I believe in "DL;DR," that being, if all indication is that something is intolerable, it's best to just let it rot. Furthermore, as someone whose attitude towards MLP ranges from quiet tolerance to indignant apprehension, I have no stake in this story. Consequently, I've taken the advice of all the people who (evidently rightly) loathe this garbage and won't be flipping through anytime soon. What I want to talk about, though, is the author, because, again, going by the advice of the article, he seems to be essentially the writing equivalent of Murphy's Law.
Now, I have seen bad writers. Horrible, horrible writers. They couldn't spell. They had all the colors of the Sue rainbow. They went to the cliche well, again and again. But that was to be expected. Most people who try writing just aren't that hot. They still try, or at least quit before they embarrass themselves. That's fine. As long as they try to make something good.
But this guy doesn't try to make something good. He details his opinions heavily, and they are universally garbage. What others would call 'unfortunate side-effects,' he calls 'personal goal.' Flat Characters are okay. Not everyone can get a moment; in fact, it'd probably just slow things down. But they're not something you shoot for; they're a side-effect of large casts and limited time. To create a character - a main character, no less - to be flat is practically an offense to storytelling.
Furthermore, there's the fact of writing in a universe you hate and then not using it. Fix Fic or Deconstruction Fic works, because the person usually has the sense to work with elements in their universe, not against them. If his goal was to make an adolescent-male version of MLP, he'd likely find a lot to work with, but he doesn't. He ignores it, marginalizes it, or generally fucks it up to the point that it's just not worth reading. The Storm Dragons exists because the writer thought that Galbatorix might have a story in him. MLU exists because some arsehole hated a show that's not even meant for his age group.
I use "Murphy's Law," because to me, the worst possible writer is one who actively pursues schlock-level in all endeavors, then fails to clear even that pathetic bar. That's this guy.
Now that that's out of the way, let's bury this piece of shit and forget it ever existed.
A Quick Look from the Outsider
I believe in "DL;DR," that being, if all indication is that something is intolerable, it's best to just let it rot. Furthermore, as someone whose attitude towards MLP ranges from quiet tolerance to indignant apprehension, I have no stake in this story. Consequently, I've taken the advice of all the people who (evidently rightly) loathe this garbage and won't be flipping through anytime soon. What I want to talk about, though, is the author, because, again, going by the advice of the article, he seems to be essentially the writing equivalent of Murphy's Law.
Now, I have seen bad writers. Horrible, horrible writers. They couldn't spell. They had all the colors of the Sue rainbow. They went to the cliche well, again and again. But that was to be expected. Most people who try writing just aren't that hot. They still try, or at least quit before they embarrass themselves. That's fine. As long as they try to make something good.
But this guy doesn't try to make something good. He details his opinions heavily, and they are universally garbage. What others would call 'unfortunate side-effects,' he calls 'personal goal.' Flat Characters are okay. Not everyone can get a moment; in fact, it'd probably just slow things down. But they're not something you shoot for; they're a side-effect of large casts and limited time. To create a character - a main character, no less - to be flat is practically an offense to storytelling.
Furthermore, there's the fact of writing in a universe you hate and then not using it. Fix Fic or Deconstruction Fic works, because the person usually has the sense to work with elements in their universe, not against them. If his goal was to make an adolescent-male version of MLP, he'd likely find a lot to work with, but he doesn't. He ignores it, marginalizes it, or generally fucks it up to the point that it's just not worth reading. The Storm Dragons exists because the writer thought that Galbatorix might have a story in him. MLU exists because some arsehole hated a show that's not even meant for his age group.
I use "Murphy's Law," because to me, the worst possible writer is one who actively pursues schlock-level in all endeavors, then fails to clear even that pathetic bar. That's this guy.
Now that that's out of the way, let's bury this piece of shit and forget it ever existed.