Read it Later story count: 109 (nc)
The English weather, having insisted on giving us autumn all through August, has now decided that September means it's time for non-stop sunshine and midsummer warmth. Having walked about 16,000 steps out in it yesterday, I can vouch for that! Still, I won't complain: it's made a nice change from weeks on end of gloom and murk. One thing that hasn't changed is that there are three fics to look at today:
The Scootaloo Switcheroo by Impossible Numbers
Elected to Bat by Melon Hunter
Cold Light by AShadowOfCygnus
★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.
Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and Luna
Adventure/Drama; 11k words; Apr 2019; Everyone
Rainbow Dash wakes up to an odd winter heatwave, but at least Scootaloo wants to play with her. By the end of the day, she's fighting her way through a nightmare blizzard. And only one question burns through her mind: WHERE'S THE REAL SCOOTALOO!?
This story is set a little in the future, and partly it's a kind of coming-of-age tale, although not in the conventional sense. Scootaloo has just attained marehood, and so gets to drink "aero-cappuccino" (you'll find out). Of course that's not the central point here. The fic is inspired by Norse mythology, especially the notion of Fimbulwinter. Scoot's history of desperation to live up to being the pegasus she thinks Rainbow wants her to be causes her to do something that puts her into terrible danger. Rainbow's quest to rescue her requires the help of Luna, who I found very interesting in this fic; she's got that hard edge that she maybe lost a bit in the later seasons of the show. (Think more "Sleepless in Ponyville" Luna.) It's a well written tale as you'd expect from this author, and Rainbow's loyalty is used to good effect, but there were a couple of places where I – probably due to unfamiliarity with the mythology – didn't entirely grasp what was going on. A character who appears late on, for example; I had to look up their name to understand the significance. That's on me, of course, and I'd still recommend this story. A top-end three that's probably into the fours if you know your Norse stuff! ★★★
Elected to Bat by Melon Hunter
Fluttershy and Twilight
Comedy; 1k words; Dec 2013; Everyone
Despite being cured of her feral instincts, Fluttershy keeps periodically transforming back into a bat-pony hybrid. She's fine with it. If only Twilight were willing to let go of her increasingly hare-brained 'remedies', too...
If you're from certain Commonwealth countries, you're probably wondering about that title. And yes, it is a cricket reference, as a short passage in the story makes clear. It's not necessary to be a fan, though it is nice payback for all the "curveballs" and "second bases" we have to endure on this side of the Pond. ;) Anyway, this is a silly little fic, possibly inspired by that "fang" scene at the very end of "Bats!", in which Twi just can't let go of her inability to completely cure 'Shy. There's not really a story here, but if you like Twilight's interfering then this might be a fun few minutes. ★★
Cold Light by AShadowOfCygnus
Other
Dark/Sad/Human; 3k words; Jul 2017; Teen
The only warmth you take from it is what you convince yourself is there.
This fic, on the other hand, will not give you a fun few minutes. An RCL-inducted story, it focuses on a young woman in our own world who has endured personal horror. She is visited by a unicorn, and the two talk. It's really as simple as that, but what turns it into more than just a tale is the understanding two alien (to each other) creatures build as they talk, and the way a horrific experience is treated with a light writing touch that nevertheless gives the proper (considerable) weight to what has happened and how that affects the present – and the future. I did wonder about the absence of a certain tag, but it was deliberate: the author gives a strong defence (spoilers) of that position in the Fimfiction comments. The one real issue I had with this fic was that old question: how Pony is it? As one of the RCL reviewers said, the story could be printed pretty much unchanged in a non-fandom fantasy magazine. Of course, it may depend partly on who you think the unicorn actually is... Nevertheless, a story that is both angry and compassionate. I was impressed; this is a high four. ★★★★
Next time around, stories reviewed should include a romantic adventure by Horse Voice (bet you didn't expect that!), The Buffalo Telegraph.
Well, there goes my four-star streak. Had to happen sooner or later. :/
ReplyDeleteI didn't know what to expect when you announced this one last week, because this is one of those rare fics of mine where I can just say "I had a great time writing this!" and move on. High on the list is its history with the Writeoff, which (to cut a long story short) was so unpleasant I stopped taking part altogether.
Fair's fair, I heavily modified and added to the fic afterwards, mostly by not starting in medias res and starting instead by frontloading (and expanding upon) the Dash-Scootaloo scenes. But nothing's ever fully gotten rid of the sour aftertaste of its context.
