tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post6130545657822815276..comments2024-03-25T01:23:13.554-06:00Comments on Equestria Daily - MLP Stuff!: Story: The Games We PlaySethistohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03362851157623052522noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-79742081705939372562012-05-06T14:52:48.614-06:002012-05-06T14:52:48.614-06:00In my opinion, the fact that this story does not h...In my opinion, the fact that this story does not have six stars indicates the rating system is a bunch of crap. If there ever was a story which deserved such praise, this is it.<br /><br />Also, LOL at me stating I may have been a bit excessively fanboyish in my previous post. If anything, I didn't praise it enough.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-42591605374261014822012-04-09T22:39:11.418-06:002012-04-09T22:39:11.418-06:00That was absolutely amazing! You've held my s...That was absolutely amazing! You've held my suspense for the 7 solid hours it took to read this. In exam season, no less!<br /><br />Master piece of mystery. I'll definitely recommend this to friends!Luminoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08448810030925513957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-24977724157122005462012-04-09T08:24:50.403-06:002012-04-09T08:24:50.403-06:00very great storyvery great storyMaSchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00681829766656630927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-34081856259359119622012-03-27T06:50:49.346-06:002012-03-27T06:50:49.346-06:00What an amazing story! All my stars, take them!What an amazing story! All my stars, take them!Shantarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09291124101001423560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-58417231065626214702012-03-23T11:37:33.455-06:002012-03-23T11:37:33.455-06:00indeed of beutifulindeed of beutifulAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15193750746868099488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-2581398284969467562012-03-22T18:07:41.406-06:002012-03-22T18:07:41.406-06:00This is either my second of third favourite fan fi...This is either my second of third favourite fan fiction I've ever read.<br /><br />To compare: First is <i>Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality</i>. My usual second would be <i>Burning Arrow, Wildfire Heart</i>, but I haven't read that for two years and I honestly don't know whether it still holds up to my inflated praise of it.<br /><br />But honestly, this fic is absolutely <i>outstanding</i>. I mean it. Very early on I downloaded the whole thing to my Kindle so that I'd be able to read it wherever I was, at any time. Undoubtedly the best romance I've read. <br /><br />I tip my hat to you. Keep up the great work!Unknownlighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09278487323218605513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-3005456452258117782012-03-12T18:05:51.043-06:002012-03-12T18:05:51.043-06:00If you actually take the "mystery shipping&qu...If you actually take the "mystery shipping" aspect of the story seriously and expect it to actually deliver some kind of mystery in the way a detective novel might, which I did not, I feel that could probably also be turned into a point of criticism, as I feel it wasn't very well done and it was fairly obvious who Mare Do Well was. When judged as a means of facilitating the story and exploring Dash's and Pinkie's exmotions, I really do like it. It's something you don't see often and an interesting premise.<br /><br />I've seen people complain about the ending. This is probably mostly due to people thinking Mare Do Well was someone other than Pinkie, which is something I never experience nor really understand as it was pretty obvious in my opinion. I myself also feel it was the weakest part of the fic, but I'm not unhappy with it. I just enjoyed the rest of it a bit more. The RariJack that was suddenly introduced in the last few chapters felt a bit unnecessary and out of place in a fic which focused completely on Dash and Pinkie. And as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I wasn't totally on board with how their issues were depicted in the end and the way the characters spoke about their issues throughout the fic.<br /><br />Also, I'm a bit pissed off that it's over. I've been reading this fic for several days now, looking forward to an opportunity to continue reading and now it's all at end. Luckily, you seem to have written more PinkieDash so I'll go check it out. Also, I fear you may have ruined fanfiction even further for me. It used to be I'd read a fanfic, think it was pretty mediocre and then just go "Meh, it's a fanfic. Can't expect too much." You, however, have written an objectively good story here that proves to me that fanfics can be genuinely good, rather than just passable or a "decent way to spend a few minutes" as I often comment on Equestria Daily fanfic threads. I think you may even have redeemed Mare Do Well for me; when I see her now I think about the fun I had reading this story, rather than my annoyance with that episode.<br /><br />My apologies if my thoughts seem a bit disjointed or excessively "fanboyish". It's 1 AM and I'm never at my best at night, not to mention the fact I'm still in a state of mild glee over finally having finished this story.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-28056183688461161002012-03-12T18:05:28.097-06:002012-03-12T18:05:28.097-06:00First of all, let me heartily recommend this story...First of all, let me heartily recommend this story. I'll just copy-paste my FiMfiction comment here:<br /><br />I'm a firm adherent of Sturgeon's Law when it comes to fanfiction, meaning that I believe that 90% of all fanfics are utter crap. I do enjoy reading them, however, and so I try to minimize the damage by only reading fanfics which make it past Equestria Daily's proofreaders and then only a small selection of those. So it was only when this story was posted on that site a few days ago that I even considered giving it a try.