The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Reviews #06: The Sunset Shipping Project · 9:42pm Feb 12th, 2017
Hello on this fine winter day, my good ladies and gentlemen. I hope to find you all in good order and in a generally awesome state of being.
Today I have a rare treat: I shall be reviewing not one, not two but seven fics, all by the same author. Before we proceed further, our snazzy scoring method:
The Good: Fics of clear high quality, showcasing the work of an excellent or promising author.
The Bad: Fics of clear low quality, showcasing the work of a poor or inexperienced author.
The Ugly: Fics blighted by an underlying nastiness, against characters or real people, showcasing the work of an unwise author.
That said, do you like Sunset Shimmer? Do you like cute shipping fics? Do you like the happy combination of the two? Excellent. Proceed, then, but bear in mind: there will be mild spoilers ahead. I have endeavoured to keep these to a minimum; Indeed, some reviews I have essentially cut short because I can no longer analyse the text in detail without spoiling the whole thing.
That said, you might still want to read the fics before reading this review.
Suitable links will now be provided here.
Colour coded for your convenience. Read, and then join me back here, my good ladies and gentlemen.
Still with me? Excellent. Let us proceed to the main event. First, an overview, then short reviews of each fic and then a summary and a conclusion.
Shipping can, on occasion, get a bit of a bad name. Between people viciously defending the sanctity of their beloved One True Pairing, or rising in a terrible wrath against the evils of waifu theft, there can be a real excess of people taking things way, way too seriously. And altogether forgetting about the possibility of having any fun.
It is always nice, therefore, to forget about the nutjobs who want to spend two hundred thousand words frothing about how Harry, not Ron (the evil, evil bastard), is right for Hermione (or rant about and or kill off Flash Sentry, in pony terms) and remember what shipping can be.
Cute. Fun. Entertaining.
Thus it is with this project, a series of seven (nine, including contributions by two other authors) written by Oroboro. In his own words:
Do you like Sunset Shimmer? Do you like romance? Do you like an idea taken maybe way too far?
Then have I got something for you. I've got not one, not two, but seven stories coming. Each is a one shot revolving around romance between Sunset Shimmer and a member of the humane six.
When, you ask, will you be able to enjoy the culmination of months worth of effort? Very soon! The first of these stories will be published on Monday, September 19th. The next story will be published on Tuesday, September 20th, and so on, so you have a full week of new Sunset Shimmer stories to devour at your leisure.
That said, let's get on with the first fic in the set, a rare AppleSet fic:
Tags: Sex, Equestria Girls, Romance, Slice of Life
Description:
When Applejack needs an extra hand around the farm during harvest season, Sunset Shimmer is the only one of the girls who has time to help.
During the long hours of work and play, they grow closer, learn more about each other, and discover what family means to each of them.
First Impressions:
First we notice a nice puny title, drawing attention to this fics key selling point: a rather rare (none cracky) ship between Applejack and Sunset Shimmer. A point which is further hammered home by the cover art, a rather lovely piece featuring Sunset sat on Applejack's knee, with the two looking in each others eyes and on the verge of a kiss with the background a starry sky.
This is, in my view, the best of the cover fics on display in this set of fics: it sets the scene wonderfully for the romance to come and advertises its host fic very well.
The tags look to be in order and the description is straightforward and to the point; at only two short paragraphs, it doesn't outstay its welcome. All in all, this looked very promising when I first found out about it.
Story and Characterisation:
This fic opens quite energetically, with Sunset, our point of view protagonist, riding a motorcycle to Sweet Apple Acres, and rather happy about it:
Sunset revved her engine and shot down the empty highway, whooping at the top of her lungs.
She loved these sensations: the wind whipping through her hair, the rumble of the engine’s roar, the pull of the bike when she leaned into corners. The sheer rush of adrenaline that came with knowing her death was all but guaranteed if she were to slip up and lose control.
This was freedom—this was ecstasy. This was a temporary reprieve from all her stress and fears and worries where she could just lose herself in the moment.
This is a very nice opening: it sets the tone of the piece prior to the romance that is to come, whilst showing off a little bit of Sunset's character; she does seem like the sort who would enjoy motorbikes. Further, the free spirited symbolism typically associated with motorbikes is an excellent match for Sunset in general.
All in all, a good start.
