Fic recs, April 13th · 6:45pm Apr 13th, 2014
H: 1 R: 2 C: 3 V: 2 N: 2
Just Like Her by Bad_Seed_72
Review #800!
Reading by Porpoise Pete
I think his recording levels are up too high, because you can hear the audio clipping, but other than that, I can’t find fault with anything about his reading. Plus, he’s only got three stories right now, so I’ll be subscribing immediately. :3
Genre: Slice of Life
What seems on the surface like a furthering of the Rarity/Sweetie Belle sister dynamic whose plot is encapsulated entirely in the cover image morphs into a surprising look at the pressures on young girls to look perfect. And despite being a women’s issue plucked wholesale from the real world and overlaid atop matriarchal Equestria, it fits. (I couldn't help but realize that the few powerful stallions we've seen in the show have mostly been in Canterlot high society, especially the fashion industry.) Add to this the fact that Bad Seed is an excellent writer, and you’ve got a real winner. I will say that it’s fairly languidly paced — always preferable to racing to the punchline — but strong imagery and a good handle on the characters, along with a very important moral, make this completely worth reading. (Sadly, it was published three days before For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils aired, so I can imagine a Rarity sister-dynamic fic might be a hard sell right now.)
Recommended
Burn What You Create by Mystic
Reading by Jonty Jig
Genre: Historical
This is apparently the second installment of a story collection called “Epic Ponies Doing Epic Things”. That’s pretty apt, as titles go. This piece turns the story of Discord’s first imprisonment into a personal tragedy for Celestia, rivaling Nightmare Moon’s banishment in terms of the emotional toll it takes on her. While I would have preferred shippingScenes of Celestia and Discord’s friendship in their youth are interspersed with Canterlot burning in cold fire. One thing that may not resound with all readers is Discord killing ponies for fun. Much like Tyrantlestia, Discord as murderer is a hard characterization to sell. This piece adds in enough generalized psychopathy to make it work, I think, but only just. There is at least enough good writing and characterization beyond that to justify its existence, and give you something to latch onto if Discord, Serial Killer doesn’t sit well with you.
Recommended
Fimfiction Writes Ponies by The Writers of Fimfiction
Reading by BleedingRaindrops
Genre: Fanfic by Committee
Obselescence, in his infinite wisdominsanity, apparently thought it would be a good idea to take the Twitch Plays Pokemon concept and apply it to ponyfic. What results is a mess of non-sequiturs, terrible references, horrible cameos, shameful fourth wall jokes and a world-devouring serpent god named Apep, stirred together with a spoon made out of attention deficit disorder. Beyond anyone’s expectations, the writing is actually fairly decent in spots (the “Inevitable Clop Chapter” is hysterical). If you like random stories, there’s lots to laugh at. If you like trollfics, there’s lots to laugh about. If you like silly things like coherence or not tons of references in your fics, well, you’ll need to look elsewhere. But if ever you wondered what a hundred writers collaborating willy-nilly on the same story would look like, well… here’s an answer.
Recommended as a Curiosity
The Rustling of Twilight’s Jimmies by MarineMarksman
Reading by TheCaptainSand
Genre: Trollfic
I do believe this is the first Doom Pie Network reading that wasn’t by Doom Pie himself. Interesting. What’s not interesting is this story, which I characterize as lazy trolling. It’s just Spike Abuse wrapped up in an XBox vs. Playstation joke that goes on too long and involves a lot of out of character humor that doesn’t accomplish anything. I talk a lot about stories wasting the reader’s time, and I feel like this one does. I guess that means my jimmies were rustled.
Not Recommended
Sweetie Belle Finds a Box of Matches by TheExhaustedBrony
Reading by TheLostNarrator and Jo
Reading by VisualPony
Genre: Pony Discovers X
With a title (and cover image) like that, you pretty much know A) how the story is going to go, and B) that nothing is going to go well for anypony involved. This is a pretty straightforward “pony discovers” fic, though I found it a good bit more enjoyable than most. That is, it’s funny, if not hilarious. But then, I have a healthy appreciation for both Dummie Belle and the CMCs destroying stuff. I did find it a tad odd that Sweetie had never encountered matches before, but it was easy enough to swallow for narrative purposes. Like I said, this is predictable from start to finish it, but it is nevertheless fun.
