Read it Later story count: 90 (+1)
Words read this week: 11,369
A Day at the Tracks by BradMayFan
Spring Tide by SPark
Many Parts by OkemosBrony
The Truth About Dark Magic by Waypoint
The Fifth to Final Move by The Lunar Samurai
★: 0 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.
A Day at the Tracks by BradMayFan
Fluttershy
G4; Comedy/Slice of Life; 3k words; May 2012; Everyone
Fluttershy and her trains.
Given that shortdesc and indeed the cover art, the first part of this fic – which goes for a "Fluttershy has an embarrassing secret interest, hur hur" feel – is both pointless and boring. Fortunately, after the belated reveal, we get a fairly amusing piece about 'Shy's interest in trains. Mostly of the model variety, and you can tell that the author had that too. A major issue for us fans in Britain (where trespassing on railways is a massive no-no) about an element near the end, though. ★★
Spring Tide by SPark
Twilight and Luna
G4; Romance; 2k words; Jan 2015; Everyone
The rising tide lifts all hearts.
It's a long time now since SPark was active in the My Little Pony fandom, but there are still plenty of stories on the account! Of which this is a fairly well regarded short. "A simple exercise in mood, atmosphere, and TwiLuna shipping" is how the author describes it, and that's a very fair summary. It's a quiet story, with some gentle worldbuilding about Luna's relationship with the tides that makes perfect sense yet I've almost never seen before. I don't personally like TwiLuna, but there's still enough here for a very solid three. ★★★
Many Parts by OkemosBrony
Trixie and Other [Jack Pot]
G4; Sad/Slice of Life; 2k words; May 2018; Everyone
Everypony wants to know where they come from. But when Trixie travels to Las Pegasus to meet her father, she realizes that some things may be better left unknown.
My interest was piqued by that setup, and it's interesting to see Trixie in less showmare, more vulnerable circumstances. Her restrained approach to the dad who doesn't seem to even recognise her means she comes out of this story quite well. Jack Pot, rather less so. Unfortunately the dialogue is a bit awkward in places and I found the ending a little on the bleak side. High two, but worth a quick look if you're interested in this quieter side to Trixie. ★★
The Truth About Dark Magic by Waypoint
Twilight and OC
G4; Random/Slice of Life; 2k words; Apr 2022; Mature (Gore, Violence, Death, Profanity)
What would Twilight know about Dark Magic? A fair bit, actually.
The first Mature-rated fic I've reviewed in some time, and I'd normally have been put off by that warning tag list. But the story has a fantastic thumbscore (+509/-5) and several names I recognise make favourable remarks in the Fimf comments. after a party a drunk Twilight finds herself in the Everfree, menaced by a monster who says he's going to enslave her with Dark Magic. Twi being Twi, she lectures him about how he doesn't actually understand how Dark Magic works. It's fairly amusing, though there's only mild tension. Then there's a scene that justifies that [Gore] tag – although I'm with the commenter who said this fic didn't really need more than a Teen rating. The ending reveal is fun, though. Didn't blow me away, this, but enough for a lowish three. ★★★
The Fifth to Final Move by The Lunar Samurai
Twilight, Applejack and Derpy
G4; Comedy/Slice of Life; 2k words; Sep 2013; Everyone
Chess-by-mail can be stressful, especially when Derpy makes a mistake.
Twilight is getting worked up (because of course she is) when the latest reply to her postal chess game doesn't arrive. As is her wont, she rambles on about chess and how many moves she needs to predict, to an (unconvincingly) confused Applejack, who at one point asks how the "castles" can move without Dark Magic. I don't much like Derpy's presentation as somewhat stupid, either – for example, seeing "Twilight" on an envelope and surmising that might mean the letter was to be delivered at twilight. A rather poor story (that needed proofreading) is rescued at the very end, but it's not enough to take this above a moderate two. ★★
Another five really short stories next time, with none of them above 5,000 words and most much briefer. They'll be:
The Worst Form of Government by Aquaman
Another Night Alone by TwistedSkittles
Why? by The 24th Pegasus
The Smartphone by SilverStar7
How Many Princesses Does It Take by Georg
a cultural taboo against trainway trespass? :O how interesting
ReplyDeleteit probably speaks to the state of American infrastructure that most anyone who grew up around train tracks has spent time walking along them <_< like, I did that with my dad, most of the lines weren't in use and totally safe to traverse, bridges aside
It's not merely a cultural taboo here, it's a criminal offence (currently with a £1,000 fine) -- and it has been since the Railway Regulation Act 1840. It's a rare specific case where trespass is a criminal, not civil matter.
DeleteI think it technically is trespassing here as well, but it's rarely prosecuted.
Deletelocal tracks feature "no trespassing, property of" signs, but I have a feeling those are mostly there so that anyone who dies on the tracks can't sue :B or, y'know, their family can't
DeleteI've read "Many Parts" and had about the same opinion of it. Potentially interesting view into Trixie's character, but Jack Pot ends up being pretty blandly defined, and the dialogue writing is just okay.
ReplyDelete