Ghost Mike's Ponyfic Review Monday Musings #94 · 6:00pm January 1st
It’s 2024, according to the calendar. Some other folks will have a much better opener to the year in their first blogs, something I typically struggle with, but given today is New Year’s Day, I suppose I should say something too, no?
Well, Jinglemas came and went, with a record turnout of 140 fics (before the last Breezies entries come in, that is). In the exchange, I got a very nice and sweet Twilight/Luna friendshipping outing in Lunar Diplomacy (Or How To Threaten A Friend With Sleep), featuring Twilight as her unicorn-era neurotic self (as opposed to her alicorn self, they are quite different), with Luna doing her level best to pitch in while still not quite having a handle on modern Equestria. Or boundaries. Or how focused Twilight can get. It was a fun and pleasing read, if that’s your sort of thing. I don’t doubt that somewhat suggestive cover art (which isn’t not applicable to the fic after the cropping) is to credit for it sticking in the featured box for a while and doing top-tier for Jinglemas fics these days in rating and views.
Meanwhile, the fic I wrote for it (and my only fic this year 
), I'm Just an Old Chunk of Rock, is a Maud/Starlight bittersweet drama, something I was set on to challenge myself as soon as I got the prompt. It also serves as a key marker in both their young lives for their future selves. I won’t say much else about the fic – there’s an Author's Notes blog for that, though beware of spoilers), but with all the things I set out to do in it, it’s actually my second-favourite of the six Ponyfics I’ve published, behind only The Endeavor Within, and… I think one could argue it to be the better of the two? Depending on what value one places on characterisation and voicing of a neurodivergent lead, among other factors. I am disappointed the algorithm did not smile upon it on release day, giving it not even a bit of time in the featured box, and what with it being rather too long for many to quickly read so close to Christmas at 9.5K, it thus sank to barely 100 views in five days. 
But, it happens. Hopefully it will do okay long-term.
Otherwise, it was definitely one of the quieter Christmases I’ve had in a while, both in terms of people and what I got up to (all the big get-togethers and end-of-year duos had wrapped up beforehand, including the extended family mingling-and-dinner). I did have an unusual event on the 22nd in a school reunion. Nothing officially organised through the school, just one of the crew booking a pub out. I was never socially active back then, and thus didn’t keep up or meet up with them, so with a few exceptions, I hadn’t seen anyone since about a year after leaving.
It was a good time! For teenagers, my year was low enough on people being jerks and all that by the end, but there was still all the expected mellowing out since then. I was happy to see everyone who showed up (we got a little over half the year) who had academically struggled a bit had turned out well in their careers. No one was a parent yet, though a healthy chunk were married or had long-term partners. And really, between the catching up, enquiring what people were up to now (a lot of them not in Ireland, only home for the holidays), the time flew by, even for someone like me who virtually never does the very Irish thing of, you know, going to a pub and spending the evening away. Couple of work outings a year, and that’s about it. When someghost doesn’t drink alcohol, period, his tolerance and patience for the slowness and descending decorum of such things isn’t high. 
Looking forward to 2024, I’m a bit more muddled. Continued success of this review blog notwithstanding, 2023 wasn’t exactly the year I finally got my groove back to pre-COVID levels of content creation and/or hobbies enjoyment. If anything, I struggled more than usual with decision paralysis/enjoyment guilt on both ends. The adventure Ponyfic has been moving at a glacial enough pace that I can’t even publicly commit to it beginning publishing this year, as much as I’m set on that. I find myself sitting down to play games less and less than I want to, and without the urgency of a cinema visit, rarely watching stuff at home that I want to, as it’ll “be there later, sure”.
Needing external factors to force me to do things has never not been an issue, but with how often this year I strained to “permit” myself to just take an evening off, or even a couple of hours, only to basically make little progress on whatever project I look at instead… Yeah, it hasn’t been a good year. Honestly, this affected me even over Christmas; I certainly played games and watched films a fair bit less than I’d intended on.
