Ghost Mike's Ponyfic Review Monday Musings #97 · 6:00pm January 22nd
Well, I had a bit of a crummy week. Ended up taking my first sick day off work since… since ever, I think (I’ve taken chunks of days off before). Had no choice, as a particular problem I’ve had twice in the last year reared its head on Tuesday, got more intense than ever before on Wednesday, and on Thursday, left me unable to sit without proper pain. With all the fever symptoms and regular ibuprofen painkillers that implies by proxy.
Honestly, that was possibly the worst day I’ve had since… Fall 2011, when a bad case of pneumonia kept me out of school for nearly a month. With this, I couldn’t even really enjoy lying down and browsing whatever on the old phone, and anything computer-related was well out. And an attempt at a GP appointment couldn’t net me anything earlier than Monday. Lastly, this also meant I couldn’t join the family trip down the country for the anniversary mass the year after my Grandad passed last January, which was a little disappointing.
It reversed quickly, in so far as I got the cancerous thing to reach its apex on Thursday right before bed and have some of it leave, and thereafter, could return to work (with a cushion and pillow for propping) on Friday. Usual stuff of past instances in getting it down further over the weekend, though I sensibly kept the GP appointment for this morning (I had something else I’d been meaning to go for, so it wasn’t a waste of the limited number of yearly visits I can claim back 100% on), and got the expected antibiotics to help quash it further. But still, it was quite a scare, and I have kept unessential sitting down from then to now. Which has meant a reasonable amount of fic reading, at least.
I suppose, getting down to it, I’m used to being mildly unwell every now and then. Cold and headaches, the odd loss-of-appetite bug, and so on. And I guess under some definitions, this is still just that. But geez, what turmoil it was at the time. And still not gone enough yet to feel fully free. Hoping for some good prescriptions and/or advice this morning (this blurb is written in advance, ssh 
) to prevent it ever coming back, either mildly or more intensely.
So all in all, not a good note after the first half of January was, minus the blisteringly cold weather (for here), pretty reasonable for me. 
On a more positive note, the final chunk of 2023 reviews in reviews: the truly funky stats! 
If you want to observe other things you’re curious about past the character and genre observations below, the bookshelf is open for whatever filters tickle your interest. Or to use the below to quickly find the stories said tags below apply to.
So, character stats! All character tags with at least 10 stories are on here, with a few others that I found make for fun observations.
- Twilight: 78
- Celestia: 40
- Applejack & Rarity: 35
- OC: 32
- Rainbow Dash: 31
- Spike: 29
- Mane 6: 25
- Luna: 24
- Other: 22
- Fluttershy: 20
- Pinkie: 19
- Starlight: 16
- Sunset: 14
- Cadance: 11
- Apple Bloom & Sweetie Belle & Scootaloo: 6
- Sunny Starscout: 5
Would I have guessed Twilight would have almost double the second place character? Nope, though fics with her and the Mane 6 tag probably boosted that a bit on top of her central show role giving her many tags for supporting roles. Below her, I'm sure some RariJack shippers will make something out of them tying. 
Pinkie being even below Fluttershy is probably down to a lot of zany comedies she tends to hog being acquired tastes without trustable endorsements. Starlight nabbing 16 stories for me is surprising, though most of those were minor supporting roles, typically in one-shot comedies. All but three of Sunset's stories were EqG-tagged too, naturally. Amazingly, the three CMCs tied despite sharing no fics with one another.
And finally, other than Sunny, no other Gen 5 character had more than 3 stories: many of the ones I did read tended to jump around which focal character they had and be more about the high concept. Which… is fitting for a gen with such inconsistent characters. Don't look for that to change! 
Then, there's Genre tags. The results are mostly unsurprising if you're been following me for even a little while, though still with some eyebrow-raisers. The first % figure is of that genre against all my reviewed stories in 2023, while the second is of all stories of that genre against the whole site through to the end of 2023, to give a comparison of how much I use it relative to the norm.
- Slice of Life: 157 (58.8%/34.41%)
- Comedy: 71 (26.59%/28.47%)
- Drama: 55 (20.6%/9.31%)
- Sad: 48 (17.98%/16.04%)
- Romance: 34 (12.73%/29.18%)
- Dark: 26 (9.74%/23.24%)
- Adventure: 24 (8.99%/28.63%)
- Random: 22 (8.24%/15.61%)
- Alternate Universe: 20 (7.49%/28.61%)
- Tragedy: 8 (3%/8.98%)
- Mystery: 7 (2.62%/3%)
- Horror: 6 (2.25%/2.3%)
- Human: 5 (1.87%/21.16%)
- Thriller: 3 (1.12%/1.94%)
- Crossover: 1 (0.37%/14.5%)
Four tags (Second Person, Anthro, Sci-Fi and Porn) had no stories at all – three of those are self-explanatory, and while I like sci-fi, it is such a hard fit with MLP, and even further with what I look for in it. Though none of those four tags applied to more than 6.11% of the site's stories anyway.
