Fic recs, May 23rd · 2:52pm May 23rd, 2015
EVERYONE GO DO THIS. Nintendo Power Tips: Keep your site quality up by hiring helpers instead of doing everything yourself. When your site is high enough quality, you can win! (It took me like ten minutes the first time, so you won’t lose your life to this.)
Neighrator’s done more Bad Horse! This time, Beauty and the Beast. (I'm still one step ahead of him!)
The OC Slamjam just closed first-round submissions, we're getting a new episode in just under an hour, and I read a bunch of shortfics this morning just so's I'd have something to show you all ahead of analyzing the ep. :B Nothing heavy this time!
H: 0 R: 5 C: 4 V: 2 N: 0
Not Yet by Ezn
Genre: Historical
Okay, so, at first I read this and went, “What was the point?” It’s just a quick “What if Discord won?” piece with no real rhyme or reason… Until I noticed the rhymes. This is actually something of a poem, though you wouldn’t know it, with a sonnet rhyme scheme (though nowhere near the metrics). And that’s interesting, and this only two hundred words, but it’s not that interesting, y’know?
Vaguely Recommended
Caro Nome by alexmagnet
Genre: Shipping
Aria is thinking of Adagio.
Okay, this is something of a crackfic, which you wouldn’t suspect given its florid and emotional narrative. Kinda fun if you’re at all interested in Adaria, EQG or Rainbow Rocks.
Recommended as Light Reading
Our Separate Ways by Compendium of Steve
Genre: Romance
Rock Solid is ready to just let Tailwind leave.
This is an interesting bit with an all-OC cast. The situation defines itself well, and it’s nice seeing a story about a pony going off to join the Wonderbolts that doesn’t involve Rainbow Dash. If there’s one issue with it, though, it’s the dialogue; Rock Solid just doesn’t sound like a real person. Still, I guess it’s okay, and it’s under 800 words even.
Recommended as Light Reading
Snails the Snail by Filler
Genre: Slice of Life
Huh. So, Snails has a dream that he’s a snail… being watched by himself. That the story brings up the “what”ness of this doesn’t diminish the fact that this is either a deep philosophical piece, or a fluffy bit of slice of life that could double as a children’s book. I will say, I like the first line quite a bit. Read it yourself and find out, I guess.
Recommended
A Light in the Dark by Jonathon Smythe
Genre: Character Piece
On Nightmare Night, Princess Celestia sends her staff home and stays up with a single candle.
On the surface, this is just Celestia and Twilight having a late-night chat during a time before the show started. But it exudes such a contemplative aura that it’s hard not to get caught up in the myth-making Celestia involves herself in. It’s a subdued piece, but it shows a depth of understanding of the setting and the characters, world-building without shoving your face in it. Definitely worth the read.
Recommended
The Sea Pony by Bad Horse
Genre: Fairy Tale
Uncle Bad Horse tells another story about a pony who envied the sea ponies.
I think this is my favorite of this collection, so far anyway. We get another good look into the storyteller character at the start, and that’s followed up by a story that’s just chock full of metaphor and symbolism. Plus, it’s a good bit darker than the others in the series. You kind of have to read the rest to get the full effect, but suffice to say this will leave you with a much better impression of Bad Horse as a character.
Recommended
To Kick Trees by Nonagon
Genre: Flashfic
There’s not a lot of plot you can cover in two paragraphs, and this one really demonstrates that, unfortunately. Other “bitesize” fics have been more interesting, and while this one has something of a koan about it, really it just feels like someone pulled a couple sentences out of the middle of something else.
Vaguely Recommended
Giggle by FuzzyFurvert
Genre: Slice of Life
Pinkie senses Twilight is in need of cheering up.
If you look at this without shipping goggles, there’s nothing much to it. That said, it does count as a good look at Pinkie, and how she can approach her friends on their level, providing what they need, while still being herself. I mean, at worst, it’s friendshipping, and since there’s no horse kissing or moony-eyed confessions to be had, non-shippers can enjoy this.
Recommended for Slice of Life Fans
It Had Happened Before by HoofAndQuill
Genre: Dark
Luna watches the newly-crowned Princess Twilight grow.
This is really neat, and I can’t say I’ve seen a similar idea explored in precisely the same way. It’s intriguing how this zips through time, bringing to mind Luna’s timelessness. And it’s as much an exploration of her character as Twilight’s. This is definitely worth the read, just because it’s unique.
Recommended
Knocked Up by Tall Tales
Genre: Comedy
There was a reason the royal wedding was rushed…
Oh my god, just read this, anything I say will spoil it.
Recommended
Stalker by Twinkletail
Genre: Shipping Comedy
Rainbow Dash is stalking somepony.
This definitely didn’t go quite where I expected it to, given the explanation at the start. That said, you’ll have to accept RariDash at the beginning (and who wouldn’t? No one ever writes that!), but it’s funny and well paced. Though exclamations of “oh, mare” kind of caught me off guard. (Better than “oh, colt”, though.)
Recommended for Shippers
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I, uh... I don't get it. Like, okay yeah, subversion of the trope, but... was there ever a inkling that it was Chrysalis and not Cadance? I would have expected a few lines about how the bug of him pregnant, but... this was literally just a typical pregnancy drama scene with the genders reversed... and it didn't even knowledge it.
3090919
That's entirely what I liked about it. :D I didn't see that coming at all.
Let me get this straight.
When you, Sethisto, personally create blog posts, the site quality drops dramatically. What brings it up is the artists and musicians creating content.
That's amazing.
3091187
See what coming? It wasn't funny, because it kept going straight as an arrow right past the punch line. If the author had kept the pronouns and voices vague, then it would have been silly fun, but it's played so straight even when we know 1/4 of the way into it that it's the Dude, and then they don't...
Ugh, whatever.
Oh hey! Another review from you, thanks PP!
I'm starting to get popular around here.