Fic recs August 31th: Top Ten of 2013 edition! · 9:06pm Aug 31st, 2019
nanashi_jones's dog needs help! I'll let Bookish Delight explain.
If you're interested in seeing the works of the late MythrilMoth finished, you might want to check out this blog.
Want book? RBDash is running a little contest to see who can be the first to find the easter egg he hid in The Purloined Pony! Assuming it hasn't been found by the time I post this, you can join in the hunt via a PDF download available in that blog!
So! It's time for some fic reviews! It's also time for a state of the author blog, but I kind of forgot about that until just right now, so all things in their time, eh? I realized something earlier this year, when I did my top ten reviews for 2018: I only started doing those blogs in 2016. Meaning there were three entire years' worth of stories I hadn't made an irrelevant list of tops for, nor reviewed similar stories to! So I'm doing that now! Given how long this blog took to finish, I may be done sometime in 2021, but you can look forward to top ten lists for 2014 and 2015 eventually.
(Or, go look at my review group, the lists are already there, just not the accompanying reviews.)
So, to refresh you on how this works: I make a list of the ten best stories I reviewed in a given year. Chances are, they were not actually written that year. I then check the "Also Liked" column on Fimfiction for each story, write down all the results, and choose one that I haven't already reviewed to write a review of! And that review is formatted thusly:
Title of Top Ten fic
List of other recommendations from Also Liked list, underlining those I’ve reviewed previously
Commentary on the selection
Title and author of fic selected from other recommendations, like usual
Genre like usual
Review like usual
Recommendation like usual
This is usually an excuse for me to read stuff that's really old and maybe a little longer than I would normally read given the chance. So sit back and enjoy as I delve through stuff that was around in 2013 and have a lot of problems with this blog format! :D Also, milestone.
H: 5 R: 3 C: 1 V: 0 N: 1
The Archer and the Smith by Sharaloth
Diamond in the Darkness; Lost Cities; The Carnivore's Prayer; The Glass Blower; Harmony Theory; Sword and Song, Never So Far Away
Unsurprisingly, a lot of classic adventure fics, with both Sharaloth and Cold in Gardez making strong appearances.
The Heart Thief by Sharaloth
Side Story to The Archer and the Smith
Genre: Dark AU
Steady Hooves came to the Tyrant's city to escape the terrors of the Heartland. What he found was love.
A long time ago, I wanted to construct a world where Twilight and her friends were corrupted somehow, and each ruled a domain of her own. Thankfully, Sharaloth beat me to it ages ago, and I just never realized it. Just like the Sorceress in Archer and the Smith, the Tyrant in this story is pretty easy to guess the identity of. Instead of Lyra, we have an OC, and instead of a disguised Apple Bloom, it's Scootaloo. And also there's a romance plot. If there's a reason this pales in comparison to Archer, it's that romance, as our protagonist meets Scootaloo and falls madly, desperately in love with her. It's not love, it's obsession, and he acts like a creep the entire time, trying to enact some heroic epic where he does the impossible to win his beloved's heart. Thankfully, this actually ends up being his downfall, and I have to say I was really satisfied with the way this ended, dark as it is. The best part, then, is actually Fluttershy. I mean, you come into this, you hear about the 'Tyrant', there's animals all over this city, you figure that's her. And then Steady Hooves actually meets Fluttershy, and it throws all those assumption to the wind. Figuring that out was a lot of fun. So yeah, this is extremely dark (and, it should be mentioned, features scenes of animals being horribly abused), but it's more good world-building for this AU.
Recommended
Biblical Monsters by Horse Voice
Biblical Monsters: Lost Angel; The Savage Way; The Writing on the Wall; Hello, Sedna; Anno Domini; Leviathan; The Last Human: A Tale of the Pre-Classical Era
Oof, I've reviewed them all! I'm afraid with all these classic fics showing up in this blog, I'm going to hit one where I literally have nothing to choose from. Or like in this case, where I have to go with something incomplete...
Just Human by Lightless Void
Read by Fimfiction
500th Review of 2019!
Genre: Dark HiE
As the ponies of Ponyville battle a mysterious mental affliction, a strange creature battles for its life in the Everfree Forest.