The set up is this: Sunset is headed to Sweet Apple Acres in order to assist Applejack with this year's harvest. We do get something of a contrivance here, as Sunset is the only one of Applejack's friends helping with said harvest. Our listed reasons:
“Maybe I should’ve tried harder.” Sunset stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms over her chest. “Let’s see, what was it again? It’s playoff season for Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy is out of town visiting family, Pinkie Pie is stuck working and babysitting, Twilight is studying for some sort of pre-pre-placement exam, Princess Twilight is busy being a princess, and Rarity wouldn’t be caught dead wearing something like that.”
This is pretty transparently the author writing everyone else out of the narrative.
That said, the author can be easily forgiven here: This fic is a character piece focusing on the relationship between Applejack and Sunset, and how that relationship might develop into a romance. The presence of multiple additional characters would only distract from this, resulting in a less focused piece, with unnecessary bloat and, in all probability, pacing issues.
As is, the author made the right call in focusing tightly on the core relationship being explored by the fic. From here, the romance is allowed to develop naturally. We get to observe Sunset fitting in and helping out. We get nice little exchanges and banter-
“Glad to hear it. Really though, we need the help, and we’re all super grateful you’re volunteering your time like this.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Volunteer? With what you're paying me, I might as well be. I should report you to the labor bureau.”
“Tons of farms stay afloat by exploiting illegal aliens,” Applejack said, her eyes twinkling. “Just not usually ones from other dimensions.”
“Touché.”
They both burst into a fit of giggles, though Sunset’s quickly turned into a yawn.
-And we get some lovely scenes where romance ultimately blossoms, which I shall not spoil here. All in all, an excellent start to the set.
On to the next one:
Tags: Equestria Girls, Romance, Slice of Life
Description:
Sunset's friends ask her for help with a lot of things. Pretending to be Rarity's boyfriend at her cousin's wedding is a new one. It can't be that hard, right? A sharp suit, some expertly applied makeup, and a good backstory and she'll be charming the pants off of the bridesmaids in no time.
But just what is Rarity hoping to get out of this subterfuge in the first place?
First Impressions:
This is a pretty nice image of Sunset Shimmer looking snazzy in a suit. It's big, it's bold and it draws the eye. That said, I do feel it is a little inferior to the beautiful pic of Sunset on Applejack's knee that graced the last fic. This, however, definitely does its job of advertising the fic.
As before, we have a nicely punny title, should you be into that kind of thing. As with the last one, this features a very rare ship: Sunset and Rarity (Sunsarity?). It does occur to me: most everyone ships Sunset with either pony or human Twilight. Ships between her and other members of the human Mane Six (or anyone else, really) are all rather rare.
Which is probably what caused Oroboro to start this project in the first place.
Story and Characterisation:
We open to Rarity putting the finishing touches to a suit made for Sunset Shimmer. Yes, a suit and not a dress. This is actually something of a plot point. Rarity requires Sunset to get in touch with her masculine side:
“And that’s why,” Rarity mumbled, shrinking back on herself and twiddling her fingers together. “I was kind of hoping you could be my boyfriend.”
Sunset stared blankly. “What?”“Just for pretend, of course!” Rarity stammered, blushing furiously. “All you have to do is play a part, like acting in a play!”
In many ways this is rather more elegant than the set up in the last fic. While that was workmanlike in establishing the setup and writing out the other characters, all the better to focus on the central pairing, this accomplishes the same thing without listing a contrived set of reasons for there absence.
Further, it allows the couple to bond in the romantic setting of a wedding whilst providing a nice little romcom type scenario.
In short, it has potential.
As with the previous fic, the author takes full advantage said potential to shine a light on the character of Sunset Shimmer. The case of this fic, the author utilises Sunset's canonical propensity for deception and manipulation.
In truth, this is something of an informed attribute in canon; the audience is told this about her, in Equestria Girls, but we don't really see too much evidence of it on screen. In Rainbow Rocks, of course, we have reformed Sunset, who is naturally disinclined to show off these skills.
Informed or not, this is an underused facelet of Sunset's character, but it is employed to good effect here. Sunset elects to play a roguish foreign exchange student, with a somewhat flirtatious deposition:
Four bridesmaids sat around Sunset in a semi-circle, hands clasped in front of their chests.
“I stared into his eyes. His hot breath stunk up the room. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, and I knew the second one of us moved, things were going to get ugly.”
“What happened?” one of the girls whispered, resting her fingers on Sunset’s arm. Sunset couldn’t remember her name. She’d already been introduced to so many people that they were all just a blur now.
“I moved first. I grabbed my drink, threw it in his eyes, and ran away as fast as I could! And that, ladies, is why I am alive to talk with you all here today.”
