"IMO #2." Agent Heartstrings, Neighbors, Sunset Realizes She's Like 30, Hard Reset trilogy, Imprisment, Stardust series, A Whisper from the Void

Yep, decided to continue this. Have a buncha more fic impressions.

• Agent Heartstrings by Quoterific
Some nice LyraBon fluff experience, soured a bit by references to that fanon. 4/5.

• Neighbors by Baal Bunny/AugieDog
Secret agents! Psycho secret agents everywhere! A really fun read. 5/5. It was a funny coincidence that I read it just as it turned one year old (i.e. last night).

• Sunset Realizes She's Like 30 by Mike_Tubapun
Timelines are weird. I don't think I'd actually read an EQG fic exploring this time discrepancy between the worlds before, but it has been on my mind for quite a while. This interpretation didn't leave that much of an impression on me but it was still good to experience. 4/5.

• Hard Reset trilogy by Eakin
An interesting fic, that's for sure. At least the first two stories. By the third book it's gotten too... I wouldn't say bleak, I actually enjoy bleak stories... but I was still bored out of my mind (by how it continued to become more and more serious and edgy? Really not sure...) so I dropped it after the first few chapters. 3.5/5.

• Imprisment by Petrichord
Now that's a good horror story. Poor oblivious Dash, poor ponies having to deal with her condition. 5/5.

• Stardust series by Arad
Enjoyed the first story a lot after playing XCOM for the first time but as the series progressed some things had begun to pile up that irked me a lot. Like the Tyrantlestia backstory (didn't read the prequel side-stories because of that). Like making Flash a jerk (really hoped that the author wouldn't drop his name until he did). Like, yep, that Lyra fanon again. I didn't mind the crossovers with other stories though even while the dimension jumper Sweetie Belle, can't remember how is that series called officially, part felt as it came out of nowhere and ended just as abruptly. Even considering all that, I still used to have it it in my top faves showcase until very recently and I still wish for it to get a proper ending someday. 4/5.

• A Whisper from the Void by Flashgen
It may be yet another "Nightmare Moon origins" story for some but I found it really well-executed and leaving rather ambiguous whether NMM was an external influence or purely self-inflicted. Another great fic from Flashgen. 4.5/5.

[Edit 2024-01-26: Some grammar fixes for the Stardust review.]