There's an issue with the form; it has a maximum number of 6000 for the word count, while the maximum length allowed here is 7000. Can this be fixed? My story is 6753 words long, so I've just had to stick 6000 in the word count box for now.
Pretty much what the first comment said. I'm only really interested in a clopfic if the author acknowledges the emotions behind it and/or includes a legitimate story beyond the clop. Of course, this rules out a lot of the more vapid fics out there, but there's a fair few that manage it well. There was one Rarishy (Flarity?) story (I believe called Ribbons and Lace) that is probably the only Mane 6 pairing shipfic I've ever read that actually explores the emotional impact of suddenly being infatuated with your best friend. And it does it really well, playing off Rarity's ever more vivid fantasies against her berating herself for using Fluttershy as eye candy. Point being, it uses the M-rated scenes as actual plot devices (hurr hurr), rather than being gratuitous. That I can approve of.
Of course, Sturgeon's Law being what it is, a lot of clopfics are just one long sex scene with no redeeming features. The ones that are more than that, however, are worth a look.
Hey, I'm in the UK and my exams finish in two and a half hours! Admittedly, that is because my subject is super-special awesome and has early exams, but I'm not complaining! Also, now I get to skip around looking happy while everyone else is caving under revision stress. Fun! =D
You realise typing 'no offense' doesn't give you carte blanche to say whatever the hell you want and get away with it, right? =P
Also, you're gonna skip that for shipping, yet read a story with copious amounts of bondage? Welp, there's no accounting for taste, I guess.
Ah, that's fair enough. And hey, you may be unpaid, but I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say your pre-reading efforts are massively appreciated. ^^
Well, there's definitely shipping in there, and I'm pretty sure readers will be feeling sad at multiple points reading my story, so... win? Also, comedy's very subjective, especially when written. Maybe you're just picky when it comes to finding things funny? =P
If you adored the original, I wouldn't recommend Horizons. It goes out of its way to try and commandeer the canon of the original fic as having relied on events happing in Horizons (usually in a very ham-fisted way). It also misses the point of both Fallout and FoE by having a progressively angsty and artificially darkened setting, along with characters that you grow to dislike, rather than, y'know, characters growing to be the fastest of friends. It's OK up to about Chapter 25, but rapidly goes downhill from there. If you're going to invest that much time in an FoE sidestory, I'd recommend one of the better-written and more canon-faithful stories such as Heroes, Murky Number Seven, or (if you want something drastically different to the original and something more light-hearted) Pink Eyes.
I like Horse Power, but I really hope they don't become preachy like that again. I thought we were long over the people whining about shipping. Apparently the people making it still think 'stop liking what I don't like!' is a valid complaint =P
Also, #4 is truly a work of absurdist art. I love the stuff Doc Wario puts out, even if half of it leaves me going "Buhhh...?"
Loved this episode. I was incredibly nervous about it in the lead-up to it, and seeing what the alternate ending was confirms my fears. I was very worried they were going to pull a an awful "Oh, yeah, let's just destroy Dash's dreams' ending by removing her permanently from the Wonderbolts, and I am so glad they didn't. The moral of the episode stood out a lot better with the current ending, and frankly, it would have been rather odd for a team that would need to be as tight as the Wonderbolts to be as reckless as Dash thought they were.
There was some fantastic character development for Dash in this episode, and stacked with Sleepless in Ponyville, I think they've really shown off how loyal and caring she can be. Her slamming her badge down and quitting her life's dream was an incredibly powerful scene (and hopefully should stop people just randomly hating on her for being 'selfish' or 'a jerk'). It's good that her ambitions are still alive, if not yet fulfilled. I really don't agree with all these people trying to create angst in the show. A good ending doesn't annihilate a character's life ambitions. Waaaaay too depressing for this show, and a bad ending indeed.
I think that'd be a bad lesson. From the synopsis, I'm guessing this episode will instead deal with the theme of self-doubt, but I'd be impressed if Dash initially rejecting the invitation and her friends talking her back into it. It'd be a good lesson to show that the bonds of friendship are strong enough to survive situational changes like this, and it would be disappointing for the writers to throw away such a big piece of character development with an either/or situation.