The interplay resulting from this between an increasingly jealous Rarity and Sunset forms the crux of the developing romance, with the question of whether Rarity is in truth becoming attracted to Sunset or to Sunset's adopted persona handled adeptly in a climax that I shall not spoil, but one which is well worth the read.
Onwards then:
Tags: Drama, Equestria Girls, Romance, Slice of Life
Description:
The big game. All Sunset has to do is be the ringer and help Rainbow Dash win it. Easy.
But for all her athletic prowess, whatever seems to be bugging Rainbow Dash won't be solved just by kicking a ball around.
First Impressions:
As with the other fics in this set, we have a rather short, concise description here. As with the others, it does its job well: the readers are presented with an interesting scenario to entice them without an off putting wall of text.
In short, short is good.
One thing I note here, that might pass an American or Canadian reader by, is the odd terminology for Sunset's position in the football team ("soccer" to Americans, and please don't ever make me type that word again), that of "ringer." The correct term is goalkeeper, or just keeper.
This oddly recalls my days teaching lab classes at uni: I might question a student and receive an reasonably adequate answer only to find, upon closer examination, that their understanding of the concepts involved was at best shaky and liable to fall apart under scrutiny.
I suspect that this bothers me more than it might others because I'm a British football fan; for all I know, this is the correct term stateside.
A nice enough cover pic (though not nearly as good as the Applejack cover pic) and a decent, sensible set of tags round things off here. It's all in order and promises a nice little fic.
Story and Characterisation:
In many ways I have mixed feelings about this fic. Don't get me wrong: it is a fun and enjoyable read, but I feel it is the weakest of the set.
Oroboro recently blogged about writing this project, and some of his comments regarding this are enlightening:
A Heartfelt Goal was one I struggled with a bunch. The core idea I wanted to harp on was that Rainbow Dash is jealous of Sunset's multidisciplinary talent. And is also a total tsundere about it. My first draft actually had Sunset and RD ponying up to win that soccer game, and RD freaking out because magic meant she couldn't count on her own talent anymore. It was a neat idea, but it kind of overshadowed everything else and stole the wind out of any romantic relationship, so it ended up getting changed to what you see now, where the focus is more centered around jealousy, especially about Sunset's interest in Fluttershy.
Oroboro states that the core conflict he wished to expose here was Rainbow's jealousy of Sunset's multitude of talents and her (stated in fic) interest in Fluttershy. That's fair enough: those themes are explored, and it is done well enough.
My key criticism of this piece, however, is the ease with which Sunset becomes skilled as a keeper; I was not really sold on her ability to become as good as she did, as quickly as she did:
“We have backups, sure, but they aren’t goalies. The state semi-finals are this saturday. Away game. That’d give you four days to practice and learn how to be an awesome goalie. Our ringer. Come on, Sunset, we need you. You’re good at, like, literally everything you do; I know you can handle it.”
Sunset let out a long sigh and rubbed at her temples. The sun beat down on her brow, and she could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. “You’re serious. Is she serious? You’re really supporting her in this?”
Sunset ultimately agrees to play keeper, with her price being Rainbow helping her get a date with Fluttershy.
There is an issue, however: four days does not a keeper make. While Sunset is talented, she has never shown much inclination towards sports; her becoming a keeper of the required level in the stated timeframe is a very hard sell. Yet she becomes one:
But so was Fleetfoot, and Sunset was at a better angle to pass to her.
Sunset twisted, practically upside down, and delivered a tremendous kick to the ball before gravity remembered she was there, and she landed in an undignified heap.
Her body screamed in protest. But even from her awkward angle she watched as the ball soared halfway across the field.
Fleetfoot met the ball with her head, chased it for a second-and-a-half, then kicked. The ball flew past the stunned goalie, and the horn sounded the end of the game.
Classic route one stuff. The problem is, I'm not really buying any of it.
For a start, this isn't really how football works: the final whistle would never be blown a second after the ball went in; there would, at the least, be a restart. Things may be different stateside, but if so, they should sort that out sharpish.
All minor points, and likely to fly over the heads of most readers, but still an issue; it, along with the use of stereotypical sports drama tropes, damages my verisimilitude.
It may sound like I am being harsh on this fic, and I am, but these gripes are not too serious; in truth, the football is a means to an end. With it out of the way, we now have the meat of the thing: Rainbow's jealousy of Sunset:
Sunset rested a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. “Is that what this is? You're mad because I passed the ball to Fleetfoot instead of you? It’s a team sport, Dash. I thought you learned your lesson about wanting to hog the spotlight back during the Battle of the Bands. I made a split second tactical decision and it worked out in the end. I'm sorry I ruined your moment of glory.”
