• Member Since 3rd Sep, 2011
  • offline last seen 1 hour ago

PresentPerfect


Fanfiction masochist. :B She/they https://ko-fi.com/presentperfect

More Blog Posts2550

  • Saturday
    Twilight the 没用

    Yesterday, a fellow named SoothingBell asked if they could translate Twilight the Useless to Chinese, and no way was I gonna say no. :D

    And they turned it around in 24 hours, amazing!

    https://fimtale.com/t/64723

    4 comments · 130 views
  • 1 week
    Idle musing

    so-called because that's what led me to the realization

    What is so compelling about the idea of "warrior woman runs afoul of a wizard and is flung centuries into the future" that I made it happen twice?

    ...And with slightly more musing, I also realize, in a roundabout way, it was with the same wizard. >_> Huh.

    Read More

    7 comments · 163 views
  • 1 week
    Fic recs, March 20th!

    Posting a day earlier than usual because the next reading is a long one!

    H: 1 R: 2 C: 1 V: 1 N: 3

    Read More

    6 comments · 188 views
  • 2 weeks
    Fic recs, March 14th!

    Lotus Moon has done a reading of Fleety's What's Philomena's Name?!

    Hey, help out Regidar, he's looking for experimental fics! Self-promotion allowed!

    Read More

    5 comments · 235 views
  • 2 weeks
    Fic recs, March 8th: Top Ten of 2023!

    Whaaaaat, two review blogs in a row?

    Well hell yes, because I have done much better with the top ten this year and I am inordinately pleased with myself! :3 here's the explanation of the setup, for all that it has never adequately explained what's going on to like, literally anyone:

    Read More

    19 comments · 271 views
Aug
16th
2016

Fic recs, August 16th! · 6:11pm Aug 16th, 2016

I've got about two hours left in my audiobook, so things will get back to normalish by the end of the week. Which is unfortunate, because I've also got like two editions to do. D: Oh well. No news today, just reviews of stuff I mostly pre-read for EQD! Because I'm apparently doing that again! :V Note that stories may change from the original version I read.

H: 3 R: 2 C: 1 V: 0 N: 2

"Teach Me Goodness" by Posh
Genre: Slice of Life
Cheerilee has come to a point in her life where it's time to leave Ponyville, her friends, and her students.
I was very confused by this, given the title changed between the time I wrote down the URL and now. c.c (I prefer the original, to be honest.) Anyway, I've been hearing a lot about this one, and I can see why. This is an excellent demonstration of the power of slice of life, to say nothing of Diamond Tiara's reformation. This is not only the best Diamond Tiara fic since Discourse on Fillies, it could easily have sprung from a shared universe therewith. Not that she hogs the spotlight: Cheerilee's story is filled with the quiet melancholy that suffuses leaving. It's real and emotional; tears were shed. This is just a really fantastic piece about what people mean to each other, about what effect they have on each others' lives, and there's not much more I can say about it other than it is eminently worth the read.
Highly Recommended

Change by BleedingRaindrops
Genre: Sad
Twilight returns to her old home of Ponyville, looking for something.
I can't quite put my finger on this one. I did enjoy piecing together what had happened to Ponyville to ruin it and drive Twilight away but never felt like I had a handle on exactly what had happened. Twilight's solution to hide herself away from the world is really creative on the author's part. Twilight feeling suicidal is one thing, but I wasn't too sure how to take the actual attempt. In all, there was something off about this, though I can't say I didn't like it. It will certainly only appeal if you're looking for something a little tragic, though.
Recommended If You Don't Mind Sad

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi by MrNumbers
Genre: Future Fic
Luna visits Canterlot Castle's unknown museum, to remember the heroes enshrined within.
This is a strong entry in the "future fic about the mane cast dying" genre. Part of this comes from each pony's death being given a great deal of weight in the narrative. It's not just "Rainbow Dash died first, and then Rarity had a heart attack", running down the list so that we can get to the end. The memories Luna has of each of Twilight's friends are what make this; I also really loved everything about Pinkie. If there's anything that left me cold, it's probably the setup. Why Celestia forbids anyone from seeing this place is never really explained, and a line (which might be removed in the future) claiming that she never truly forgave Discord left me unsettled. But those were minor things. The fun comes in understanding the list used for the chapter title and seeing where this goes. Definitely a fic about the journey. (Of course, it's also apparently a joke, so I guess I've been trolled. c.c)
Recommended

Pinkie Pie the… Terrorist? by The Abyss
Genre: Comedy
Pinkie Pie is arrested for discharging a firearm in Manehattan.
So, the setup of this is kind of funny — Pinkie being branded a terrorist for firing her party cannon in city limits and all — and the reveal of how she was caught is definitely the cleverest part, but overall, the main problem with this story is it's just not funny. Cops show up at her hotel, arrest her, charge her, she leaves custody in a slightly Pinkie-ish manner, that's it. I was waiting for a punchline and instead got a pair of really bad rock puns. Worse, the police procedure was highly unrealistic (if an operation is undercover, you don't give away information about it!), and Rarity does all the talking for Pinkie in the first scene for reasons I couldn't fathom. Skip this.
Not Recommended

