It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #81 · 10:41pm Oct 5th, 2022
So last year I let myself fall behind on one of this blog's primary goals: helping to shine the spotlight on promising/up-and-coming new authors for the site. I ended up having to do time-and-a-half for the entire five week month of December to cram in all the ones I wanted to feature. This year, I'm going to get ahead of it and not trip all over myself.
So this week, I'm going to jump in with a pair of first time authors with pony Sunset Shimmer avatars who write Equestria Girls romances!
(Look, I warned everybody from the beginning that sometimes the connecting criteria get silly.)
First up: Can You See What I See?, by Avery Day.
The story leads with a sleepover by the girls: the first one with the human Twilight Sparkle. Getting up in the middle of the night to indulge in the siren song of eating raw whipped cream from the can, Sunset encounters an uneasy Twilight. The two talk, hug, return to bed... and it's there Sunset is struck by realization. Oh no. She has a crush on Twilight.
Her hesitation and uncertainty ends up taking a turn for the worse as she fails to confess those feelings before Camp Everfree - and Twilight finding a date in Timber Spruce. Oh no.
Thankfully, Sunset has a close ally in Rarity, who will not stand to let love go unfulfilled. And so begins the path down romance.
SciSet is a pairing we've all seen before - it's a super popular Sunset ship, and for obvious reasons. This one handles it with considerable skill, though. It isn't just teenage angst and will-she-won't-she: there's legitimate issues that Sunset (and Twilight) wrestle with throughout the fic. Uncertainty about sexuality, old trauma, abusive relationships, the whole nine yards. Sunset's frustration in having to not leap to Twilight's defense as her relationship with Timber takes ugly turns has some serious emotional oomph to it.
The secondary characters really shine, too. Timber is precisely the sort of asshat you want to punch, but he's a realistic asshat. The sort where most of us can look at the guy and immediately connect him to someone we know in real life. And Rarity is a pleasure as well: she's got her own thing going on, but she's so very Rarity. The interplay between her and Sunset reminds me very strongly of EileenSaysHi's Late-Night Conversations (which should be no surprise since I believe Eileen's the one that pointed me to this story), and I mean that as a complement.
For first time stories, this is incredibly strong and I'm really looking forward to what more this author's got to offer us.
On the shorter side of things, we've got PopMediaVagabond and Dash Gets Help from a Deus Big Mac'ina.
After the fateful Fall Formal, Rainbow Dash catches a ride home with Applejack in Big Mac's truck. They're exhausted, both from the late hour and the intensity of the confrontation with Sunset Shimmer. In the silent darkness of the truck's back seat, Dash thinks about everything that went on. Then she looks across the seat to the farm girl and... she's not sure what she feels. It isn't quite friendship, but she doesn't have words for it.
Fortunately, Big Mac's more observant than he often lets on. And he's a good brother. So he helps his sister - and Dash.
Like SciSet, AppleDash is a classic ship and one we've all seen. Equestria Girls trends more RariJack, but it's still pretty common. And again: this is a damn good take on the pairing.
Part of that is the tone and setting: AppleDash lends itself (by virtue of the two involved) to being loud, bombastic, and full of drama. Having it be in such a quiet, almost dialogue-less scene gives it some serious power and brings the focus strongly to the small actions and subtle cues of each character's part.
Of course, that's helped by Applejack spending, like, two-thirds of the fic asleep.
But that just leaves more room for the Dash/Mac silent interplay. And it's damn good. How Big Mac is characterized in this is really great: too often he gets cast in the 'protective big brother' role that's full of "Ya better not hurt ma sister" bluster, and honestly it rarely suits him well. Here, we get to see him in a subtly similar but improved light: he's protective of his sister and acts to make her happy through small actions and giving her a helping hand rather than playing the Neanderthal.
There's just something pure about this fic. It's cute as hell, don't get me wrong. But what comes at me more is the raw innocence and love contained in it: Dash's nervous heart-twittering, as well as Mac's familiar love for his sister in his quiet way. (Plus the cover art is just damn adorable. How can you not smile at it?)
This one's another author to watch, folks.
New or catching up? Try Recommendsday: The Index for your story needs!
Funny, I just started reading Can You See What I See, and it's getting better. The first chapters weren't bad, but as you said, this is a ship we've seen before, so the story had to give me a reason to keep reading beyond the writing style, and it's done that. Definitely worth a read unless you really, really hate EQG.
Speaking of EQG, have you looked at EQG: A New Generation? Iffy on this one, though I did really love the newest chapter, and it bodes well for it.
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I haven't read that one, to be honest. I've got a fairly robust reading list, but tend to discard stuff pretty quick if it doesn't grab my attention. I suppose that one didn't, though I can't particularly name why.
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You sure you saw it? It's really new. That said, most of the draw is curiosity, the author took the interesting path of Sunset staying single and becoming a school teacher, Equestrian magic is apparently gone from the EQG world, and she's just starting her first job as a World HIstory teacher at Canterlot High, and her class happens to be Pipp, Zipp, Hitch, Izzie and Sunny. Bit weird that that's her entire class, but aside from that and some of the chapters being a bit thin so far, it's been interesting to see this future in EQG. Not sure that in the long run the story will be any good, but it's kept me curious enough to keep reading, for now at least.
Gosh, this absolutely made my day! I'm so glad you enjoyed my story, and thank you for your review and recommendation!
I only just recently checked in, and come back to find this post.
Thanks so much for your fabulous promo take on the piece! So very glad you liked it enough to warrant this very flattering attention!!
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Since this author was so helpful to point it out, just thought I'd say: I'm a big fan of your very wonderful avatar image there!
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Likewise!!
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drive.google.com/uc?id=1dJ6YVcPL-HcZLI9VfTFNJ4cRKfvFQYnK