Fic recs, September 1st! · 1:12pm Sep 1st, 2017
Happy September! It seems to have become autumnal around here, by which I mean cold. :B I wonder if this was the coldest summer on record for my part of Ohio. I wonder if that would be a bad thing. I mean, was it "this is how summers are supposed to be", or actually indicative of global weather change. I hear the ozone layer is repairing itself, but not fast enough to prevent ice shelves from melting. I'm rambling.
ShadowOfCygnus has uploaded a whole buttload of readings all at once by the author Martian, including Brother, Autumn's End, and The Lost Place!
Hey, that Sunset Shipping contest wrapped up with 55 entries today! That's insane! And I look at that number and all I can think is "BUT I HAVEN'T READ INTERWOVEN COLOURS OR APPLEDASH OR ANYTHING ELSE YET ;___;"
Also, someone link me to the Appledash contest, I don't think I saved it. :B Lots of reviews today!
H: 1 R: 2 C: 3 V: 1 N: 1
Super Trampoline by Super Trampoline
Paid Review for Super Trampoline
Genre: Super Trampoline
Spring Loaded outdoes himself.
This came out of a thing Estee thought up, the idea being to write story ideas based on the names of Fimfic authors. Trust Super Trampoline to not only actually write a story, but base it on his own name. Trust Super Trampoline to also outdo himself with a tragedy that turns out to be a double feghoot. It's painful. That's a pun that I can't help making. Oh god, what's going on. This is written like the world's most cracked-out children's story, which is honestly pretty charming. Yes, I think it's high time we accept that Super Trampoline, like Blueshift, needs his own genre tag. What is my life.
Recommended If You Like Wacky Shit
Who Would You Ship Me With? by Jay-The-Brony
Reading by Scarlett Blade
Genre: EQG
Sunset asks Flash a very unusual question.
The description had me expecting one of those "the characters act wacky as a stand-in for the fans" stories. Surprisingly, that's not the case. It's not anywhere as funny as I expected, and it actually does a good job fitting the concept of shipping into the setting. What we're left with is slice of life, with maybe a touch of randomness around the edges. Of course, what I want to know is why Flash and Sunset are back together, but continuities. :B You'll get the most out of this if you're interested in shipping as a concept, more than any particular ship, and you might just be surprised by the answers.
Recommended for Shippers
Less Like It Should Be by KwirkyJ
Reading by Scribbler
Genre: Sad
Death is sometimes meaningless.
If nothing else, this story has a fantastic first line. What follows that is a look into the lives of the mane six after they've lost one of their own. And I think it's a pretty darned good meditation on coping with death. (As I heard somewhere recently, "Death is for the living," and this story exemplifies that idea.) Of course, you'll not want to be character-death-averse to read this, but if you aren't, it'll be worth your time.
Recommended
Starlight Isn't Scared of Butt Trolls by Ebola-chan Ganbatte
Mature: Sex
Paid Review for Ebola-chan Ganbatte
Genre: Trollfic
But she still has a butt troll conundrum to solve.
This was written for a "Make Spike Suffer" contest? My god, I wish I'd known about it. Of course, I also can't say that and then turn around to condemn this story for anything. I mean, from the outset (and that horrible poem), it's obvious that Spike is being raped at night, most likely by Twilight. And though I like Starlight's inner monologue, Twilight's behavior is, shall we say, not easily explained by "depressed and drunk". But, I mean, that's the kind of the whole point. Starlight even has to encourage Twilight to keep doing what she's doing, for some very good reasons; that's kind of brilliant, in a fucked-up way. And at least it's quite obviously meant to troll the fuck out of the reader, and not be considered fap material, as one commenter thought. But on the whole, it's just not doing much for me; I'd have enjoyed it more if Twilight had been doing it unconsciously or something. And of course, only terrible people need apply in the first place.
Vaguely Recommended
Simple Gestures by Jupiter VII
Reading by Agent0Fluffy
Genre: Romance
I'm not sure purchasing a rare edition of a previously-banned book counts as a "simple gesture". <.< That said, this is a subtle but surprisingly well-considered look into a relationship between Rarity and Twilight. Like, I know we just had that contest, you're likely RariTwi'd out, but this wasn't part of it, that I can tell. I just like seeing this scene through Twilight's eyes and coming to the realization that she's not picking up on what's going on here. I'd suggest giving this a look even if you're not normally into shipping; it might give you a clue as to why so many are.
Recommended
Fluttershy Needs a Haircut by PonyThunder
Reading by Scarlett Blade
Reading by VisualPony
Reading by Agent0Fluffy
Genre: Slice of Life
She's literally never had one.
You know, I was really expecting a random comedy here. There's even a Comedy tag! And while I see what the author was going for, this is definitely a non-event of a story. I mean, the idea that Fluttershy's afraid of getting her hair cut is a good character moment. The brush found in her hair is a good comedy moment; I figured that would be the exemplar scene of this story in toto. But no, the bulk of this is literally just Fluttershy having Rarity cut her hair. It ends on an uplifting note, but I don't think it was quite built up to properly to have the strongest effect.
Not Recommended
Friendship Lost… by nioniosbbbb
Reading by Goombasa
Genre: Changeling Fic
On the day of the changeling invasion, it wasn't friendship that won.
This story made me feel old. Just internet old, fandom old; I was reminded of how many stories I've read by how much of this fic I've seen before, and how little I have to say about it. I mean, the actual tale Chrysalis tells is pretty neat, definitely the centerpiece of the fic. Other than that, though, I'd characterize this as "thinking out loud in fic form". I mean, it's two years old, hardly an in-the-moment wedding episode followup, but it's full of confrontations with everything from Twilight's adoration of Celestia to the very core of the show. It's kind of edgy that way. :/ And half the time, I had no idea what was going on. (Is there actually a difference between regret and being sorry?) If you're not yet tired of the myriad changeling fanons that have been happening for five years now, this might be worth a look, just know that it is pretty grim.
Recommended for Changeling Fans
Dragons Don't Like Flowers by Twinkletail
Reading by Illya Leonov
Genre: Comedy
There is a reason for this.
So, it seems I forgot to mention one other way to get me to read your fic: write something I came up with the idea for. :V This one was fast. And it definitely feels like it was written in a hurry. But despite that, it's thoroughly hilarious, cashing in well on Ember's problems with having feelings. The narration is perfectly over-the-top, and though you can kind of guess where things are going by the halfway point, it's still a ton of fun. :D Go read it!
Highly Recommended
Was a great moment in fimfiction history. Glad you enjoyed.
4654832
You are your own genre too!
Is that good or bad?
To be honest I write slow and ideas like that hit me out of nowhere.
That's... bad? Or good?
Well let's see. "I'm sorry this had to be done." vs "I regret that I couldn't save him." It's the difference between wanting to do something bad for a good reason, and doing something for a good reason that also results in something bad. Does that make sense?
If there was anything else you were confused I'd love to explain that.
Thanks for the review. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on it.
I think this may be my first Highly Recommended from you! If all the stories to get it on
Glad you enjoyed and also inspired it!
LOL I wish i was cold its 100 degrees out side right now with a high of 105 for today this is my punishment for living in Tucson AZ
4654874
Honestly, I don't know if it was good or bad. c.c Sorry.
4654929
you big dum-dum :B
Thank you! What a surprise!
What is it with people reading my stuff from TMP and my finding out about it from other people long after the fact?
4655149
Well there might be a sequel tbh. I don't know when or if.