A Promise, Delayed, But Kept -or- That Thing I Said I'de Do Before Bronycon · 12:08am Sep 8th, 2018
So, do ya'll remember when I said I would live read and review a bunch of short stories on my trip to Bronycon partially as an excuse to clean up my RIL and partially for funzies?
Yeah, that didn't happen.
I did read most of the fics, which ended up being a fair bit more than 26 because I apparently suck at math and I got distracted by Rainbooms and Royalty being rewritten and rereleased because who in their goddamn mind expected that to happen. That said, I never did talk about them, so, without further preamble;
Nyronus Talks About Some Fics He Liked Because That's A Thing He Likes To Do and Said He Would
The Actingverse by GaPJaxie - So, this little series kind of caught me by surprise in the same way a Confederate sympathizer catches a Union carpet bagger by surprise by leaping out of the bushes with a loaded gun - which is to say in much less convoluted fashion; very, very painfully. I had gotten the impression from some of the reviews that this series had a bit of an edge to it, and don't get me wrong, I likes some emotional suffering with my pone, but Christ, Jaxie, what the hell? As I stated to him at BC "it's a story about five deeply broken people and a child." Which isn't to say it was bad, just a lot more hardcore than I was expecting. Plus, at this point, I should stop being surprised when a Jaxie story comes out of left field with a sucker punch regarding power, abuse, and self-hatred.
On the story itself, my biggest complaint is how divorced from pony it is not just by the nature of the AU, but tonally. I wanted to highlight that to lead with because despite that the stories themselves stand alone as interesting works of fiction. The one that stands out to me the most was First Take, because I felt making someone as completely and utterly awful as First Take sympathetic showed real skill and insight on Jaxie's part. The real kicker though is Jaxie doesn't just make the audience pity her because, spoilers, bad things happen to her, but he actually manages to get the reader to empathize with her and understand where she's coming from, even if how she goes about it is completely fucking batshit. It would take a lot to make me respect someone like First Take, but Jaxie managed it, so, hats off to him.
A Million Little Lights by Aragon - This story is a horror story.
It's hard for me to explain why without spoiling the twist, so, fair warning, but at it's vaguest it's a story about someone who is desperately trapped in a state of existence they do not want to inhabit, cannot escape from, and is desperately lying to themselves about being in while trying and ultimately failing to outrun the consequences of their own nature. Perhaps it's the philosopher in me, but the idea of being something that fundamentally undermines your goals and needs in an inescapable, inexorable fashion kind of makes me want to puke. As Cynewulf might say, despair is what sits in the throne of Death’s ego, and to despair is to hold the unfulfillable desire to be what you are not.
I talked with Aragon a bit about this and his intent was the story to be a form of satire - a sarcastic Take That against a certain strain of criticism, and I don't think my read on the situation fundamentally differs from that end. After all, if he wanted to make the situation as unpalatable as possible, I think he succeeded!
An Old Fool by Monochromatic - And now for something lighter and fluffier - an old man wondering if he has any place in a world that's left him behind, especially in light of his own failures!
Haha, wow, y'all write and I read some dark shit.
Anyway, existential suffering aside, this is a lighter and softer bit of fiction centering on Star Swirl contemplating his position in life on the first Hearth's Warming after his return. It's a neat little slice of life story and while it ultimately diverges from where Star Swirl went in the show, I feel it's a pretty solid take on some of the things he might have felt and thought after the events of Shadow Play. There isn't much to say aside from it being a solid little bit of character writing for Star Swirl and a general feel good piece.
Trains, Tesseracts, and Alicorns by Captain_Hairball - So, I read this one mostly for the title. Well, I read the synopsis because of the title and decided to read it because of the synopsis. It's an interesting little story with a somewhat novel take on Twilight's mother and on Cadance that goes some interesting places. My biggest complaint is that I wish it was developed more. While what's going on between the two of them is interesting, it does feel undeveloped before rushing to a conclusion. That said, what meat is on those bones is actually pretty neat, and I enjoyed what I got, so, thumbs up to you Captain.
Ship of Fools by Hap - I admit, even rereading the description knowing what this story is about, I still cannot possibly infer the contents from the synopsis. In the story Rarity has become a mostly pro-social and productive sky pirate manning an airship crewed by people in love with impossible dreams. It's kind of a weird premise, but the events that lead to it, which the story slowly reveals in flashback form, are actually pretty fascinating. That was a dynamic I never considered before, and it makes a certain kind of sense and is also unbelievably tragic. It really surprised me, and not just because of the vague incredibly unhelpful synopsis, and I was impressed with the thought. I also really liked the note it ended on. Overall, it was a short, but interesting little high concept piece.
The Donutier (also) by Hap - Hap's just pulling double duty today.
This is a story about Twilight Sprinkle, a pastry chef and cafe owner who is constantly harassed by villains looking to make a move on her much more famous sound-alike, Twilight Sparkle, and the weird, pitiable would be usurper after Twilight Sparkle. Together, the two of them decide to take a journey straight to the root of their problems, namely, Twilight Sparkle. It's a story about obsession, hang-ups, and, most appropriately, friendship. The characters are likable, their dynamic is good, and it really is just a fun story about two weird people meeting and forming a friendship as they work through their weird situation.
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So, yeah, those are a few good stories that you can knock out in an afternoon. I hope you all enjoyed me rambling about them in a much belated fashion and, hopefully, the stories themselves. Take care, have fun, and see you all around!
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you crippling depression, write fanfiction.
Simple!
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When life gives you lemons: You can make lemonade: But life gave me Tank here: And my choice has long been made.
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You know, looking back on that episode and what happened, that line is super, super dark and ominous.