Read it Later story count: 93 (-3)
Words read this week: 24,360
My lowest weekly word count for quite some while today, though I do still have the usual five fics. Don't read anything in particular into that low total: the stories just fell that way this Roundup. If you look down the bottom of this post, you'll be able to check for yourself (if you really find that a good use of your time :P ) that next week's word count will rise again. Anyway, on we go...
Sixty-Eight Reasons to Switch Placebos This Summer by TheMessenger
A Day for Mommy by Hivemind
Good Enough by cloudedguardian
Garland Graveyard Shift by Ninjadeadbeard
Forty-Two Troublesome Trixies by Darth Link 22
★: 0 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.
Sixty-Eight Reasons to Switch Placebos This Summer by TheMessenger
Celestia, Discord, Luna and Twilight
G4; Comedy; 7k words; Mar 2015; Everyone
Sometimes, you don't need the Spirit of Chaos making chocolate rain clouds to turn daily life at the palace upside down. Sometimes, all you need is a princess giving birth. A kilala97 story.I don't know anything about kilala97, but the story was written for their contest, using a "Fun Fact" from their OC journal on DeviantArt. That was a bit of a barrier, but not a huge one in this case. Fair warning: this is a DisLestia fic, or at least it shows the consequences of that: Celestia is about to give birth to Discord's foal, Illusion. The author chose the Fun Fact "Illusion was born in Canterlot Castle and delivered by Celestia's personal doctors (I'm assuming she's got some)". Since Discord is involved, some odd things happen, not least the appearance of an alien doctor. More Equestrian aspects include discussing whether teleportation could be used in childbirth... The fic shows its age slightly by squishing in a little Twilight/Flash Sentry shipteasing. It's quite solidly written, though for a [Comedy]-only genre tag I didn't find it side-splittingly funny. That and the aforementioned barrier keep it to a top-end two for me. That's not bad, though. Tea-break fun. ★★
A Day for Mommy by Hivemind
Fluttershy
G4; Slice of Life; 1k words; May 2013; Everyone
Oh what a day, Mothers Day, and Fluttershy has but one way to spend it.Fluttershy reminisces about her fillyhood and how her mother cared for her. Then it's back to the present and she's off to thank her mother, something she rarely gets a chance to do with all her work with animals taking so much time. This is a simple, quiet story, pleasantly written and with some nice details about Mother's Day in Equestria. There is a twist which is not difficult to see coming, and that stops this from being rated especially highly, but I rather like Fluttershy's characterisation as mild but not weak. A high two therefore. ★★
Good Enough by cloudedguardian
Pinkie and Other
G4; Slice of Life; 2k words; Nov 2012; Everyone
Dear idiot I once knew, I think I still hate you.This short kind of takes the form of a letter, as the chapter title states, but actually it's more of an internal monologue. Pinkie – or more so, Pinkamena, as a couple of points suggest – provides a mixture of nostalgia and lingering bitterness about how a former friend abandoned her so long ago. It's rather poignant at its best, though I do think some "Madame Le Flour" stuff seriously dates it in a distracting way nowadays. Almost there, but not quite. I think it could have succeeded better had it had an angle beyond just "Look what you did to me and look who I am now", really. A highish two, mostly for those who like the setup. ★★
Garland Graveyard Shift by Ninjadeadbeard
Nurse Redheart
G4; Comedy/Sad/Slice of Life; 9k words; Dec 2021; Teen (Death)
Most ponies would DESPISE working on Hearth's Warming. Nurse Redheart has a different opinion on it.I bumped this up my Ninjadeadbeard queue after Mike gave it a glowing review. I'm not sure I like it quite as much as he did, but I have praise for it nevertheless. It's that rare thing, a Nurse Redheart story, and fortunately her characterisation is a highlight. I have no experience of what it's like to be a harassed nurse in a busy hospital, but I feel I got a solid insight here. As with Synchronicity last week, the comedy is concentrated early on, and I feel this is the story's weakest aspect: a few of the jokes and references are really quite clunky. Also, "Nurse Cute Puncture" is a distractingly weird name. Apparently there are M*A*S*H references here, but I barely know that show so I didn't get them. The fic kicks up a gear when things get real at the hospital at night, and from then on it's a pleasure, if one that may well have you reaching for the tissues. Add in a satisfying resolution involving Redheart herself, a tear-jerking moment with a clock (you'll see) and a clever way of using kirin and this is well worth sticking with. ★★★★
