Review: Possibly the Shortest Rejection Fic Ever by SirNotAppearingInThisFic · 12:10am Mar 8th, 2021
Review time! I recently read this short fic by SirNotAppearingInThisFic and just had to share my thoughts on it here.
SirNotAppearingInThisFic has never been one to shy away from alternate modes of expression in his fics - indeed, working with seemingly-unlikely story material is a staple of his and something he really excels at. In 2019, he gave us the dialogue-less How Bunnies Almost Took Over The World, a story close to my heart for its compelling portrayal of the rarely-seen animal perspective in pony fanfiction. Prior to that, his subversive hand can be seen in a much-needed deconstruction (and later, reconstruction) of the oft-maligned "Displaced" subgenre, exploring it from a more realistic top-down perspective in a fic which impressively doubles as a metanarrative for Displaced fics as a whole. And of course there's Unhinged, the minific anthology that would later give rise to the impressive For The Benefit Of Yaks.
The fic opens in medias res on the two characters at the central focus of the fic - Spike and Rarity. The minimalistic style is immediately apparent, as we aren't really given any detail on exactly what got them to this point, or even any real information as to their situation - the fic chooses to focus more on the emotional core of the two characters and their relationship, allowing that to carry the story instead.
What quickly becomes clear is that this isn't quite the Spike that we know from the show. Certainly, some of the elements are familiar - Spike has always aspired to a very romanticized ideal of masculinity, and we clearly see that in the way Spike expresses himself throughout the story - but it's never been quite so overt as it is here, with Spike directly adopting a masculine affectation that, in all honesty, belies the maturity we've seen him develop throughout the show. At his core, Spike has always striven for authenticity - he wants to know who he really is, whether that be discovered via revelation of his heritage or via his own self-reflection and acceptance.
This seeming contradiction lends the story a very unsettling feel at first - the reader is clearly not supposed to feel comfortable, and this tension is what really makes the fic work in my opinion. The pacing of the events is particularly ingenious - initially, it seems to be moving ahead so fast that one might consider it a mistake or lack of attention to detail, but it's only as you continue reading that you realize this is entirely by design.
The reason for the discomfort and tension become apparent once you hit the second half of the story, which shifts the focus to Rarity and begins to clue us in a bit more on what's going on. We find Rarity wrought with despair, and it isn't too difficult to infer that Spike is the instigator - this is conveyed not so much via dialogue but via Rarity's body language, which shows her clearly trying to maintain emotional distance from Spike in spite of their closeness - indeed, she doesn't even look him in the eye at any point in the fic. It's really quite tragic to see such a typically unreserved character reduced to such wordless anguish, and the fact that this isn't really resolved by the end leaves one with a powerful sense of Rarity's desperation and uncertainty.
One thing I love about PtSRFE is its open-ended nature. It's not immediately clear whose side we should take - indeed, an argument could be made both ways as to who is really "rejecting" whom. Rarity is perhaps the character who has the most history with the trappings of inauthenticity - it's very much part of her lifestyle, a line that she walks day-to-day. While it may seem that Spike is rebuffing her, it could just as easily be the case that Rarity is rejecting the parts of herself that she's now seen for the first time in Spike. Rarity knows that progress doesn't come for free - she's constantly had to make sacrifices to get to where she is, and so she may well believe (erroneously or not) that she now has to make a choice between the betterment of herself and the friend she holds dear.
Overall, this fic is an elegant exploration of Spike and Rarity's relationship that I think can be enjoyed even by non-Sparity shippers - it doesn't spend a whole lot of time on romantic detail, nor does it really proselytize the relationship, instead presenting a very simple conflict and leaving the conclusion to the heart of the reader. If you have some time, it's certainly worth a look.
In the words of Fanon Mutavia, “...”