It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #48 · 8:51pm Feb 16th, 2022
'Tis the season for romance - unsurprisingly. With Valentine's just two days past, the theme for today's pretty obvious. And fortunately, I've got Best Pony to lean into with plenty of stories!
I'm gonna lead with 'adorable' today: Tethered-Angel and Down the Laundry Chute.
It is a simple story: Sunset the unicorn and Adagio the sheep are favorite stuffed toys of Sweetie Belle. Unfortunately, an... ill timed adventure on Adagio's part sends the pair of plushies down the laundry chute and into the dark recesses of the basement. As they struggle to escape their dingy and cobweb-tangled prison, they encounter the greatest terror of all plush toys: Opalescence, the Destroyer.
This one does start off a little weird - I had a few seconds before going "Oh, right, Toy Story scenario" and getting into the proper frame of mind that the primary characters are a pair of talking stuffed animals. Once you get past that (and it's fairly easy,) you're rewarded with what is honestly an adorable damn romance/adventure as the pair scramble their fluffy little legs through Rarity's home.
And as much as I like Sunset, Adagio's kind of the star with this one. Her character's spot-on despite being a stuffed sheep, and she's just that perfect mix of haughty and hilarious. I mean, seriously:
Adagio’s horrified gasp made Sunset wince. “The laundry chute!?” Adagio exclaimed indignantly. “How dare they! I am not some common beanie baby! I deserve more respect than this.” She huffed, turning her muzzle up haughtily. “I am to be hand washed only!”
That's gold right there.
The second one is gonna wave the big NOT SAFE FOR WORK sign again, so there's your fair warning. Because we're trading 'adorable' for 'sexy'. And it is not even slightly timid about that.
New fic, same siren, different human. And so we've got Rules of Etiquette by I-A-M.
When she was a child, Octavia Melody had a music tutor: a woman by the name of Serenata. The woman was key to Octavia developing into who she would become - and yet so little was known about her, including the true story behind why she abruptly walked away one day, leaving behind only the sheet music of a song to never be recorded... and a pink bow tie.
Many years later, Octavia bumps into a woman at the airport with a similar surname and inquires deeper about what happened to her teacher of so many years ago. And then Adagio breaks down into tears of joy.
Now, if you're going to read this series (and I very much recommend doing so, I'm a huge fan) you should probably start with the first, But I'm putting up Etiquette because is the one that really stuck with me the most, and doesn't require the first for anything more than some context.
There are so many parts of it I could fawn over. I love the characterization, I love the world-building of the sirens in their before-time (the concept of 'sharing air' is my favorite), I love I-A-M's amazing way with words. The way that Octavia talks about Adagio is poetry and in turn, Adagio's simple "My little Melody" still chokes me up a little. It's a beautiful romance - just like both of its sister stories - and my favorite works from an author who's got a library full of amazing works.
Have I mentioned yet that I'm an absolute simp for I-A-M in general? Because I totally am.
[Unpublished stories cannot be embedded]
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Do we need to read the prequel before reading "Rules of Etiquette?"
oh, Down the Laundry Chute is great :D there's really no other story like it on this site
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As I partially said in my comments on it, no - it's useful for context, but there's only one point where it's in any way important and that scene does a fine job of explaining the relevant parts.
I do still recommend reading the entire series of three (plus the fourth that's an epilogue anthology) however because I freaking love this entire series.
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There really isn't! I only got pointed to it recently (by The Sleepless Beholder) and it immediately leapt out at me as a real gem.
I adore the Rules series. One little scene in the third featured such a small yet perfect coverage of who Pinkie really is for her friends. But more than that I appreciate just how intimate the series can get, how it handled the EqGirls becoming and being adults, an element of being pretty funny, not so much in the pursuit of comedy but in that life itself ends up in periods of funny when written well. I-A-M simps unite, for by Written's Quill, we have come to terms.