Fic recs, July 25th: Crafty Arts edition! · 5:18pm Jul 25th, 2020
Scribbler's newest reading is Friggin Jake's Frantic Foal Frenzy, with NeighratorPony, Ashley H, TheFanGirl and DracKeaganVA! (...Wait, I said newest, but apparently she already did it? c.c)
I don't actually know Juria, but they need some help!
We're back to new readers! Jade Song never did anything else and/or took down her readings, so up next is a very familiar name, Crafty Arts! The list:
Eakin's Hard Reset and An Important Letter
Thanqol's The Faceless Pony
ShadowKirby's Drifting
AbsoluteAnonymous's Diamond in the Rough
Abramus5250's Rescue
Chinchilla's Everypony Lives
ocalhoun's Six to Eight Weeks Dungeon
EbonMane's Merely a Mare
naturalbornderpy's Princess Celestia's Newest Arch Enemy and The Only Day
Hodd's One Final Sunset
PonyAmorous's Pinkie Pie Is an Eldritch Abomination
Mourning Zephyr's A Sun Without a Moon
Bachiavellian's An Old Coot
Horse Voice's The Writing on the Wall
Aquaman's Loop
ambion's Melt and Drip
Masterweaver's Steel Soul
OnionPie's Hoofprints
DEI Caboose's Something's Always Watching
Cold in Gardez's Reminiscent
FanOfMostEverything's A Mad Glimmer and A Crazed Gleam
Robolestia's The Pale Stallion
Horse Voice's The Visiting Hour
Mr Stargazer's Monster
Georg's Daring Do and the Dance
Notarealponydotcom's Gazebo
Silver Moon's Waiting
Kaj's Stuffed Animals
Chuckfinley (now Neon Czolgosz?)'s A Persimmon Spring
TGM's Wither
TooShyShy's Let Her In
ocalhoun's Blink
Obselescence's A Twilight Sparkle Story
The Journeyman's The Wandering Shadows
Boy, that list is only gonna get longer as I do these, and this whole thing was long. I wish to god I'd kept up with these readers as I found them. D:
H: 3 R: 10 C: 12 V: 2 N: 3
A Stitch in Time by Eakin
Reading (part 1)
Sequel to Hard Reset
Genre: Comedy/Romance/Drama/Time Travel/Dark
The spell which hurled Twilight back and forth through time for so long has destabilized time itself. In looking for a knowledgeable pony to help her fix the problem, she'll learn about the old adage "don't meet your heroes".
I may have overhyped Hard Reset a bit in my review, so I aim to not do the same here: This is a story of equal caliber, if different intent, that also has a large flaw. Let me break it down via all those tags up there, starting with Comedy.
The first half of this story is hysterical in ways I was not expecting. There are constant surprises around every corner, and they were all really funny. Things calm down in chapters 5 and 6, because it's time for Dark Adventure stuff, but then pick back up in chapter 7, which is narrated by Pinkie as a fourth-wall-breaking respite from all the icky stuff that's just happened. Pinkie is written extremely well, and the chapter does its job admirably. :)
Next, the time travel. Hard Reset is of course about time loops, and this story is about the fallout of breaking out of one. That doesn't mean time travelling doesn't happen! No spoilers, the pony Twilight ends up summoning is Star Swirl, like you never seen him before: young, beardless, arrogant, cocky… Well, okay, at least young and beardless. I think this was also written pre-MMC, because we don't have that whole "Star Swirl never learned the meaning of friendship" thing going on. But he's a great character, for all that he exists first of all to annoy the hell out of Twilight. His presence means there's a ton of tension over keeping his personal temporal loop stable, making sure he doesn't learn too much, and finding out some very surprising aspects of his life that never appeared in the history books!
There's also the aforementioned chapters 5 and 6 detail Twilight going to an alternate timeline that spun off the time loops, the full details of which are apparently in an entire other story! This leads us into the Dark tag, and boy. Whoof. Chapter 7 was entirely warranted as a cool down because this goes some very dark places. While I think Hard Reset might top it in terms of volume, this story probably needs a trigger warning. The darkest stuff can be brought down to two acts, one on top of the other, and neither is pleasant to live through.