The really hard thing about reviewing incomplete fics isn't that they end too soon, but that it's impossible to get a full view of what the author was trying to do. In this case, we have this interesting story about the mane six and others going crazy, occasionally interspersed with really boring scenes of a really boring human having completely normal adventures in the Everfree. The two plots dovetail after a half dozen chapters or so, but until then, it's very one-sided in terms of what interested me. And really, the human plot was what drags this down, if my description of it wasn't obvious in that regard. There's nothing about it that is interesting or original; the only good thing I can say about this story is that the ponies think of his hands as claws, and fucking why can't more authors realize that? So what we're left with is something that isn't bad, but isn't particularly good either, with no hope of it ever being finished since the author hasn't been seen since 2014. So there's really no point to reading this, and if you do, you'll just be wasting your time.
Not Recommended
Celestia's Teeth by Abalidoth
Tonight I Shall Be Laughter; Beloved; Observatory Hill; Daring Do and the Cursed Tome; Princess Luna Likes Coffee; Having a Ball; Pinkie Pie Delivers (A Very Important Message)
Oof. Close once again. Lots of comedies, unsurprisingly, and lots of Skywriter fics as well as Abalidoth's.
Messin' With Celestia by Friendly Uncle
Read by Fimfiction
Genre: Dark Comedy
Celestia has been getting a lot of strange mail lately.
This starts off with one of my all-time favorite gags: The dark and mysterious cult meeting no one is taking seriously. It really sets expectations, too. Though this does earn both the sex and gore tags — the latter for visceral descriptions of pony zombies — it's pretty darn funny. If it does anything well, it's using dual POVs for maximum humor value. I mean, once we've seen what's happening to Celestia twice, the third time is much funnier from Twilight's perspective. So yeah, this does go heavy into dark territory, but it's all in good fun. :)
Recommended
The Cough by Ebon Mane
Upheaval: Breaking Point; Papers, Ponies and Attitude; Giving Chaos; The missing mercenary; A Chance Meeting of Two Moons; Gods Among Us; The Last of the Ancients
Well, it happened. All eight Also Liked stories for The Cough are ones I've reviewed, some long enough ago that I'd forgotten about them. They were all horror stories too, go fig. So now we're in the Similar column, where those Dark and Romance tags loom large. Lots of sequels and incompletes, too, leaving me with:
Hero of the Day by Gravekeeper (formerly CoffeeGrunt)
Genre: Action/Comedy
The tale of the defeat of Nightmare Moon is one fraught with pain, heartache, and epic battle.
Check that "formerly" note up there. Yeah, this was written by the author of Allegrezza, and that kind of blew my mind. Because this is really cool? The author has found a way to be over-the-top and ridiculously epic in the action and dark drama department without over-writing. No duh this is cooler than the actual pilot; Twilight didn't lose an eye in the pilot! And just when I was wondering how exactly that Comedy tag was earned, we find out that… Well, let's just say the action and comedy are separated in the genre tag up there for a reason, and I wouldn't have had this end any other way. :) Hey, it's better than The Immortal Game!
Highly Recommended
Do Not Serve These Ponies by Thanqol
The Good Ship Lifestyle; For the Love of Science; Contraptionology!; Her Weight in Affection; The Saga of Dark Demon King Ravenblood Nightblade, Interior Design Alicorn; Harpflank and Sweets; The Zecorax
Lots of comedies, and Arcainum makes a strong showing. Worth noting, Her Weight in Affection is no longer on the site; why would it show up in a list like this?
Twi Hard 2: Twi Harder by Arcainum
Genre: Action/Comedy
The annual Meeting of the Minds conference is interrupted by unwanted guests.
Much like with Bearded Lust 2, there is no Twi Hard 1, so don't worry you're missing anything. This is just a ridiculous, over-the-top tribute to classic action films, using a certain one's conceits to turn Twilight into an action hero. It's perfectly, intentionally ludicrous, and a ride from start to finish. I don't ever want to read another fic where Rarity doesn't think of Blueblood as "The One From The Gala".