I don’t have no plans for getting past this and making 2024 a better year for me, though they’re more notions than plans right now. That I wrote my Jinglemas fic of 10K in a week shows it can be done, obviously. I think another issue is how often a quick, short-term thing pops up that either needs doing now, or is simple enough that it's more tempting to do it now and “reduce” the backlog. As for permitting myself to take relaxing time… that’s a bit of a harder one. Though as it’s not something I tried as hard as I could have, approaching it from a different angle may be a start.
It’s not all muddled and murky, though. There is one thing I’ve been preparing to start this year and already done enough prepwork to launch this month. It doesn’t concern Ponyfic, or even My Little Pony except occasionally, but based on sporadic mentions of the topic in the past, I think some folks will be happy to see it.
You’ll note I did say 2023 was a success for this review blog, mind. The official look-back on the year isn’t for today, said enough here already, but outside of getting a little over-hesitant to add new stories to the backlogs over wanting to reduce what’s currently there instead, I am happy with how it went. Looking forward, I intend to continue having a novel every month among all the short stories and novelettes. It’ll still be sub-100K things for the foreseeable future, of course, but that’s a start. And I’m excited about what I’ll read, and bringing in more new readers. As well as getting those who occasionally appear to pop by more, hopefully. You know who you are. 
In order to make the week “taken off” for Christmas not actually, today will be a double feature of ten stories. You may remember last year I picked some of my favourite Jinglemas stories from years past. The theme is Jinglemas again, though not handpicked with an eye towards quality, exactly. Back in 2020 when I wasn’t even rating or sorting stories privately, outside of a poorly-maintained Favourites shelf, on an off day over Christmas, I casually read nearly forty such Jinglemas stories, fully a third of the whole output. Being my first year and my first Ponyfic, I was quite glued to the process. Naturally, when I later started reviewing Ponyfic and chucked known stories I’d read into a Re-Evaluate backlog, they all went. Hence the occasional “short Hearth’s Warming-set” story that appears here every now and then.
At this rate, it’ll take years to close them all off (I don’t want to have them here too frequently, for similar reasons as with authors). So, I’m being lazy to kick this year off, and just doing stories purely from that lot, to shave it down. As these are thus obligations, the average quality veers more towards “harmless fluff” than outright recommendations, though there are still some gems in here. And even with double the stories, the weekly word count barely cracks 30K, so if anything here that piques your interest will be a quickie.
This Week’s Spectral Stories:
How Sombra Stole Hearth's Warming by axxuy
Gift of the Pegasi by Flashgen
Coffee and Conversations by Melody Song
Gifted With Care by DrakeyC
Broken Wings by AzuraKeres
Piece of Cake by TheLegendaryBillCipher
Punk Saves Hearth's Warming by Pen Stroke
The North Wind Doth Blow by TCC56
Strange Traditions by ZeroMonkey
The Greatest by Flutterpriest
Weekly Word Count: 30,968 Words
How Sombra Stole Hearth's Warming by axxuy
Genre: Comedy
King Sombra, Flurry Heart
1,320 Words
December 2020Reread
After much effort from what little remained of him in the mortal world, Sombra has managed to return yet again to claim his throne. Though with his powers much-diminished for now, when his prowl through the castle leads to an encounter with a li’l alicorn filly convinced he is Santa Hooves, he has little choice but to play along.
Pretty standard Jinglemas stuff, conceived and written quickly with minimal flourish, but it’s given a little extra lift from the salt provided by Sombra’s frustration and the recklessness Flurry exhibits in pestering him (let’s just say he has every right to be wary around an alicorn), which helps to take off the cloying aspects that can otherwise pester stories like these outside of the holiday season.
There’s quite a few jokes along the way that land fine, even if none are knockouts, and having the grace to end with the funniest one of all means that even the short “that’s it?” nature of Jinglefics fics this thin is less noticeable than usual. One that works well any time of the year and is salty enough in its tone to be a mild amuser.
Rating: Decent
Gift of the Pegasi by Flashgen
Genre: Romance/Slice of Life
Rainbow Dash, Twilight
3,703 Words
December 2020Reread
For her first Hearth’s Warming as Twilight’s marefriend, Rainbow Dash isn’t sweating getting the perfect gift. After all, Twilight said anything would be perfect. So she’s not sweating it when she puts it off until just a few days beforehand. Not when she can’t decide on something, least of all something as awesome as herself. Yep, totally not worried at all.