This brings us to the big flaw I mentioned earlier: the Romance. Again. Gone is the last-minute identity crisis from Hard Reset, and in this story's defense, it at least primes us to receive shipping early on. Part of Twilight's friends' intervention, not to get too ahead of myself, is getting her a fillyfriend, so one cannot say the romance is shoehorned in. But it still doesn't work. The main issue is Azalea, an OC created to be Twilight's shmoopy-doopy love-at-first-sight first fillyfriend. I really wish Eakin had used a background pony, even one without a fanonical backstory, because it would have made her seem less like she'd been plucked whole from the ether to fit a narrative need. And it's not that she's perfect for Twilight or anything; they have a couple of fights, they take some getting to know one another. On the contrary, when I realized Azalea's status as manufactured character was after meeting an OC who was created to fill a role, that of being perfectly wrong for Twilight.
But even worse than the character involved was the pacing. No, lampshading that they've only had one date doesn't make it better. Azalea says she loves Twilight after one date, and that is creepy because her characterization up to that point is "really into Twilight Sparkle". Throughout this whole story, the two of them are plied off as star-crossed lovers, when in actuality they barely even know each other. Twilight even points this out! It is in fact the basis of their interpersonal friction, that Twilight is a public figure and Azalea knows a lot about her, while Azalea herself is a nobody.
That gets us into the Drama, which is back in solid storytelling territory. There are two major drama sections. The first involves the intervention, because Twilight's been morose and withdrawn from her time loop fiasco. This story continues the thread of Hard Reset's final chapter, and improves upon wanting to deal with the trauma its main character has been put through. It's honestly an uplifting way to start off, for all that further exploration of dealing with trauma requires putting the characters through it in the first place. The other drama of course is with Azalea, and it goes on for a bit. What really got to me, though, was in their big fight, Twilight's angry at her, with good reason. But the more it goes on, the more it seems like she's legitimately trying to hurt this pony, not by callously lashing out, but calculatedly, just because she can. And then you want me to believe they get back together? I told you the romance was no good!
Still, the worst I can say about this is that it ends on a cliffhanger, pure sequel bait that resolves very few of the story threads left dangling. Joke's on Eakin, though, the sequel is the next audiobook! The one after that isn't, unfortunately, because I wanted to know more about how the changelings work in this world, but we're just supposed to sit through that scene and not ask questions. :B The positives outweigh the negatives, just know what you're getting into here. Man, I maybe shoulda done a vs. post on this.
Recommended
You Can Fight Fate by Eakin
Reading (part 1) by Crafty Arts and MapleRabsVA
Sequel to A Stitch in Time
Genre: Drama/Adventure/Time Travel
The Elements of Harmony are going to destroy everything unless Twilight Sparkle and Star Swirl the Bearded can stop them.
Full spoilers for this story and the last. Stitch leaves us off with the bugnutty proposal I used as a description here, and while it was a really cool, gripping cliffhanger for leading into a sequel, when I stopped to think about it, I really wasn't on board. I mean, why fight fate or combat destiny when it's for the best? Obviously, that comes with the benefit of us, the audience, having full knowledge of how Twilight's life turns out, and though this didn't delve into the realms of "how dare Celestia/the Elements manipulate anything at all", the spectres of those stories nevertheless reared their ugly heads. So that was strike one. Next was a lot of the humor. Like, the comedy tag's gone, and it wasn't a focus, but much of it wasn't very good either. We get to meet Star Swirl's family in the past, for instance, and Luna is a crabby bitch and his daughter is a whiny teenager. Yeah, it's funny that he's getting saddled with this kid, it's karmic, but at the same time it's very sitcommy. The daughter in particular has no real agency or purpose beyond being a thorn in everyone's side; even the author says she was flat. It smacks of running low on ideas. We get a similar treatment in the epilogue, where Twilight and Azalea are married with kids, but oh, one of them's a princess who goes on world-saving adventures, but she still has to answer to the wife like a normal person, ha… ha? There's also the chapter narrated by Pinkie Pie (again), which starts off with a bad pun that actually warns us it's going to be nothing but fanservice. Which it is. And it's awful. If it hadn't been so close to the end, I might have given up. Though the place where I actually almost gave up was earlier. Twilight and Star Swirl go into timelines where Nightmare Moon and Discord won, hoping to gain their assistance in combating the Elements for reasons, and we get a lengthy, and I mean lengthy scene where Discord turns the alternate mane six into fruit and slowly eats them. It isn't just juice that comes out. It was disturbing, gross and grossly out of character. And it's not the only place where pacing was an issue. Plus, Eakin decided to remake Magical Mystery Cure as an AU, the 'convoluted' factor reached containment breach levels, and everyone who isn't a villain gets a happy ending whether we want it or not. But it's not all bad? Like, all those things I complained about in regards to the romance in Stitch? I have to take them all back, because Azalea is actually a changeling — which I thought she might be — and it blew my mind up until the author's notes revealed it was actually a retcon, and besides, Twilight ends up with her first love forever and ever, so it's still not great. In fact, about the only part of this I really did enjoy was the final-final chapter, the one after the A/N, which I won't spoil, but it was too little, too late. I just had to wonder why this was written; I found it in no way a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. I am disappointed.
