It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #128 · 7:36pm Aug 30th, 2023
So the original plan was that next week I was going to do a big push of new writers (for reasons), but something came up just before my vacation that I wanted to get in here ASAP. Fortunately, it just means I'm extending the new writers blogs out a bit further to let me get more of them and that's a great thing!
So aaaaaaaaaall the way back in blog #4, one of my earliest recommendations was the stupendous The Exes Club by MarvelandPonder. It's great, it's got a fun sequel ongoing, all that and a bag of chips. Well, two weeks ago a story drops from a brand new author that's labelled as a sequel to it. I was leery at first since unauthorized spin-offs happen, but MarvelandPonder put out a blog a day or so later hyping it.
So I'm stoked to bring a focus on Rodimus Pumpernickle and Liminal Space.
Flash Sentry and Timber Spruce are dating - kind of. Their relationship is still new and unstable, with both of them trying to settle into it. Learning about each other, being cute as hell, dealing with their now-dating exes, facing down the term 'boyfriend'... It's all a heavy pile of things to deal with. But they'll get through it, because when you find something special? It's worth it.
Now, that's really about all there is here: that relationship, and the two dealing with each other on that. And that's exactly what I wanted. Back in Blog 4, I lamented that I wanted more of the two of them together. This story delivers exactly that: it's 11400 words of just Flash and Timber being an absolutely adorable couple doing couples things. Having a date, being harassed by Pinkie Pie (who means well but man...) , talking about their pasts, all that. This is everything I wanted as a coda to The Exes Club and I couldn't be happier for it.
And again, seriously, these two are adorable. It's a simple slice-of-life romance fic, but those can actually be pretty tough to do. You've gotta nail the chemistry and make the reader care about the characters. This does it spot-on and damn do I love it.
Have I mentioned enough times yet that I'm stoked about this one and it hit precisely what I wanted from it?
Yeah.
If I had to peg one favorite spot, it's near the end when Flash makes the mental comment of 'Timber still kissed him like he was kissing Twilight'. God damn that is a lot of story and emotional power in a little paragraph.
But yes, if you read and enjoyed The Exes Club (which is something I happily suggest), this one's a must read.
Now, I won't diminish the story paired with this one at all: it's a damn fine romance of its own from the May Pairings Contest that attracted me with the unusual coupling: Wallflower Blush and Applejack. So here's Apple Trees by Briny Rivers.
Wallflower's been having trouble in math, and Applejack started tutoring her. That... developed further than just tutoring, and while they're still going over how to calculate the volume of a sphere? There's also kissing involved. But Wally's got her undercurrent of worry still going, and she's noticed one thing. Applejack's never referred to her as 'girlfriend'. And when she asks Applejack about who knows they're dating, well... Applejack lies. And that doesn't do poor Wallflower's mental health much good.
For starters, this pairing is crazy rare - none of the others are romantic and the only one where they're not part of an ensemble cast is one I was given for Jinglemas. But it works! The two have a great balance between them: Wally's mental issues and lack of confidence are bolstered by Applejack's rock-like stability; while AJ's desire to not rock the boat is shaken up by Wallflower pushing her into action. You can see how they work together as a pair, and while the story doesn't go deep into that part it's easy to fill in the blanks. That's not simple for rare pairs and there's just enough in here to set up the pieces.
The core of the story's focus is on the reveal of the relationship - on labels and on acceptance. Applejack's conflicted and worried because her family means so much to her and she just isn't sure if she can risk it. It's a good reversal with Wally being the more confident of them, and it's great to see her being the force in things in her own way. It's a realistic and understandable point of conflict, too, which gives the whole thing a great weight.
I do love the section where the reveal does happen, too. It feels right, and the reactions genuine. Then the ending part which just oozes cute and is a great payoff for the story leading up to it. The little texts near the end are adorable and warmed my heart.
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As someone who has read precious little of Wallflower Blush (though with 424 stories, she's pretty dang popular for a one-off EqG character that debuted as late as 2018 – I do of course get why), I'm actually not surprised at the rarity of an AJ/Wallflower pairing. My impression has always been that she is overwhelmingly paired with Sunset (whether romantically is just platonically as part of a story), and seeing that 265 of her 425 have Sunset tagged too, that seems borne out, yep. Some minor characters really bear out to have popular fandom pairings with characters they barely or never interacted with onscreen, but doesn't look like Wallflower is one of them.
…Look, this was a week of two EqG romance fics, there's not much else for me to latch onto here.
Rodimus Pumpernickel XD love it
The sound I just made!! Whaaaaa thank you for the shout out and the amazing comments!! I'm stunned and bright red!
Can attest: It's deeply satisfying to read Liminal Space. Gives all the boys interactions you could want packed with excellent characterization and some killer lines! Total must read (in my opinion even if you don't read all my stuff!)
5744603
It is! As I said, it's exactly what I wanted: more of those two being a couple. Their not having the chance to be a pair was my only real regret in The Exes Club, and this is perfectly what I wanted.
5744602
I'm more than happy to give a shout-out. You did great work and I was real damn happy to read it. Excellent work, and I'm looking forward to your future writing.