The unseasonably warm, sunny weather continues here in the English Midlands. I'm fortunate to have a back garden, so I'm able to enjoy it. A year or so ago, before I had a phone whose screen I could see in bright daylight, it might have been a different matter. Not that I do much ponyfic reading out there, but... four stories in this week's PR. Count 'em! Four!
Hearth's Sparring Eve by Raugos
Rise and Shine by Vasar Huineo
Steel Soul by Masterweaver
Luna Wakes up to Marehood by Fiaura
★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 3 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.
Hearth's Sparring Eve by Raugos
Tempest Shadow and Gallus
Slice of Life; 8k words; Feb 2020; Teen
Gallus finds unexpected companionship with Tempest Shadow on Hearth's Warming Eve.The first story I've ever read with these two as the stars, and with a couple of reservations I like it a good deal. The character interaction is very enjoyable, the prose is very smooth-reading – and while I don't always find fight training scenes very interesting, the one in this fic held my attention thanks to its variety. I was very pleased for Gallus, too; he needed this. Downsides? The big one is that Tempest is very noticeably better at magic than in the movie, with no in-story explanation for this improvement. We can maybe infer that she's had training (by Twilight?) but a line or two specifically touching on that would have helped. I'm also iffy about the extended quoting from a (canon) song near the end; there was rather too much of it for my taste. Those keep this to a three, but it's high in that band and well worth a read if you have a taste for reading about either or both of these two characters. ★★★
Rise and Shine by Vasar Huineo
Twilight and Rarity
Comedy; 2k words; Oct 2019; Teen
Rarity tries to help Twilight bury a dead body. They fail.Written for a speedwriting contest, this fic is a fun read. It's hard to say much here without giving away the twist, but it's both fitting for the character and funny, which isn't a bad thing in a [Comedy]-tagged story. There's also a nice bit near the end in which an entirely different character is mentioned, and given said character's canon past there are some quite dark implications there. Well, there would be, if it weren't for... um, the main twist. I did wonder whether Luna might have interfered at one point, though. Another high three. ★★★
Steel Soul by Masterweaver
Sweetie Belle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, CMCs and Other
Drama/Sad/Sci-Fi/Slice of Life; 5k words; Jul 2012; Teen
[no short description]When Sweetie is injured one day, she and Rarity are shocked to discover that beneath the skin, she has not muscles and bones but metal. Could she be a robot? This is not a Sweetie Bot story, although it was published while Friendship is Witchcraft was a live series. I like the way Pinkie is used in this, playing to her strengths of noticing things about ponies that others don't. There's also a nice line about Apple Bloom's "philosophical counterpoints". Unfortunately the fic is full of LUS: we get "the ivory unicorn" several times, which doesn't much help when Sweetie and Rarity are almost identical colours. There's also an ew-inducing bit where characters talk (thankfully non-explicitly) about clopping. Yes, named as such. And was Rarity's mum really known as "Saint Germane" by the fandom back then? That one threw me. The moral of this fic is fair enough, if a bit trite and obvious. An interesting alternative take on robot Sweetie, and Pinkie is nicely written, but this tale does show its age now. A top-end two as a result. ★★
Luna Wakes up to Marehood by Fiaura
Luna and Celestia
Comedy/Slice of Life; 6k words; Jul 2018; Everyone
Luna wakes up one morning to discover she might have more in common with Celestia than she ever thought possible.Butts. This is a butts story. How much you like it is probably going to depend to a fair degree on how much that appeals to you. Luna suddenly realises her... flanks have become much larger. She's embarrassed about this, especially when Celestia realises what's going on and mercilessly teases her sister about it. Now, that setup could have made an utterly tiresome, sniggering story. Happily, the dialogue and character work here mean it's better than that. I think it should be rated Teen given some of the innuendo, but I found myself enjoying the story far more than the (dare I say it) plot had made me imagine it would. Hence this gets a three – and for me to give a butts story three takes some doing. ★★★
Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: stories reviewed should include paperhearts' Hearts on the Table.
Okay, pardon my ignorance if this information is readily available a couple of clicks away, but as someone who didn't turn up until years later... does SweetieBot stem from FiW, or did FiW just hop on an extant random fandom thing?
ReplyDelete(Also "Saint Germane", what the hay?)
>"for me to give a butts story three takes some doing"
That's quite the final sentence there!
FiW created Sweetiebot. But don't feel bad; it often is hard to remember that's the case!
DeleteWell, not "remember", I didn't know in the first place - I only started watching the show in 2015, by which time FiW was already mostly a thing from the far past. So that's something I learned today, thank you!
DeleteIt would be good if there was some sort of "Bronypedia" or suchlike, detailing fandom arcana in the way that Logan does with his year-by-year pony music rundowns (nearly all of which are always new to me!); a lot of referencing and reminiscing is genuinely impenetrable to latecomers like me. :)
The My Little Pony Fan Labor Wiki is sometimes useful in that regard, although as its name implies it sticks to things people have created. It's not always helpful, though: searching for "Sweetie Bot" just now, the top hit I got was one about a game I've never heard of.
DeleteI wonder whether anyone has created a "Bronypedia" -- I wouldn't have put it past them, especially a few years ago.
Does knowyourmeme count? I've seen it mentioned a few times as a reference for pony memes and suchlike.
DeleteFor specific memes when you know what you're looking for, I suppose it does. Not as useful for browsing, though.
DeleteI remember Rarity's parents were called Magnum and Pearl back in the day. I think Magnum got his name from his Tom Selleck-ish moustache. Not sure about Pearl. Saint Germane is one I've never heard before.
ReplyDeleteThere was also this now dead fanfic by RazedRainbow that named them Neighmath von Belle (after American football star Joe Namath) and his wife Violet.
Did I mention how much I cannot stand the name "Hondo Flanks"?
I don't know, but I don't like it either. Fan-given names are very variable in my experience.
Delete