Fic recs, May 16th! · 5:58pm May 16th, 2016
As a treat to myself for getting through Project Horizons book three, I went ahead and binge-listened to a bunch of the readings I've been saving up over the past couple months. Right now, fully two-thirds of my reading list is still Captain Sand, but hopefully once I'm through the non-Captain Sand stuff, I can actually add another channel for the first time in probably a year. There are some other longfics coming up in the readings, including Dinky: A Filly That Is Loved, A Vicious Animal, Into the Depths, and About Last Night.
Anyway, head below for reviews of Something New by dirty little secret, Banjo64's Undead and Unconcerned, Quiet Boy and Moon Horse by horizon, and a whole lot more!
H: 1 R: 1 C: 5 V: 2 N: 3
Slipping Through My Hooves: The Apple and the Blossom by keam
Reading by NeighlyReads
Last time, I gave Neighly a "maybe", but that's gonna become a "no". I don't know if the massive amount of reverb in this reading is indicative of what she's doing now, but it's not something I can deal with. If you listen to fic readings with headphones on, in perfect silence, it probably won't be an issue, but for me, it is.
Genre: Melodrama
Apple Bloom finally got her cutie mark. So why isn't Applejack happy?
Initially, I was set to call this a decent, if melodramatic slice of life involving Applejack being sad that her sister's all grown up. It's a unique, totally believable perspective on a pre-canon cutie mark-getting. Unfortunately, the melodrama really cranks up by the end, along with a tangent about the divinity of the Princesses. And what I thought was a fairly shoddy poem is instead ABBA lyrics. This whole thing is ABBA lyrics. c.c And since people don't actually talk like song lyrics, using them in place of dialogue was not a good idea. Add to that the "too writerly to be first person" narrative, and I just can't find anything to recommend here.
Not Recommended
Solitary Confinement by JakeTheGinger
Reading by Captain Sand
Genre: Episode Followup
This can be summed up as "Scootaloo's thoughts while stuck inside Apple Bloom's closet". Now, while Scootaloo's "Uh, no" is one of the best gags in the whole show (say what you will about the rest of Somepony to Watch Over Me), an episode reworking like this needs something more. It needs to be revelatory, or extra funny, or shine light on the episode in a new way. Instead, Scootaloo just gets bored and thinks about stuff. There's nothing here, and I found it fairly dull.
Not Recommended
Grandpa Discord by Amethyst Heart
Reading by VisualPony
Genre: Comedy
Twilight makes a shocking discovery while trying to find the source of Pinkie's strange abilities.
This is one of those stories that has the problem of being written about a topic that another story -- in this case, Random by Bugle -- did better. On top of that, it doesn't make a lot of sense. How is Twilight able to find this direct link between the Apple and Pie families when they couldn't find one in the show? And I agree with the commenter who said the ending felt like the author had run out of ideas. Still, points for Pinkie's reason for hiding in Twilight's freezer.
Vaguely Recommended
Something New by dirty little secret
Reading by Captain Sand
Reading by Furball
This guy's got a nice, deep voice and reads at a good pace. Maybe a little quiet, but nothing volume control can't fix. Another good'n, though it seems he's not terribly active.
Mature: Sex
Genre: R34 Clop
Luna and Fluttershy have one more thing to try in bed…
I often complain about the relative lack of M/M stories in this fandom. This one taught me that changing two female characters into males is perfectly acceptable as a substitute. :V There's no plot, and no real attempt at selling LunaShy as a couple. Just a quick transformation spell followed by sweaty man-sex. If that sounds appealing, hey, go4it.
Recommended If You Like Clop
A Short Visit by Dreamshadow
Reading by Kilodel
Genre: Slice of Life
Luna's offer to meet the ponies who saved her goes unexpectedly.
I would blame this story being old, but I just can't explain the extreme amount of blushing that happens in it. It's like LunaSpike not-shipping. Other than that, it's excruciatingly fluffy, and there's really nothing to it. At least it doesn't verge into Sad Luna territory.
Vaguely Recommended
A Letter to the Griffon Emperor on the Matter of War by Wages of Sin
Reading by Captain Sand
Reading by Scribbler, Clever Hooves and Cerridwen
Genre: Epistolary
Twilight responds to the threat from the Griffon Empire.
I'll say this: this really sounds like a letter written by Princess Twilight Sparkle. This, unfortunately, means that it is well-enumerated and dry. I was expecting some wacky "ponies are overpowered" shenanigans and instead got a completely serious listing of all the reasons declaring war on Equestria would be a bad idea. Even the slightly amusing second chapter — an obvious afterthought — doesn't keep this from having just not been enjoyable to read.
Not Recommended
Market Day by Majin Syeekoh
Reading by Dr. Wolf
Genre: Slice of Life
Starlight Glimmer has a difficult time in the Ponyville market.
I absolutely do not know what to make of this. Its concept — Starlight keeps getting wildly overcharged by ponies looking to take some petty revenge on her — sits firmly in the realm of comedy. Applejack helping her get her bits back was… kind of weird, honestly. It made this seem like a story about life in a small town, treating outsiders unfairly and needing an with a local in to be accepted. Yet petty revenge is actually the point, and Starlight's speech is quite good. The final line seems like a "ran out of ideas and just stopped" sort of thing. So all in all, this isn't bad, I'm just not sure how to react to it, because it seems like a few different stories mashed together.
Recommended for Starlight Fans
Undead and Unconcerned by Banjo64
Reading by Captain Sand
Genre: Dark Comedy
After the zombie apocalypse, life continues more or less as normal.
