Fic recs, July 31st! · 12:00pm Jul 31st, 2017
Yesterday's review may not have been a vs. post, but I'm treating it like one because fuck, I've done maybe four review blogs this month. D: ONE MORE TIME
Estee's in some financial straits. You can read the very sad explanation for why, or just go donate to his Patreon to help him out!
Scribbler has done a reading of TheBrianJ's The Diary of an Evil Pony! She's also done Admiral Biscuit's The Narrator Hears Twilight, with Wuten! Meanwhile, Illya Leonov has read AugieDog's Storytime! I'd say that's a must-hear. :)
Hey, guys, remember when I used to post Sonata pictures with like, every blog? Well now, it's more nerdy Flurry Heart! Here's another! And another! Oh god there's a lot of them. I should really post this blog before more come out.
Since the last blog, I've added two more long audiobooks, so there's that. <.< Turns out, I'm really bad at keeping track of them from people I'm following. But after that, there will be Pink Eyes, because I found a complete audiobook for it! :D
As always, this blog contains paid reviews. If you want to get in on that action, check out this post. My prices are quite reasonable!
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Carrot and Stick by Tumbleweed
Sequel to The Prisoner of Zebra
Genre: Comedy
Special Agent Golden Harvest of the Equestrian Intelligence Agency has a brand new mission for Flash Sentry: be her date to her family reunion.
The problem with this story is that it's the sequel to The Prisoner of Zebra. If it had been a standalone, I think I would have liked it a lot more. But it's hard not to compare the two, and this just doesn't stand up to the former. Now, it's a fine story on its own merits, don't get me wrong: funny, good action sequence, cast of colorful characters. (Seriously, Carrot Top lives on a carrot farm, in a carrot-themed house, and "Top" is the common part of her family's name. XD) But in comparison to its predecessor, the comedy is considerably sillier (Flash spends a few paragraphs making ass jokes in one scene), the action is sparser and it's overall less exciting. I said Prisoner's dual plots were something I've seen before, and I can say that about this, as well; the difference is, in Carrot, we don't get to spend time learning about the fun new characters Tumbleweed has made for us. At least, the best new characters are all secondary if not tertiary. This might actually stand on its own, if you haven't read the first story, so reading them out of order might not be a bad idea. I'm still interested in seeing more of this series, though, as I suspect there are more stories to be told in the Flash Sentry Papers.
Recommended
Second Birthday by xjuggernaughtx
Paid Review for xjuggernaughtx
Genre: Comedy
Spike spills the secret of Second Birthday.
What a funny story. This makes great use of show-like humor, keeping everyone in character and making sure they have something to do, whether it's Pinkie lamenting a missed birthday, Spike manipulating the situation for his own gain, or literally everyone refusing to give Twilight a chance to explain herself. Puns abound. And this is all in service of a very nice, again show-style, friendship lesson. I was overall pleased and appreciative of this story. :)
Highly Recommended
Lyra Visits Bon Bon in Jail by Super Trampoline
Paid Review for Super Trampoline
Genre: Changeling Fic
Yeah, I'm spoiling it, but only a little. The two-tone text for Bon-Bon's dialogue kind of gave it away, and it's said she's a changeling less than a page into the story, so no problems. This is an all-dialogue story with colored text — that dual tone for Bon-Bon, again, is actually pretty clever — that's very much a product of its time. That is to say, it's mostly a dump of newfound changeling headcanon, and the story amounts to little more than recasting a fanon relationship in light of "one of them's a changeling". But for what it is, it works, and I have definitely read worse changeling fics. The color gimmick is stronger, I'd say, than that in White Space, so that's something. Again, not a bad example of its genre, and the characterization of Lyra was fun.
Recommended for Fans of Changeling Fics
Rainbow Reflections by Bookish Delight
Genre: EQG/Shipping
There are quite a few more differences between the human and pony worlds than Twilight had anticipated…
Where to begin? I wish to hell people wrote more EQG fics like this. It takes into account the ramifications of a convergent AU the characters from the show can travel to more-or-less at will. (This is in continuity with only the first movie, so it was limited at the time.) There's a lot of play with how the characters get to where they are on either side of the mirror, and not only are there suggestions of previous relationships for Dash, but for Twilight as well. I rarely see that happen to her. Then, in the middle of me being amazed by all this, I realized the scenario was starting to feel familiar. Turns out, this is an adaptation and expansion of Bookish Delight's story Otherworldly Advice, which I reviewed a couple years ago. That story was pretty fantastic by itself, but this one is just so much better. The way Rainbow is written is kind of surprising, honestly: aware of her flaws and willing to let Twilight go so 'her' Rainbow can have a chance is almost too mature for her. But, for all that there's a little drama early on, it amounts to a really solid piece. The subject matter, both shipping and EQG, will leave some behind, but if you've got any inclination for TwiDash, do yourself a favor and read this.
Recommended
Beauty Will Tear Us Apart by Meta Four
Sequel to Alarm Clock
Genre: Adventure
Ditzy's newest case takes her looking for an art vandal.
Why did it take me so long to get to this? D: I hate to say it, but this is another good story that suffers for being a sequel. It's been a while since I read Alarm Clock, but this just lacks the same madcap escapade feel, possibly due to the lack of newness, presenting instead a workmanlike and nevertheless interesting little art mystery. It's still got a number of scenes obviously meant to explain what Derpy was doing during any given show appearance. (The main one I recognized comes from Sweet and Elite.) Trixie shows up for a hilarious turn as the comic relief, at least. (That's a reference to Black Magic Mare, Roaming Queen, which I now need to read!) Plus, there's wacky time travel shenanigans that make this story feel a lot more expansive than it actually is. So yeah, if you liked Alarm Clock as much as I did, this kind of pales in comparison, but if you're just up for more weird dimension- and time-travel powers, alongside a rousing thriller, this is totally worth it.
Recommended
For the record, I am inordinately proud of those ass jokes.
(Also thanks for the review!)
I continue to envy Meta Four's ability to do everything I've wanted to with Best Pony, entirely without crossing over with card games.
4618914
You made an entire family of Bottoms; you should be.
I believe Estee uses female pronouns, buts she's pretty secretive about her life so I could be wrong.
Also Celestia bless Jargon Scott he's a national treasure.
I remember the Halcion days when the mods would actually let me post stories with entirely colored text.
Also I'm not the only one who finds it weird that this is my most popular story, Right?
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I've always been under the impression that, despite using a feminine name, Estee was a guy. :B But I'm not sure I've ever seen an answer one way or another...
4618914
Ass jokes need their own genre tag so they're easier to find.
Can’t disagree with that assessment of Beauty Will Tear Us Apart. I’m happy with how it turned out, but it’s much, much less ambitious than Alarm Clock, that’s for sure. I was trying to use some shorter stories to lay the groundwork for a properly long sequel, but I’m kind of stalled on that at the moment.