Read it Later story count: 96 (-3)
Words read this week: 54,228
Not a bad word count this week by my standards, although around two-thirds of that total comes from a single fic. Quite a varied selection of stuff today, and that's the way I usually like it – although, if you cast your eyes down to the end, you'll see that there'll be an author spotlight edition next time. Here's what I've got for you all now, though:
Luna Thinks the Sun is Made of Custard by Art Inspired
Beautiful Lives by Impossible Numbers
Bigger Than Any Heart by Coltured
In Markmoriam by FanOfMostEverything
The Perfect Little Village of Ponyville by McPoodle
★: 0 | ★★: 2 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.
Luna Thinks the Sun is Made of Custard by Art Inspired
Celestia and Luna
G4; Comedy; 4k words; Sep 2018; Everyone
In a failing attempt to prove her sister wrong, Celestia is determined to make Luna understand that the sun is not made of custard. This would be easier if Luna wasn't already keen on the idea that the moon is made of cheese as well.
I didn't pick this story just because of its title. [Yeah, right. —Ed.] I also picked it because its description made it feel like the sort of fic you'd see from years earlier than 2018 and so I was curious. And indeed, for the most part this could have been published in 2011 with few changes. Luna here is the fillyish S1 variety, who at this point hasn't even been back into Canterlot society – and yes Celestia does call her "Woona" a couple of times. Anyway, Luna insists that the Moon is made of cheese – and hay, she was there recently, after all. Often rather a cute story, though a late turn stretches credulity even in context. It does feel very old-fashioned, but if you're in the market for cute S1 Woona stuff you could certainly do worse. A fairly high two. ★★
Beautiful Lives by Impossible Numbers
Zephyr Breeze, Fluttershy and Rarity
G4; Drama/Sad; 10k words; Mar 2017; Everyone
Zephyr Breeze has just died due to his own neglect. This isn’t surprising, even to him. What IS surprising is what happens next.Drifting in the darkness, Zephyr is met by Death – who, for reasons that may or may not become apparent, is actually Rarity. Her role is fantastic, by the way, though please don't go expecting a copy of Discworld's Death. Zephyr attempts his usual trick of denial and self-delusion, but that won't work where he is now. Rarity confronts him with the realities of his life, showing him his funeral and Fluttershy's words at it. Let's face it, as a reviewer I kind of have to be on board with the need to talk honestly about flaws but also to see potential. If you're looking for a story with an easy resolution for Zephyr, either a tragic complete failure or a glorious rebirth, you won't find that here. It's not always the easiest read. But by the end, I think it's made its case, and Zephyr's too. ★★★★
Bigger Than Any Heart by Coltured
Pinkie Pie, Lyra and Bon-Bon
G4; Romance/Slice of Life; 2k words; Jun 2015; Everyone
On Hearts and Hooves Day, Pinkie Pie sees Lyra creating something big. What is she making and who is it for?
An "overtaken by canon" short, given that LyraBon as a couple is now an established fact, but allow for that and this is pleasant enough reading. Little of it is likely to surprise unless you're brand new to ponyfic, but as a slightly old-fashioned amble through Ponyville (insofar as Pinkie Pie ambles anywhere) with these three characters, it does a job. I do find Pinkie's behaviour a tad intrusive (certainly for S5-era Pinks) a couple of times, which hurts the score slightly, but though not very memorable this is fairly sweet. Unusually for a 2015 fic, a complete new song – lyrics and all – is included. It's not bad. The only story by an author who left after six days with zero followers, which is a shame; it feels like they could have gone on to write some good stuff. Highish two. ★★
In Markmoriam by FanOfMostEverything
Misty, Opaline and Other
G5; Comedy/Drama; 3k words; Nov 2022; Everyone
Misty is willing to do anything to get her cutie mark, even truck with forces Opaline wouldn't dare contact.
After all, she's had the run of Opaline's castle library, so she's well aware of the usurper Twilight Sparkle and the Zephyr Heights gossip. She's even read the dread Neighcromicon. Misty is sure she can get away with borrowing Opaline's scrying pool for a bit, and indeed she succeeds in summoning from Elysium... well, that would be telling, but it's a great idea. We even get an origin for Opaline that I don't remember seeing in ponyfic before. The humour is not side-splitting, but it's a good-natured, cute story that as ever from FOME is a smooth and pleasant read. A very solid, high three. ★★★
The Perfect Little Village of Ponyville by McPoodle
Vinyl Scratch, Mane Six, Spike and Nightmare Moon
G4 AU; Adventure/Comedy/Drama; 36k words; Sep–Oct 2012; Everyone
Vinyl Scratch is forced to take Twilight's place facing off against Nightmare Moon
Oh my, how do I review this one without spoiling it? Those who know the fic will feel my pain here. One day Vinyl awakes to find things have changed rather a lot. For a start, she's now Celestia's personal student. Also, she can see, which she couldn't before. Also also, having been sent to hick-town Ponyville, it's now her job to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration. This is a kind of take on the S1 premiere, and you'll note the [Nightmare Moon] character tag, but it's like no other take I've read. This alternative universe is really alternative – a rock is called Cecil, Rarity goes in for brainwashing, and that's not the half of the world-building. If you're like me, you'll sometimes feel all at sea – so here's some reassurance: yes, the elements of this story do eventually fall into place. Not all the preceding confusion quite gels even then, but more of it does than I had any right to expect. The narrator is occasionally a character and can be quite fun, though a running gag about "diamond dust" goes on too long and gets rather dull. I should note that this story makes extensive use of coloured text to indicate POV characters; I understand why, but it still hurt my eyes a bit. It also uses a smaller number of inline links, which are irritating when reading offline. I've read that this is kind of a follow-on from McPoodle's previous Vinyl fics (starting with Javelin) but bluntly, if you don't mark that kind of thing then you get no credit from me for it. A top-end three for me, but it could be either a two or a four for others, depending on how much they're prepared to trust that "It does all (well, mostly) make sense in the end". ★★★
Next time, I'll be doing an author spotlight edition. Those who've read PR for a while won't be terribly surprised about the identity of that author...
