Gratuitous action and violence? In Media Res plot? Sounds like Daring Do to me! Unfortunately for you, you must first get past the pit full of spikes, the the hanging alligators, and the page break before you may retrieve the review!
Author: Fernin
The Medallion of Light and the Medallion of Shadow are some of the most powerful yet obscure artifacts of antiquity. Created by a now-vanished cult of assassins, the two devices together give their bearer the incredible power to walk the worlds with but a single step.
Nefarious forces are closing in on both artifacts, and very little stands in their way. Heinrich Himmler's agents covet the medallions for the greater glory of the Third Reich. Ahuizotl's simply want their master to get what's coming to him: the world, and everything in it.
With the fate of all good people and ponies in doubt, one thing's for certain: saving two worlds would be one hell of an adventure. And if adventure has a name, it must be Daring Do… or is that Indiana Jones?
Will our heroes win the day? Find out in... Daring Do and the Medallion of Shadow! Or, Indiana Jones and the Medallion of Light!
Time for the break!... Or was that the floor cracking?
Whip and Wing
Dun-dun-dun-da! Da-da-da...
Ok, now that you're in the mood for
some Daring Do...and Indy? Indy what are you doing in this story!?
'Whip and Wing' is one of the strangest crossovers I've ever seen, in
that it is what I'd call a double-mutually-exclusive crossover.
A short background: Daring Do is going
to retrieve the Medallion of Shadow from an ancient temple far away
from the comforts of society, and at the same time, Indiana Jones is
attempting to secure the Medallion of Light from a temple in the
Himalayas. The two pieces together bestow the wielder with the
ability to traverse the world in a single step. Both Daring and Indy
wind up touching their half of the artifact at the same time, and
wind up sent to the others universe. Yes, that means Daring Do gets
to deal with Nazis, and Indy with griffins, diamond dogs, and
unicorns.
The characters really grabbed my
attention in this story-Indy completely lived up to his legacy from
the movies. I have a decent guess of what would go through his head
if he landed in magical pony land, but this author really makes it
work-a cold practicality of 'well I don't know what mythical forces I
just messed with, but I'm going to get out of this alive.' Daring do
is a bit harder to place, given she doesn't have a lot of cannon
character development, but from what there is, she lives up to
expectations. The character goodies are not just limited to the epic
duo, as you know, any good archeologist/treasure hunter needs a
sidekick or two.
The atmosphere of the story grabs the
action/adventure feel and runs with it. Back-story is not introduced
unless it is needed, and other distractions are kept to a minimum.
If you remember what it was like as a kid (or not) when you first
watched an Indiana Jones movie, you'll probably get that same feeling
from this story. Plenty of diving out of windows, fighting numerous
foes, running for your life, going over a waterfall, the kinds of
things that are the bread and butter of this genre. Don't forget the
humor either. If you remember the scene from 'Raiders of the Lost
Ark' where Indiana defeats many locals with his whip, gets challenged
by a man with scimitar, and draws his revolver to get the problem out
of the way-that is the vibe that you get. Fast paced, noble, and yet
somewhat quirky.
The biggest problem I found was the
predictability of the story as a whole. It would stand to reason
that with a double universe crossover that both of the characters
would be having similar problems on each side, but this story is
almost like watching two identical story-lines unfold with species
reversals on the characters. If Daring has a bad dream, Indy does
too. If Indy picks up a sidekick, then Daring does too. Sure there
are small differences, but it really drove me up the wall how I could
guess what was going to happen the next time the perceptive changed.
Also, while the author uses some very creative mechanisms in having
Daring and Indy understand the worlds that they are in (no I won't
tell, don't ask), they don't go a long way toward explaining how
everyone or everypony else is so calm with randomly seeing a new
species appear in their midst.
As a whole, if you enjoy a good action
story, and are willing to suspend your disbelief a little (and face
it, if you're reading a pony fan-fiction, you probably are), grab the
drinks and some popcorn.
The ratings:
Originality: 3/5
Composition: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Imagery: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Overall: 4.2/5
Sleep time for me, because the only kind of rest I've had in a while is front leaning rest. Goodnight everypony!