As for the stats: you can really tell which tags Fimfic only added a few years in, can’t you? That’d be why Drama is so much higher for me (that, and unlike a lot of other tags, it works as short length just as well), and why a lot of the ones at the bottom, like Mystery, Thriller, and surprisingly Horror, are basically dead heats despite not being big for me.
What with Slice of Life being the 'default' tag when no others fit, especially for shorter stories, it was always going to win, though I didn't expect it to do so by this much. A lot of more-out there Genre tags being acquired tastes for me is probably the other main contributor there. Honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t beat the site on Comedy, given how even with higher standards, a lot of low-hanging fruit in short form fiction there will get in.
I initially thought Sad being so high was the biggest outlier (and only ten of those 48 fics are paired with Drama, though Drama only being introduced in 2015 plays a part in that), but apparently that’s close to the site average? The more you know. In a just world, Adventure would be, if not second-highest for me, at least 4th, but no other tag is so tied to longer stories that are harder to cover frequently on a schedule.
For anyone else, Romance being not even 13% of fics would be ludicrous, but given how aromatic a spirit I am as regards interest, where it had to fight for quality just like any story and no pairings gets a free pass, it's honestly not bad. At least, if I cover a Romance fic, it's reasonably likely to work for any reader regardless of the pairing!
For Dark's 26 fics, even though it’s a lot less than the site average, many of those are with Comedy or were overly cautious tags. Not an easy tag for me! Similarly, 22 of the Random stories are also Comedies. The Random tag is not one it's wise to put much blind faith in when choosing stories to read, certainly; it's usually a hurdle to overcome rather than an encouraging sign going in.
And of course, you can really tell which big tags, in Alternate Universe, Human and Crossover, are just very hard sells with me. Though let’s be honest: I’m sure plenty of both AU and Crossover are those “characters from other franchises sucked into Equestria, or vice-versa” fics you see littering the update box daily. 
One last aside on Warning tags: only 30 stories had any warning tags at all, just 11.24% of the lot. This is far below the site average of 39.35%, making individual tag comparison moot. Individually:
- Death: 14
- Sex: 12
- Violence & Gore: 5
- Profanity & Suicide/Self-Harm: 3
- Narcotics: 2
- Fetish & Non-consensual: 0
Death being first fits, you can mine good drama from it as a subject. Most Sex uses were for offpage implications, or thinking about it, not the act itself. And surprisingly, Violence and Gore only shared one story, Profanity and Suicide/Self Harm three, and Narcotics two. To no one’s surprise, no stories at all had Fetish or Non-consensual. Little point comparing these to the site average, as I’ll be ages behind in both.
With those fun observations behind, what do I want from 2024? Mostly just to continue the series’ upward trajectory, getting in longer stories more and more, chipping away at the backlogs, the lot. I have worried a little about rating creep, so I might try to re-solidify my standards going forward (though the ratings skew thus far in January isn’t a result of that, all being stockpiled from before the break). Just without going too far the other way. Always a balance, never a science. The hope, and I think it is true, is that the content between the fic pic and the given rating does grab people’s attention enough to read. That people can tell from the reviews what is a ‘light’ Pretty Good and a ‘strong’ Pretty Good, for instance. And I think they can.
There’ll be time to ponder further on the past and future of this another week, though. Likely at the upcoming #100 milestone, of the two-year anniversary in early March.
This Week’s Spectral Stories:
This Piece Of Me by The Sleepless Beholder
Dear Idiot by The Descendant
Sunsplit by Masterweaver
The Homesteading by bookplayer
To Be Misguided by MrSpartan
Weekly Word Count: 48,307 Words
This Piece Of Me by The Sleepless Beholder
Genre: Drama/Sad (w/Death)
Pinkie, Mane 6
7,460 Words
February 2021Reread
Pinkie is known as the happiest mare in all of Ponyville, the one who will do anything to cheer up those who have been feeling down. Yet lately, she’s been hurting, and lacking in her enthusiasm. But she’s as convinced as ever that making others happy matters most, and continues to hide it. But this isn’t something that will go away from ignoring it…
Not the most original idea from the outset, but the fic has the courtesy to not only not reveal what it is that’s ailing Pinkie (it’s a subversion that gives this fic type a fresher angle, is all I’ll say), but to reveal what it is pretty early on, at most a third in. So this isn’t a waiting game to find out what the blurb teases us, but dealing with the fallout of it, and that allows this to be more of a character piece.
