Read it Later story count: 90 (+1)
The Thousand Words reviews were fun, especially given that I liked so many of the stories so much. I think I've read that Bicyclette plans on running the contest again in spring 2023. If that's accurate, I'll almost certainly be entering again, and probably reviewing again too! For this week, though, it's back to more normal reviews: four short stories that caught my eye for one reason or another..
Why Ponies Don't Play Golf by -The Storyteller-
A Pursuit Most Trivial by ReedHoarse
The Perfect Ensemble by Papyrus Sands
Six Bronies by Alpha Scorpii
★: 0 | ★★: 2 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.
Why Ponies Don't Play Golf by -The Storyteller-
Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Applejack
G4; Comedy; 1k words; Apr 2019; Everyone
The ponies of Equestria try a new sport. It goes as well as you'd expect.
This is a "post pony-human contact" story. It's written, rather nostalgically, in the form of a letter by Twilight to Celestia. As you'd expect from that [Comedy] tag, things don't go entirely smoothly, though I'm not sure the "as well as you'd expect" in the shortdesc is that helpful given that in the story itself we're told that other human sports did translate quite smoothly. There are some fun bits in this fic, with for example Applejack's stubbornness used nicely. Culture clash in this light, fun style appeals to me anyway. On the downside, at one point unicorns (as a tribe) are portrayed as incapable of understanding a point for reasons that seem a bit too "because the plot calls for it". This is an amusing little read, but it doesn't always fit that well into the Equestria we know. ★★
A Pursuit Most Trivial by ReedHoarse
Twilight, Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst and Granny Smith
G4; Comedy/Slice of Life; 9k words; Jan 2022; Teen
Starlight tells the story of why Sunburst can no longer say the word "trivia" around her.
The cue for this comedy is Spike's comment in the relevant S9 episode, as referenced in the shortdesc. Here, from Starlight's point of view, we see exactly what happened in the fateful Trivia Trot game that caused such a thing. It is a wonderfully funny comedy with very well judged escalation and a whole lot of hilarious fun. Applejack and Rainbow's ever more complex hoof-bumps, Maud's stony determination to win, even a ludicrously overreacting Twilight that works in context, rather than just being a writer's "I know! Let's have Twi freak out again!" Sunburst gets plenty to do, too. Even the end A/N brings a little smile. I know it's not a particularly high bar to clear, but this is a much better trivia-related Pony story than "A Trivial Pursuit" itself is. Apart from a couple of typos, this is all-round great. Recommended. ★★★★
The Perfect Ensemble by Papyrus Sands
Celestia, Twilight, Rarity and Mane Six
G4 AU; Comedy/Slice of Life; 1k words; Jun 2022; Teen
For a very good reason, Anthro Princess Celestia always hosts the Grand Galloping Gala completely naked. Twilight Sparkle has to explain this reason, to keep Rarity from fainting every five minutes.
This is a strange one. The shortdesc above will probably tell you whether you're likely to be interested – I suspect the fic should have the [Anthro] tag as this is set in Equestria, not CHS-world. Anyway, Celestia in this story is very tall and large, in an Amazonian rather than fat way. The tale seems mostly about how the Mane Six deal with meeting this woman, as well as possibly the only use of the phrase "alabaster cleavage" anywhere in ponyfic. Not a lot actually happens, bar that and a few small bits of T-rated innuendo. I wasn't put off by it, but it didn't really click either, hence the two-star rating. ★★
Six Bronies by Alpha Scorpii
OCs
G4 (sort of); Sad/Slice of Life; 4k words; Dec 2012; Everyone
Many years after the end of FiM, six bronies reunite to keep its spirit alive.
The Fimfiction moderators were clearly in a good mood when this fic crossed their desk, as it doesn't feature a single pony character in person and is set entirely on Earth. I was therefore expecting it to annoy the hay out me. That went double once I got to the bit where Lauren Faust returned to the show by S4. In the event, it didn't annoy the hay out of me. We meet a bunch of former FiM obsessives long into the future (MLP has by the time of the story reached G7) and share their thoughts and feelings about what the show brought them – and how it's affected their lives. One or two odd word choices (when did you last see "transcurred" used in a story?) and one really convenient piece of luck for a character, but on the whole this is quietly touching. Just about makes a three, which is more than I thought it would when I started. ★★★
Next time, I hope that stories reviewed will include Circumlocution's Shining Armor/Soarin past-romance fic A Clean Break. It'll be the first M-rated fic I've reviewed here for a while!
Wow. I guess fandom-centric content gets more nostalgic the further out from the show's heyday we grow. :O
ReplyDeleteI was definitely not expecting to rate Six Bronies well at all! I won't say it's a work of genius, but it's a cut above most fics with similar premises.
DeleteApparently I read A Pursuit Most Trivial, though I don't remember a thing about it. Given it's late-January 2022 release date, it must have been among the last fics I read before I started writing fic reviews and stockpiling them. I gave it a Passable (though the rating was called "Decent" at the time), but as my criteria at the time was totally different, that probably doesn't hold up. I'd wager its connection to such an awful episode, even if it's much better than said episode, sunk it in my eyes. Maybe I should reread it. I've added it to that bookshelf for consideration in doing so, anyway.
ReplyDeleteNone of the rest here really appeal to me: even that nostalgic Bronies fic inching into ★★★ doesn't quite cut it for that subject matter. On to next week's selection!
See, this is why reviewers are so valuable; I wouldn't have gone near A Pursuit Most Trivial because of its association with the awful episode, but now I'm intrigued.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm still not going to read the story that contains it, but I needed to know that the phase "alabaster cleavage" exists.
I take great pride in having the only fic with "terlit" in it. I hope Papyrus Sands takes equal pleasure in that phrasal uniqueness.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read that, I assumed that "terlit" was some obscure mineral. :P
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