Fic recs, November 18th! · 8:06pm Nov 18th, 2014
Spoilers: I survived my procedure! :D It wasn't nearly as bad as I'd anticipated (actually, the prep Sunday was the worst part). I am something of a drama queen these days, and I don't like that. D:
Goombasa has started an audiobook for Pascoite’s excellent Duet in the Folk Style!
I'm reading the writeoff entries at the moment, so things will be slow and based more or less entirely on audiobooks. I've also started watching G3. Help me. D: Wooooo!
H: 0 R: 0 C: 3 V: 1 N: 1
The Best Clop-fic Ever! by ThatGuyFromKFC
Reading by Smilin’ Sammy
Genre: Ponies Doing People Things
Twilight and her friends browse the internet. This was not my first time reading this story, and judging by how I rated it last time, my appreciation for it has not increased. The whole joke is that the ponies are “clopping” their hooves against the keyboards and no actual sex is happening, even though that fact is never really emphasized in the text. (This story, it should be noted, exists in the eleven thousands, number-wise, is just over 500 words long, and has over seventeen thousand views. Epic troll is epic.) I honestly can’t say what would have improved this: more of it, less of it, a different approach, who knows. It’s not even that notable. Read it if you can spare the time to run your eyes across 500 pointless words I guess?
Not Recommended
How to Train Your Pegasus by L3gion
Reading (Part 1) by Illya Leonov and KittenKitoko
Genre: Coming of Age
A little pegasus filly is sent to live with her uncle on a rock farm and runs away, only to be kidnapped by a dragon with an eye for pony meat. (Has nothing to do with the Dreamworks movie How to Train Your Dragon, fyi.) This is one of those “small adventures”, where a lot happens in a limited area and most of the exploration comes in the form of personal growth. This does start off in an odd place, though: a scene with Snow Bolt, our protagonist, arguing with her father before he sends her away. The issue is one of sympathy. There’s no real indication of who to root for. Snow Bolt is set up as a Sympathy Sue with a laundry list of problems that will obviously be overcome by the end of the story — she’s got gimpy legs, she can’t fly, she’s a blank flank, she gets bullied at school — but she’s a right little shit, given what she says to her father. He, meanwhile, comes off as overbearing and controlling, but by the end of the scene, it seems like he might just be at his wits’ end raising a daughter by himself. This, as it turns out, is the case, and I’m very glad the final chapter gives us a bit of his perspective.
As for the rest, well, it’s quite a ride. Mostly, it comes down to character dynamics. Snow Bolt is antagonistic toward her father. She ends up more or less as frenemies with Scarlet, the dragon. One could argue their relationship is actually more akin to Stockholm Syndrome, though I think the commenter who quoted The Princess Bride actually captures it perfectly. Yes, Scarlet continually belittles her and threatens to eat her, but it’s meant to be taken humorously, at least by the reader. Of course, it’s never quite clear just how much she does want to eat Snow Bolt, which keeps things interesting. And then there’s the squirrel, an odd if effective addition to the cast of characters. She and Snow Bolt hit it off after a rocky start, owing to the language barrier, and she not only serves as a friendly shoulder for Snow Bolt to lean on when Scarlet gets too overbearing, but also helps teach her how to fly.
Missteps in the writing were unfortunately brought out by the reading, most notably close repetitions and an odd habit of having characters say things that could easily be covered by a dialogue tag, e.g., “‘Aaah!’ she shouted”. There were also some telling issues, mostly adverbs and those short prepositional phrases that explain what you've only just read. Then there’s Snow Bolt herself. Now, she’s not a Mary Sue, because she does grow over the course of the fic, and her character arc is probably the strongest part of the piece. But she’s also got aspects of both Fluttershy (talking to squirrel) and Rainbow Dash, and, in the story’s most eye-rolling moment, gets her cutie mark by performing a Sonic Snowboom. It was silly at a time meant to be a thrilling climax. Still, as flight-based fics go, this one really delivers; that subgenre tends to be a little dull, but I never found myself bored by the explanations of flight or anything else. This is a very enjoyable read, all things considered.
Recommended If You Don’t Mind Some Imperfections in the Writing
I Just Want to Fly by Firefly2012
Reading by KittenKitoko
She played Snow Bolt in Illya Leonov’s reading above. She’s a tad on the quiet side, and I was disappointed she didn’t do voices for Scootaloo or Rainbow Dash, but she’s absolutely spot-on with everything else. She’s only got two readings so far, so to the list she goes!
Genre: Scootalove
Scootaloo is depressed ‘cause she can’t fly, so Rainbow Dash writes a letter to the Princesses on her behalf. The writing is very, very telly, especially at the start, but I find I can’t hold that against this. The real draw here is the reason for Scootaloo’s flightlessness: it’s psychosomatic rather than physical. I was rather entranced by that. Luna’s advice is also good; I think I enjoy seeing her interact with Scootaloo more than Rainbow, anymore. Definitely a nice, light read.
Recommended If You Value Substance Over Style
Between the Lines by Bad_Seed_72
Reading by Thornquill
Whoa. This guy is pretty much perfect in every way. He’s every bit as good as Scribbler, and that should be all you need to know! His other readings include a one-shot, A Hoof-ful of Dust’s Synchronicity and Lost and Found, which he’s only a third of the way through, so I guess I’ll be watching him now!