Comet Day by mushroompone
The Great Hearth's Warming Bird Count by mushroompone
The Head by mushroompone
Debt to Society by mushroompone
Symbiosis by mushroompone
Leaving aside that Impossible Numbers is an excellent author, that story about Zephyr Breeze sounds fantastic. :D
ReplyDeleteAnd I can't see a story called In Markmoriam without thinking it's about Markiplier. :B Not that I would expect FOME to write such. The heck is that title on about?
It's quite a strong four. At 10k words especially, I'd say it was most definitely worth reading.
DeleteImpossible Numbers has written so many fics, and the sizeable simple I've digested has been impressive enough, that hearing this one's that impressive merely elicits "okay, yep, another one on the pile to read eventually". But him dealing with Rarity-As-Death sound like a great concept, whether played for laughs or for drama as here. I'm in! And I was already going to read In Markmoriam, it being a FoME fic and all, but the acceleration your takeaway here provides is nice.
ReplyDeleteAnd you weren't kidding about having an author spotlight of a notable author coming up! I definitely need to read more by mushroompone, but this sampling of five next week will be a good step to get me further hooked, I reckon.
Also very strange for an author with a written fic, even one with less then 1K views, to have no followers. Hm. Even if the fic's only okay, you always get someone liking it enough to follow. Or a bot account.
Oh, and that hefty word count coinciding with my having a delibretly small week… No particular sideswipe, just noting it.
My word count will fall again next week, so you can breathe a sigh of relief. ;)
DeleteMore seriously, I am really looking forward to the mushroompone edition. They've got 34 stories listed, so plenty to choose from even ignoring the few unfinished ones and those I've already read. I don't expect to adore everything, because I chose several of the stories randomly, but I think there's a decent chance of a gem somewhere in that lot.
FOME is just a reliably solid author for me, and I think for a lot of people. I've reviewed a dozen or so by him, and apart from a single top-end two everything else has scored three or four. He's someone I sometimes turn to if I want to be fairly sure I'll have a good time reading a fic.
Early 2017! Gosh, that takes me back. That was when Masterweaver founded the Time Action Glory Challenge group on FIMFiction, and - spurred on by the group's explicit purpose chiming with my own interests - I had a sudden explosion of fics for obscure character tags (plus a couple of the more conventional ones). Sadly, my inspiration burst slowed down considerably during March, but I remember that mania with fondness. And a not-so-secret longing to pull it off again!
ReplyDelete"Her role is fantastic, by the way, though please don't go expecting a copy of Discworld's Death."
It's fortunate you mention that comparison, because Discworld Death's interactions with posthumous characters were a big influence on this fic. In fact, I remember taking a lot of inspiration from a specific instance in the Discworld novel The Truth. Probably a bit too much, to be honest: without going into spoilers for the novel's ending, the bones of both fic and scene are too similar, which I think makes it a tad too derivative as inspiration. If I did the same thing today I'd put more of an effort to distinguish them, say by twisting a couple of bones or looking for a new direction.
What I really liked was using the afterlife concept as a motif for artistic criticism in general, as you point out. Making Rarity the psychopomp pretty much guaranteed that angle wrote itself (she's often my go-to for fics exploring artistic concerns). It's hard to describe in detail without massively taking this comment off-topic, but I had a ton of fun with the art metaphors when writing Rarity's dialogue in particular.
Lastly, there's my own take on Zephyr Breeze. I like his character in "Flutter Brutter" (being one of the few who do), and ironically one of the appeals is precisely how much of a frustrating screw-up he is. Fear of failure, with the procrastination, delaying the inevitable, and ineffectual cover-up work that usually follows, is something I can relate to hard. Combine that with Fluttershy's patience and even confidence in him, and I think he's kind of a secretly brilliant character concept, a bit too "real" and unflinching (and perhaps leaning too much on the "obnoxious"), but oddly challenging. And of course, writing a fic like this lets me tackle that while also cruelly punishing him for the nonsense he tries to pull.
Basically, I don't think I could write this fic fast enough. :P
"It's not always the easiest read."
Maybe I'm wildly off-base or a bit dense, but: by this, do you mean the prose gets a bit too purple? Having looked through it again, I suppose it could be a bit much at times.
Or do you mean the fic's not the lightweight kind you read for simple fun?
The latter. Seeing reality unfiltered isn't necessarily going to be comfortable. As that's the point with your fic, I certainly don't object. Far from it. But indeed, this isn't a story that's forgettable fluff by any means.
DeleteMcPoodle was one of my first favorite authors when I joined the fandom, but I haven't read that one.
ReplyDeleteI do always wonder what spurs someone to write a single story and disappear. I'd guess they're into other fandoms as well and felt more inspired by those ones, but you never know. At least you didn't cite any evidence from the comments that it was received badly.
I think the fic was received fairly well. The author also engaged calmly and pleasantly with the few comments they got, including one that expressed mild displeasure about a same-sex ship. I'm sad they didn't stick around.
Delete