Vaguely Recommended
”For I Am a Jelly God” by Posh
Genre: Comedic Horror
Does anyone remember Fimfiction’s first and so far only site-wide writeoff? Because that’s where this story originates, and it has remained one of my favorite fanfics since. For anyone familiar with the original My Little Pony, or at least the movies, the Smooze is one of the most indelible images you could ask for. Regardless of what it actually does, the concept of an infinite and unstoppable wave of purple goop enveloping everything in its path is pretty terrifying. This story serves as one of the best and most original reenvisionings of the Smooze, mixing madcap comedy and tense action into a thrilling and memorable disaster flick. It’s also something of a cavalcade of season two moments: keep an eye out for both Derpy as well as Hugh Jelly, in what is possibly his greatest role. I have a deep and undying love for this story, and I hope it will please you too.
Highly Recommended
A Game of Twits by Cassius
Genre: Comedy
Fairly recently, I decided that I was tired of stories about chess, because they tend to involve “deep” metaphors between the game and either interpersonal conflict, politics, or inner monologues, and it’s getting dull. Luckily, this story is not at all one of those, as it focuses instead on Twilight and Fluttershy preparing for a chess tournament. It does spend some time making little stories out of moves, which is a little silly, but this is something of a zany comedy, by which I mean there are some scenes played totally for humor that make no sense if you think about them. And while lots of little jokes (Mr. Cake introducing Mrs. Cake being perhaps the best) help string together the more dramatic scenes, this kind of doesn’t make anything out of its premise. It’s easy to figure out who The Black Queen is, and the main conflict resolves itself without anything really having to do with the characters’ actions, or even chess. Still, if you like comedy, this is strongly written and should give you something to enjoy.
Recommended for Fans of Wacky Comedy
Not Even Trying by Kuma
Genre: Epistolary
This consists of two letters, one from Sweetie Belle to Rarity, explaining why she ran away to the Crystal Empire and what happened there, and the reply. There’s some pretty subtle comedy in this, though most of it comes in broad strokes. Sweetie’s letter doesn’t always sound like her, but her antics, and Rarity’s reaction to them, are pretty funny. If nothing else, it’s a quick read, and certainly not a waste of time.
Recommended for a Laugh
Could Be Worse by Monstrosity
Mature: Sex
Genre: Human on Pony/Fetishes
Monstrosity’s only story can be handily summed up as “the creepy, fetishy version of My Little Dashie”. Our (surprisingly named) everyman protagonist comes home from his shitty job to his shitty life and, oh yeah, he has a pet Rainbow Dash because no reason whatsoever (the tumblr that apparently inspired this is, not surprisingly, gone), and yes I mean "pet" in the sexual way, and since he’s so mopey about everything, she cheers him up. In the sexual way. The writing is better than you expect out of clopfics, but no no no ew ew ugh no.
Not Recommended
Delusional by Homage
Reading by Scribbler and Screams from Equestria (!)
Genre: It’s All in Your Head
The short version is, this is just another story where a pony’s idyllic life is a result of mental trauma, a delusion created to shield them from reality. Now, it does stand out a bit from that field, mostly on account of presenting a compelling argument for how Rainbow Dash could be the creation of a delusional flightless pegasus. I mean, if you were going to pretend your life was perfect, wouldn’t you also want to be Rainbow Dash on top of that? I was also pleased that she was still a pony in the “real” world, as far too many of these (The Cold Bottle of Sarsparilla springs to mind) reveal the ponies to be the fever-dreams of humans, and I’m super-tired of that. Still, this doesn’t really take its idea anywhere, just laying out the disparity between reality and fantasy and strongly hinting that the reality is real. It’s not terrible, though I was slightly dubious at the depiction of the mental hospital, but I’ve definitely seen this before.
Vaguely Recommended
Always a pleasure to read your reviews. Fimfic needs more of a review function, I feel!
The fact that you read fanfiction at this rate is beyond impressive and into the realm of confusing.
Oh hey, a PP recommendation blog that doesn't result in an expansion of my Read Later list! That's a rarity.
The only of those stories that interests me is For I Am a Jelly God, but it turned out I already added it. Has probably been on the list since 2012 and got buried under hundreds of other fics since then. I'm beginning to think that I'll never manage to read all of them, unless I wake up as presentperfect tomorrow. Congrats on 800 reviews.
Also, a minor correction:
There are actually 2 Vs and 2 Ns.
2006993
Step 1: Have no job.
Step 2: Obsessively collect fanfiction to read later.
Step 3: Schedule reading time during the day, along with listening to audiobooks in the shower.
Step 4: Profit? (I wish. I don't think I could Patreon this kind of thing.)
2007211
I fucked up the review doc somehow. :B Oh well, thanks!
And make sure you get to FIAaJG soon. :3 It's worth it.
Oh hey, First Instrument isn't in your spreadsheet.
The reason I thought of this is because you once noted a fic as the only V you've given something tagged mature, and TECHNICALLY that's not true.
2007855
It's in the first page of the 2013 sheet as Taut Strings, Soft Lips/First Instrument :B