Fic recs, November 30th! And State of the Writer! · 2:12pm Nov 30th, 2024
ARGH I forgot to post again! /)_< That means you get state of the writer as well.
The state of the writer for November 2024 is:
Everything is terrible! :') If I don't find a job by like the end of January, I am in big trouble! Anyone know anyone hiring entry-level work-from-home?
Now, your regularly mis-scheduled fanfic reviews.
H: 1 R: 5 C: 2 V: 1 N: 1
A Visit from Mother by Silvermyr
Sequel to A Letter to Father
Genre: Comedy
Cozy Glow's mom tracks her down for a visit.
One thing I said about the last story is that it should have been marked comedy; this one, thankfully, is picking up the slack. :) And what a comedy! We get to learn the ins and outs of Svengallop and Suri Polomare's relationship, and how they're basically a family of cartoon villains. I mean, like… literally, really, they are. XD Goddamn! What a concept.
Recommended
The Elephant in the Relationship by Monochromatic
Genre: EQG Rom-Com
Rarity and Rainbow Dash wouldn't be inviting Twilight along on their dates if they weren't having relationship problems, would they?
Okay, so obviously, the joke here is polyamory and Sci-Twi having been roped into a triad without, somehow, ever realizing that was what was going on. This is something I can absolutely believe about her, by the way. And so, even knowing this ahead of time, the fun of this story is watching Twilight overanalyze literally everything happening around her, in her most adorably nerdy way. Though I would complain, loudly, that this stopped right before we got to see her reaction to at last grasping the reality of the situation. I mean, that's probably a solid faint we missed out on, at the very least! But if you need more poly po—er, humans, this will deliver!
Recommended
The Saga of Mango Leaf by Wanderer D
Genre: OC Fic
With a thousand bits and the creation of a new Hearth's Warming tradition on the line, Mango Leaf just cannot come up with a dish original enough for the contest.
Oh hey, who remembers the OC Slamjam? :O I think I never got around to reviewing this story earlier because it's marked incomplete and I was waiting for another chapter, but as it seems that's never going to happen… A shame, since Mango Leaf was the winning OC. And there are theoretically more chapters out there than just this one? Whatever. Mango Leaf is an eccentric pony who specializes in frozen treats and enjoys selling them during winter. But nevermind that, we also get Candy Cane, who was someone else's OC, and she is a rambunctious ball of unapologetic sass and clearly the star of the show here. :V This is pretty straightforward, all told, but the cleverness comes in how the winning dessert is assembled, though we only get to see it after the fact. For the one chapter that's here, it's worth the read.
Recommended
Threatenin' Carolin' by Monochromatic
Genre: EQG Holiday Special/Shipping
Rainbow Dash agrees to help Pinkie solicit donations for the crisis center.
This is a bit light on the comedy — a bit light on the romance, too, if I'm being honest — but all its elements come together into something that works just right. And, I mean, it's a followup to The Choices We Make, and even if it's not as impactful, it's still every bit as good. Plus I'm always here for a PinkieDash, even if it works out kind of easily by the end. :)
Recommended for Shippers
Mermaid Girls of Flora Da (The Dazzlings Run a Tourist Trap) by Mockingbirb
Genre: EQG Comedy/Shipping
Sunset runs into the Dazzlings while on vacation.
Equestria Girls, Sunset Shimmer, the Sirens being reformed enough to live on their own but still jerks, mermaids: this has everything I love. :D Well, maybe not everything. Truth be told, the shipping is a tad… perfunctory? Like, this is a fun story about Sunset running into the Dazzlings, and my main question was why they would be doing this show thing, what would they get out of it? To which the answer was quite amusing and satisfying. But then the story keeps going a bit and just sort of hurtles us into Sci-Twi confessions at breakneck speed. The pacing really drops off in the second half. I can appreciate it for the mermaids, at least. I just wish they'd been real. :V
Recommended for Dazzlings Fans
"These are NOT 'Hooker Boots!'" (Welcome to Canterlot High, Where Our Shoes Are Very Tall for a Good Reason) by Mockingbirb
Genre: EQG Crackfic
Yeah, what's up with that, anyway?