Highly Recommended
Gobbling and Other Traditional Pursuits by LadyMoondancer
Pumpkin Cake and the Storm Giant; Tonight I Shall Be Laughter; The Rummy Business of Old Blooey; Gummy Tries All Day Long; All Is Calm; In Their Highness's Clandestine Corps; Nightmarish
Lots of comedies, a few fable-type stories, and lots of Cloud Wander. I wish All Is Calm would ever be finished, because I would totally read about pre-canon Gusty. :C
The Celestial Mechanics in Midsummer by TwilightFlopple
Reading by BigAshRandomVids
Genre: Slice of Life
One rises early, and one goes to bed late, and that is just fine.
Sometimes, a story is just a joy to read on the merits of its writing. I regret that Luna having her own voice means that her passages are slightly less beautiful than Celestia's, but both princesses' voices fit them, and so it goes. This is a story about Celestia and Luna and how much they mean to each other. It's got some trappings of your standard early-show "Luna adjusting to modern life" stories, but it's anything but standard. I particularly like that Luna accepts that she'll be lonely sometimes, but not all the time. Really this is just a beautiful read, hands down, and it holds up phenomenally well for its age.
Highly Recommended
Lost Cities by Cold in Gardez
The Carnivore's Prayer; I'm Afraid of Changeling (And Other Short Stories); The Lantern; The Glass Blower; The Last Trumpet's Call; The Trouble With Phoenixes; Reminiscent
Cold in Gardez is what you'd call a writer with a loyal following. He's been bugging me lately to review his fics, but it turns out I already have, if this is any indicator! Sorry, CiG, it's not your day.
The Old Stories by Thanqol
Genre: Fable
In the days of old, monsters, spirits and gods roamed the land. Their stories live on.
Who doesn't love a good old-fashioned fairy tale? This is a series of stories, told by the mane six, about the Spirits of Harmony, and a group of six ponies who once ruled the world. In each story, there's a thread about Celestia, telling of when she made the sun and carried it around on her back. The world-building is very couched in S1 canon, but it's still really good. What makes this great is the final chapter, featuring Celestia putting straight what's come before. Suffice to say, I miss fics like this, and this one's a great example of why.
Highly Recommended
The Midnight Run by midnightshadow
Midnight Run: A Carpet of Stars; The Summer Lands; The Conversion Bureau: Brand New Universe; Teething Problems; Twilight's Horn Warmer; Wintergreen; Calling the Shots
midnightshadow has two kinds of readers: people who like his work a lot, and Conversion Bureau fans. Luckily, this gives me an opportunity to read a story I've been meaning to read for a long time...
Railroad Seven-Three by Defoloce
Read by Fimfiction
Genre: Adventure
A pony and two newfoals are driven to the barrier by a team of human warriors, who they do not and cannot understand.
It's funny, I read the original Conversion Bureau in 2013, the same year I read Fallout: Equestria, and yet it's the latter whose offshoots I've concentrated on more over the years. But this story was one I first heard about back around the same time, and I'm so glad I finally got to read it. What most people complain about when it comes to TCB fics is misanthropy, a myopic and monochrome view that being human is bad and becoming a pony will wash away everything inherently evil with a person. Defoloce, here displaying the storycraft and philosophical heft that would later gel into the amazing Always Say No, decides to counter that stigma with one simple thing: nuance. So you've got factions. The Human Liberation Front are anti-pony terrorists, so they're bad. The PER — a group I've not encountered before — are no better, choosing as they do to force humans to convert against their wills, even if one of our main characters finds herself sympathizing with their aims. The Railroad are a group of pro-pony militants who, at least in terms of the ones we meet, aren't interested in converting ever. And, just as in any war, there are civilians, though neither the Equestrians nor the humans who want to convert are ever just one thing. This story comes down on a line of "ponies are soft, humans are hard" with zero overall judgment about which is better. And so we have a deep and thoughtful piece about the nature of conflict, how it is so intrinsically tied to being human, and why soldiers would choose it over an easier life. Yes, Earth is inherently a worse place than Equestria, of that there is no doubt, and it's because of us that Earth is such a bad place for those averse to fighting, but even our non-combatants have adapted to the harshness we as a species have wrought upon ourselves, and that sets them apart from the average Equestrian. So if you've ever read a TCB story and been disappointed, go back to this one and give it another try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at what kind of story can from this setting.
