Penalt's Reading Corner - February 27

This week, I'm looking back at a special story for me. The story that got me into fan fiction and MLP fan fiction in the first place.

The Dresden Fillies: Strange Friends by Psychicscubadiver

I was already a fan of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher before I got into MLP. To quote one of the major characters in the series:

Let’s get something clear right up front.

I’m not Harry Dresden.

Harry’s a genuine, honest-to-goodness wizard. He’s Gandalf on crack and an IV of Red Bull, with a big leather coat and a .44 revolver in his pocket. He’ll spit in the eye of gods and demons alike if he thinks it needs to be done, and to hell with the consequences — and yet somehow [he] manages to remain a decent human being.

I’ll be damned if I know how.

But then, I’ll be damned regardless.

My name is Thomas Raith, and I’m a monster.

How can you not love an intro like that? So, in my then quest for all things Dresden, google led me to Psychicscubadiver's story. I didn't read it, I devoured it. It was such a true rendition of the Harry Dresden I knew from the books, fused so well with the world of Equestria, I seriously wondered if Jim Butcher had decided to try his hand at writing fan fiction. From that point I was hooked, eagerly reading the sequel and then diving into Fimfiction with a will.

I highly recommend the story and it's sequel The Dresden Fillies: False Masks as well. I'm only hoping that one day the author will return to finish his story where the Mane 6 join him on Earth.

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On a personal project note, my latest chapter of How Twilight Learned has just been finished and is off to my editor for their usual desperate rearranging of my scribbles into something legible. This despite my having contracted Covid and fighting it off all this past week. Doing much better now, and I am so very, very glad my vaccinations cut down the severity. Take care of yourselves out there.

Comments

[Raging Mouse]

Oh, well I just happen to have this on my "reading right now list" (alongside one or two of yours, I might add): Haycartes' Pluperfect Method.

pluperfect, n. the past perfect verb tense.

pluperfect, adj. more than perfect; excessively precise or complete.

A weekend with all her friends away, a shelf full of books, and Haycartes' Method- the spell that lets a pony see a book from the inside. It seemed like a perfect relaxing weekend for Twilight Sparkle- with a little tweak to the spell, that is.

Then she woke up inside the story... as the main character... with the main character's memories... and the main character's thoughts trying to override her own...

... and she can't remember how to get back out.

The author asked for books to read (and subject Twilight to) in a blog... and one of the suggestions was apparently a Harry Dresden novel, judging by the latest chapters. You just might be interested.

[coyotethetrickster]

the first story i read i believe was journey by you, pen. it got me to stick around and eventually become your editor.

this week's horn tooting is rock bottom

[Penalt]

5640371
Journey got lost in the sauce for a long time. I was so happy I was able to get back to it and give those characters the endings they deserved.