Fic recs, April 28th! · 11:23pm April 28th
TheQuinch has done a reading of Grimm's There's a Monster Under the Stairs! He's also begun CanvasWolfDoll's Sepia Tock!
And Lotus Moon read BronyWriter's Hello, This Is Not a Scammer, I Promise, with RagingKirinVA and XavierThePhoenix!
In case you don't follow Loganberry's Louder Yay review blog (for shame!), I'll help spread the word about a new fanfic reviewer, abrony-mouse! Their reviews (so far) can be found here, here and here, and they take a very short, snappy format. (You'll find the story links under the images, it took me a minute.) Always good to see more people getting into the review business! :)
So this isn't specifically an 'edition', as it were, but these are all stories whose sequels got readings, which I sometimes use as catch-up blogs now and then. This is just everything I had on the burner for a while now. Thank god they were short.
H: 0 R: 3 C: 2 V: 1 N: 1
Celestia Takes an Acting Class by Equimorto
Genre: Comedy
I feel like it's been some time since I read something so thoroughly dedicated to silliness. :D Celestia is here portrayed as a complete and utter buffoon, a characterization that absolutely jibes with how the show portrayed her in seasons 8 and 9, and the bulk of the comedy comes from Chrysalis playing her straightmare. Which, y'know, kinda wild as setups go. I had a good time with this, and even laughed out loud! Not for the serious of mind, of course.
Recommended
Chrysalis Goes to Therapy by Equimorto
Sequel to Celestia Takes an Acting Class
Genre: Slice of Life
This is a lot more straightforward than the original story, and comes off very much as just a stepping stone from that story to the next. We get a rundown of Chrysalis' life, from start to present, from her POV, including a lot of the really interesting changeling origin shit from the comics. And… that's about it, though the therapist's summation of her problems is actually pretty funny in context. Still not quite a laugh-out-loud deal.
Recommended for Chrysalis Fans
Family Reunion by Equimorto
Reading by VisualPony
Sequel to Chrysalis Goes to Therapy
Genre: Random Comedy
Following her therapist's advice, Chrysalis brings her parents together for a family talk.
So here's what the last story was setting up. When you get right down to it, this is a really fun skewering of the canonical origins of the changelings, which we got from the comics. Like, no, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's mythical, honestly, it sounds like something that came straight out of ages-old lore. And this is the completely ridiculous denoument thereof. Still not quite as funny as the first story, but at least this rounds out the trilogy with an amusing scenario.
Recommended If You Like Random Comedies
"Fluttershy, make him stop hissing!" by Popping Candies
Genre: Random Comedy
If this was a young writer, someone has so far taught them poorly. <_<; I've never seen writing with dedicated spaces before and after each quote mark. Like, doesn't that get exhausting? I double-space sentences and I'm still saying that! They also make it a bit more difficult to read than usual, which is not helped by the typos and general need for an editor. I mean, the first sentence is a run-on, it definitely sets the tone. Anyway, if you can push through all that, and I don't blame you if you can't, this starts off with a promise of amusement but quickly fails to follow through. I mean, Discord trying to be buddies with a reluctantly reformed King Sombra is a comedy goldmine, just look at the title and the cover art! But the story refuses to do anything with it; I guess the author was focused more on friendshipping Sombra and Fluttershy, and while I suppose that works by itself, again: writing issues. I don't think I'll be reading the sequel; instead, can we talk about how this author was on the site for two days before getting banned somehow???
Not Recommended
Ponish as She Is Spoke by The Blue EM2
Genre: G5 Random Comedy
There's something wrong with the ponies of Maretime Bay…
Here's a fic in one of my favorite veins: the author has discovered something and wants to introduce everyone to it in the funniest way possible. :D The something in this case is English as She Is Spoke, a name that I've heard before but whose content I never knew anything about until coming into this piece. It was meant as a phrasebook, you see, translating between English and Portuguese, only the author did not, shall we say, do a very good job. And so all the weirdness you find in this story comes directly from that source, and it really is a hoot. (I highly suggest reading the Wikipedia page if nothing else, it's a riot hearing contemporary reactions.) Anyway, the end result is pure linguistic chaos, and I dearly love this. :D Necessary knowledge of G5 is minimal, Highly Recommended If You Like Weird Shit.
Recommended
Zephyr Heights as She Is Visit by The Blue EM2
Reading by No One and Nobody
Sequel to Ponish as She Is Spoke
Genre: G5 Random Comedy
Zipp shows a group of dignitaries around Zephyr Heights… with some caveats…
Using the fractured English of English as She Is Spoke to write a story is the sort of joke that could get old with repeated use, but I was impressed to see that, at least in the hands of The Blue EM2, it has not. Never once did I feel like any of this was anything but a legitimately poor translation — no overreaching just for the sake of being random — while you can also tell where he branches out into a completely different poor translation. Which is all to say there's not a ton of story here, though it is interesting that this is more or less an in-quel (for lack of a better term), but if you like reading this stuff as much as I do, it's fun. :)
Recommended
Zeno's Paradox by VitalSpark
Genre: Random
Twilight Sparkle knows of a way she can beat Rainbow Dash in a race.
Well would you look at that: story #250,000! And it is… exactly what it says on the tin. Seriously, if you know what Zeno's Paradox is, then you know what Twilight's going to say. And I really mean that. This is well-written, but the dialogue once we get into the paradox discussion sounds like it was pulled directly from a philosophy treatise. It's not natural dialogue in the slightest, and sure as hell does not sound like these characters. I think I'm going to skip the sequel.
Vaguely Recommended
And publishing four stories! Maybe a ban-evading alt?
The English as She Is Spoke fics go on my list. There are some human things so goofy that they are a natural for ponification!
Zeno's Paradox would be great if Twilight's "logic" somehow broke physics and she could always beat Dash if given a headstart.
5778574
that's maybe the best explanation :O have to wonder how they got found out so quickly lol
Absolutely! The more the better, really, especially if they're planning to stick at it for the long(ish, at least) term. I've no idea whether abrony-mouse is planning on that, but let's hope so!