Read it Later story count: 94 (-1)
As usual, I'll be taking a week off Ponyfic Roundup because of the festive season. Take a look at the bottom of this post to see what I'll be Spotlighting when I get back in January. This week sees the usual four fics under consideration. A reasonable mix of characters involved, I feel, and as it happens a reasonable variety of ratings as well! Here goes:
Marble's Horizon by The Hat Man
Try by SleepIsForTheWeak
Tending Her Garden by GorisTheDeathclaw
Chrysalicksy by PresentPerfect
★: 1 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.
Marble's Horizon by The Hat Man
Pie Sisters
G4; Slice of Life; 5k words; Mar 2016; Everyone
Marble Pie has lived on the rock farm her whole life. Every morning, when she goes to fetch water from the well, she looks out at the horizon to watch the sun rise. One day, she begins to wonder what lies beyond it...
For a character who barely says anything but "Mm-hm", Marble Pie is nicely characterised here, and it's good to have a little more of a personality for her. As befits its star, Marble's Horizon is a quiet story, smooth reading of the "spending time with ponies" kind that is quite reasonably popular with many fans. You won't find huge shocks or mighty battles here, just a Pie Sister trying to work out her place in the world now that two of her sisters have left the rock farm for good. (Talking of which, a letter from Pinkie includes a gloriously terrible pun.) If you're utterly repelled by MarbleMac you'll need to avert your eyes very briefly at one point, but the reference is passing and subtle. I found this fic quite touching and with satisfying character development, so this is a comfortable three. ★★★
Try by SleepIsForTheWeak
Rainbow Dash and Rarity
G4; Romance/Sad/Slice of Life; 9k words; Feb 2016; Teen
It had finally happened. Dash wasn't dumb. She knew to expect it, like salt to an open wound. She simply didn't realize how open the wound still was.
A sequel to Just Give me a Reason, which I read and adored way back in 2017 (PR 151), I probably wouldn't recommend reading Try without the earlier fic's background. (Fortunately it's only 4,000 words.) This is a breakup fic, but one which focuses on the aftermath of the actual breakup. What's most interesting here is that Rainbow (the POV character) doesn't seem entirely sure whether they have broken up, and Rarity may not be as sure as she says, either. The story is set in winter, and there's a cold, bleak quality to the writing that matches that. Dash being serious and sombre is always interesting to read when done well. You could argue it's a tad overwritten at times, but that doesn't overwhelm the emotion. This feels like actual real people (or ponies) in a similar situation, though with some nice Equestrian touches that play on things like Rainbow's pegasus nature. There's a minor subplot to explain why Pinkie isn't around, but it doesn't do much beyond that. Oh, and probably unintentional on the author's part, but one brief question fairly near the end may make those who've been around Fimfiction a few years giggle. Just Give Me a Reason made the RCL, and fairly so. I don't think the sequel is quite in its league, but it's still damn good. ★★★★
Tending Her Garden by GorisTheDeathclaw
Carrot Top
G4; Romance/Comedy; 1k words; Aug 2012; Mature (Sex)
Carrot Top gives you a massage as thanks for helping her with her garden.
Its publication pre-dates the tag, but this is also [Second Person], which won't be to every reader's taste. You, a gardening novice, are helping the famously green-hooved Carrot Top with her vegetables. When you have a break she invites you inside and gives you an apparently alcoholic drink. (Without telling you, it seems. Hmm.) You've actually been helping out because you fancy CT, so when she offers you a massage... well. It's actually a massage, too, but... well, but then the M rating kicks in. It's mostly very mildly amusing, although Carrot Top's reactions are ridiculous. But the very end is just unpleasant and left a very bad taste. Not recommended, even for fans of massage fics. ★
Chrysalicksy by PresentPerfect
Chrysalis and Trixie
G4; Romance/Random; 2k words; Mar 2013; Teen
Twilight Sparkle is the gayest pony ever.
My most common note on this was simply "What." PresentPerfect is a very good author of more... "normal" ponyfic, as the likes of Dinky's First Kill (PR 92) prove. But somehow I keep ending up with weirdness like this. Basically, this is a fic about Chryssie and Trixie getting the hots for each other. If you want actual plot, look elsewhere. If you want random stupidity, look here. I took a star off for the use of "b-baka", which bores me rigid, but then put it back on again for the peanut butter toast. Which actually comes before it in the story, but so what? Look, the two-star rating here is basically a placeholder because I have to put something. This is the kind of story where, if you like this kind of story, this is the kind of story you will like. ★★
Hearth's Warming break next week! When I return in January, I'll be giving a Spotlight to Cloudy Skies' PinkieLestia romantic comedy Twice as Bright.
a great review XD
ReplyDeletealso, I guess you're not into Goris, huh? :V
Glad to be of service! :D
DeleteAnd I don't know, really -- that was the first story of theirs I'd ever reviewed. I really didn't like the ending, but second-person is a tough sell to me anyway. I note that they do have some (well, two) non-Mature stories up, so maybe I'll give one of those a go eventually.
I'm able to post comments here using my Google Account again. Probably was the case for a while honestly, it just took me checking randomly again. In any case, we're back to my mug decorating these comments!
ReplyDeleteI recently read Just Give Me a Reason and Try, with reviews of both inbound sometime for the future. I found Try a bit muddled and its strengths less foregrounded than the first one, so it would probably only be a ★★★ for me. Still quite the nuanced and human depiction of an area of romantic relationships rarely seen in Ponyfic (or, frankly, fiction in general), so there's that.
As for the others, Marble's Horizon has certainly captured my interest (I've read relatively few stories centred on her, come to think), though the other two are hard passes. And, you know, with Tending Her Garden, I really do wonder why it was on your RiL, it doesn't look like your kind of thing at all. Or mine, frankly. But eh, it happens, we all end up reading stories we know aren't going to be worth it every now and then. Least it was short!
It's a low four, but it's still a four (for me) for the reason you mention: it doesn't do what every other fic of its kind does. It's different, and that's often worth quite a lot to me.
DeleteAnd, you know, with Tending Her Garden, I really do wonder why it was on your RiL
It wasn't. Well, only very briefly. Now I'm back up to four fics, I do sometimes pick one of them near-randomly. By which I mean that I use the Random option, filtered to remove incomplete stories, and I read the first one on the list unless something in the description puts me off from the get-go.
If you're looking for recommendations on what of PP's to read, I'd nominate "So Her Legacy Will Endure," "Persephone," and "A Puzzle Unsolved" (if you're familiar with the crossover material, I guess, but I'm not and still liked it). I also consistently find the stupid humor in "Trixie Invents Yoga Pants" funny. I'm even smiling now just thinking about it, even though I haven't read it in years. One of the other pre-readers also really liked "Those Who Wield Power."
ReplyDeleteAs it happens, So Her Legacy Will Endure is already on my RiL list. I'll add Persephone too, though.
DeletePasco doin' me a good :D
DeleteOf course, if you want to read more funny ha-has, I've always said my best work comes in ДØЯP, Fast Times at Stinky Sugar and of course, the series beginning with A Most Irregular Tea Party. Though coincidentally, I was just thinking about Trixie Invents Yoga Pants the other day!
I note that Fast Times at Stinky Sugar includes a quote from me that I'd completely forgotten about from 2015. I suppose this means I have to add it to the RiL now. :P
Deletealso I take it back, DORP has not aged well x_x
Delete