Fic recs, July 11th! · 3:05pm Jul 11th, 2016
Welcome back, Bronyconners! Not much has changed in your absence, but here are the highlights:
Guti has done a reading of Crimson by Paradigm Shine, with Gina M and Ashley H! (I apparently didn't like that one much, though.)
The hiatus seems to be doing a number on us: we've now lost Whiteout and FloydienSlip. :( Treasure what you have, for it is fleeting.
Well, that was maybe a little more depressing than necessary. Head below for fic reviews, those are always fun! (Holy crap, and they're all good, too!)
H: 3 R: 1 C: 4 V: 0 N: 0
No One Goes There by Rinnaul
Reading by The Brony Chronicler
This guy kinda sounds like Doctor Cobra, though he does a really good impression of both Snips and Snails (audio drama directors take note!) His reading style was kind of over-dramatic for this story, but he's loud (the voices are extra-loud) and clear, and that's really all I ask for. For this reading in particular, not only were the sound effects good, but he also used graphics to excellent effect. A winner!
Genre: Horror
There is a path in the woods that no one uses. Four colts try to find out why.
I've been thinking a lot about horror lately thanks to ScarletWeather's blogs, and with that in mind I say this story is fucking perfect. Admittedly, I might not have even noticed what was going on at first had the reading not clued me in, but that's why this works: subtlety. Fridge horror is engendered through showing, not telling, and I mean not telling at all. The ramifications are entirely left to the reader to figure out, being most discernable by the end. It sets up a good legend and good atmosphere, puts the characters through the wringer, and if it isn't pants-shittingly terrifying, it nevertheless accomplishes what good horror stories should.
Highly Recommended
Early One Morning by Kodeake
Reading by GutiuSerenade, TheLostNarrator and Emogak
Genre: Shipping/Dark
Rainbow Dash has something to tell Twilight. Maybe. Right? Everything's going to be all right.
Fans of time loops will love the heck out of this story, but I kind of don't want you to spoil that for yourselves, because figuring out what's going on is so much fun. The only real problem with this story is that it's not quite as good a horror story as No One Goes There, and suffers from me randomly reading them together. Still, it's pretty darn close. Rainbow's unhinged mental state is shown extremely well, and while the explanation for what's going on is pretty standard, the twist comes in the end. Suffice to say, this is worth it so long as mane cast shipping doesn't make you physically ill.
Recommended
Crackshipping and You: Jubilation by FuzzyFurvert and Misago
Sequel to Crackshipping and You: SunPunch
Genre: Shipping
This bar is just not Cheerilee's scene, yet she always comes back here by herself.
Well, the authors weren't lying: this series does get better, so I'll probably keep an eye on it for a while. :D This piece gives us an older, lonely Cheerilee, drinking at a bar which serves saltwater and not alcohol, thank fucking crap, and being miserable because she's lonely. Melodramatic? Definitely. But I cannot fault the dynamic between Cheery and Cherry (oh god this ship is confusing). In fact, about the only thing I can fault is that there's only a thousand-plus words. This is the start of a bee-yootiful friendship, but that's all we get! I am now upset that this series is all one-shots. :( Oh yeah, and it likely won't have an effect on anyone uninterested in romance, but it's pretty darn good if you are.
Recommended for Shippers
Anno Domini by Chromosome
Reading by Scribbler, et. al.
Genre: Sci-Fi/Human
A lone soldier trudges through a burnt-out wasteland in search of the voice taunting him over his radio.
That's right: not Human in Equestria. This story pushes the boundaries of what can be considered 'fanfic'. The first two-thirds or so seem like original fiction, spoiled only by the tags, being on an MLP fanfic site, and, if you listen to the reading, Doctor Cobra's excellent impersonation. But this is excellent science fiction that nevertheless ties into the show in a way you'd never quite expect. The language is fantastic, the imagery is excellent, and the tragedy top-notch. If you want to read stories about happy ponies doing funny things… well, look at the damn tags, there's nothing happy or funny about this. But you can't ask for a better story, and I'm so pleased to see this was every bit as good as I always knew it would be.
Highly Recommended
Just Fine by ferret
Reading by Griffin Productions
Genre: Cutie Angst
Helping other ponies get their cutie marks isn't as great as it sounds.