Genre: Character Piece
After a book-related incident in the orchard, Twilight starts to think that there might be something wrong with Big Macintosh. It's 2014 and we’re still writing “an Apple can’t read” stories? This one at least makes an effort to differentiate itself from all the others, but it stumbles along the way. For starters, Twilight seems to spend a good two-thirds of the story with the Idiot Ball, trying to figure out what’s pretty easy for the reader to guess. She doesn’t, of course, and I was pleased that my suspicions are confirmed by the text. (She can hardly conceive of a pony who doesn’t like to read, let alone one who can’t.) But therein lies the problem: any bad feelings a reader might get about the first half of the story aren’t put to rest until the final third-to-quarter of it. And the reasons for why Big Mac can’t read, while compelling, are honestly just another “the Apple parents died when their kids were young, and said kids still carry the mental scars”. In trying to add something to one cliched trope, this only serves the reader with a second. As for the writing, well, maybe it’s just a result of my negative takeaway, but I couldn’t help noticing a lot of metaphors that felt really off-base or overblown. The church one near the end especially stands out; there’s an attempt to make it fit, but it honestly feels too much like ponifying an Earth institution without regard for the greater world. Beyond that, though, this is a Bad Seed story and I can’t fault much else. Give it a shot only if the premise is something you want to see done differently.
Vaguely Recommended
God Damn the Sun by Dark Avenger
Prequel to Something Magical
Collection is tagged Mature, but this story is not
Genre: Sad
Something Magical was Dark Avenger’s Outside Insight entry, a compelling story about an aging Cranky Doodle Donkey that nevertheless confused me due to his relationship with a griffin. With the prequel out to explain that, I had to read it right away. Unfortunately, this doesn’t cover the griffin part, but it does lay out, in rapid-fire form, Cranky’s life story, from that night at the Gala, to finding Matilda, to losing her again. That last part is what’s most compelling about this, the rest being perhaps a bit slim, only just enough to give a sense of what’s going on. That said, I found the idea of Cranky cursing the sun (and Celestia?) a might strained fitting into the story, but then I suppose he wouldn’t be Cranky if he didn’t have someone to be mad at. Definitely a good piece if you’re looking for more Cranky stuff.
Recommended for Cranky Donkey Fans
God fucking dammit. I was hoping for some wacky racism involving an earth pony treating pegasi as animals.
Dammit... yes, I was heavily debating whether I should add more substance to Cranky's life prior to the, shall we say, most powerful moment of that story. It certainly could have resulted in a more powerful impact, though at the same time I felt like everything that needed to be said had been said already, so it would only have made things drag on.
As for the griffon... well, I could always cook up a few more stories...
Although at that point, it might just be retroactive correction...
Procedure... Prep... You were getting a colonoscopy, weren't you?
Yeah, those are nothing :P
2603040
No lie, I spent all last week scared out of my wits that I would have an averse reaction to the anaesthesia and die.
Now I know that will never be the case! :D I just need to get back to eating solid food again! D:
2603400 That's pretty rare. Twilight anesthesia doesn't usually have tons of side effects, and the effects it does have tend to involve either vomiting or it simply not working. :D
2603402
Yeah, no one told me it was gonna be that until like Thursday. :/
Glad you're back from your mmmnhmm mmrrmm! Even gladder at the lack of suck!
> It's 2014 and we’re still writing “an Apple can’t read” stories?
Speaking of which, I've gotta note that I was impressed by the inclusion of illiteracy in the one writeoff story I've seen it in so far. Even though it was Apple family-centered.
2602977
Our of curiosity, was the song title a Swans reference?
I think the real question here is how in the world I managed to end up on Illya's radar at all. It's an okay story I suppose, but it certainly pales in comparison to some others. It certainly was an unexpected honor to be chosen.
2602977 I've got one thing to say
before I am drunk again
2603720
Not just a reference. The fic is based on the song.
2604139
you died in a foreign land
2604308 GOD DAMN THE SUN
2603720 Why, horizon! I didn't know that you too flexed your muscles!
2604316
I wonder if M. Gira ended up regretting he ever decided to use this lyric
2604325 early swans was hella edgy
I really don't think Gira gives a fuck about how the lyrics go over time. Let's take a walk down memory lane Swans Boulevard...
"FLEX UR MUSCLES" - Stay Here
"YOU BURN IT THEN EAT IT" - Raping A Slave
"YUAGH" - YRP
"OXYYYYGEEEEN" - Helium
"MY NAME IS FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK" - She Loves Us
*indescribable flailing retard noises* - Just A Little Boy
2604338
But all those others rarely ever get quoted.
Meanwhile...
2604346 oh my
2602964 Clearly you have to fix the gaping hole this lack of story has left.
2604308
As I would have known if I'd bothered to click through to the story! *fixes that error*
2604316
I am a man of many surprises.
I'm not totally in the cool kid clubhouse, though. Big fan of The Burning World. Tried to get into some of his more typical stuff and couldn't really. May have to give the newer stuff another try though.
2604917
Try his acoustic stuff and/or his solo live stuff. Angels of Light is worth a listen too...
Also, since you're familiar with the "source material," I hope my story did not fail to impress...
2604921
2604917 The Burning World is fantastic.
Soundtracks For The Blind Master Race, tho