Fic recs, September 11th · 3:37pm Sep 11th, 2014
Signal boost: ToixStory has set up a book club group where you can go and discuss various fanfics! I think it’s a cool idea. :D
Oh yeah, and there's a new writeoff starting tomorrow! :V
Hate to be a drama queen still, but goddamn does everything suck right now. D: Last night was tornadoes, I haven't applied to any jobs since last week and I've got a meeting with my jobs person in two hours, we're planning to flea bomb the house because we've been fighting the infestation for five years and that involves taking the cat to get washed (two things he hates), and it's just going to be horrifically stressful and I don't want to do it. :( So let's counter all that negativity with something positive! What's good in my life right now?
...
Ponies.
And some of the stories people write about them. :B
H: 0 R: 1 C: 3 V: 0 N: 3
One Last Quest by Vanner
DNF: 3/16
Genre: Adventure
Cheerilee, Medley, Pokey Pierce and Nurse Redheart are called via dubious circumstances to go on a quest for the Princess. I could not get into this story, and it’s entirely thanks to the horrendous writing. Proofreading was non-existent: along with typos, there was telling, LUS, capitalization issues, and just some of the most bizarre misuse of punctuation I have ever seen. (Seriously, doubled commas? Periods just showing up randomly in the middle of sentences?) Added to all that, the narrative has a tendency to skip large portions of time, and while this might have served the purpose of keeping the story from being bogged down by unnecessary minutiae, I nevertheless always felt like something was being missed each time it happened. Then there’s the whole setup, the fact that the princesses are asking these ponies to drop what’s going on in their lives without any particular care for them, not to mention that they seem to think they have to send those particular ponies on account of some prophecy. (Why do they need to follow it? If it’s ever made clear, it isn’t done soon enough.) That’s not to say this is all bad. Though the characters mostly just whine about how they don’t want to have to go on the quest (the “we’re adults and have lives and can’t just go adventuring like you young ponies” thing was really hammered home in the first chapter), they do have some endearing qualities. Medley’s situation is the most compelling, as she’s afraid for her family and taking it out on herself. Redheart was a bit of a standout character in the early going, and I was somewhat intrigued by her history with Pokey, the only one of them to have ever been adventuring previously. The world-building is also on full display, and lots of little hints dropped over the course of three chapters were intriguing, and handled well. Unfortunately, it just came down to “I couldn’t stand the lack of editing”, and I didn’t want to go further than I had to to feel like I was giving the story fair shakes. :/ Vanner’s never been a bad writer, but this is a terrible example of what he’s capable of.
Not Recommended
Style Over Substance by shortskirtsandexplosions
Reading by Goombasa
Reading by Agent0Fluffy, et. al.
Genre: Comedy
After her impromptu frou-frou-ing (imprompfrouing?), Rainbow Dash seeks sanctuary at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack has thoughts on this. I’m glad I only just rewatched Inspiration Manifestation, or I might’ve been entirely lost as to what was going on (it’s the one episode from season 4 I tend to forget exists). The conflict here is due to Rainbow Dash being unable to get out of that dress, and not wanting anypony to see her, lest her reputation be ruined. Don’t let the Romance tag fool you, this is extremely light shipping, with the AppleDash feelings being played mostly as a joke. As jokes go, it’s also the least effective, which is unfortunate, because it’s the punchline of the entire thing. Still, this is a really funny story — Granny Smith is in top form, and Applejack’s ridiculous countryisms are, well, ridiculous — and I enjoyed the whole thing. Aside from a few odd word choices, homunculisms and the like, this is pretty top-notch.
Recommended
A Sky and Its Anchor by blue harvest
Reading by Emogak
Genre: Romance
Did you know short skirts and explosions has a secret AppleDash account? I sure didn’t. (What’s up with him anyway? His page is all blacked out. :/) Anyway, this is just a quick vignette of Applejack waking up beside Rainbow Dash and contemplating all the things that make her love the mare. Aside from nothing really happening, my only complaint is that the flowery language doesn’t really sound like Applejack. Yet if you ignore that, or even accept that her inner monologue is far more poetic than anyone might give her credit for, this is a really fantastic piece of writing. It feels far less slapdash than SS&E’s fics tend to, even his good ones. Every word is carefully chosen, and they all flow together like a symphony. The use of ‘you’, though obviously not directed at the reader, makes this feel incredibly intimate, like the reader is intruding on the characters’ lives. I was just struck by the emotion, all of which feels incredibly real. If you like good writing, and don’t mind shipping, give this chance; it’s short.
Recommended for Romance Fans
A Turn for the Worse by AuroraDawn
Reading by Doctor Cobra
Genre: Archaeology/Horror?
An archaeologist goes into the Everfree Forest to prove her theories about Nightmare Moon’s true origins. This was billed as “psychological horror” by the reader, but honestly? I don’t see it. Most of it is Strata, the archaeologist, delving the mysteries of the past with her special talent spell, with a little bit of dark, mildly creepy imagery. (I was a little iffy about said talent at first — we get her cutie mark story early on — but really it’s not much different from Rarity’s gem-finding spell.) And to an extent, it was interesting, but I can’t say I had any strong feelings about it up to that point. The “horror” aspect is simply tacked onto the ending, with as much relevance to the rest of the story as Nightmare Moon’s origins have with the Crystal Empire. There’s no buildup to it whatsoever, and if it’s meant to be one of those “character punished for pridefulness” sorts of horror stories, well, it still doesn’t have much to do with the rest of the story. And that’s a shame, because as vaguely interesting as the archaeology bits were, the use of the haunted carousel motif has a lot of leverage for pony horror stories. Granted, what happened I was expecting to happen, but if made the focus of the story instead of something tacked on to the end, it could be a decent ending to something a lot creepier. As it is, well, it’s just a mish-mash of parts with no clear purpose.