Vaguely Recommended
A Little Game of War by JMac
Reading
Genre: Dark/Supernatural Action
A dead filly's toys just want to keep playing.
A lot of times I find pony horrorfics lacking, especially when they star the mane six or other major characters, because the question always comes to me: Why is this character being punished? Because that's what horror stories are. If the main character dies, the purpose of the horror was to punish them; if they live, it was to teach them a lesson. That's not the case with this story, though, which immediately introduces us to one of the most comically loathsome and despicable ponies I've ever read. You better believe I was rooting for the ghost to take him down the whole time. And though the "why is this happening?" felt like a bit of Idiot Ball on the part of our protagonist, the point was to suss out the exact reason our shameful spoiled rich kid was being punished, not just that he should be. That said, I didn't tag this horror myself because it runs a little quickly to really fit the genre. If you come to this looking to get frightened, you may come away disappointed (though the terms of surrender scene gave me a chill). Also, I never could quite figure out what the protagonist's relationship was to the main character; she said she works for him. Is she a bodyguard? It would fit, but it's never explicated. Regardless, taken on the broad strokes of what it's trying to do, this was a fun piece with a satisfying ending.
Recommended
skitchskitch by KnightMysterio
Reading
Mature
Genre: Dark/Mystery
After her brother's death, Applejack's life begins to fall apart.
So, you read that description I just wrote, and you think, okay, Big Mac dies, the Apple Family has drama, makes sense. Or you read the story's description and think, as I did, that this is going to be your standard horror story about Applejack being haunted by her dead brother or something, with creepy noises. Well, we're all wrong. The moment Rainbow Dash and Rarity went missing, with no one remembering them being part of the friend group, I knew nothing that happened was going to be standard. The whole rest of the story kept me guessing. I will say that the ending wasn't quite satisfying (plus there's a television), and the opening scene of Big Mac's funeral didn't quite work either, but this is pretty damned original and really different. Give it a read. (I don't think the Mature rating is necessary; it would need a Suicide/Self-Harm tag if written recently.)
Recommended
Wake Up and Smell the Ashes by Flint-Lock
Reading
Mature: Gore
Genre: Dark/Tragedy
Equestria is fine, and Celestia is not insane.
This story makes no bones about what's happening: the world has ended, Celestia is the last living thing in Canterlot, and she's reeeeeally not doing well. While I would have preferred figuring out the details from a less reliable narrator myself, I can't fault this for presenting us with some intriguing conflict. First there's the voices, plural, in Celestia's head. Then there's the external conflict when we find out she's not the only living thing. It doesn't end well. That said, it also sort of makes its point and then keeps going to no real end? I mean, the question of what, exactly, happened is never really broached, just the aftermath (which is pretty gruesome in places). It still held my attention all the way through.
Recommended If You Like Stories About Crazy Ponies
Walking Through Fire by SPark
Reading
Genre: Twilestia
Twilight finally confesses her crush to Celestia. But there's a big problem.
