It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #83 · 9:54pm Oct 19th, 2022
Right, with that bit of spooky out of the way, let's get back to some of the site's promising newbies.
The first one is a bit... well, not quite a newbie. Formerly Committed first published in November of 2019 - and then not again until August of 2022. (Plus they're a 2012 account.) So while not new-new, they're somebody who probably slipped under most people's radars. Let's correct that a little with their more recent story, How Did You Win?
It's the first sleepover since the Friendship Games, and the human Twilight is still trying to fit in with the group. 'Friends' is still being worked on, but Twilight is still Twilight no matter the dimension. So she's trying to get her bearings by finding out the pasts she's missed. One question comes up that stops the room dead: Sunset Shimmer won the Fall Formal crown through manipulation and blackmail, but how did she win the first one before she knew CHS' ins and outs? As it happens, that story's a bit uglier than expected - and a raw wound that's never entirely healed.
The situation's one we've seen a number of times - a sleepover with the CHS girls is a classic for interpersonal drama, particularly Sunset/Twilight/Twilight's first one with the rest of the crew. (That's not a negative, mind you. There's a reason it's such a standard.) The subject matter is what draws this one out and puts it front and center. A common thread with writers is that even when she was evil, Sunset had lines she wouldn't cross. She'd shove people into lockers - but she wouldn't pull people out of closets. So seeing this story take a different tack is notable.
It's handled well, too. You can understand why Sunset did it. Her explanation makes sense from where she was and it's internally consistent. You can also see why it was a topic that remained unresolved for so long - not everybody has the full story, there's a lot of raw feelings, and the whole matter is stepping through landmines.
Rainbow Dash, though, is the part that really grabs my attention here. Frequently (particularly in Equestria Girls fics) she's pigeonholed into a pseudo-antagonist role: quick to anger, unforgiving, often outright abusive of early Sunset. Here, she's quite different. Still very distinctly Rainbow Dash, but a more sane flavor. She's got the anger and frustration, but you can also see the roots of why she did what she did in the shared past. Her Loyalty shines through pretty strongly and her fierce nature is tempered by actual sane actions. It's refreshing and pleasing, in addition to being well done.
On the other side, we have an author who is very much new-new, with an even newer story. Normally I don't bring up stuff that's so new it's still in the New Column, but this one's still in the grey bar after three days so the site is generally not noticing it. And it is so, so much better than that.
In this case, I'm speaking about Of Providence and Plain by GrangeDisplay.
The story details the romance (truly!) of Igneous Pie and Cloudy Quartz. Igneous is a destitute rock farmer, struggling to keep the farm and his ailing father alive; Cloudy is the daughter of a powerful doctor, educated among the Equish but with her own desires to return to her heritage among the Plain. A lot's packed in the 18,000 words - going into their parentages, their youthful dreams, their dramas, and a dumb plan that actually works out in the end.
This one's going under the radar right now, and that's not a huge surprise: it's by an unknown and new writer in the middle of a major contest that's packed with high profile authors and a solidly high turnout of stories. But despite all that? Do not sleep on this one.
In addition to just being quality written, this has to be one of the best portrayals of these two I've ever seen. It's really easy to reduce the parent characters to one-dimensional (part of why FoME did this contest, I bet) and the Pie parents are even moreso. Their Amish/Mennonite-esque culture, generally conservative appearances, and stuffy, low-emotive personalities get them typecast a lot and reduced.
Not here.
This story really breathes life into the pair - fleshing them out with personality and hopes and desires - without breaking character. They're still characters with subtle emotions and part of a conservative, restrained culture. (That culture, too, gets a lot of time and quiet world-building that I absolutely love.) The romance, as well, suits them wonderfully. Too many romance fics have a moment where a switch gets flipped and characters go "Okay, we're in love now." Here, you get to see why those feelings are born and the blocks that eventually build into their marriage. It's not fireworks - it's lighting the fuse and letting you fill in the blanks of what you know is coming.
Really, I read this today and immediately rewrote the second half of this post just to include it. That's how much I've already fallen for this fic.
New or catching up? Try Recommendsday: The Index for your story needs!
Oh, um, thank you for the kind review for a story that is the unholy amalgamation of me trying to make sense of that first movie, the look Dash gives Sunset when she does that riff after the Battle of the Bands, and my unhealthy desire to make Sunny D kiss.