Fic recs, October 3rd: A Modest Proposal edition! · 12:46am Oct 4th, 2019
Another month, another collection of flash fiction. This month, for some reason two of the stories don't appear on the site despite being listed under the current issue. But there's one that somehow managed to remind me of Oversaturated World!
So this evening, I log onto Fimfic and what should I see but two stories titled A Modest Proposal in the featured box, back to back. (They did not remain there long.) I just had to know what was up, which meant time for an impromptu set of reviews! So here are all the search results for "a modest proposal", including the mature one and the one that's been cancelled, from newest to oldest.
H: 0 R: 1 C: 3 V: 1 N: 2
A Modest Proposal by Alicia Van Hammer
Genre: Comedy
Twilight never expected her diplomatic efforts with the changelings would lead to this.
I'm pretty sure this takes place in an AU that spins off from before the changelings were reformed. I wish I was a little clearer on that part. And while part of me would really love to see the relationship of trust and friendship building up between Twilight and Queen Chrysalis, I get what the author was going for. This is just swift buildup for the joke at the end, and I'd say it was worth getting to. There's even a surprise cameo at the end that made me laugh quite a bit. So yeah, short butt fun. :)
Recommended for Laughs
A Modest Proposal by The Seer
Genre: Random Comedy
Luna is not sure she heard Celestia right.
This is the other recently featured story, if that wasn't clear. I also expect it sets the tone for (most of) the rest of this: stories inspired by the Jonathan Swift classic of the same name. It's kind of funny, but it's also predicated on OOC humor (and an abacus joke), so YMMV. If we're comparing, I liked it less than the previous story.
Recommended Only If You Enjoy OOC Humor
A Modest Proposal by sparkleworks
Genre: Dark Comedy
The answer to Equestria's problems: rainbows.
This one is more trying to mimic Swift's style, if not the actual structure of the original. And it does hit some of the right chords for the humor, upper-class pegasi agreeing that making the weather is the most important thing a pony can do, for instance. Unfortunately — and I shouldn't even have to point this out — this is an extended play on Rainbow Factory, and I found myself disliking it for that reason. In fact, I might have appreciated it more had this gone all the way and presented itself as a prequel to that story, with A Modest Proposal as a spin on it. Instead, it's treated like some kind of big secret when it's not even that well kept. It could be worse, I suppose.
Vaguely Recommended
A Modest Proposal by BubblePuff
Genre: Drama
Pumpkin and Pound Cake have been foalnapped, but Pinkie Pie is on the job!
So the first sentence in this story, after the title and author heading is "royal palace." Capitalization and punctuation preserved herein. What happened? It is unfortunately a solid expectations-setter for the rest of this piece, fraught with simple typos and editing mistakes, as well as lightning-fast pacing. I guess I can see why it was cancelled.
Not Recommended
A Modest Proposal by ScousePone
Mature: Sex
Genre: Romantic Porn
Gleaming Shield's date with Princess Cadence takes a turn she never expected.
I have little to be ashamed about, having found this on my RIL for some reason, as it's the kind of extremely solid writing I look for in my porn. :P It's interesting, too, as I don't often see stories where just one character is genderbent. I'm not sure why it was done here, but the result is pretty cute: Gleaming Shield (that's girl-Shining Armor) is nervous because she's going to propose, and then Cadence starts teasing her under the table, right there in public. I was also surprised by how well this justified the anthro tag; I mean, there's not even a mention of tiddies, and I think it would have been missing something as ponies. So yeah, it feels like it's been a while since I read a porn fic, and especially one as well realized as this!
Recommended
A Pinkie Proposal by Slag
Genre: Dark
Pinkie Pie has a solution for Equestria's overcrowding.
Of course, I could have stopped there and had enough for a blog, but why would I do that when I can literally read two more stories? This one's old enough it's just over 500 words long, from back when that could be a thing. Unfortunately, it hit me late that this is just like one of the previous stories, a Modest Proposal take on Cupcakes. And it's not even as well written as that one. I'm glad this wasn't a thousand words long.
Not Recommended
A Reasonable Solution by -Hidden Identity-
Reading by CreepyPastaSalad
Genre: Dark
If you ask me, this is the ultimate ponification of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal. In reaching this achievement, it demonstrates just what a bad idea ponifying Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal actually is. I mean, if you take it at face value, what's being proposed is horrifying and doesn't fit with Equestria. And if you don't, well, it's hard to imagine an Equestrian satirist going to such lengths in the first place. Plus, it lacks that meta level of being written by a satirist in the first place, so it's hard to take it in any way but as an honest proposal. At least it's not a takeoff on a goddamn gluefic, and it also puts a spin on the original beyond just setting it in Equestria. I guess my final word is, if you want to read pony A Modest Proposal, go with this one.
Recommended Only If You Like Dark Satire
"I posit, dear horse scoundrel, that your fiction recommendation is an ideological and technical failure without even considering the vast moral failings."
Huh. Yeah, that is pretty Oversaturated. Though Sunset would welcome a pantheon that actually takes some of the burden of universe management off her shoulders, as opposed to creating more problems...
Incomplete, but this fic so far has been an interesting Twilight/Chrysalis shipfic. Been updating fairly often, so might be worth keeping an eye on it in case it finishes within a month or two.
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It was already on my RIL! :O
Thanks for the review mate