Yeah, it's Twilestia, but I kept saying things to myself like "SPark is a good writer" and "hey, it has 18k views". And, to be fair, it does do Twilestia the way I want to see it: Twilight has a schoolfilly crush, finally confesses, and in this case, can't have what she wants for very good, very physical reasons. And most of the story explores those reasons, which were interesting and informed Celestia's character in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, they get together by the end, because Twilight spends four months turning a crush into an obsession, does the impossible, and gets Celestia to be with her whether she wants to or not. I mean, no, it's actually framed as freeing Celestia from the puritan shackles she's been held captive by for basically her entire life. But there's a real-world cognate to this with negative implications, plus it's yet another "you're the first pony who did X for me, ergo I am totes in wuv". So, not ultimately the story I wanted it to be, but I only have myself to blame for reading it.
Recommended for Twilestia Fans
Cold by 314
Reading
Genre: Light Shipping?
Applejack saves Fluttershy from a Hearth's Warming blizzard.
This doesn't really get all the way to actual shipping, despite the tag. It's warm and fluffy, though, with some cute friendshipping. I will nitpick the writing, however. The main issue is that this is first-person for both ponies, and they're voiced exactly the same way. In fact, I wasn't even sure when the scene changed (mostly because Crafty doesn't pause long enough) until some descriptor put me in the other pony's head.
Recommended Only If You Like Fluff Pieces
A Last Glimpse of My Dying Light by The Mechanical Artist
Reading
Genre: Character Death
Twilight's life ends too early.
Okay, this story cannot be read without its sequel, below, but at the same time, the sequel isn't worth reading. 99% of this story is your standard "character dies and Celestia sends them to the afterlife" fic. It's well written, single tear aside, but utterly pointless since Twilight seems to have died for no reason. There's just no purpose here. Then the final line recontextualizes the whole thing, by adding in considerably more questions than it answers. It's unsatisfying, hence my warning at the top of the review.
Recommended Only If You Like Sad Stuff
Transparancy by The Mechanical Artist
Reading
Sequel to A Last Glimpse of My Dying Light
Genre: Murder/Suicide
Spoilers: Spike kills Twibledore.
Yeah, so Spike killed Twilight because it was his "only way to earn his freedom". Yeah, bullshit. I'll give you that he had no say in his upbringing, but who does? His life has only been abusive if you want it to be, and murder is his only recourse if you want it to be. The story at least has no sympathy for his actions, though we're in his POV the entire time and he's of course wildly out of character. This was a really bad way to end these stories. (I like how the title is misspelled in a completely different way in the reading.)
Not Recommended
Discord's Day by SpinelStride
Reading
Genre: Comedy
Even Discord admits he has something of an impulse problem. But not even he saw the answer coming.
Not a laugh a minute, per se, but highly amusing and particularly interesting. You wouldn't think it would be so surprising to be surprised by a Discord story, yet this one kept me guessing all the way through. This was really fascinating and had some unique things to say about all the main characters, not just Discord. :)
Recommended
The Night Before Hearth's Warming by defender2222
Reading
Genre: A Visit from St. Nick Ponification
Applejack learns the true meaning of Hearth's Warming.
Or something I guess. The problem with this is that it took too much from the original. You really don't need more than the first two lines and the meter to give people the sense of "oh, I get what you're doing". This ranges back and forth between "actually good poetry" and "trying too hard to fit in elements of the original". The writing of the stinger scene at the end somehow makes it all worse. I clocked out when three of the Wonderbolts were named after Seekers.
Not Recommended
Just Kidding… or Not by Original Usermane
Reading by Crafty Arts and MapleRabsVA
Genre: Shipping Comedy
Discord and Pinkie have come up with the perfect prank to pull on their friends.
While I can't say I'm invested in the main pairing here — Discord has shown himself incapable of understanding the most basic things about friendship, ergo how could he understand something as complex as a romantic relationship? — I'm glad I gave this a chance, because it was pretty darned funny. Granted, most of that revolves around running gags of how each of the rest of the mane six reacts to the reveal, but I still found it highly amusing. The writing is good too, saidisms aside. This was a lot of fun for a fic about a ship I have no interest in.
