Words read this week: 34,033
I don't have a great deal to say up here today. [As if that was anything new —Ed.] I could ramble on about the stories I've picked, but that's what the reviews themselves are for. I could mention the theme that unites them all, but there isn't one. I could start singing a comic opera of my own devising, but I do not in fact hate you all enough to make you sit through that. Plus I haven't actually devised one. So here we go:
Observations by Tolerance
The Rose of Florentina by Sledge115
A Posey Day by Quoterific
On moving and standing still by Avellana
Far From The Tree by Aquaman
★: 0 | ★★: 2 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.
Observations by Tolerance
Twilight, Other, Pinkie Pie and Luna
G4 AU; Dark/Adventure/Mystery; 16k words; Dec 2012; Teen
When a mysterious visitor arrives asking for Twilight's research involving Pinkie Sense, she must decide whether to help with or thwart his research. Although the real question is, just how has he managed to not run into Pinkie Pie himself?
The first instalment of a universe which eventually ran to seven stories, this sees the mysterious (and oddly named) pony Stein behaving somewhat suspiciously. Twilight wonders whether there may be more to him than he lets on, and indeed we eventually find out that there is. The fic is theoretically in letter-to-Celestia format, but it's not always clear. Indeed, it's the writing itself that lets down what might otherwise have been an intriguing mystery. It's clunky and pedestrian and full of "Ah, Ms Sparkle, I did that to thwart your suspicions and activate the Flux in my carefully prepared underground laboratory"¹ stuff which is frankly tedious to wade through. For that reason, merely a lowish two. ★★
¹ That's an example of the style, not an actual quote from the fic.
The Rose of Florentina by Sledge115
Cadance and Celestia
G4; Drama/Slice of Life; 4k words; Feb 2021; Everyone
Nearly a thousand years after her sister's fall, Celestia finds she may not be so alone after all, when a little alicorn ascends in the distant village of Florentina.
Set in the world of the currently unfinished Spectrum but able to stand alone, this fic is set a little before S1, as the shortdesc suggests. The Cadance backstory is similar to that in the Crystal Heart Spell chapter book, though there are a few minor deviations from canon – at one point, in passing, Blueblood is said to have a son. There's a nice structure to the story which I won't spoil (it's explained in an end A/N anyway). Satisfying characters who sometimes make themselves understood without words. Read on its own it feels... if not incomplete then certainly anticipating something; possibly that would change if I read more in the continuity. A top-end three, I think – but perhaps a smidge higher for those much into Spectrum. ★★★
A Posey Day by Quoterific
Posey
G5; Comedy/Slice of Life; 1k words; Feb 2023; Everyone
Can't a normal pony have a normal day?
Posey became a minor meme for a while during the G5 series, in that she was portrayed as rather bad-tempered – but perhaps with reason, given that she had an unfortunate habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This little fic takes that idea and runs with it, or at least ambles amiably along. The ending is pleasantly done. Badly needs proofreading, though, especially in a recurring problem of tense mismatches with "will" where "would" is needed. The author aims to write short and simple stories, and that's just what this is. ★★
On moving and standing still by Avellana
OC
G4; Slice of Life; 1k words; Mar 2023; Everyone
A story about bad news from far away
A bit of a slow burner this, considering how short it is. A somewhat philosophical story that deals with – to quote the longdesc – whether ghosts "grow up alongside us, no matter how lost and distant, or are they trapped in who they were?" It's interestingly handled with restrained but deep emotion. Perhaps not an especially Pony story, in that it would work as well if about humans, but nicely written all the same. ★★★
Far From The Tree by AquamanApplejack, Apple Bloom and OC
G4; Romance/Slice of Life; 10k words; Jun 2014; Everyone
After stumbling upon Apple Bloom in a compromising position with a colt, Applejack comes to terms with her little sister growing up and wonders what role she's meant to play in her life. *2nd place in the Most Dangerous Game contest*
This fic took on the "canon character falls in love with OC" prompt for the MDG contest, and it did so well. Applejack is at first utterly furious when she finds Apple Bloom (a teenager here) in bed with a colt – she's lied to her – but her initial reactions mellow with cider and a chat with the guy in question. She's very Applejack indeed here, and I can absolutely believe this conversation happening in Sweet Apple Acres. Wordy (which doesn't bother me given the story's quality) but with a very satisfying characterisation of everypony concerned. A fine, thoughtful look at coming to terms with a kid growing up. High four; easy recommendation. ★★★★
A themed edition next week, but I don't believe I've done this particular theme before. It's "Gone But Not Forgotten" – and in this case, I don't mean authors who have died, or at least not as far as I know. All the fics I review next time will be by writers who haven't checked in at Fimfiction since we entered the 2020s. They are:
Tirek's Prison by Terrasora
The Little Mermare by AbsoluteAnonymous
A Sun Without A Moon by Mourning Zephyr
Divenire by The Wizard of Words
Abracadaver by Obselescence
Well, I for one would be down for Louder Yay: The Opera at any rate
ReplyDeleteWell, there is a story called Daring Do: The Opera (by AlexTFish), so if I review that it may be as close as I'll ever get!
