Chwoka reviews fanstuff using three grades: Gold, Mediocre, and Crap. He also gives an in-depth analysis.
Reviews
The Bluebry Show is a interesting parody of the typical "Show" format. Instead of having anything, say,
funny happening, it opts out, which gives you the oddest sensation - confusion. You see, typically you're expecting madcap joke-after-joke-after-joke, but the episodes are frequently just one joke for the entire episode. The main character, Bluebry, follows social norms entirely, but you can see the gears of joy and wackiness working inside his head (during, say, dream sequences). He's repressing who he really is so that he can get what he needs. It's almost like a metaphor. Almost, but a metaphor for what? A mystery indeed. One thing I find interesting is much more entertaining (though certainly not as intellectually stimulating) characters wandering out of scene as Bluebry arrives, like we're missing out on one of those aforementioned "joke-after-joke" episodes. Overall, though, this show about a mediocre guy doing mediocre things in mediocre places gets a...
MEDIOCREon our patent-pending Crapometer, seen left
Gilligan and Tracy appears. in all manners, a Bellfic. That is, a fanstuff made by Bell, his common mistakes being a complete disregard for how a sentence forms and what a script is supposed to look like, along with a few bad ideas. This particular idea, however, is not that bad. Two teens in the not-too-distant future hang
out together too much. It's almost like a metaphor for something, but what? A mystery indeed. Some of the flaws include, but are not limited to: "Yup, that's how people talk in real life. They make a list addressing all the questions in one sentence." You can get away with this some times, but not ALL of the time, people! In addition, the characters don't seem to do anything remotely logical. Example, from episode one: In one scene, Gilligan and Tracy are pending money like it is not a thing, rather, an infinite supply of wish-fulfillment, and in the next scene, they have to kill a man to get some expensive tickets. The very next scene! Another thing - these guys are supposed to be the heroes? It doesn't matter how lightly you play it off now, they have
killed someone. The fic itself seems to show a lack of humor. I can see some jokes in there, but the characters aren't likable enough, and they are over-saturated in a sea of lamer, lamer jokes. One thing I might recommend is a follow-through - spend a few lines on each joke, then move on to the next one. However, I doubt even this practice can save it. If thinking out things better won't help, then it looks like for now, you need to practice, practice, practice. But as for now, this practice run gets a...
CRAPon our patent-pending Crapometer, seen right
Now I know it seems unorthodox to review reviews but honestly, this deserves it. There's not much to say about it - I, personally, think it's a reactionary ripoff - but I must digress and stop being so biased. Let's move on to the facts then. First off, we have his rating system. Reading the reviews, he seems to have 2 - count them -
2 manners of reviewing things - a x out of 10 scale, and a big, slanted, text telling you if it is below 5 or above 5 using clunky, unmatched words - Viewable and Unwatchable. Why not Watchable/Unwatchable? Because, that's why. Moving on, each review is a 3 to 5 sentence list of neutral facts about whatever he is reviewing, with no opinions whatsoever, and not even a hint of grounding in his ratings. He also wimps out when he should be vicious. There's not much else to say - it's all just
CRAPon our patent-pending Crapometer, seen left
Assistant's Blog is a new fanstuff from the critically acclaimed Skullbuggy. While the idea is not actually new, the manner in which it conveys the story is a format from the bygone days - a fake blog. It stars a minor character from
The SkullB Show who is called only Assistant, as he assists a major villain. In the main work, he is a sarcastic guy annoyed by his boss' antics and overall a pretty depressed guy. However, when moved into the spotlight, he becomes deeper. Sure, he hates his job, but he sure loves kittens! His real name can be inferred to be Rob. How do we know this? A comments section, modeled after the blog format, is hosted on the talk page. Skullbuggy talks to users in-character as Assistant, which is a spin on a dead concept that seems to be slowly revitalizing the genre. All this, however, is only a bit player to the writing - not only does it have a plot, but it really gives you the impression that there's other stuff happening...
while bieing casual about it. Instead of the infodumps on complex plots as in Homsar's Blog, the story generally takes a more expressive and conversational tone. I give this a
GOLDon our patent-pending Crapometer, seen right
NPP RPG is a joke, right? I mean, it has to be! I haven't encountrered much this...bad(?) yet. It hardly passes as anything at all, being a single page with some shoddy pictures that can't even be arsed to be consistent. Horrible grammar litters the thing, and it's disorganized. In addition, it's
crap. Pure, unfiltered crap! It's as rare as purestrain gold! If you just read it, you might be able to comprehend how downright bad it is! I can'tr even put it into words, not even give a play-by-play. Just read it for yourself. This "gem" gets a
CRAPon our patent-pending Crapometer, seen left
Tales From the Flipped is the triumphant return of ultrasurreal writer Homfrog. it takes on a format much its own - a series of totally unrelated stories, released out-of-order from their listing (apparently). That's not to say it isn't good - it's a nice balance of experimental and entertaining. It's very character-focused, most all of the episodes featuring no plot but characters interacting with one and another, whether they be simple or complex. For example, "Klau" is simply an interesting character telling his story. However, in most episodes, it's simply exotic creatures doing mundane things. Occasionally there's a twist, but the entire premise begins to wear thin after a while - a show can not run on surreal looks alone! For these points,
Tales gets a...
MEDIOCREon our patent-pending Crapometer, seen right
The Adventures of Domo and T Pedo is a story about when one internet meme meets a cousin of another internet meme. Already, I can smell the quality. The first episode is... offputting, to say the least. For starters, it's roughly four pages long. What do those four pages contain? Caps lock used indiscriminately, no coherent events, and liberal usage of stolen memes. Already, it seems to rely on heavy usage of random. None of these are good signs. A worse thing is that it has no redeeming values. Honestly none. The second episode at least has a bit of a coherent plot, but it's supplemented by stolen things, once more, and exactly the wrong people to decide you want to insert into your fic. This is, I can say, with great assurity,
CRAPon our patent-pending Crapometer, seen left
Jaro Emails Extra Late Christmas Special. I mean, honestly, it's right there in the title. Jaro Emails, which we all know is a very high-quality, funny show, Extra Late, it's late, Christmas Special. Very well executed. It's a chucklefest. Sure, the plot is tried-and-true, but what's the problem with that? There's not much else to say, but read it. It's
GOLDon our patent-pending Crapometer, seen right
