Read it Later story count: 96 (+3)
Words read this week: 23,796
Four stories only to review today, since that will take me to 1,999 of the things since I started out doing this almost a decade ago. Imagine all the actually useful things I could have done with my life in the time it's taken to write all these posts. But hay, would any of them have been as much fun? Well, okay, probably one or two would, but an awful lot would not. It's mostly been a blast, and it mostly still is. Off we go...
Fly Hard by Aragon
Alabaster by DawnFade
Wake-up Call by Cyrano
Top Edge by Raugos
★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 2 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.
Fly Hard by Aragon
Daring Do, OC [Sugar Song], Celestia and Luna
G4; Adventure/Comedy; 12k words; Jan 2016; Everyone
If there's something Daring Do hates, it's fancy Hearth's Warming parties. If there's something Daring Do loves, it's saving the world. Combine the two, watch how long she lasts.
This fic stars the team of Daring Do and secretary Sugar Song that we saw to great effect in Aragon's Imposing Sovereigns-winning Evil is Easy, Governing is Harder (PR 155). Fly Hard was published over a year earlier, but the relationship between the two ponies is still lots of fun. There's excitement and adventure and really wild things. There's Daring narrating her adventures in real time to avoid having to know how to write, but also yearning to swing on a chandelier. Might there also be Sugar Song falling for somepony rather important in Equestrian society? Well, that would be telling – but there is Doctor Caballeron in full villain mode, and he's great. This fic is maybe very slightly rougher in feel than Evil is Easy... but it's still great, and a very nice choice for those wanting plain ol' entertainment. ★★★★
Alabaster by DawnFade
Vinyl Scratch and Other
G4; Sad/Slice of Life; 2k words; Sep 2012; Everyone
Vinyl Scratch visits her father.
As swiftly becomes obvious, said father is in a nursing home and has dementia, or at least something with very similar effects. Vinyl talks to him as best she can, even though he frequently imagines her still to be a filly. What makes this undoubtedly sad story work is how compassionate it is, with both daughter and father truly loving each other despite the barriers that now exist between them. There's no magical super-happy ending, but there is love and even, in a way, hope. A high three. ★★★
Wake-up Call by Cyrano
Sunset Shimmer
G4; Sad; 2k words; Jan 2018; Teen
Sunset Shimmer gets out of bed.
(Fun fact: PaulAsaran reviewed this directly before a story of my own.) Wake-up Call takes place with Sunset down and somewhat defeated in the aftermath of a break-up. The most everyday doings – taking a shower – seem weighted down with baggage. We do eventually find out who the other party is, although the clues are there – some more obvious than others. The atmosphere is well written, though that does make it quite a depressing read. Solid enough for a three. ★★★
Top Edge by Raugos
Changeling and Bat Pony
G4; Slice of Life; 7k words; Oct 2016; Teen
A changeling author has to deal with a very enthusiastic batpony fan.
The sequel to That Changeling's a Pony!, which I reviewed very positively back in PR 126. It helps to have read that to understand Maxilla's (the changeling) character and background, though it's probably not essential. This story is also highly entertaining, especially if you enjoy nice little digs at some of the excesses of fandom (the batpony Top Edge's OC is something to behold). The fact that Max knows whether Top Edge's stated emotions are genuine adds an extra dimension to the creator/fan relationship, and wonder of wonders, there's even an actually amusing meta reference. Might only be a three-star fic if you haven't read its prequel – but hay, you know how to fix that... ★★★★
That was a nice week! As I've previously trailed, there will be no Ponyfic Roundup next week. Instead, on the 20th you'll get the long-awaited feeble attempts at hype for my 2,000th review on the 26th! Unless you're one of the tiny number of people who already knows what my chosen Spotlight will be, that's also when you will find out!
shaking eyes emoji
ReplyDeleteRead Top Edge long ago enough that I don't remember much about it, as well as its precursor and the other sequel (which is a 100K+ longfic). I have been meaning to reread the two one-shots, and your words here do speak highly of Raugos' skill with varying modes of comedy, if nothing else.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, Alabaster piques my interest, if perhaps not quite enough to necessarily read it. Aragon's fic has been on my radar for a while, ever since realising while reading Governing is Hard that Daring Do and Sugar Song came from a prior fic (in a slightly immersion-breaking manner, but whatever). It certainly stands out for being the rare adventure fic from Aragon, an author not too fond of the genre (even then, his five fics with that tag are all still more comedies then adventure fics). Still, it does sound like the rare actually-good Daring fic, so it's one I'll get to sometime.
Really good rating average this week! Intentional prelude to the covered 2,000th fic next week? You never know…