Fic recs, January 13th! · 3:14am Jan 14th, 2016
Anyone who uses Gmail, is your inbox randomly getting squashed? Like, the empty space between emails is at a minimum? I'm not complaining, I actually really like it. I just want to know how to make it stick around!
Anyway, got five for ya tonight, before I go do that four-letter word that starts with W! Enjoy!
H: 3 R: 1 C: 1 V: 0 N: 0
Dune Goddess by Prane
Genre: Adventure
Princess Celestia tries to use a visit to Saddle Arabia to teach her student about friendship.
No, not that student, the other one! So along with Celestia and Sunset kicking ass in the desert, and some really fun backstory for the latter, this is chock-full of world-building, giving us a vision of Saddle Arabia, even just a tiny part of it, to rival Desert Rose or even A Faded Touch of Blue. But for all that this has a lot to offer, it’s held back by clumsy writing. There’s an action scene that’s paced well, for instance, but word misuses abound. The dialogue isn’t particularly great, either. It ends on an appropriately not-quite-there note for Sunset, and I rather like one character in particular, but this is an effort for the forgiving.
Recommended If You Don’t Mind Editing Mistakes
The One Where Discord Gets All the Mares by CoffeeMinion
Reading by Scribbler, et. al.
Genre: Comedy
One sunny afternoon, Discord finds himself the center of attention for every female anything in Equestria.
I wouldn’t have read this had it not been recommended to me. The setup is very “Fluttercord meets heatfic”, two things I hate. That said, it is not the latter, and, at worst, only the prelude to the former. It’s also pretty darn funny, with a very well written Discord. A lot of the humor is sexual, and edges up on completely tasteless toward the end, but hey, one of the big scenes is Celestia talking about all the fun they used to have when they were an item, and I’m all for that! The revelation of what exactly is causing all the females to go crazy for Discord is maybe the funniest part, too. I still don’t ship Discord with anyone under a thousand years old, but this should amuse those without that hangup.
Recommended
Princess Celestia’s Newest Arch Enemy by naturalbornderpy
Reading by Crafty Arts
Genre: Comedy
...is not quite what anyone expected.
I am totally beside myself here. For all that this story reminds me of reading a lot of fandom classics that have, in the intervening years, been revealed as nothing but collections of bad tropes, I enjoyed the hell out of this. Bad Dude is adorable, Celestia’s indulging of his desires is adorable, and the whole thing is hilarious as all get-out. I guess I’ll give it a bit of a knock for some hinky dialogue, but that’s about it. It’s not often you can just sit down and enjoy the hell out of a story. I hope the sequel ends up being as good.
Highly Recommended
The Weak by Wisdom Thumbs
Reading by CreepyPastaSalad
Genre: Action Adventure
A minotaur soldier tells the story of a particularly eventful campaign.
Again with the suspect recommendations. This apparently takes place in the same universe as It’s a Dangerous Business, Going Out Your Door and Beside the Will of Evil, neither of which I’ve read. (Completely.) I needn’t have worried. This is like a lost Outside Insight entry, and just feels like another excellent piece of world-building. It’s light on ponies, though not as light as you’d think, and paints a really bleak picture of the world before the unification of Equestria was even close to a thing. But damn, the writing is just fantastic. Our narrator is very strongly voiced, and speaks with the wisdom of years that allows a good writer to exercise their craft. So even if you haven't read those stories -- and why haven't you, you're not me -- this will satisfy your world-building, war-fighting, hopeless adventuring itch.
Highly Recommended
Just Give Me a Reason by SleepIsforTheWeak
Genre: Tragic Romance
A trip to a spa resort is Rainbow’s last hope to save her dying relationship.
I liked Mistakes Were Made, so of course I’m gonna like this one. Non-shippers, I’m talking to you. This was recommended to me by someone who generally does not go in for shipping. It’s about a relationship on its last legs. It’s pretty damned bleak, and it’s not the kind of story that could be told with characters besides Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Better, it really sells the “relationship has been going on for three years” thing in the ways Rainbow reacts to and evaluates the things that happen. She had to have picked that up from Rarity. Suffice to say, between the tragedy, good characterization and solid writing, I’m willing to plug this one hard. Oh god, that sounds naughty. D:
Highly Recommended
Gmail seems to shuffle typefaces and sizes depending on what it feels like at the moment and the window size.
For Gmail, Settings > Display mode > Compact.
Aaaand... damn. More fics to add to my list!
So Dune Goddess ISNT about Mua'dib?
aw :C
Wow, a fruitful batch!
PP Y
I'd like to take this opportunity and thank PresentPerfect for featuring my fic! I find the review fair, and you're definitely making a good point about the story's technical quality that could only gain from additional proofreading (but since it's a 1,5-year old piece, that's rather expected). Here's hoping the next time you'll be reviewing one of my stories it will get a "Highly Recommended"!
3684810
Nope, sorry! No melange for you!
But the story definitely has a lot of sandy settings which you may enjoy. Unless, you know, you don't like sand because it's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.
3684805
:D
3684862
:C
3685042 can you meet me halfway at Lawrence of Arabia? I'll throw in a little Secondhand Lions and a dash of French Foreign legion in the hot Damascus Roads
Princess Celestia's New Arch Enemy was already on my list, but will be shunted up a bit now. The minotaur one looks interesting, too, though I want to get Besides the Will of Evil read first, so it'll be 17 years or so.
*rereads the recommendation of Discord Gets All The Mares a few times*
derpicdn.net/img/2015/3/17/851598/large.jpeg
Welp, setting aside the evening to read "Dune Goddess" right away.
And "The Weak" actually did start as an Outside Insight entry. It was purpose-built specifically for that contest, but real life intervened.
Thanks for the review!
And especially the recommendation. 
Check out the sequel if you got the time. Seems to be doing fine so far.
Dude, I just don't even know what to say about that Highly Recommended for Princess Celestia's Newest Arch Enemy. I mean, we all have our own tastes and everything, but that seems a bit much for a story that has to tell you once every four paragraphs that this thing that you are reading is cute. That story just made me mad.
3727140
It's not the first time, and it won't be the last.
3727779 It's all good. I'm pretty used to not agreeing with people on story ranking. That one just seemed particularly divergent from my opinion. It felt weird, but it's your reviews blog. If you like it, you like it. I'm just thinking of all the stories in the Recommended pile that this story now outranks...
But hey, I like Little Shop of Horrors more than I like The Godfather, Part II, so what can you do? In the end, we all just like whatever crap we like.