This is, at its core, just a cute and sweet li’l fic about trying to do the best for the one you love, one done so gently and sweetly it’s softer than a pillow. Which means a lot for someone like Dash. And yet, it’s quite winning at the little things. The opening scene and Dash’s thoughts throughout, do what most “the couple is established’ fics fail at, and sells on why they are together (even when, as noted here, they have little in common beyond Daring Do). Dash’s anxiety as the fic progresses, as she dashes around the shops manages to feel real without being overbearing. And the final gift exchange hits the notes in an understated manner that makes it feels all the more present. All this and more manages to feel as comfy as a pair of well-worn slippers, and just as unsurprising, yet not feel distractingly familiar.
Also, unusually for a fic done in 2020, it’s set when Twilight is a unicorn, which despite my personal satisfaction, I wouldn’t bring up except the fic really captures both the smaller, cosier vibe of the early seasons (Dash mentions at one point having only visited Ponyville, Canterlot, Cloudsdale and Fillydelphia lately, which feels exactly right) and Twilight being neurotic but sweet and caring in a naive way that fits her younger self. Also Dash’s uncertainty feels more real off her not having known Twilight for that long (this had to break the “Seasons 1-3 is one year” timeline quirk, but I’m disinclined to care). It’s an odd decision, as most stories with the character together as couples for an event like this would be more recent to fit the timeline, yet it really works.
The ending is kinda rushed in its “it’s from you, that makes it perfect” conclusion, and the actual plot incident has the hallmarks of a quickly-conceived Jinglemas fic, but this was really satisfying in its modest goals, enough that it nudges over the rating line for me. Or perhaps it just caught me on a good day. Use your judgement on whether it does for you.
Rating: Pretty Good
Coffee and Conversations by Melody Song
[No Cover Image]
Genre: Slice of Life
Fleur de Lis, Autumn Blaze, Fancy Pants, Rarity
2,000 Words
December 2020Reread
A visit to Rarity in Ponyville turns curious for Fleur de Lis and Fancy Pants when they meet her energetic kirin assistant Autumn Blaze. Her being prone to excited rambling, Fleur accompanies her on a coffee errand while Fancy and Rarity discuss business, soon finding there’s a little more to the kirin’s energetic presentation than she first thought.
There are other issues with the story, but the big one is the above, what sounds like the pretext, is something like 75% of it. Squeezing the actual meat at the end into such a short space doesn’t just mean it doesn’t get the oxygen to really land, but also that neither character’s perspective and outlook is anything but blatantly artificial. Autumn goes from being a discount Pinkie rather removed from how she was in the show to suddenly self-conscious of acting proper to fit in around high society ponies, with no transition to pivot between the two. Meanwhile, the prose can’t decide whether Fleur is more amused or annoyed by Autumn, tries to form a compromise, and ultimately makes her “you’re fine as you” pick-me-up just skate on by.
The material to that point is enlivened somewhat by mildly mirthful asides from most ponies (the reason for the visit is organic enough, as they go), but even at its best, there isn’t really any natural flow between the moments in the fic, or handling of tone. Unless one is overtly receptive to the concept, or the unusual pairing, there’s too much left to be desired here.
Rating: Weak
Gifted With Care by DrakeyC
Genre: Slice of Life
Starlight, Trixie
5,762 Words
December 2020Reread
Starlight’s relocation to Ponyville has meant many things, and not least among them is that, after having ignored it for one reason or another over the years, she has a reason to celebrate Hearth’s Warming ago, now she has friends. Which also means she has to get them gifts, and has let it slip until the last moment. With little choice but to do a frantic last-minute shop on Hearth’s Warming Eve, it is debatable as to whether it is helpful or not that she has enlisted Trixie to help her out.