“That's not—” Rainbow Dash cursed under her breath, then spat off the balcony. “‘Learned my lesson.’ You sound like my freaking stepmom. Maybe I am pissed because you didn't pick me. I was perfectly happy moping out here on my own. I'm not a kid. I don't need your friendship lessons to make me feel better.”
This is rather more like it. We have a sensible conflict, in keeping with the characters. The fact is, Rainbow can be a glory hog and she does have a hard time seeing things from the perspective of other characters, 28 Pranks Later being a case in point.
Further true to form, Rainbow is not fond of conflict with her friends and would be inclined to avoid dealing with it.
Ultimately, the drama is resolved and the pair get together. On the way, we get some lovely little moments between them.
This may have been the weakest of the set, but it's still pretty awesome.
Next, we have Pinkie Pie:
Tags: Sex, Equestria Girls, Romance, Slice of Life
Description:
In the darkness of a malfunctioning elevator, there's little else to do but lay your heart bare.
First impressions:
Here we have the shortest description of the lot: one sentence, and a rather simple sentence at that.
Still, it does it job well enough, with another interesting scenario with plenty of scope for character development and good character interactions.
Let's look at that scenario. We have two key words here: dark and elevator. The implications of the latter is straightforward: this is a classic stranded together situation, a well worn trope in romance. The former, however, has its say. A dark, broken elevator invokes feelings of isolation and claustrophobia.
Potentially fascinating. As with the rest, we have a sensible and cohesive set of tags, and a lovely pic of Pinkie hugging Sunset to give an excellent first impression.
Story and Characterisation:
First thing's first: you've gotta love the title of the chapter, Please Notice Me. Sunpie! Aside from being a nice pun, it highlights this fics key feature: SunPie, played straight. Among the rarest of the rare ships, at least as far as main character pairings go.
Pinkie Pie ships are comparatively rare in general, outside of the ever ubiquitous CheesePie. I have seen a few TwiPie fics, the odd RainbowPie fic, and, once in a blue moon, flutterPie. This is a simple consequence of Pinkie's character; she is difficult to write in general (even the show staff occasionally fail to get her right), much less ship convincingly.
CheesePie is comparatively common because their personalities match, and the show has already done most of the work.
It will be interesting, then, to see how the author goes about this.
To begin with, our setup:
“Oooh, I know, how about we race down the stairs!” Pinkie Pie’s eyes sparkled, and she tugged incessantly. “Elevators are super stuffy and boring anyway. I bet I can beat you!”
Sunset held tight and planted her feet before the manic ball of energy could escape. She glanced at the stairs, then back out the window. The skyscrapers of Canterlot marred her view of the setting sun. “Another time I’d be happy to take you up on it, Pinkie, but my knees are still killing me from all that soccer with Rainbow Dash. Let’s just take the elevator, okay?”
As advertised, we have Pinkie and Sunset in an elevator. Two key points to note in this segment: first, Pinkie isn't to keen to get in the elevator. Secondly, there is some continuity between the fics. Both of these will become relevant in due course.
Before that, though, the author indulges in a bit of world building:
She always hated coming into the city proper. It merely served to highlight the differences between this world and Equestria. Here, rather than serving as a bastion of unicorn architecture, it was reduced to another urban metropolis the likes of Manehattan.
In a twisted mockery of her home, she could see the gaudy casino known as Canterlot Palace from here, complete with signature spires and an orbiting moon and sun. Flashing blue and red lights adorned the base of the structure, the cop cars producing them just out of sight. Something must be going on down there.
This is good stuff. Whilst only a pair of paragraphs, this is a lovely little section. It's pulling double duty:
As stated, it serves as some nice world building, allowing the audience to envision the differences between the Canterlot of the human world and the Canterlot we know from the show.
It also highlights the fun house mirror effect the human world has for Sunset, invoking feels of homesickness and loss on her part. All of this gives increased depth to both the setting and Sunset's character.
This sort of thing is gold as far as the reader is concerned: these subtle depths and flourishes serve to draw the reader in, increasing verisimilitude, and thus, the reader's immersion and enjoyment.
The promised elevator failure does indeed occur:
“Really? Huh. Mine is actually—”
Darkness engulfed them, and the elevator lurched to a stop, the harsh grinding of machinery echoing throughout the carriage.
Sunset fell to her knees at the sudden shift in motion. She froze until the noise stopped and she sat alone in the darkness.
“Pinkie?” Sunset croaked, her voice loud in the stillness. “Are you alright?”
