Fic recs, November 12th! · 3:58pm Nov 12th, 2018
Nothing special to say today, save that I'm officially into Sunset Shipping: Journeys, if I haven't said that before, and I'm starting up a new series of reviews for probably next time.
H: 1 R: 2 C: 1 V: 1 N: 0
My Little Student by Lets Do This
Genre: Slice of Life
Princess Celestia is sure Twilight Sparkle is meant for great things.
When a story captures my attention by writing Princess Cadence well, I know I'm in for something good. I've honestly not read a Cadence this well characterized since Cadence of Cloudsdale. But, lest I heap my praise too much in one corner, this is a very well written slice of life about Twilight's first few months under Celestia's tutelage. There's a lot of training scenes, which serve to get the author's magic headcanon across in an interesting way, plus a positive look at chessmaster Celestia, where she knows the filly she's training could be either a great boon or a great danger to Equestria. That said, just past the halfway point, the story loses its footing, putting out a slew of short, substanceless chapters that lead into a very dramatic climax that doesn't mesh with the cute slice of life that comes before it. I won't say it ruins the story — the first half is definitely worth reading — but the ending is a bit of a letdown.
Recommended for Slice of Life Fans
Wonka Vs. Applejack by MrPeaches
Genre: HiE/Comedy/Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Crossover
It's Zap Apple season; Applejack doesn't have time for interdimensional visitors.
Y'all already know how much I love Mary Poppins. The other classic movie I have quoted and thought about incessantly since I first saw it is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In other words, I am in a pretty good place to appreciate the hell out of this here story. And what a marvel it is! Front and center is the author's ability to capture Wonka as played by Gene Wilder (admittedly, the only way I know the character) in picture-perfect form. All the quotes, all the madcap schemes; it was amazing. Beyond that is just the general antagonism as suggested by the title. Applejack's a pony who likes to keep her hooves on the ground, but when Wonka's around, it's time for wild adventure. This is really just a big old heaping of fun, and I think anyone will enjoy it, whether you know the source material or not.
Highly Recommended
Detective Jakkid166 halloween special by jakkid166
Genre: Trollfic
Detective Jakkid166 tells a Halloween story about his spookiest case ever.
jakkid166 is currently writing a sequel to his masterpiece Detective jakkid166 Go to Equestria Now, but in the meantime, he gave us this to tide us over. It proves that he is truly the best thing to hit the trollfiction scene since Argembarger. He can mangle a sentence like no other. Just, the exchange of "NO TWILIGHT DONT DIE"/"But youre stabbing me I have to die", that's what you're in for. It even fails the Zecora Test. :) This was amazing. Highly Troll Recommended.
Recommended
User Not Recognized by FanOfMostEverything
Genre: Oversaturated World/Magic: The Gathering Crossover
Wallflower Blush is having more problems than usual.
As OW fics go, this is yet another "how does X character get along while Oversaturated?" But it's nevertheless a really good Wallflower fic. Or at least, it is until the crossover starts up and all I could do was go, "That's a Magic reference, right?" After the slice-of-life and figuring-out-magic parts, this just devolves into world-building for the sake of adding MtG to the OW because FOME likes Magic, I guess. :B This definitely went on for too long, I did not enjoy it, and you only will if you're as into Magic as the author is.
Vaguely Recommended
Conference by Dave Bryant
Genre: Episode Followup
Celestia calls Colonel Spitfire in for a chat about Rainbow Dash.
A recent reorganization of my Read-It-Now (there is no longer a Read-It-Sooner) brought me to a bunch of stories that are only on EQD… except this one's on Fimfic now, so that's good. :) Anyway, at its heart, this is basically just Celestia and Spitfire talking about the less-cartoony repercussions of a number of season one and two episodes and what Rainbow Dash did in them. And that actually goes a long way to making this a really good read. It's kind of just a headcanon dump, but it all holds together and, like I said, is enjoyable.
Recommended
I generally like the parts of OS that focus on the Sunset or her friends dealing with people who won't stop worshiping them (especially Lemon's godhorse comments,) but the MTG and the Fae stuff just feels like it's being hammered into place and then spackled over with the wrong color. The one where someone uses Sunset's name as a curse and the one where Sunset feels Glimmer's time-fuckery both stand out as exemplars.
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Author appeal can be a pernicious thing.
PP I need you to tickle my mesentery.
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I am going to pretend that means "middle dysentery" and wish you a better water supply.
Jakkid166 is a treasure
Looking forward to the Sunset contest reviews
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No PP it’s this.
jakkid has a lot of work to do if he thinks he can compete with the likes of apple short. Maybe he'll reach that level, though
What is the Zecora Test? :zeebee:
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It's being able to write her dialogue in a consistent and good rhyme and meter.
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I am going to pretend
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In all honesty, jakkid is better at writing rhyming dialogue than rather a lot of authors on this site.
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I like to think I write her dialogue pretty well! Though I think most of the stories I have her in are in the "I recommend against anypony ever reading this" corner of my fiction. Off the top of my head the only appropriate story I have with her in it is the one on hiatus.
Zecora's a lot of fun to write, but she's slow (to write).
I am reviewed and recommended again! This pleases me.
Thanks so much!
detective jakkid166 thanks you for my fanfiction. I can win the contest
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I don't know, to me apple short's stories largely feel like just checking off bad fanfic tropes. I feel like jakkid does more with the potential a trollfic gives you, and not to mention, apple short isn't nearly as quotable. Their format of often having huge blocks of text without starting new lines makes them less enjoyable to read - which is one of the worst things you can do in a trollfic.