpicks I have like glancing over the tragic parent's death, they are negligible.
There's a lot of things that bug me about the characters. I'm not just talking about this nameless brony. I'm talking about Rainbow Dash herself. When I was reading the story, I didn't feel like that character was Rainbow Dash; it felt as if the author completely took everything that made the character what it was and tossed it out the window. Where was Rainbow Dash's ambition? Cockiness? Competitive nature? The author even wrote in a scene where Rainbow Dash gets her cutie mark from performing a Sonic Rainboom. Therein lies a problem. Rainbow Dash's cutie mark symbolizes her desire to be a champion and be the very best she can be, not that she can perform Sonic Rainbooms. Yes, I get it, "That's not really Rainbow Dash from the show! She doesn't remember anything!" Blah blah blah. It's just really irritating to me when authors like this throw out such fundamental aspects of a character without a second thought. There were a lot of times the writer skipped over long periods of time. I'm pretty sure something interesting could've happened during that time that the author could've utilized.
As for the brony character himself. I feel very bad for saying this, but sometimes while reading this I felt I was reading Twilight. This character just feels so blank. He really does nothing except wallow in sadness or pine about how much the thing he loves so much makes his heart explode. Sound familiar? And to be honest, that kinda does help with the immersion and help us feel sympathetic to his cause, but this character comes across as very whiny and woe-is-me. I sympathize with him to be sure, but does he really need to go through every single depressing detail? This is very evident in the scene where Rainbow Dash wanted to get a job. The brony felt horrible for making a joke that Rainbow Dash couldn't get one because she was in fact a pony. Ignoring that Rainbow Dash would've laughed at that as well or taken that as a challenge...cry me a river. Laughing at differences isn't bad at all. Feeling bad for being different is a sign of insecurity and it feels like the brony is encouraging these insecurities. And I feel even worse for saying this, but I feel the main character is selfish. He kept Rainbow Dash entirely to himself, instead of sharing this special occurrence with someone, possibly the world. And I know what you're thinking. "Oh but what if something bad happens" What if she gets taken to a lab for experimentation?" Really? Do we really have that little faith in humanity? I thought the show taught us better. I honestly don't feel as bad as I should that the guy was left alone in the end.
That being said though, the ending is undoubtedly heart-wrenching. It was a little painful to read honestly. We all saw the ending coming, we all knew what the final plot twist was going to be, but we, along with the main characters, wished with all of our beings that the inevitable didn't come. That is the sign of good writing. The strength of this story is how it expertly manipulates your emotions, not in its character development or plot.
All in all, this was an okay story. It really knows how to tug at a person's heartstrings by making this story very relatable to the common man. Some of the stuff the writer did personally irritates me though, as this could've been a magnificent story when it's just okay. From an objective standpoint, this story could use a lot of work. But as for the emotional side, being able to unleash emotions from the reader with such ease is a mark of mastery. Sometimes we just need something special, a little magic in our lives to remind us that life is definitely worth living.
And whatever you do, don't listen to this after reading the story. Now THAT, I did cry to.
