Newish fic recs: Sweetie Ban, by Casketbase77; Sonder, by Shaslan · 9:26pm Aug 21st, 2023
Casketbase77 is a new author I'd never heard of who's posted more stories than I have. "Sweetie Ban" is a short, fun piece about Sweetie Bot being fired from her tutoring job, as an indirect result of a new rule meant to prevent students from using AI assistance. (Not, oddly, in the direct way you'd expect--that Sweetie herself is an AI assistant--but something more-convoluted, and maybe funnier.) Plus, it raises some ideas about how a person (Sweetie Belle) might relate to a robot modelled ("imprinted") on herself. 2,963 words.
It's still in the featured box 4 days after posting. Is that common now?
Another new author I'd never heard of who's posted more stories than I have is Shaslan, whose Noondark I read recently. "Noondark" is very well-written, but not especially satisfying; it feels very much, as Forcalor wrote, like the first chapter of a fantasy novel.
Shaslan her?self recommends Patience, The Empress and the Goose Girl, and Sonder. I just read "Sonder", and it's a short story that will stay with me for a long time. 1,929 words; strongly recommended.
According to Google, "Sonder" means "the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own." Its use here is a little confusing. I think Shaslan used it because so few of us think what it's like to be Principal Celestia. My first thought was that it's our Celestia who has this sonder, but that doesn't quite work, because (A) she isn't in the story, and (B) the Principal's life isn't as vivid and complex as Celestia's. So I think it refers to the reader's sonder, which it creates.
I'm increasingly out of touch with the new crop. Any suggestions? FOME, you seem to read most everything; what do you think? Shaslan recommends RedParade, Seer, LostInFandom and Mushroom.
Shaslan also (IMO) needs to be commended highly for her story Flower Wars, the winning entry at this year's EFNW Iron Author contest.
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I was going to say that if Winston didn't. It was quite a piece of writing for two hours.
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Seconded; that story is amazing
I feel very elated to be referenced in such a popular blog, even if just in passing
Regarding Shaslan, she(?) is amazing. I have a library here called 'I want to be inspired by this', and all her works are worthy of being stuffed in there. Well, maybe most of them, as I shouldn't get too crazy over here... She's a truly wonderful writer
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Hey, nice to know you’re still around.
I miss you, your expert advice and your kind words, more often than not.
Assuming Mushroom is mushroompone, my (admittedly vague) impression is that basically everyone recommends them. (I don't disagree.)
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Good to see you again! I'm not done with ponyfic *quite* yet...
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Nice to hear!
Hope you’ll call in at some random WriteOff round. It would be nice to read something of yours again.
Cheerio
Thanks for the shoutout! It was really cool to meet you at EFNW and all the rest of the big time writers. I'm glad you enjoyed Sonder as well, I love the idea of finding out your AU self is basically a god. It opens up so many self-identity crisis possibilities.
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Yes, that's them! They're great.