Present Perfect vs. It's Always Sunny in Fillydelphia · 2:48am Jun 21st, 2013
Two vs. posts in one day? The gods I must be crazy.
It's Always Sunny in Fillydelphia by the late, great Bobcat is, unequivocally, my favorite shipfic in the fandom. I have, on occasion, listed it as my favorite fic ever. And I am now, against my better judgment, going to read it again because it's only 10k and I just found out it's on fimfiction because I was discussing 2011 fics with Pav Feira on my last blogpost. (Bobcat sadly left the fandom some time during season 2; he was a friend and I was sad to see him go, but at least his legacy lives on here.)
One misguided rereading later...
I am pleased to announce that this is still one of the best shipfics I have ever read. (AppleDashers beware, Rainbow Dash's presence in this fic is a red herring.)
Is it perfect? No. The main problem with it -- and I remember making this comment when I read it originally -- is the lengthy Willy Wonka reference scene that is... Well, lengthy. In a story where the jokes alternate between hard and fast and soft and subtle, that scene is just too much awkwardness for too damn long. There are a few other references (like a late-game Dr. Whooves) that don't work as well nowadays as they would have two years ago, and Bobcat has an annoying habit of not only using "Ah" instead of "I", but not capitalizing it.
Other than that, though, it's paced well, written well, and above all else, the ship is really well crafted. SoarinJack is a favorite of mine, possibly because of this fic, but definitely because they're just completely fucking made for each other. And a well-wrought ship is the most important part of any shipfic, so that is, uh, the good thing here. God, I'm tired, this is not a good idea to be doing right now. @_@ Also Rainbow Dash is really funny. Did I mention this story is funny? Because it is.
So, is it still my absolute favorite? Nah, probably Somewhere Cycle tops it. I would put it up as the best shipfic, though, like I said above. I think I'm out of words now, bye.
5/5
Absolutely stellar
Oh, but I'm not done yet! It's got a sequel, Semper Fidelis, which I actually recall a little better. (Thank god, because it's three times as long.) It explores AJ and Soarin's relationship, not to mention more of his history, alongside a tale of ultimate evil come to destroy the world or something. Basically, Soarin has to fight Tirek and Scorpan from G1. (Scorpan, by the way, is the absolute highlight of this story; he was a very well-made and sympathetic character, though I didn't get the full impact of his portrayal here until after I'd seen Rescue at Midnight Castle, which is definitely not the worst thing I have ever seen.)
Compared to Always Sunny though, this story can't stand up to it. It had a different feeling and focused too much on the action, good though it was, to be as satisfying as its predecessor. It's not a bad story, but when you have to read something like the first fic in order to get to it, well, it doesn't hold up. It's almost an unfair comparison, but it has to be made.
3.5/5
Overshadowed by its predecessor
Also, now that It's Always Sunny is here on fimfic, I've finally done what I've always wanted to do! Check out my userpage for my (very cursory and not at all comprehensive) "top ten" ponyfics!
What's the Somewhere Cycle?
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Ah, I shoulda linked it. Fixed, see post!
1157762 alrighty.
Wait, how are Soarin and Applejack made for each other? The only thing we know about Soarin is that he's an athlete and may or may not have a bizarre fixation with pie.
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Uh, because pie, duh. :V And they met at the Gala.
IT WAS DESTINY DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND SHIPPING :|
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Step away from the keyboard.
I actually find that first one to be to placid. It's "just" a shipfic, and although the shipping is enjoyable and built nicely (unlike the relationships in most shipfics), it was never driven by conflict. It was pretty much happy in tone the whole way through.
Which is not a comment on the author's skill at all, of course. His characters are lovable like Little Ponies should be, and I gotta say the whole Applecon idea, followed by "yeah, wizards and knights, typical historical fiction" is still memorable even though I read this fic when I was fresh into the fandom.
I woulda given it a 3.5. Well written, but not the kind of story I want stories to be. The story has a beginning, middle, and end... and a story with that format should have something driving it. Even if that something is as simple as confused feelings or sexual tension. This one has no such drive..
I always kind of wanted to read that story. I like most straight ships. Makes me wish Beating the Heat hadn't sucked...
Now I'm sad again...
Ah man, makes me wish Bobcat hadn't left the fandom, I could definitely read a few more stories by him. And I do like SoarinJack.
>SoarinJack is a favorite mine, possibly because of this fic, but definitely because they're just completely fucking made for each other
What amounts to an OC being made for a mane cast member! SHOCK! But no, I really liked this one too. Soarin is given a believable personality and the romance is done very well.
I read one chapter of the sequel and stopped. It's (one of) the same issue I had with A Blue Bird's Song. The tone shift left me completely uninterested in the story. While Midnight Castle is not the worst thing I've ever seen, it is still *bad*. G1 pretty much taints anything that isn't just making fun of it. But then, almost all crossovers suck.
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I think he used the G1 stuff well in the sequel, it's just not what I wanted to see from this story line. Really, it feels like he had a separate idea and just decided to combine them because why not. You're absolutely right about the tonal shift.
Also shame on both of us for not seeing the missing "of" in that sentence. D:
Finally got around to reading it...
Dull. Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull.
There. Now I'm a more disagreeable bastard that you,
Suck it.
-Scott
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Boo!
I have downvoted your post!
Because this has meaning!