sett check #2

Promised another check-in, so here's a check-in! This week, my fanfic writing goes on the backburner again and I explain why, and talk about Ghost of a Rose, one of the best fanfics of all time. Check below the ponk for more!

So I've some bad news, ladies and gentlemen. I've been busy working on my capstone paper, which I've pushed back time and time again and is the last thing I need before I can officially be a college graduate and one of the few bronies with a degree. A liberal arts degree is still a degree, after all. This, naturally, has left me with very little time for writing fanfic. Once I'm done with the paper, I'll be back at it again, so don't worry; this won't be a huge delay of my plans, probably only a few weeks at this point.

Now, that sure is a huge bummer, so let's talk about a timeless classic of fanfic to get our minds off things. Yes, indeed, another Badgerpony Read This Lately spotlight. Four years old and still one of the best things I've ever read, period. I'm talking literature in general best things I've ever read. It's called Ghost of a Rose, written by Noble Thought.

Ghost of a Rose, by Noble Thought

Where do I even start with this? How can I describe how beautifully written this entire fic is? How it has a pitch-perfect tone, a beautiful and realistic romance, pacing that just works perfectly, and characters that are consistent, in-depth, and who you want to see succeed? How do I put into words the way this fic weaves it's own lore into the lore of the show almost effortlessly? How do I describe the way that, every time I finish this fic, I want to give it a standing ovation?

I'm not sure if there is a way to describe it. I'm not sure if there's even a spoiler-free way of describing it. This fic is powerful stuff. It made me feel things, which is the most important part of any piece of literature to me. It begins wrapped in mystery, in a Silent Hill-esque Ponyville (the first few good games, not the American-developed ones or, God forbid, the movies), with many unanswered questions. There's a primordial feel to these parts of the story, in contrast with the more traditional flashback (or are they flash-forwards?) in the story, and I love fics that capture that feeling of a world where things are simple and everything can be dangerous.

Really, there are so, so many good things I can say about this fic. But I don't want to say them, for fear of spoiling any particular part of it. Go and read it. Yes, it's four years old, but I don't care. Read it, for it is glorious. Also, I mentioned last week that I would be reading something saucier – there are a few parts of this fic that really, really stretch the T rating thin.

That's it for this week's Sett Check. Tune in next week where, hopefully, my paper is complete and I can talk about progress on my fanfiction efforts.