Fic recs, August 27th! · 2:24pm Aug 27th, 2015
Do you know there was a time when I didn't put a comma after 'recs' in the blog title? This audiobook project is bringing all kinds of things to light! :B
Illya Leonov has started an interesting discussion over on his blog.
Gee, I don't have a lot of news today, but I do have a lot of reviews! Cuz I'm getting off my lazy ass finally So head below for reviews of Sympathy for the Devil by Bad_Seed_72, Cold in Gardez's Big Princess Week, Every Mare Needs Her Stallion by InquisitorM, and four other rip-snorters that...
Geez, look at those numbers. :O
H: 3 R: 3 C: 1 V: 0 N: 0
Sympathy for the Devil by Bad_Seed_72
Reading by Goombasa
Genre: Dark
Deep in the bowels of Tartarus, Lord Tirek faces an eternity of torment, alone.
Interesting how the title doesn’t really apply to the genre. I suppose it depends on how much punishment you think Tirek deserves. So this story not only has one of the best depictions I’ve ever seen of someone losing their mind, but the specific punishment devised for Tirek is also one of those classic Greek things, like Sisyphus or Tantalus. It’s really diabolical. I was a little annoyed at some close repetitions (those are always more apparent in readings), and the fact that he’s never not called “Lord Tirek” also irritated me, but I can at least see why that was done. Still, the very last line of this is kind of mind-blowing, and overall, it’s a great psychological piece.
Highly Recommended
National Geographic Presents: Big Princess Week by Cold in Gardez
Reading by Illya Leonov, et. al.
Reading by Winged T. Spears
Genre: Absurdist Comedy
Princesshood comes with changes for Twilight Sparkle…
This story nearly ended me, it is the funniest shit I’ve read in a long time. Let me walk you through the first big joke, it’s worth spoiling: Twilight and Celestia are talking about “urges” that come with being an alicorn, standard bait-and-switch “not what you think it sounds like” thing, yeah? The narrative waxes lengthy about how awkward this conversation is, and how used Twilight is to awkward conversation. And then she asks about the dead zebra. Boom, nearly dead me. The rest is just as funny, as we’re given a surreal mixture of “ponies acting like cats, taken to its illogical extreme” and nature documentary about an actual civilized species. There’s lots of “oh my god, I can’t believe this is really happening”. I was a little unsure about the subplot involving Rarity and Prince Blueblood, but the comparison between him and a male lion is ready, and the final scene of that segment is fucking hysterical. It’s that juxtaposition between behaviors that are normal for one species being applied to another, and behaviors normal for the second species being described as if they’re something else that makes this the rip-roaring cavalcade of weirdness it is, a bizarro-Cadence of Cloudsdale.
Highly Recommended
Every Mare Needs Her Stallion by InquisitorM
Genre: Sad
Rarity is just dying to know what’s got Fluttershy acting so confident.
I don’t want to oversell this story when I say there’s a good chance you’ll need to read the comments to get it. Everyone told me “pay attention!” and I did, so I felt like I got most of it, and really only missed some of the subtle details. But man, what a thematically strong piece. It comes across as intensely personal writing, which, judging by the author’s comments, explains why a number of people didn’t get it beyond not paying enough attention. The characters’ emotions, and the way they’re portrayed, are terribly visceral, and the narrative zooms so closely in on them that it’s hard for them not to take front and center. And what’s really intriguing is just who, exactly, the ‘mare’ and ‘stallion’ are meant to represent. Because even though Rarity and Fluttershy tease each other (and the author teases me with their teasing!), even though Rarity’s wrongly sure that Fluttershy found a coltfriend, there’s no romance to be had here. I will say I think the final sentiment is maybe a little outdated, or at least the specific way in which it’s stated rankled me. But anyone who’s been in this situation — and I suppose I should be grateful I am not one of those people — will no doubt experience this the hardest.
Recommended
Twilight Hears the Narrator by Stratocaster
Reading by Emogak, GutiuSerenade and Wolfboy91
Reading by MelancholyIguana
Reading by Sparrow9642, et. al.