DeleteI'll write the music if you take on the libretto.
DeleteThere's also "The Pony of the Opera", a Phantom crossover by Miyajima starring Fluttershy as a rising star at the Canterlot Opera House.
DeleteI read another ponification of the same thing many years ago. I don't remember who wrote it, but it was pretty good, had a really large following, and other people had written derivative stories of it. Problem is: there's good evidence the story was plagiarized, and when asked about that, the author never responded.
Delete@Pascoite: That comment rang a bell, so I did a little search and found these comments of yours from this blog in 2022. I don't know if that's what you're thinking of here, but the "author never responded" thing happened there too.
DeleteTwo fics I know this week! I must have missed Rose of Florentina being connected to a longfic when I looked at it, and I didn't feel any obvious "lacking context I should know" moments. Just came across as the author's take on things. In any case, having adored Sledge115's Izzy and the Moonlit Garden, I am evidently quite disposed to their style, as I liked it to a Really Good (a low ★★★★).
ReplyDeleteOn the other end, Far From the Tree is one I'm queued to publish a review of soon-ish. This is a reverse in me being a little less impressed, mostly off finding the wordiness to be too much at times, especially in the beginning (nearly every paragraph is a chunky 150-word-plus thing, even the ones with dialogue but only a bit). Also, the fic is E-rated and restrained enough that Apple Bloom and the boy reads more just as secret kissing than anything untoward, and I wish the fic had picked a direction there. Still, I agree with you otherwise.
Lastly, I haven't read that fic of Quoterific's, but I'm not surprised – those issues seem keeping in line with his prior G5 fics, a little technically sloppy and rather overly simple and plain to recommend. I read a few of his fics back in early 2022 when I often picked low-hanging fruit to fill a quota: once I stopped doing that, I didn't look at a fic of his again. These days, when I want a G5 fic with a good chance of landing, I got for Mica, who has a solid track record with them. Albeit slowed in output, evidently finding little to do with MYM and lately doing movie prequel pieces.
Interesting selection for next week. Only author I recognise is Obsolescence, which I suppose speaks to how even the old-school authors that haven't written in years are still often either part of the community, or have logged in sometime in the last four years out of idle/morbid curiosity. Blueshift just misses the cutoff, last having checked in on January 19th, 2020 – I'd wager he'd be here if that were even just 20 days earlier.
Yeah, when I was doing the research for next week's edition, I noticed a lot of people's last logged in date was 2020. Given that was both the first year with no new FiM and the year of the pandemic, it's not really surprising that a fair number people would have reassessed their commitment to the fandom at that point.
DeleteAs you'll know, I generally don't find wordiness a particularly big barrier, although there are exceptions. I actually found the "skirting the edges of the E rating" approach that Aquaman took to be very satisfying -- but as usual with ponyfic, it's a personal thing. :)