It’s a rare thing to be able to portray a character dynamic in a non-showy, modest, relaxed manner as they go through activities and a story not really about them or their dynamic, yet have it feel just right. That applies to this. DrakeyC doesn’t go for overdone zingers in Trixie’s laid-back “eh, I don’t care” statements, and thus Trixie comes across as caring and competent but still obnoxious. Just, you know, obnoxious in mild ways and knowing now to fully push Starlight’s buttons: she’ll suggest going with Starlight’s first superficial gift ideas, sure, but she won’t hesitate to put in effort for better ideas, when that matters for Starlight. All the way at the other end, the fic’s final scene that is about their dynamic feels in keeping with Trixie’s reassuring moments at the end of featured episodes of theirs, showing she just gets Starlight better than she gets herself.
Starlight’s desire to not get presents that feel surface-level or superficial is a sturdy enough base for the core of the fic, bouncing around various shops. When the focus isn’t on the featured pair, the scenes can feel like a means to an end, though some of the gift shopping is rather funny (the haggling with the equivalent of a baseball card merchant especially), and only the part for Fluttershy’s present is truly on autopilot. It does leave enough of the fic merely mildly enjoyable as opposed to deeply pleasing, which isn’t nothing, but the end result does stand as that rare holiday (and Jinglemas!) story that works well enough outside of its original seasonal and giftee context. A pleasing treat.
Rating: Pretty Good
Broken Wings by AzuraKeres
Genre: Slice of Life
Spitfire, Other (Stormy Flare), Soarin, Wonderbolts
3,978 Words
December 2020Reread
A bad injury during flight practice right before the holidays leaves Spitfire grounded and unable to participate in the festivities with her fellow Wonderbolts. Staying with her mother until she’s healed means plenty of opportunities for her old temper and stubbornness to flare to the surface. Eventually, though, that subsides for a more quiet resignation, and pondering on what’s next for her.
Jinglemas stories are naturally given to being jolly, ultimately uplifting pieces. That doesn’t stop them from touching on heavier topics at the same time. This fic isn’t really that – Spitfire’s feelings on how much longer she has to be captain do rise up, but neither her thoughts nor Soarin’s reassurance rise above the level of complexity you might get in the show. Which isn’t really enough to make anything of an athlete coping with their body ageing, not when the end sentiment is just “you’ve got plenty of time left still”.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with the fic having simple but cosy uplifting sentiments like that, and Spitfire butting heads with her mother early on gives the fic its share of comedic ammo. The end camaraderie feels rather more tacked-on, but it’s not unwelcome. Shallow and slight, relative to what it could have been, but passes muster.
Rating: Passable
Piece of Cake by TheLegendaryBillCipher
Genre: Comedy/Slice of Life
Pinkie, Ember, Twilight
2,940 Words
December 2020Reread
As part of bringing all manner of species closer together, Princess Twilight has organised a potluck, where a representative of each of Equestria’s allies will make another species’ dish in the name of unity. Dragon Lord Ember got pony food, something she knows about as well as the difference between Twilight and that other one. With some reluctance, but not as much as she might once have had, she turns to enlisting a pink baker pony to help. Will it be enough to counterbalance her complete inexperience with cooking or kitchens?
The expected comedy here, of Ember having Sweetie Belle levels of success at preparing food edible for ponies, is kept largely grounded (no one throws up from the result), mostly just on the level of her misunderstanding some of Pinkie’s directions and making a mess. It’s a nice bit of restraint, though by the same token, it feels like the fic is pulling its punches, not least with pivoting out of the baking, when it had only just gotten going, in favour of the taste test at the event.
Though the fic is unambitious and simple, it does nail the feel-good slice of life sentiment, and there are enough jokes or moments inferring character details in well-done ways (Ember’s approach to keeping warm in cold weather dragons are not suited for is… a thing). Satisfying enough.
Rating: Decent
Punk Saves Hearth's Warming by Pen Stroke
Genre: Comedy
Rarity, Discord
3,488 Words
December 2020Reread
It was just supposed to be a simple Map mission to Manehattan. Rarity had even spotted the problem right away, in a punk couple’s tension over their differing tastes in the fashion of the genre. Unfortunately, the creature she was sent with on the mission just had to go and stir things up, and cause a chaotic snowball fight between the whole subculture over their disparaging tastes. It takes Rarity realising they were meant to fix it for all of them, and her teammate knew the one couple would not a successful mission make, for her to put aside her irritation and band together to fix this.
