Fic recs, June 20th! · 12:58pm June 20th
...Yaknow, I had kind of been looking forward to having a nice, meaty review plate for today's post as we get back into weekly reviews hopefully, but I just realized, I haven't listened to a single fic all week. D: First it was because of Jenny Nicholson's incredibly engrossing four-hour video about a Star Wars hotel, and then it was because I don't know, the timing just keeps not working out! I'm not even showering today, what is going on ;_; gross horse, that is me Nevermind, I decided not to be gross, sorry for party rockin' :B
H: 0 R: 2 C: 4 V: 0 N: 2
Nightmare Night: The Lucky & Unlucky by Burningbloom78
Reading by Lotus Moon and Sparrow9642
Genre: Horror
So this actually turns out to be two stories? Hence the chapter title, I suppose. In the first, a mare gets drunk at a Nightmare Night party, barfs in vivid detail, and winds up in the lair of a monster somehow. In the second, a stallion gets drunk at a Nightmare Night party and is brutally murdered by a random demon. Needless to say, neither really worked for me, though the reveal of what the first monster actually is was pretty effective. Then again, the dialogue that's meant to be sinister comes off as comic book supervillain monologuing. Apparently, horror isn't the usual thing for this author, so that might explain a few things. Good on them for stepping outside their comfort zone though!
Not Recommended
Celestia Is Still a Spider and Chrysalis Hasn't Been Informed by Equimorto
Reading by VisualPony
Reading by Lotus Moon
Sequel to Celestia Is a Spider and That's Pretty Much It
Genre: Random Comedy
The infiltration of Canterlot Castle doesn't quite go as Chrysalis had planned.
"I don't think I'll check out the sequel," said I in my 2018 review of the original. I have to assume that's why I didn't do this while going through Lotus Moon's channel, basically skipped that reading. <_< Well, I don't feel like completely redoing my audiobook list today, so get rekt, 2018 me! You didn't know shit anyway. :V But more than that, this does improve on the original by having something important that I think it lacked: someone else to react to the situation. The rest is goofy, weird stuff — though I don't think Celestia is actually supposed to look like CouchCrusader's cute spider-taur version of her, sad face — and with Chrysalis as straightmare, it's quite fun.
Recommended If You Enjoy Weird Comedies
Princess Celestia Is Replaced by an Ohio-Class Submarine by Greenback
Reading by No One and Nobody
Genre: Random Comedy
Yeah, so. A collection of Princess Celestia's most memorable scenes from the first four seasons of the show, wherein the title is a Thing That Happened. It is hysterical. I don't know why, but watching these scenes play out, despite knowing what was eventually going to happen, it never ceased to amuse and delight. I might give big props to the reading, where No One's addition of music and sound effects really does a lot for the story. But by itself, it's a great example of flogging a single joke just enough so that it never gets old. :) Highly Recommended If You Like Silly Shit
Recommended
I'm Not a Foal! by Twinkletail
Reading by VisualPony
Genre: Comedy
Twilight's shopping trip with Cadence and Shining Armor leads to shenanigans.
This is a cute, silly story about Twilight's brother teasing her for acting foalish, and her getting really upset and asserting that she is "a big pony now", the easiest way to prove someone right when being accused of immaturity. I had fun with it. And it culminates in a perhaps surprising way, slotting itself most deftly into canon. :)
Recommended for Laughs
Tradition!!!!!!!!!!!! by Pastel Pony
Reading by Lotus Moon
Genre: Random Comedy
Every year to celebrate Thanksgiving, Pinkie Pie dresses up as a turkey and wakes her friends up at 6 AM.
…And that is basically the entire story! I have to say, I had zero reaction to this, and I think it's been a while since that happened. I just spent the whole thing waiting for an actual punchline to drop. Something funny to happen. World-building? But no, nothing. I mean, it's all dialogue and works quite well at that, it's the kind of story that's perfect for a reading. I just wish the author had done anything with their premise.
Not Recommended
Here Comes the Sun by bahatumay
Reading by VisualPony
Genre: Historical Comedy
A lone filly tries to raise the sun for the first time.
Here's a classic tale we've seen many a time, with a Comedy tag that suggests something unexpected is going to happen. I thought it would involve raising the sun, but I was wrong! It's what comes after. And that is… maybe not as funny as I had hoped for, but it's also neither the end of the story nor the punchline, which is pretty funny. So, in all, this is cute and it works.
Recommended for Laughs
Princess Luna Inherits Canada by naturalbornderpy
Reading by No One and Nobody
Genre: Random PoE Comedy
Luna finally gets her chance to rule a nation.
Every country does this, I'm pretty sure. Germany has Austria. Australia has New Zealand. The UK and France have each other. And as an American, jokes about Canada are… a Thing. :B We do. They're whatever, honestly. Except the great thing about Canada jokes is Canadians will happily make them, too, as evidenced by this absolutely hilarious fanfic. Like, this gets way deeper into them than I could have, certainly. XD And what makes it work, really, is Celestia as straightmare to her significantly more over-the-top younger sister. I do like a solidly silly Luna. :) There's of course nothing to this but jokes at the expense of Canadians, but if you are familiar with such things, you will no doubt enjoy this as much as I did. Go Leafs.
Recommended If You Like Silly Shit
The Stars Are Gone by TheDriderPony
Reading by VisualPony
Genre: Random Comedy
Luna has an important question for her sister.
Usually, I come to TheDriderPony's stories for strong characterization and world-building. And this story certainly has both of those things, well achieved. But oh boy is this funny. You will not predict what Celestia's confession is going to be. XD And the story carries the joke out to its fullest conclusion, with a couple extra jokes along the way. This is a great take on a now-classic gag! Highly Recommended for Laughs.
Recommended
I read the submarine one, and it came when it was a fad to do “X pony is replaced by Y,” and those just never worked for me. I read a Sherman tank one, too. It’s like regular stuff going on around Celestia, someone asks her a question, she revs her engine. Stuff like that which is reasonable given the conceit but where the conceit itself is the only humor. And I just don’t find that funny. Plus it mostly retreads episode plots, so it’s not even doing much new.
I noticed you rarely do reviews anymore of stories that don’t have readings. I was curious if you just much prefer to consume literature that way now or if your audiobook list is so long that you’re trying to keep up with it.
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I mean, both, but mostly the latter. It's still at over 150 and has been for quite a long time. D: VisualPony stopped uploading (which concerns me) which is why I've been able to make any headway at all, but every time I get a couple dozen videos in, Quinch or No One drops a huge multi-part story and I'm back where I started. DX
Also, the non-audiobook editions are the ones I do in my free time, which I have little of, and I've been trying to do at least one novel-length story per, so they just take way long to get out. :B