“J-just peachy-deachy!” Pinkie Pie squeaked, her voice cracking. “I think, uh, the power went out?”
The claustrophobia the distribution hinted at comes to a head here: Pinkie is frightened of elevators, hence her reluctance to get in the elevator in the first place.
From here, things proceed in a manner I am not over inclined to spoil too much. We have some excellently written interactions between the pair. First, we have Pinkie becoming increasingly agitated, before revealing the problem:
“What I do have is a fear of elevators specifically! Of course there's no official phobia for it, everyone just thinks it's the same thing as claustrophobia, but it's not! It deserves to be in the DSM, but despite dozens of strongly worded letters to Psychology Today I haven't gotten a single response. What a bunch of meanies!”
Pinkie Pie let out a huff and crossed her arms, looking indignant.
Sunset frowned. “Maybe not often, but I'm pretty sure I've seen you ride elevators before. And we made it up to the forty second floor in the first place without much trouble.”
Pinkie Pie grimaced. “They're pretty much unavoidable. But it's not like a super strong fear or anything, I can usually handle it. I've just gotta distract myself with jokes or a catchy tune or counting the spots on the walls. And the rides are never that long. This is, um, kind of literally my worst nightmare though.”
Sunset is understandably horrified. The author does an excellent job of evolving the situation, with Sunset's efforts at conforting Pinkie leading to romance in a natural, and rather sweet, manner.
It's top stuff, and you should read it.
Onwards to Fluttershy!
Tags: Equestria Girls, Romance, Slice of Life
Description:
Two years ago when Fluttershy was a sophomore, she spent a fretful month as a teen fashion model. Her burgeoning career was sadly cut short by the relentless bullying of Sunset Shimmer.
When Fluttershy is once again offered an opportunity to rejoin the industry, Sunset sees a chance to make amends.
First Impressions:
First if all, that cover pic is lovely: the art style is distinct, with solid lines and good use of pastels; both Fluttershy and Sunset look beautiful. The use of simple body language and facial expressions to convey character is remarkably effective here. A top class effort from the artist, and very likely to draw the eye of a potential reader.
The description is not bad either. Like its fellows, it is brief and to the point, and, also like its fellows, it's all the better for it.
The setup it presents is ripe for exploitation by a good author: a what if scenario where human Fluttershy was a model in the past, as was the case with her pony counterpart, but with a different outcome.
It has great potential, and coupled with the sensible set of tags I have come to expect, it has me excited for the story to come.
Story and Characterisation:
And so we come to Fluttershy. The object of many an author's cack handed attempt at shipping a main character with themselves their OC's, Fluttershy, along with Rainbow and Twilight, is the most shipped of the Mane Six.
And unlike with Rainbow and Twilight, much of her character (on the surface) tends to survive the effort, save in the worst cases, such Commander Thorn in Equestria or A New Hero. There is a reason for this: quite, meek, submissive and feminine, Fluttershy is one of the less threatening members of the Mane Six from a romantic standpoint.
On the surface, at least. A deeper reading of her character reveals a rather different situation; Fluttershy is submissive only on matters that don't interest her; where her interest is roused, she's as stubborn as a mule.
Oroboro has so far impressed with his grasp of character. It will be interesting to see how he does here.
We begin with (non sexual) tension between the two, at least from Sunset's perspective:
Once Sunset was alone, she cursed, kicking a stone into a nearby bush. With any of her other friends, Sunset could quip and banter and tease, and be reasonably sure that they'd give back as good as they got. But with Fluttershy, even Sunset’s mildest efforts seemed to cross the line, seemed to push too hard against something too delicate.
Of course, there was probably a reason for that.
Sunset pushed her way into the clinic and entered the bathroom. Her reflection stared back at her from the mirror, lips twisted in a sour-looking pout. She splashed some cold water on her face.
All quite in keeping with canon. Fluttershy mislikes pranks, and is the member of the Mane Six (human or pony) most likely to attract bullies, with the possible exception of the human Twilight.
Indeed, the first time we see human Fluttershy, she's being terrorised by Sunset Shimmer. A fact that is causing Sunset some problems now. Fluttershy has forgiven her, but she has not really forgiven herself:
She could remember it all clearly. Years of torment, a relentless campaign to bully and ruin the life of a girl who had never done her any real wrong. Fluttershy had forgiven Sunset, of course. She’d been the first to truly accept Sunset as a friend, when they were still all working through those first awkward stages of redemption.
Sunset couldn't understand it. Even now, when she thought back to some of the ponies who had bullied her as a filly, a part of her still seethed with anger. What Sunset had done to Fluttershy deserved hatred, and no second chances.
