Fic recs, October 24th! · 11:52pm Oct 24th, 2023
So in order to get the word out, I'm doing something I haven't done in a while: a quick minific review!
H: 5 R: 10 C: 4 V: 0 N: 0
It's Not the End If… by Esle Ynopemos
Genre: Bittersweet/Shipping
Wow, it's time to say goodbye to Esle's Twilight-themed anthology. But that's okay, I've added like two more to the list. D: Anyway, this is a very heartfelt season-four-ish litany of potential futures for the Mane Six, all of whom realize after Rarity Takes Manehattan that time marches boldly ever onward, and things won't always be the same. Is it sad? Sure, a little bit. But there's also solace in how these changes bring happiness, and it's not like they all stop being friends or anything. I dare say, I like these ends for the characters far better than the ones we actually got!
Highly Recommended
Meanwhile, in the alternate universe where Nonagon won and Equestria was plunged into eternal fanfics by Nonagon
Genre: Comedy
Y'know, Nonagon, it's kind of cheating when your title is 15 words long and sets up the punchline. :P But, well, I guess he didn't exactly have a word limit specified for these stories, and this one's actually pretty funny. Did not see that coming.
Recommended
Crumpling & Crumpets: The Revenging by FuzzyFurvert
Genre: AU Comedy/Shipping
It took me a while to realize this was not a Jeeves and Wooster take, but something more akin to a medieval bodice-ripper, except it's Blueblood's bodice getting ripped when he takes a drubbing for being, you know, him. Anyway, the setting and circumstances are all great, the pacing is hilarious, and it manages to say a lot with very little! Really funny work, this one.
Highly Recommended
In Short by HoofAndQuill
Genre: Slice of Life
This is a very cute, and very well thought-out, bit of Twilight/Spike bonding, entirely from Twilight's POV. It ends where you might expect it to, but that's fine, because along the way, we get very good character work regarding Twilight, as well as a comparison I've never seen used before that makes a whole ton of sense. Good work!
Recommended
Permanent Vacation by AugieDog
Genre: Poem
It took me a while to figure out what was going on here. It's quite a chipper piece, it seems, up until the very end, where it turns melancholy. Really good use of the rondeau form here, too, but that's what we expect from AugieDog! :)
Recommended
Growing Up by Silvernis
Genre: Future Fic/Shipping
This is cute, though I really hate "wingie". c_c Like, I hope I never see that term used again, for all that it makes sense in context. But if nothing else, the reveal at the end is perfect.
Recommended for Shippers
Wingmares by Bombastic Bookpony
Genre: Shipping
The writing in this is a bit weird, just because we're deep within Dash's mind, even though it's not first-person and thus not immediately apparent. But the back-and-forth is really good, and this presents a scenario I've never seen written about in ponyfic before, I'm pretty sure? It also hits close to home, because I once fell afoul of this 'rule', given that I did not have any books about it. XD Dumb!
Recommended for Shippers
Twilight Sparkle's Greatest Idea EVER! by QueenMoriarty
Genre: Dark AU
I thought at first this was set during The Cutie Re-Mark, but I think it's just a scenario where Starlight's lost in time, and we get to see one scene of her interacting with somepony from another universe. And it is absolutely wild. I daresay even if you know Magic cards inside and out, you won't be able to guess what's going to happen in this piece! Super original, and super surprising as well!
Highly Recommended
Warrior Princess by KwirkyJ
Genre: Cute
Wanna see filly Twilight being irascible while playing that weird pony chess game with her brother? This is your fic. It's great.
Recommended
Phases of the Sun by Abecedarian
Genre: Dramedy
I dig this. It's kind of your average "Luna having trouble fitting in with the modern age" story, told entirely in dialogue with Celestia, but the heavier stuff is bookended by some sincere goofiness. I don't even care that it's just a fandom joke, it really works to help guide this conversation to a satisfying conclusion. :)
Recommended
The Flavor Cosmic by FanOfMostEverything
Genre: Comedy
Boy oh boy! What a weird fucking tale this is! Super imaginative, though. Still, it's like getting constantly slapped in the face! I never knew what was going to happen next, and it's not even a thousand words long!
