USA Quiz!

With my big story over and a possibility for a sequel, I plan to make two quizzes for my story.

The one for the USA arc is out, while there will be a separate one for Rey's arc alone.

Starfleet Magic Review

I stumbled upon this fic from Das_Sporking, in spite of knowing next to nothing about MLP. Well, Starfleet is wasted potential. It's about a squad which fights and defeats monsters of the week with the powers of the Elements and belief.

Each chapter is a fight against a random monster, and it's written as a Power Rangers series, very strict to the formula of the Monster of the Week. There are also flashy attacks, often called out, fusions of both heroes and villains, crossover with the source that inspired this...

I actually have no problem with the constant fights, I love good battle scenes and also write such.

So, what's wrong with this fic? The execution... is bad. And not because of inexperience, but because this series is breathing hate and malice everywhere. The heroes are actually cowardly and won't immediately go defend their friends if they risk their lives.

Also, nearly all fights and fighting styles are the same. Which is not good at all, because it diminishes the value of individuals, since they are replacable, and teamwork, since they don't complement each other's skills! I.e. you can make Starla, the archer girl, prefer to use distance and the bow. But of course the author makes even long-ranged magic users use punches and kicks too much, which don't even get a description. There are also no actual tactics except new powers out of the heroes' hineys to save them, or their God-King aka Grand Ruler interfering.

That's not the most creative approach. In fact, lack of variety makes things boring. And even Dragon Ball, which abused the transformation thing, does have some creative fights (currently Goku's Ultra Instinct got outsmarted by Moro and the fighters have to make a sadistic choice).

And, speaking of bad teamwork, it might actually be the point. See, the message of this series, in spite of being about a squad, is... deep breath... that friendship can't solve all problems, though in practice the protagonists say it sucks while it works.

Also, it has canon-bashing for the stupidest of reasons. Sure, killing off someone for wanting everyone to be friends or forcing someone else to kill her brother and then give her a miscarriage and sterility for being happily married is not petty and stupid and immoral at all. And woe if you are a woman who values beauty, a woman at all (yeah, it has sexism), or, worst of all, speak against Starfleet. In the last case, you are a loser and have to be brainwashed.

The bashing is infuriating, but there are moments when even the most hated characters of the author get a little respect. It's certainly not in the level of Partially Kissed Hero.

Starfleet are actually villains themselves. Their preaching about hating love and friendship and the misogyny would normally belong to mustache-twirlers, and imprisoning people for speaking against the crown and scanning them in case they are criminals, and the militarism, show a lot of fascist undertones.

The worst part is that actual people based on his critics are written in the story just to be tortured and killed off. That is Sonichu levels of deparvity.

The BEST part of the fic is the worldbuilding. Many characters fall short in practice, but have colossal potential, and the author consciously ignores development... except when he doesn't. This series has some good spots, but is wasted potential due to too much canon-bashing, repetition and too little use of strategy in the constant fights. Though the fights do have a bright point, that the protagonists actually struggle in the majority of them! Also, there are a certain few fights with strategies, the first story is actually the best one.

Rate: 3/10. It is repetitive, it is a hate fic, it has many moments of pettiness, and the sad thing? There is a solid skeleton for something good. I swear, if this was a live-action series as intended, because the author admits he tries that, some good special effects would make it entertaining. With these effects, if we remove all the malice seething in the series we can actually have something good! Ignoring it now would give it a 5 or 6, but I can't do that.