Fic recs, October 12th! · 2:04am Oct 13th, 2023
VisualPony has done readings of Titanium Dragon's The Perfect Cure for the Common Cold and Deergenerate's Greedy Gryphon Grasps at Generosity!
For no particular reason, I was kind of behind on reviews for today, so I sat down and read a few short ones through myself. That honestly works really well with any video under 10 minutes, and I might do it more. But because I was out all day (getting a makeup lesson and a manicure for the first time!), I just kind of crammed in as many as I could before posting right now. XD whoops
H: 1 R: 4 C: 5 V: 1 N: 1
Escape by ThePegaKris
Reading by Agent0Fluffy
Genre: EQG Horror
I've always been uneasy driving alone at night…
Hey, this is a pretty classic horror story! It's got this really surreal atmosphere: not only is Sunset somewhat genre-aware, in a way that doesn't break the impact of the story, "girl driving home at night hears a scary voice" ends up being something I would not have expected. It does all lead up to — if I read the URL correctly — basically someone else's jumpscare (literally the scariest thing I've ever seen on the internet), but by that point, I was entirely on edge, so just seeing the link was enough. Honestly, good horror story, no notes!
Recommended
Facing Her Enemy by Michael Hudson
Reading by Midnight29
Genre: Changeling Fic
In the dark, she hunts her prey.
This is one of those 'cute kid' fics where the main character is basically playing make-believe and we just have to sit back and wait for the reveal. That said, what makes it work is being a cute Chrysalis fic, loaded with a bunch of incidental world-building. The reveal was actually quite unexpected, and what follows just as much, not to mention being quite satisfying if you're into changeling stuff!
Recommended
Tears and Tootsie Rolls by Dubs Rewatcher
Reading by Agent0Fluffy, et. al.
Genre: EQG Holiday Special/Comedy/Friendshipping
When she finds out Twilight's never been trick-or-treating before. Sunset pulls out all the stops to make sure her friend has the best Nightmare Night ever.
Well, The Hooficure is now the second-funniest story I've ever read as part of Month of Macabre. :) This was great! I can totally believe Sci-Twi is the kind of shut-in turbonerd who's never been trick-or-treating. Sunset being terrified of haunted houses was more surprising, but that's likely why it's given more explanation in-story. Really, this is just fantastic from start to finish. It's the kind of story I'd show to people to demonstrate How You Write A Story. Sunset's character arc; the comedy that comes from strong characters in a situation rather than random, less than believable happenstance; the tight pacing and everyone's roles. It's all just so, so good. This was really funny and has a very warm, sincere emotion at its heart, and maybe it's that last bit that's what's most important.
Highly Recommended
Trying Something New by Nugget
Reading by Midnight29
Genre: Slice of Life
I fully expect they'll hate it.
So this isn't too bad. The writing's on the plain side, but a thousand words of Octavia's internal monologue as she debuts a collaboration with Vinyl and anticipates getting reamed by her normally classical-enjoying audience isn't just any old story. I mean, it's almost all descriptions of something that can only be expressed auditorily, so kudos to the author for that.
Recommended for Octavia Fans
Fallen Apprentice by Machiniman20
Reading by Agent0Fluffy
Genre: Immortality Angst
Okay, it's not quite immortality angst, as Twilight is never once said to be an alicorn. But what the hell else could being "of royal blood" mean? This was, it should be noted, written barely a month after Magical Mystery Cure aired, so that puts it in some perspective. But to be honest, I have no idea what's going on. I really like the scene in the middle, where Twilight gets into some shit on the fruitless quest to bring her friends back from the dead. That's got a solid moral to it. But the rest of it, the bookending scenes with Celestia, I just… Okay, she's sad, I guess. I just don't know what to make of it.
Vaguely Recommended
Waiting by TheExhaustedBrony
Reading by Midnight29
Genre: Dark
And then, a part of Discord died.
