Fic recs, May 25th! · 1:12am May 26th, 2023
VisualPony has done a reading of Dark Horse's Luna Beats a Dead Horse as well as Fire Gazer the Alchemist's Live to Be Reformed Another Day, horizon's The Glaring Gaffes of Gabby Gums, and ManlyDerp's Twilight Says the Thing!
Huh, and apparently I missed Midnight29's reading of LittleWood's The Princess and the Moon!
Also, TheLostNarrator and a whole bunch of people did a reading of Blarghalt's The Great and Deathless Trixie!
This body now runs on E! So if I ever suddenly start acting weird, that's why. :B
H: 2 R: 1 C: 0 V: 2 N: 1
Out in the Rain by GalaxyNight
Reading by Midnight29
Genre: Dark
About the time I was trying to remember from my very limited time in season 9 just whether or not Twilight would actually care about whether everyone loves her, because wasn't she just sort of wrangled into ruling Equestria whether she wanted to or not?, this story drops a bombshell. See, apparently King Sombra is living in Twilight's head now. And he can just take over her body at any moment. Also he's kind of petty and childish, but nevermind that. What? I honestly couldn't even tell you what they talk about, because I spent the rest of the story wondering just how much context I was missing here. The transition from "standard sadfic" to "wait, say that again???" was so abrupt, it completely took over the story. This really feels like an entry in a much longer tale of Sombra's vengeful spirit becoming bonded with Twilight somehow, and that's what I'm interested in, not Twilight moping about ponies never thanking her for saving Equestria. Really, I never knew what her motivation was throughout this whole thing, just as I never knew just what the hell was going on. And the writing's just okay.
Vaguely Recommended
Rainbow Dash Discovers Bad Fanfiction by TheExhaustedBrony
Reading by TheLostNarrator and CloudGazer45
Huh! I wasn't planning on reviewing a new reader, but CloudGazer counts. He's really good! Sounds like Wuten. I checked out his channel though, and he has exactly one fic reading, so I've put that in the playlist in lieu of adding him to the reader list. I mean, it was from four years ago, all he does now is video game playthroughs, so I don't expect there will be any more, which is a shame.
Genre: Comedy
Rainbow Dash just wanted to get her Daring Do fix for the day.
I get why writers enjoy writing about writers. But why have we always been so obsessed with writing about bad writing? And why is it always hilarious? This was, indeed, hilarious, and hits all the worst fanfic tropes you could ask for. The one thing that might turn people off is the swearing. I mean, this starts with Rainbow Dash going on the internet, so the existence of swearing isn't the issue, just that there's a lot of it. But if that doesn't bother you, please read this, you owe it to yourself. Highly Recommended If You Don't Mind Gratuitous Swearing
Recommended
The Next Iron Pony by Vis-a-Viscera
Reading by Midnight29
Genre: Action
Fluttershy runs.
This is a unique and marvelous story of personal growth and self-realization. It's a topic I love seeing explored for Fluttershy. But more than that, it's one of those stories so tightly written, with such strong language use, that it is simply a joy to read all on its own. Hardly mind-blowing at its core, this nevertheless delivers on all fronts in ways I could not have imagined. Simplicity at its finest!
Highly Recommended
Far from the Tree by Sonicsuns
Reading by Lotus Moon and LullabyForBears
Genre: Shipping Drama
I never thought my family would have anything to say against me and Rarity…
You know it, I know it, we all know it: Applejack and/or the Apple Family being homophobic is a really old, really bad trope. Yet for the longest time, I have been waiting for a story to finally come along and subvert it in one very specific way. This, friends, is that story, and it's great. :D Well written, super emotional, and hey, it's Rarijack! Cherry on top. The only word I can say against it is I wish the mention of "the scriptures" had been backed up by at least a little world-building. But like, it's a minor detail, and it does get AJ's point across. Before I end up giving the plot away, I just want to say, go read this, and don't let your first impressions deter you from finishing.
Highly Recommended
Why Do We Hate Each Other? by Boltstrike58
Reading by Midnight29
Genre: Comedy
Starlight's peaceful day is ruined by conflict. Again.
When I look at a question in a title, come up with an answer for it, and then that answer is essentially the bulk of the story, it doesn't leave me with a whole lot to grab on to. Twilight and Trixie have very valid reasons (at least, in their heads) to dislike each other. And while, yes, Twilight should be the bigger mare, living up to her princess title and all, Trixie is a loud egotist while Twilight is often a know-it-all. Point being, they have reasons to continue to get on each others' nerves. In total, this felt like a lot of show critique, and nor was it coming from an interesting angle, not to mention I also felt like some liberties were taken. You can't take liberties while criticizing canon, it just undermines your efforts.
Not Recommended
The Barrows by Warrior Priest
Reading by Sparrow9642
Mature: Violence, Death
Genre: Dark Adventure
A pair of adventurers enter the Barrows, heedless of the danger. They should have listened.
This gets off to a fairly meh start with a pile of character descriptions laid out in the most basic way possible. From there, things do get better — the Human tag in particular is used in a very good way — but this never really hit the highs of horror or world-building I was looking for going into. It is interesting, and it does do some world-building, but I think I'd have liked either more of that, or else a third thing to help buttress the rest of what's going on. I did appreciate the monster fake-out. But in the end, this didn't leave a big impression on me.
Vaguely Recommended
Honestly, I only wrote that story because I was bored. I have no idea why it was so popular.
The Barrows was a niche piece I did really for the sake of practice. I'd never written horror before that, and I was surprised that it got the attention of Sparrow. I appreciate you taking time to make a short review on it, feedback is always a welcome thing when it comes to my stories.
Hurray for E! And hurray for fic reviews! n_n
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I'll tell you, the setting was pretty dang interesting, and like I said, people don't always do "humans were here before ponies" that well, either. So there was definitely something to the idea! :)