Think of this as a Map episode that starts two third through, in media res (the fic even make a joke about it), and catches us up on what exposition is needed and no more with a light comedic touch, and you’re got a pretty good idea of where this fic is starting from. Not many fics could survive cutting most of the character arc off like that, but this is aiming for a tonal balance where Rarity thawing to Discord is sincere and not just a prerequisite, but still largely a subtext for the jokes and light amusement along the way.
The fic moves at a steady clip, such that when the resurrection of Punk Rarity from “It Isn’t the Mane Thing About You” enters the picture, the method feels earned and organic even as it is largely just Discord hurrying the plot along, and as the actual resolution to the problem happens in a scene transition (all I’ll say is, it reminds me of “Love Makes the World Go Round” from The Powerpuff Girls, of all things). Ending with Discord being his quippy self and continuing to lightly irritate Rarity will do that. Though unlike many other “Discord + Mane 6 member” fics that are about mending bridges, there’s enough moments of Rarity realising Discord could have helped big time on situations past that her heel turn doesn’t feel like a prerequisite.
It is largely still more of a sampler of the ingredients of a story rather than an actual one: the comedy not really being of the belly laughs variety locks that down. Still, it’s a solid, likeable and entertaining li’l read that feels less insubstantial than most Jinglemas fics, even though it has no greater pretensions than most of them.
Rating: Decent
The North Wind Doth Blow by TCC56
Genre: Comedy/Slice of Life
Twilight, Discord, Windigoes
4,178 Words
December 2020Reread
Discord being an ally of Equestria is unquestionably a good thing to the alternative. He just has… little sense of limits or boundaries. Thus it is that Twilight gets him popping into her room at 3am, needing help with his idea for a present for Fluttershy. The one pet she doesn’t have. A windigo. Twilight’s going to need a lot more coffee.
This fic probably sounds familiar in concept and execution, especially given it takes the format of the before and after of the event, explaining the plan and then recapping how it went wrong. So we don’t actually see it. But there are two things that mark it out. First, is the rapport between Twilight and Discord during the second half. It’s a role reversal of Twilight’s usual frustration, with him being the flustered one while she’s letting it play out, but it doesn’t go too overboard with how Twilight is. She’s not snarky, and is receptive and understanding enough, while still at ease enough to have Discord magic things for her as he explains. The story he tells provided enough comedy anyway.
The second thing is Discord himself. His voice feels just right, with neither his smugness nor his chaos feeling too far or too soft. Even in the first half, that both he and Twilight get to have moments of controlling the conversation and also pushing it along due to being put in their place keeps it lively enough.
As an actual comedy, it’s more mirthful than actually funny, and like a lot of fics in the near-ish aftermath of the show’s ending, it foregrounds post-show canon signifiers (and a ‘setup’ for one of the key changes in “The Last Problem”) that feels rather at odds with the main material. But being a TCC56 fic, it’s pretty much a success at its light goals.
Rating: Decent
Strange Traditions by ZeroMonkey
Genre: Comedy/Slice of Life
Twilight, Spike, Cadance, Shining Armor
2,432 Words
December 2020Reread
In visiting Cadance and Shining Armor for Hearth’s Warming for the first time in a while, Twilight and Spike find they have an odd tradition for the holiday. One involving ordering in food, food not normally associated with the holidays, and food that isn’t exactly a bastion of quality…
Thank goodness the cover art gives away that the gimmick here is the pair ordering in Domino’s, so I don’t have to be cagey about it. Which, considering the Japanese often go for KFC on Christmas, isn’t as bizarre as it sounds. Considering the short length and necessary exposition to get to Cadance and Shining telling their tale of being stranded in Griffon territory with nowhere to stay, the Dominos portion of the story amount to little more than the pair deadline with bad customer service (from a pegasus underfoot or the griffon owner, granted), before wrapping out with “this food is awful” jokes. And only an amusing anecdote of the origin of this Equestrian equivalent of dominos really enlivens it. That and the end sentiment as to why they keep up this tradition beyond the memories.
