Fic recs, February 26th: Quill Feather edition! · 3:03pm February 26th
So full disclosure: last go-round, I had included a review of a story read by someone who I thought was a new reader, but actually wasn't. Not sure how I missed that! Anyway, for the sake of actually releasing that review, here's an impromptu and very small reader edition! The also small List:
Norm de Plume's This Mirror Left Blank
RuinQueenOfOblivion's Musical Love
Grimm's Don't Open the Door
And now, the reviews!
H: 0 R: 1 C: 4 V: 0 N: 1
Pink and Red by Quillfeather882
Reading
Genre: Dark
The Pinkies are getting out of control! What's Pinkie Pie going to do to stop them?
This is from 2015. How the heck is it under a thousand words? c_c; Anyway, say what you will about Mirror Pool horror, or Pinkamena, this kinda felt like visiting an old friend. A friend you maybe don't want to spend a lot of time around for reasons, but nevertheless. Kidding aside, I will say that I've never seen Pinkamena used like this, or at least I've never seen her m.o. be "the rock farm made you strong, but now you need me because you're weak". The rest goes about like you'd expect, and the low word count means that it thankfully doesn't linger on the carnage for long.
Recommended for Dark Fic Fans Only
Accidents by Dusk Melody
Reading (part 1)
Genre: Dark/Sad/Romance
They do happen.
From the description, I had the impression this was going to be a story in which Applejack accidentally applebucks her wife, Fluttershy, to death. I was about half right. c_c I really do want to give at least some of this away, just because of the subject matter: someone does die, but it's not Fluttershy. And thankfully, who does is foreshadowed well enough that you'll be able to nope out of the story well ahead of the incident if you find it's too much for you. But beyond the general unpleasantness, this story does have other things to offer. It is, for example, a very good look at grief, at grieving couples, and at couples pulling through adversity together. That last bit, if anything, is totally the reason to read it. And if you enjoy watching AJ self-recriminate and withdraw after doing something wrong, this is also a good look at her character. But I'm sure you're wondering, okay, this still sounds pretty dark, so is it any good? And while I can say without hesitation that it's written well, I also know that's not what you're asking: you want to know if it was a good idea. Well, here's the thing. I do think the potential perils of dating Equestria's strongest earth pony were worth exploring. Perhaps not to the extent we get here — AJ killing or, heck, even just sending Fluttershy to the hospital would, I strongly believe, have gotten the same reactions out of her — so that's going to be your deciding point. On the good side, this does have a happy ending to look forward to. On the not so good side? It comes after a detailed scene of hoof licking? c_c;;;
Recommended If You Don't Mind Your Shipfics Getting Dark
Hearthswarming Rush by Quillfeather882
Reading with a bunch of people
Genre: Holiday Special
As if the days leading up to Hearth's Warming weren't a bad enough time to be working, they're made even worse when you need to train a new coworker.
This is one of those rare moments when I read a fic that only exists in reading form because the author never uploaded it anywhere for whatever reason. And honestly, I don't know why. It's not bad at all, and even the parts that are pure dialogue would have parsed properly as written. It's a good example of a self-insert OC done well, with a strong voice from the start, and them being the character who grows and changes by the end of the story. Y'know, from learning the true meaning of Hearth's Warming or whatever. Besides, we're all likely to resonate with a story about working in retail hell, ponies or not.
Recommended
Our Perfect Day by GeekCat
Reading
Genre: Shipping
It's the day of Fluttershy and Discord's wedding.
So! Fluttercord! Not my thing, if I've never said that before, but I gave this a chance not only because there wasn't a whole lot to choose from on Quill Feather's channel, but also because this was marked comedy. A funny fic about a character who barely understands friendship, so how could he possibly ever understand romance, getting married to Fluttershy could be worth it! Well, the bad news is, this isn't terribly funny. It was not, thankfully, a story wherein the bride is all "Yay, marriage!" and the groom is all, "Oh no, marriage!" like I initially thought it might be, because that is an old, worn trope that was never very funny in the first place and I hate it! :') The worst I can say is the Comedy tag really oversells what happens here. So, in total, this is a perfectly reasonable wedding fic if you care about the couple. The things they say to each other make good sense. Actually, the characterization is a highlight, even if there are only a few spots that really show it off, like Spike's take on the relationship. And I felt the description of the wedding went on for rather too long, but I guess if you've really wanted these two to get together for a long time, it's a worthwhile payoff. Also, I've still never been to a wedding, so maybe I just don't get it. :B Anyway, it's fine. People who are not me will appreciate it more!
Recommended for Fluttercord Shippers
The End of a Nightmare. (A Grimdark Finale) by TheMareinTheMoon
Reading (part 1)
Genre: Grimdark
I was going to label this a "Cupcakes sequel", but in actuality, it's not just based on the perhaps most infamous ponyfic ever written, but the defunct Tumblr ask blog once run by artist CrookedTrees, as well as a few others. And that, you have to admit, is ambitious at the very least. I actually used to follow that blog, for some reason, in the dark old days, though it's probably better left forgotten. Certainly, as I got into this story, I found my taste for dealing with something so needlessly grim much diminished over the years. Notably, the reading only covers the first three chapters, which, again: not a lot to work with on this channel, so I figured why not? And it's hardly the worst story ever, for all that its subject matter is really not anything most fans of the show are going to want to deal with. But as I got into actually reading the rest with my own eyes, the writing flaws became much more apparent, and I began to feel tired. :C This is far from the worst story of its sort I've ever seen, and the promised happy ending no doubt has its own place, but do you really want to take the time and effort to actually get there? I sure don't.
DNF: 4/13
Hearthswarming Rush: A Helping Hoof by Quillfeather882
Reading with a whole bunch of people
Sequel to Hearthswarming Rush
Genre: Holiday Special
After she's hurt in a workplace accident, how will Quill Feather be able to make ends meet while she recovers?
Last but not least, the reader's own sequel to her work that doesn't appear anywhere else for some reason. :B Again, I have to ask why! I find the other one to be a more interesting story, but this is perfectly fine, and I dare say her writing improved in between! The reason to read this one is if Quill Feather's self-insert OC interested you as a character, because we learn a whole lot about her. She's really quite fleshed out by the end. Of course, we also learn something about the author herself. I mean, why make a self-insert save to play out some sort of personal fantasy on the page? Which in this case means moving in with Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, getting hit on by a background pony, and *checks notes* getting a fat workman's comp payout. c_c I dearly hope this wasn't inspired by real events.
Recommended If You Enjoy OC Fics
This makes me wonder if the author of Accidents went back and made edits at some point between when I read it in 2020 and now, because the biggest setback for the story for me was in fact the writing. Might be worth another look and a re-shelving if that were the case.
What an unusual bunch of stories, which I will never read.
They all have a certain fascinating quality, but even an Oh My God You Guys, You've Got To Read This rating couldn't overcome my hard recoil from the descriptions!
5770017
when you let other people dictate what you read, you end up in some strange places! :B
5770025
Still, I was one of the few students who actually liked Shirly Jackson's The Lottery, and realized that The Lady or the Tiger? was a litmus test for misogyny rather than a story. Strange places can be very entertaining. Kafka's The Metamorphosis, on the other hoof was not "profound" as advertised, but (IMHO) overwritten late-onset teenage angst.
I remember High School English all too well!
Reading for pleasure is now my jam. I absolutely admit that there are extremely well-written Fluttercord romances out there (posibly) while absolutely refusing to go near them.
Hey there! A friend of mine alerted me to your review. Thank you so much for taking the time to check out my stuff. I haven't uploaded or written anything in a long time due to no longer having a computer, so I'm touched that you took the time to review them. Thank you so much! The reason I never uploaded Hearthwarming Rush, or its sequel, on here is because they were meant to be audio only.
5770054
Oh! I'm glad to see you're still around! :) Thanks for some good readings!