Fic recs, November 26th! · 3:54pm Nov 26th, 2016
No more cheeky slapdash editions; I finished that short long audiobook!
So I said to myself, "Surely someone has to have written something called 'The Terrible Thing About Tiggers'. If they haven't, I will lose all faith in the internet." Lo and behold, someone had, and it is hilarious. If reading about Winnie the Pooh and friends being horribly devoured by a tiger sounds like fun to you, go check it out. :D
If not, you can head below for reviews of Sunset Shimmer Lends Pinkie Pie the Wrong Thumb Drive by Sporktacles, Kaylee's Derpy Vignettes, Like a Pegasus in a Pottery Shop by Fifths, and much, much more!
H: 2 R: 2 C: 4 V: 2 N: 0
Sunset Shimmer Lends Pinkie Pie the Wrong Thumb Drive by Sporktacles
Sequel to SciTwi Asks Sunset Shimmer About Pony Biology
Genre: EQG Comedy
Two guesses as to what's on it.
This is a marked improvement over its prequel; thankfully, reading the original isn't entirely necessary, as it just sets up "Sunset is still a pony at heart, at least when it comes to sex". So I'm going to spoil the best part, because it's the reason you need to read this: Pinkie sings a song about not kinkshaming people. It is glorious. It's possibly the best piece of comedy writing I've read all year. Up until that point, it was a fairly standard sexual comedy of errors; from then on, it becomes amazing. And the ending is so funny! Especially if you like sexual humor (at heart, this is just a story about how much Sunset needs to masturbate), don't pass this up.
Highly Recommended
Derpy Vignettes by Kaylee
Review #3800!
Genre: Story Collection
Petrichor (Reading by VisualPony): Derpy never grew out of puddle jumping. Can't go wrong with a story this short. It's light, it's silly, it made me smile. Could have done without the explanation why she does this; rare for a tiny ficlet like this to come with a criticism of "too many words"! C, As Light Reading
Her Light (Reading by VisualPony): Every morning, Derpy must make a choice. I zoned out for a second in the middle of this and got tonal whiplash so bad. It's almost like two stories. The first half deals with Derpy contemplating suicide because she's sick of the taunting and pity, blah, blah, blah, I've seen it before, spare me. The rest is this super-adorable scene with her and Dinky, with a message of "fillies are my anti-drugsuicide". I'd have much preferred that without the suicide angle. V
First Meeting (Reading by VisualPony: How hard can it be to introduce yourself to the hottest new stallion in town? It's Doctor/Derpy shipping, but I'll be damned if this isn't the cutest fucking thing I've ever read. (At least he's called Time Turner.) Applejack plays an excellent role as wing pony. If you like stories about ponies blushing while trying to talk to their crush, don't pass this up. R
Achoo! (Reading by VisualPony): Derpy could swear she's allergic to the entire season of spring. This is a fairly light, inoffensive comedy, with an entirely predictable plot. If it weren't so short, it would be worth skipping, but it won't waste your time if you need something to read. C, As Light Reading
Fitted (Reading by VisualPony): This is a story about a struggle I fully empathize with: folding the dreaded fitted sheet. A strong contender for "best entry in the collection". C, For Laughs
Overall, the writing is good, and this is mostly just short, cute stories that most people will enjoy if they need to spend a few minutes reading fanfic. I'd check out more by this author, and I believe I shall soon!
Recommended for Derpy Fans
Deep by totallynotabrony
Reading by Scarlett Blade
Reading by Ender
Genre: Historical AU
The discovery of strange emissions from off the Equestrian coast sends a young Celestia in search of the secrets of Equestria's past.
I have a definite soft spot for stories about ponies finding the human remnants of what came before them, but if I'm being honest, I wanted to like this more than I actually did. Don't get me wrong, this has tons of potential, but the writing isn't super-great. I just kept seeing things I would change. Still, this is like Hello, Sedna, with less 2001: A Space Odyssey and more 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The scene where Celestia finds little brass "thimbles" was particularly good. And I absolutely like all the things this suggests about Celestia's youth, just really enjoyed the whole setup. If this sounds like a scenario you'd be forgiving toward, definitely check it out.
Recommended If You Value Function Over Form
Like a Pegasus in a Pottery Shop by Fifths
Genre: Episode-Like
When the best flyer from griffin lands visits Ponyville looking for an apprentice, he sends the local pegasus population into a stir, and that's just for starters.