Bowled Over by Baal Bunny
Genre: Episode-Like
After breaking Applejack's favorite mixing bowl, Starlight Glimmer will do anything to fix it.
This is a really clever piece about magic and glue and mixing bowls and eyelashes and friendship that somehow coalesces into a big, solid thing. Man, that's meta. But yeah, this is a great piece, as expected, and calls on a fairly obscure ancient Japanese art form, which is also great. Just go read it, I don't think I've seen a better story about Starlight.
Highly Recommended

Hippocratic Oath by Journeyman
Genre: Dark
Being the best surgeon in Canterlot doesn't prevent him from having a dark side.
"Being pony" is something I will often make a note of for the sake of others, but that in itself tends not to deter me from reading stories. However, once in a while I'll find a fic that really suffers for having been set in Equestria; this is one of those fics. Our protagonist is world-weary and whiny, having determined that all life is suffering or whatever and generally making the first scene a real drag. Nothing picks this up from that initial dreariness, though my interest was at least got when his 'monster' makes an appearance. That's really all this has going for it, though: a believable look at psychopathy as an affliction of the mind and not just an adjective to describe someone who kills people. It's even got that thing going for it, about true horror not being the knowledge that there's someone around the corner who's going to kill you, but who you are going to kill. (I think Bad Horse said that.) Still, watching everything play out wasn't satisfying at all — since I figured out the twist the moment the 'monster' reared its head — and in the end, I was left wondering what the point was.
Not Recommended

Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer Are Dead by Oroboro
Reading by Quill Scratch
Genre: Comedy
They were supposed to return to the pony world, to get to know each other better. Instead, they're questioning the nature of reality.
I've never actually read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, but it's one of those things I rather enjoy seeing allusions to. This is, as far as I can tell, not a full adaptation, but it borrows some of the themes, along with the meta-theater and the bit with the coin. Alongside all this is a strange tale of two ponies trying to find their way in life, in the 'story', and thus reclaim what they've lost. Most fascinating is the code-switching: the dialogue changes into a stilted, very theatrical mode whenever Starlight and Sunset are in someone else's 'story'. It was a quirky little thing that didn't become obvious until near the end, but that nevertheless worked really well. I just found this whole thing charming, and I'm sure Shakespeare fans will enjoy it, to say nothing of anyone else.
Highly Recommended

The Fated Hour by Titanium Dragon
Genre: Comedy
Twilight nearly missed out on having friends; no way she's going to miss out on having a special somepony.
It's not often you see a story about romance that isn't tagged romance, nor should it be. This is a piece about Twilight looking for, and not finding, a special somepony. Her reasoning is good, and there are a lot of little details that tell you the spell is working, just not how anyone expected it to. That's probably what I like best about this. As for the comedy, well, it's pretty downplayed; there was maybe one line that made me laugh (and some symbolism at the end that made me slap my head). If nothing else, I tend not to like "Twilight freakout" fics, but this is an example of one done well, and it has a good message to boot.
Recommended

Report PresentPerfect · 628 views · #fic reviews
Comments ( 13 )

Aw, PresentPerfect-senpai reviewed me! I wonder what he said.

"Teach Me Goodness" is the very worst thing ever made by a human. Except for the bagpipes. How bad is it you might ask? Well it might take me a while to explain, because the answer involves basically everything in the

...P-presentPerfect-senpai doesn't daisuki me? My kokoro is breaking...

But seriously, dude, thank you. I'm really touched that my simple story about horses crying and hugging each other struck home with so many people, and putting it on the same level as Discourse on Fillies is DAMN high praise, especially since I negatively compared mine against it not too long ago.

Also, to be honest, I preferred the original title too.

And that's two more for my RiL. I swear, that thing just keeps getting bigger.

PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

4153250

...P-presentPerfect-senpai doesn't daisuki me? My kokoro is breaking...

Zettai yurusenaide! >:V

Thanks for the review! I'm glad you appreciated the message of that story, and the hints as to how the spell is really working.

I'm going to need to get caught up on my reading soon. I've been lax these last few weeks. :ajsleepy:

I'm curious about something. Why do you call blogs like this Fic Recs if you include stories that you don't recommend?

PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

4153606
It's a recommendation, either for, against, or neutral.

People are not allowed to like the things I don't like.

PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

4153947
I know this feel. :C

Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer Are Dead is not only excellent, it is better than R&GrD because it has a satisfying ending rather than a cynical and depressing one.

BTW, to fully appreciate R&GrD, don't bother reading it, see it back-to-back with Hamlet, using the same cast. In fact, don't read any play unless you're part of a company preparing to preform it or a Theatre Arts student. Plays are meant to be seen, and only dumb-ass English professors make people read plays. You can't live in the blueprint of a house, can you? :facehoof:

4154178

I love:

The rewrite Stoppard did when he directed the film version. Reading Oroboro's story made me realize that it's been way too long since I've watched that movie...

Oh, and I'm glad you liked "Bowled Over," PP!

Mike

PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

4154178
Now tell this to the people who are still mad EQD and Fimfic won't let them post fan scripts. :B

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