Forty-Two Troublesome Trixies by Darth Link 22
Trixie and Spike
G4; Comedy; 5k words; Sep 2016; Everyone
Trixie's spell backfiring means that Spike ends up with several tiny little problems.Another author no longer with us, sadly: Darth Link 22 died last year. To the story: with Twilight and Starlight away, Spike wants some peace to read comic books. Unfortunately, Trixie shows up and insists on demonstrating a spell. Things don't go to plan, and Trixie goes to pieces – literally. Spike is confronted with dozens of tiny Trixies, who he has to somehow round up and mould back into one big Trixie before Twilight returns and discovers the mess he's made. Although there are obvious similarities with "Too Many Pinkie Pies" at times, there's enough different here to make it fairly amusing light-hearted silliness, with a quite predictable but also fairly amusing ending. Not deep or startling, and this is a fairly weak three, but it made me smile enough to earn that rating. ★★★
That's this week completed. What's on the way for the next instalment of PR? Here's your answer. I mentioned Mike in a review today, and as it happens next time I'll be mentioning him again...
A Moment of Truth by A Man Undercover
Quiet Boy and Moon Horse by horizon
Little Twilight and the Scary monsters by Luna_pulsar222 (review requested by author)
The Endeavor Within by Mike Cartoon Pony
Trixie And Her Amazing Pet Changeling by Georg
I really liked that twist in A Day for Mommy. It's one of those cases of me thinking, gee, I wonder if perhaps the story might go in this direction, and then really hoping the author's mind is just as dark as mine. It's very affirming to come to the same conclusion by the end. :)
ReplyDeleteUncomfortable thought of the day: It's becoming easier to post a five-story review blog where each entry is written by a different well-known author who has since passed away. :/
Maybe it's partly just that I've just seen similar twists several times recently. I don't think it's bad as such, just not something that especially struck me.
DeleteI was thinking pretty much the same uncomfortable thought yesterday, when I realised that one of the fics on my RiL list was by Level Dasher. :(
I was roundabouts the same on A Day for Mommy as yourself. Though with Garland Graveyard Shift, a story I'll admit may have clicked with my personal biases a decent bit, it's worth noting that as I hoof out Excellent ratings somewhat more easily then you do ★★★★★ ratings, that a high ★★★★ can be equivalent to an Excellent. So, yeah, I'm a little more glowing, but we both think it's pretty fantastic either way. We're both winners!
ReplyDeleteThat Darth Link 22 fic comment does remind me I should probably do a spotlight on some of his fics too. Less of an urgency than Level Dasher, of course; the latter has jumped to be next in the queue, it's only fair. On the related point, Present Perfect's thought is true and does make me sad. But, you know, it's a humane kind of sad, and they live on in their works.
I've even noticed Rated Ponystar has continued one of Darth Link 22's fic that he was helping out on on his account, first with the finalised chapters and now with ones written wholesale from their planning sessions. It's a Smolder/Fluttershy adventure fic, of all things. Will possibly read that when it finishes, both for the respect and novelty of writer transition through the process, if nothing else.
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…Yes, I notice my name at the end there. That is all I shall say on the matter. Though having what I feel to be my best fic as the first here… mixed blessing. Good foot in the door, but if it doesn't fare well, not a promising sign for the future! Heh.
Yeah, for me Ninjadeadbeard's fic is a low-middling four. I don't think it was in any danger of being a three, but I think your "a little more glowing" is spot on. I still liked much of it a lot, and a low-middling four is still very good, of course!
DeleteA sad coincidence: in both Ninjadeadbeard's and Level Dasher's cases, I'd only reviewed one of their fics before they died, and in both cases, I gave it a two. Certainly with Ninjadeadbeard, I now know he had some fics much more to my taste out there, and I'm sad I never got to tell him directly I'd loved something he wrote. The same may happen with Level Dasher, but I don't want to second-guess.