Fic recs, August 16th · 5:53pm Aug 16th, 2014
Guys, I need to be honest: I am somewhat in despair.
I am not enjoying On a Cross and Arrow, spoilers. The writeoff starts in about 20 minutes. I'm helping judge the Outside Insight contest on EQD and I had a little mental breakdown last night because we got over 100 entries. Things have been smoothed over, but it still got me voicing the doubts that began festering at Bronycon, namely, that people in this fandom only know me for my reviews, and not my writing. :(
I guess it's my own fault, since I'm far more prolific at the former than the latter. But, fuck's sake, I'm just not having fun right now. D: And I know people are going to jump on the "You should give it up if you're not having fun" train, but fuck that, I've given up on too many things in my life. I'm just going through a bad spot and little things are perfect-storming their way into giant obstacles.
Anyway, this is a roundabout way of saying that, while the first couple reviews in this round have come about the normal way, the last few I read because I wanted to, goddammit. :D That's not something I ever do anymore, unfortunately. But I had fun doing it and discovered that there is a metric shitton of shipfics in my RIL. So, enjoy!
H: 0 R: 1 C: 3 V: 2 N: 1
Am Ah Ready? by Captain Unstoppable
Genre: Character Study
Big Macintosh stands vigil over his son’s crib, beating himself up over whether or not he’ll be a good father. What’s great in this is not just Mac’s self-doubts, but where they stem from. Everyone’s told him he’s going to be a great father because of how he's been there for his sisters, but he can’t believe it. Raising siblings and raising a child are, in his mind, two completely separate things. Unfortunately, while the underlying concepts are really compelling, the writing just isn’t there. Emotions stand up and take a bow every time, and things really break down when Applejack shows up with her conveniently expository dialogue. Plus, things resolve a little too quickly and the ending is kind of cheesy. You don’t have to be a MacDash shipper to appreciate the idea, but appreciating it is nevertheless difficult.
Vaguely Recommended
Party’s Over by Zyrian
Genre: Sad Pinkie
Pinkie has something of an existential crisis after a party and gets majorly Sad. Luckily, she’s got friends to help cheer her up again. I rather like the opening scene, despite Pinkie going flat-maned rather quickly, because of the metaphors she comes up with as she’s cleaning up. And I like the story overall because far too often, Sad Pinkie is an end in itself; it’s not often you get to see some resolution, or even a happy ending (at least, one that isn't wholly contrived), out of a setup like that. That said, there’s a weird break in the middle of this, when it goes from “cheer up Pinkie” to “Cake backstory”. Things get even more muddled when Princess Luna shows up. On top of that, this could use a good editing, mostly just for superficial things. Still, I can’t help but look on it with a smile given the whole “sad Pinkie what gets happy again” thing.
Recommended for Pinkie Pie Fans
Canterlot’s Guests by JKinsley
Genre: Shipping
Rarity accompanies Twilight on a trip to Canterlot to visit her parents, and they Conveniently Fall In Love. Rarity has Always Loved Twilight, and Twilight soon finds herself Developing Feelings for her friend for pretty much no reason beyond narrative convenience. And honestly, that wouldn’t have been so bad. This paints a nice picture of Twilight revisiting her old life in Canterlot, the impressions she and the city have made on each other and so forth. The writing isn’t the most evocative, but it definitely improves over time. Unfortunately, where this falls down is chapter 5. Rarity sets up a fashion show with Hoity Toity and invites Twilight, hoping to show off the dresses she designed off Twilight’s appearance, as a way to speak through her art. Unfortunately, Twilight, having struggled with her feelings during the whole trip, lets her insecurities get the better of her, lashes out, and drives Rarity off. It absolutely tanks what was a shaky romance to begin with. No one but a Rarilight shipper would be interested in this in the first place, but even then, I don’t think they’d find the contrived drama at all satisfying.
Not Recommended
Brother of Mine by The 24th Pegasus
Genre: Grim
This would make an excellent FoE sidestory; all it needs is a few guns. A stallion pursuing his fugitive brother through Canterlot’s “Low Town”, a ramshackle, crumbling hellhole filled with the destitute and desperate, doesn’t really feel like ponyfic, is what I'm saying. Everything’s bleak and dreary, and it’s hard to believe this place exists at the foot of the very mountain where Celestia’s castle rests. As for the story itself, I was a little put off by the paragraph-long description of our protagonist, but once we get to the confrontation between the brothers, things pick up, and their conflict is shown very well through the dialogue. There’s not a whole lot here, though, so this may not satisfy everyone.