Recommended for Shippers
Eager Apple by Twinkletail
Reading
Reading by Lotus Moon
Genre: Sad Shipping
Applejack has had a crush on Fluttershy for a while. Now Fluttershy has something to ask her.
I was all set to pan this as a standard shipfic right up until Fluttershy said she wanted to go out with Big Macintosh. Instead, I will pan it as a standard sad ship fic. AJ struggles for a second before doing the right thing, then she's sad cuz her heart's broken, the end. There's really no purpose to this, and I've seen the setup given considerably more weight in other stories.
Not Recommended
Touching Stars by Kodeake
Reading
Genre: Shipping
Rainbow Dash has been spending a lot of time stargazing with Twilight.
I can't say stargazing and talking about death is exactly how I'd go about shipping two ponies, but I'm still into Twidash, so whatever. I mean, it works, doesn't it? XD If there's any one good thing about this piece, it'd be Rainbow's reason for liking Twilight in the first place; that's good relationship building. But it's otherwise well written and overall sweet. I quite enjoyed it.
Recommended for Shippers
The Best Fanfic Ever by Not Crafty Arts
Reading
Genre: Romance/Action/Drama/AWEXX0ME!!1!
Awesomesauce wants to date Fluttershy, but can he? Maybe.
This was a fun little troll fic written by the reader himself. :) It's full of the standard things people make fun of in bad fics, but I really have not lost my taste for this kind of parody. I lost it at "Fluttershy blushededed".
Troll Recommended
Correspondence by Friendly Uncle
Reading
Genre: Comedic Twilestia
Spike just sent Celestia Twilight's diary full of love poetry and lewd drawings.
Up front, I'm glad I read this, but I'm also disappointed in it. It didn't have to end with reciprocation, which ruins every Twilestia story as far as I'm concerned. But until that point? Oh boy, this is one of the funniest stories I've ever read. And I have to say, any setup other than the Twilestia — or at least, Twilight's natural schoolgirl crush on Celestia — would not have wrung this much comedy from the story. If the journal had gone to Luna, or Rainbow Dash, or anyone else, Twilight's freakout wouldn't have been as merited, and I'd have focused on that instead. But along with the good comedy, this also has a solid lesson about things not being quite as bad as you'll expect them to be, not to mention actually talking to people instead of hiding in Fluttershy's closet.
Recommended for Twilestia Fans
Upon Reflection by Obselescence
Reading
Genre: Slice of Life
The mirror opens the possibilities for a countless number of worlds, with a countless number of Twilights making countless decisions.
It's quite a thing to see a story about multiverse theory in which no alternate universes are really gone to. But contemplating the multiverse is the first step towards accessing it, and seeing Twilight go through the steps, ultimately freaking out about predetermination and free will, is worthwhile. Especially since this uses a clever little trick to remind us that some things aren't worth obsessing over to that degree.
Recommended
Night Rose by Grand_Moff_Pony
Reading
Genre: Romance
Roseluck goes to Marecelona to dance.
I don't just mean romance in that Roseluck gets to smooch a stallion and spend the night in his bed. I mean that this story is in love with its own setting, and it will make you fall in love with it, too. This is romanticism at its height. Grand_Moff is a great writer, and he's basically just flexing all over the reader here, not only building the city of Marecelona, but providing lush sound and kinetic imagery to complement the music and dance. The only thing I can say against it is that it feels like real-world fiction that just has ponies in it for some reason, but that doesn't stop it from being an excellent read.
Highly Recommended
Twilight Fights Starlight for Eternity by Diamond Aura
Reading
Genre: Dark
But only one of them can keep it up for that long...
I have no idea why this is tagged slice of life when it is dark as fuck. Starlight's trapped in a Tantalan hell of her own making, and by her own hoof no less. I have to say, I was really invested in this, even up to the point where Twilight and Spike start acting out of character… at which point it's revealed to all have been a dream. :/ It's not quite the worst rug-pull I've encountered in a fic, leaving as it does the 'what if' portion to be more canonical, but I still can't say I was impressed by the twist.
