Fic recs, October 19th: First and Only RariTwi Bomb edition! · 7:35pm Oct 19th, 2020
The RariTwi Bomb was an event that took place last year, celebrating Monochromatic's love of purple unicorn kissing, and a whole bunch of cool folks got in on it to write some horse shipping. :)
Except, for a shipping not-contest, there was an awful lot of not-shipping in this. <.< Like, I'm doing my usual thing where the Romance/Shipping tag is implied for all entries, but really, it shouldn't be? And non-shippers can definitely find a thing or two worth reading in here, so I'm not even doing the list up front.
This was still cool and produced a crapton of good fics, so it's worth your time regardless. :D Assuming my lateness has not come well after you read all the entries already. Also, I just barely hit a milestone! :D
H: 7 R: 4 C: 8 V: 1 N: 0
Patterns by Undome Tinwe
Genre: Finance Drama???
Rarity has noticed a pattern in her sales.
Y'know, I've read stories that were nothing but strings of numbers before, but the first third of this, with Twilight and Rarity talking about sales figures and trends, is some of the driest fanfic I've ever laid eyes on. D: Only once they start discussing what the patterns mean for themselves and their relationship does this pick up. Maybe if I was the kind of person who needed to spend time budgeting, I'd have been able to follow it better? :B Who knows.
Recommended If You Adult
How I Met My Marefriend by Lingo
Genre: Light Comedy
It's quite the story.
So this has a pretty standard setup for a shipfic, all things considered. I did like the idea that, after the Gala, Rarity started mentally pairing herself up with all of her friends, just to see how things might go. What really sells this, though, is Rarity's voice, since she's the one telling the story, as well as some of the humor that shows up toward the end. :) Not a perfect piece, but definitely a fun one.
Recommended for Rarity Fans
A Game of Chess by PrussiAntique
Genre: Chessfic/Experimental
It's Twilight's turn.
Y'all already know how I feel about chessfic. This one, I had to read twice, just to make sure I wasn't up too early to deal with it. An experiment in writing without adjectives or adverbs — which I think the author was successful at — this instead replaces them with a flurry of literary allusions and frequent descent into avant-garde nonsense. Half the time, it felt like sentences were there just so the reader would know the author has read "The Cask of Amontillado", etc. Early or not, I just do not have the patience to take this kind of guff today.
Recommended Only If You Like Reading Writing
Lexical Gaps by Typoglyphic
Genre: Slice of Life
Twilight can't quite figure out what makes her time spent with Rarity so special.
Whoooa, talk about subverting expectations! This is almost not even shipping, though the reader would have to be as dense as Twilight to come away believing that completely. Really, this gets by on simply being excellently written. It's short but prosaic, with incredibly strong dialogue. I don't feel I've read a piece that was both this brief and this superb all at once in quite a long time.
Highly Recommended
City of Lights by garatheauthor
Genre: Dark EQG
Rarity writes her suicide note.
Trigger warnings all over this thing, yo. This is a pretty straightforward "Rarity's going to kill herself at the end" kind of story. Written beautifully, but nevertheless very final, no take-backsies. And I found myself being extremely angry at Rarity. Every reason she lists off for killing herself, it seemed like wasn't worth dying for or had some potential way around. That's actually probably a sign that gara really captured the mindset well, and I don't want to have to think about that more than I have to. Plus, the parallels to the current world situation are very clear. So please don't kill yourself if you've been thinking about it? Reading the rest of this review blog and then going to read the stories themselves is your reason to stay alive today.
Recommended If You're in the Right Frame of Mind for It
Your Name Like Oil Poured Out by Cynewulf
Genre: Dark EQG
Trapped in an overturned school bus, slowly being crushed to death, Rarity and Twilight talk.
Okay, are all the EQG fics in this thing going to be depressing? D: This was really intense, a claustrophobic dialogue happening completely in the dark where no one knows what will or could happen besides spiralling down dark trains of through to the end. The prose is fantastic, as is the characterization. If you like queer themes in your ponyfic — especially trans lesbian experience — you will find it here. The ending is left ambiguous, spoilers, but Rarity shines so bright as a beacon of hope, I can't help but feel they make it out okay. This is a lengthy meditation on existence as well as a few other things; just don't read it back to back with the previous story.
Highly Recommended
Prise de Mare by Nonchalant
Genre: Action
Rarity must fight for her right to be Twilight's plus-one at an important high-class party.