Oddly, given this, most of the drama of Pinkie and others grappling with the reveal, and what to do, is told, but not really something we’re privy to. Even when we have Pinkie’s inner narrative voice (other scenes stick to third-person limited), character interiority is kept limited. There can be merit to presenting toe facts and letting the reader place their own value on them, but typically that works best when the text is still pointing us that way: this just feels like it’s missing a push either way. Plus, some of the interiority we do get, like Pinkie quoting her Smile song to herself through the first third when we’re in the dark, runs out of steam fast.
The other thing that picked away at what was a reasonably strong idea was the number of characters and threads present – far too many for the length, so they just pop in and out, and only Maud’s scene makes an especially strong impression. And the writing used to express character’s feelings, especially of the sad variant, feels the need to spell it all out, often to the point of lessening the impact. The story’s in a weird limbo where it would be stronger either shorter and more focused on just a few players with the situation, or expanded to let the elements all breathe and flow into each other.
That all probably sounds rather underwhelming, but that will happen when I’d rather not give away the twist that is to account for a lot of the story’s impact. The results thereafter are kept fresh enough, so even when it feels like it's pulling its punches and falling short, it does deliver. Just expect the concept to stick above the satisfying-if-muddled execution.
Rating: Decent
Dear Idiot by The Descendant
Genre: Comedy
Celestia, Blueblood
2,809 Words
November 2011Reread
Listened to via Scribbler's reading
Reflecting on the Grand Galloping Gala as she eats donuts with Twilight and her friends, Celestia’s mind drifts to the one part of the fiasco that was not a welcome change of pace. Thus it is that, the next day, a certain Prince Blueblood receives a letter from his “auntie” that, contrary to her usual manner of speaking and talking, holds absolutely nothing back in expressing her true feelings about his… everything.
It would be easy to miss this is a story by The Descendant at all, for the gentle sweetness and sincerity we think of when we think of his works is hardly present here at all. It pops up for a sentiment that Blueblood might change, but such things feel closer to lip service obligation than an organic part of the proceedings, and thus they don’t really plant any hope. Nope, this is basically just Celestia laying into why Blueblood is such a terrible pony for 2.8K words. There are still a few others quirks of The Descendant’s, namely in the terminology he uses for his Equestria’s lore (Twilight being “The Designate”), and there’s a little worldbuilding as to the history of noble unicorn families along the way, but otherwise, it’s just a silly little exercise.
It gets a little monotonous for this length (a 2K fic in a 2.8K fic’s body, you might say), and Celestia’s voice doesn’t always feel quite right either. That said, the humour manages to indulge in crude humour without being explicitly crude, as it were, and it uses thoughtful passages to break up Celestia being always “on”. There’s a rhythm between insults and reflection in an amusing tone that does, at least, make it amusing enough.
A rougher fic for this author, then, but within the confines of what it promised from the outside, it delivers. The comic viciousness to Celestia’s eloquent phrasing and wordplay at least set it apart from many “dressing down letter” fics out there.
Rating: Decent
Sunsplit by Masterweaver
Genre: Comedy/Random/Slice of Life
Sunburst, Twilight, Sunset
2,219 Words
March 2019Reread
In the aftermath of Flurry Heart’s Crystalling almost going terribly wrong, Twilight formerly met Starlight’s childhood friend Sunburst. Upon learning he used to be not only a student at Twilight’s school, but also Celestia’s student for a short period, she asks if he ever knew Sunset Shimmer. Sunburst… does not react calmly to this.
I’m pretty sure Sunburst was only a dropout from the School of Gifted Unicorns, not remotely Celestia’s student. And that detail isn’t even strictly necessary for Sunburst to have known Sunset, but I’ll let it slide, because this remains really funny. Sunburst is so nervously defensive, especially when Twilight takes to journal communicating with Sunset when he keeps misdirecting the question. I won’t spoil how the two sun-themed unicorns are connected, but the humour continues after the fact (Sunburst names his beard, and Twilight has a reason for accepting this without question).
There really isn’t much more to say about this. Sunburst’s humiliation and anxiety doesn’t cease, Twilight is both perplexed and amused, while Sunset is playfully teasing across the journal. Normally, this kind of humour isn’t my thing (and I recall this series of short stories absolutely lost me by the 4th entry, when the characters go to the human world), but it works here, enough to earn a solid recommendation.
