Lizardman Reviews #4: Goodfic Devouring · 11:45pm Sep 14th, 2016

Today's RNG Picks: 3, 6, 7

Most ponies don't know every single detail about their friends. And even when certain details are known, they usually don't bother mentioning them without rhyme or reason. For example, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both know each others' families pretty closely, but nopony's looking for an excuse to remind themselves that Zephyr Breeze is a thing.
Conversely, when your friends first find out about a heretofore-unmentioned sibling, they will probably want details. So when Twilight receives an invitation to her brother's wedding, her friends are naturally curious about him.
Turns out, there's a good reason why she doesn't talk about him.

Before reading: My whole stance on the issue of 'why did Twilight never mention her brother before because oh yeah he didn't exist yet because what the hell writers' is one of indifference. Sure, the writers could've definitely done a better job with the revelation (like, say, name-dropped him a few times in prior episodes) but I'm not beating myself up over it, and I assume most people don't really care either. As for this fic, I sincerely hope the 'good reason' that Twilight doesn't mention him is more interesting than 'he's a douche', because I'd like to believe people are more creative than that. Don't let me down author.

While reading: Appropriately enough for that Alt Universe tag, the fic takes place at that opening picnic in Canterlot Wedding Part 1, except Twilight's friends are more curious about her brother instead of being all like 'oh my stars, your brother's getting married to a princess? *faint*'. Points for realism.

We then get the rundown on why exactly Twilight had never mentioned Shining Armor to her friends before now, and I've gotta say, the author certainly didn't let me down here. Apparently, Shining Armor's position as Captain of the Guard is more akin to the U.S.'s Secretary of Defense, in that he oversees every single defense department Equestria has, minus the Elements of Harmony.

Twilight doesn't mention him in order to keep herself safe from terrorists and the like, because apparently Equestria is so full of them she'd be kidnapped more than Princess Peach if it was common knowledge that she was the sister to such a high-ranking government official. The entire fic certainly hints that this Equestria's peace is only surface deep, and that there's lots of hidden threats in the shadows. We've all seen fics like this before that play up the existence of mysterious, hidden threats in Equestria, but it's cool to see one that keeps the idea a little more low key.

Not much more to say on the fic, so I'm gonna wrap it up here.

After reading: This fic is pretty good. Technically it's sound, and story-wise it does a good job of explaining why Twilight had never mentioned Shining Armor before the season 2 finale; it could fit snug as a bug into the show's canon if it didn't have to break the show's canon in order to work. If you're in the mood for some light headcanon material, I definitely recommend this story.

Part-time Goddess (and the Church of Post) by HapHazred

In this day and age, who has time to be a God? Prayers come in 24/7 and fancy dress is compulsory. Rainbow Dash certainly doesn't have time. She's got bills to pay and things to do. Besides, she isn't qualified for Godhood, surely.
The ponies who say her control of the weather is divine disagree, unfortunately. They've given her a funny spear and a robe that doesn't quite fit. They've got their own temple and they take church seriously.
And it turns out she's not the only pony recently undergone apotheosis...

Since I've already read this, I'm giving a general summary.

General summary: This is quite possibly the only fic on the site with a religious theme that I can honestly recommend to anyone. Satirical in content, but sincere in tone, this story presents a world where ponies can just suddenly become gods/goddesses if the magic of belief demands it, fancy dress and all. Mainly, this story takes elements from the Greek Pantheon, but also a little bit of Christianity. And yet, I read this story as more of a satire on obsessive fanbases than religious organizations. Meh, maybe that's just my inner scholar speaking through.

Rainbow Dash hears voices while she's trying to sleep asking for specific weather. She wakes up to find she now has a spear (or more accurately, a brandistock). She next gets a helmet. Then fancy robes (far too large for her size). Seriously, they all just appear on her out of the blue. To quote the author:

There are many powers in the world of Equestria, many frightful and destructive forces that govern the universe. One of the lesser known ones is the power of fancy dress.
It's traditional.
As it turns out, Rainbow doesn't need to believe in the power of fancy dress appearing on her body, because the power of fancy dress believes in her.

Aptly put.

From there on, Rainbow learns to come to drips with her newfound goddesshood. Seriously, read the story to see how hilarious it is. Technically, the fic could use a little more polish, and some (unintentional) mistakes were glossed over, but the humor more than makes it a worthwhile read all the same.

Praise!

