Fic recs September 13th · 2:39pm Sep 13th, 2013
Happy Friday the 13th!
>tfw I should be working on one story but have designs on three others
H: 3 R: 0 C: 3 V: 0 N: 0
...Not a lot of variation this time around, but a great crop of stories nevertheless.
Princess Celestia Hates Tea by Skywriter
Reading by Captain Sand
Reading by Savrin Drake
Genre: Comedy of Errors
You know, I could swear I read this before, but apparently I was thinking of the stories like A Short Story by Twilight Sparkle that are related to it. This is a comedy of errors about the permanence of symbols and the duty of a ruler to her people. It’s hysterical. And that’s all I’ll say about it, because you don’t want to be spoiled on this any more than you don’t want to read it in the first place. Skywriter inches up to the top of my “best writer in the fandom” list.
Highly Recommended
It Is My Fate to Enter Every Door by Cloud Wander
Genre: Mythical Journey
Likewise, I’m not sure what I can say about this without giving away all the good stuff. Cloud Wander is, of course, one of those top-tier writers in this fandom, so the choice to read this shouldn’t be too hard. It’s not overly sad, just a bit melancholy, so you needn’t fear that. It’s also horribly clever, mixing numerous mythologies seamlessly into Equestria’s. Despite its brevity, all the characters breathe and leap off the page, and if there’s any reason to read this, it’s that. Well, that and it stars Blinkie Pie, and no Pie-family-related story ever does that.
Highly Recommended
Diamond in the Rough by AbsoluteAnonymous
Reading by Crafty Arts
Genre: Shipping
All you need to say to get me interested in a story is “RariJack”. Have I ever mentioned that’s one of my favorite ships? Spoilers: They’re all my favorite ships. Unfortunately, I’m also starting to get tired of ponies getting drunk as a prelude to shipping. That said, I shouldn’t hold it against this story, as it’s been around a while, and what follows the drinking is in turns funny, touching, and adorable as fuck. This is a pretty simple ship setup, but it does delve a bit into Rarity’s thoughts on the subject, plus the ending is just great.
Recommended for Shippers
Chancing Canterlot by kits
Genre: CMC Adventure
As the label suggests, the Cutie Mark Crusaders realize that Ponyville has nothing more to offer them and stow away on a trip to Canterlot. What ensues is not so much wacky hijinks, but more the promise thereof, and honestly that’s kind of refreshing, because it’s not often I see authors getting the three into trouble that feels quite "right". The best part is in the middle, where one at a time, they have ridiculous fantasies about what kind of cutie marks they’ll get, and the entrances they’ll make once they get back home. That was class-A stuff. The one weird thing about this story is the perspective. The POV shifts like butter on a hot plate. The first one is lampshaded eventually, but it really threw me at first. It's hardly a deal-breaker, though, and this is a pretty enjoyable little slice of life piece.
Recommended If You Mind the POV Shifts
A Chip Off the Old Hoof by Vanner
Genre: Episode-like
I am so mad at this story. Not only did Vanner write an idea that I thought I was severely clever for coming up with, but he did it an entire year before I had even conceived of it! D: Not fair! So anyway, this is a nice episode-like slice of life piece centering around why Fluttershy never wants to go to Cloudsdale. It moves a little fast (as episodes are wont to), and has a few minor spelling errors, but in all it’s well executed, and Rainbow Dash is quite the hoot. This won’t blow anyone away, but it is based on a fairly unique premise. :| So mad.
Recommended for Something Different
The Arbitrage of Moments by GaPJaxie
Genre: Drama
I’ve been trying really hard to come up with a decent metaphor for the ways in this story unravels. I mean, there’s the Jacob’s ladder — the toy, not the electrical phenomenon or the Biblical allusion — but that’s a little too quick, and it’s really more a wave than an unraveling. The only other thing I can think of probably won’t hold any meaning for most people, but here you go: This story is like a bolt of cloth, anchored to a roof at one end and then sent to the ground, filmed in slow motion. At night. You know what’s going to happen, but you don’t know what’s going to happen, and the ways in which the plot reveals itself are just stellar. It’s heartbreaking, it’s tantalizing, and it’ll run you, like the characters, through the wringer.
Highly Recommended
You know, I have a Rarijack. =D
Thanks a lot for the Celestia Hates Tea recommendation. I'd recommend that anyone else reading it also read A Short Story by Twilight Sparkle. It's linked at the end of the first fic and everything!
Edit: And then I read Arbitrage of Moments. It's a great story, and it also revealed to me some tips on how to do a mystery, at least in a short story.
It's a shame that there are like two RariJack stories on EqD...
This feel I know all too well.
Write it anyway. Write it better.
This one was kinda boring. And despite a relatively sedate pace, it feels rushed.
hahawat
Also amusingly enough, in Skywriter's mini-continuity, PC Hates Tea is written by Twi.
Just read The Arbitrage of Moments. That is an outstanding story. I was going to say "uncompromising", but that's almost backwards. Someone's uncompromising when they take a position and won't budge. This story refuses to take a position, to call the final play and wrap everything up neatly.
1346826
I'll read it eventually. :)
1347140
Thing is, I don't think I have anything really original to add to it. :/ The best I could do is writing up to today's standards.
1347964
As in "Mind the gap".