Recommended
The Villain Contest by Loganberry
Genre: Comedic Poem
Oh man, this is so goofy and I love it. Loganberry did an excellent job with the structure and meter, but the content. And you bet I love the G1 references! I eat that shit up! :D
Highly Recommended
Just Girls Talking About Sunset Shimmer's Sexual Preferences by MythrilMoth
Genre: EQG Sex Comedy
Wow. Like the first two-thirds of this story gave me wicked deja vu. Like, not even "I have read this before" so much as "I have written this before". c_c Did I ever write something like this? Wild. Anyway, if you enjoy the question of "would Sunset be attracted to horses?" as a source of comedy, you will like this. Definitely one of the funnier entries of this series to date.
Recommended If You Like Sex Comedies
Retirees by horizon
Genre: Episode Followup
This is a big what-if about the season nine opener. Namely, Celestia and Luna aren't just "retiring". Or rather, they aren't just retiring from their jobs. And then it ends on a completely wild note that you have to see to believe!
Recommended
Purple Crush by kits
Genre: EQG Shipping
Sadly, this is a 'story idea that never went anywhere' kind of thing, so it doesn't have a solid ending. But it definitely does a shipping thing that I feel like I haven't seen before? And Sunset's great in it, too. :) I'm enjoying thinking about what could have been, for once.
Recommended for Shippers
on the way home by darf
Genre: Poetry
This is an actual short, free-form poem that definitely is a poem and not just a story with weird formatting. And despite its shortness, it does, like, the thing that poems are good for, saying a lot without using a whole lot of words. I'm not sure I could actually sum it up if asked, but it definitely connected with me on some level.
Recommended
Bad Judge of Character by Pascoite
Genre: Slice of Life
The author's note primes you for some wordplay, but I've certainly never seen wordplay like this! Here's another very short piece that does a lot of storytelling with very few words, well done!
Recommended
A View of Both Sides by GroaningGreyAgony
Genre: Experimental
Okay, so you open this story up and you're presented with two columns of text, each headed by an image of a different clock. That's how you know you're in for something special. Me, I read it column by column, and if you do so, I do recommend going left-right, as the other would present the story out of dramatic order. However, I'm betting you can also read either across paragraphs, or perhaps even across sentences? I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who tries that. Anyway, this also includes Derpy with some seriously wild inner monologue, so get ready for bizarre turns of phrase and words that don't exist. :D Love it.
Highly Recommended
Above Sound, Above Silence by Esle Ynopemos
Genre: Sad
This is a really solid piece about Rainbow Dash running away from her problems. I don't have a lot more to say beyond that!
Recommended
Hah, it's been a while since the last minific blog. Probably takes you longer to write these up than to read them.
OMFG! So many fics to add...
A View of Both Sides needs to be read three times: left, right, then as you suggested across the columns. Really clever in both language and formatting, although a tad sad.
A took me a moment to figure out the clocks were meant to represent eyes.
indeed
Hey, thanks for helping out!
I mean, if you're not going to slap your reader in the face at least once in a minific, why even bother?
Blimey, an HR? I definitely wasn't expecting that! Thank you!
5752055
It probably does! And lack of these is why my yearly review counts have been so low lately. :B
5752063
it's very clever :D
5752065
best of luck to you ;_;
Came here off Logan's posting of the strong recommendation for his UKPC 2016 Gen-1-themed poem (which was great, awesome!). Which gives me ample opportunity to say my thoughts on minifics.
The hardness of trying to review them (one either gives vague statements as to the overall quality and mention a few highlights, or looks at and reviews them individually over an extended prior of time as you do here), does make it much harder for me to read the things, even though I did so if they looked good in the old days. So I tend to gloss over these ones even if several have glowing endorsements.
However! Your opening with the final chapter of Else's Twilight anthology got me nostalgic, as I thoroughly enjoyed those six compilations. And the description of that one was enough to prompt me to reread that chapter on the spot. Possibly because I came to the fandom so late, the old-school "how the Mane 6 naturally see each other less with time as they go about their lives" ending can often hit me something fierce. And this one was great, both for the given fates of the group, and for the right mix of tones that is bittersweet but in an uplifting way for Twilight at the end there.
Small wonder, during the unicorn Twilight years when the fandom had no idea the show would last much longer or have status quo changes (and weren't foolish enough to hope so), that many great fics has future or epilogues like this. Friendship is indeed magic.
5753116
I honestly really miss those days, y'know? After 9 seasons of increasingly ridiculous stuff, the mane six drifting apart means that not only has something catastrophic occurred, Equestria is now doomed to darkness and despair. It was nice when they didn't matter quite so much.