It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #126 · 7:57pm Aug 16th, 2023
One of the fun things about changelings as a species is that they're pretty far removed from the rest of the world. Ponies? Griffons? Yaks? Hippogriffs? Sure, all operate under roughly the same biological principles and follow similar-ish rules. Changelings and dragons? They break the mold, and changelings far more so. They survive off of feelings; their shapeshifting ignores damn near every rule of physics; being insects alone changes a huge number of biological assumptions. And that angle's great fun to explore. Particularly with easy access to Ocellus, who puts that all in a relatively approachable package.
So we lead with a fascinating aspects of being pathovores with "What Does Love Taste Like?" by PoisonClaw.
The title tells the story: Silverstream asks that question with complete innocence. And then Ocellus has to translate her experiences into something the others can understand, along with giving them a bit of education along the way.
Really? It's not often that you can sum up an entire story so fully in just the title. Just goes to show how good PoisonClaw is at literary efficiency. (I've talked about that before in a prior blog.) But deeper down, it's a fascinating question that still manages to have roots in real experiences. At some point or another we've all asked "So what does it taste like?" when another person talks about something we've never tried. (Everything tastes like chicken, after all.) This is just taking it an extra step out and adding a more fantastical spin. It's a question that makes sense, though. How could they not ask it? Food's one of the key aspects of culture, and you can't really know somebody without being at least a little familiar with their eating habits/preferences.
There's also a brief section in the middle that's just wonderfully touching: Ocellus' embarrassment and shame when they ask her what they taste like, immediately followed by the other five students going "Yeah, of course, we assumed you were feeding off of us. It's cool, we love ya." Just... d'awwww that's so touching. It's just a few sentences but it's so heartwarming. I love it.
In all? A great shot piece from an author who's great at tight, efficient stories like this.
And on the other end... let's put up the Not Work Safe sign real quick. Because mushroompone does not hold back in The Head.
Several years after the show's end, Ocellus - now a teacher at the School of Friendship - comes to class without a head. It's no joke. Through a terrible accident, Ocellus is dead. Her body, though, still moves. Acting on a mixture of rote muscle memory and fading nerve impulses, it tries to continue her daily routine. Until Ocellus' family can come to take possession of the body, it is remanded to Headmare Starlight's control - one leg tied to a chair in her office, bumping into book shelves as it attempts to pantomime the life it once had.
First off, this story is great because it's a reminder that changelings aren't just ponies with a coat of paint. They're alien beings who obey wildly different biological rules. When Elytra arrives in the third scene to tell Starlight what's going on, it's a wonderful crash course reminder that changelings are insects and insects are weird. And weird enough that changeling culture has its own term for 'the headless body is still walking around'.
But the story's more than just that bit of interesting world building. It's labelled as horror - and what with the decapitated body, that's an entirely reasonable tag even before getting into some of the later parts - but to me it's more an existential tale about mortality and loss. It's a looming part of life: the end. And that end can drag. The slow descent into losing your physical capability to care for yourself. The loss of mental faculties. Injury or illness eating away, sometimes leaving the person in a state of constant suffering. Where's the line? When does the person stop being that person? When's life too much?
This story hits those notes, and jesus christ it hits them hard. This story rattled me something fierce when I first read it and every time I've gone over it since. And so help me, I'm still not sure if what Starlight did was right or not. That's the worst part. Just... not being sure. It's not even my crisis and I can feel the paralysis of choice. That's the sign of a damn good story. That impact. And that's why I recommend it.
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Aha, both stories I've read for one! Barely, in the case of the former – I gave it a Passable from my pre-review days, but even then, when I was less settled and more fickle with my ratings, that doesn't seem right, not off what you say. Onto the Re-evaluate blog it goes!
The Head is so, so good. Hardly a surprise, as it's been acclaimed to the moon and back by just about everyone who's read it – which is good, as many of us wouldn't have touched it with its M rating and warning tags otherwise. But it bears repeating. Between the alien wrongness, the discomfort, and the lasting dilemma of whether the right choice was made, it's a fic that unnerves you in a way you glad for and sticks with you. Can't ask for more than that, can you?
Just awesome, I've learned a new word from this. Pathovore. Splendid.
The Head, which I read, didn't impact me that much, but hey. To each is their own. Guess I'm just not weirded out
5742545
I originally learned it from I-A-M, who used it in the Rules series. It's stuck with me since, and manages to both sound good and be (I believe) the correct use of the root Latin.
5742544
I admit a little bias in it: I really enjoy PoisonClaw's work so there may be a little fanishness in there.
And funny story: originally this was planned out as a blog focusing on stories about loss and dealing with it, combining The Head with another one. And then I realized they were both mushroompone stories and I went "Crap."
The Head is one of my favorites in recent memory. As a big horror fan, I thought it was incredibly effective
The Head was such a weird trip to read. Such an odd mix of humor and horror. Really nice!
argh, another remind that I still need to read The Head!
The moment I saw this blog's subject, I thought: this surely has to feature The Head. And lo, it came to pass. Though it doesn't fit everyone hard (as the comments here already show) it absolutely stunned me. I gave it my top rating, something extremely rare for a Mature fic. I've read the first one as well -- my records show my reaction was similar to Mike's, maybe a little higher, but I don't remember the fic well and at that length I probably ought to give it another look.
Wow, sorry to leave you hanging so long!!
I'm always pleased to see folks talking about The Head. It is, by far, one of my favorite fics I've posted to this site. I'm honestly still reeling from the reception it received, as I expected it to quickly fall off the front page and be forgotten. I'm happy to hear it spoke to you and will stick with you.
Also, not to snoop, but... 5742547 is this comment possibly in reference to Six Stages? I've gotta say, that's really the only other fic of mine I'd put on the same pedestal as The Head, but it's somehow a harder sell. I honestly didn't think it possible.
5744792
It absolutely is. Six Stages is just a wonderful, wonderful fic and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll still have it up here at some point (because it's excellent) but I at least try not to double-feature authors unless I'm explicitly putting the spotlight on someone.