Fic recs, January 10th! · 8:47pm Jan 10th, 2019
Like fanfic reviews? (You'd fucking better if you're reading this…) We've got a new face on the scene, Hopeling! Go check them out. :)
Back in 2017, I reviewed a sad TwiLuna called The Artistry of Night. Well, it's gotten a new chapter, four years after the first! It doesn't add much, just extending the concept, but if you liked the original story, this is a good time to go revisit it.
Actually doing one in three days for once! :) Had a short slew of fics I saw recently and just had to check out for one reason or another. Now you can check 'em out, too!
H: 2 R: 2 C: 1 V: 0 N: 0
You Are What You Wheat by horizon, Georg, Not_A_Hat, CoffeeMinion and Morning Sun
Genre: Random Comedy
How can a wheatgrass reserve be strategic, anyway?
After reading Sharktavia 40,000, I wanted more stories about Dobbin and Nutmeg, and this was what the author pointed me to for the former. <.< It's… definitely a thing! Just leaps from one crazy idea to the next, getting weirder and weirder as it progresses. A good use of Discord and Guys' Night O&O, for sure. But I'm with Parade Rest: What.
Recommended
Why the Gift Is Given by Impossible Numbers
Genre: Drama
Why do we give gifts every Hearth's Warming? The question might be too much for a filly like Ruby Pinch to answer.
Pascoite bent my ear to this one, and boy was he right. I mean, it shouldn't be any surprise; I should just be reading as much Impossible Numbers as I can, because that's always a good decision. What he's concocted this time is a story about feelings and economics and the pains of growing up, with all the confusing maelstrom that presents to a young person who's had to become mature for her age. It's about a girl living in a bad situation — a situation rendered in terrifying surrealism at times — trying to figure out why she should give a damn about anything, or feel anything but anger all the time. This is a really deep story, and it's going to give you a lot to chew on. If nothing else, the author was obviously adamant about not presenting background ponies they way they're usually presented, so that's something new. But yeah, if you've ever been a child with a head full of feelings and no idea what to do with them, this captures that perfectly, and maybe even has something to say about gift-giving along the way.
Highly Recommended
The Pie by Matthew Penn
Genre: Humanized Comedy
Filthy Rich is determined to get his daughter to eat spinach somehow.
I've been listening to some P. G Wodehouse audiobooks lately and went looking for more Jeeves and Wooster crossovers, only to find that none have been written beyond the two-and-a-half that already existed years ago. :( Anyway, the right name showed up in the description of this one, and it sounded fun, so I checked it out. It might have something of the Wodehousian in it, you know. It's fairly simplistic, all things considered, but it is amusing. Definitely the kind of thing younger fans could enjoy.
Recommended for Laughs
Even Emvoweling by ChibiRenamon
Genre: Rom-Com
The good news: Applejack's crush on Rarity is reciprocal. The bad? Their souls might just be damned to Pony Hell.
I really do like when artists promote the stories they do cover art commissions for. :) Anyway, this is a fast-paced, laugh-a-minute pile of ridiculousness that's a ride from start to finish. I mean, any story that can get away with using the phrase "Pony Hell" is gonna be, but wow, this was nuts! If you're not into shipping, you may be turned off the comedy, but trust me when I say it is funny. Highly Recommended for Shippers.
Recommended
Better Dig Two by Aquaman
Genre: Drama/Sad/Western
Pear Butter always knew things would end like this.
Aquaman posted a new story, drop everything! So I can't help but feel like there's a certain tongue-in-cheek-ness to this. I mean, it can't possibly be how AJ's parents met their end; and yet, it's extremely awesome and packed full of emotion. I defy you not to tear up by the end.
Highly Recommended
I don’t tell you how to make YOUR headcanons!
so what if it’s not tonally appropriate for the show
Haha, You Are What You Wheat brings me back. Last year or the year before, it spawned at random during a writeoff, completely separate from the prompt. I wish I were more daring at the time, though I’m not sure how I could have possibly added to that masterpiece.
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It can't possibly be true because show staff would never do something that cool. :B
I am side-eyeing CoffeeMinion so hard right now for recommending You Are What You Wheat as a Dobbinfic rather than the contest-winning, highly acclaimed Pratchett send-up of Watch! Watch!
I mean, not that YAWYW isn't fun, but WW! is easily among my best.
Glad you enjoyed it, regardless!
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Ah, well, I wouldn't have read that just yet, because it's part of the comedy contest. Which I plan on doing sooner than later. :)
Seems I owe Pascoite a beer, and/or beverage of his choice (alcoholic content negotiable). It's always a pleasure to receive a review from you... especially one ending with a "Highly Recommended".
Funny thing about this story in particular is that it started life as a minor characterization exercise. The gift-giving philosophizing was the main focus before I realized it made the story too dry and needed a proper personal conflict. Hence Berry Punch's increased presence as the story continues.
So I used it as a vehicle for testing out some background pony ideas, on behalf of a completely different fic featuring those characters (The Science of Hugging, to be precise). For instance, I had no strong opinion on what kind of character Berry Punch was going to be (I'd never focused on her much), only that she wasn't going to be a comedic town drunk, which was as far as I was aware her most common fan portrayal at the time. I ended up going for something closer to a bipolar-like state, constantly veering between manic cheeriness and soul-sucking despair, simply because I felt I could do more with a character of such wild extremes.
Although you mention presenting background ponies differently than usual, I don't think there were really that many exceptions. Piña, Ruby, and Amethyst don't really have any "One True Fanon" portrayal that I was aware of (certainly not in the same way Berry does), so I doubt it's particularly noteworthy in their case. Dinky and Carrot Top/Golden Harvest don't seem particularly different from theirs, either. Of course, I haven't read fanfiction as widely as most, so this is a pretty limited personal impression.
But anyway, thanks for the review. A delight, as ever.
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I was more talking about the relationships. The surprisingly large number of big sisters taking care of younger siblings was original and fits with canon. A lot of the relations are very "are they?" like the whole "Auntie" thing.
Where are anyone's parents? Parents just don't exist in Ponyville. :) And we've got quite a few other methods to build families besides.