I'm not sure I really buy the premise of this story, that Discord had 'evil energy' or somesuch in his mind that was expelled after his reformation. I'm not good at figuring this kind of thing out, but it seems like the sort of thing that would preclude reformation or something something… I don't know. Also Agentless Luna. For what it is beyond that premise, though, it's not bad. If anything, it might be an idea worth revisiting now that the show's ended, because I think the addition of more villains might provide a method of exploring the concept more deeply. Could be one of those "Cozy, Chrysalis and Tirek stuck in the statue" stories. Since, given when it was written, having more villains wasn't really possible.
Recommended for Discord Fans
It's New and I Hate It by Flutterpriest
Reading by Agent0Fluffy and Swift Blade Productions
Genre: AiE Comedy
Equestria's only human has a few opinions about his new outfit.
This, I guess, is what I expect from "a standard Anon in Equestria fic". Anon's just… there. Ponies do stupid things and act out of character for comedy's sake. No real observation is made. There is cross-species UST, which… ugh. And that's about it. I can't even say I found it notably funny. It's just not for me. But it might be for you?
Recommended for Anon Fans Only
The True Origin of Earth Ponies by David Silver
Reading by Midnight29
Genre: World-Building
Once, earth ponies heard the whispers, and they led the way forward…
This is a really cool story, the denouement of which I never saw coming and totally makes it worth reading. That said, the writing is very flat. I mean, the dialogue is very simple and straightforward, and lends something of a fairy tale feel to the overall presentation. But when dialogue is main body and driving force of the narrative, it does leave something to be desired. Still worth it for the finale, though.
Recommended for World-Building Fans
Apologies by ThatGirlOnFire
Reading by Agent0Fluffy
Genre: Sad Shipping
Dear Pinkie Pie: I'm sorry.
This is one of those stories where, from the moment I start reading, my only thought is, "Okay, who died?" Surprisingly, the answer in this case is 'no one'; Pinkie will never read Dash's letter because she's got the ability to not be found if she doesn't want to be, and honestly, I dig that. That's super true to character. That said, I also cannot imagine Fluttershy playing the evil temptress role, so that kinda killed everything for me. Plus, this is just really, really dour, not to mention repetitive. By the end, I just did not care anymore, I was tired of Rainbow's constant string of self-recriminations. I was more invested in the background Rarijack!
Not Recommended
A- by Miller Minus
Reading by Midnight29
Genre: Slice of Life
Sunset was used to seeing that letter. The line next to it, not so much.
Who wants to read a story about young Sunset Shimmer being a little shit I DOOOO! :D Nothing better than reading a tragedy about a kid pushing themself to be better despite no one else doing so. This is so simple and so effective, it's great!
Recommended
A Little Midnight Chat by Nordryd
Reading by Agent0Fluffy
Genre: EQG Shipping
Twilight has a lot on her mind.
This is one of those stories where you just extend a scene to add some shipping into it, but I feel like we don't see those from EQG stuff that much? Or I haven't, at least. Anyway, I have basically no notes on this, it's nothing but the shipping (well, and a good character note on Twilight's part), it comes off entirely as guilty pleasure stuff, except I would have to feel guilt over it for that to be true, now wouldn't I? :V
Recommended for Shippers
Sisterly Connection by Amereep
Reading by Midnight29
Genre:
Pipp and Zipp spend time texting.
I had to read this one because saying "emoji" all the time was maybe not the best way to have done the reading. c_c; Anyway, kudos to the author for not only writing a story entirely with text messages, but for formatting them well! And not only that, they made the format actually relevant to the story! That super caught me off guard! The story itself is fairly simple, but that makes sense, given what you can tell via a series of short texts. It's nice to see an experiment succeed like this though!
Recommended
Ah, those stories by Dubs and Minus were both good ones!
Lol I put that one out in under an hour to satirize the response to the MAJOR upgrade that Knighty made to the fimfic UI. Clearly we like it all now because it's been up for a LONG time
5750297
ahhhh, I wondered! that makes more sense in hindsight :B
Tootsie Rolls sounds like the most adorable thing ever, added to the list.~
Yay Manicure and makeup! hope it was fun n_n
5750316
meeehhhhhh c_c
5750318
*Hugs* Aw :<
aw, thanks!