Apparently, there has been drama in some quarters about E100. I suppose that isn't exactly startling, but it was a disappointing surprise to me because I spend most of my time on UK of Equestria – where said drama has been non-existent. (And that wasn't the case during Twilicorn, so it's not just that we're lovely people.) Anyway, back to the fics now. I've managed to get through a full half-dozen for the first time in quite a while, so let's see what we've got. Under review today:
Story Time With Whiteout by Whiteout
Cousin Braeburn Writes a Crop-fic by Skywriter
Prison of Mine by 2006midnight
Gotta Put a Smile on Your Face by ZAquanimus
Creatures of the Night by Ebon Mane
Old Friends, Again by RBDash47
Story Time With Whiteout by Whiteout
OCs
Adventure; 1K words; Jun 2013; Teen
Weatherpony Whiteout tells the tale of how he once met Celestia. This is a blatant self-insert, but it's far from being the worst I've seen. Unfortunately, it's not really interesting either: I'm never invested in Whiteout as a character. Combine that with several silly typos ("gaurd") and a use of "plot" and there's really nothing to see here. I was amused to discover that the only commenter on this story was a certain PresentPerfect. :P ★★ Upgraded from one to two stars, 12/8/15.
Cousin Braeburn Writes a Crop-fic by Skywriter
Braeburn and Little Strongheart
Romance/Comedy/Random; 4K words; May 2014; Mature
Braeburn is trying to write a speech for an agricultural presentation, but his mind keeps straying into... other areas, especially those involving a certain young buffalo. A completely ridiculous story, full of crop-related innuendo (though quite mild by Mature standards). It just about works, plus it makes a change to see a fic in which Braeburn is not gay! Mildly silly ending. Amusing as a quick read. ★★★
Prison of Mine by 2006midnight
Luna
Sad/Slice of Life; 1K words; Oct 2014; Teen
Luna's thoughts are sad because nopony likes her. Yes, one of those fics. You'll probably get the most out of this if you're a fan of overwrought "Woe is me!" Lunafic, since that's pretty much all this is. It was one of the tide of speed-written "One-shotober" pieces, and I'm afraid you can tell. ★★
Gotta Put a Smile on Your Face by ZAquanimus
Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie
Slice of Life; 2K words; Jul 2011; Everyone
Rainbow needs to bake a cake, something she has no experience with. A very old Scootalove story that's pretty much what you'd expect from mid-2011. The underlying story is okay but predictable, sentence fragments are a particular problem and there's some awkward phrasing. At least the ending gave me a smile. ★★
Creatures of the Night by Ebon Mane
Twilight and Luna
Romance; 2K words; Jul 2011; Everyone
Twilight and Luna find love under the stars. The author (whose first fic this was) calls this story "terrible", and it's certainly nowhere near the standard of their later Tired (PR 34). Neither Twilight nor (S1) Luna are that well in character, and there are some oddities in the writing too. The author was right: this is merely a historical curio. ★
Old Friends, Again by RBDash47
Others
Dark; 4K words; Jul 2014; Teen
A direct sequel to the superb Old Friends (PR 16), so read that first. Celestia fears her own death... and why he may return. A little more predictable than the original (I saw the ending coming some way off) and there's one instance of Single Tear Syndrome, but still a satisfying and atmospheric addition to the ranks of good stories about this character. ★★★★
Poor Whiteout. :(
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was a very high one and could easily have been a low two (3.5 or 4 on my old scale). Similarly, Prison of Mine only just avoided a one. The problem is pretty much what you said in your Fimf comment, though: I don't know Whiteout at all, so don't really care about their self-insert OC unless they make me care. Which didn't happen here.
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