Fic recs, December 5th: InsertAuthorHere edition · 9:35pm Dec 5th, 2019
I had been looking for something to manually read while going through some lengthy audiobooks. This was not what I had in mind. :/
I just learned that InsertAuthorHere, writer of stories like Keeping Your Hooves on the Ground, Bringing Up Blueblood and A Taste of Meat, died last year. :( You can find more info at his brother's account. LouderYay was the first place I'd heard the news, and I'm mostly saddened it wasn't something spread around the site, like with MythrilMoth's passing.
So I'm gonna do what I did for Mythril: take a look at some of IAH's stories and see what he's left us to remember him by. RIP
H: 1 R: 3 C: 0 V: 1 N: 0
And That's Terrible
Genre: Superman Crossover/Comedy
When nopony was looking, Lex Luthor stole forty cakes. Forty. That's as many as four tens! And Celestia's pissed.
Yeah, this is the Lex Luthor meme in story form. I can't say no to that. The best part of this story, besides the fact that it's hilarious, is the parallel drawn between Superman and Celestia. They're both solar-powered, after all, and both sport a plethora of abilities. This means we get to see Celestia treated like a superhero, and I am all for that. Luthor is written quite well, too, making this like the superhero cartoons I grew up with. I really just can't like this story enough, and it's all because of that stupid meme. XD
Highly Recommended
Of Hearts and Hooves
Genre: Lunaverse
Lyra and Bon-Bon love each other, but they both forgot about Heart's and Hooves Day.
This is something of an inverse Gift of the Magi, and in it, Lyra and Bon-Bon learn that the magic and passion and romance leaving their relationship doesn't mean their love is over. And I can't think of a better lesson to impart. I don't get what happened with Trixie, though.
Recommended
A Shimmering Sunset
Mature
Genre: Lunaverse/Tragedy
Cursed with a name and coat that reflect the evil of the sun, Sunset Shimmer goes looking for a new identity.
While non-canonical to the 'verse, this reminds us of an important thought: in a world where the Princess of the Sun went rogue, a pony like Sunset Shimmer would have lived a very different life than she did in canon. Like, I never would have considered that myself, but it was totally worth pointing out. That said, whoof. This is really dark, entirely in the name of melodrama. I don't know the characters from the Lunaverse that well, but I had a hard time seeing them react the way they did, and the explanation for why came off as a little thin. Were this written today, it would have suicide and death tags. The merit is entirely in the concept, not so much the execution.
Vaguely Recommended
The Legacy of Sunset Shimmer
Genre: EQG Dark Comedy
Sunset Shimmer, on her deathbed, ponders how she'll be remembered.
I was almost going to skip this one; that description sounds a little too relevant to the situation at hand, you know? But the comedy tag had me wondering. This story tells the tale of how the human and pony worlds coalesced across the mirror, sharing everything they had with each other, and how Sunset was in the middle of all of it. And then we get to the punchline, and… He absolutely did it, the madman. XD I needed this.
Recommended
A Simple Discussion
Genre: EQG Comedy
Princess Twilight goes to the human world for a 'diplomatic meeting' with Principal Celestia.
Here we have it, InsertAuthorHere's last ponyfic. :C I don't know why it's not tagged Comedy, either, because it's pretty darned funny, light-hearted and irreverent. This has a lot of great stuff in it, too, from an overprotective Sunset Shimmer to a cameo by Star Swirl in full season seven jerk mode. Plus it ends on a good punchline. It would seem IAH had a deft way with criticizing Equestria Girls that a lot of writers could stand to imitate.
Recommended
InsertAuthorHere was one of my best friends on this site...though you’d have a hard time realizing that from some of our interactions. He also had a rough time of things in his real life, both from without and within. I tried to help him with that as beat I could from the other side of the computer screen and the other side of the country. I commissioned a filly Celestia doll for him, which was the best physical thing I could do, but I also just tried to always bend an ear for any PMs he sent me, any time he wanted to talk about anything.
Insofar as writing is concerned, he was as far as I’m concerned one of the best on the site, with My Little Alicorn being in my top 5 fics on FiMFiction (hence the filly Celestia I sent him). He was also a superb critic, always able to zero in on the flaws of a work that others missed. The most valuable thing a writer can have is a critic. He in this way is one of the founders of the Lunaverse. He took us to task for our mistakes and missteps, and I’m glad he did.
His death was shocking and numbing at the same time when I learned about it. I miss him still, and I always will.
I fondly remember judging old World-Building Alliance contests with IAH. It was a terrible shock when I learned that he had passed.
The dude had a knack for writing some really fun fics. Keeping Your Hooves On The Ground was one of the first fics I read, and it's still one of my favorites.
5164970
I'd been following him for quite some time, myself. He wrote really fun stories, as 5164980 said.