Not Recommended
Gateway Drug by bottled_up
Reading by TheLostNarrator, Finaltim87 and The Ender Brony
Reading by Winged T. Spears
Reading by VisualPony
Genre: Comedy
This got off to a bad start by reminding me just why I didn’t like Read It and Weep: despite the fact that she ends up loving it, Rainbow Dash never considers reading to be “cool”. “Reading is for nerds” is not the kind of thing we need to be teaching kids in this day and age. (And if you want to argue that she’s only associating reading and nerdity with Twilight, well, what does that say about her friendship with Twilight?) Still, this manages to pull off a decent comedy once the title kicks in. I only wish there was more to it; the main joke doesn’t happen until right at the end, and then the story just stops. I’ll nevertheless give credit where it’s due, and this made me laugh.
Recommended as Light Reading
Filling the Hole by Tempered Steel
Reading by Scribbler and SlightlySerious
Genre: Sad
Applejack, crying alone in the barn on Father’s Day, is confronted with the realization that she isn’t the only one suffering. This story goes with “we don’t know what happened to our parents” rather than commit to what is all but canon at this point, which is fine. What’s not so fine is the swearing and general non-poniness of the dialogue. It didn’t really feel like these were Big Mac and AJ. Nor did it help that I couldn’t figure out when this takes place. A large portion of it suggested it was in the past (I mean, how long has it been and they still don’t know?) yet there’s a reference to Rainbow Dash. The description places this solidly in the present, yet at the end Applejack comments that she’s “growing up”. All I can really say is that this is very obviously a first fic, I’ve seen worse, and I hope the author keeps trying.
Not Recommended
Colorless by The DJ Rainbow Dash
Reading by Emogak and TheLostNarrator
Genre: Apocalyptic Romance
In a world losing its color, its emotion and its life, Twilight Sparkle falls out of love with Rainbow Dash. This is one of those cool stories where the setting is somewhat sci-fi, and the story revolves around how a major change in the world affects those who live there. (No surprise that I was reminded of Wonderbolt; it inspired this!) Unfortunately, as much as I like the idea behind this, I don’t feel like it pulls everything off effectively, and I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. For starters, explaining what happened was a mistake, because it opens up a lot of questions: why do ponies need this kind of power source? (The world feels very earth-analogue because of this.) Why can’t they just shut the machines off and at least stop the damage? The world-building obviously took second billing to the romance. Second, this makes the narrative error of explaining things to someone who’s been there, only for the reader’s sake. (Worse, the ‘you’ becomes ‘she’ toward the end for reasons I cannot fathom.) Now, the shipping is strong, as is the narrative, and Twilight makes a surprising move toward the end, demonstrating strength of characterization. However, what she does is terribly symbolic, and I’m not entirely certain how to feel about it. I mean, she just removed what’s essentially the last source of color from the world. I thought maybe the prism shards would spread color more effectively, but that was never gone into. Is it a statement of her willingness to continue on with Dash regardless of what’s happening? Yes, but again, I’m not sure how effective it is as a symbol, and the world-building and B-plot are obviously not the focus. This isn’t a terrible story by any stretch, but the plot holes and other issues were just too big to ignore. It won’t have broad appeal. (And if you decide to read it, consider listening to the reading. Emogak sounds exactly like Twilight and she really nailed the whole thing.)
Recommended for Shippers Only
Eventually we will discover that every single account on Fimfiction is actually an SS&E alt. we're all just extensions of the madness.
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i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b555/Adrenalatic1/Untitled2_zps1b08823a.jpg
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He's got a fourth account, too. :B
Oh wait, why am I telling you, you're the reason I know this.
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Short Skirts and Explosions is not a person. He's a word processor that gained sentience and is powered by AppleDash and ennui.
2446300 And formerly Dr. Pepper.
So there's imploding colon and now this. What's the fourth one? It's gotta be the secret clop account right?
IDK why he separated the appledash one, that's pretty standard stuff.
Did you take a look at that spreadsheet that came out recently breaking down all the authors? SSE was #3 and that didn't even include imploding colon...
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Not sure what spreadsheet you mean. As for which the fourth one is (I don't think I read the story because it's incomplete), go check out Super Trampoline's comment on SS&E's user page. That's where I saw it.
> Colorless
… Wasn't there a video game based on that premise?
Aha! I knew I remembered this. Wonder if the fic was a crossover, or just convergent evolution? "The Void" is pretty obscure, best known for being "another game by those guys that did the cult classic Pathologic".
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Possible just convergent, between being inspired by Wonderbolt and, I would assume, the cover art. You'd probably have to ask the author. Let me know if you find anything out! :O
Well, now I do.
Did you know that "Blue Harvest" was the cover name for The Empire Strikes Back, to keep the ravening hordes of Star Wars fans from finding and disrupting filming locations? True story, bro,
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I have a feeling that's not a coincidence.