Reading by Snogwritts
Reading by Agent0Fluffy
Genre: Meta
Twilight’s life only gets more complicated when she starts hearing a voice narrating her every move.
My initial thought reading this story was that I’d read it before. But if I have, I’d say that this piece demonstrates how to do the concept right. The narrator voice is played for laughs, as well as being the main conflict and a character in its own right. And for being ostensibly a self-insert, it avails itself well! It probably helps that this story was tailor-made for a reading, but I really enjoyed this and would suggest it to anyone who’s maybe a little tired of ponies just talking to the narrator because.
Recommended
Pony Poets by teamidris
Genre: Slice of Life
A young couple tries to create something to give their unborn foal.
What this has going for it is strong characters. Despite never being named, and hardly being described, I could see and feel them, and I cared about their relationship. What it still needs is punctuation; there’s a distinct lack of it, and it was somewhat offputting. I’ll also say that the poem was pretty bad, if a little touching, but having the characters write it is a good way to make me not mind. :V
Recommended If You Don’t Mind Punctuation Flaws
A Taxing Evening by Admiral Biscuit
Reading by Captain Sand
Reading by ShadowOfCygnus
Genre: Slice of Life
It’s tax season, and that means long hours for Written Script.
This is a story that will likely resound, at the very least, with American readers, because complaining about — and fighting against — taxes is kind of engendered in our blood and is currently a highly vocal portion of the public discourse. So it is with that in mind that I say I found this terribly dull. I’m tired of hearing people complain about taxes, and that’s all I found this story had to offer. I wanted something more: more Carrot Top, more explanation of what happened to Derpy’s house (and maybe a little less wandering eye), more anything else. As it is, it’s perfectly true-to-life, capturing the tribulations of a tax clerk note-for-note. You can’t ask for a better boring story. It just depends on whether you can accept “bureaucrats are good people” as a compelling narrative as to whether or not you’ll appreciate this.
Recommended
The Life and Times of an Honest Pony by Casca
Genre: Slice of Life
After the battle, it was up to the little ponies to rebuild Canterlot.
What a great perspective to tell a story from: a simple construction worker, helping rebuild after Nightmare Moon’s (sadly now non-canonical) attack on Canterlot. Rebuilding’s not a story that’s told often, and when it is, it’s usually not so brass tacks as this. I really appreciated the working-class struggles going on, mostly in the background but also within our unnamed narrator’s head, which ultimately lead to his downfall. This is a piece about a stratified Equestria that’s trying desperately to hold itself together after being dealt a major blow. It’s got a strong voice, it’s struck through with lower class sentiment, and it’s really a very unique piece, even all these years later.
Highly Recommended
I thought Every Mare Needs Her Stallion was excellent. I think that should be on everyone's reading list.
3350884
I was just ever so slightly nonplussed by the ending, but otherwise, I'd agree.
3350893 I think that if you aren't nonplussed at some point while reading an InquisitorM story, then it's not reaching you properly. That guy writes some challenging stories, and by that I mean they challenge your expectations.
3350893 I'm intrigued by the term 'outdated'. The reason I felt compelled to write it is that I think it's more relevant now than it has ever been before.
3350938
A child wanting to connect with emotionally or physically distant parents isn't outdated at all; what rankled me was the idea of "Daddy's little princess". Which, admittedly, if anyone's gonna have that kind of mindset, it'd be Rarity, but representation and all.
Damn you for adding even more fics to my must-be-read list. I can't keep up!
3350884
3350893
archive.moe/download/mlp/image/1429/99/1429999619884.gif
3351480 After ninety thousand lesbian shipfics, sometimes Rarity and/or Fluttershy like to range out, you know? Try a little something different...
3351480
3351517
I said it wasn't shipping, guys
3352092 Yeah, but it kinda pretends like it's shipping. It's ship-ish.
I may need to put that in the story description.
3352125
I will not disagree. As I said, teasing. D:
Thanks for the shoutout PP! =)