User blog:EtherBot/Random Writer's Showcase: SoDaft Potato

[thunder sounds!]

It is I! EtherBot, risen from the beyond the grave! I have with me the most foul demons ever wrought out of hell, here to aid us in our latest ceremony. What, pray tell, is that ceremony, you ask?

Rising me from beyond the graaave!! [boom thunder and spooky lightning!]

Anyway, we did that already, so, I guess we'll do a showcase now. Pass the time and all that.

Besides, the mood is right. Gather round the camp fire, friends (or, at least the lit alter used during our ceremony,) take a rest! Sit on a gravestone if you have to, they won't mind! (Probably) Gather in close, and we'll tell some harrowing campfire tales. Don't be worried, we can always bring you back if you're scared to death.

Today we're showcasing SoDaft Potato, who's had an account since April, this year. She's made at least some impact since then, with six generally well recieved pastas released. I discovered her on the thread for the newest We Go Bump anthology, with a post linking to Neon, (which we'll cover later,) saying something like "oh its not perfect but its my favorite i've written so far and the comments are good too" which, I mean, I can't really help noticing. After having written these for so long, I've developed a new ingrained instinct, etched coursely directly into my primordial goop, that makes my ears perk up when I hear somebody say "Oh this one's pretty good -- even the comments are pretty nice!"

You generally don't see more established or succesful authors on the site say this, they typically say "this one is nice, I like this one" etc, so it's become a vague shorthand for, "hmm make a note potentially showcase worthy?"

It was after reading Neon, and a few more of her stories that I decided she was worth a showcase.

Last time we showcased J. Deschene, and you can read that showcase here.

'''By the way, we'll be covering most of these stories in-depth, so do go read them first. This blog series is not a fun collection of editorials about random author's, I'm suggesting you their works. Every post usually has a bit of preamble where I explain the hook, so if the story sounds intriguing then you owe it to me, the author, and most importantly, yourself to stop reading for the moment and spend about five minutes checking out the real story instead. This is your spoiler warning, everything I say after this could potentially spoil the story involved.'''

(the ghost in The Conjuring is an evil witch!!!) *

Neon
So half of the reason I started this section right now is because I thought it would be a really fun transition straight after hyping it up. Unfortunately, actually covering Neon is a bit problematic, seeing as I think it's her most recent story and tend to avoid covering the most recent story an author releases. Trouble is, Neon is pretty damn good. How good? I don't know, I haven't invented a scale of goodness yet, but if I had to make one up right now off the top of my head, I'd probably give it like a 9/Good? Which isn't phenomonal but on a scale of one to good, it's pretty good so, not bad. I'll still discuss it, but I'll try and keep it as vague as possible. My in depth thoughts will be found in a comment on the pasta's page shortly after this blog goes up.

The actual plot of Neon is hard to discuss, I'll just say it's about a guy who makes people neon signs, and when he's done they've got pretty colors. That's not really the hook, I don't think. The hook is that Neon is a second person horror story, and beyond that, it's a fucking weird second person horror story. The type of weird that feels like it was cribbed from one of my old notebooks for story ideas but then actually realized as a short story that's actually good. The working premise is so inherently dumb, yet is written with some real palpable character and mood, that for some reason it actually reads, and reads to its intended effect. The overall impression from reading SoDaft's work is a weird warped reality of vague expressive characters talking their way their a funhouse mirror window of reality, and it's weird.

Neon might be the weirdest twist in any of her stories. A few of her other stories have twists, and these twists are decent enough as they are. The problem is, (if it even is a problem,) these other twists, they just make too much sense. Like, they're very normal twists, I read them and go 'aaah spooky!' as opposed to here where I slowly start going 'wait no, there's no way, it's just impossible, that can't be the twist...no...no...you're joking?' which sounds negative, but gave the story its own weird flavor.

Anyway, since I've basically exhausted all I can say without spoiling anything, take a look at this lil dancing burger guy on SoDaft's profile. https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/creepypasta/images/b/bc/Sandwich_Wizard_1.gif/revision/latest?cb=20180618004843