Read it Later story count: 109 (-4)
Two days late, but here we go with another edition of PR. In spite of the extra time to think about it, I still can't think of anything much to say here. Oh, one thing: for the first time in a year and a half, I wrote some ponyfic in a pub. Only a few practice paragraphs, and only on my phone (how do people write entire stories that way?), but it was a nice feeling to be doing it again. Anyway, as usual there are three fics under review today. They are:
Like a Pegasus in a Pottery Shop by Fifths
A Real Baked Bad by Propellerface
Forensic Punology by Rambling Writer
★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.
Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Applejack and Fluttershy
Slice of Life; 17k words; May 2013; Everyone
A world-renowned flight master is passing through Ponyville, and Rainbow Dash wants to score some lessons from him. He's going to need a favor before he'll teach her or anypony else, however.
Something startling now: the only story by an author with only 13 followers, yet it made the Royal Canterlot Library. It's quite a show-style story, though perhaps more of a "Best Gift Ever" style special than an episode. The "world-renowned flight master" is the griffin Gerard Goldenwings, and Dash gathers from him that to get flight lessons from said master he'll have to recapture his escaped golden sparrow. Animated hijinks ensue, as the potted Radio Times listings for cartoons used to have it. I really liked the character work in this story, in that all the ponies feel like they should (for earlyish FiM) and Gerard himself gets some depth and backstory without taking over the whole thing. Perhaps one or two places where it felt a bit too wordy – I mean, we don't really need introducing to how Twilight goes on – but there's a story-within-a-story late on that reminded me a bit of the El-ahrairah tales woven into Watership Down. (That's certainly a compliment.) Some humour to be had, too, though most is fairly low-key and on balance I think Fifths was right to omit a [Comedy] tag. I'm sad Fifths apparently never wrote anything else. It's right on the three/four boundary for me, but there are just enough little touches to nudge it over the line. If you like show-style stories, give this one a go. ★★★★
A Real Baked Bad by Propellerface
Pinkie Pie and Twilight
Comedy; 1k words; Nov 2015; Teen
Pinkie ruins Twilight's morning with culinary shenanigans.
Another "only fic by this author" story, and one that surprised me on the upside. I found it accidentally while looking for something else, but it turns out to be good fun. Lightweight and silly without trying too hard, thus avoiding a common problem with short comedy fics like this. It does use Zalgo text briefly, something I personally find annoying more than fun. However, this is outweighed by the fun little character moments, eg Pinkie saying, "It's gonna eat up the whole bakery, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake will be so disappointed in me!" Also, the story contains the phrase "the custard of the damned" – how could I not like a fic that does that? ★★★
Forensic Punology by Rambling Writer
Twilight and Rainbow Dash
Comedy/Slice of Life; 2k words; Jan 2017; Teen
Twilight relays a story of an old crime to Rainbow Dash. Puns happen.
Above you read what happens. This is pretty much a series of mini-feghoots strung together into the crime story. The quality of said feghoots will be subjective, and certainly I groan-laughed at some (which is ideal for this kind of thing) and shrugged at others – especially as a few of the puns just don't work as well in an English accent. Also, one is based on a specifically American public service message which some British readers may not get. Make sure you read the end A/N, though. It ends wonderfully. Overall, while quite fun the story is a little disjointed and while I laughed a bit I didn't laugh a lot. A highish two if you're into silly puns, but possibly shading into a three if you're American due to the slightly smoother puns. ★★
Next time around, stories reviewed should include Impossible Numbers' adventure tale The Scootaloo Switcheroo.
I wonder if Fifths had more followers at one point, who then gradually tailed off over the ensuing eight years of radio silence?
ReplyDeleteOn Zalgo, you're very much in the majority if my own experience was anything to go by - I used it for two words of a throwaway joke in "Away", barely giving it a second thought, and not only did you and several others comment negatively on it, it also transpired that using it broken functionality on some browsers and e-readers. Suffice to say I edited it out and won't be using it again!
Not just followers (I'm one of them!), I could've sworn Fifths had more stories, too! c.c That's a name I instantly recognize, but they only ever did the one good fic?
DeleteI had a much more positive experience using Zalgo text, though granted it was in the story title. That fic has tons of comments that are just "OMG HOW U DO DAT???"
I enjoyed that first one. In fact, I think I was the one who approved it for Equestria Daily. 2013 was a prime time to get readers, but it was also back when you didn't have to have an account to comment or vote, so there was less incentive to.
ReplyDeleteI really was surprised to find out it was (apparently) Fifths' only ponyfic. They'd clearly got the show's tone well sorted in their head, and I expect they could have written some more good stuff in a similar vein.
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