Fic recs, March 28th! · 3:17pm Mar 28th, 2017
ABagOfVicodin's newest reading is JMac's Our Little Accident!
I know there are a lot of nerds on this site, so some of you might be interested in Kicking the Table, a podcast run by a couple guys I know, based around board and card games on Kickstarter. They're both old school, hardcore gamers, and they evaluate the Kickstarters, talking about what the game is, how it plays, how it looks, and whether the campaign is asking too much for what they offer. This particular episode, which I'm listening to right the heck now, is a special where they've just been doing a rundown of CCGs from the 90's, starting with Magic and going in all kinds of directions. Geeks will love it!
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Krastos the Glue Maker by Horse Voice
Genre: Horror
The Cutie Mark Crusaders have a lan to make this the scariest Nightmare Night ever: convince everypony that Krastos the Glue Maker is real.
If you've joined the fandom in the last, oh, five years or so, you may not recognize the title of this story. (Ask me in the comments.) If you do, you're likely as giddy as I was when I found out Horse Voice, of all people, was going to be writing a horror fic based around him. :D The way the conceit in this fic works is fascinating: the first chapter tells us that Krastos isn't real, very few have heard of his legend, and the CMCs are going to bring him to life in the very, very figurative way. Then things start happening around town that make it seem like either they've taken things too far, or else Krastos is more real than anypony thought. This is the kind of horror story where fear itself is the real enemy, though the presence of a homicidal unknown certainly helps. That being said, know that this is also rather bleak; the monster is defeated in the end, but ponies actually die. At least you know, with a name like Horse Voice, you're getting good horror for your emotional buck. And it passes the Zecora Test!
Recommended
Rocks Fall; Everypony Dies by ToXikyogHurt
Genre: Random Comedy
With their sisters out of town for the weekend, the Cutie Mark Crusaders try to jam as much adventuring as they can into what time they have.
Estee found this, and I had to read something with this title. Sadly, the title is misleading: rocks do (eventually) fall, but what dies isn't ponies. This story really shows its age (I'm pretty sure it's from that site-wide writing contest years back). There's a lot of focus on fan-favorite ponies, and the "parasprites again, but with Luna and the CMCs" plot is both less than original and less than thrilling. About halfway through, I realized that I'd had zero reaction to this story beyond a single surprisingly funny line spoken by Rarity. This really hits the Random and Slice of Life tags harder than the Comedy, and suffers for having done so. It might be a decent diversion if you need something to read, but given how much of it is just ponies talking back and forth to no real effect, it might be worth skipping.
Vaguely Recommended
Say Goodbye to the Hollandaise: A Hearth's War(ming) Tail by WishyWish
Genre: Comedy
Preparation of a feast for Hearth's Warming is unexpectedly disrupted by vanished condiments.
Speaking of fics with irresistible titles. I think it's safe to say this was written to fit said title, and the end result is equal parts incredibly silly and perfectly precious. It sits on a few of its jokes a little long, but for the most part is just focused on revelling in its own silliness. There's nothing like stories where ponies relax, cut loose and have a good time, and I sure as heck won't spoil just how they do so in this one. :)
Recommended
Colts Will Be Colts by Trick Question
Genre: Slice of Life
Cheerilee's newest student is awfully shy around everypony, except Scootaloo.
So this is something I've never really seen before. To spoil the main conflict, Sassy Shrimp is afraid of fillies, but has taken Scootaloo for a colt, which is why he's okay hanging around her. This is a pretty damned original angle on stories that deal with gender and/or gender roles, but it doesn't quite go far enough. I was really interested to learn why Sassy has this fear, and the various misconceptions that go with it, but that's never gone into, and the ultimate message is surprisingly standard, considering the path taken to get to it. But if nothing else, this is different, and well-written, with a lot of thought put into things like how Cheerilee's classroom works. Worth it!
Recommended for Slice of Life Fans
Lost and Found by dm29
Genre: Cute
Cadence helps Shining Armor find his little sister.
dm29 is a fairly well known visual artist I follow on DA; imagine my surprise when they released a short fic! The writing's not super-great, filled with saidisms, and with the odd quirk of dialogue paragraphs not being double-spaced. But the story itself is a pretty light slice of life that leads to a very cute encounter at the end. This is the kind of fic you could read with a young child who likes ponies.
Recommended If You Like Cute Stuff
Five years. That's how long Krastos was stuck in pre-production hell. The sad part is, if I had written it back then, it probably would have been a hit. But the show kept introducing concepts I could work into the story, and I didn't really have the writing chops back then. Anyway, I appreciate the review.
For those who don't know Krastos (relevant part starts at 2:32):
Thanks!
Years ago Applejack decided to rent out a portion of her farm which was known to be of such poor quality that nothing would grow on it. So she leased it to a bread maker known to produce such low quality bread that nothing could be done save make horrible toast with it. And so that is what the pony did. How he eked out an existence with such pitiful resources was a mystery to everyone and yet every morning one could smell the scent wafting over the meadows to the farm. Often asked about the odor and from whence it originated, Applejack would simply reply: "Crass toast, the gloom acre."
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