Highly Recommended
Pipsqueak the Valiant's Adventure Journal! by Casca
The Fifth; Bantam Tales; Equestrian Time-Slip; The Confessions of Clyde Pie, Prince of Rock; The Life and Times of an Honest Pony; My Domestic Equestria; Today I Am a Monster
Looks like people who liked this fic just appreciate high-quality writing!
A Light in Dark Places by Lucky Dreams
Genre: Fantasy
Apple Bloom doesn't know what's bothering her, but she knows she doesn't need her sister's help.
If anything about this piece doesn't work, it's that it's written in the same style as In the Place the Wild Horses Sleep (and, well, comparing anything to that, I'm going to come up short), which doesn't fit quite as well with a character we know like Apple Bloom as it does an original character. Well, that and it's really hard to convey music via pure text. This is still great. It's about the power of love and sisterhood, and important steps to facing your fears. It's full of fantastic imagery and playful word usage. It's another great story for reading with your kids, and maybe for those young at heart, too. :)
Recommended
Who We Are by kits
Changelings, Changelings Everywhere; I Do; Where Earth Meets Sky; Right; Where Your Heart Is; A Million Things to Do; Just Words
Lots of Cloudy Skies. Lots and lots of classic shipfics. Of course I'd pick the midpoint. :V
Pinkie Pie's Hero by Cloudy Skies
Genre: Shipping
Pinkie's latest idea for a game: dress up as our favorite superheroes and do something heroic!
Ahh, it's always pleasant to get back into some old-school PinkieDash. :) This won't do anything for anyone not already invested in the ship: Rainbow Dash starts out the story having major hots for Pinkie and constantly second-guessing herself as to whether or not the signals she's getting from Pinkie are what she wants them to be. They run around looking for danger that happily doesn't exist, Rainbow gets gradually more and more annoyed because she's bad at dealing with her feelings, Pinkie Pie eats a wasp (???), and things eventually come together by the end. If this was maybe a little predictable, it was nevertheless very cute, Dash was written well, and I liked it more than The Games We Play, so there. :P
Recommended for Shippers
Wait, you'd seriously never reviewed The Old Stories? That's about as classic as ponyfic gets!
Unrelated: I've been meaning to read Pipsqueak the etc. for years, but I keep putting it off because the title always gets abbreviated PtVAJ, which makes me think it's going to be a sex comedy about Pipsqueak joining the army and sleeping with every mare on base.
5114383
I feel you.
But read it, cuz it's great. :B
...Wow, so basically 80% of my all-time favorites was from 2013, huh?
5114414
Crazy what all was written in the fandom's first two years. c.c;
5114415
Seems like 2012-13 and the year or so around Rainbow Rocks have pretty much all of my favorites.
I'm glad you did a review of Railroad Seven-Three. It's far and away the best TCB side story that I've been able to find. Also more echoed sentiments about how 2013 was best year. :B
Wow, why the hell would "My Domestic Equestria" be recommended off "Pipsqueak the Valiant's Adventure Journal"? Aside from involving children and make-believe, they wouldn't seem to have much in common.
Hey, I saw Contraptionology listed in one of those lists. You should read it. It's one of Skywriter's earliest and also one of the first pony stories I read so I might be remembering it through rose tinted glasses but also Skywriter's just a generally kick-ass author so It's probably in fact really good so yeah anyways go read Contraptionology!
- MLP: FiM
- Adventure
- Comedy
When life gives you lemons, make robot monsters.5114587
Believe it or not, it's very high on my to-read lists. It's just so goddamn long. Why do all the really good stories have to be so long? D:
5114603
5114603
Haha I'm a fucking dumb-ass; I was thinking of Infernal Machines.
- MLP: FiM
- Adventure
- Comedy
The touching tale of a pony and her pet mechanical salamander.I got 4 chapters into Contraptionology like five or six years ago and really need to go back and finish it myself. Those four chapters featured a steady stream of sassy Applejack, so you'll probably like the story.