All of this is nice potential set up for some juicy drama to go along with our romance. Still, even the best of authors must occasionally flounder along the way:
Fluttershy shrunk back into the hollow of the tree. Her eyes darted back and forth, and when she saw Sunset, a wave of relief washed over her face.
Something started to boil in Sunset: an anger, not just at anyone who dared to harass Fluttershy, but for shattering that perfect picture as well. Even as she strode forward, fists clenched, some part of her smiled. This was something she was a lot more comfortable dealing with.
Show, don't tell. I feel that it's altogether unnecessary to state Sunset's thoughts and feelings here. Her actions demonstrate her mood well enough, and it's also quite plain that this puts Sunset back in a situation she feels she can control.
That said, the type of situations where Sunset feels comfortable and in control versus those where she does not is rather telling, and illuminates her character nicely. On that topic, we have further illuminations on who Sunset is, or rather, who she was:
Fluttershy was kind. Fluttershy was good. Fluttershy was sweet, and innocent, and earnest, and beautiful, and everyone adored her for her inner light.
Back then, it was like holding up a mirror into the ugliest parts of Sunset’s soul. A harsh reminder of how hollow and empty the power she sought really was.
So Sunset did what she always did to someone she considered a threat: destroyed them.
Still rather telly, if honest truth be told, but the use of Fluttershy's character as a contract to Sunset's previous character, with a view to showing how that might inform their past and present interactions, is a nice touch.
Allow me to outline our setup: Fluttershy was a model. Evil past Sunset put a stop to that, largely out of spite. Present Sunset would like to make this right by setting her back up as a model again. Fluttershy is less than enamoured by the prospect.
That's the idea, anyway. Rarity, however, sees things a touch differently:
“Is that your reason? Drat.” Rarity scowled and pursed her lips together.
Sunset blinked. “Were you expecting something else?”
“Well, you know—ah, a little lower—I was starting to think that this was all stemming from a romantic infatuation on your part.”
“What?” Sunset stammered, her face turning red and her eyes going wide. “What would give you that idea?”
All very cute. An interesting point here: of all the Sunset ships on display thus far, this is the first time Sunset starts off with a crush on her co-star. Proactive Sunset makes for a nice change of pace from the previous efforts, where Sunset was largely reactive. It provides her with more in the way of agency with regard to the situation.
She ultimately gets Fluttershy back in modelling. The two have a heart to heart, with some nice work on the part of the author to build romantic tension. Which gets broken:
A soft chime interrupted the night air. Fluttershy stiffened, then pulled out her phone and began scrolling through something. Her eyes darted back and forth as she read whatever message she had received. After a few moments, Fluttershy went limp, slumping back into the bench like a puppet with its strings cut. “Reasons like that,” she whispered, and pushed the phone towards Sunset.
Sunset picked up the phone and skimmed the email on it. A few key words quickly jumped out at her like application, veterinary school, and rejected.
“Come on, this is just one school, right? Not the end of the world.”
From here, we have a nice pep talk from Sunset, and of course, romance. Happily, we have the simplest option: Sunset womans up and asks her. It's sweet and well handled.
Sadly, we don't get to see Fluttershy's hidden steel, but we do have a heartwarming, well written fic nevertheless.
Now for (human) Twilight.
Tags: Gore, Adventure, Equestria Girls, Romance
Description:
It all started with a simple question. "Can the portal go to other places besides Equestria?
The answer turned out to be "No, but we might be able to make one that can."
When their research is complete, Sunset and Twilight are pulled into an adventure in another world, where they meet even more doppelgängers of themselves. But their alternate counterparts may reveal some things about themselves they never knew.
First Impressions:
And now for something completely different. Our previous fics have all been one flavour or another of slice of life romance, with varying levels of drama. This is the author's bread and butter; he is also responsible for the altogether excellent Fractured Sunlight.
This incorporation of romance into an an adventure, whilst hardly revolutionary (see: every blockbuster, ever), nevertheless represents a departure from the author's confort zone. It will be interesting to see how he handles it.
Story and Characterisation:
We have come to it at last. You knew it was coming, my good ladies and gentlemen: Sunlight, one of the fandom's favourite ships, and certainly the favourite ship of the author.
We begin with the portal promised by the description already consructed and being prepped:
“Are you ready?”
Sunset smiled and placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “We've triple-checked every part, and the calculations are all perfect. We're as ready as we’ll ever be.”
