It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #137 · 6:57pm Nov 1st, 2023
So last week's lead story Heartless wasn't originally intended to be part of that pairing. I'd had it slated for several months to appear along side today's lead story but ended up separating it once AltruistArtist got theirs out. It just matched much better to me.
But I also couldn't just let the other story languish - so it's today's starter.
And that story - brought to us by Jade Ring - is A Change in Perception.
This story comes in three parts: In the first, Shining Armor confronts the temporarily unpetrified Chrysalis where she reveals Thorax is Shining's son. In the following two, he deals with the consequences of that: first with Cadance and then with Thorax himself.
Now ironically with a summary like that? I'm going to say the first thing I love about this one is the lack of drama. I mean, it's dramatic but it lacks 𝓭𝓻𝓪𝓶𝓪. The involved characters are adults, they consider both what's happened and the consequences like adults, they have the emotional depth of adults, and (with the exception of Chrysalis) they handle the situation like adults. It's refreshing because this is a story pitch that could easily have descended into teenage overdramatics. There's a maturity in the characters and that makes it deeper and more interesting to me than if it had turned into soap opera melodrama.
This isn't to say that there isn't a ton of emotion, though. It's just more understated - the shock of the reveal, Shining dealing with (and alluding to dealing with) the trauma it brings up in him, the whole way Thorax approaches it. It's powerful without being in your face. (The author's blog post about the story gives context as to why it's got that power, too.)
The writing, of course, is on point. Jade's an excellent author and I would expect no less. I'm a fan and this (alongside Lawmare and A Better Way To Be Dad) is one of his top three for me.
Moving from maturity to... less so, I'm following that up with one of SockPuppet's most recent: Flurry Heart Dates a...
Flurry admits to her parents that she's dating a friend from school. They're briefly excited until they find out he's one of the exchange students - and a changeling. Immediately, they forbid Flurry from dating him. In a fit of pique, she starts widening her dating pool and bring them to meet her parents immediately. Some, ah, interesting characters show up.
Obviously, for those not reading the room (or the story cards) this is a comedy. It's a very silly comedy. Flurry's dating pool is full of outrageous and painfully stereotypical characters - the hippogriff is probably my favorite - that barrage you with a bunch of quick hit jokes. The story's got that fast, punchy beat, moving on to the next joke fast enough that you just barely have time to process the one before it.
Of course, there's also the punchline joke. I won't ruin it, but I'm betting most readers will guess it before the end. 'S still funny, though.
Really, this story isn't complex. As I said it's short, fast, and punchy. It makes the jokes and moves on without wasting time. Plus it's got a lot of great little lines: "Also, they have a place to put prisoners", the 'Somehow-Sombra-Has-Returned' alarm, and the rock concert all stand out to me. Sock's great at those kind of touches, and this is a classic Sock comedy.
New or catching up? Try Recommendsday: The Index for your story needs!
I didn't. I trust authors too much. XD Loved the story though.
haha, thanks!