Vaguely Recommended
Seated by Daemon McRae
Reading
Mature
Genre: Horror
Cheerilee's past returns to haunt her.
I read stories like this and thank my lucky stars that all my school trauma came from my classmates and not teachers or administrators. Far too many students are mistreated by educators like the fantastically named Miss Fairweather, for all that she's Severus Snape levels of over-the-top cruel. No one who treats children that way should be in a position of power over them. Anyway, I have no idea why this story is marked mature, but if you skipped it because of that and you enjoy psychological horror, you should definitely turn your filter off and go give this a chance. It was something special.
Recommended
Cream and Sugar by Onion Pie
Reading
Reading by Scribbler, et. al.
Genre: Drama/Sad
Applejack and Apple Bloom's latest argument lands them in an old well, with no way out.
I'm really not sure where to begin. This was great. It's horrifying to watch as Apple Bloom and Applejack's situation gradually gets worse, and this set against a backdrop of them arguing about duty to family versus finding oneself. The argument is the real tragedy, and it's rendered quite well, really getting into how difficult it can be to debate a child. And then, well, this ends in tragedy of the evening news kind; you know it's going to, given the title. And I take just a slight bit of umbrage with what happens right at the end of the story, but I wouldn't say it ruins it. No, this was great, gripping and frightening, with a really strong message about family.
Highly Recommended
Secrets and Lies by Masterweaver
Reading
Reading by Scribbler
Genre: Horror
Even Lyra thought humans were just a myth. But they're returning…
I'm not actually sure the tags on this story quite fit, but regardless, it was really interesting. The vast majority of it is self-avowed magibabble as Lyra connects disparate threads in both canon and headcanon to tell us what happened to the humans, and where they've been all this time. Conspiracy theories are always fascinating, and this one's a good bit less outlandish than you might think. I dunno, I just enjoyed watching the pieces fall into place. :)
Recommended
InsomniMac by Noir de Plume
Reading
Sequel to Your Beautiful Mind
500th Review of 2020!
Genre: Shipping
Big Mac can't sleep. Luna talks to him.
This is apparently third in a series, the first story of which, An Apple Doesn't Fall, I read earlier this year. :O I might have to go back and check out the story in between them now. If you can get on board with the ship, this is surprisingly self-contained, giving a short recap of his exploits in Doesn't Fall, and otherwise presenting a very good exploration of someone who's a little too smart for his own good. It's a nice, fluffy ship piece otherwise, and I liked it. :)
Recommended for Shippers
Red Illusion by Jarvy Jared
Reading
Genre: Horror
Applejack fights something in the orchard.
I'm not quite sure this works. The first third or so is a meditation on eyes, eye color, Granny Smith's failing health and the death of the Apple Parents (at this point in the show, still in OC realm). Then we get a long stretch of AJ battling this bizarre, pony-shaped monster out in the apple trees, and… I mean, it was okay. Good tension and pacing, shows the monster, but I was carried along by the thought of "how does this relate to the intro?" And, it kind of does? But in a very roundabout way, such that, had that intro not existed in the first place, it would still land with about the same level of thump. It's not bad, but I did feel like the writing was starting to stretch toward the end, and it's unfortunate, because the theme just doesn't come through as strongly as it possibly could. I don't know; if you're into horror fics, give this a shot and let me know what you think.
Recommended for Horror Fans Only
A Draconequus Mourns by EntityRelationship
Reading
Genre: Sad
Twilight joins Discord at Fluttershy's funeral.
I've read a hundred stories about Discord dealing with Fluttershy dying, but this one was surprisingly good, considering. It's mostly a lengthy discussion between Discord and Twilight about mourning, what Fluttershy meant, and whether or not Discord is going to go recidivist now that she's gone. Strong character work drives the story, and there's no pandering or sappy content (indeed, this made me question whether Pathetic Fallacy can actually be a thing in fiction about a world where weather is controlled!) There was a lot more to this than I was really expecting.
Recommended
Tears of an Empty Sky by OnionPie
Reading
Genre: Dark Future
A dragon returns to the dead land that once banished him.
