Back down to three stories this week, partly as a result of a visit to the dentist and partly as a result of there being way too much movie-and-convention-related news for me to keep up with. The lucky(?) few that made it are:
Room by Zaid ValRoa
Starscape by Carabas
A Thousand Roses by Titanium Dragon
★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Room by Zaid ValRoa
Mane Six and OC
Thriller; 7k words; Aug 2017; Teen
Amidst darkness and confusion, the girls wake up in a dark room.Not together, however, which is what makes this story interesting. The short scenes run into one another in quite a clever way. I didn't work out what was behind the goings-on until fairly near the end – I think this should be tagged [Mystery], actually – and the OC was serviceable, if a little bland. There's a bit more LUS than I'd like, and a few technical errors, but these don't really get in the way. You have to read the ending carefully to get exactly what's going on, but I find the concept intriguing, so ★★★.
Starscape by Carabas
Celestia
Sad/Slice of Life; 2k words; Aug 2017; Everyone
Celestia paints with starlight.
A Thousand Roses by Titanium Dragon
Twilight and Rainbow Dash
Romance; 11k words; Mar 2017; Teen
After Pony Magazine declares Twilight Sparkle to be the most eligible bachelorette in all of Equestria, Twilight's friends help her sort through the flowers and love letters sent to her by ponies all across Equestria.You can see the ending of this story coming from early on, though it's not quite the stereotypical conclusion you might expect, and is all the better for that. There's very little traditional shipping here, as it's mostly a story about potential, and even the potential of potential. Some nice touches with the flower stuff, with the rest of the Mane Six getting to make appropriate comments. I still can't work out what "marque" means in the context of one poem, though. High three, but might be a four for those who like TwiDash and want something a bit different. ★★★
Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: stories reviewed will (I hope!) include GaPJaxie's The Arbitrage of Moments.
Re. marque: unless I'm reading more into it than TD intended, it's actually a dumb/clever double-meaning: it's the French spelling of the English word "mark," which would make perfect sense in context. But it also alludes to the old practice of Letters of Marque, which were basically letters of legalized piracy.
ReplyDeleteWhich is, stupidly/brilliantly, a reference to how the writer wants to plunder Twilight's booty.
Needless to say, I love it.
Of course! I don't know why I didn't get that, especially since I've actually read Patrick O'Brian's The Letter of Marque, albeit some years ago. Thanks. :)
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