Fic recs, May 14th · 1:50pm May 14th, 2015
Because I am a complete and utter butt, I am now officially taking part in Obselescence's OC Slamjam. I BLAME SKYPE :(
In Neighrator News (it seems every time I blog, he’s posted another reading of a story I’ve read, why not give him his own segment?), we have Method Acting by Pascoite! Scribbler also did a reading of DegeTheMighty’s What’s Left.
I wrote a new SCP, for those interested in that kind of thing!
Also, I have come to the conclusion that My Full-Sized Goddess Horse is the best thing I have ever written, and nothing I can do will ever top it. :B Check below the break for reviews of A Question of Time by Tall Tales, FrontSevens' Dr. Rainbow Dash, MD, PhD, etc., She Watches, I Dance by Crowquill Symphony and my 2100th review!
H: 0 R: 3 C: 4 V: 1 N: 3
Trinkets by Pen Stroke
Reading by Illya Leonov
Sequel to Past Sins
Genre: Slice of Life
While Ponyville cleans up after Nightmare Moon’s brief reign, Nyx gets a box of her things from the castle.
This story’s main purpose is to fill in some gaps and add more season two events to the Past Sins world, specifically Mare-Do-Well and Smarty Pants. Most of the story involves Nyx telling Twilight what happened while she was full-sized Nightmare Moon. The rest is Twilight giving Nyx the whole freaking synopsis of Lesson Zero. That scene, needless to say, stretched on far too long, especially given that I still hate that episode. Beyond that, there’s really no point to this, and the writing has the same “giving the reader too much” problem as Past Sins proper, albeit to a lesser degree. No one who hasn’t read the original would want to read this it doesn’t matter how cute Nyx is.
Recommended for Past Sins Fans Only (Who’ve Likely Already Read It)
A Question of Time by Tall Tales
Reading by Scribbler, Astro Brony and Cole Petty
Genre: Dr. Whooves/Crackshipping Kinda
Braeburn is stuck in a blue place with Dr. Whooves and Tom the boulder. The only way out? They need to kiss.
This isn’t actually crackshipping because there’s no relationship involved (so I guess it’s crackkissing?) What it is is zany fun. I really dislike Dr. Whooves shipping, but this is the kind of thing I can see him doing, for whatever reason. So this appeals on the Dr. Who side because it’s got ridiculous space-time shenanigans and fast-paced dialogue. It appeals on the M/M shipping side because Braeburn is totally in the closet. It appeals on the crackship side because Tom. And it appeals overall because it’s pretty darned hilarious. So yeah, this is is a swing and a hit!
Recommended
She Watches, I Dance by Crowquill Symphony
Reading by The Lost Narrator
Genre: Word Porn
I can’t come up with a better short description than the title, honestly. This is a fun piece to read, with a lyrical, poetic quality to the writing. It paints a dark, tense atmosphere through the eyes of the very alien narrator. But therein lies the problem: I couldn’t figure this out. I mean, the “drum beat” was an easy enough metaphor to decipher, but I was waiting for a shoe to drop on the narrator’s identity and it never came. Or at least, when it did, the significance escaped me. I feel a tad foolish for not being able to pick up on what Rainbow is seeing, and I’m not sure whose fault that is. Still, for people who like darker works or who enjoy a good turn of the word, this is a short, enjoyable read.
Recommended If You Like Darkfics
Mommy’s Special Day by Rated Ponystar
Reading by Martialartfruituser
I was turned off this reading almost immediately. It sounds like it was recorded in a tin can and the guy’s Derpy voice set my teeth on edge, to say nothing of his normal voice. Not going after any more of his stuff.
Genre: Cute
Dinky just wants to make her mommy happy on her special day.
I went into this expecting something fluffy and cute, and that is precisely what I got, so I can’t really complain. That said, this is not Rated’s best work. There are numerous homophone errors, and a general sloppiness to the writing, not to mention Derpy swearing by ”Faust”, which is always a turnoff. That, and I’m pretty sure I’ve already read this story: Derpy doesn’t realize it’s Mother’s Day, is a grumpy morning pony, and yells at Dinky for being an overexuberant filly who just wants to show her mommy how much she loves her. So if you haven’t read that, are forgiving, and just want some cute, fluffy mother/daughter Derpy interaction, this might be worth a quick read. Otherwise,
Not Recommended
Dr. Rainbow Dash, MD, PhD, etc. by FrontSevens
Genre: Comedy
Review #2100!
Rainbow Dash is learning, whether she wants to or not.
Nope, not done with the writeoff yet! This was a favorite of mine, an extension of Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 that takes Rainbow’s learning powers to their illogical, hilarious extreme. There’s just something really funny about seeing Rainbow using big words and spouting off complex theories without a second thought. There are a lot of little touches that make this great, too, like the “manifestation of Rainbow’s greatest fears”. There is a certain wobbliness to the POV in places, and it could be said that Twilight is out of character, but I protest: Twilight being insensitive to her friends’ needs is always funny, especially when she’s a princess. FrontSevens may be another author worth watching!
Recommended
It’s Not Your First Kiss If It’s Practice by Chelis
Genre: EQG Shipping
Ahead of prom, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash practice kissing.
I came into this expecting cute awkwardness, and definitely got that. That said, the execution is lacking, with fast pacing, lots of telling, some typos and “Both girls siphoned a giggle”. (???) Also, Rainbow Dash felt distinctly off character, so it wasn’t as enjoyable as it could have been. However, I want to mention the ending. They both go to prom, with Big Mac and Soarin, and afterwards leave with their dates. The way the final scene is set up, it sounds like something really untoward happened. That building of expectation works perfectly, because it’s anything but (and I really like AJ’s text to Fluttershy). If the idea sounds interesting to you and you can forgive imperfect writing, this is worth it for the kissing scene and the ending. Otherwise, it likely won’t have enough merit to interest you.
