ILP's Good Fallout Equestria Fanfic Library: Introduction · 6:24pm April 5th
Hey there folks! It’s been a little while and for good reason: there’s no new horse words. I have some threads, some of which I’ve started on, but inspiration just isn’t sticking. The only writing I’m doing these days is on a big college research paper (that still isn’t done). Bad news aside, I do still want to write about horse words, so I’m putting out this blog as an introduction to something I’ve been wanting to do recently.
I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone in this fandom that doesn’t know about Fallout Equestria. 13 years on from its original publication and its spawned countless music, fanart, fanfics, and more. It’s a cultural phenomenon within a cultural phenomenon, hell it even has its own Wikipedia article! As someone who’s lowkey been around the fandom since the hiatus between season 2 and 3, I couldn’t help but get swept up in it too. I read the original in its entirety and now own a physical copy of it and Murky Number 7. I even have my own idea for an Fo:E fic, and that’s all I’ll say on that matter cause I don’t wanna get hopes up. There’s a lot that’s been said about this fic, good and bad, but arguably the true beauty of Fallout Equestria comes from viewing it as the central part of a whole, rather than on its own in a vacuum.
It’s to that end that I want to try something here. You may have noticed the many, many, MANY Fallout Equestria spinoffs that have spawned, some several times longer than the original (and the original is already pretty damn long!) The largest Fo:E fan group on this site boasts a count of 2,611 stories at time of writing. I remember I had exhausted the “big names” (Murky #7, Pink Eyes, Heroes, and the “good parts” of Project Horizons), so I asked a friend if he knew of any worth reading beyond that to which the response was no, “99.4% are garbage”. I’m still not sure if I can comment on that harsh statistic, but having spent over a year sinking my teeth into what looked like some of the better minor stories, I’ve discovered some true gems.
So that’s what this is about. Let’s face it, reading fanfiction in general is a lot like dumpster diving. If someone’s willing to do enough of the dirty work though, they’ll find something that makes it all worthwhile. There’s some Fo:E fics out there on par with the majors that I want to highlight, even if my limited follower count means I only convince like 1 person to read them. (I’d like to reach more of course so PLEASE share this with others!)
Some disclaimers of course: I am NOT a reviewer; this is the first time I’ve tried doing so besides leaving a wordy comment here and there. In fact I’d rather try to not have it be a ‘review’ so much as an exploration of the main story threads, vibe, and a verdict on why it’s worth reading. Which I guess is still a review, but hopefully you see my intent. I will probably still nitpick though. Nitpicking’s easy, what can I say.
I’ll also try to avoid spoilers wherever possible. I am trying to get you to read these fics after all, and giving the cliff notes version of the whole story is a bad way to do that. If i have something major to say about it, especially a criticism, I’ll break this rule, but hopefully not often.
Anyway that’s the gist of it. I already have quite a few under the belt ready to review, though I’m lazy so there’s no telling when that’ll happen. I’ve made sure to have one ready to go though, which I’ve linked below. I intend to have this blog eventually be the hub for each review, so I’ll update as I write new ones. Otherwise that’s about it. Go out there and read!
