Fic recs, May 24th! · 4:58pm May 24th, 2017
Scribbler's newest reading is Regidar's Reformation, featuring Jonty Jig and Lotsa Voices! Goombasa has done a reading of Wanderer D's Consequence!
I agree with FOME: this blog exploring the similarities between Sunset Shimmer and a certain classic video game boss is a fascinating and original thought experiment at worst.
Been a while, hasn't it? :B Well, I did lose a whole week+ to RL, but I think that can be forgiven because friendship. Anyway, this is the first review blog with paid reviews in it! For info on how you can get in on that action, you can check over here, and yes, I'm going to include a link to that journal in every review blog from now on, because life is hard. :C
H: 1 R: 2 C: 1 V: 0 N: 1
This Our Tiny Horses: Friendship Is Sanctioned by State by Pascoite (and others)
Genre: Random Comedy
Dear Comrade Princess Horse, today am learning…
Dear god, I can't believe he did it. XD The author's note at the beginning explains everything you'll need to know about this. The short version is that it's an old, old pre-reader joke, an extended Soviet Russia gag applied to the various friendship reports over the years. Suffice to say, if you think that sounds even the least bit funny and you want to read about the exploits of Comrade Sparkle Book Horse and her friends in Vyatkagrad, do yourself a favor and read this.
Recommended
Magical Intelligence by Chinchillax
Genre: Character Piece/World-Building
I'm not sure how accessible this will be, because its best feature is also its highest bar to entry. I'm speaking, of course, about the various sections of this story which are written in something like computer code. If you know why URLs look the way they do, you should at least be able to figure out what's going on. It's some tremendously economical world-building, and I was continually surprised by what Chinchillax was able to do with the format. The prose was a little less surprising, often feeling sparse and telly, but as an alternate take on what the Tantabus was trying to accomplish, this was refreshing, and the ending felt really, really good. Worth it both as a curiosity and as a piece about the power of forgiveness.
Recommended
A Pegasus Is Fine, Too by stanku
Mature: Sex
Paid Review
Genre: Erotic Romance Drama
Rainbow Dash wants the intimacy with the race. Too bad the ponies who give her one aren't interested in the other.
This story is the perfect illustration of the frustration inherent in foreign language. Though the plot can be summed up as "Rainbow Dash wants to bang two ponies at once", there's significantly more character-based motivation behind that than in your standard clopfic. Said characterization is actually top-notch, edging up on the kind of thoughtful consideration of the characters that I expect from bookplayer. There's a surreal sensuality to Fluttershy I haven't seen since Fluttershy's Secret Kissing Story, not to mention more than a little humor. Unfortunately, for all that the way the ponies react and the things they say back up that consideration, the way they say it is distinctly off. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash frequently do not sound like themselves, and even more generally, the dialogue tends to be idiomatically unstable. "I never knew common pastry could be so sensitive" is a good line, for instance, but not when coming from Rainbow Dash. So when I say "frustration", I don't mean "it's too bad this wasn't written better": I'm talking about that point in a foreign language class when you've learned enough to answer the kid-sized questions on the test but find yourself unable to express the full extent of your opinions. The underlying concept of this story is well-considered, but there are problems in the execution that will likely turn off readers who demand perfection. (Well, and there's also the question of "how much do you want to read about ponies' sex lives?") But this was a good piece, I definitely enjoyed it, and I can even say that the sex scenes were written well, minus things like tense shifts that anyone can do, native speaker or not. I'm glad I read this, if nothing else.
Recommended If You Don't Mind Off-Kilter Dialogue
Winged Hussars by Rune Soldier Dan
Mature: Gore
Paid Review for Rune Soldier Dan
Genre: Military Drama
The Winged Hussars made an oath to defend Equestria, and even in the face of Sombra's guns, that is what they will do.
This is the kind of warfic I like: a grim tragedy about soldiers doing their duty in the face of an unstoppable enemy, not for country or kin, but for honor, with maybe a rousing speech thrown in. This rolls a whole lot of emotion into a small package — loss, duty, love, faith, death — without glorifying the combat, and rather brought a tear to my eye. The Gore tag is definitely warranted, but not overwhelming, so I think this might just be a good read for anyone so inclined. Also, WWI aficionados will doubtless appreciate the historic references. I mean, if Sabaton sings about them, you know they have to be badass. :V
Highly Recommended
Pony Courtship Rituals by Codex Ex Equus
Sequel to Changeling Courtship Rituals
Genre: Romance/Drama
Chrysalis is determined to win Twilight's heart. All it should take is a little meddling from an old enemy, right?
Changeling Courtship Rituals was such a madcap, hilarious story, that I just don't know what went wrong with the sequel. It's not that this is more drama than comedy — there are funny bits in the same vein, and a budding plot about resistance to changeling integration in Equestria was honestly intriguing — it's, well, when Princess Cadence gets to be the villain of a piece and I don't enjoy it, something is definitely wrong. Maybe it's just a little bit of wanting Twilight and Chrysalis to actually get together, but given everything Cadence does in the story, a motivation of "blinded by hatred" is a real stretch. Given that she attacks Twilight — the spot where I gave up — and explicitly doesn't understand things like royal duty, she just seems dumb. And while the author was going for a Nightmare Cadence scenario, Cadence as she actually is lacks the naivete and delusions that require becoming such. But yeah, watching her deliberately toy with Chryalis's naivete in the hope of breaking them apart and "protecting" Twilight was just not fun in the least. Stick with the original, cliffhanger ending and all.
DNF: 5/12
Comrade Potato Horse is best among equals horse. Da.
4545377
Nyet. Is Comrade Defective Mail Horse. Always springing up in strange place. Definitely not secret police. Loyal comrade have nothing to fear.
4545377
4545387
Double-nyet, tovarischi! When all horse equal is, then is all horse best horse. Is most glorious way to horse.
4545473 Da, all horses are equal. But some horses are more equal than others.
Shame you quit there. Cadance stops being a factor after that.
4545568
If I hadn't pushed myself, I'd have stopped a chapter sooner.
Every character in Pony Courtship Rituals was so unbelievably stupid that my suspension of disbelief was shattered and I couldn't bring myself to finish it. Changeling Courtship Rituals was really bad, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the sequel.
4545570 I get that. Believe me, Cadance nearly stopped me too, but I pushed on because that version of Chryssy is really adorable.
The chapter afterwards attempts to explain why Caddy goes coocoo, but after that, things smooth out. Also, we get this line from Discord:
So, you know, there's that.