This story is told in two pieces. We get flashbacks about Rarity trying to teach Twilight the finer nuances of ballroom dancing, and flash-forwards to Rarity sword fighting with Blueblood. And if you think that sounds needlessly awesome, just wait until the two halves of the story collide! Through it all, there's a high amount of flirtatious tension between the two, that Romance tag never quite coming into play, but ultimately being far more tantalizing than just having two horses kiss at the end. This was great stuff. :D
Highly Recommended
Tactics by Rose Quill
Sequel to Succor
Genre: AU
Princess Rarity may not quite be ready for her training.
Okay, now the shipping is picking up in this AU. :) But I have to admit: the bodyguard Twilight is really not Twilight. The whole liking books thing is enough to keep me thinking it's her, and you could imagine that, if Shining Armor exists, she might have followed in his footsteps in a world a bit more medieval than canon. But we learn a good bit more about her character in this story, and yeah, not really Twilight. That said, she's still a great foil for Rarity, and I can't wait to see where this goes next. :D
Recommended If You Enjoy AUs
Bloody Mane by Flutterpriest
Reading by Sparrow9642
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Everypony knows Bloody Mane isn't real. So why has Twilight seen her before?
Boy, there sure isn't a lot of shipping in this romance-based writing event. <.< I mean, the punchline here is based on Twilight having a thing for Rarity, but that's the deepest this goes. Regardless, I love the setup here, the ponified Bloody Mary story that of course could actually be a real thing in Equestria. The description of the summoning was honestly terrifying, and the comedy happened at the exact point it needed to to defuse the tension. :) An excellent read!
Recommended
Storefronts by Undome Tinwe
Genre: EQG
Twilight needs a dress on short notice, and she just had to end up at this store…
This reminds me of something I read in the last Sunset Shipping contest, which probably also involved Rarity, demanding a 'proper' breakup after a lengthy separation. If there's anything I like about this, though, it's that first scene of a grown-up Sci-Twi running down Fashion Row, silently evaluating all the dresses she sees in the windows. If the description didn't clue you in to what kind of story this was going to be, that absolutely does. The ending, though, isn't the kind that sticks with you, but in some ways, it mirrors their apparent first breakup. Clever.
Recommended
Lamentations by Fillyfoolish
Sequel to Ruminations
Genre: Emotional
Twilight writes a letter to Rarity.
This was actually written prior to Ruminations, but I think reading them in sequel order will provide the most impact. There's an earnest melodrama to this, and like its prequel, our narrator is busy trying not to think of something. Though, spoilers, Twilight actually comes to grips with her own emotions across the short narrative. Maybe I'm just in the right mood, but I thought this was quite effective.
Recommended
The Haunted Library by AppleTank
Genre: AU
The library is said to be haunted, but Rarity hardly believes in ghosts.
I can't remember the last time I saw a story so tantalizing that refused to deliver on its premise. The AU here is really neat: not only is Twilight a ghost, a la The Enchanted Library, she was Sunset Shimmer's mentor, and it's Sunset who takes her place in Ponyville as the Element of Magic. Isn't that neat? Unfortunately, not much is done with it, just a few snippets of scenes here and there, and not really any shipping either. (Which is fine, if you ask me, but, y'know, expectations.) I mean, I liked it, but call me greedy, I wanted much, much more of it. What I really want is the long version, particularly if it has no footnotes, because those were kind of annoying. <.<
Recommended Only If You Like AUs
The Bridge over the Neighgara by Carabas
Genre: Cutie Re-Mark/Action
Lieutenant Rarity's task guarding an important river crossing is interrupted by a purple mare.
Okay, forget shipping. Heck, forget Twilight Sparkle: I am now here for Rarity fighting things with swords. This was a phenomenal piece, one of the best I've read all year, giving us a very reasonable look at how the Rarity we saw in the King Sombra future might end up an officer leading a troop to guard a river crossing. It's got action, it's got intrigue, and most importantly, it takes a harsh look at what war does to a person's mind. Rarity has to make some hard choices and face some very unpleasant realities. I really love what Carabas did with this canon AU; the only downside is it's not "Neighagara". :B Well, that and the lack of sequel.
Highly Recommended
Sledding and Other Horrors by Carabas
Genre: Comedy
Sleds: engines of death.
Hey, actual shipping! And wouldn't you know it, there's no Comedy tag, but this was hilarious. It shows Rarity and Twilight clearly deep into a relationship, because Twilight's able to be just as dramatic at Rarity as Rarity is at her most dramatic. This was simple and cute and clever, but most of all, fun. :)
Recommended
Making Up Is Hard to Do by Lofty Withers
Genre: Comedy
Twilight and Rarity really need to apologize.