This is a fun little piece, showcasing solid show-style writing while having something more to offer. Most of the story concerns Rainbow Dash on a mad bird chase, with plenty of laughs and slapstick as one might expect. (I rather enjoyed that she knows how to play her friends in order to get them to help her.) Then, at the end of the penultimate chapter, she learns an important lesson, and the final chapter gives us some fun world-building to help drive that lesson home, while avoiding the classic letter to Celestia, even. In all, a really solid piece of writing, absolutely worth the read.
Recommended
Infernal Machines by Skywriter
Genre: Comedy
The Everfree Forest is on fire, and all Twilight can think of is how Pinkie makes ice cream with her part cannon.
This is the prequel to well-known epic Contraptionology, and I'm not actually sure if it should be read first, publication-wise, so I'm going with internal chronology :B If there's anything I can say against this, it's that the sequel hook is so strong, this doesn't quite feel like a complete story, though it would be far too weighty on its own to be a true first chapter. But it's Skywriter, you know it's gonna be good, and it certainly is. It's so good, in fact, that any lingering questions I might have had about, well, anything — and there were quite a few — are completely subsumed by my immersion in the writing. The best part of this is probably that it's a story about Pinkie being Pinkie, and that being a good thing. Far too many people in this fandom treat her like an idiot, a terror, both or worse; it's nice to see her getting to save the day with her own strange brand of logic. I look forward to reading the sequel (someday, when I have nothing else to do…)
Highly Recommended
Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Wynneception
Reading (part 1) by ShadowOfCygnus
Genre: Comedic Shipping
Twilight and Fluttershy are hopelessly in love with each other. Emphasis on "hopeless". They're going to need a lot of help from their friends, and a lot of patience, if they're going to make this work.
I cannot remember the last time I read a fic with so much that was really good and so much that was really bad. I mean, good and bad have existed in stories forever, but this swingy between extremes? That's a feat. On the one hand, this is a really memorable comedy, whose jokes fall with perfect timing. It's also adorable as fuck, even if you're not particularly into TwiShy. On the other, it's long, explainy, and as dedicated to bad shipping as good, the writing and pacing being the biggest letdowns.
This gets off to a bad start with parallel scenes of Twilight and Fluttershy moping because they have a crush on "somepony" and can't act on it. Mutually unrequited shipping is always bad. Head-hopping is a constant thing in this story; there is no such thing as POV. That wouldn't even have been that awful if it hadn't been accompanied by this story's greatest shortcoming: the need to explain exactly what was on a character's mind every single time they utter a word. It's exasperating! Half the time, what they say explains perfectly what their intent was, and the narration just repeats them. This, I think, will be the bigger bar to entry than even the ship.
Of course, Twilight and Fluttershy are equally neurotic, awkward and hopeless, and it's kind of funny. The first chapter has some phenomenal jokes in it, and the flashback in particular is why I kept reading the entire thing instead of dropping it right there. Like I said, when the jokes are on, they are on, and the comedic timing and general cleverness of the good jokes is stellar. Though there aren't very many bad jokes (the worst offender is a G3 reference shoved in at the end of a story-long running gag), one has to wonder why the whole thing couldn't have been like that.
The other main problem with this story is focus. The date scenes are the best part of this, hands down. That's where you get the best jokes and all the adorableness you could ask for. Those scenes are few and far between, however, as the pair constantly rush back to their conniving friends for advice and encouragement. Those scenes are almost universally dull(er), not to mention interminable. They're dragged out by drama and needing every character to get their full say before things can move on. Not to mention I got tired of constant drama turning out to be a ploy, usually devised by Rarity, to keep Twilight and Fluttershy focused on each other. The first time, it was believable, but after that, no.
On that note: I have never read a fic that has such a low opinion of Rarity. She's smug, vain, self-centered, duplicitous, shallow and all-around nasty. The funny thing is, I could understand this: that was exactly my opinion of her, once upon a time. Until, y'know, A Dog and Pony Show. And I'm pretty sure this story mentions Daring Do, though I could be misremembering. Point is, yeesh.
As for the plot, like I said, this vacillates back and forth between the tropes that make shipfics bad and actually trying to subvert and deny them. Overall, it's like the roller-skating episode of My Little Pony Tales: the two parties are given bad advice by their idiot friends, then find out they just have to be honest with each other and talk about their feelings, and then everything's hunky-dory and Twilight and Fluttershy win the skating competition. Wait, maybe that last part didn't happen. <.< But of course, talking about their feelings isn't enough to end the story on, because there needs to be more contrived drama dragging everything out so we can get to the "grand romantic gesture".
