There's some controversy right now about the new OGL (Open Gaming License) published by Wizards of the Coast, the company behind Dungeons & Dragons.
I don't talk about D&D here a lot, since I know it's not relevant to Fimfiction, but I think it's worth getting this news out. Also they're owned by Hasbro, the same company that own MLP, so it's worth knowing what they're up to.
I was looking at my various lists of recommended stories, sorted by the most popular, and it occurred to me to look at the bottom of the list: at the stories that I liked but which seem not to have garnered high numbers of up-votes. Here are a few of the under-appreciated gems that I think need more love.
The Apples have an argument. Then they make up. They blow some bubbles. The end. This is a proper slice of life, in that nothing much really happens - it's not comedy, it's not adventure, it's not drama - and yet it enlightens characters' emotions, in this case the feelings left behind by loss.
I also helped proof-read this story, and looking back on it there are quite a few typos I missed. I am suitably ashamed. I may have to check if the author wants me to take another pass at it.
This got an RCL feature not long ago, so it's strange that it still isn't appreciated.
It develops a really interesting horror scenario from the cockatrice, a monster that was under-used in the show. The description of mixed pegasus / earth pony architecture is suitably unsettling, and the story uses the physical setting to good effect.
I have to confess, I faved this story primarily because of the adorable gryphon little sister. This story has a slice of life style, with events seeming to meander. But as it meanders, it does in fact develop its plot surprisingly well.
You'll need to stop and think a bit at the end to appreciate exactly what was going on, and if you think you understood it straight away without having to stop and think, then you probably missed something. Give it time to settle.
People have occasionally asked me why I like stories that pit bright cheerful ponies against dark, horrific circumstances. This story here is a good example.
It would be so easy for Fluttershy, and all the characters here, to take the easier path. They have every reason, every justification. But this story is about finding the courage to make the world a better place when it isn't easy.
Cheerliee has always looked out for Pinkie Pie. Hooves always looks after Bertie Whickers. But when Pinkie met Bertie, something happened that neither the schoolteacher nor the butler had looked for.
This is simply an adorable romance. Two older, wiser and more responsible ponies, each watching their younger, more foolish charges fall clumsily in love, discover that they have a great deal in common. And the dumb realism of the romantic slapstick climax scene is guaranteed to make you smile.
When the show follows heroes around while they're being heroic, it's easy to overlook the perspective of the common pony on the street. This story takes the perspective of two ponies during the brief but violent reign of Tirek, showing just how disruptive it really was. That it manages to tell a compelling, touching romance at the same time is impressive.
A younger, angrier Vinyl Scratch gets arrested for drunkenness one too many times, and Shining Armor is assigned to reform her. It gets a lot more complicated than that, with politics and philosophy, occasionally punching you with emotion, and is full of character.
Okay, I'm biased. I've been helping to proof-read this one, and seen some of the inner process of its development. It's nearing the final chapters now, so it's worth picking it up now if you haven't yet.