RariTwi… and Fluttershy? Well, that's different. I wish this had gone into any amount of detail about their relationship, because I was interested to know the background, y'know? Sadly, there isn't a whole lot to this, just a straightforward look at the communication and trust required for a relationship, alongside a whole heaping of sex jokes. Except, like… Rarity and Twilight never actually apologize? They just dance around the issue and make up with Fluttershy instead of each other? So I have to say, despite the punchline being pretty funny, I felt a little underwhelmed by the ending.
Recommended If You Like Stories About Poly Relationships
A Lady Fit for Royalty by Fillyfoolish
Genre: Emotional Drama
Rarity is a lady, and a lady stands by her friends as they trifle with love.
Who needs shipping when you have romance? This is a story about a pony who needs to figure herself out and another pony who needs to get over herself. The broad strokes are honestly every shipfic ever, but in exerting effort into things like characterization, the author demonstrates why those strokes are so commonly used, and why those other, lesser fics can be safely disregarded. This is a phenomenal Rarity, struggling with her sexual identity and the things she thinks are proper and ladylike. And because of this, this story also happens to be the best argument I've ever seen for reading Rarity as trans. Yes, if you like stories about queer issues, this is one of the all-time best queer ponyfics I've ever read. And if you generally don't care about such things, you will read it anyway because it's also fantastic shipping.
Highly Recommended
Twice the Proposal by HyperBlossom7
Genre: Slice of Life
Twilight has a plan for her date with Rarity.
That last story is a tough act to follow, but this is still pure fluff, and I didn't much enjoy it. I mean, even disregarding the title, you can tell it's going to be one of those "oops, we both proposed!" stories, and that on top of no real comedy or character moments or anything. Plus, it's extremely rushed, almost slapdash, with bare hints of characterization. I'm sorry, I just don't see the value here.
Vaguely Recommended
Rarity Catches the Flu by Ecky the Writer
Genre: Comedy
And Twilight has to take care of her.
By the author's admission, they're young and just starting to write, which was a good thing to start this story off with. Because, yeah, it's a first story, it's not perfect. Perspective, for instance, is clearly something they struggled with, and it's sometimes confusing who's speaking. Character voice is another issue, though in this case I'd say it's due to the author being quite ambitious. Rarity's got a very specific voice that will get easier to write with practice, so not nailing on the first try is hardly a fault. As for the story, it's quite fluffy, just a fairly standard shipfic. There's nothing wrong with that either, but it won't be for everyone.
Recommended If You Like Supporting Young Writers
Rise and Shine by Vasar Huineo
Genre: Dark Comedy
Twilight and Rarity bury a body.
I was not prepared for this rollercoaster ride. XD What a trip! Everything about it is just perfect, go read it now.
Highly Recommended
In Everything but Name by Monochromatic
Review #6800!
Genre: Drama
Whatever Rarity and Twilight were, they were content to just be. But they could not just be forever.
It's no wonder Monochromatic ended up writing the story voted "Best Fanfic" last year. She's really just amazing. If nothing else, she is phenomenal at writing these two characters well. Though there's something to be said for having shown up everyone who wanted to enter her own not-a-contest. >:V Regardless, this is a fantastic piece from start to finish, emotional, romantic, and best of all, about a pair of ponies trying their best to be their own thing without anyone else's say-so. I'm really into that right now, and I couldn't ask for a better story about it.
Highly Recommended
Often the problems that lead to suicide are small and conquerable. What leads to suicide is the unending accumulation of them.
Thank you for the review! Go raritwiiiii
Much obliged for the reviews, Present!
Ooooh, bomb edition.
Well, as they say:
"Ideas are great, but they aren't a story."
--They
I have plenty of dumb ideas, but unless it fits into the very narrow niche I'm in, or is vague enough I can slap it into my Jenga Tower that is Diary of the Dead, I'm only able to output an incoherent garbage one-shot. That, or something I can shitpost constantly without worrying too much about logic.
Otherwise, it takes me years to percolate something that's worth reading, and I don't have the brain power for that. I am not going to make a "Sunset-verse" or what have you, I can barely update 2 fics at a time, and I have 3.
On a side note, I am still baffled that I'm the first to even try swapping Sunset and Twilight.
Well... several more fics go on the list...
Best rec, ever. And by best, I mean most significant. Skipping this one.
N.B. Carabas: The Bridge over the Neighgara really, really needs a sequel!
Thanks for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed the event, it was a blast to participate.
The community that springs up for these events has long been my favourite thing about them (the train event also exists, and, while smaller, is quite excellent too!)
The plan was also always to have Mono upstage us all at the end. Everyone worked hard to get the site in a raritwi mood to better enjoy In Everything But Name, and I believe it worked! Anyways, happy reading to all.
:D