<br /><br />Initially, I wasn't interested. The preview image featured Mare Do Well, and I really disliked that episode and kind of wanted to pretend it didn't exist. I then remembered that I had seen that image before, however: I had seen it while inspecting Donny's Boy's DeviantArt account. As I had really enjoyed DB's PinkieDash fanfics, I valued his opinion, and when I saw him say it was a good story in the comments I gave it a try.<br /><br />And it really didn't disappoint. Sturgeon's Law claims that 90% of everything is crap, but that leaves 10% to be filled by absolutely excellent stories like this one. If reading random fanfics is a lot like drinking sewage water, then this fanfic was like finding that someone had flushed a diamond. I did not have a lot of free time the past few days, but it was a story I desperately wanted to keep reading every time I sat down for it, even staying up deep into the night several times to do so. Someone in the comments claimed a lot of it was filler. This may be true, but when filler consists of well-written interaction between characters I love, I find it difficult to care.<br /><br />The way stories are labeled on Equestria Daily had already revealed to me who Mare Do Well was: it was, after all, tagged "Shipping", "Rainbow Dash" and "Pinkie Pie". In the end, though, I do not believe this truly mattered: a process of elimination left Pinkie as the only logical suspect in my mind by, say, chapter 3 or 4. In fact, I believe I may have enjoyed this fic more because I got to fully explore both sides of the issue and truly understand what both of the involved parties were thinking and follow Pinkie's struggle with her alter ego.<br /><br />Which brings me to my next point: what they were thinking was, in my opinion, absolutely spot on. All characters were well-written and in-character and the way you write Dash truly reminded me of why she's my favorite pony: I can just relate to her so well. Every word she thought, everything she did was familiar to me, as we share so many of the same flaws. It also made me realize that I possess few of her redeeming traits and am a massive cowards, as I would definitely have fled and never talked to anyone again after the first kiss with Pinkie Pie, and most definitely after the second one if I had somehow survived the first. But I digress, as this is not the place for me to whine about myself.<br /><br />I really enjoyed Pinkie's characterization as well. You managed to explore her obvious personal issues without straying from what Pinkie is all about and most of her thoughts, actions and concerns fit perfectly with my perceptions of her. I feel that you slightly overdid it in Chapter 21, though, when you had Pinkie explain herself. Pinkie describing herself as truly being broken up into different sub-personalities, so to speak, was something I'm not really on board with. In fact, I feel you have people talk about their emotional problems and fragile states of mind a bit too easily and openly. It was at times a bit jarring.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-62498472037561719142012-03-08T21:45:42.632-07:002012-03-08T21:45:42.632-07:00Just beautiful, thank you. I missed work to finish...Just beautiful, thank you. I missed work to finish reading this, and it was totally worth it.Tinker Tailorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12463645889950085566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-88845932225696176482012-03-08T20:22:38.464-07:002012-03-08T20:22:38.464-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Tinker Tailorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12463645889950085566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-37123414512700557012012-03-08T03:52:37.213-07:002012-03-08T03:52:37.213-07:00This was AMAZING. I knew who it was going to be, b...This was AMAZING. I knew who it was going to be, but the writer somehow managed to make all of them equally likely, and I was doubting myself all the way through. Absolutely spectacular fic, and the ending could only have been better if it had been read by Morgan FreemanAlexReffandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16012399628009047249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-65915578561235943502012-03-07T10:16:07.301-07:002012-03-07T10:16:07.301-07:00Always knew you'd make it onto EQD, AA! Odin k...Always knew you'd make it onto EQD, AA! Odin knows you deserve it!SatoshiKyuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00107865501835131469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-86618110605573068202012-03-07T05:33:10.139-07:002012-03-07T05:33:10.139-07:00Okay... never really go in for 'shipping'....Okay... never really go in for 'shipping'... but this was SUPERB. An excellent story of a complicated relationship. Very well-written indeed!Pawn Hearthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17539213014999662884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-87254084863161303702012-03-07T05:00:43.757-07:002012-03-07T05:00:43.757-07:00Having finally read through the whole thing, I fin...Having finally read through the whole thing, I find myself amazed at most of the comments on FIMFiction, primarily those who are talking about how they're disappointed it turned out to be Pinkie.<br /><br />Why? It would be incredibly stupid to invest all that time into crafting things from a literary perspective only to suddenly interject another character at the last minute. I'd figured out it was Pinkie from the start, and although I admit I read chapter twenty on the edge of my seat, dramatic music playing on repeat as if it the reveal was going to be super massive and throw off all my expectations...I wasn't the least bit disappointed to find out it really was Pinkie. (Well, technically, the wide-brimmed hat line threw me off slightly, combined with the mention of Manehatten at the beginning of the chapter making me think it was AJ after all, which DID have me disappointed because it didn't make much sense, but then I read further and it was Pinkie after all.)<br /><br />I've also seen a lot of people professing confusion or outright hatred towards Pinkie Pie for her actions in the fic. While I can understand that...I also understood everything she did. Once again, like the canon Pinkie of Party of One, every last action of hers made sense to me. I can't say I'd have acted exactly the same in her place, but I did understand perfectly why she acted the way she did.