This is a single conversation, presented at breakneck pace, about anything and everything you might be wondering about Humania. It's, like, the evil mirror-verse version of the Oversaturated World. Absolutely butt-nutty, nothing but pure insanity, I love every second of it.
Recommended
Five Hundred Little Zombies by GroaningGrayAgony
Genre: Dark Action Comedy
In which Ponyville is flooded with zombie pets.
Okay, first things first: If you haven't read Five Hundred Little Murders, go do that now. I'll wait. As GroaningGreyAgony says, it's considered a classic for a reason, and you'll get far more out of this sequel-cum-parody if it's fresh in your mind. :) Though the best part might be a reference to a certain classic horror film that got me to laugh out loud, plus a pun that it sets up later. This is short but fun, and a great tribute to a classic. :V
Highly Recommended
Encounter- A Fallout Equestria Story by VesperMoon
Mature: Gore, Violence, Death
Genre: FoE Sidefic
I can only wonder what directed me to this author's sole story, written last year. It's always fun when that happens. So, I'll give the author tons of credit for not making the common mistake of writing an overly ambitious 100k word monster novel as a first fic. FoE stories tend toward the overly lengthy in the first place, and coupling that with a new writer — or, in this case, one getting back into it — rarely if ever works out well. That being said, the ambition is there, as the self-insert OC's story is told from the start. There's a hundred thousand words' worth of story here, is what I'm saying, and condensing it down to 3k words means we don't get to see very much of it. The whole thing is thus really fast-paced and really abbreviated, with focus put on two small scenes: one of her infiltrating an apartment building where something has been killing ponies, and one of her fighting the something. Through it all, we get zero indication of what sort of pony Vesper is, and that's the real issue here, if you ask me. Characters aren't defined by what skills they have, but what choices they make when presented with difficult decisions. This isn't helped by a lot of very common errors that could have used a proofreader's touch, including some typos that leave certain passages unintelligible ("she grabbed her mouth"?) Short FoE stories are in short supply, no pun intended, and so I would entreaty the author to try another, focus it down to one scene, and see what the character can tell us about herself while dealing with adversity. But hey, points for never describing her, that's always a hard thing for authors to avoid!
Not Recommended
The First of Many Evenings by Rune Soldier Dan
Genre: EQG Shipping
Miss Harshwhinny invites Celestia to take an evening off.
Principal Celestia and Miss Harshwhinny? :O Never seen it before, but I'm down! God, and they're not even that old — I am now older than both characters in this story D:< — but hot damn, some middle-aged lady lovin' really hits the spot. The character work is solid, I love the vulnerability as Harshwhinny details what she sees in Celestia, and there's just a little bit of expansion of behind-the-scenes Humania stuff that I also really appreciated. And I really like Harshwhinny's first name!
Recommended
Hall of Mirrors by RB_
Genre: EQG Horror
Pinkie Pie gets lost.
I am going to chalk up my rather null reaction to this story to a thousand words not being enough to convey horror. Or at least, not this scenario. Pinkie gets lost in the titular hall of mirrors, her reflection of course starts talking to her, I expected it to ask her if she wanted to meet its stark father in the Baronies, it chases her with an ax. I just… didn't really get anything out of this. Maybe I was looking too deeply for the fourth-wall aspect, suggested by the description but ultimately never followed up on? I do like the form this alternate self takes, I think it's a good angle on Pinkie's inner world, but overall, this just didn't do a whole lot for me.
Vaguely Recommended
I wish i had had a larger budget XD. There is nothing about this that I don't love, except, perhaps, the fact there is not more.
All the luck and hugs to you! What a fun batch too.
What a coincidence; I also feel nothing for Hall of Mirrors—and I wrote it! :p Which, of course, annoyed me at the time because that’s the only story I wrote in that year’s 1k contest that won anything. Oh well.
Horror in 1k words is definitely possible, though. Mushroompone’s Womb comes to mind.
Dunno if you already know about it, but this site has a lot of work from home stuff.
I wish you the very best of luck in your job situation.
And I am very glad you liked The First of Many Evenings.
5818711
aha! so it's your fault! :V
5818721
you are so correct on that
5818723
thank c: