Fic recs, January 3rd, 2020! · 8:41pm Jan 3rd, 2020
Illya Leonov has done a reading of Admiral Biscuit's Night Guard!
High on the list of things I never thought I'd say: Scribbler has done a reading of Friendly Uncle's Fluffershy, with ShadowOfCygnus, Caitbug, Agent0Fluffy, Wubcake, IMShadow007, Cloud9, RosePalVA and Animelodie!
New year, who dis new Flash Fiction Online! The new decade brings us a helpful enchantress, being eager to please, the hardest part of being a lesbian, and scientists in love.
I've got one more reading before I'm done with Forrest McGilvray. I'm a little upset I didn't even get through one channel last month, but, well, he had a lot to read. :B So here's hoping the next one works out!
H: 1 R: 0 C: 3 V: 0 N: 1
Bone Daddy by Fiaura
Reading (part 1) by Forrest McGilvray
Genre: OC Fic
The last thing Equestria's foremost necromancer wanted in his life was a little filly.
This story has a really cool premise that I was pleased to see someone put into practice: in Princess Luna's employ for the last thousand-plus years is a necromancer, a pony who turned himself into a lich and has used his dark magics for the good of Equestria, doing autopsies on dead ponies to learn about disease, accident and death. He asks corpses how they died in cases where cause of death was unclear, and he's published countless treatises on medicine, many of which shape the foundations of it in the modern time. One of the best scenes, in my opinion, was one where a doctor consults one of his books, and he's trying to figure out what edition it is from the photos. It's a really great way to take something that might otherwise be too dark for MLP and make it really fit into the world. But that's not all this is about. After a living filly is brought to him, clinging to her dead mother, he's tasked with keeping her safe until she can be placed in an orphanage. Instead, he becomes attached to her, and she reminds him what it means to be alive, to be a pony, once more. This comes in a framing story where we begin at the end, in medias res, already knowing the answer to all his "why am I feeling these feelings?" questions in the body of the story. I was a little miffed by this at first, as it made everything feel a little fluffy and pointless, but it does make this recounting of a month spent with the filly have a purpose, along with setting up a medical mystery for the end. Speaking of which, I do want to mention that the end was kind of a low point, a long, drawn-out affair meant to drive home the 'feels' as much as possible. Also a downside was the writing; it's a little pedantic, frequently overexplaining things that didn't need it. And while I could chalk that up to character voice, there's also a problem with close repetitions that needed another editing pass. Still, I overall liked this piece. It's just really cool to see a helpful necromancer, even if he does freak out the locals.
Recommended for Fans of Parent-Focused Stories
Getting It Right by kits
Genre: Shipping/Drama
Rarity has had it with Rainbow Dash.
Hey, I edited this! :D So this is a fun bit of Raridash as we transition from "oh boy, Rainbow Dash done fucked up" territory into some softer understanding and a very sweet look at how the two work against each other. There's not a whole lot to the story, but it's built around a single character-informed moment, something that not a lot of people write about but that's nevertheless a very important part of who Rainbow Dash is. Also, the ending was quite amusing. This won't be of interest if you're not into stories focused on relationships, but if you are? Totally check it out.
Recommended for Shippers
Detective jakkid166 in Everything by jakkid166
Genre: Trollfic
Oh boy. This is absolutely the pinnacle of jakkid fics. A series of self-inserts inserted into classics, so the great Detective can solve all the problems, or at least make them worse. And it's got some actual good jokes, too, beyond all the bad writing and incomprehensible logic and non-sequiturs. The Cupcakes story is one of the best, but it's the Fallout: Equestria chapter that will go down as one of the best FoE sidefics ever, I'm not even kidding, it was hysterical. Every chapter is better than the last. This is legitimately great, even if you're not into badfic.
Highly Recommended
Flicker by XenoPony
Reading by Forrest McGilvray
Reading by Plagen Shiki
Genre: Monster Movie
It was supposed to be a routine trip to the Castle of the Royal Sisters. Now Twilight and her friends are trapped inside with a relentless hunter.
A word of warning first: not only does this story contain main character deaths, no one makes it out alive. I say this because the Death tag was added at my behest, in the middle of my reading, so I wasn't exactly prepared. Also, a couple of the deaths are extremely gruesome; it was almost more than I could take. That, however, is not actually a criticism: the writing needed another editing pass. It's wrought with saidisms, LUS, POV shifts, tortured similies and the occasiona weak or awkward word choice. Despite this, somehow, not only are the characters extremely well written, the imagery is extremely good. Like, just read the first chapter, as Twilight and friends move through a crashed airship, and watch how the story of its fate is told in what's left behind. The monster is shown in a strong example of when showing the monster is fine: when it doesn't matter. The characters know what it is, what it's doing, and some of what it's capable of, but they don't know what it is, or all its capabilities, or where it is at any given moment. The tension in this piece is just astronomical because of its central antagonist. This obviously draws on classics like the Alien franchise, which makes for a good story, just one that's extremely bleak and not for the weak of heart. It's been a long time since a fic effected me this deeply.
Recommended for Horror Fans
Mockingbird by HopeForTheFew
Reading by Forrest McGilvray
Genre: HiE
The Cutie Mark Crusaders find a human in the forest.
Look at that description I wrote. Just look at it. There's nothing more to this story than that. They go into the Everfree trying to find cutie marks, run into the titular human, listen to him play a song, and he punches a manticore. Nothing of note happens; this is the ur-example of a short HiE, and I find no merit in it.
Not Recommended
I've read Bone Daddy, and I basically have the same reaction as you: a cool premise that needs some refinement in the execution.
Wrong rosie :3
Still looking for the actual VA ^^’ loves her performance
Wow that sounds like quite a horror story!
5180303
It was extremely visceral. Not as gratuitous with the gore as some fics I've seen, but nevertheless strongly effective.
Oh, damn. I'm making a name for myself when it comes to being late on here nowadays. Flicker always seems to be that one project I just did for an event that keeps just popping up in conversation over the years. But this was pretty fair, it's kind of a mess I know. The audio version does it way more justice than I ever could.
Though it gives me hope that I can go back to the horror genera one day. Hopefully, with a little more of the skills I've acquired in the years since. Though most likely not pony related as my involvement in things here has kind of fizzled out. Regardless, thanks for the review! 