Rating: Pretty Good
The Homesteading by bookplayer
Genre: Romance/Mystery
Twilight, Applejack
22,718 Words
November 2018Reread
Listened to via Scribbler's reading
Twilight and Applejack, looking for a house close enough to the farm yet big enough for Twilight’s books, settle on an old unused barn on the farmland. Renovated and converted into a house for them and Spike, they begin getting ready for their first Hearth’s Warming as wives. Though strange things are afoot, and when they escalate from pranks with no known perpetrator to active malice against them, Twilight finds that something is stopping her from calling this place home.
Despite romance being a hard sell for me period, TwiJack has always weirdly been one of the easier ones for me to buy into, given their onscreen chemistry as friends is so solid and warm already. That probably says more about me than them, I’m sure. That said, this story doesn’t make much effort to build up to them being married, nor to provide organic reasoning as to why they are in love in the first place. There’s a weirdly high level of loving gazes, kisses, and reaffirmations in thoughts that they are wives, and it’s firmly on the side of telling rather than showing. When there’s trouble afoot, and the two are worried for each other, and especially when Applejack is scared stiff on account of this trouble stemming more from her, and that it might drive Twilight away, then they click. Possibly this just reinforces the (correct) belief that the pairing works best when a story isn’t a direct romance – several people have noted the duo are prime for being romantic while on adventure stories, and a mystery like this isn’t too far off that.
Relative to a lot of other shipfics I’ve read, I didn’t have much trouble buying into this – it just feels like I should have had no trouble. At least, it being effectively a pre-Season Four fic (it was conceived and written in the buildup to “Princess Twilight Sparkle”) makes the domestic cosiness of Twilight and her role still feel appropriate)
Moving past that, the story is quite solid otherwise. It may seem vestigial, but setting it at Hearth’s Warming (for a contest, granted) does a lot, both in the worldbuilding, the general atmosphere and tone (it keeps the opening chapter before the problem arises interesting), and the emotional reactions. When sentimental decorations and heirlooms are broken, the fear and desperation the two have of being attacked where they live just clicks. Which matters, given how much Twilight digs her hooves in and won’t relinquish to this. The mystery itself strikes the right tone of being foreboding and having elements of a ghost story without turning into one, and the investigation hits the correct notes well, from Twilight’s deep research to Granny Smith’s tale that helps point in a given direction.
The final chapter is a little mixed, mostly from pivoting from throwing in the towel to discovering the solution almost purely by happenstance, and while the subversion in why Twilight and Applejack weren’t wanted in the house is clever and feels correct, it does draw attention some plot contrivances for the story to have played out exactly like this (an author’s note explains some aspects that were appreciated, yet could have been put in organically in the story, or at least the epilogue, without too much trouble). I don’t think this breaks the fic, by any stretch, but it does leave one with some slightly mixed sentiments on the way out.
Satisfying as a mystery, good at being festive and warm throughout and not letting the spookiness muddle that, all pivoted around a ship that isn’t felt as much as it should be, except when external malice is involved. That might not come out to a win for all, but it does for me, even if there’s a little missed potential wafting around it.
Rating: Pretty Good
To Be Misguided by MrSpartan
Genre: Dark/Adventure (Human, w/Gore)
Celestia
13,101 Words
October 2013Reread
Sequel to To Be Remembered – Reviewed here
When Twilight Sparkle returns from an expedition in the badlands, having discovered an ancient city from the distant past where strange beings once lived and suffered a terrible fate through their own fault, Celestia decides she must see it for herself. Once past the strange energy that keeps most who find this place from living to leave it, though, she finds an underground laboratory under one of many ruins, terrible secrets that confuse her more than they answer questions, and the remnants of this civilisation’s past clinging onto existence.
To Be Remembered would ordinarily not be the sort of story I’d like, with its concept of ponies finding a human civilisation wrecked by war, and all the dark and sci-fi elements that brings by association. It was kept afloat, however, by excellent Season Two era writing of Twilight, Spike and their relationship, plus letting the atmosphere of this place do the heavy lifting and leaving what little details we get until the end. Possibly my Excellent rating for it on the 3rd read was a bit overgenerous (potentially boosted by the reading, I won’t rule that out), but fic has never disappointed me.
