Fic recs, June 14th! · 4:15pm Jun 14th, 2020
In addition to all the ones in this blog, Scribbler has done a reading of Pale Horse's Destination Unknown, with Neighrator Pony, Agent0Fluffy and Random!
Got a milestone in here! Next one's gonna have a ton of long fics in it, so it'll be a while. :B
H: 0 R: 4 C: 4 V: 2 N: 1
Three Little Apples by bookplayer
Reading by Scribbler
Genre: Slice of Life
Her name is Granny Smith, and she's not really Applejack's granny.
Old as this story is, it's nevertheless a really unique exploration of why Applejack doesn't have parents, pre-season 7. It is, in fact, the most unique look at the Apple Family I've ever seen. The only thing I can say against it is Twilight is really dumb. Like, she's literally never heard of adoption before. Granted, I myself have written her that dumb in regards to things like, I dunno, same-sex relationships. In shipfics. >.> So let's not split hairs.
Recommended
The Last Days of the Kingdom of Equestria by bigbear
Reading by Midnight29 and Omni Viewer
Genre: Future Fic
A griffon travels to a cave beyond the Crystal Empire to seek an interview with its occupant.
I feel like I've read a lot of stories like this, where Spike is old and bitter and reminisces about a past that stretches far beyond where the show ever went. I probably have. I don't feel like this one offers a whole lot new. I mean, it does, I like the focus on all the new magical technology that's been around for so long, no one but Spike remembers where it comes from. Not sure how I feel about Twilight provoking a war, though. Nobly becoming history's greatest monster, sure, but the steps that took her there left me a little sour. Still, it's not badly written, just a question of content.
Recommended If You Like Future Fics
The Secret of the Everfree by Jade Ring
Reading by Sparrow9642
Genre: Dark
A terrible idea has been nagging Fluttershy since the ordeal in the swamp.
Slotting this in here on account of another episode of Them's Writin' Words. The problem with this story is it doesn't bury its lede. The mention of Swamp Fever should have come way later in order to actually invoke horror with its reveal. At least Fluttershy finds more than just trees in her little trip to the Everfree, and this can be recommended for its world-building if nothing else.
Recommended for Fans of Dark Fics
I Don't Care Too Much for Money by HoofAndQuill
Reading by Scribbler, et. al.
Genre: Sad
Diamond Tiara returns to an empty home to try and write an essay about family.
Old as this is, it still holds up to what we learned about Diamond Tiara's family later in the show. Obviously, she's still a spoiled brat at this time, but it doesn't matter. This is as effective as it is short, a good sympathetic piece about Diamond's issues.
Recommended
Princess Is Sad? Boop the Snoot! by Ludus
Reading by VisualPony
Genre: Random 2P AiE
You stormed into the throne room to lodge a complaint, not deal with a sad Celestia.
A title like that, and you know all you're getting is silly fluff. Then you find out it's the author's first story, and the expectations drop. This isn't awful, especially for a first fic, but neither is it in any way substantial, nor did it have what I usually enjoy in AiE comedies. I will give it credit for showing us why Celestia is sad, letting the suggestions hang in the air without explanation. But otherwise, it's just some words I heard.
Vaguely Recommended
Bottoms Up by Griffin Productions
Reading by Bob_E_1
Since the pandemic quarantine began, Scribbler has been uploading regular videos containing links to others' fanfic readings. And if you think my enormous list of readers is comprehensive, I ain't got nothin' on the queen of fanfic readings. She keeps finding new readers for me, like this guy. If you listen closely, you can tell he struggles a little with either the reading or the speaking, but that's actually good. His pacing is perfect, and I've always said doing fanfiction readings aloud can help people with speech difficulties. I'm not sure he's still doing them, but he goes on the list!
Genre: Sad ScratchTavia
After Octavia leaves her, Vinyl Scratch drinks her cares away.
I have officially read too many ponyfics. Partway through the first scene of this story, I say to myself, "If she dies at the end, I'm gonna laugh." Well guess who ended up laughing? This was pure, uncut melodrama from start to finish, with no inherent message beyond "feel sad nao plzkthx".
Not Recommended
Never let you go by Golden Paw
Reading by Illya Leonov, et. al.
Genre: Dark
Two Royal Guards investigate a stolen body.
I kind of forgot to write the review directly after hearing the story and now, a few hours later, I'm really failing to bring it to mind. This wasn't poorly written, but the characters were very stock, and I sort of anticipated what they would find after chasing a body-snatcher down into a mausoleum, so any potential shock or horror from that reveal was really lost on me. I did appreciate the supernatural aspect of the ending, but really, I just had no reaction to this, and that's almost worse than a bad fic.
Vaguely Recommended
Euphoria, Robbed by Ice Star
Reading by Scribbler
Genre: Trangst
Trixie has very good reasons to envy Twilight Sparkle.
Thank goodness for audiobooks; I'm listening to this during Fimfiction's database failure, and that's the only way I'll be reading anything for probably the rest of the day. This got off on the wrong foot with me, because it takes eight little words and uses them to make Twilight the asshole, from a place she never could have understood the meaning of her actions. "Trixie is trans" is an extremely recent development, and while the fault here would ultimately lie with the show runners, even they didn't know back in season three. That said, this does for gender dysphoria what a lot of other highly regarded fics have done for anxiety and suicidal depression, and for that, it has a lot of merit. I can even forgive a lot of point-belaboring because, well, this wasn't written for me. :) Taken as a portrayal of the internal turmoil of one transmare, this is really good.
Recommended If You Want to Better Understand the Trans Experience
An Embarrassment of Horses by Cackling Moron
Reading by Illya Leonov
Genre: PoE Comedy
Celestia is such a problem, there's a support group for those who have to deal with her.
Wow. This was surreal. Absurd, ridiculous, any word you can think of other than "sensible". It was surprisingly banal up until the support group scene started up, and then things got supremely hilarious. I honestly don't want to explain it, save that if normally the idea of ponies interacting with humans would turn you off a story, kindly reconsider and give this a try. You've never seen ponies and humans on the page together like this before, I guarantee it. Highly Recommended If You Like Weird Shit.
Recommended
Whispers to an Inanimate Statue by friedlambo
400th Review of 2020!
Reading by Sunlestia
Wow, she's great! How am I just now finding out about her? Her voice naturally sounds like Celestia, if that's any indicator, and she's got all the poise and professionalism of the best readers in this fandom. :D Onto the list!
Genre: Sad Shipping
Celestia knew love once. Now, she has nothing.
When I say this story has no fewer than four single tears, I hope you will not assume I mean someone cries twice. No, no, I mean that no less than four times, a character cries one tear. Just one. I'm pretty sure that's not possible, and yet it is the hallmark of every "be sad now" story I have ever read. It's ridiculous that it's a cliche, and yet it's ridiculously cliche. So that's the level of what we're dealing with here. Yet I didn't hate it? It's different when it's your ship.
Recommended for Dislestia Fans Only
The Carmine Line by Zontan
Reading by VisualPony
Genre: Dark
If you prick an alicorn, will she not bleed?
This is the start of a really good horror story, but it unfortunately stops after having given us just enough to go, "uh-oh". I really wanted to see how it would continue, most especially to get some explanation of just what the heck was going on, and whether Rarity's sudden obsession was part of it. Still a good short dark piece.
Recommended
Wait, what? Are you saying that this story is something like the actingverse, where the characters know they're in a show, the actor playing Trixie is trans, and the writers only found out in the late seasons? Or do you mean the real, honest-to-goodness show has put out info recently saying it's canon that Trixie is trans? If the latter, it's strange that I haven't heard anything of it.
If it’s something that Twilight could have never known, she can’t really be an asshole in the situation. It was just needed to be the framing quote, that’s all.
See, I found that interesting because it forced me to get creative.
Thanks for the recommendation!
5284435
Here’s what I found with ‘official show info’ (via Derpibooru, ‘cause that was the quickest way to find it)
5284438 5284435 I also hadn't heard of it, but male/female characters are switched constantly in pre-production until a final design/sex/character/species is ready, (ie In Rescue Rangers, Chip was originally an Indiana-Jones-like mouse) and the post itself didn't say that she thought of her as trans either. It seems like a HUGE leap in logic to declare that even semi-canonical rather than an actual thing. It's not even like she went full Rowling with "Dumbledore is Gay, now that the novels are all done and I have my money."