Jokes about how bad fast food is being easy, this doesn’t really stick, but there’s enough jokes that pass muster to make it something I didn’t regret rereading, even if I can’t recommend it.
Rating: Passable
The Greatest by Flutterpriest
Genre: Slice of Life
Rainbow Dash, Celestia
1,167 Words
December 2020Reread
At a party at Twilight’s castle, Rainbow Dash finds herself reflecting about no longer being the greatest at what she once was. She is joined in this by a certain unexpected guest, somepony who once used to be The Greatest.
There certainly isn’t a shortage of stories out there on Rainbow Dash past her prime as Wonderbolts captain where she comes to terms with the next generation leaving her in the dust. As there shouldn’t be, given how justifiably common a theme it is for sports media in fiction – even I, with my fervent dislike for FiM’s finale (okay, its last two seasons, but you know), think it makes perfect sense. The trouble comes with how to thus stand out, especially in such a short one-chat story, relative to the more dramatic ones with more action.
Celestia as a counterpoint is an interesting choice, relative to say the actual generation above Dash (her own parents, Granny Smith, etc.), though short of inventing new athletes or roping in Spitfire, Celestia’s achievements do lend the connection a certain weight. The message reached, of taking pride in the children outdoing is, and for the veterans to pass the baton in pride rather than bitterness, even as it remains both a blessing and a curse to be outdone by one’s students: it’s all expressed, well, and the fic doesn’t feel like it’s barely a sampler the way its length might suggest. There’s even room for a good Discord joke or two!
I’m not sure I agree with Celestia’s powers having weakened here as much as they do: clearly it was so she could mirror Dash’s old bones ageing in a way mortal ponies do, but forgetting headcanon preferences, it does weaken the message a bit, diluting the next generation’s successes if it takes the prior one reverting for them to succeed. Only a bit, mind, and for a Breezie fic thrown together rapidly when someone didn’t deliver a Jinglemas fic, not considering the consequences of a choice like that is perfectly understandable.
Rating: Decent
Spooky Summary of Scores:
Excellent: 0
Really Good: 0
Pretty Good: 2
Decent: 5
Passable: 2
Weak: 1
Bad: 0
Pretty much! This one was a quick Breezie fic, so I couldn't go too hard. It was always intended as a fairly light, cheeky comedy with a bit of tongue-in-cheek. It was never going to make a Best Of list, but it did exactly what I wanted it to do and was a good chuckle. So I'm satisfied it still ranks as good enough!
5761905
Given that setback to their production, I almost certainly wouldn't have reviewed Breezie stories had I not read them before. But you got that already from the opening blurb.
Hope that wasn't a bother!
And you got that balance pretty spot-on. Honestly, I'm not sure what kept this one from a Pretty Good, even within its modest ambitions. Besides the Season Nine/"Last Problem" things being rather aggressively foregrounded, but I think I'm better than letting my bias there colour such things here. And said aspects were still amusing, in any case.
P.S. You might want to check the link you put in the fic's description, it's the full URL as text!
5761922
Son of a...
Hmm, not the best week, but that's just how it goes sometimes. A couple that caught my eye enough that I may read them at some point, even so.
School reunions... I'm glad yours went well. Me? Never been to one, and never plan to. That probably makes my school days sound worse than they actually are, but I can't really think of anyone in my time that I'd actually want to seek out again. A bit sad, perhaps, but there it is.
For those of us who haven't been doing the Jinglemas thing, can you explain what that means in this context?
Anticipated, as acknowledged in the opening, due to being largely randomly-chosen fics, and from a pool that largely attracts fluffy feel-good pieces. Though not to the same extent as one of your random-ID weeks, eh?
Some people won't deliver their stories they're supposed to write, for whatever reason. Personal life gets in the way, they can't pull a story together, or they're just lazy. Among other reasons. The Jinglemas staff have volunteers called Breezies that write these stories that weren't written, so their recipients don't miss out and not get a gift. TCC56 is one such Breezie. I will say that despite going up by nearly 30 stories this year, relatively few Breezie stories were needed. I think it was just under ten?
