Assorted Updates, Fic Recs · 4:46pm Nov 23rd, 2013
So, Season 4 is a thing. Since the episodes fall on Sunday, and I spend the mornings of those at church, and the latter half of those with the girlfriend, I am going to be forever slow. From the buzz I'm getting from my fellows in Seattle's Angels, though, this is going to be something I don't want to spoil for myself. Season-long arc, I hear?
TLaToCM isn't going to be accurate to it, but there's still much more to exploit, and if I play the ending right it should work well. Stories which I have yet to write, and therefore will need to reassess based on S4, are: Rainbow Dashe (silly LoL crossover), Pretentious Coffee Cup (mostly OCs so not really a big deal), Pipsqueak's Grand Adventure (still a thing), Le HiE Fic (Austraeoh-ish origins story which would suffer the most from gamebreaking changes).
I've been toying with the idea of writing something Austraeoh-ish, actually - short chapters, each a scene, stack together for poignancy and escalating awesomry. Perhaps I should actually read Austraeoh first if I'm going to emulate it.
Can you tell me, btw, if S4 means you'll be reading more or less fanfic? Just a curiosity.
Speaking of stuff I've read:
The Fifth, by Garnot
Garnot wrote Equestria Noir. Since then he has written a bunch more Dark fics, and I believe that it's all culminating in The Fifth. If there's one thing I can say, it's that The Fifth is the author in his element. The flow, word choice, interactions... everything hits off perfectly, seamless, without even trying. Those of you familiar will know of Garnot's casual derps with punctuation every now and then, but it's eclipsed by Garnot's signature grasp of style. I'm probably biased, since I just downed about 5 chapters in a single sitting and I'm giddy with appreciation - you know how much a sucker I am for atmosphere and style, or will when you see the shoddy silk-on-a-chair PCC - with the character crafting, immaculately-concepted worldbuilding, very smooth, engaging action scenes... I'm putting this out there for anyone with an appetite for intriguing hardboiled-y detective crime work, or just anyone with a taste for gritty, really.
You may or may not want to skip the first chapter, called LETTERS, since there's not much in it (for now) except the key AU ideas you need to accept to move on: Luna is somehow main princess, this is pre-Cadence wedding, something-or-other which may or may not end up a massive plot point.
Prodigy, by Sable Tails
The quintessential fanfic character - the young but powerful coming-of-age teen. This and its summary sound horrible, but it's executed so, so well. It's really nice and quick with its humour. Its main character, the "prodigy" in question, is actually pretty easy to accept - interesting, even if I haven't made up my mind on the un/likeable scale, and some nicely concepted Starswirl. Add to that the intrigue of how this might possibly fit into canon, and that looming sense of forebearing in the air, and you've got this very fun-to-read fic. Now that I've read more than one chapter, I can say with a bit more confidence that it's a nice long-term read.
Princess Twilight Takes A Walk, by Jake the Army Guy
So this one's a thing. I have left some fairly long-winded analysis in the comments, but here's the tl;dr: it's a mixed bag tending towards interesting. It's hard to pinpoint, hard to give a label or an identity for me as a reader to categorize it as, but the content itself is building up nicely. Some nice worldbuilding going on in here.
A Queen's Gambit, by Sparkler
This gets the Recommended tag on the PresentPerfect scale. It's got an interesting take on Chrysalis, it's got some very solid mood and atmosphere, and while some parts were a bit rushed if you think about it, and perhaps it could have been done stronger, it's a pretty good read as it is. The oddball of the collection, but refreshing in its choice of subject matter, characters and handling. Also I found it through a Project Wonderful ad, so there's that.
There was going to be another Hayate rant, but that's for another day. Let me just say Hata you freaking/amazing troll I love/hate you how could you do this, how could you redeem the Ruka arc so well and crush it in a span of two pages why would you even bla this is Athena all over again rahhhh
Seriously, the latest turn - and my surprisingly vivid emotional reaction to it - is worth reflecting on. Feels like I might learn something about plotting from it. Where tens of chapters left me decidedly okay, this one... this one actually elicited strong feelings. I want to be able to do that too. /evil grin
Ugh, actually shouldn't have typed that out. The renewed lack of catharsis is... ahhh!
Muh scales. :D
Also I have picked Hayate back up. Season 1, episode 10: what the serious fuck.
Honestly, reading fics in the midst of another new season is a little weird because there's constantly some new canon information to adjust to. It can make some stories feel a bit obsolete. However the changes can be nice at times. (Wonderbolt Academy spawned some nice fics)
As for the amount, I prolly read about the same. New season or not.