Recommended If You Don’t Mind Grimness
Rarity’s Mare of the Evening by HoofBitingActionOverlord
Genre: Shipping
Twilight and Applejack find out Rarity sees an escort Wednesday nights, and decide to investigate. They learn about it from the mare in question — which I admittedly had a hard time believing; no client confidentiality? — and want to ascertain whether or not she’s telling the truth. This is, I have to say, the weirdest setup for a shipfic I have ever seen. It does have something going for, it given that I rolled my eyes at Applejack being moralizing, but Applejack being jealous I can take. What doesn’t work, at least assuming you can accept the idea of pony hookers, is the bold violation of privacy perpetrated by Rarity’s friends. In fact, no one is acting particularly in character in this story, which is saying something for shipfics. Not to mention, the ending is as cheesy as you could ask for. I think maybe I’ll check out the “reimagined” version sometime, because I do still like me some Rarijack.
Vaguely Recommended
The Sky’s the Limit by Filler
Genre: Tragedy
Rainbow Dash tries, and fails, to impress Twilight with an aerial stunt in order to show her feelings. This actually works as a rather brilliant look into Rainbow’s character. She’s so bent on impressing Twilight this way that she fails to notice how uninterested Twilight is in flight maneuvers. It’s a very classic sort of tragic flaw. The out-of-sequence chronology of the chapters really works too, especially the last one. If there’s one problem with this story, it’d be one I see a lot when people write Rainbow Dash first-person: the narrative is a bit too poetic to really sound like her. But as this isn’t much in the way of shipping, if you can accept Rainbow’s voice and also the idea that she has feelings to Twilight at the start of the story, you could get a lot out of this if tragedy is your thing.
Recommended
Hiccups by shortskirtsandexplosions
Reading by SharpieBoss
Reading by Stephen Caroe
Genre: Comedy
Okay, so pretty much everything in this story is what you would expect. Sleepover, talking about stallions, scary story, tickle torture revenge on Rainbow Dash. Rainbow reveals that’s why she doesn’t like ponies touching her hooves, except… that’s not the entire story. What's going on is never outright stated, which is clever, yet I couldn’t believe the conclusion I was coming to at the same time. I really don’t want to spoil the reason why Rainbow gets hiccups, but let's just say that in the hands of a lesser author, this would have been a clopfic. At least, I think that's what was being gotten at here. Like I said, never spelled out, per se. I suppose this could be taken as a light, slice-of-life style comedy if you don’t read into it too much, and in that case, it’s worth it just for Fluttershy’s contribution to the tickling. It is, nevertheless, one of the strangest stories I have ever read.
Recommended If You Like Weird Stuff
You review stories? Who knew!
I would suggest a nice cup of tea. Always helps me when I'm feeling a bit overwrought or stressed by events beyond my control.
Also I knew you for Dinky's First Kill long before the whole review thing, if that helps.
Before I read the rest of the blog, THANK YOU
for reminding me about the write off. They really need a system where they can text or email you a reminder!
Do what you want. If it makes you happy, good. If it doesn't, you probably have a good reason for wanting it regardless.
Hey now, you'll always be the guy who wrote Dinky's First Kill to me. That might change, seeing as I've got quite a few of your stories in my RIL list...
Anyways, we love you PresentPerfect. Some might know you for your frequent reviews, but you're a damn fine author as well (Just look at all those views!). As a friend would say, don't panic.
Wait, wait, wait. You write stories? Wait, that's right. I've read and enjoyed several of your stories. I would guess it really is just a output thing. Anyone following you gets a story occasionally and like a torrent of reviews constantly.
Maybe just mentioning one of your stories at the beginning of each fic recs post? Just a reminder you've got stories to read might be a good idea.
Also, yay for reading stories for enjoyment instead of for other reasons. Doing more of that would probably help your general mood.
Would this then be a bad time to say that I love your reviews? Because I do. I'm glad I wrote for that one contest, because it let me find your reviews.
I know that's not what you're saying here. But I truly do enjoy what you do and I'm glad to hear that you're not stopping. I'd understand if you did, though.
So... thanks for what you do, PresentPerfect. I appreciate the work you put into reviewing.
Thanks for the review! I will strive to become better. It was my fis real attempt on emotional stories. Thank you!
Well, good! Yes? I think? Yeah! I mean, it sorta sounds like you found your answer. It's not about writing or reviewing or notoriety or any of that rubbish. It's about that being a means to an end of being happy. If the fics you're reviewing don't make you happy, review different fics. If you're unhappy about the writing you are doing, write the story that you'll be proud of.
Huh, for once I've already read all of the reviewed stories here that I would have wanted to based on the review.
Well, while I did find (and follow) you due to your reviews, I do quite enjoy your writing. And you were the one that pointed me to the Writeoff
Always loved your writing, kinda skim through your reviews, to be honest. Unless I see an interesting title or one i recognize, I usually don't read the whole thing.
