Fic recs: September 28th · 2:51pm Sep 28th, 2020
Been going out of my mind lately with worry that everything is fucked, nothing we do matters, and we'll all be dead inside a decade, but hey! At least you can still read my opinions on some people writing stories about cartoon horses.
H: 0 R: 2 C: 3 V: 0 N: 0
Letter's End by Bok
Reading by Scribbler and Agent0Fluffy
Genre: Epistolary Comedy
Twilight takes up a project to better understand why everypony is so riled up about the so-called 'end of the world'.
I don't know why this isn't tagged a comedy, because it's hilarious. Just a short piece about how conspiracy theories are infohazards, and gateways into considerably more outlandish conspiracy theories. Really, there's nothing more to it, but there didn't need to be, and the letters-only format works really well. :D
Recommended
Fluttershy Gets Inside Discord's Head by Bronyxy
Reading by Midnight29
Genre: Body Swap (Kinda)
Discord teaches Fluttershy a lesson about magic.
Bear with me, because this one's a little weird. The opening scene, the initiating event, is really good, with some strong Fluttershy characterization. The author's good at writing Discord, and the setup overall could have fit into an episode, if we hadn't gotten one with Angel instead. But the 'lesson' part, aside from being dark in the way the natural world is dark, paints Fluttershy as very naive in the area she's most knowledgeable. Also, I'm not sure what it really has to do with magic. So this is something of a cute, fun sandwich with significantly less-than-cute filling.
Recommended for Discord Fans
How (Not) to Wake Up a (Giant) Princess by Dr Atlas
Reading by Aero Foil
Scribbler keeps finding 'em! His audio quality could be better, but it's not bad. Moreover, he used inflection and tone rather than trying to do impressions, his pacing is good, and he mixed his background music perfectly. He's only got three readings, the last of which is from a year ago, but I'll go ahead and give him a follow now, just in case.
Genre: Comedy/Macro Fetish
It's surprisingly hard to do right.
Boy was this weird. Clearly written to capitalize on the cover art, it nevertheless manages to be a funny, cute story about a hapless private of the Royal Guard. There's a long intro with a lot of talking, and a running gag about just why Twilight is so large, but really, the fact that "it's pony, but real big" is just this Thing you have to deal with is what makes this so surreal. (Also, the punchline is vore.)
Recommended for Laughs
Sleight of Hoof by Some Leech
Reading by ScarlettBlade
Mature: Sex, Fetish
Genre: Clop
Having learned of Trixie's secret, Starlight decides to get to the bottom of it.
I like how that description makes this sound like something it totally isn't. <.< So, I came here for a sexier version of Road to Friendship, and what I got was… well, that, but also a lengthy explanation of just who Starlight and Trixie are and why they're friends. Like, are we assuming that people unfamiliar with MLP are reading horse porn? Because I guarantee they are not. Anyway, this was okay, the narrative often lacking, especially when not in a character's head, but the dialogue pretty decent, owing to the author remembering that these are characters and not just sex vehicles. The sex itself is all right, improved by the "I'm a virgin!" twelfth hour reveal, and has a hilariously explosive finish, no quote marks. It's a clop fic!
Recommended If You Like Horse Porn
Time Enough for Love by horizon
Reading (part 1) by ScarlettBlade
Genre: Historical Romantic Tragedy
Clover the Clever accepted Imperatrix Celestia's bargain to woo him for the good of the kingdom. But what he'll have to sacrifice to keep her is more than any one pony should.
I don't know if this story inspired the cover art or the other way around, but that is one of my all-time favorite pieces of pony art, and probably my single favorite image of Celestia ever made. It… kind of got my hopes up, if I'm being honest. This was a good story, don't get me wrong, but I think horizon gave me the story I needed rather than the one I wanted, and right now? The one I wanted would have been nice. I'm talking a historical romantic comedy where a young, fearsome Celestia snu-snu's this poor nerd to death every other day while chasing him around the world. I mean, I got a little of that. Her hammer's named Mr. Smashy! They have tons of sex! And the locales they go to are really awesome! But halfway through, this takes a dark turn, and it becomes clear that it wasn't the Comedy tag that was missing, but Tragedy. This is ultimately the story of Celestia and how she grew into the kind of pony who could ignore her sister. Though I must say, making Clover the cause of Nightmare Moon I felt cheapens the show's founding tragedy. Still, along the way we get some very strong lessons about love — ignoring them is what drives this piece's tragedy — and meditations on the value of a lifetime and what one pony can achieve on their own. So while I have to say I was kind of put out by the end, I still must recognize that this is a strong piece of writing, and people should read it.
Recommended
It’s the little things that make life sweet.
Maybe it’s just been a while since I’ve read Horizon’s story but I don’t recall there being anything resembling a love triangle struggle in it. Luna very clearly loathed Clover after a time, and with that, the choices that Celestia and he were making. The alienation she ended up being put through as Clover’s influences grew isn’t exactly very love triangle-y.
There's a lot of good things happening in the world too and some of us are trying to fix things and I think we can do it
I read Horizon’s story last year, I think. It seems so long ago now. It was good. (I know, the in-depthness was of my review is breathtaking)
As for Armageddon in the next ten years...
Well, I mean Greg Stillson IS in office.
Hey, at least the Fallout LARPers should be happy.
5365995
It's not Clover I'm suggesting as the pony being fought over... c.c; Could just be me, though.
Regardless, though it's clear things were headed in that direction well before he came back, it does sort of come off as Clover caused Nightmare Moon.
5366216
I mean, the only other two characters involved are Luna and Celestia, and it... doesn’t really work between them? Horizon isn’t really someone I’d think would be writing Maximum Gross Nasty Definitely Not Romance like in*est into stories. I’m pretty sure there would have been many more comments about (1) about that along with a dark tag and some trigger warnings. Just... everything that wouldn’t be labeled on a romance/adventure/drama.
I think that Clover coming across as causing Nightmare Moon was 100% the intention though, seeing that what’s shown of Luna and Celestia’s sisterhood before his relationship with Celestia feels more like a quiet, glacial alienation from one another more typical of divine/semi-divine beings.
(1) My reading experience was through the print copy, but I did go through the comments afterwards.
5366231
Yeah, I checked the comments too, so it's pretty safe to say this is me reading in things that are not meant to be there. :C
5366241
I’d probably just PM him about some parts coming across as unintentionally creepy, then.
A very belated thank you for the Time Enough For Love review!
To answer your question, the art was inspired by the story -- I approached Nadnerb and asked him for a commission based on the original Writeoff version. It came out abso-bloody-lutely amazing.
Also, part of the reason I wanted to turn TEFL into a novel was to be able to give some actual space to their larger-than-life adventures. Everything they do on their mad whirlwind trip in the front half was added to jack up the story-we-wanted quotient relative to the story-we-needed that was always the core framework. So let's at least celebrate the editing and expanding process, which was responsible for all the parts you liked
5737284
...this blog is three years old o_o you okay?
5737318
I kind of wasn't for a while. The pandemic years were rough. I missed a lot, both on FIMFiction and elsewhere, while I was hiding in my cave; I've been wandering through trying to find stories which had readings done and/or got new reviews in my absence, in order to get them linked from the story description in appreciation of the efforts involved.
How've you been?
5737377
Girl :B
Also about like that, though I sought refuge in internet escapism
5737396
Your pandemic escapism sounds healthier than mine. Also, congratulations on girl! I hope you live in one of the areas of the country which is not suddenly making that a lot more complicated.
5737530
not so far! and if I am led to believe correctly, they can't because their own dumb party accidentally made doing so illegal lol :V