Fic recs, July 9th! · 1:51pm Jul 9th, 2019

Got a moment and a dollar to spare? Drop it on Midnight Dancer's honeymoon fund! That's not something that gets passed around every day. :D

Illya Leonov's newest reading is alt-tap's An Ordinary Day!

Somehow, I've hit a whole bunch of new readers at this point in my audiobook list. Last blog was the same way. <.< Weird. Reading good stuff, though!

H: 3 R: 0 C: 1 V: 1 N: 0

Busty Business by Pegasus 25
Mature: Sex
Genre: Anthro/Romance/Transformation
Rainbow Dash's marefriend promises a spell that will make this night one to remember.
This is one of those cases where I really had to consider whether I wanted to admit having read the story in question. <.< But, well, I saw it in the featured box, I got curious, and I'm not exactly filled with regrets. Read the full description if you want to find out what happens, and decide for yourself if you want to take a chance. I mean, you could certainly do worse in the clop department; the writing is good, and it focuses on making sure the reader understands just how sexy the situation is meant to be, regardless of their previous conceptions. Granted, I wish it had focused a bit more on the mechanics, like why the sensation link between Dash and Rarity is only one-way or — more confounding — just what existing in two halves really means. More to think about than your average porn fic, anyway. I do want to take a moment and praise this for the shipping, however. Given that Rarity spends most of her day wondering just where Rainbow Dash went, she never ends up in hysterics or thinking that maybe Dash left her. There's always a reasonable explanation, even if it leads to conclusions like "Rainbow Dash is a huge baby" ~~but we already knew that~~. Point is, the story convinced me they were in a loving, caring and well established relationship before these shenanigans happened, and that's not nothing. It's just a really weird situation to be in, is all.
Recommended If You're Into That

Marginalia by Cold in Gardez
Reading by GutiuSerenade, et. al.
Genre: Comedy/Shipping/Horror
Twilight Sparkle is being haunted by the Nightmare. Again.
This is one of the most unique ponyfics — heck, stories — I have ever read. Sure, maybe the idea of treating possession and/or the power of forbidden knowledge as literal seduction isn't original, but the way comedy, horror and romance are mixed in this piece is like nothing I've ever seen before. I thought that maybe the last line fell a little flat, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to get from it, but that's probably just my dumb. This is great.
Highly Recommended

A Little Chat by DungeonMiner
Reading by GabeCastro
This guy knows what he's doing. :) Good voice, excellent delivery, high recording quality. Literally the only thing he did that wasn't above reproach was misspelling the author's name in the video image!
Genre: EQG Drama
Sunset Shimmer is called to the principal's office to have a little chat.
If we're not talking about where the human Sunset Shimmer went, I want stories like this. It delves into her life, her regrets, where she is in the present moment, and then it hits a home run in the emotional drama department. Sure, maybe the twist is easy to see coming, I certainly suspected it, but that doesn't change the fact that this is the kind of Sunset story I want to be reading.
Highly Recommended

Tainted Colors by NickyD
Reading by Goombasa
Genre: EQG Melodrama
Rainbow Dash's mother has been abusing her for the last year, but she can handle it. She's strong.
The problem with message fics like these is that the message tends to get lost in the writing. I mean, just from the description, I knew I was getting into something that was going to be heavy-handed. I was right, but it was so much worse than that. There's zero subtlety; everything is told to us. POV and tense are major issues, and there's typos, word misuse and spots where words just seem to have been put down in the wrong order. The OCs' dialogue is flat and robotic, and this story has a terrible case of Lavender Human Syndrome. Which is all a shame, since this is a really good portrayal of child abuse. I mean, you've got everything from injuries keeping Rainbow from sleeping, thus affecting her performance in school, to the self-blame and even her learning to displace negative feelings onto others. Plus the fact that it's Rainbow Dash. I mean, this was written before we actually met her parents in canon, but you'd expect someone like Fluttershy to be the victim of domestic abuse. (It's certainly a better explanation for her behavior than "I guess she's genetically shy".) But because Dash is the victim, it really drives home that this can happen to anyone and it's not due to personal failings, no matter how it feels. I just wish this were a better story, because it's got something important to say.
Vaguely Recommended

Dinky vs. the Moon by Dubs Rewatcher
Reading by Teksune
He's not great, full stop. Lots of background noise, reads too fast, no editing or second takes on things that need it. Plus he talks in the recording. Oddly, this doesn't make him unsuitable for my needs, but he may not be so for others.
Genre: Comedy
The moon has ruined its last sandcastle, if Dinky has anything to say about it!
This is my favorite kind of story: a hilarious slice of life about an irrepressible filly trying to accomplish the impossible and learning a valuable lesson in the process. And then taking it too far. This was just great from start to finish, trust me.
Highly Recommended