The Healing Process by The Rogue Wolf

My name is Ocellus, and I am a changeling- an Infiltrator. I was bred and raised to deceive other creatures by changing my shape and appearance to resemble theirs, to absorb love and other positive emotions and bring the resultant energy back to my hive for our continued survival. For thousands of years my kind existed in secret amongst the other species of Equus, forced by fear to hide our existence lest we be seen as dangerous parasites.
Then came the ill-fated invasion of Canterlot by Chrysalis and her hive, which exposed the existence of changelings to all in the worst way possible.
My hive, and several others, chose then to reveal themselves to the governments of Equus, in hopes that we could disperse fears about our kind and prove that we were not inherently dangerous. Many of the hive's members were given freedom to go abroad as ambassadors of a sort, to show that we could contribute to a society as ourselves.
With my medical background and my abilities as an emotivore, I chose to pursue a career in psychiatry, to help those affected by trauma or other emotional issues more directly than others could. And I also chose to go to a place where few other changelings had dared before the Canterlot invasion- Earth, home of humanity, a species at once alien yet so much like the ones we share Equus with.
Through hard work, perseverance and a desire to help others, I have built a good reputation here. Hundreds of patients of many species have entered my office for help from my unique methodology, as I literally devour the pain they feel from a traumatic event, letting them more easily come to terms with it. I take pride in what I do, and I feel that I've made a positive difference in the worlds.
Today feels as though it'll be like any other... until two patients whose pain is a bit closer to home than I'd like make an appearance.

Before reading: Word of advice; descriptions are supposed to summarize a story in a reasonable amount of words. This... is a turnoff, not gonna lie. So much of that info could've been implemented into the fic, as character backstory tends and ought to be. Exposition in a story is a delicate matter already, but throwing it in the description, the textbox that's meant to draw people to your story, makes people not want to read it. Unless the story has the Human tag, in which case it doesn't matter what's in the description. Ugggghhhhhhh.

The story itself looks decent enough, at least.

While reading: So it's pretty clear a few pages in that this is a character-focused story. On one hand, that's good because I like character-focused stories. On the other hand, this is bad for this blog, because it means there typically isn't as much to play-by-play. That said, the author has certainly done a good job of letting me get to know Ocellus as a person, and now I'm thinking the description was more for the sake of dumping backstory so the fic could focus entirely on the characters and not on world-building. Good intention, but the description is still too bloated for my liking. A good chunk of it still could've been put into the story without too much focus being shifted onto it. But I digress.

Ocellus' patient Wallace has been having nightmares where he's beating his own son. Like, damn, that's some pretty hardcore stuff there. Points for having balls. Ocellus employs changeling hypnosis onto him, and what follows is every psychiatrist appointment ever conducted, except with the addition of an emotion eating creature in place of that guy/gal who wears glasses and has an almost alien-like stare as they listen to everything you have to say.

I have experience with psychiatrists, jsyk.

While the extent of changelings' abilities is unknown, I still gotta say, this fic certainly makes me believe changelings would be exceptionally gifted psychiatrists, as the biggest requirement for that job is being able to empathize with people and understand the nature of their despairs. Being able to physically drain negative emotions out of clients certainly doesn't hurt, either, but again, this is all technically headcanon as of now.

Patient numero dos is... Cadence.

...

But seriously, it's nice to see that this Cadence doesn't hold a grudge against changelings as a whole, and hell, is even supportive of their attempts to integrate into both pony and human society. That said, it's a bit surprising that the Canterlot invasion isn't even mentioned in their back and forth.

Anyway, Shining Armor joins them. Turns out, Cadence booked the appointment because... I'm guessing Shining is embarrassed? Bit of a lack of detail here, but it's nothing too major. Shining has been having panic attacks whenever Flurry Heart isn't under constant supervision, more so than any good parent would about seeing their kid unsupervised, apparently. And he's been having nightmares about the Canterlot invasion, which, understandably, makes our changeling protagonist feel uncomfortable. And weakens his professional demeanor quite a bit:

the only “notes” I’m writing on my notepad are “rot in Tartarus, Chrysalis” half a dozen times.

Yep, he's cracking.

There's a little more back and forth, wherein Cadence and Shining try to soothe Ocellus of the pain he feels over what Chrysalis did, and how it impacted his desire for a peaceful life. Neat little role-reversal here, but it would've been more effective if we could see it develop more, as well as his whole session with the royal couple. The fic kinda just ends before that happens, with only the implication that things will get better for him as well as his clients. Why you so lazy, author?

After reading: Having visited a psychiatrist for about a half of my life, I'm amazed at how accurate this fic portrays the process, minus the emotion draining, of course. I wouldn't be surprised if the author has been to a session or two, or is a psychiatrist themselves. It's a great character-driven oneshot, one that you'll love if you want to see something new done with changelings.

And that's a wrap again folks! Quite a good selection of fics this time around. I've actually been amazed by my luck of RNG selected fics since I started this whole thing. Let's hope for the sake of my continued sanity that my lucky streak lasts. See ya next week!

Report Razalon The Lizardman · 384 views · #Lizardman Reviews #Featured Box

Comments ( 2 )