Fic recs, December 25th: Skijaramaz edition! · 3:48pm Dec 25th, 2024

TheLostNarrator's newest reading is Scribbler's A Steep Learning Curve, with a whole bunch of people!

Merry Chrimbo! :D It's Skijarama time! He's been extremely prolific over the year, still puts out videos, and has done dozens of really, really long fics. x_x My audiobook list is over 700 videos and I want to throw up. (It's under 700 now, it's okay.) The List:

Kirobero's Memory Pending
Mad Hattie's Twilight Sort of Kills Her Friends
Majin Syeekoh's Solving for Death
Masterweaver's The Trial of Fluttershy Flutters and Truth Behind the Tail
PaulAsaran's Friendship = Evil
Twinkletail's Dragons Don't Like Flowers
Pascoite's Suffer in Silence
Lucky Dreams' A Very Pinkie Pie Heart's Warming
David Silver's Starlight Explores Twilight's Castle
Codex Ex Equus's Changeling Courtship Rituals and Pony Courtship Rituals
bats' Dreams and Bonds
Alicia Van Hammer's A Modest Proposal
Whirl Hoof's Red Little Reality
MagicS's Why Don't We Just Eat the Unicorns?
8_Bit's Discord Writes a Letter
Follow Focus's Darth's Warming Eve

Though this blog is titled as his edition, and I use the "Reading" format rather than saying who everything is by, future blogs are going to continue to just be stories he's read until, y'know… 700 videos in the tube. c_c;; Just gonna post these once a week or whenever I have five reviews, whichever comes first.

Oh yeah, and big milestone this time around!

H: 1 R: 3 C: 3 V: 0 N: 0

Mother by Skijarama
Reading
Genre: Horror
Celestia has become pregnant. This should not have happened.
This story does a phenomenal job building up an atmosphere of wrongness. Twilight can tell Celestia's mood from her face, just by having been close to her. The scene she finds when she's called back to Canterlot is terrifying in just how wrong it is. Details like feeling insects crawl along the skin contribute so viscerally, and the shrouded crib only adds to the tension. But I have to say, I think it maybe went on a little long. The struggle in the middle slows things down, despite everything that's happened, because it's basically just a conversation and Celestia keeps repeating herself. Plus, the ending more or less just explains the whole thing, in terms of how everyone was feeling and what little they knew by the end. The final line is really good, but I do think the second half overall could have used tightening to keep the attention laser-focused on the Thing at the center of everything, and how very, very wrong it was. Still really good.
Recommended for Horror Fans

The Bug in the Herd by Skijarama
Reading
Genre: Shipping/Chrysalis Redemption
After a chance encounter with the mysterious mare who saved his life, Tone Shift is determined to repay her in kind. Even if she might just happen to be a changeling queen.
It's really interesting reading this story directly after Change. Somewhere, Skijaramaz says that tom117z is his favorite author, and whether he took cues from tom or it's just that they share similar interests, the connection is clear. By which I mean this has some of the same writing issues, re: saidisms. But enough about that. In this story, a stallion is rescued by a 'mysterious' mare who is obviously Chrysalis, she goes looking for him again later for some reason, they have wacky escapades, they fall in love, and boom! Instant reformed Chrysalis. Like, that's not a spoiler, it's a foregone conclusion. <_< Also, it's worth noting that said stallion is in fact the author's self-insert character, a fact I might not have realized had his name not been on the Youtube channel, but also 'voice actor' isn't exactly a common job for pony OCs. And I mean, he had to make up an entire industry in Equestria to justify Tone Shift's presence! The guy's easy to feel for, he's down on his luck despite trying hard, he's barely making ends meet, voice acting is a cool, fun job but being a newish industry, there aren't many positions. Oh, and it's worth mentioning he's doing voices for radio plays; I thought that was a good way to integrate the profession into canon. As for Chryssy, well, she goes from a vicious, wounded animal to a snarky sidekick to a mourning mother to about what you'd expect from her kinder, gentler self. She spends a lot of time teasing Tone for… reasons, I guess? (Side note, there are a lot of sex jokes in this story, and rarely do they not feel shoehorned in.) I do generally find it hard to believe that a centuries-old being would need the love of some random guy in order to find herself or whatever, but at least it's justified in narrative: when you spend your life eating love, maybe you don't take a lot of time to really contemplate what it means. Good character work, that. Another good part, that honestly really surprised me, is that it becomes clear over the course of the story that Tone has lost somepony close to him, but it's never stated outright. The pieces are easy to put together, sure, but the phrase naming who it was who died, or when, or how, doesn't show up, and that was a feat of authorial restraint that I applaud. Otherwise, this is basically your standard sort of Hollywood rom-com, where the guy and the girl end up together by the end because what else would they do, except that one of them can sense just how in love the other one is with her and also just so happens to be an enemy of the state, which involves a lot of time spent worrying about what might happen if she were found out. Fun! This isn't amazing, but it does what it needs to well. And if nothing else? I seriously cannot blame a guy for shipping himself with Chrysalis. I mean, just look at her, come on.
Recommended for Queen Chrysalis Fans

