Read it Later story count: 97 (+1)
This is one of those weeks when I have nothing to say in this intro paragraph. There's really not a lot going on in these parts. Griffish Isles is in less than a fortnight, but I'm really not going to that one. Well, almost certainly not; yes, I do recall what happened with UK PonyCon! Most unlikely this time, though, if only because of the miserable refusal of the world to shower me with the necessary readies. Anyway:
The Profanity Garden by J Carp
It's The Eyebrows by Lets Do This
Gentle Persuasion by Minds Eye
★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 3 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.
Limestone Pie and Starlight Glimmer
Comedy/Slice of Life; 7k words; June 2021; Everyone
Limestone doesn't even know why she's at this stupid party.
An entry for an Original Pairings contest, though you'll have spotted the absence of a [Romance] tag. Actually, romance is an important factor here – it's just not between the two principals. Limestone, perennially angry at everything and everyone, has gone out into the garden and is joined by Starlight. Glimmy uses her counselling skills and experience of being a mad dictator in almost equal measure to try to help Limestone with her dating problems. The two characters spark off each other in a way that works really well and I like the way both of them are written, Limestone especially. On the downside, the big reveal (sort of) as to Ms Pie's date isn't really, as an even vaguely attentive reader [that would be you —Ed] will have realised who it must be about halfway through. A fun read, though. ★★★
It's The Eyebrows by Lets Do This
Tempest Shadow, Grubber and Rarity
Comedy/Slice of Life; 2k words; May 2020; Everyone
No one can top Tempest for long-wearing yet perfect looks. But how does she do it? What's her secret? Rarity wants to know. And then... she finds out...
The author describes this as a "fun, quickie one-shot" and I think that's spot on. Rarity talks to Tempest – now acting as Twilight's bodyguard – as she does her make-up. Well, as Grubber does it for her. This fic gets points just for making Grubber an appealing character. There's not a lot to this fic, but the dialogue is enjoyable and Tempest maintains her steely edge even when cosmetics rather than combat are the order of the day. ★★★
Gentle Persuasion by Minds Eye
Rumble, Scootaloo, Thunderlane and Cloudchaser
Romance/Slice of Life; 5k words; Jan 2016; Everyone
Rumble has a special gift for Scootaloo's birthday. Now he just has to tell her about it.
This is a sweet, cute story for everyone who would like a Rumble fic that takes that route. Rumble's special gift (sort of) is a giant fog bank that he hopes Scootaloo will be able to swim through and feel like she's flying. The thing is, he likes Scoots but is really, really nervous about asking her to come to the fog bank with him. His brother and said brother's girlfriend, who've seen this sort of thing before, are at the birthday party too and try to make sure Rumble and Scootaloo actually meet up in the first place. It's fluffy and frothy and warm-hearted and nice. It feels like something that might have been in the show had it done shipping a bit more. ★★★
Next time, stories featured should include AlwaysDressesInStyle's pony-working-on-Earth fic Business Trip.
Hey, a TRR where I've already read one of the fics! That being The Profanity Garden, it drifted onto the Feature Box briefly back in May. And the other two were short enough that I was able to read them before writing this comment. So, full feedback. Yay.
ReplyDeleteNot much to add - in fact, in converting your rating scale to my own, all three fics would be about the same rating too. Well, maybe It's The Eyebrows a little less, just a little too one-note and insubstantial for my tastes. Personally, I think The Profanity Garden started looping on itself as it went on (breaking down what actually happens in it, this is a 5-6K fic, not a nearly-7K one), perhaps the only thing that prevented me raising it up a tier. But for huge fans of Limestone especially (I don't know if I'd count myself as one, though I appreciate the wide net of different characterisations in her while remaining true to what we get in the show), it's an easy recommendation.
I had to remind myself, in reading Gentle Persuasion, that it was written in 2016, when the only time Rumble had spoken thus far was in "Hurricane Fluttershy", in an adorable squeak provided by Ashleigh Ball. Much easier to reconcile his diminutive demeanour here with that then the more hard-edged take we got of him, in voice and personality, from "Marks and Recreation"! But as I've no problem with fanfics jossed by later episodes, in either character personalities or canon events, that's no issue. It manages to have just enough spice to its "boy nervous about asking his crush" story to come across pretty good, and I applaud it for that.
Anyway, good batch this week. Sometimes it's nice to just have a bunch of solid, agreeable, fun diversions, no weak outliers. Even better when some can reach 4-Star, but you take what you get, don't you.
It would be even better if I could give something a five! Checking back, I haven't had one of those this year. The last two were Pascoite's Ambergris in December, then before that NaiadSagaIotaOar's Who We Are in the Dark the month before. I shall keep my hooves crossed.
DeleteI'm reading through the Advanced Projects AU stories right now, and I have to say that LetsDoThis has an incredible talent for making all the characters appealing, while cleaving close to their canon personalities.
ReplyDeleteHaven't read this one yet, but it's on my kindle.
I was always wondering if that AU had an official name. I see now it is named as such in the first fic of Series 2. Probably never noticed that as I drifted off after the 4th instalment, Never Any Doubt. Not because of any particular deficiency in the writing, but because it seemed to just be going on forever, and was engaging in material I found conceptually unappealing (AU of Twilight forming a group, pre-series, of the varying unicorn rivals/friends from the canon timeline).
DeleteCourse, back then I was still early enough in reading MLP fanfiction as to be a little quick to judge. Know much better now! Now the series has a definitive end, and actually leads somewhere, perhaps I should give it another go. The characterisation was always good, and I read most of LetsDoThis' standalone one-shots, knowing I'm guaranteed a good time. Certainly, among late-joining authors with hefty outputs, they're among the more reliable.
Well, I waited until the series was complete to read it, so I can't argue with your position.
DeleteI am very quick to judge fics based on whether or not I'm enjoying them in the moment. If, on reflection, there are inconsistencies and logic-gaps I don't care too much, because I enjoyed it as I read it, and that's what matters most to me. I might not put it on a re-read list, but I've got so much on my TBR list, that's not much of a concern.
I've read that first one, and yes, I'd give it about the same rating. The plot does feel like it's running in circles at times, but the characterization is good, and the jokes reliably land. I wish I knew what Limestone's date saw in her, but romance isn't really the point of the story.
ReplyDeleteI've read that first one
DeleteGiven it was featured on EqD two weeks ago to the day, no surprise there, nor that it's fresh enough in your mind to comment in that level of detail!
I did neglect to mention in my comment earlier that the jokes do reliably land, and despite being largely structurally identically (Limestone being a grouch and knowing she's a grouch), they avoid repeating themselves most of the time, enough to make the fic just padded, as opposed to a bloated slog. Which really makes all the difference!