Fic recs, August 21st! · 1:07pm Aug 21st, 2020
I have no news nor anything interesting to report today. :B Save that Youtube a shit.
This is just a story I wanted to read ahead of a later edition, a few things off the bottom of my RIN, and another story that was going to be part of the next review slate but wasn't because reasons. Enjoy!
H: 1 R: 2 C: 2 V: 1 N: 0
Lectern's New and Used Books: Summer Break by Dave Bryant
Genre: EQG
Princess Twilight is sending Sunset Shimmer newspapers every week to help with her homesickness. And there's no better place to peruse them than the Rainbooms' newest hangout spot.
Man, I might need to take a powder on EQG fics for a bit. I was reading this concurrently with a fic further down this blog, and not enjoying either of them, and it might have to do with the proximity of me having read Looking Glass. Just, nothing can hold a candle to it. Taken on its own merits though, this story's main problem is that it's dry. I would almost call it 'painfully slice of life', but it's really more pure world-building, with the caveat that said world-building is done via the characters sitting around and talking about Equestria. Also, the author weirdly wants us to know exact details about things like what the outside of the store looks like; there are links to all sorts of stuff scattered throughout this piece, and rarely did I feel they enhanced the experience at all. Mostly, I was just bored, craving something to happen, but the closest this comes to actual conflict — a chapter where a government official shows up to speak with Sunset — is resolved by there being no problems to resolve in the first place. Also, people actually calling her "Sci-Twi" drives me up the wall. This has a neat setup, but I found the execution lacking, and it's made me less likely to want to read the numerous sequels in the continuity.
Vaguely Recommended
Assigned Cop at Birth by terrycloth
Genre: Changeling Fic
Patrol is the most important job in the hive. Patrol keeps the hive loyal.
I've got a confession to make: I'd never heard the acronym ACAB until earlier this year, and when I first saw it? I read it as "Assigned Caucasian at Birth" because apparently I hang out in circles where that's what A*AB means. Then I learned it really meant "All Cops Are Bastards", and, well, I started reading it as the title of this story instead. I'm glad I'm not alone now. Anyway, this is a fairly unsubtle piece, but I'd say it's effective. I do wish it had been longer, though, since there's actually some good interaction between Pharynx and Thorax. The horrors of life in the hive could have been expounded on quite a bit as well. I still liked it.
Recommended for Changeling Fans
"Anon-a-Miss" Kills Her Accusers by Wanderer D
Genre: EQG Dark Comedy
It has come to this: In order to preserve her honor, Sunset Shimmer must duel her former friends to the death.
Okay, let's say that if I'm going to read EQG fics, I want them to be like this. This had me in stitches from almost the word go. XD D's got fantastic comedic timing, and made a number of excellent running gags. Plus, it's not even all that dark by the end, no spoilers! The fact that it's a good Anon-a-Miss parody is just icing on the cake.
Highly Recommended
Incomplete by shortskirtsandexplosions
Genre: EQG Horror
It's New Year's Eve, and Pinkie Pie still hasn't shown up yet.
I don't know if anyone noticed, but skirts had a recent-ish slate of stories earlier this year that, from what I can tell, play with expectations of completeness on this site. I don't know if this was the first, but, well, it's based off something I posted earlier this year, so that's why I'm reading it now. I… don't know how to adequately explain this. It's certainly unsettling, don't get me wrong. There's this thick dramatic tension in the words on the page, the formatting, the fact that, yes, it's marked incomplete as one chapter and likely never will be 'finished'. I just don't know what's going on, beyond a discussion about John Lennon and some kind of time loop. skirts once again demonstrates an ability to craft really unique prose.
Recommended
Second Draft by Pascoite
Genre: Slice of Life
Sweetie Belle gets an interview with Princess Celestia for a school project.
This began life as a 150-word flashfic that I reviewed in a minific post some time ago. As it is now, it's a very delightful piece with an interaction between two ponies who never really shared one before. And it ends with, dare I say, an insight into just why it is people create. Very original stuff, for as short as it is.
Recommended
Equestria Mares: The Secret Apprentice of Princess Celestia by Coyote de la Mancha
Sequel to In Vino Veritas
Read by Fimfiction
Genre: EQG AU/Drama/Action
The first Princess Summit is interrupted by the appearance of Celestia's former student, who steals the Element of Magic.
