Fic recs, July 14th! · 9:12pm Jul 14th, 2018
Scribbler has done a reading of alexmagnet's Applejack, Princess of Eyebrows, with DaWillstanator, Animelodie, IMShadow007, MamiDulugo and Sugar Cloud!
It's been forever since I posted twice in three days; why not shake things up? :V Gotta go learn about the Crusades next...
H: 0 R: 3 C: 1 V: 0 N: 2
After Action by BlazzingInferno
Paid Review for BlazzingInferno
Genre: Slice of Life/Shipping
Integrity. Teamwork. Perseverance. These words define a Wonderbolt, but what do they truly mean?
This is a series of snapshots, beginning before the show with Spitfire's promotion to Captain of the Wonderbolts, trying to unify and make sense of the Wonderbolts' various canon appearances, through Soarin's POV. And the conclusion it comes to, which I imagine will ruffle some feathers, is that Spitfire is terrible at being Captain. She even says as much herself a number of times during the story. But this is equal parts about the Wonderbolts as a team, and about Soarin just sort of trying to figure out what his place in it is. The snapshot structure leaves it feeling not so much disjointed as just missing bits that could have smoothed things out, but I have to give it credit for the shipping. Any other story, that night at the Gala would have led to some embarrassed laughter and Spitfire and Soarin finding out they're soulmates and being lovey-dovey for 8k words. This story is more concerned with how a relationship messes with their careers, and then as people. So, for being about a pleb-tier ship, this turns out pretty good! :V
Recommended
Pinkie Pie Wants to Die by RockstarRaccoon
Reading by Lotus Moon
Genre: Dark Comedy
Rainbow Dash doesn't love Pinkie Pie anymore. Only one thing left to do!
I mean, point one, suicide isn't funny, but given that these are marshmallow ponies and not a one of them actually seems to be concerned with death or suicide, I can kind of let that slide. No, the main problem with this fic is the old standard of 'tried too hard'. There were exactly two good jokes, in chapter three and five respectively, while the rest ranged from 'somewhat amusing' to fourth-wall "HEY GUYS, ISN'T THIS SO WACKY" 'jokes'. :| I think I know why EQD didn't want to read this…
Not Recommended
Starship Ponyville: Mystic Acoustics by Vylet Pony
Genre: Dystopian Sci-Fi
Vylet Pony is primarily a musician, and "Starship Ponyville" is both one of his early (and excellent) releases, and the title of a concept album for which this was written. The story unfortunately is not so much a story as a summary of one, like liner notes. Everything that happens is told to us in snippets that don't make much of an impression beyond the inherent ridiculousness of some of the goings-on: Celestia staging terrorist attacks to frighten the population into supporting space travel; a pony named Satellite taking over Starlight's village and turning it into a police state; our main character, Satyrn (why?), teaching herself how to make 'gunblades' by the age of 13. There's some good action and interesting world-building, but despite reading the whole thing, I never got into it, you know?
Not Recommended
Where All My Layers Can Become Reeds by OfTheIronwilled
Reading by Illya Leonov
Genre: Character Piece
The ground is where Fluttershy finds solace.
According to the author's own comment, this was just a quick piece dashed off as practice, but you can hardly tell. The imagery is rich, and the use of parentheticals gives voice to Fluttershy's darkest doubt and fears in a very clever way. Not just another Fluttertree fic, this gives us a sharp if brief look into her psyche, in a way I've not seen done before.
Recommended
Death of the Author by RB_
Genre: Dark
Twilight Velvet is ready to retire, but not everyone agrees she should…
Up front, the Horror tag is maybe overselling this a bit. It's got some good creepy imagery, and it's definitely not a light piece, but a slower reveal (to say nothing of not giving away the twist in the description) would have been able to build up some better horror overall. That said, it's still well written, and I don't think I've ever seen a fic portray someone adjusting to retired life before. I found what I most enjoyed were just the slice of life touches about Velvet at home, and visiting with Twilight. So long as you come into this with the right mindset, I think you'll find it satisfying.
Recommended
Read It Later by All Art Is Quite Useless
Genre: Meta Comedy
Rainbow just wants to get her manuscript read. Is that so much to ask?
You know what's weird about this fic? Rainbow Dash is portrayed as a competent writer. Literally never seen that before. It may also be because she's just written sort of generally smarter than she actually is? You'll see what I mean if you read the dialogue; also, it's kind of the joke. Anyway, this is a little piece venting frustration with a certain feature of Fimfiction's, or at least with how most people use it, and it's pretty amusing. It's got a little from both sides, actually, both readers and writers. :) It's fun!
Recommended for Laughs
I really liked Where All My Layers Can Become Reeds. The atmosphere and imagery were wonderful. It's a shame the story is largely ignored.
Thanks for the review! After Action came about purely because of how serious and take-charge Soarin was in Rarity Investigates versus his usual goofball role… and the mere existence of that picture I linked to in the author's note.
Thank you very much for the review!
4901081
You're welcome! I need to check out some of your other stories now. :)