I’ve apparently read this sequel before, yet I don’t remember a thing. Alas, it is far more typical of its concept and genre: the bulk of it consists of Celestia wandering around the underground bunker, seeming more and more confusing and disturbing sights. Being alone, there’s no real rapport to keep the fic lively, and her thoughts with herself are pretty routine reflections of what she comes across. It’s enough that the 13K of this fic more that wears out its welcome, frankly. There is a semblance of wanting to help, keeping the memories of this place alive, and pay tribute to these people, but it ends up in that awkward spot of getting background relegated, unfulfilled at the end, without the fic really earning the tragedy of doing so.
With the human society front and centre here too, we don’t really learn much about them either, and what we learn is routine cliché of the kind popularised by the SCP Foundation project. Glimpses of a war, secret projects to make a weapon to turn the tide back, it going wrong, the works, and while there is energy, none of it feels altogether fresh or exciting. And there is also the sense at the end that little has really been accomplished or learned, and what little growth or realisation Celestia has gone through is closer to lip service than an organic payoff.
There is still atmosphere and tension present, so those who like these kinds of fics will be more than satisfied. Otherwise, it’s a functional if muddled take on its genre, and that rare thing for me, an early-fandom fic I end up reading that doesn’t speak positively to some of the trends then.
Rating: Passable
Spooky Summary of Scores:
Excellent: 0
Really Good: 0
Pretty Good: 2
Decent: 2
Passable: 1
Weak: 0
Bad: 0
Ick, my sympathies. Being sick is the worst.
You're darn right, I do!
Together forever, of course.
I vaguely recall Dear Idiot. Honestly, I think if I were to re-read it now it would probably get a lower rating than it currently has in my archives.
I generally liked the Sunsplit series, and unlike you I recall enjoying the last story in the set. I concur that it's typically not my kind of humor, so Masterweaver must be doing something right.
5764722
Isn't that often the way years down the line? So far, I mostly just feel it with the first few months back in early 2022, and anything since I largely stand by fully or was uncertain even then, but that will likely change for more fics scattered here and there over time.
Sometimes, you don't question alchemy.
I don't see myself bother with that last, EqG-set one (not surprising you'd like it, you like the human horse world without any caveats
), but I will for sure go bak through the other two between this and it.
Huh.
Honestly though, I read the fic this is a sequel to, and it was enjoyable... But I don't think this one will go on my list.
Dear Idiot was a fun one. It works pretty well for me, given an allowance for what Oliver calls "cartoon resolution," which I think applies to character behavior as well as images and actions. Still, I'm with Paul on this; I might rate it lower if I read it today. But I do remember being impressed by the quality of Celestia's voice, so maybe not.
I've read Sunsplit but (evidently: I don't remember it at all) I didn't much care for it.
As for scifi fics... There are a lot of very good ones out there, but they do tend to be long. I've read tons of them because I like longfics. I actually tend to prefer them, honestly. Short (good) scifi, tends to be conceptual explorations rather than stories, and I'm that annoying guy who thinks that story trumps "ideas" every* time.
----------
* Almost every time. Friendship is Optimal is the exception that proves the rule.
5764753
I know exactly what you mean, even if who this Oliver is is lost on me (unless you mean the timeline project guy; I have liked browsing My Little Chronology on occasion).
I haven't tended to like sci-fi in pony regardless of the fic length, but I will spot you on this otherwise. I can't say I prefer longfics, just because of the investment and how much more disappointing they feel if they don't match up. But who one gets a great longfic, it's more that the sum of its parts, like several shorter Really Good or better fics. Truly a great reward!
I do often wish I could get in more long ponyfic here, but having to take notes and review fics later, and on a schedule, just totally changes how easily one can bounce from a 60K fic to an 150K one and so on. As you've long since deduced. Still, I hope for the choices over the next while to prove fruitful (and hopeful not all ones you've read either
).
As for story trumping ideas, well, you've seen me dunk many a fic with ideas I do like for not executing them well, or having much beyond the concept, so we're not too different there.
It is so appropriate that AJ and Rarity be perfectly tied.
5764755
That's the one! He has written tons of essays analyzing various aspects of FiM, and they're all indexed on his user page. Great stuff to browse through if you ever find yourself without something to read. (Can you believe I typed that with a straight face?)
5764860
I’ve read a few of them on occasion. Honestly, as maddening as it might sound, they tend to be a bit too nitty-gritty and ‘into it’ for me. I tend to leave them impressed, but drained, and not all that engaged by the end of them. I suppose I do like to still keep some level of “don’t have to take it 120% seriously all the time” to how I approach the show, I dunno.
Even My Little Chronology is more something I’m intrigued by and browse and (mostly) agree with, not something I’m compelled to use and refine for my own take on the timeline or anything like that.
But no question they are fantastically research and written! Even if I’m not exactly going to run out of other stuff to read.