What I was referring to above is, some people will be courteous enough to message ahead of the Jinglemas release window and say they won't/can't write a story in time. That's enough time for the Breezies to write those stories and deliver them during release window. What happens towards the end is those few users who didn't write, didn't say they wouldn't write, and haven't responded to the Mods' PMs, well, Breezies can only start writing the stories they were supposed to when Jinglemas is over, and they know those folks ain't delivering. So you always get the last few stories being delivered either side of New Year's. They only have two left now, I believe.
5761932
Thanks Ghost! I can say with certainty that when you're writing under a deadline for a Breezie fic, it's not only difficult to try and put together an interesting premise for two characters that are seemingly pulled out of a hat, but also to keep it interesting for the Breezies to keep doing it under such a crunch. That was one of the reasons Petrichord and I put together the Breezie system in the previous years before Shakes took over. Previously it was just him and I trying to crunch out as MANY STORIES AS POSSIBLE without any help. I'm happy to see the system working well and not leading to writer burnout.
The way I tried to make that year's Breezie stories interesting for me was that I pulled as many stories as possible that didn't have overlapping characters and tried to make one large party. This story accompanied a story with Shining and Spike, Twilight and someone else I don't remember and am too hungover on New Years Day to check out at the moment, and maybe another. The overarching idea is that if people were following all my breezies entries -- they'd give a vision to many ponies interacting at a single party during the holidays. Or at least, I thought it was interesting, anyway.
I really like seeing Breezies get their stories reviewed and shared because they really are the major heroes of the events. It's a lot of work to organize and dish out the names, don't get me wrong. A part of the reason I dropped from helping run the event is the heavy logistics. But Making sure that everyone gets a gift is one of the most important elements of making the event work (and developing a plan to make sure serial non-deliverers get filtered out) and I'm happy to see someone put them on a pedistal.
Happy holidays to you, fine spectre.
5761946
Ooh, that is a neat gimmick! Not unlike synchronous episodes in the show. And your Shining/Spike one is another one I read two years ago, so that should get another look at some point. By checking your Stories tab, I can also confirm the other Breezie story you did that year was an Adagio & Applejack one, which… okay, yeah, if it's at the party, sure.
The gimmick can work for you better than most as, since you have such a large following, there was a chance that, even for Jinglemas fics, you'd get a chunk of your regulars reading everything you put out. It ain't nothing!
Hm. You know, I didn't think of it like that. Fair point.
I do have a lot of respect and admiration for the Breezie team, and the chief reason I haven't joined is because of how much I struggle to write a story over a month – I'm not nearly impulsive enough to be able to make anything over just a few days, alas.
Thanks for the review, glad you liked it.
Thank you so much for the review, and I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'll admit it was a while ago so I can't recall my thought process with writing the story, but I do like writing stories earlier in the show's timeline, primarily thanks to some friends of mine that have done the same in speedwrites. I find it interesting to write in that timeframe using our perspective of characters we wouldn't have then.
5762026
Though I came to the fandom late, I too enjoy this aspect; it helps make the fics feel old-school yet of our time too.
Really, though, the main reason I like going earlier, irrespective of my feelings on much of the later part of the show, is that characters just tend to be more flexible and have more you can do with earlier in their lives and arcs, when they’re still figuring themselves out. The more things settle, the harder it is to do stuff. Harder, not impossible, I concede. But because authors always tend to default to a fic being in the most recent part of the timeline except when the concept locks it to earlier, I like it when an author goes early for more subtle reasons like you did here.
Also, despite reviewing this fic, I didn’t cop until now it was written by the same guy behind the Fleeting Light in the Darkness series (or whatever it’s collectively called). Not a good look on me, both for its infamy and for me having read it!
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It's funny you say that. I often joke with friends that I could introduce myself at cons as Flashgen and people wouldn't know me, but if I mentioned Fleeting Light, they would instantly know me.