It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #159 · 6:46pm April 3rd
So continuing down the road to clear out my new authors folder, I'm going to put the focus first on one of the newer folks I really like: pneu. They've got a couple of really good ones, but the one I'm settling on today is my favorite of theirs so far: Haycartes' Method.
A young filly - still in the awkward early teenage years - opens a spellbook. Inside she finds a drawing that moves and speaks to her. Its name is Twilight Sparkle, and she's been trapped in the book for years. Magic taken away and enchanted to be a drawing on the page, she needs the filly's help to escape and regain her life.
For starters, I just love the initial hook for this. I mean, that's a great hook! Twilight being stuck with weird magic is pretty much always fun, and having to rely on a New Friend to help her is a classic. The story's also told in this kind of weird semi-second person way that I - as someone who hates second person - actually find pretty engaging.
Where things get really interesting is about halfway through when the twist hits. I won't spoil that and it isn't super shocking, but it's a good solid twist that recasts the tone nicely. Things get a bit dark from there, leading into an ending that I, very bluntly, was not expecting to go the direction it did. I also call that a good thing - it's built up to subtly but still managed to get me off guard. Perhaps its seeing too many stories choose the other, darker path. This take on the ending was refreshing and actually has me interested - as several commenters brought up - at the potential for future installments to see where the story goes.
It's a great glimpse into a really interesting storyline that's well written, presented in an interesting style, and that has enough of a twist to it to keep me off balance. Pneu's also put out some other good ones (The Road We Travel is their latest and pretty great) so keep an eye on their future work. Should be some real quality coming out.
And as I did last week, I'm gonna pair that with an appropriate veteran. In this case I'm gonna go to Starscribe and Twilight Spun…
During the events of A Royal Problem, Twilight appeared to Starlight as a ballerina in a music box so she could communicate unnoticed. Starlight, caught talking to a music box, shoved it into a drawer before continuing on with the episode. Twilight, however, does not return to her normal self. She stays there, slowly spinning, trapped as an animated music box.
While not labeled as such, this one's kind of a psychological horror. At least, it's on the edge. Twilight's trapped in the music box. time distorting as she's trapped inside a dark box for who knows how long with nothing but her thoughts. (Perhaps Starscribe didn't intend for it to be horror, but I certainly took it that way.) Things get pretty bleak, particularly after the twist at the end of chapter 1 - Twilight being in that box for years (decades!) is sobering.
The story beats are a good echo of the previous story, too. You've got a good (if not totally unexpected) twist about halfway through, leading up to a turn at the very end to give a bit of brighter hope to things. It's still a bittersweet ending, but it isn't quite as dark as the story leadign up to that point.
Honestly, this is a great, compact version of Starscribe's general work. Good concept, solid performance, a bit of a twist, quality writing. Don't think I really need to go deeper into one of the site's biggest names.
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While a quick scan of their stories did reveal a few I vaguely recognised, the name Starscribe is not one that rang any bells, I must admit. Which seems rather surprising for an author with nearly 4,000 followers that is still "active".
Thus, I'm sure a lot of their work is top-notch, though I will concede that they are Patreon-funded doesn't fill me with confidence – most authors I've followed in the past who turn to regular monetary contributions for their fics have the passion and energy tangibly dissipate from them over time.
But, there are always exceptions.
That's also one hell of a hook for Haycartes' Method. And a real eyebrow raiser that you feel the second-person is well done: as you know, I'm just as cold to second-person as yourself, so not an endorsement to make or be taken lightly! Most curious.
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Starscribe is one of Fimfiction's powerhouses!
...but if you're not as into ponification fics as I am, I guess you might have missed them :) Words of Power is their current ongoing fic, but there's been a few over the past few years.
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Okay, after several minutes of looking around, I'm stumped. What's ponification? Every word search just returns "pontification", a very different word, and the most I can get as to it within Ponyfic is that ponification is maybe related to the Conversion Bureau (which is also something I am not well-versed on at all), and something to do with humans becoming ponies. Beyond that, I'm as empty as a spirit. 👻
Wait…
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You're spot on the money with remembering The Conversion Bureau with that. Ponification's focus is on the human-pony conversion - The Conversion Bureau, Friendship Is Optimal, Spectrum, that sort of stuff. It's kinda Starscribe's bailiwick, though not their only area.
So happy to see you recommended pneu's fic. That story is such a good read! I haven't read much of Starscribe's works yet. Should probably change that soon. Thanks for the blog!
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Pneu is one of the newbies I'm watching really closely. Between this, The Road We Travel, and Closet Space, they're building up a really good library.
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Closet Space is actually one of the other ones I read of theirs. I liked how creative the presentation of the story was. I really would love to do that with some of my works, but Fimfiction's limitations bars me from doing so.
Thank you for the kind review and for reading my stories! I'm honored.
Twilight Spun though :O