It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #43 · 7:59pm Jan 12th, 2022
I'm feeling like a bass drop this week, so I'm gonna launch off with a pair of DJ Pon-3/Vinyl Scratch stories this week.
Our A-side is Just A Pony by Godzillawolf.
The story starts with Coloratura - fresh off breaking away from Svengallop and her Countess persona. Following a concert under her new manager and in her new classical style, she meets with the wealthy parents of a musician. They've come to her out of concern for their daughter: they're worried she's in a situation similar to Rara and is being forced to adhere to a stage persona and to music that are counter to who she is at heart. So Rara happily volunteers to assist and help another musician out of the industry's trap.
Of course when she actually meets Vinyl Scratch, the situation isn't quite like the DJ's parents portrayed it.
This one's fun for the counterpoint it sets up between Rara's arc (being forced by her career to do be someone she doesn't want to be) and Vinyl's (being freed by her career to be who she really is) but if I'm gonna be honest? The part that really sticks with me is the twist two-thirds in. It really swung at me hard, and I loved the way it turned the rest of the story's context. The rest is good, don't get me wrong, but the twist is what elevates the story up.
Also, I mean, Rara is also a really good pony and needs more stuff, but that's only a bit of bias.
On the B-side, we've got Rainedash's Off The Air.
DJ Pon-3 has been a groundbreaking figure in the Canterlot music scene for a long time. Founder, owner, and #1 DJ of KCOLT Radio, she's reshaped the music world as she's blazed through it. But now it's time to put it down - tonight was her last broadcast from the DJ booth before retiring to the boring world of station management and sleeping in.
She first confronts that - leaving her career and her legacy behind and moving into a new part of her life. And then she confronts something she lost along the way when Octavia gives her a call.
This one's a great melancholy story in two parts. The first chapter is pretty introspective - Vinyl thinking about what she's created and what she's leaving behind. Giving a bit of advice to her successor, Lemon Zest. And trying to figure out a little of what's next. The second chapter's part flashback - to her original meeting of Octavia - and part confrontation as the two sit down and deal with the question of how they split apart.
It's all deep inside Vinyl's head, but it confronts some issues she's great for. About legacy, stage personas, all that. Plus the ending's got just the right amount of sweetness to balance out the bitterness before.
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