This is like the comedy version of Feed Them. :D The various ways Equestria's zombie plague goes unnoticed had me smiling and laughing all the way through. I never felt like the joke was overdone, and honestly I just enjoying the whole thing.
Recommended
Quiet Boy and Moon Horse by horizon
Reading by Neighrator Pony
Reading by Illya Leonov
Genre: Literary
His mother told him stories of the horse who pulled the moon across the sky. And he would speak to her, at night, when no one else was around.
In many ways, this piece is precisely what I thought it would be: an excellently written story about an emotional encounter between the titular characters, taking place solidly in the genre of speculative fiction rather than fanfiction. And yet I got a good bit more than that. This is another one of those examples that any idea can be turned into a good story. In anyone else's hands, this would have been "school is hard so I'm going to write a story about an autistic kid (like me!) who gets saved from his terrible life by Princess Luna". Because that's literally the story, short the obvious self-insert. I very much appreciate that it goes through "Quiet Boy"'s entire life, and I got some pricklings of How Equestria Was Made which sadly didn't pan out. Honestly, at the end, I'm not sure what this story is about — the power of imagination? Positive thinking and totems as a means to overcome hardship and mental illness? — but if you like reading, you will like reading this.
Highly Recommended
The Last of Its Kind by Crystal Secret
Reading by Captain Sand
Genre: Contemplative
Twilight has been doing her best to keep the flower alive, but now she has to let go.
Wait, where'd the story go? <.< Well, this seems to have been unpublished since the audiobook was produced, so that's now the only way to read it. And it's a shame because, while not perfect, this has a really great premise and strikes me as the work of a writer with considerable potential. The imperfections stem from a considerable amount of overwriting — I'd hate to meet whoever told the writer that that's how you write good — and a certain beating the reader over the head with the premise via the phrase "the art of letting go". Still, a picture of Twilight after not only her friends but the Princesses are gone, drawing a link between the quiet extinction of a species and coping with loss is a really worthwhile thing, in my book. I hope, wherever she is, the author is continuing to write and improve.
Recommended If You Don't Mind Wordiness
Changing the ColorOf Apples by apple short
Reading by CesarTheKing
I didn't vet this guy normally, but I needn't have worried. He sounds kind of like DeftFunk and is perfectly clear. A trollfic is probably not the best first audiobook to judge a reader on, but I'm satisfied. :V He's not very prolific — this is his only reading — but I'd be happy to hear more!
Genre: Badfic
Applejack realizes she hates the color red.
I wish apple short were still around. They wrote some incredible shit. I mean, can you say no to a line like "Well howdy this sucks"? Truly amazing. If you like this kind of fic, you will like this fic kind of, though the Spike/Applejack sex is not for the faint of heart!
Troll Recommended
Friday Night Twilight by BlazzingInferno
Reading by Captain Sand
Genre: EiH
Every other Friday, Jake receives a visit from Twilight Sparkle, so they can watch a show neither of them likes.
This is a very odd duck as far as ponies visiting Earth go. It's not what you'd really call wish fulfillment, and given how much Twilight speaks out against fans of MLP and fan creations, it's more or less completely the opposite. The narrator isn't particularly interesting, go figure, though I kind of like the uneasy friendship they reach at the end. Mostly, just the fact that how this meeting happens is never explained, and the human wishes it would stop, is what makes this more interesting than not. Not sure how general audiences will take the conversation, though.
Recommended Only If You Like Pony/Human Interaction
That's a totally fair review for Friday Night Twilight.
And you even got the story's admittedly flimsy point
It's certainly not my normal kind of fic, I'll tell you that much.
Welln, hating it or not, thanks for taking a look. I know there's lots of ABBA but I literally wrote this story because I was listening to 'Slipoing through my fingers' on repeat, so it wasn’t like I could avoid it.
3948457
That honesty endeared it to me.
3948579
It's just very disconcerting seeing characters break out into song lyrics when no one's singing. :/
I NEED TO READ MORE APPLE SHORT AND WRITE APPLESHORTISH STORIES
When I consider that apple short has been gone for nearly three years now: Beautiful Cinnamon Roll Too Good For This World, Too Pure. (Not sure the second chapter was really needed, though.)
And, of course, "Moon Horse" was brilliant.
At first I thought "Undead and Unconcerned" was something else, the kind of similar one where Spike was in denial but everyone was pretty much infected. Still, not bad.
apple short was one of the greats. I don't think I've ever regretted following a "Troll Recommended" rec from your blogs, but that one deserved like a "Troll Highly Recommended" or something.
Glad you liked Quiet Boy and Moon Horse! And 3950127 too.
Re your questions on what the story is about, you've probably already seen today's blog post, but I feel obligated to point out: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/631777/quiet-boy-illusion-and-authenticity
3951121
I swear, every single sentence of the opening paragraph had me cracking up, and it just kept going from there. *sips the cider*
>>QB&MH
Looking back, I'm surprised and a little disappointed I never commented there around when it went up. Writing now with nothing like the fresh memory I'd prefer, I think what I probably most enjoyed was the--to me at least--novel, highly successful implementation of fairy tale feel within the modern and mostly mundane setting.
3953053
Thanks again for the kind words!
Yeah, I'm really happy with how the voicing came out.
Don't give up on Neighly Reads just yet. I think she is an amazing kid who just needs a bit of experience. She is recording on her phone at the moment and can't really edit the recordings because her tablet is broken. But she has an amazing honest CMC voice which just might blossom if she can get some decent equipment and a bit of advice from us old timers. I agree with you that the reverb is a mistake. I wish I had not used it on my earlier recordings. "But life is for learning" as Joni Mitchell penned.
4005212
Let me know when she gets a better recording setup. I'm always willing to give people a second chance after some time has passed. :)