It's also one of those fics of mine that's Exhibit A for the charge of my writing being opaque and hard to understand, so I'm not surprised you brought that up here. I blame me trying to cram too much at the finish. I reread it myself, just to try and predict your reaction, and that stood out even to me.
So all that was left for me to guess was: four stars, three stars, or two stars? I don't think it's awful enough to come dead last, but neither am I deluded enough to think it'd be anywhere near a masterpiece. Three stars seems fair, though I'm surprised it was so close to four (I honestly just guessed that to hedge my bets).
"Luna, who I found very interesting in this fic; she's got that hard edge that she maybe lost a bit in the later seasons of the show."
Once "Luna Eclipsed" came out, the deal was sealed as far as I was concerned. :D
Funny you mentioned this, because in the original version, I got criticized for Cold Standard of the Wishing Stars apparently being under Luna's jurisdiction, which A) makes Luna look a lot worse, and B) was definitely not what I was going for. I added the argument and fight scene between the two in this version, hoping that'd clarify that.
"and Rainbow's loyalty is used to good effect"
I remember finding Rainbow Dash kinda hard to write. She's a lot more ebullient than the type of character I usually depict, and a lot less introspective to boot. The ending in particular was tough, because I kept thinking her side of the talk would get too sentimental to believably come from someone like her.
"A character who appears late on, for example; I had to look up their name to understand the significance."
I think I should have just name-dropped them at the start, when Scootaloo's discussing the mythology, rather than near the end. It wouldn't exactly be a hard edit to make...
Well, I'm definitely glad you enjoyed it so much. I do wonder, though: what drew you to this one? Were you looking for more Scootaloo fics after The Dream World Record, the last one of mine you reviewed?
'where I can just say "I had a great time writing this!" and move on.'
DeleteDamn, I meant 'where I can't just say "I had a great time writing this!" and move on.'
High on the list is its history with the Writeoff...
DeleteI'd gathered that. It was clear from your other comments how you felt about that, and given that (and since I'm not involved with the Writeoffs myself) I thought it best to leave well alone in the review.
Three stars seems fair, though I'm surprised it was so close to four
Rainbow had a fair bit to do with that. As you know, I adore "Sleepless in Ponyville", and the little glimpse of vulnerability we get there (when Dash admits to being scared the first time she heard the Headless Horse story) went down well with me. I also bear in mind that, especially in the show's early days, Rainbow can be outright cute on occasion. Even if she probably wouldn't admit it!
I do wonder, though: what drew you to this one?
I added quite a few Scootafics quite some time ago, mostly simply because I like Scootaloo. Since your stories have a good track record with me, this seemed an obvious choice for the RiL list. I also liked the combination of characters tagged, since that also reminded me of "Sleepless in Ponyville" -- which, as I've said, rarely hurts!
The next fic of yours in my queue is Beautiful Lives, by the way. Rather against the general sentiment in this fandom, I like "Flutter Brutter", so I'm interested to see what you do with Zephyr Breeze. (Some may have their own suggestions!) It'll be a while before I get to that, but get to it I shall.
"I also bear in mind that, especially in the show's early days, Rainbow can be outright cute on occasion. Even if she probably wouldn't admit it!"
DeleteHeh, too true (on both counts!). :D
"I added quite a few Scootafics quite some time ago, mostly simply because I like Scootaloo."
You have impeccable taste. n.n
"Rather against the general sentiment in this fandom, I like 'Flutter Brutter',"
Me too! It's such a great Fluttershy episode, with a well-done Rainbow Dash in a supporting role, and surprisingly I thought Zephyr's fear of failure made him very relatable come the finish. Can't wait to see how the ep fares in your recap series.
I read this one some time ago. I recall finding it certainly striking - you can't go wrong with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo bonding in the Sleepless in Ponyville mode set to the backdrop of danger like this - though also muddled, confusing and a bit… opaque, as Impossible Numbers himself put it. But it was long ago enough that it deserves a reread (it was on my Revaluate bookshelf anyway), so I might do just so later. It's been discussed here, no time like the present!
DeleteAnd I too am somewhat interested in "Flutter Brutter" again - I'm come around lately to Season 6 having more salvageable, worthwhile episodes that I remembered, and this is one of them. Looking forward to that point in the recap series, come June 2022.