Fic recs, December 14th! · 2:51pm Dec 14th, 2023
It's below 200! 
Tada emoji!
Of course, I had hoped getting it down to two screens would mean no more "precondition check failed" errors every single time I remove a video from the playlist. 
But no dice.
One more blog and I'll be done with this phase! Plus I have a side review that's almost finished! And that might just be it before the end of the year? But I should at least hit 600 reviews for the year, which is more than last year! :)
Also, I might not have to move? c_c; Literally waiting to hear from them today.
H: 1 R: 0 C: 4 V: 1 N: 0
Nightmare Moon's Interrogation by TheAnimerican
Reading by Agent0Fluffy and ThunderSpeakVA
Reading by VisualPony
Genre: Comedy
Nightmare Moon's return does not go exactly how she planned.
So this is apparently based off a skit by Fry & Laurie, which I haven't seen and don't know how to find, so keep that in mind. This is basically "Nightmare Moon's hostage greets her with sexual harassment", which is amusing on some level, because, hey. Can you blame him? Nightmare Moon's pretty hot. But that's really all there is to this. It's hardly a laugh a minute, and it just sort of stops at the end. I felt like there was at least another line or two needed to hit a definite punchline, but maybe that's just me. After all, this isn't an original idea, so who knows how the original went.
Recommended Only If You Find the Setup Amusing
Twilight Finds Out She's Related to Luna by Frost Bear
Reading by VisualPony
Genre: Random Comedy
I hate to say it, but this is definitely one of the fics of all time. The main reveal is right there in the title. The reaction of Luna and Twilight to said reveal is interesting, in that they basically do nothing. Admittedly, hash is made of this, which does make it amusing. And the punchline is decent. The writing is decent. There's one or two interesting ideas here. But the end result is… fine. Not good, not bad, just there. I'm struggling to come up with anything more to say about this.
Vaguely Recommended
First Date by Harmony Charmer
Reading by Agent0Fluffy, et. al.
Genre: Comedy/Shipping
On his way to ask Sweetie Belle out on a date, Button Mash runs afoul of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
I'm pretty sure this was written after the Jan Animations Button Mash video, and I bring this up first because if so, it flat novelizes the milkshake scene, and that's kind of disappointing. Though to be honest, I sort of found the whole thing disappointing. It was on my RIL, so I was interested in reading it, but the way Button is portrayed wasn't my favorite. I don't feel like he learns anything by the end. Certainly, some of the messaging is off vis-a-vis approaching love. Maybe it's just the couple of writing errors in the first scene ("he turned to the door of his ajar door") that set me up with a poor first impression. Though I will say the ending was honestly quite funny, and more what I was looking for from a story like this, altogether I thought this was okay at best, and I kind of just want to stop thinking about it right now.
Recommended Only for Button Mash Fans
Twilight Gets a Splinter by MoltenXKid
Reading by VisualPony
Genre: Random Comedy
What in the hay is a "splinter"?
Oh man! This gets off to a bit of a shaky start, but then Twilight suffers a series of mishaps that make a splinter sound like the least of her potential concerns. This is not to be, however, as we launch into an absurdist comedy where only Spike knows what's going on. It plays out in a mock-serious and thoroughly silly fashion, and I was quite amused by the whole thing.
Recommended for Laughs
Discord Sets Up Your Date by Lise
Reading by Agent0Fluffy, et. al.
Genre: 2P HiE Shipping Comedy
To avoid a painful, virginal death, you agree to let Discord temporarily puppet your body.
What's the biggest complaint I see about second-person fics? "I would never do that." Well, Lise has you covered. So long as you can accept the setup — you agree to let Discord pilot your body in exchange for not dying (also, you're female, straight, and very, very British) — then everything which happens after is entirely out of your hands! You can just sit back and enjoy Discord fucking around with you, because none of this is your choice otherwise! Well, except when it is. "You" have quite a strong personality, to your own detriment in this situation. Also, the decision to pair you up with Flash Sentry is just the cheekiest nonsense you could ask for. Though Octavia knowing Discord this well was a distinct surprise; granted, her reaction to finding out what the situation is was hilarious. On the whole, this is a very unique, very clever story, and I had a ton of fun with it. Nothing quite like a fic written for losing a bet! XD
Highly Recommended
Beneath the Surface by Meteor_Mirage
Reading by Midnight29
Genre: Slice of Life
Gallus sits on the shores of Mount Aris, alone.
Boy, how do you talk about something that is technically well done but completely uninteresting? I'm not talking about the story here, just the characters, because I still don't give two darns about the Student Six. And this story, which has good dialogue and character work, which captures feelings of thalassophobia that I myself have felt before, just was not interesting to me in the slightest. <_< Can I successfully praise it with faint damnation?
Recommended for Student Six Fans
I think I’ve got it from prior blogs. But to clarify, this is referring to getting your playlist of readings-to-do down, isn’t it? And phase is referring to the direction for this year that has been uber-focused on getting this backlog down, right?
Great news either way, of course. Especially on posting close to 50% more reviews than last year (I’m up too, though mostly because of starting in March back in 2022
)!
Ooh, I’m all anticipation, bud! Really hope that pans out! Don’t keep us waiting once you know!
5758994
yes, the audiobook list is current 197 :) and the current phase is the back and forth between Agent0Fluffy and Pony and Wolf, though the next phase will likely start with some more of that
Another faintly damned? I'm starting to think I need to step my game up these days.
Thank you for another review, however. I do appreciate!
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