Also, On a Cross and Arrow? Could not get to chapter four. Couldn't even force it. It's not horrendously badly written or anything, it's just... rough. Personally, i think the "previews" of the next chapters were a major part of what did it in, for me.
Did I get that right? You're gearing up for a big ol' review of On a Cross and Arrow? And you're not liking it?
Would it hurt terribly if I told you I'm really looking forward to that? I've gone on a big ol' rant about On a Cross and Arrow more often than I should mention, but it's based completely on increasingly foggy memories of reading it the first time around, years ago, and the prospect of diving back in to do it right and professional makes me shudder with dread.
It's good work you do. Godspeed!
Pfft. Yeah, I should have known there was no way you'd like this particular story. It's really stupid, but I forced myself through because I wanted to see how they'd handle the premise (not that well).
Also, I'm always happy to see someone reference that show. I was really into it for its first and second seasons, and I feel like I should go ahead and finish watching it sometime.
Wait, the writeoff started an hour ago? Alright, time to parse this prompt.
But... I knew about your stories months before I knew you reviewed stuff.
2375234
Wait, it did?
Goddamnit, the ride never ends!
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
Hiccups! I adore the hell out of that fic. As a crazy nut with a tickling fetish, I've been sharing that fic with nearly everybody who has the same fetish or is interested in finding out more about the fetish. It's fucking hilarious how close Skirts gets this to being a clopfic, practically flirting with the borderline, but it ends up not being so. Yet, it still gets under the radar and there are people who get off to reading it (I certainly did). Probably Skirt's intention anyways(?)
Skirts seems to gets it spot on on why a ticklee would strongly enjoy such torture. Those parts that might make some squirm in discomfort and others squee are delightfully and accurately recreated in this story; the explosive sensory overload that Dashie has is well imagined.
*makes explosive gestures with hands and imitates explosion noises*
Amusingly, if I'm reading it right, it's not just the tickling that Dash gets off on, just part of the overloaded overshooting orgasmic mix.
Actually, this fic has made me wonder if SS&E has a tickling fetish himself. It's certainly one of the best quality tickle literature I've read, and I've read a fair bit (I'm looking at you deviantart, Tickletheater, and Tickling Media Forum). It's like either he was already into this thing (he does promote it a little bit. Maybe it's just to piss off Ponkey). Or maybe he just did his research well. Or maybe it's his natural writing ability. Dunno. I'm just being rudely presumptuous, eh?
Anyways, a good read if you found those tickle torture scenes in kids cartoons to be quite the curiosity, or good for a clop if you want to (quite easily) interpret something more adult from it.
Also, PP, I still like you for your stories. Like that time Scootaloo kinda bullied that one colt for having two dads while she had none (child logic ftw), cramming on eleventeen pairs of sunglasses onto Shining after he just had sex (ironically released after defender2222 made that "We Just Had Sex" chap of The Many Secret Origins of Scootaloo), making Celly go back home to Equestria with a bad cases of the onion farties (the sacrifices that must be made to snack on a mouth watering, all natural, scrumptious beef burger), Tirek and Iron Will doing the biggest arm drag circle jerk I have ever read (PUT FUCKING JR ON COMMENTARY ARM DRAGS FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!! The wrestle-fight needed moar chairs trexes have no place in wrestling boo! CM PUNK! CM PUNK! CM PUNK!), and last but not least, making Pretty Pink take it in the behind so Twiley had the best chance. I'll definately remember you for those moments, and then some when I read more, which is not helped by the fact that Bad Horse seems to post very alluring stuff at pivotal moments in my life. It's like he's watching me... or it could be sheer coincidence.
If you could hybridize and cement your image as both a reviewer and a writer, PP, it'd be pretty awesome ^_^
I want to request a review of SS&E's We Live In A Kind World. It uses that same ambiguity that he used in Hiccups (hell, BH uses that same tactic in his works and they're quite thought provoking because of it. Forces you to think, yo.) and it does seem to quite a moral, one that many have forgotten...
I dunno if I want to completely commit to requesting this, seeing as that it came to light from a bit of sitewide fimfic drama, possibly being a meta fic. But at the same time it might not have (gotta love ambiguity) and is a message that could use a bit of retelling and plugs... through a review.
Strangely, it's the last thing SS&E has posted, and he hasn't been on site for a week and a half. All his pretty Disney and pony pics have been replaced by blackened out frames. I can only speculate what that means :(
You review fics? I was under the impression that you write Elements of Awesome and ONLY THAT STORY
2375004
What if I hate tea like Celestia. :(
2375006
You can sign for email reminders on the site. :B
2375031
Yeah, I'm bad a not panicking. :( Thank you though. I'm glad DFK is my top story on this site. (There could certainly be far worse.)
