1/19/13 EMCSA Update

WITHIN: Graded primarily on heat and narrative
WITHOUT: Graded primarily on narrative
Possible spoilers below …

WITHIN
A New Purpose (mc ff ft) (new)
–3/5 (decent, not perfect)–

Not particularly pulled in by the listing of daily activity, but not pushed away. Once the “dream” sequence started things really started to get interesting! Description of household chores and general domestics have no interest to me (kinda grating, honestly), however, but the aberrant burst of motivation made it palatable. What does bring the score down a bit is how turned off I am to S/M themes. The conversion was fine narratively, though, with an ending that took me off guard. I can’t say the ending was a negative narratively, per se, but it did have some shock value!
(Readability: low / follow: no)

Solstice Twins (mc mf ff md in) (new) by  TelePhoto
–2/5 (so-so, maybe a good story to others but didn’t mesmerize me)–

I must admit, partly because of the synopsis and tags, it felt like it took a while for anything to happen. If I had no idea that a vampire was gonna start stalking them, I might have been more interested in their life stories, but we already knew what was going to happen. For instance, in the prior season of True Blood, if I knew that what was gonna happen Vampire Bill in the finale, the season would not have been interesting at all. Obviously, I don’t mind the occasional vampire tale, but those themes can be kinda tired and dated with things like the magic of electricity now completely demystified. That was the case and problem here, more so than the synopsis giving it all away. Even worse, reason for this vamp doing what he did just didn’t seem to be there. And, blood-cum? Myth update or no, that was ick …
(Readability: low / Follow: no)

FLASHBACK WITHIN
Roaming Canvas (mc fd ma ft ex ds rb) (1 new chapter) by   Mr. Scade
–3/5 (decent, not perfect)–

The review of the story I did when it was first posted on this author’s blog last week … The writing was still generally fine. Plus, I always like it narratively when a main character shows a little logic: suddenly turning someone into a full time sex slave WOULD cause someone to ask questions! Though no heat to tickle my fancy, the chapter, albeit rather slow, was just fine. Plus, the Artist is much older than I thought!
(Chap ReReadability: moderate / Chap: 11)

WITHOUT
The University Placement (mc mf fd) (new) by  Rizzle Dizzle
~~2/5 (so-so, maybe a good story to others but didn’t mesmerize me)~~

Thought it was perhaps a bit bland, while certainly not old and tired. It had polish. The transition felt a bit quick for me, however. It was also a bit unbelievable that was her only option. Though my university certainly had a rather weak job placement program, which had no idea how to handle the economy crashing back in 2008, they would never “place” you anywhere. It was all options and advisement. Also, even if this was something set up like a course, physically moving cross country as the only option seems unusual to me. It was also a bit predictable, too. I tried, but I just couldn’t get into this one.
(ReReadability: Low / Follow: no)

RANDOM COMMENTS
I would totally “hire” an editor and see writing as more than a hobby if I currently received any monetary gain.