Fic recs, April 21st! · 1:43pm Apr 21st, 2020
Huh, no news this week. :B This blog came slowly because of a long fic, but the next reader blog will hopefully come quickly because of a bunch of shortfics I don't want to linger on too much. <.<
H: 1 R: 3 C: 0 V: 1 N: 0
Blood from a Stone by Freglz
Genre: Emotional
Have you ever hated yourself?
Here's one I helped edit. :) This is a strong, emotional piece from the perspective of Marble Pie. She's dealing with a lot of self-loathing after the canon heartbreak scene in Best Gift Ever while holding back jealousy at her other sisters. Her speech patterns were a pleasant surprise, and fans of Pascoite's Roam-Springa will catch a few homages. This is a purely internal story, working through the flood of emotions of a pony trying to be a good girl and support her family, until it reaches a climax that, if you ask me, would be ripe for a solid sequel. However you slice it, this is good.
Recommended
With Teeth by Wooly
Reading by TheGrimReader
The next reader blog is ready to go, and one of the readings there led me to find this reading. And it's his only one, huh. <.< Not much to go off, then! Unfortunately, he read the whole story in a soft growl, which is probably why it seemed like the music was mixed too high. Too bad he never tried another one, he was good regardless.
Reading by Voiceguy
Genre: Dark
Whoever hurt Fluttershy will pay.
Yaknow, if not for the fact that Discord actually has the power to back up this litany of threats, this would sound like one of those Navy SEAL copypasta wannabes that katana-owning neckbeards write on social media. That still means it's kind of boring, though. I do like the idea of "if the Lord of Chaos can control himself, you certainly can", but that's about all there is to this. Trigger warning, I guess, it sounds like Fluttershy was raped. :/
Vaguely Recommended
An Article on Unconventional Romance by HapHazred
Reading by Scribbler, et. al.
Genre: Shipping
Applejack and Rainbow Dash can't be dating! Rarity would know!
"Original" is not a word I generally use to describe AppleDash, yet here we are. HapHazred came up with a really unique way for them to get together that allowed exploration of Rainbow Dash's character and a story about two ponies finding a relationship that works for them, something I am always up for. As for Dash, we get to see her nervous and trying desperately to find her place in Ponyville, to say nothing of not able to be herself unless she has a literal taped-off safe space. The conversation about pre-canon Fluttershy tended to be interesting as well, and the framing story about Rarity needing something to write an article about for a magazine kept things moving along at a solid pace. This was surprisingly good, and though it will have nothing to offer non-shippers, it's 2020 and this is one of the best AppleDash fics I've read.
Recommended
Ghost of a Rose by Noble Thought
Read by Fimfiction
Genre: Sad/Slice of Life/Romance
Roseluck wakes in a desolate, colorless world. Why can't she remember anything?
Go to the bottom of page five of the comments and you will see me losing my goddamn mind as I came across this last year to find out it was marked read, upvoted, yet never reviewed. Then I opened it up this year and did the exact same thing. >.> In all my years, I've never gaslighted myself harder. So, what have we got? A story where the "slice" part of "slice of life" is really a misnomer. This is an entire life: we get to watch Roseluck fall in love, court, get married, have a kid, and deal with an ailing father and an overbearing mother-in-law, all in the comfort of small-town Ponyville. There's a ton of good headcanon in here, from familiar earth pony magic ideas to the stages of foal development. And Roseluck's daughter is super adorable, she's just great in every single scene she's in. But that's just half the story. Our framing story, where this begins, is bleak and desolate, and the first few chapters may in fact be a turnoff because of the tone. The mystery of where Rose is is thankfully brought to light in chapter one, leaving the real mystery that of why her companion is there as well. The story then plays out as a rush to save Roseluck's memories, letting her live out her own life against a ticking clock of darkness. And that life is the real reason to read this. You'll definitely not have a dry eye by the end.
Highly Recommended
My Little Dashie 2: Dash Harder by ROBCakeran53
Sequel to My Little Dashie
Genre: Die Hard Crossover, because why the hell wouldn't it be?
When John McClane's Christmas flight home is grounded unexpectedly, he soon finds himself fighting off terrorists with the help of a little blue pony.
Hell yes, I'm gonna read the official sequel to My Little Dashie as soon as it finishes! (Minus delays.) :D I'm sure there's no significance to how the first two chapters were written four years before the last. So yeah, this is about as cockamamie as you might expect. It's also legitimately one of the best human/pony stories I've read, simply because it spends as little time as possible trying to justify itself. Just, there's a pony, and she goes along with John McClane from Die Hard and they have to fight terrorists, because that's what John McClane does for Christmas. You get little bits of her mentioning some kind of motivation, or how she got there, and it turns out this really is a sequel to MLD, and it's kind of touching in its own way. Like, how did that happen? But mostly, this is just high-action hilarity, so Highly Recommended… IF YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE THE GLORY
Recommended
Ghost of a Rose was indeed a good read. I'll happily second that recommendation.
Thanks for alerting me to that MLD sequel.
Yippie ki yay.
Great reviews as usual, but let's not lose sight of the real question:
Is My Little Dashie 2: Dash Harder a Christmas story?
5247168
https://twitter.com/JoshuaGrubbsPhD/status/1251912353559580678
5247194
Assuredly. I mean, it takes place on Christmas Eve, but that counts, right?
5247168
motherbucker
I don't think I properly said how much I appreciated your help, and not just in th editing department.
Thanks for this.
5247109
And I'll third it. I loved Ghost of a Rose, and under normal circumstances Roseluck isn't a character I have strong feelings about either way.
No time to comment. Gotta go read MLD2, like right now!
5247272
Make that a very enthusiastic fourth! This was simply an incredible story, and imo one of Noble's best ever.