Vaguely Recommended
The Folly of Celestia by The Fiery Joker, Nonagon and Lunacorva
Reading by Dr. Wolf
Genre: Philosphical
Twilight Sparkle finds herself entangled in a battle of wits with an entity that wants to put Princess Celestia on trial.
Show deconstruction fics tend to get on my nerves. Much as I criticize the show writers for what they do, there are just certain ways of approaching the show that make me wonder, “Why do you keep watching it then?” It also doesn’t help that such stories tend to boil down to “Celestia is terrible” as their main point, and that is just not something I can ever agree with. So in comes this fic, where Twilight weathers a tirade conglomerated from various fandom discussions seeking to usurp Celestia’s legitimacy as ruler, friend and mentor. Far too often, I see stories with this kind of setup where Twilight is swayed, so I was unspeakably pleased that she mounts a valid defense of Celestia. I think one of the things that tract writers forget in their pursuit of logic is that people are not inherently logical — if we were, we wouldn’t have to teach it — and that things like emotions and relationships are important and have value. So that’s the position from which Twilight argues: logical, but human. I do have some criticisms. First, the humor toward the end is offputting as far as tone is concerned. It was nevertheless welcome because the story is, on the whole, dry, and will only appeal if you like reading lengthy philosophical dialogues. Finally, the story is just that: lengthy. It doesn't hit 10k words, sure, but the ending especially feels like it drags on as every nuance of the argument is explored. (A necessary evil, at least.) Still, this was kind of refreshing; I wonder if it convinced anyone.
Recommended
rarty meats jeff dunham! by Twinkletail
Genre: Trollfic
Y’know, I really didn’t want to add another collection to my reviews, but then I just had to go and look at the comment that called the April Fools’ fic “unreadable”. (Comments like that are a challenge, is what I’m saying.) This is a pitch-perfect trollfic, built out of spelling errors and with the kind of consistent, interjective narrative voice you need to really get at the heart of trolling like this. (Also, am I the only one who finds Jeff Dunham’s humor to be very much not? He’s perfect to include in this kind of story.) If you enjoy stuff like this, don’t miss this one. :D
Troll Recommend
Trial and Error by RainbowlightSparkledash
Reading by Goombasa
Genre: Twidash
Twilight’s current research project is interrupted by Rainbow Dash.
I think Fire and Rain may have ruined me on standard shipfics. I mean, I was headed in that direction anyway, it was just the nail in the coffin. I listened to this story and my reaction was, “What was the point?” I can’t even begin to explain where it goes wrong, other than to call it Bad Shipping. It caroms from idea to idea as fast as humanly possible, neither character feels in character, and I have no idea why anyone does what they do. This was pointless.
Not Recommended
Love Is (Color)Blind by VashTheStampede
Reading by ChaoticSeven (I’m not doing the capitalization thing anymore lol :V)
Genre: ScratchTavia
Octavia has never seen the color of her marefriend’s eyes.
So this gets off to a bad start by having Vinyl and Octavia already in a relationship and also being about the color of Vinyl Scratch’s eyes. Seriously, fandom: we already know what color they are, give it up already. But then it does a funny thing, and I had to reread the story to see if I was just reading into it too much. It’s no secret why Vinyl keeps her shades on: just look at the chapter title. (In fact, a bigger secret is why she’s so ashamed of being colorblind.) But my attention was actually caught when the narrative informed us that Octavia likes the “Tavi” nickname Vinyl gave her. This is literally the first fic in which I’ve seen that happen. The thing I was looking for is never truly stated, but the fact is, this justifies being a ScratchTavia fic, and I found that clever. The writing is pretty decent, telly in spots and a bit heavy on referents, but this is pretty surprising, coming from a genre that is based on anything but.
Recommended for ScratchTavia Fans
De Grave of Blueblood by Metal-Quill
Reading by Akash the Reader
Reading by CreepyPastaSalad
Genre: The Cask of Amontillado
This is well enough written, but it’s just a ponification of Poe’s story, hewing too close to the original and not attempting to adapt the story to the setting. Granted, given that it uses Fancy Pants and Blueblood as Montresor and Fortunato, the latter especially fitting, it’s a little more believable than the last one I read. Still, if you’ve read the original, there are no surprises in store for you here. The author has lost a lot of the symbolism, as well. Oddly, if any one thing turned me off of this story, it’s the “For God’s sakes” line, because they swear by Faust. I guess if you’ve never read Amontillado, this might be a decent introduction or you could read my version, but otherwise, I don’t see the point.
Not Recommended
Caught me red-handed. I didn't want to leave ANY stone unturned, and unfortunately the story suffered a bit as a result, but the intention of the story was to prove Celestia's innocence and I just hope I succeeded in that regard.
3068854
Agreed 100%.
No, far from it. My wife likes him, but I just find him annoying and sometimes offensive.
Hmm, dat SCP is suitably creepers.
I dont no wat yuo meen by trool, it dosent life under a brige
Nailed my writing right on the head .
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Overall, I like the review. I vaguely thank you ;)
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As always, thanks for the signal boost.
Edit: My Full Sized Goddess Horse was funny, and Illya did his usual terrific job with it, but Falling Down is your best work.
3068977
it am are wuz grene & haev tukks!!2!
3069113
You are vaguely welcome. :V
3069429
Nah, Fall Down didn't quite go where I wanted it to.
Thanks for reviewing my story! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I also think you summarized it pretty well. :P
At a rough guess, I'd say that's supposed to be "stifled", not "siphoned".
3070400
Could be. :O I got nothin'.
Thank you very much for the review, it means a lot to me that I merited such consideration.
I hope you have a great day!