It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #13 · 10:26pm Jun 16th, 2021
Two of my favorites, this time around. Maybe it'll buck unlucky #13.
Rise Again by Duck is an Anon-A-Miss fic and-- WAIT WAIT STOP NO IT'S GOOD.
Sunset Shimmer has died. Unfortunately, nobody told her, so when she wakes up in a graveyard with amnesia and a case of rigor mortis she's very confused. And there's your hook: Sunset Shimmer is dead, and the story follows her zombie.
Despite the idea being almost silly, it's handled pretty straight and serious. From Sunset's own struggles to regain memories of her past life to the fallout of the Rainbooms dealing with her death to a confused-but-intrigued (human) Twilight Sparkle prying into the situation. it's a wonderful exploration through a dark time in the charatacters' collective lives.
Well-written and with just the right edge of creepy, it's a fun read. (Also: NEXT CHAPTER WHEN, DUCK.)
Countering that is Rise Up by Silent Whisper.
A simple slice of life story, it's an almost quaint little tale about Rarity teaching Rainbow Dash something she never learned - how to shave her legs. It's fluffy, it's simple, it's one of the heaviest feels-packed stories. All because of a simple aspect I didn't mention above: Rainbow's trans.
Suddenly the entire fluffy story's turned on its ear. Dash struggles, fighting her own fear and shame as Rarity shows her something so simplistic it should be rote or a given, and yet it's not. And the fact that it's such a minor day to day thing is a large part of why the story's got such force: for a cis character it would be entirely taken for granted or mundane to the point of barely being notable. And for Dash it's life-changing.
Oh, and Rarity is extremely Rarity in this one, in her best of ways.
Trans issues is not something I'm good at as an author (a point I'll graze in my piece for Pride and Positivity tomorrow), but this is likely my favorite story using those themes. It's simple but it's strong and packed with emotion.
New or catching up? Try Recommendsday: The Index for your story needs!
N E X T C H A P T E R W H E N
E
X
T
C
H
A
P
T
E
R
W
H
E
N
I'm now binging on Rise Again.
Damn, it's so good. Thanks for pointing this story out!
(Got to give Rise Up a look, too.)