This wasn't just dark, it was desolate. A dead world with no sun, an immortal Spike banished from his home. Lots of seeking forgiveness from the dead, lots of wanting to die. This is written in very vague terms, most of it, so I found myself frequently distracted by wanting to know more details, how things came to be like this, why they fell apart. I guess this is a Bad End extrapolated from Secret of My Excess? But in the end, it's just about Spike and Twilight, and damned if that finale didn't hit me right in the emotions when I wasn't expecting it. This was surprising.
Recommended
The Best Fanfic Ever 2: The Awesome Chronicles by Crafty Arts and Winter Bloom
Reading by the Authors
Sequel to The Best Fanfic Ever
Genre: Trollfic
When Fluttershy diededed, can Awesomesauce find a new girlfriend? Yup.
Oh my god, this is even better than the first one. XD The new character's name is Sarry Mue. Highly Troll Recommended.
Recommended
Somepony Else's Story by OtterMatt
Reading by Crafty Arts, Agent0Fluffy and Dre
Genre: ScratchTavia
Vinyl Scratch sits alone in a bar.
So this was pretty good, considering. The 'pony talking to a bartender' setup was a very good idea for how to tell the story, imbuing it life through the bartender's strong, if archetypal, voice. I will say the denouement goes on for a lot longer than I'd have liked, but this was still an enjoyable read.
Recommended for ScratchTavia Fans
Rocks by Grand_Moff_Pony
Reading
Genre: Sad Romance
What did rocks ever do for Big Mac?
Huh, actual MarbleMac! Easy to forget that was maybe a Thing for a while, potentially incestual as it might have been. Grand_Moff is able to wring a ton of pathos from the setup, though, focusing on Big Mac in mourning, how he displaces his emotions and generally is just not having a good time. I was surprised by casting Igneous Rock as the villain; he's got something of an ultra-orthodox science denial role going on. Maybe I just haven't read about the Pie Family in a long time. Well, either way, this was pretty good, if terribly bleak.
Recommended If You Like Tragedic Romance
So You Want to Be a Draconequus by Akumokagetsu
Reading
Genre: Comedy
Fluttershy tries to understand Discord better.
Huh. o.o It's not that this story was taken down, Akumokagetsu no longer exists on this site! Anyone have any info on that? It's a shame, because this story was fantastic. I never thought I'd say anything involving Discord could be cute, but this was seriously Pirates for a Day levels of adorable. Plus, it's funny! There's a great running, rolling gag about a toaster, and just… watching Fluttershy try to do anything is so great. I will warn that there's a joke about Pinkie's mental health that will probably land poorly, but everything else was great. Amazing, for a story written in that tiny period of time when Discord was free and Twilight was still a unicorn, based off the cover art. Thank you, Crafty Arts, for giving us a way to enjoy it still.
Highly Recommended
*whistles* lot to read through :/
Also! Sorry if this adds more to your plate, but for Pride Month I did a reading of LateBloomers with Musescript and Roundtrip. That was fun ^^
You know when I wrote Touching Stars I never thought it would end up as one of my most liked stories ever. Especially since at the time it didn't get a lot of views. The fact its still getting attention now, 6 years after I wrote it, is amazing. Thanks for reading it, (or listening to it!) and I'm glad you enjoyed.
Scribbler and Crafty Arts are both many shades of awesome.
I really should say this more often, but these rec blogs are great stuff, man.
5321493
No worries, I've plans to do Pride eventually. :)
Ha ha! The one and only forray into horror I ever did, even as I am not much of a horror reader. I appreciate the simultaneous feedback and recommendation!
Whoa that's a whole lot of reviews. Yay!
I think I groused about my issues with Hard Reset when you reviewed it so I won't do that here; thanks for setting my expectations of what to expect from the rest of the series.
Night Rose is indeed excellent. I think when I first read it I didn't quite… get what you clearly did:
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Oh! When you do, the one in that pride blm donation thing by one quirky craft, I helped edit. However, to get it out in time for the donation thing, she had to publish the second draft without my edits, so bear that in mind if you get to it before she’s able to polish it up. Kids got talent, but a busy life 😓
Thank you so much for the reviews, Present! I'm glad you enjoyed both of these stories. :)
Thanks, Present. Very cool.
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