So, yeah. Points for not using words like "wingboner" and "horngasm" (and also for having those things be completely unknown to ponies outside the tribe to which they belong), but this story is irritating at best. That said, my full recommendation would go something like this: If you don't mind the shipping, read the first chapter. The flashback jokes are hysterical and come at the end, so they're a good reward for slogging through the writing. If you don't mind the writing after that, continue on; chapter two has the best jokes in the entire story. For the rest of you, it's probably not worth it, and I will be happy to explain the jokes in comments if asked. :B
Vaguely Recommended
Awesome
E X P L A I N A L L T H E J O K E S I N E X A C T I N G D E T A I L S
This is probably the most in-depth review I've ever seen you do in one of these segments.
Kind of a funny story -- I'd stashed this one away in a 'To Read' folder four (five, now?) years ago, back when I was first getting into the fandom / into doing readings, and it only resurfaced when I was emptying my hard drive into a new laptop (along with such winners as Silent Ponyville. My, how tastes change). There were moments I definitely cringed more doing the re-read -- you didn't even mention the songs, PP! -- but overall it still struck me as cute, funny fluff and therefore worth reading.
Oh, also -- can confirm, Daring Do is never mentioned in-story. This was Season 1 material all the way. Which, honestly, I think can explain some of the worse gripes: it relied on tropes and characterisations that have since gone stale 'round these parts. Probably the rose-tinted glasses talking, but I still think that has some worth, as a historical document, if nothing else.
tl;dr It's a cute albeit flawed little story and definitely a product of its time, but I liked it just the same.
Please explain the jokes in the comments, I'd love to hear them! With context and quotes as needed!
I really liked Infernal Machines not just because it had a really Pinkie Pinkie (though that's immensely satisfying in itself) but because it actually gave a believable explanation for the show's otherwise irritating reduction in Everfree's seriousness as time went on. And I still haven't read Contraptionology!
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READ CONTRAPTIONOLOGY IT IS MY FAVORITE FANFICTION AND MY SECOND FAVORITE WORK OF LITERATURE OF ALL TIME
4318736 It's on the list. Trouble is, so are almost 500 other fics.
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OKAY
So the first one involves Fluttershy freaking out as she tries to explain her thoughts to Rarity and Applejack. She overloads and does the fainting goat thing. I've always liked that gag, I liked seeing it used here. A little bit later, the truth finally comes out and Applejack chastises her for not speaking up sooner. to which Fluttershy replies, "I tried to, but then I fell over like this." And she demonstrates the thing which just happened. It was the perfect mix of funny and adorable. :D
Next is the flashback to their first "non-date". The whole thing is great, mostly thanks to Flutters and Twi being equally neurotic and awkward. It ends on them reaching a breaking point. Fluttershy excuses herself with "I have to go feed my... bed." To which Twilight replies, "I have to wash my books!" And they both run. :D
Twilight recounts this whole sequence to Rainbow and Pinkie, and Dash's only reaction is "Tragic".
Later, Rarity and Applejack drag Fluttershy to Twilight's house to get her to ask Twilight out. As they are discussing their plan, Fluttershy attempts to escape, but can't go anywhere because she's running while laying on her side.
Rarity's list of "occasions" for which she has outfits handy is pretty funny. (There are too many for me to recall, but they are numerous as they are ridiculous.)
The best joke in the whole fic: Fluttershy and Twilight are on their second not-a-date. Twilight has been coached by Rainbow Dash to be "cool"; Fluttershy has been coached by Rarity to be aloof. Twilight holds the door open. Fluttershy vacillates over how to respond. "Thank you" wouldn't be aloof enough; "Thanks" might be too casual. "Thanks" or "Thank you"? "Thanks" or "Thank you"? All she is able to get out is "Thank". There is a long pause.
During the not-a-date, Twilight keeps consulting a checklist of things she read in a book about dating. "The best way to reach her heart is to compliment her eyes", says one entry, the purpose of which she never understood. So she tells Fluttershy her eyes are "great". Fluttershy immediately assumes something is wrong with her eyes and starts to panic. Twilight tries to assuage her: "No, no, your eyes are great! You seem like you have excellent vision!" And all Fluttershy can say in response to this is "Thank?" I died.
Applejack's best moment comes when Fluttershy retreats to their corner during the date (this happens a lot), and starts chugging a bottle of wine because Rarity told her it would help her loosen up. "And that," she quips, "is how Fluttershy became an alcoholic."
And that's about it, though I did like Rainbow's line to AJ later one: "Hey, AJ, why don't you save the trees and go buck yourself?"
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OH GOD THE SONGS WERE SO BAD D: I don't know how you could stand reading those.
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4318472 I got like four chapters into contraption all a G. I need to finish it.
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Huh.
I can see how those would be rib ticklers. Just not my cup of fun.
I would pay someone to sing Pinkie's stop the kinkshame song :0