“Yeah, but…” Twilight blinked, adjusted her glasses, then shook her head. “No, you're right. All that's left is to actually try.”
She began flipping switches, and the hulking machinery that dominated the lab began to hum their sterile melody as they booted up. “Initiating scan for dimensional anchor.”
This is a good cold open. No messing, no fuss, straight into the action.
This is the longest of the fics here reviewed at about seventeen thousand words. It is reassuring to see it head straight to the point: it implies that the author was careful to trim the metaphorical fat.
Which is just as well. Adventure may not be the author's bread and butter, but Sunlight certainly is. In many ways that is both the biggest strength and weakness of this fic, when compared to the others in the set. One the one hand, this is Sunlight, one of the most popular ships in the fandom, and a ship with which the author has a great deal of experience.
On the other hand, this is Sunlight. Everyone, more or less, ships Sunlight, and as such there are many takes on the concept; the Sunset Shimmer x Twilight Sparkle (SunLight) group alone boasts one hundred and eleven such stories.
Compare and contract this with its fellows, which benefit from the novelty value of being, for the most part, rare ships. In a way, they have far less competition.
Having gotten right into the portal opening, we have a wee bit of caution: Archimedes the rat is sent through first, with due concerns for his wellbeing voiced, and equally due concerns voiced for their wellbeing should any happen to him and Fluttershy find out about it.
We learn the results of the experiment:
Archimedes seemed shaken, but healthy. Sunset gave him a cracker with some peanut butter on it. It seemed to placate him well enough for the time being.
“Alright, I've got it. We've got an earth atmosphere, temperature of twenty-three degrees Celsius. No nonstandard pathogens detected in the air or the soil. Readings of an energy field similar to that of Equestrian Magic. Pictures show what appears to be a standard earth-esque arboreal forest around the immediate area. The portal is anchored to a large rock, about the size of a room.”
These instant science tropes always amuse me. Some make sense. For example, an instant reading on temperature? No worries. Earth atmosphere, however, not quite so easy. They would need a GC-MS (gas chromotography mass spectrometer) for that, which will set them back about sixty thousand dollars. Contrary to what tv shows will insist, these things don't interpret themselves either. Gonna need an analytical chemist, preferably one who specialises in atmospheric chemistry. And the soil and water pathogens? That wants a microbiologist, with a fully kitted out lab and a couple of weeks. An instant, reliable answer on a bit of paper? Forgot it.
Still, I understand why these things are done in the way they are; accurately depicted analytical chemistry and biology would bore (most of the) the audience to tears. Hell, half the time it bores the analysts themselves to tears.
Still, at least it shows that the author has thought about things like soil pathogens and atmospheric chemistry, which is more than some scifi shows can be bothered to do.
Following that bit of good sense and due process, however, we have some good old fashioned stupidity:
Sunset shook her head. “No, Twilight. I'm putting my foot down. This world will still be waiting for us when we've prepared properly.”
Twilight glanced at Sunset then quickly looked away. The emotions that flickered across her face were difficult to read, but they eventually hardened into a steely expression full of determination.
“Twilight?” Sunset asked, taking a step forward.
Without another word, Twilight grabbed a pack that was stashed under her desk, and dashed forward. She slipped into the silver energy and vanished before Sunset could react.
There is no way around it: that was really stupid. Really fucking stupid. Just plain dumb. This moment leads to the whole adventure and romance that is to follow, but damn was it ever stupid.
I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, the human flavour of Twilight (and pony Twilight, to a lesser extent) has previous for unwisely messing with forces she doesn't understand; she is something of a poster girl for intelligence does not equal wisdom. On the other hand, you would think she had learnt her lesson by this point.
Still, if it does nothing else, it at least allows the plot to move along quickly. And move along quickly it does. Twilight wants to go exploring, and she is determined to carry on her streak by being stupid about it:
Sunset sighed and shook her head. “Forget the natives, what if there's dangerous wildlife about? Doesn't even have to be the magical kind, what will you do if there's a bear or a mountain lion or a venomous snake?”
Twilight stuffed her equipment back into her bag, and stood up. “I don't remember you being this paranoid when we went backpacking with the girls. If I get in trouble, will you come save me?”
Sunset blinked. “Of course I will, but I'd really rather not have to—”
“Then that's that.” Twilight pushed her way into the underbrush. “I trust you, Sunset.”
Which brings me to my major criticism of this fic: everything that happens does so because Twilight is stupid. She justifies it with her desire for an adventure with Sunset, who she's obviously crushing on, but still: stupid.