Nothing against it, or keeping it as headcanon, but it's also very clearly not true IRL if we're just based on the posts you found.
5284435
5284440
My understanding of... let's call it a meme, is that Trixie's role was at one point meant to be male, basically what 5284438 says. It's not the same as "Dumbledore is gay", which was a cop-out by an author adding substance to her work after the fact, when it was never there in the first place. This is fans creating headcanon by connecting dots, which is infinitely better.
I like the idea myself, though I haven't devoted any headspace to working out what it might mean for her character. (I regret that I don't feel like I can really work it into The Princess's Captain, which is about the only place I have room to explore something like that.) At the same time, however... it's not exactly a victory for the trans community to embrace Trixie as one of their own. I mean, as much as I like her, she's a really shitty person. <.<
5284455 Trixie is perfect in any way, shape or form. So it would be a victory!
...my main issue really is a pet peeve: I hate when headcanons are forced into characters because "evidence "a" points at it and evidences b, c, d, e, f, g, and stupid h can go to hell. (As much as I hate to admit it, Sparity made more sense than this) Not saying that's the case with you (or anyone specific, mind), or that it shouldn't be used in fics, since part of their beauty comes from that ability to explore so much... but I've seen it happen way too often just for the sake of "claiming it" and people making those little collages is basically the start of it, because I shit you not, that will be the reference point for a lot of people. Even the stupid "dot" in their eye thing. I honestly feel pushing that as a RL fact is a disservice to both the character and any community that character is being forced into to fill a quota.
I'm gonna have to send Scribbler a fruit basket for doing a two hour podcast drawing attention to my barely over a thousand words story.
The best thing about 'Everfree' is the poem. Besides that, it was just a silly, spooky idea I had.
5284440
5284455
5284438
Ah, so it's more like they changed her gender in pre-production, and fans decided to take that literally? Okay. I agree, it's rather a leap to call that canon, though it's no more or less fair game to play her that way as it is with any other character (which of course the fans do regularly).
"Feel sad nao plzkthx" really needs to be a tag.
Thank you for the review of the reading of The Last Days of the Kingdom of Equestria by Midnight29 and Omni Viewer. I was surprised and pleased by their reading.
Your comments on the substance of the story are fair. What Twilight did and why she did it could have been fleshed out more. And even with more context, her choices may not work for every reader.
5284468
It's only an issue when people refuse to accept that their headcanon is headcanon and shame others for not agreeing with it.
But I understand why even the tiniest detail is enough to claim truth. Cartoons have started to rep gay characters, but we need to go further.
5284435
It's mostly from lots of people saying "Trixie is trans".
Trixie is trans
5284774
Trixie is very trans.
5284440 5284455 5284474
Yeah, from that alone (I didn’t do a whole lot of searching), I don’t think it meets the mark of ‘this is what they intended from the beginning,’ nor do I think that it even hits the lower bar of ‘it was kind of ambiguous and we ran with it’ (I think Lyra/Bon Bon would be a good example of the latter; I think that they pandered to the fans on that one [and I have no objections]).
That having been said, I also think that I’ve built pieces of headcanon around less; I have a minor plot point in several stories that Daisy can do TK because she did in the background in one episode, and that got the creative juices flowing. Unlike my Daisy headcanon, there is a Trans Trixie tag on Derpibooru with several dozen results, and that in my mind amounts to at least some degree of fan acceptance of that particular headcanon.
Personally, I’m not opposed to it. I can’t see it fitting into my own headcanon, but I certainly would take a look at a story written from that premise with interest, especially if addresses a couple of things that are sort of sticking points for me and how I interpret things in the show.
The eye dot thing is probably an animation mistake, but I’ll admit that I’ve never really paid attention to how they’ve used eye dots in the show.
5285400
That being said, I've finally got like half an idea for a trans Trixie story and I'm kind of excited. <.< Now if I could just stop getting story ideas...
5285424
Don’t stop getting story ideas. I never stop getting story ideas, and I even make a lot of them into stories.
5284469
You're welcome. :P
5284435
Unfortunately, it's only at about the level of "Dumbledore is Gay."
IE, paratext that never actually entered the text of the show.