It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #119 · 6:50pm Jun 28th, 2023
Food is a pretty universal thing - obviously - but there's more to it than just what you eat. The experience is important, too.
A couple of years ago, I went to a friend's wedding in Boston. For the bachelor's party, we hit up a little basement bar where we were encouraged not to order a drink by name but by what we wanted to experience. This ended up very silly for the most part, with the party suggesting mad libs (like 'spine needle') rather than actual things but the experience as a whole stuck with me.
And that's why I so strongly recognize today's lead story: Honey Cup by Novelle Tale.
Because that experience I had is precisely the tea shop that Luna walks into: one orders the feeling they would like, not the drink they're after, and the staff create that emotion in a cup. Luna - in disguise - orders something simple. Regret.
Luna dealing with her past guilt is a well-trod path. But this one separates itself from that pack by the subtlety - it's a very soft approach with minimal dialogue and a gentle touch to the subject. And that's good: far too often Luna's depicted as dealing with it through violent self-flagellation and tearful speeches of self-hate. Not here. It simply presents the issue in a restrained fashion and the staff of the Honey Cup responds in much the same way.
You don't often look at this topic and call it 'cozy', but that's that I have to call this one. It's a breath of fresh air for a well-used topic and a good, artful short.
Going from drink to food, we've got bahatumay's The Incognito Cart.
The titular Incognito Cart is a mysterious and poorly kept secret of Canterlot. What separates it from other food carts is that it's incognito: when you're there, you don't recognize anypony else at it. Even if you think you do, you most assuredly do not. This allows anypony to eat whatever they want in freedom and cast aside social responsibilities for just a little while. Models and athletes don't need to worry about their diets. Nobles can eat commoner food without being sneered at by their peers. It allowed Canterlot's most socially conscious and uptight let their collective hair down because nopony recognizes anypony else at the Incognito Cart.
I absolutely love the Incognito Cart as a concept. It fits in perfectly to the world: it's a stress relief valve for high society and eating sinfully is totally in character for Equestria's 'guilty pleasure'. That it exists is one of those things where, once I saw the concept, instantly cemented itself in my mind as something that almost certainly was a true part of the Equestrian world. (I still have it as a post-it note to sneak it into the background of one of my fics - I wanted to get it into First Hoof Account but for obvious reasons it would have to be an earlier iteration.)
But taking it beyond the concept of the cart is the story associated with it: it's a beautiful mix of world-building, comedy, and romance. (The last because, well, when nopony knows who you are? You can get away with flirting in ways you normally wouldn't.) It plays to all the aspects well, lightly dancing from one to the other with a mix of wit and heat. It's excellently balanced that way and engaging. Also it makes me hungry in the way that I know I would regret the next morning.
Plus a year after reading it the first time, I still laugh at the dish 'Desire'. That's top tier comedy and I won't spoil the joke.
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Love symbolism. Thanks for the first one, it hits the spot
If only dealing with personal demons were that easy in real life. Ah, magic~. But it's like, many little things like these, that build up over time, anyway...
(to note, I'm pretty sure self-flaggelation and self-hate would only make matters worse, and will never lead to absolution)
It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PAnKl7862qc&pp=ygUYaXQgaXMgd2VkbmVzZGF5IG15IGR1ZGVz
The Incognito Cart is a great fic, and I'm delighted to see it get some more exposure here. As for "Desire", it came back to me the moment I read that and now I can't stop wince-grinning almost as much as I did the first time!
Hey, the Incognito Cart! One of the first fics I reviewed, back in only my 2nd blog.
Glad to see it again – I still remember its tone vividly, as well as the focal ponies for the romance actually kind of working despite effectively being a crackfic. And just the visual of all the ponies queuing up for and eating greasy, fattu fried food (or the vegetarian equivalent, anyway) under cover of dark is too good.
And yep, it is the kind of fic that will make you hungry.
Hello!! I had NO idea you had read, reviewed, and loved Honey Cup! We were listening to your interview for The Barcast tonight, and my fiancé started scrolling through your reviews & peeped that you had recommended two of my stories, how delightful. ☺️
I've always enjoyed the kind of... understated stories, that can say what they mean in the space between the words that are actually written. That's definitely what I was going for with this one. It's so very gratifying to see folks appreciate it for just that.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading it, and for giving me such a glowing review.
((I've written a couple more one-shots that you may enjoy that may or may not talk place in the same universe/shop haha. I'll be publishing one soon--tonally, it's a fair amount different, but the core meaning is similar. 😂 Hopefully folks will enjoy that one too!))
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You hit that dead on, I think. Honey Cup is a story that just wouldn't have worked with more - it succeeds because of that understatedness and leaving a lot unspoken for the reader to figure out. It's got a lot of soaking in the vibe to it, and I really love it because of that.
(And I know you have more! I've read your entire library and really enjoyed them. My favorite - that I haven't yet put up on the recommends - is actually Fork in the Road. You do great work and are always a pleasure to read.)