Fic recs, November 15th! · 2:26am Nov 16th, 2018

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So this is the first blog of writers new to my reviews. I dunno if I want to call it an edition, so I won't, if only because I'm going to do a bunch of these rather than all of them at once. <.< Some of them are pretty damned long. And this lot, at least, is rather varied in execution.

H: 0 R: 3 C: 0 V: 1 N: 1

↑ by axxuy
Genre: Slice of Life
But Twilight doesn't want to raise the sun.
That might be the shortest story title on this site. <.< It's also a fairly short story as well, but sweet, and packed full of excellent character work. The fears holding Twilight back from raising the sun are nuanced and frequently unexpected, and Celestia's patience with her is just what you'd expect from a centuries-old monarch. This was quite nice. :)
Recommended

Stop the Rain by GravityDefyingCoffeeMug
Genre: Friendshipping
Maybe Tempest just wants to be seen differently.
I have to say, "Tempest just wants to be pretty" is not the kind of premise that one can pull off at a moment's notice. I'd have been all right with it if any time had been spent exploring the idea instead of just having her yell it at Flash Sentry (who, I should note, you wouldn't know is there if you hadn't read the description beforehand). As it is, this is flat, rushed and filled with editing mistakes, so I didn't find much to enjoy.
Not Recommended

Track Switch- Frankfurt Calling by Celefin
Genre: 2P/PoE
Stuck at a train station miles from home, you find a unicorn.
If those tags seem like a hard sell, know that this came with a strong recommendation from Admiral Biscuit. Indeed, you can see the trappings of his own humans-interacting-with-ponies stories, which tend to be pretty good. The funny thing is, in the hands of a less capable author, this would come off as wish fulfillment, especially since it was inspired by something that happened to the author. But really, it's just a cute, memorable story about a chance encounter between someone down on their luck and just about the bubbliest unicorn you could ask for. Penny is a hoot and the real centerpiece of this fic; I mean, she rattles off a whole bunch of details about some kind of Equestrian financial crisis as easily as she does ideas for better hoof shoes. She's a riot! And the mundane things she's doing throughout the story are fascinating, not only because they're filtered through the eyes of someone who's not used to being around magic. Suffice to say, this is worth the read, and might be a little eye-opening if you tend to avoid these sorts of things.
Recommended

Celestia Is a Spider and That's Pretty Much It by Equimorto
Reading by Lotus Moon
Genre: Random Comedy
Celestia doesn't mind so much.
I saw this on the front page and had to give it a go because I'm friends with CouchCrusader and I just adore Children of Everfree. That said, this is just about what you should expect from a feature box story with a title like this one has; one joke, stretched thin to accommodate a solo post. I won't say I didn't laugh, because I definitely did, but by the end, the one-two punch of "ponies upset because giant spider" and "Celestia has no idea what's going on" grew tiresome. Not awful, but I don't think I'll check out the sequel.
Vaguely Recommended

Celestia of Equestria's Tonic Experiment by Acologic
Genre: Experimental
Celestia says it's deadly. Luna is absolutely sure it's harmless. Tirek will test it for science.
And I accused the last story of stretching things out. At least this time, there's more than one 'joke', for all that this isn't tagged as a comedy. There's lots of snappy dialogue and some out-of-character humor for those who enjoy it, not to mention the, y'know, plot, which is in no hurry to reveal itself. No, the thing that really bothered me was I had no idea what was going on. It's obvious the Princesses are visiting Tartarus via some kind of holographic projection, but the details on what, exactly, it is, are never revealed. And I never have any idea what a DAG is, and it just bugged me. Still, none of that is actually important, though I defy you to figure out what is ahead of time. This story is maddening: absolutely unwilling to throw the reader a bone, yet exceedingly fascinating, just throwing out enough that you want to keep reading. I honestly don't know what to make of it, now that I've finished, but by god, it's an experience for sure.
Recommended