The One Where Maud Gets Excited by tom117z and Skijarama
Reading
Genre: Comedy
In which Starlight Glimmer toys with pony souls.
So here we have a fun comedy whose broad strokes you can probably see coming, but that doesn't detract from it at all. :) There's a lot of banter leading to solid side gags, and this works very well as a season 7 story, both in terms of Pinkie trying to connect with her sister better and Starlight (not) learning not to be so reckless with magic. Hyperactive Maud is more than just "Pinkie but rocks"... I mean, she's that too, but I guess it works well enough that it doesn't matter. And there are fourth wall jokes that are actually funny! More than one, even! There's a sequel to this coming up in a reading or two, and I'm looking forward to it!
Recommended

Twiggles the Bunny in Twilight's Castle by Skijarama and tom117z
Reading
Sequel to The One Where Maud Gets Excited
Review #9000!
Genre: Random Comedy
The mirror portal is on the fritz.
Oh! When I mentioned a sequel, I was in fact referring to the next story! This one is… a bit much. c_c Intensely wacky, it's about what you'd expect given the title. You know what's really funny though? The bits near the end about this alternate rabbit-themed world (I dearly wish they'd given it a name!), and a joke at the expense of A Bug in the Herd. XD Like, that really got me. If nothing else, this is decent crackfic. Doesn't really have much to do with the previous story though.
Recommended If You Like Random Comedies

The One With Gummy and Boulder by tom117z and Skijarama
Reading
Sequel to The One Where Maud Gets Excited
Genre: The Secret Lives of Pets
When rock and alligator meet, Equestria will be brought to its knees.
This may start off with a Pinky and the Brain reference, but don't think of it as 'cliche': it's 'tried and true'! :) This was everything I was hoping for. The comedic timing is great, and especially the personality they came up with for Boulder is hilarious. The pure absurdity of the situation is played exactly how it should be, plus we get to see the other side of the conversation that took place in the previous story! Oh, and on that note, I'd say you don't necessarily have to read that first; this also makes a reference to Twiggles, but you can prepare for that by reading that story's description. All in all, this was really funny, a pure oddcap comedy, and a good deal of fun. Highly Recommended for Laughs.
Recommended

Celebration at Twilight's by The 24th Pegasus
Reading
Genre: Dark Comedy
Princess Twilight Sparkle has killed everyone in Ponyville. Which wouldn't normally be a huge problem, except that she's also supposed to be hosting the Summer Sun Celebration. In an hour.
Oh man. This is obviously a pony pastiche of Weekend at Bernie's, but it's also so much more. The moment I realized what else was going on, it had me doubled over in laughter. And even if you don't figure it out early, there's still plenty to enjoy, mostly the tension of wondering if and when the princesses are going to figure out everyone's dead. Since, y'know, Twilight can't stop nervously making death puns! XD This was hilarious and absolutely brilliant.
Highly Recommended

The Attempted Assassinations of Twilight Sparkle by Dubs Rewatcher
Reading
Genre: Dark Comedy
Question: How do you kill an immortal alicorn princess? Answer: You don't.
And here is yet one more really funny comedy. :) I love how everything works together in this, it's every bit as heavy on story as it is laughs. Blueblood's objections to Twilight remain just as funny as her refusal to accept someone might be trying to off her. I could have had more of this one!
Recommended