As I intimated earlier in this blog, I didn't enjoy the early parts of this story much, and the comparison — unconscious or not — to Looking Glass didn't help. Thankfully, I can say it's pretty much worth slogging through the first three chapters; by the end, you'll get some top-notch drama, epic conversations where the elocutors expound on their motives, and a pulse-pounding fight with some seriously badass Celestia. But before that, well, this takes us through a slightly altered introductory scene to the original Equestria Girls movie. It's the kind of story where the author looked at the source material, said, "I could do better than that!" and then proceeded to give us all the painstaking details about how everything works, why everyone did what they did, and, oh yes, let's not forget poking holes in canon. And it is tedious. Even the characters end up pointing out they've been talking a while, as Celestia fills Twilight in on literally every facet of Sunset's life she'll need to know before diving through the mirror. Thankfully, once she does, the story picks up, because she ends up not in Humania, but in a realm called Phaedra, which… Okay, honestly, it's a fairly generic high-fantasy world populated by nothing but monsters and natural phenomena, but the fact that it's not Humania is what makes it exciting. And then all the cool stuff happens anyway, so it's moot. But I will say, I was surprised to be disappointed by that intro; I came into this story after a half-dozen others in the same continuity, after all, and none of them prepared me for that level of pedantry!
Recommended for Sunset Shimmer Fans
double post, friendo :)
5340081
Huh, I wonder how that happened. o.O
I mean, the obvious solution is just to read/review/fanboy -my- EQG stories. :)
I sometimes wish I liked EQG. I sometimes feel I ought to read some of the better EQG fics. I sometimes think I'm an idiot for wanting to partake of something I just don't enjoy.
Life is odd.
5340212
Well, despite the way I tagged it, Coyote's story is basically completely removed from EQG. You could pretend Sunset Shimmer is an OC, even.
5340256
I always do.
Not gonna lie, though... your reviews of Looking Glass and "Anon-a-Miss" Kills Her Accusers have sorely tempted me.
Hah, since you reviewed the mini version, I didn't figure you'd bother with the full one. Glad you liked it. That makes me utter proudest.
5340319
Of course I'm gonna, especially when it's short! >:V
Helps that I don't actually remember the minific version. ._.
Meh. Lectern’s didn’t work out quite the way I originally had in mind, though truth to tell I don’t find that kind of thing dry. Fall Semester is somewhat better about actual storytelling, and of course once I developed enough material outside Lectern’s I started writing “real stories”. I dropped the complete description in the first installment to establish it and in the vague, and I suppose misguided, hope the location might interest other writers.
5340265
Again, to be a shameless, self-promoting hack, the obvious solution is to read MY EQG stories! One of them is even a crossover with the Flash Sentry Papers! (As, again, I am a shameless hack).
*ehem*
Seriously, though-- on the surface, Equestria Girls is just a spinoff to sell different kinds of dolls. But! The setting actually offers a whole slew of story possibilities, once you look at it.
For example, I kinda stumbled into writing (the best) EQG fics by accident. See, I wanted to write a road trip story, and I realized that it'd be a lot easier to just write about the actual human teenagers instead of making something up with, like, an airship or something. So I had a go at it-- at which point, early on, I had an epiphany that the characters had thumbs, and I didn't have to talk about telekinesis every time Twilight picked something up!
Plus, Sunset Shimmer is a fun character, as you can play around with a lot of villain-redemption plots with her. And that's before shipping her with Twilight. Or, -a- Twilight. Magic dimensional duplicates are fun. I will admit that the Dazzlings are pretty dull villains, but eh.
And then there's the whole thing where Rarijack was made canon in EQG, so that's just bonus. :)
But yeah. The specials surprised me with not-sucking, and the EQG setting offers fertile ground for fanfic, allowing one to kick around more modern settings & subjects without having to jump through hoops. Like, it'd be hard to write about ponies sitting around playing video games, but the humanized versions make it a lot easier.
5340509
I am totally willing to accept assurances that things get better later on. I mean, I read the whole thing, I'm primed for a sequel. :B
5340597
I have to admit, I did read Absinthe, because I'm a Flash Sentry (your Flash Sentry) completist. And I also read Alicorn Job and Seven Girls, and... and the writing was good, and there was fun stuff going on, and I gave them an upvote... and still I couldn't help constantly wishing you'd done them with ponies instead.
As for modern settings... they bore me. I don't get any pleasure reading about other people playing video games or texting each other or...etc. With Equestria, I never know what sort of weird culture, creature or magic might pop up. Sure, that can happen (and has) in Pedestria as well, but there it feels like a forced "exception to the rule" to me.
So, it's a matter of taste for me. Sure, there are good, even great EQG stories out there. But for me, they can't really overcome my disinterest in the setting and the (IMHO) washed-out and flanderized characters, and with so much pony fic on my to-be-read list, I don't see any reason to.
Hey, glad you liked "Anon-a-Miss" Kills Her Accusers, thanks for the review man!
5340637
Sounds like a good reason to check out the Oversaturated World. :V
5340637
Whelp, I suppose that's fair. I guess I rather like the opportunity to write more teen hijinks/slice of life stuff without having to make up contrived horse-puns for the DMV or whatever. Variety, and all that!
5340803
Really? I thought it was EQG "teen hijinks"?