It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #122 · 8:30pm Jul 19th, 2023
Let's talk world building. It's a pretty important part of a story - you gotta make the setting work, after all. One of the reasons why this fandom works is that we've got a rich background to work against and to build off of. But just as important is the parts that aren't officially filled in. The stuff that's hinted at but unspoken and that writers dwell in. We can take those - some small like the lives of Twilight's parents, some huge like how pre-Princess Equestria worked - and explore them until they're entire masterpieces of their own.
So I thought I'd pull out two favorites of mine today that do just that: flesh out parts of the world's story and explore background elements that are normally glossed over or unspoken.
The first is one I've seen a few other people bring up: Keystone Gray's Timberwolves: Guardians of the Everfree.
Presented as a documentary paper, it delves into three different perspectives on the timberwolf: ancient history, presented by Princess Luna; their place in nature, presented by the deer Blackthorn; and the modern pony perspective by Apex. Each gives a window into not just what a timberwolf is, but why they exist in the manner they do and how they fit into the overall world.
And it's friggin' beautiful. Gray manages to take three excellent stories and weaves them together into a wonderful overall narrative. The author's talent really shows off with that aspect. Each story is strong on its own, but it's top notch how they interlace with elements and ideas to be stronger as a whole. The characters are much the same: each of the four perspectives (the three named plus the overall paper's author) has a distinct voice. Nailing a character or a plot can be, though, but four in one go and making them mix like this? That's tough stuff, particularly since the lens being used to look at it all is inherently a bit dry.
But more than the story - it's foremost a masterwork of world building. Timberwolves are a fan favorite monster/beastie, and Gray takes so many of the piecemeal elements we've got in canon (and a decent bit of fanon) and meshes them together into a creature that's well integrated into the world and in many ways just makes sense for it.
This is just a stunning work and somehow barely noticed. And that's despite both PresentPerfect and PaulAsaran dropping high praise and top ratings on it. One of the site's unappreciated gems, for certain.
Number two today veers from the documentary format to more of a fairy tale legend: The Tale of the Hippgriff by OleGrayMane. (Wait, did I pick two authors today with Gray in their name? That's a weird coincidence.)
The story begins with a young mare - Meadow - who lives on the outskirts of a poor village in the prairies. It's ancient times, before Equestria. She's alone after her parents passed, and she cares for their little farmstead on her own Her quiet life is interrupted with the arrival of a griffon from the distant mountains - Ahren - who crashes in her field. He is on a long journey, and she shelters him for the night. They share their hearts and her bed before the next morning he departs. But he leaves behind two things: a promise that he will return for Meadow and that they will journey together to see the sea; and Celia. Neither pony nor griffon, she has no place in the village. So it is that one day when her mother despairs that Ahren lied and is not returning for her that Celia sets out for the northern mountains. She will find her father. She will bring hope to her mother. And together, they will reach the sea.
This is just a beautiful story in every way: GrayMane weaves something that nails that otherworldly tone of a fairy tale. Everything's painted with that brush of being just fantastical enough and (ironically) magical enough to seem just past the edge of reality. The characters talk in ways that aren't quite right for real people but are perfect for a storybook. Same for the events - there's always the vibe of This Is A Story, and that's exactly what it should be.
It helps that there's a lot of elements in here: there's the heartbroken romance of Meadow and Ahren; Celia's struggles of finding who and what she is in a world that never exactly fits; the adventure of crossing the unknown; the politics of the griffon city; war and intrigue and pathos and joy. Thought Prism's words on the cover - OleGrayMane crams in more depth than most authors can in four times that length, creating a mythical story of manageable proportions - are very apt. There's so much squeezed in here and yet it feels natural and right. Unrushed despite the density.
And again, this is one that's seriously underappreciated. It's a top notch adventure wrapped in a world building skin, and I have no idea how it's only got 27 likes.
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Oh yeah. Keystone does some outstanding work; that first story definitely deserves more praise.
I love worldbuilding. I have a marked preference for indulgent world-building in my sci-fi and fantasy fiction, and that includes MLP too. But – the indulgence does not mean I don't still value story and character first and foremost, and with so much Ponyfic around, I thus tend to only go for worldbuilding-first fics when they are shackled to a good delivery system. I don't need the story and character work to be as good as the world-building– I unironically adore Tchernobog's Mood Wings, a story that enough people feel is walking a tightrope on its lore of pegasus wings being basically reading a library book – but I do need it to be competent, and very often, in stories where world-building and lore clearly came first for the author, it is not. If all I want is the world building without context, I'll consult the author's Extras blogs after finishing the novel.
I do salute you acknowledging that world building and lore comes in flavours big and small – far too many think it only applies to the grade-scale fantasy and sci-fi variety, but it can be so many other things too.
The Timberwolf story has been on my RiL list for so long, I actually took it off at one point. And then put it back after PaulAsaran's glowing review. I guess it being a documentary-like read makes it less appealing to most folk (I confess it did for me), but even given the author only ever published a few fics, this is still massively under-read. I will try and get to it soon. It's still only a novella, so I can fit it into the regular schedule.
Now, the second story's tiny traffic, I do not remotely understand. A story updated over two years that finished nearly five years ago, from an author with 15 stories, enough to not be a barely-publish sort like Keystone, should not have barely 800 views and not even 30 likes. Plus, it has a glowing review from Thought Prism too. I can theorise lots of small contributors, but even collectively, they don't account for all this. So not on.
Oh well; I'll do my part and add it to the list for a future date. Even adding 20-30 odd views will be worth it if it's as good as you say it is. And by now, buddy, you should know I largely trust your judgment.
oh yeah, Keystone was great :D
Tale of the Hippogriff's readership level is a damn fucking crime.
Thanks so much for giving Hippogriff a chance. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Thanks to you, I'm sure, it's at 28 now!