Fic recs, February 27th! · 2:54pm Feb 27th, 2017

I'd have had more today, but I messed something up. :P (Also, I was gonna put something here, but I forgot what.) Still, a couple of really good things that I stumbled upon in this one!

H: 0 R: 3 C: 2 V: 1 N: 0

Let Her In by TooShyShy
Reading by Scarlett Blade
Reading by Winged T. Spears
Reading by GutiuSerenade, et. al.
Reading by Luna Farrowe
Reading by Crafty Arts
Reading by Sparrow9642, Agent0Fluffy and Classicat
Genre: Horror
Every night, Fluttershy taps on Apple Bloom's window, wanting to come in.
I was talking recently with a highly successful author on the SCP Wiki, and he said one of his approaches to writing horror involved finding a phrase, a catchphrase, around which an article can be written. Things like "You're Death, too" and "You do not recognize the bodies in the water" have become fairly well-known on the site. (I feel like I'm not explaining it well.) I was thinking about this while reading this story because it captures that same idea, just as effectively, with its central phrase: "It's cold out here". On top of that, you've got creepy Fluttershy, scared Apple Bloom, and literally zero explanations for anything. It trips up a bit near the end by revealing the monster, but this does lead into a fantastic twist at the end, leaving things off on a high note. And I want to say, too: this is Captain Sand's best reading ever. He used a lot of great sound effects, and the reading itself was high quality; he's really come a long way since I first started listening to him. So if I gush a little about this story, it might just be because the reading was unexpectedly excellent, but I unhesitatingly call this highly effective horror.
Recommended

In Amber Clad by Word Worthy
Reading by PonyStemCell
Genre: Historical/Alternate Perspective
This is a neat little piece: a history of Equestria via its conflicts, told by Princess Luna's armor. No, not the armor she wore as Nightmare Moon, the other armor. (I very much liked the scene where the two "meet".) And I honestly don't have much more to say other than it's interesting and written well; what more do you need?
Recommended

Lyra Blew a Fuse by PassionQuill
Genre: Random Comedy
Lyra's been stuck blowing raspberries all day.
Gotta love that cover art. As for the story, I really shouldn't complain, I more or less knew what I was getting myself into, but this is still just a bunch of fandom jokes. I did laugh at the reason why Lyra gets "stuck" like this, and I can't deny enjoying the preponderance of the word "fart". But the really weird thing about it is it's very serious and straightforward for a random comedy. All the humor is in the backstory and the diagnosis; beyond that, we have things like Bon-Bon interrupting the doctor to tell him to call her "Bonnie". Like, why was that important? This is short, thankfully, but also extremely silly, despite, in many ways, not being silly enough.
Vaguely Recommended

Fifteen Friendships by AShadowOfCygnus
Reading by the Author
Genre: Story Collection
I helped with this one! Though I won't review this like a story collection, it is a series of fifteen scenes unrelated save by theme: a hundred or so words depicting a friendship from the show. Some of it is sad, some of it is shippy, but it's a very nice, often clever little piece of writing, worth it for a quick read.
Recommended

Valentine's Lay by kalash93
Reading by Scarlett Blade
Mature: Sex
Genre: Anthro PWP
Cadence and Shining Armor share an intimate morning in bed.
This runs the gamut, and I mean really hits every point on the scale, from "cute" to "weird". If anything bounced off me, it would be the dialogue, which I often had a hard time attributing to the characters, and the descriptions, which frequently hit that level of strangeness you can only find in erotica. That said, I can't help but feel this is a really good demonstration of sex between two people who really love, trust and understand one another. The cuteness is weaponized. If you like married sex, this isn't too bad!
Recommended If You Like Clop

Equestria Girls: Wrong Book by Blackbird2
Reading by MrLeftTurn and Bright Idea
Whoa. Dude's got this deep, sonorous voice that makes an instant impression. Nice use of incidental music, too! However, the bulk of the reading is Bright Idea, and while she doesn't sound like Sunset, she did a good job regardless. She's a better Twilight, and the back and forth between the two characters was convincing. It looks like she doesn't do readings of her own, though, just singing and analysis, but MrLeftTurn is an easy shoo-in!
Genre: Comedic EQG Shipping
Sunset Shimmer might just have a crush on Twilight. Good thing she has her diary to write all her secrets in.
So, the main joke is given away by the title, yet I laughed at Sunset's reaction after the reveal all the same. Better yet, this has a really thoughtful take on shipping and crushes. Like, Sunset enumerates the reasons why she thinks she has this crush, and then she talks about how she feels about feeling that way. That's considerably more substantive than your usual shipfic. So while I recommend this more on the romance angle than the comedy, consider giving it a shot if you're usually uninterested in shipping.
Recommended If You Like Romancey Stuff

...Wow. Despite February being the shortest month of the year, I have reviewed eight new readers this month alone! c.c

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