<br /><br />That said, I did still have a few issues with the story, primarily the random interjections of criminal activity that seemed more like plot devices and distractions...those particular scenes did not feel as well crafted as the rest of the story, and existed only to interject the necessary things needed for the rest of the story, such as Dashie's wings being broken for a good span of time.<br /><br />Apart from those gaffes though, I felt like this was a wonderful story, well worth a read, and equally worth the five stars I bestow upon it.Kyroneahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15038338543880931376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-49970889009241712392012-03-06T20:46:53.157-07:002012-03-06T20:46:53.157-07:00I feel really, really sorry for anyone who hasn...I feel really, really sorry for anyone who hasn't read the story and reads the comments.<br /><br />But, let me say this. If you go in expecting a huge mystery story, you will be disappointed. It isn't really the point of the story, though it is certainly a crucial aspect.<br /><br />If you go in looking for a shipping story that actually deals with character's emotions and interprets the characters well on an emotional lee, you will be blown away.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-55277607317307955492012-03-06T17:09:03.902-07:002012-03-06T17:09:03.902-07:00Yesssssss, now that The Games We Play is on EqD, w...Yesssssss, now that The Games We Play is on EqD, we can discover which of the commenters on <b>this</b> site are M. Night Shyamalan fans, demanding a big plot twist simply for the sake of having a big plot twist.<br /><br />Honestly, this story is so good that it improved my opinion of The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, for without that episode, we could not have this wonderful story.Krizakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05817695016412596664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-47841883196653620062012-03-06T16:51:18.475-07:002012-03-06T16:51:18.475-07:00Eee! So happy to see this beautiful fic finally po...Eee! So happy to see this beautiful fic finally posted here!<br /><br />Not so happy to see the spoiler, but it's pretty obvious by about halfway through.Mo-Gohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01682388986130096111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-18708743663945674892012-03-06T16:49:33.284-07:002012-03-06T16:49:33.284-07:00TGWP on EqD? Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes y...TGWP on EqD? Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!A Wee Cheese Toastiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05301241553087782407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-53952682215715323592012-03-06T16:40:21.098-07:002012-03-06T16:40:21.098-07:00Just binged this story. Beautifully written!Just binged this story. Beautifully written!Ozimulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348295502937917856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-3009677454989943632012-03-06T16:03:24.491-07:002012-03-06T16:03:24.491-07:00Final, this story is on here, really good PinkieDa...Final, this story is on here, really good PinkieDash ficMarcusfenix102https://www.blogger.com/profile/03591284070053287771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-20676883018582820902012-03-06T15:42:34.710-07:002012-03-06T15:42:34.710-07:00I will probably read this oneI will probably read this oneZachary D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11484308174649250589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-61111143772492320002012-03-06T15:22:04.483-07:002012-03-06T15:22:04.483-07:00Why are so many people railing on it for the shipp...Why are so many people railing on it for the shipping? I don't particular enjoy that shipping either (Not mentioning what shipping, since, you know, SPOILERS. Some people would do well to remember that...) but what was more important was that it was extremely well written and engaging. I didn't feel the ending was rushed or out of place at all. It could have worked with Mare-Do-Well being any of the 5, but the author went with this character and it worked well.<br /><br />Judge a story for its quality, not for whether it matches your OTP.Xeddriefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359318097392821067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-58665634398145108762012-03-06T14:54:35.332-07:002012-03-06T14:54:35.332-07:00Wow this took a while to show up!Wow this took a while to show up!Shotdownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04700228986346825459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-6690875841127338092012-03-06T14:49:21.309-07:002012-03-06T14:49:21.309-07:00@Shamus Aran
"After all, we don't throw ...@<a href="#c2041966082761949764" rel="nofollow">Shamus Aran</a><br /><br />"After all, we don't throw away a mystery book when the culprit turns out not to be who we thought, right? Right!"<br /><br />The problem is that it's framed as a mystery and spends loads of time and energy focusing on the whodunit aspect of the story, and then wastes all of it on having the aloof butler with a knife collection be the culprit. There's no misdirection employed other than Dash's own inability to follow up on obvious leads (which she's called out on in the end), and the reveal is consequently quite unsatisfying because it was the only real option all along.<br /><br />It's a decent psychological, shippy fic, but don't go into it expecting any worthwhile intrigue.Scizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991538877834782958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865775941337421610.post-33500517425181726972012-03-06T14:48:26.286-07:002012-03-06T14:48:26.286-07:00I read this while it was coming out on FimFiction....I read this while it was coming out on FimFiction. It's an EXCELLENT story, and I have to say, the "twist" really wasn't the point, for all that some people complain. It's not just a ship fic, it's an examination of psyche. And I love it.Party Favorshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10324323413360271024noreply@blogger.com