Fic recs, March 12th! · 6:30pm Mar 12th, 2023
Lotus Moon has done a reading of Celly Da Pancake's Remember Me with Mystery Pony Fiction!
And VisualPony has done iAmSiNnEr's Twilight Blows Up Nightmare Moon!
Time for the monthly (*sob*) review blog! I just needed to get something read, so there's no rhyme or reason to this, just a few short one-shots.
Also, in case you don't keep up with my streaming junk, I'm gonna be having surgery to fix a deviated septum next Tuesday, so if I disappear off the internet for a while, the recovery is why. It is not going to be easy. D:
H: 1 R: 2 C: 2 V: 0 N: 0
The Gentle Nights by PaulAsaran
Genre: Shipping
After a disastrous gala, Octavia just wants to be alone for a bit. But her solo playing attracts the attention of one pony…
This picks up right after Best Night Ever, possibly even before it's completely over, so saddle up for a trip back to season one, folks! Because not only are we reliving the first Grand Galloping Gala through the eyes of a background pony, Princess Luna Is Just So Sad, You Guys. I mean this as gentle ribbing, of course, but it's still a trope that spawned an anti-contest once upon a time, it's kind of silly. Regardless, this only lasts for the first scene, after which we're treated to Luna and Octavia building a friendship that does seem poised to become something more by the end even if there's no sealing with a kiss. And despite the brevity, I think PaulAsaran was able to cram a lot of story into a small word count via careful word choices and solid application of dialogue. I certainly felt satisfied by the end!
Recommended
Harpflank and Sweets: Interval by Arcainum
Genre: Emotional
Why has Lyra locked herself away for so long?
This is a far departure from your normal H&S story. Its main effect, I'd say, is friendshipping our two heroes. This has a really solid portrayal of both depression and a strained relationship that nevertheless avoids snapping. Moody without being melancholy, it does just about the right thing with all its decisions, except the POV shifts. <_<;
Recommended for Lyra Fans
Salmon Rose by Admiral Biscuit
Genre: PoE
I wasn't expecting my roommate for the ichthyology conference to be a pony.
You know, I hate to say it, but at this point, I've read so many of Admiral Biscuit's pony-doing-normal-things-on-Earth stories that they're kind of starting to blend together. >.>; This one doesn't really offer much beyond any of the others. Oh sure, the title is a pun (that I got very late into the story), but knowing that doesn't change anything. There are a few good background gags in there as well, but again, they aren't the focus, don't change anything, and might be something a reader would completely miss without the usual story notes blog. And the writing is… very odd. I chalk it up to the voice of the narrator; scientists are notoriously not known for being good at creative writing, after all. But is that intentional? Regardless, it's a tad dry. Which is all to say, this is hardly bad, but also hardly Biscuit's best.
Recommended for PoE Fans
Remaining Strangers by NaiadSagalotaOar
Genre: Character Piece
Applejack and Flim fall down a hole.
This is a very interesting story. Taken at face value, not much happens, and once Flim calms the hell down, there are no stakes. But there is a conversation, and the author says she got to like the characters more by writing them. Some good character work in this, and that, I think, is the entire idea.
Recommended
Go South, Young Mare by FanOfMostEverything
Genre: Comedy/Adventure
It's Winter Wrap-Up, and Ditzy Doo is once again on migration duty. Surely this time, things will go better.
Once again, FOME brings us a rollicking cavalcade of hilarity in service of uplifting Best Derp. A very greedy part of me wants to complain that the story resolves itself so quickly, I didn't get enough "Sisters Doo" interaction. But what's there is great, and anyway, that's not the point. The point is, Ditzy gets to be a hero for once, and it feels great. Add to this some fun backstory for our main characters (I really never tire of new, creative cutie mark stories to explain the bubbles, and this one is no exception), a crazy calamity in the making, and an opening scene which shows us, like… Ditzy and Twilight know each other? They're friends, or at least good enough acquaintances that they can rib each other about things they've both been involved in? Really makes Ponyville feel like a cohesive community, Princess of Friendship and all. Point is, this is excellent, and I'm glad I read it.
Highly Recommended
Huh, how did I miss Go South, Young Mare? It sounds like a story I'd really enjoy.
Oh, wow. I haven't even glanced at that story in years. It's always been overshadowed by it's rewrite.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Best wishes with the surgery.
Smooth recovery, and safe and fast surgery! And thanks for the recs
Hurray for story recs! And hope the surgery goes smoothly and recovery is speedy. n_n
Glad you enjoyed the story. Best of luck with the surgery.
Hm. A Present Perfect Fic Recs with five stories read, totalling only 16K? And none via accompanying audio readings? Strange, I don't recall ghostwriting this…
Don't see Loganberry doing it either…
Obviously the small post this time makes total sense, what with you still settling after the move and this surgery (best of luck with that!). Not that I think you'd ever actually be offended by me writing the above! All good, as they say.
I don't think any of these would have leapt out at me on their own, but even despite me typically being rather cool on Derpy fics, I cannot in principle ignore a HR for a fic that short which is light, funny and adventurous. Guess it'll be getting a read in the future!
5717905
Present is lazy and reads short fics to get non-themed blogs out quicker :V hope you enjoy that story!
I’m a little surprised by how much I don’t remember about that story. I’ve managed to get characters I’m noticeably uninterested in every single time I’ve done Jinglemas, but that time was at least a pair with a relationship and history and stuff, so after they fell into a hole because I couldn’t think of anything else, it was less of a struggle than the others, which might explain it.
I’m happy to take your word that there’s something good there though! Thanks for the review, hope the surgery goes as well as it can.