Twilight doesn't get away with her stupidity for long, I'm pleased to report. They soon encounter the locals, and the adventure proper begins. It's quite a cool adventure as well, and I shall spoil neither it nore the romance that it instigates.
That said, the romance itself is sweet and well written. It's fairly emotionally charged, due to the danger both Twilight and Sunset find themselves in, and when they do kiss, it's a nice, satisfying moment, that feels earned.
Both aspects of this fic ultimately work well. The adventure is satisfactory and the the romance is heartwarming, with the two intertwined nicely. The romance doesn't feel like a plot tumor, and the adventure doesn't feel half arsed or perfunctory. I recommend it, as I have all its fellows.
Finally, to the last fic, the omniship.
Tags: Sex, Comedy, Equestria Girls, Romance, Slice of Life
Description:
This story is a sequel to A Sunlit Journey
Alternate worlds. Infinite possibility. Someone's life could have gone a thousand different ways, fall in love a thousand times with a thousand different people.
When a simple demonstration of portal technology goes catastrophically wrong, Sunset finds herself stuffed full of the memories of her alternate counterparts.
Memories of being in love with all of her friends.
While every other story in the Sunset Shipping Project so far has been designed to be accessible as a standalone one shot, this story is explicitly a sequel to all of them. You can find them all here.
First Impressions:
Prior to the publication of the Sunlight Shipping Project, Oroboro published a blog to build hype for the fics to come. In it, he added screen shots of all of the front pages of the fics. All but one; fic seven was kept under wraps.
As each fic was released, and proved to be awesome, speculation on the nature of this fic grew.
What we got was a sequel to all of the other fics.
Story and Characterisation:
And what I got was a headache. There really is no way to review this one without spoiling both it and the other fics in the set. So I'm not going to. At least, not in the manner that I normally would; there will be no in depth analysis of the text, and no quotes.
I will, however, briefly review it in general terms.
As with its fellows, there is a continuity of sorts: the general series of events happen in each fic in order of publication. Each, however is a separate continuity, with the key difference being which girl Sunset ends up with.
With respect to this, this fic is a nice bookend to the series. It is a romantic cringe comedy, with sitcom and (sort of) harem comedy elements. Most of said cringe involves poor Sunset, who has a rough time of it here.
Like any decent (sort of) harem comedy protagonist.
Even this is too much in the way of spoilers, really. I will draw things to a conclusion here. The take home message is this: it's good, and you should assuredly read it.
Conclusion:
In many ways this is one of the more difficult conclusions I have had to write, because there is very little further to say. However, there are several key points that must be emphasised.
Firstly, the machanics of the writing is top notch throughout all these works. The standard of the editing and proof reading was clearly first rate.
Secondly, the characterisation is likewise top notch. For the most part, the stories flow naturally and organically form the interactions of these characters, and they do so in ways that make sense for those characters. A good case in point here that I did not bring up in the individual reviews for fear of spoilers was how each fic handled the physical aspects of relationships.
In too many ship fics, there appears to be a rush to get the pairing in bed together. Here, however, the characters lead the way, rather than the author. Each proceeds in this manner (or doesn't, as the case may be) at a place that feels much more sensible for the characters in question than is often the case in lesser works.
Finally, the tone of these works feels right. They are sweet, without being twee, or patronising. The language used is effective, without becoming overly sentimental or resorting flowery or overly purple prose. It's all very well judged.
Collectively, therefore, I have no hesitation in naming these fics among the Good.
...
TL;DR: Awesome shippy goodness, which you should read.
Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you enjoyed the stories so much.
One thing to note.
The term "ringer" is slang for, quoting Urban Dictionary here.
I believe in reference to a movie where that was the plot.
Although yeah I don't know a damn thing about football, and couldn't find any editors with qualifying expertise in the subject either.
4419634
No worries. I had assumed that it was a American term for goalkeeper.
Yeah, the fics were pretty awesome. That was a good week for cute shipping goodness.
Edit: Thanks for the follow
Another solid blogpost. While I may be biased because I helped edit several of those fics, they were a lot of fun and felt really solid.
4419644
Yeah, they were pretty damn cool. The AppleSet fic and the SunLight fic were my favourites.
good review.
Corrections offered without malice.
(We call them goalies. )
comfort
contrast
previously been known
4419670
Corrections noted. I will make them tomorrow when I'm not knackered. One note, however: "has previous" is a British policing term, as in: "The perp has previous for that type of offence." It's a contraction of "has previous convictions."
4419651 I helped with both of those and am delighted anything I assisted with tickled your fancy n_n
4419673
Ah. Useful knowledge.