(Turns out, I've already vetted this reader! I need to add more to my list. D:) This is a bleak, cynical look at Crusaders of the Lost Mark, showing Apple Bloom decades in the future, not really enjoying what her cutie mark is telling her to do. And while I've read bleak, cynical fics before, this one strikes me as especially at odds with the show, because it's directly about cutie marks. I mean, taken at face value, it's really a story about real life, if you're one of those people who was told they could be anything and then ended up being nothing. (I know this feeling all too well.) It's about the system failing young people, about reality getting in the way of dreams, and if it didn't have to do with cutie marks, that would be fine. But the whole point of cutie marks is that ponies have super-special talents all their own; a line like "she was good at helping ponies realize their true potential, but ponies had to have a potential to realize in the first place" runs directly counter to that. I won't say it's bad, not at all, but it's certainly depressing, and if you're not looking to feel brought down, you might want to avoid it. I suppose on some level, it's a cautionary tale about giving up on your dreams, but this story really doesn't give us any indication that there's much hope once you've fallen into a rut.
Recommended If You Need Your Cynicism Validated
The Cutie Mark Allocation Agency by Hoopy McGee
Genre: Dramedy
How do ponies get cutie marks? With the secret help of tiny gnomes, of course!
This story is the perfect balm for the previous one. Quirky, charming, whimsical and tons of fun, it's quite an unexpected ride from start to finish. I mean, I went into this figuring it was going to be about gnomish hijinks chasing after the CMCs, trying and failing to hide from them. Instead, I got a lengthy office drama packed full of conspiracies and vibrant characters (with amazing names!) Sometimes, it felt wholly removed from ponies, minus a name drop here or there. It also occasionally felt too tightly packed, as that large cast, each with their own agenda, becomes unwieldy in the early going. But everything wraps up neatly, the ending is tremendously satisfying, and there's no end to laughs and fascinating ideas. This is a really, really fun story, and a really clever take on season 2/3 ideas about cutie marks.
Highly Recommended
I Had Sex Today by Socks
Reading by Scarlett Blade
Mature: Sex
Genre: Sexual Comedy
And then she told Twilight about it.
This may be a one-joke clopfic with bad shipping and some questionably melodramatic word choices, but I'll be darned if it's not built around one of the funniest, cleverest ways to make two ponies have sex I've ever seen. If you like clopfics at all, check it out.
Recommended for Clop Fans
First Take by GaPJaxie
Reading by Goombasa
Sequel to Pan Flash
Genre: Actingverse
As former child actors go, First Take is lucky.
It's interesting: this story and the last two might very well take place during the same day. I said Pan Flash was setting this story up to be something, and I was right: say hello to the Actingverse's most broken character! First Take is a real piece of work, and we get a quick and dirty look into her fucked-up life. The story is, insterestingly enough, about family as well as acting. And I have to say it feels kind of short, but again we get one of the cast members making an offer of friendship to her co-star and it being grudgingly accepted. There's also a second chapter introducing a bunch of side characters, not to mention explaining why Princess Luna looks different in season two, which is hilarious. (Also Candy Floss is hysterical.) Actually, that second chapter is odd, because there's a lot of "It turns out something bad happened to this actor" lines at the end of scenes, which feels like some kind of self-parody, but the flippant sort, you know? Jaxie at least says he's not done with this 'verse, so who knows what will happen next?
If You've Read the Others, You'll Read This One
given how ebullient Titanium dragon sounded in his Bronycon wrap-up post, I'd say he could use this. :P
Huh boy. You just convinced me to put a horror story on my reading list.
I read Anno Domini way back when there was that whole story/author shuffle experiment thing. I forget what it was called. I didn't know at the time that SS&E WASN'T the author at the time and that was the fic that got me to follow him. Later on, when the switch was revealed, I unfollowed SS&E.
The point being that Anno Domini is freaking good enough to deserve a follow.
It's always interesting to study the effects that a comment shitstorm has on an author.
4084362
Oh shit, I forgot it was part of that! And the fic that went onto Chromosome's account got massively overlooked, no less. I remember him being really upset about that. :C
Glad to see you liked the CMAA! I was kicking around the idea of doing a follow-up, now that the CMC have their marks, but I just haven't found the time, yet.
I had a blast thinking up those names, but I have to admit... by the end of the story, I was sure glad I didn't have to type them out anymore
4084362 did you refollow SS&E?
4084597
I think I did...and then unfollowed again, but kept getting notifications anyway? I honestly don't remember why I did. I have a few of SS&E's fics on my faves list, and a few more on my read later list, so at some point I'll probably re-refollow.
>tfw serious shit you write never gets anywhere while a generic clopfic you wrote in half an hour does.
Whatever. Thanks for the free PR, mate!
4085114
I just go where the audiobooks tell me. :B
4084439
Not really. A group of people brigading someone with depression generally has fairly predictable results.
TBH people piling on in general has fairly predictable results.