Underappreciated Author Spotlight: Orbiting Kettle · 12:23am Jan 18th, 2021
I'd been somewhat acquainted with Orbiting Kettle for a while, so I was surprised when I looked him up that he hadn't published anything before 2015. However, what's there is a parade of good stories. Why you should consider following him, after the break.
For that matter, he hasn't published anything in over a year now. Is he finished writing ponyfic? I don't know, but I follow authors for two reasons: to keep up with what they continue to publish and just to show support for authors I feel deserve it, even if they're not writing anymore. As I check today, Orbiting Kettle (I'll just abbreviate that, as he's OK in my book, haha. Eh...) has 270 followers, which isn't bad for someone who didn't start publishing until well after the fandom's peak.
He's got nineteen stories, of which I've read four. There are others I might have read when they were write-off entries, though he came around on the tail end of when I was participating, and I wasn't doing much reading/reviewing of them at that point. But I'm going off what's marked as read on this site, which of course wouldn't show those.
The first one I've read is "Fermentation," which is another of those stories where the world has long since ended and only one or more alicorns are still around. Old concepts can always be done well by skilled authors, and as will continue to come out through these stories is that OK does a great job creating atmosphere. That's one way to breathe life into an old idea. Do something unexpected with it, subvert it, or just write it damn well. As I've said before, I at least start most stories that come through Equestria Daily's submissions queue, even if I'm not the one who ends up taking it for review. For a while now, I've also been the person who handled the fanfiction email traffic, so I can research what happened with each story. I was sure I'd seen this one in the queue before, but it's not in the folder of posted stories, and... apparently OK was told we'd post it as soon as he was satisfied it was ready, and... he never replied.
Anyway, this is one of those good atmosphere pieces I spoke of, where nothing really happens, but there's a lot said about the characters and their relationship. There's not really a plot to comment on, but I did enjoy seeing this interaction, and it's one of those stories that says a lot by implication, far beyond what's actually in it.
The next one I've read is "I Don't Want to Grow Up," which was approved (though I see the few typos that were pointed out never got fixed ಠ_ಠ). I honestly don't remember this one much, not because it isn't good, but because it leads into another story that overshadows it in my mind. I do remember "Grow Up" being funny, just not any details of what actually happens in it. It's more or less a reciting of what Chrysalis has been up to in later seasons of the show, along with some tie-ins to work in how various other canon events can be reconciled with this version of her. Except for the finale, of course, because that's pretty hard to jive as someone who's frenemies with Celestia, and this story was written before that anyway.
And then we get to the biggie. "A Bug on a Stick" is a thoroughly lovely story. I've lamented this before, but I get very little time to read things just because I want to read them, and so I devote what I have to shorter stories. I've only read the first five chapters (of twenty-seven) and just wasn't able to keep up with it. But what I did read is a wonderful look and an exceedingly interesting cast of characters. We have a Celestia and Luna who are more or less raised at an orphanage by an eclectic assemblage of caretakers, both in terms of what personalities they have and what races they are. Just read the story's description. That will fully prepare you for how wonderfully whimsical it is. Of course Celestia and Luna are both rather precocious fillies who in turns take things way too seriously and fail to give things appropriate gravity, as children do. One thing Chris once said in a review of one of my stories is that the children entertainingly acted with "the peculiar brand of idiocy which is endemic to children everywhere," and that's a good summary of this as well. Celestia, in particular, who rejects all clear signs of imminent danger from Chrysalis and stubbornly puts complete trust in her, as well as Luna, who only goes along with it because of Celestia's pleading. Chrysalis herself only began to be defined as a character in the chapters I'd read. She'd mostly reacted by instinct and had little conscious thought to that point, and I don't recall any of it being told from her viewpoint, if indeed she ever gets the perspective through the rest of the story. But as is clear from the description, she's the central piece to the story's action, and the way she was written is that special blend of being pleasantly humorous to the reader while not being humorous to any of the characters. It's a deft hand that makes a story this heartwarmingly funny while not being overly silly. Pratchett is a good example of that. His stories are funny even when dealing with very serious events, and it's not often that the ridiculousness ramps up to where even the characters have to acknowledge it. Again, atmosphere is the keyword for OK, and this story has it in spades. Highly recommended, and I chose this story for one of my personal shout-outs at the "There can be Only One" Royal Canterlot Library panel from the final Bronycon.
The last one I read is of course one dear to my heart. I had compiled a list of a few writers who had read and enjoyed my story "Roam-Springa" and whom I trusted to handle a particular idea for a side story of it. OK agreed, resulting in "Fulcrum." It can be read completely independently of "Roam-Springa," though a few of the subtle references will go over your head if you haven't. At its heart, though, it's yet another atmospheric piece, this time about two characters who are having a hard time of things and slowly finding comfort in each other. It's another one that heavily works by implication, saying a lot more than the mere words. It's not an overt romance in that it's not kissy-smoochy, but it does well what a good romance absolutely must, and that's have a genuine relationship develop, where the reader can tell exactly why these two fit together well and would want to pursue a relationship. It's easy to put two characters together, promise the reader they're in love, and have them kiss. It's quite another thing to make it feel so real and lifelike, and OK makes a nicely convincing case of these two.
I can pretty much attribute OK's follower count to coming around after the fandom had begun substantially shrinking, but he deserves more, and I'd urge you to check out his stories.
Check out my previous underappreciated author spotlights:
Casca
Lucky Dreams
Ceffyl Dwr
Miller Minus
Impossible Numbers
Newcomers Edition with PapierSam and President Dead
Middle Ground Edition with Chris, PatchworkPoltergeist, and Norm De Plume
NaiadSagaIotaOar
Hell yeah. For a pot he writes some awesome stories with some stellar worldbuilding in all of them.
I’d say he’s more than OK.
I love these posts.
I've read several OK fics (heh) but the only one of these was Fermentation, and I remember really enjoying the writing in it. In a lot of ways, it's a typical "Alicorn angst" plot, but the scenery and descriptions really help to elevate it to something more, I think.
I think my favorite story of his is The Symposium, which probably isn't fair to him because it's one of his least ambitious works (being, as it is, a bunch of philosophy jokes wrapped in a nominal pony veneer). But that's readers for you; they never like the right stories, do they?
Anyway, good peek at a good author. Also, that guy you quoted about children displaying realistic idiocy sounds really smart and handsome
5437899
I can vouch for the smart, but not for the handsome. I fear it would be too dangerous to verify that, lest I suffer the same fate as Semele.
Good to see a boost for someone who deserves it.
... I need to do more of these myself, come to think of it.
Once again you've made me do a wait-I'm-not-following-them-already double-take. Thank you for that
hell yes, Orbiting Kettle is great :D
I miss seeing their work. I definitely agree with Pasc's assessment.
Pasc's assessment is very fun to say.
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It flows easily over the gums.
5438040
Best when whispered.
That moment when you think "I need to follow this user", only to realize you already are!