Fic recs, November 9th · 4:36pm Nov 9th, 2016
I don't wanna talk about it. You don't wanna hear about it. Instead, you can head below the break for some fic reviews! That's much better.
H: 0 R: 3 C: 1 V: 0 N: 2
20% More Feminine by Henry101
Reading by Scarlett Blade
Genre: Comedy
After being mistaken for a dude, Rainbow Dash becomes concerned about her feminity.
I'm weirdly glad the writing in this story was sub-par, because otherwise all I'd have been able to come up with is "this bounced off my headcanon", and that doesn't make for a good review. And to be sure, the idea that Rainbow Dash gives half a darn about whether other people see her as a mare is hard to swallow. Rarity attempts to lampshade this in-story, but the explanation falls flat. (That, and there's not a single mare who ends up following Rainbow? Unrealistic, not to mention a missed opportunity for comedy.) Also falling flat is the comedy itself, mostly thanks to said writing. "Rainbow Dash, gussied up, turns all the heads" is rife for comedic potential, but in execution, we just see a lot of been-done jokes accompanied by consistently weak word choices (lots of "getting", "doing", etc., not to mention "trotted" appears something like five times in two sentences). Overall, this treats both its subject matter and its comedy shallowly, and suffers for having done so.
Not Recommended
Anonymous Letter to Celestia by Horse Voice
Reading by Scribbler and Illya Leonov
Genre: HiE
This is meant as an Anonymous-in-Equestria story, but can be taken as just "an anonymous human" instead. And if this story is terrifying, it's because the main character is so real. Read this, and tell me you don't get a mental image of a certain individual, an individual we've all met (or been) online. That realism is somewhat undercut by the fact that the person this is meant to be is usually not actually as smart as they think they are, and thus the assertion that he was able to amass this conquering force seems a tad disingenuous. But if anything makes this work, it's the open-endedness of the ending. Wishy-washy though it may be, if this had had anything like a real conclusion, it would have either fallen into the pit of that which it is trying to elevate or simply been another 'take that', and those aren't generally fun.
Recommended
Do You Want Nightmare Moons? by Rinnaul
Reading by Scarlett Blade
Genre: Comedy
Two Royal Guards must save Equestria from the worst of fates: the exclusion of Princess Luna's image from a foals' coloring book!
If there's one thing I like about this story, it's that the guards don't have typical "guard names". This tells me the guards are just regular ponies who enlisted, not destined warriors pooting around the castle. If there's another, it's that this is clean, silly fun with a message about not assuming the worst in others. It reminds me of the best parts of Memoirs of a Royal Guard, or that one fic about the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern guards stumbling into a play. Dopey Silver Birch and put-upon Winter Garden make a solid comedy duo, and following their exploits is fun because they're such strong characters. This is good; just make sure you read the blog linked to in the description afterward, as it gives up the main premise. (Oddly, I went looking for an explanation of the title for the sake of those who might be unfamiliar with it — it comes from "Do you want Batmans?" — and could not find an origin for the phrase!)
Recommended
Mare of the House by jmj
Reading by Solar Pony
Reading by CreepyPastaSalad
Reading by Lotus Moon
Genre: Horror
Finally old enough to be left home alone, a filly has a terrifying encounter with an urban legend.
Turning Cupcakes into an urban legend, the stuff of ghost stories, would be really clever if Cupcakes wasn't so utterly bogged down by its own trash baggage. :C But outside of the Most Dangerous Game Contest, this is probably the closest you'll get to Cupcakes redemption. To be sure, if this had been changed to something else, it would be hard to justify the pony connection. (I mean, it still is, but at least it's understandable why there are ponies, if only from a meta viewpoint.) And otherwise, this is well written: tense, showcasing a child character creeping into adulthood, and that ending, my word. Maybe it's a common type of thing, but I think it was some pretty effective horror. It all depends on whether or not you can get past the base concept.
Recommended If You Don't Mind Cupcakes
I Hate You, Twilight Sparkle by Overlord-Flinx
Reading by Scarlett Blade
Genre: EQG
Fleur de Lis really hates Twilight Sparkle.
I'm pretty sure this story was written entirely to explain why Fleur pulls the shade down at the classroom door when Twilight is singing in the halls during Friendship Games. That's a really specific reason to write a story. <.< Given how much this focuses on the substance of Fleur's hate without specifying the reason, I rightly assumed that the reason was the main joke. Unfortunately, that reason doesn't really hold up as a punchline, mostly because I just kind of don't get it. I don't feel like it was explained properly. I could just be missing something, but I did read it twice. This will only appeal if you like comedically exaggerated buildups and aren't too picky about how they turn out.
Not Recommended
Something's Always Watching by DEI Caboose
Reading by GutiuSerenade
Reading by Crafty Arts
Reading by Agent0Fluffy
Genre: Horror
Twilight Sparkle wakes up in a world where everypony but her has gone missing. Yet she isn't alone.
This is a quick and dirty journal horror fic, with some good jumpscares that likely come through best in the reading. If I had a complaint, it's that nothing is resolved, and I was rather taken by the mystery of what's going on. As both journalfic and horror fic, though, I can't complain. This is definitely worth reading.
Recommended
So, the fact that the anonymous letter to Celestia lacks any substance is... a positive, somehow?
Going by the chapter title, I'd say Do You Want Nightmare Moons? ultimately comes from the "Do you want ants?" meme that originated from Archer.
I needed this this morning. Thank you
Anonymous Letter was an attempt at one of my characteristic magic tricks, (turning bad concepts into good stories) and unlike with most of my other such tricks, it's hard to tell whether it worked. Opinion is certainly divided. But I'm glad I tried anyway, because I learned something from it.
4292839
4292920
No wonder I couldn't find it! I am only familiar with the Batmans version. :B
Do you have a job?
4296229
no :C (also, this isn't the one for asking me stuff! :B)