Fic recs, March 4th · 12:22am Mar 5th, 2015
Ugh, I'm two-thirds of the way through this audiobook and it's turned into Twilestia. D: And I could just stop, but I've already gotten this far...
It has just come to my attention that Casca needs more followers! He’s written fantastic stories like The Confessions of Clyde Pie, Prince of Rock, The Life and Times of Caughlin Mare and — especially — Pipsqueak the Valiant’s Adventure Journal. He’s an excellent writer who needs more attention so go do that plzkthx.
Goombasa made a great video that will help out anyone looking to get into the dramatic reading scene!
Thornquill and Scribbler have done a reading of ArgonMatrix’s excellent Her Scarf Fluttered in the Absence of Wind.
Continue below to see Titanium Dragon's Rose Petals, A Fact for Twilight by bookplayer, Baal Bunny's Pranks for Nothing and five other stories!
H: 1 R: 4 C: 1 V: 2 N: 0
Rose Petals by Titanium Dragon
Genre: Sad Shipping
Fluttershy is ready to celebrate their anniversary, but Rarity wants to talk…
(Credit where credit is due, I ripped that mini-summary off TD himself.) It’s odd that this story was released the same day I published chapter 4 of The Clock Is Ticking, because both feature Fluttershy involved in doing something really stupid in a relationship that I myself have done. :B No joke, my response to this in the writeoff was “I’ve never connected so completely with Fluttershy before. I need to go now.” So yeah. I feel confident recommending this to non-shippers because it’s all about how the relationship wouldn’t work, which is not something you often see. This is a delightfully emotional piece if you can accept her and Rarity in a relationship at the start.
Recommended
A Fact for Twilight by bookplayer
Reading by Stephen Caroe
Genre: Romance
Applejack asks Twilight out on a date.
I figured since bookplayer’s SHH&HL entry was a sequel to this story, I might as well go ahead and read it despite doing so not being necessary, as Fit for a Princess claims. At this point in my MLP career, if you will, I think I can safely say that there is no mane cast ship I have less regard for than TwiJack. I’ve even come to appreciate art of TwiPie, if not necessarily the stories. I’ve just never thought this could work, and never understood what gets people so fired up about it, but then, that’s shipping for you. This surprised me right off the bat by having AJ just fire off the question on the first page, and then be phenomenally mature about her chances, or potential lack thereof, with Twilight. It completely short-circuited the “why is this even happening?” reflex I otherwise would have had, and it’s followed up by some of the funniest Twilight writing I’ve ever seen. Despite otherwise being oddly plain (well, this is a fairly old story, it’s not surprising), this is a really good example of how to go about not just setting up a ship but convincing others why the characters should be shipped. And it totally worked, and I am not surprised, because that’s a skill bookplayer seems to have perfected.
Recommended
Pranks for Nothing by Baal Bunny
Genre: Allegory
Fluttershy gets caught up in a prank gone too far.
It can be said that I am too close to this story. To wit: Two writeoffs ago as I write this, a conspiracy was hatched to make up a ‘missing’ entry and discuss it in the review threads. I was expressly left out of this and only know about it because someone in on it told me. (Well, and I had suspicions, I just didn’t expect them to be correct.) Suffice to say, I hate being left out of inside jokes, but I’d have been fine with it had the responsible parties come clean at the end of that writeoff instead of carrying on with it. At this point, the ‘prank’ is in entirely poor taste and I have lost a considerable amount of respect for the person responsible. I’m not sure who all was in on it and who just got caught up in it, but let it be known I am done with it and you should all be ashamed.
Anyway, this is a story about that, but with Twilight and Fluttershy.
Recommended
A Former Student of Mine by Pascoite
Genre: Future Fic
Cheerilee gets a visit from Sweetie Belle.
This is from a couple of writeoffs ago. It’s a story about the impact a single person can have, about the importance of teachers and education, and how they can teach more than just facts. It’s about remembering those important to you even as you grow into your own life. And on the surface, it’s just a slightly awkward conversation between the two characters, but what was subtext in the writeoff has now come to the forefront, and it gives this a very surprising and emotional ending. It’s another home run from Pascoite.
Highly Recommended
Luna, There’s a Sentient Race Inside Your Mane by boardgamebrony
Reading by MicTheMicrophone
It seems silly to review this guy, because likely everyone knows who he is by now, yet I’ve never listened to any of his readings before. I paused my audiobook and went for this one because, well, see below. Mic’s comparable as a reader to DeftFunk, and he does a good Morgan Freeman. My only complaint would be that the shouted passages, Royal Canterlot Voice in this case, clipped rather noticeably. (This reading is from 2012, though, so I imagine he’s gotten better since then.) Guess I’ll be going through his channel at some point in the future! :B
Reading by Nightfire5150
Reading by Scribbler, et. al.
Reading by BleedingRaindrops
Reading by slickdash
Genre: Comedy
The entire reason I’m reading this story is because Bad Horse posted about a literature course dedicated to fanfiction, which includes his story The Magician and the Detective, this reading, and Friendship Is Witchcraft. This is not Assistant Professor Mouthbreather at Rinky-Dinky Online Community College teaching Fanfics LOL 101. This is fucking Princeton. I do not have adequate words to describe how this makes me feel. I’m not even sure if it’s all positive.