2375033
That's another thing that bothers me: if I want people to read anything in my journals, I have to put them at the start of a fic rec. D: I try not to abuse that, save it for signal boosting other people and stuff, but it's kind of depressing that none of my other journals garner as much attention. (Site blogs aside, those don't count.)
2375040
Thank you! :D
Now I feel bad that I was doing this as a cry for attention or something. D: I need to learn how to self-censor.
2375041
The first attempt is always the hardest. :B Keep at it!
2375082
I have this problem a lot. Only John Perry consistently reviews stories before I get to them, and that's only because I save things off the featured box and leave them to rot in my RIL. :B
2375090
Yay! :D
2375139
The reader pointed those out, and thankfully he is skipping them.
2375158
:3
2375234
You know, I never did get far into SZS's second season. It felt like a lot of the same thing over and over again. :B
2375631
I like your synopses of my fics. c.c It seems you remember the best parts. :D
2375815
IS THAT A HINT SIR
I was thinking less of the attention and more just the frequency. I enjoy pretty much all of your posts. Just happens that about 90% of them are review posts so it's more likely to be one of them that's up when I get the urge to type things on the internet.
Ooo! Great idea! Just post a review post once a month that's got all of that month's reviews in it. Then you'll be talking about other stuff lots more frequently than your reviews.
2375909 I NEVER HINT
ONLY COMMAND
2375909 Haha, I do that exact same thing with my RIL list. 681 items, none of which I will probably ever get to on account of so many other lists of stories ahead of them combined with having so many stories fav'ed that it's hard to even keep up with the updates. The various story contests sure don't help with this.
Every once in a while I add something it to my RIL list and briefly mourn it at the same time.
2375909
Yeah, I think that might be why I didn't watch any more, either. But I have heard that the finale is nuts, and I kind of want to see that now.
2375978
This would be interesting to try once.
You know what? I'll see what people say about my review for Outside Insight. Because that's gonna be over a hundred stories. If it's too much for people to handle, I won't make it a regular thing.
2375996
The next story has technically been started
However, I just had the idea that I should rewrite it in second person. That might make it
worsebetter.2376016
Story contests are quickly becoming the bane of my existence. D: After this one, I need to say 'no' to more.
So much shipping...
According to Fimfiction, I stopped after 2 chapters of the reimagined version of Rarity's Mare of the Evening and disliked it. Take from that what you will.
2375909
I wouldn't worry too much about self-censoring. Better to let it out, I think, and let folks know your state of mind. Letting it fester isn't any good, and sometimes you just need to let it out before it rots yer mind.
And you do judge a lot of contests.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/2/10/238749__safe_twilight+sparkle_animated_princess+cadance_games+ponies+play_salute.gif
2376380
Didn't like the pacing of it, I'm guessing? It was quite noticeable after reading the first one, which was much quicker.
2376380
HMM.
Well, we'll see. :B
2376560 I wish I knew. For some reason, I didn't even comment on it.
I know how other people's opinions tend to infect objective reviewing, so I'll just spoil my own: DNF DNF DNFI mean I guess it works as an okay Slice if you get attached to the characters but man the story really doesn't give you much to root forcan't believe I still finished it though
Also, I knew you first as the guy who approved TLaToCM.
But I know that I'm looking forward to reading Dance 'Til We're High, because it's relevant to my interests.
2377243
Yeah, that is where I first encountered you. :D And then you wrote Pipsqueak's Journal!
I'm sorry DTWH isn't a better story. :B Don't get your hopes up.
> people in this fandom only know me for my reviews, and not my writing
Yeah... yeah, I know how that feels. 'Course, I do three posts a week on my blog and maybe two or three stories a year, so I figure I've got nobody to blame but myself with that kind of quantity disparity.
My advice remains the same as always: do what makes you happy, and do it well.
2378105
I still like your writing, Chris. :D
As someone who knows you only by your reviews (music and fanfic) I'd like to express my gratitude; I've tried out entirely new genres of both on your recommendation and love it when you vindicate my view on some obscure fanfic or other.
Don't stop writing fics, but don't stop reviewing either!
Twisting Between the Sheets, the "reimagining" of Rarity's Mare of the Evening, is significantly better and is one of my favorite stories on the site (it has one of my coveted 15 recommendation slots on my page. Yes, coveted. Coveted I tell you! *shakes fist*).
Anyway, it is longer than the first such story, and better, in my eyes, with both a more believable flow of events as well as Sugar Sweet, who is a very likable OC.