Anyway, as to this story, it’s… Well, the whole idea is in the title. The main joke is “Luna never washes her hair” and most of the rest of the comedy is just her acting like an idiot while others look on. It plays the idea straight, which is a good idea, but overall? I wasn’t too impressed. It’s not bad, no, but I kept being distracted by thoughts like “Why a seapony?” All I can really say is that I didn’t laugh once, and when my audiobook came back on, it had me laughing within the first minute, and it’s not tagged comedy.
Vaguely Recommended
A Perfectly Normal Picnic by Flint-Lock
Genre: Absurd Comedy/Shipping
Fluttershy and Rarity have a picnic.
The whole joke is that they’re having a picnic in the middle of a warzone. And while the comedic juxtaposition is done well, I was kind of nonplussed by the whole thing. I had to wonder what the point was. (Admittedly, by the collection’s description, there isn’t one, but still.) Certainly, for something so short, I can’t abide the amount of typos. Might be worth a chuckle.
Vaguely Recommended
Giant Enemy Carb by Ponydora Prancypants
Genre: Comedy
Rarity tries to resist the temptation of the phenomnomenons.
For background on this story, you might want to read my review of Friends Forever Issue 12. Curse you, Prancypants, for making me type “phenomnomenons” again! D: But yes, this is that issue from Rarity’s perspective. If there’s any reason to read this, it’s for the most beautifully-executed “angel/devil on the shoulder” joke I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, it’s the background jokes that really make this, which is to say the main plot is something of a rehash (granted, if you never read the issue, it won’t be!). The aftermath is a big adventure tons of fun, it’s just Rarity’s arc isn’t really used for much besides watching other stuff happen.
Recommended If You’re Into Fandom Jokes
The Iridescent Iron Rat by horizon
Reading (part 1) by Illya Leonov
Genre: Future Fic
Jimmy the Grey makes one last big heist.
As noted in the story description, this is a crossover with a novel I've never heard of, but I didn't mark it as such because even in the writeoff, this stood alone perfectly. This presents a really fun magitech future Equestria, with a side-order of wacky heist hijinks that will appeal to anyone who liked Little Deceptions. While I still maintain the main character is a little too competent, boasting Bat Oxygen Pill levels of preparedness which the narrative is never shy about expounding on at length, and the middle drags a bit, the twist at the end at least recontextualizes what seems to be just a lengthy non-sequitur conversation between OCs in a very fun way. Between the setting and the excellent action scenes, this is definitely worth the read, and I daresay sequels would be, too.
Recommended
I'm surprised you like a former studen of mine. They didn't seem in character at all.
I must admit, my thought as I was reading that fic was "Oh god, this does the same thing I was doing only SO AMAZINGLY MUCH BETTER."
One of those pseudo-crossovers that definitely encourages you to hunt down the source material...
Considering that the very first item in the reading list is "My Immortal", I have a feeling that it's about the same as one might expect, but the writing arm of the MLP fandom seems to be fairly hefty, so there'd have to be at least one fic include in there... and the infamy of My Immortal kinda transcends fandoms. I'd heard about it long before I ever came across a fandom forum. (I lead a sheltered life in the long ago past).
But the notes written by students (accessible at the bottom of the Princeton page) appear to give a good impression of the course overall. A historical look - past and present, and its place in a literate society.
Le Lecture Notes link
derpicdn.net/img/2013/4/7/290804/medium.jpg
Well sure I mean he's a cool guy and a good writer and--
77 followers?!
Okay, yeah, no, fix plz.
Anyway, for the stories themselves, solid picks. I already had a number of these in my RIL hierarchy, so it's always nice to see which of these need to be bumped up toward the front of the line.
I honestly think it's incredibly valid. If you're gonna teach creative writing or modern literature, fanfic is pretty prevalent. It's the easiest way to get into the writing the former. For the latter, the mere existence of fanfic has increased the writing output of society by a significant margin. All of that makes it very much worth taking a look at.
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The fact that there's a heavy emphasis on Sherlock Holmes (and not just Sherlock) is, in my mind, a good thing. Because if there's one conversation that needs to be had about fanfiction in the context of the literary body, it's that classic writers were constantly writing fanfiction of things they liked -- the Bible, Shakespeare, each others' novels -- and modern writers continue to write what is essentially Sherlock Holmes fanfiction time and time again. You can buy whole collections of Holmes stories penned by authors without a single "Doyle" in their name! And they're legit! They get paid for this!
I'd just like to say that the point of my story was to be as absurd as possible.
Nice to see my most-disliked story get a recommendation. Seriously, I poisoned Fluttershy and got less downvotes than when I broke her heart.
Just goes to show, anyone who makes Fluttershy cry is a total monster that everyone hates.
Well it is Princeton.
Then again, I think I'm legally obligated to be snide about Ivy League schools; it's in the small print on the back of my diploma, I think.
I was not aware that Giant Enemy Carb was derived from/referencing the comics.
Well, the source material is kinda like that too.
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Well, it was!
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I kinda figured. :B It's still Bat Oxygen Pills.