Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

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Dal
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Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Dal (?) » Fri Nov 17, 2017 6:40 am

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WELCOME!

Old Mares' Tales was a sub-forum of The Round Stable dedicated to fanfiction, and its creation/discussion. Because of the strict rules in place, you will only find stories of dubioushigh quality, and absolutely no creepy stuff.

When discussing stories please keep these rules in mind:
No Sexual content. No porn. At all. Of anything. Post it, and you’re banned.

No Excessive violence or gore. If you think it would make a movie rated R, it does not belong here. This also means no Scootabuse or other -abuses in any form.

I don't know of the "No Past Sins Clause" is still in effect, let's just assume it is and never mention that story again for OFS's sake.

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Despite OMT's demise, you can find most of the stories that we originally posted here: link.
Last edited by Dal on Fri Nov 17, 2017 7:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Undecided wrote:Every time you write a story I cant help but sigh, because I know Im gong to lose another man card.

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Re: Old Mare's Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Dal (?) » Fri Nov 17, 2017 6:47 am

To start us off, I've read through a story by the name of Seven Years, and it's ongoing sequel Consanguinity. I don't want to spoil the first story, but it's been a good read so far with interesting takes of the consequences of Starlight's time travel shenanigans. It also has some very cute scenes where we get to see Cadance, Shining, and Flurry acting adorable.

Hopefully the author doesn't punt the ending though.
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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Wed Dec 06, 2017 12:55 am

I didn't used to be that interested in MLP fics, but then I read The Enchanted Library by Monochromatic.
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Everypony enjoys myths and ponytales, even if they know such things aren't real. Alicorns fighting against a spirit of chaos? An ancient princess trapped in a library under a tree, waiting to be found? Quite enchanting and fantastic tales yes, but nonetheless as fictional as Daring Do and other such stories. At least, that's what Rarity used to think.

She doesn't anymore.
This is an alternate universe story in a world where the princesses are all thought of as children's fairy tales. One day, Rarity comes across an ancient library, where she finds Princess Twilight Sparkle as a spirit, unable to leave. Rarity thus goes on a quest for lost books to return to the library and eventually free her.

Rarity is presented extremely well in this story (and most of Monochromatic's fics), and that makes it worth checking out on its own. But adding on that is her relationship with Twilight. The princess starts out very cold and distant, reflecting her thousand years of solitude and hopelessness, but slowly--very slowly--she warms up to Rarity in increasingly adorable fits and starts, until it blossoms into a full blown romance. I wasn't particularly interested in pony shipping, but this and Mono's other fics made RariTwi my OTP. Perhaps more important is that this romance doesn't overshadow the adventure aspect, and the adventure doesn't overshadow the romance. More than most other stories I've read, it balances the two really well, and makes both important.

It's a shame that the sequel, The Enchanted Kingdom, is right there on the sidebar with a synopsis that spoils how The Enchanted Library ends, because it goes in some unexpected directions that makes you doubt things will turn out well. Especially if you've read some of Mono's other works, which don't pull their punches on the drama.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Bremen (?) » Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:40 pm

I actually just finished The Enchanted Library, and did quite enjoy it. I don't really care much about shipping; I don't hate it, but I often find it kind of tepid; and it didn't bother me in this story. It's handled pretty well, and I mainly read it for the adventure elements anyways.

I read a bit of the sequel and kind of wished it was happier. It's not like, super dark, but after the first story I was hoping for more of a sense of triumph. Hopefully this wont turn out to be another story where I love the first but find the sequels extremely disappointing.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Thu Dec 07, 2017 4:41 pm

Bremen wrote:
Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:40 pm
I actually just finished The Enchanted Library, and did quite enjoy it. I don't really care much about shipping; I don't hate it, but I often find it kind of tepid; and it didn't bother me in this story. It's handled pretty well, and I mainly read it for the adventure elements anyways.

I read a bit of the sequel and kind of wished it was happier. It's not like, super dark, but after the first story I was hoping for more of a sense of triumph. Hopefully this wont turn out to be another story where I love the first but find the sequels extremely disappointing.
Given what was going on at the end of The Enchanted Library, it made sense that things would be awkward by the start of The Enchanted Kingdom. If you aren't caught up, I think you'd like the newest chapter, since it brings focus back on the adventure, and Twilight and Rarity's relationship improves a lot.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Dal (?) » Wed Dec 20, 2017 6:31 am

I got like eight chapters in and realized the fic wasn't for me. I can deal with a slow burn, but this was glacial.

It also invoked this uncanny valley type feeling with how only the royalty got ripped out of time while everyone else felt the same. I know that was the premise for the AU, but I'm not patient enough to wait for whatever 300k word sequel it's finally resolved in, or worse, read through it only for it to never be resolved.

Killing Cadance and Shining offscreen also gave me pause.

All in all, that was enough to turn me off from committing to such a long story.
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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Bremen (?) » Wed Dec 20, 2017 12:51 pm

Fair. Though Cadence isn't dead. And yeah, it is a very slow story and the sequel doesn't look to be going anywhere fast either.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Thu Dec 21, 2017 2:17 am

Yeah, fair enough. Things do start progressing, but there is a lot of Rarity looking for information and not finding any, and Rarity and Twilight bonding only for it to be two steps forward one back. But in a way, this sort of pacing felt really appropriate for Rarity, and I enjoyed her narration and interactions with other characters. Plus, the slow pace makes the story developments and romantic breakthroughs feel really satisfying for me.

One interesting thing I had pointed out to me about this story is that, especially compared to other fanfics, it's surprisingly light on direct reference to the show. You got the Mane Six and some others, but there aren't any real callbacks to famous scenes and it doesn't randomly bring in a side character from the show, preferring to use original characters for side roles instead. This gives it a real sense of confidence in itself.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Dal (?) » Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:06 am

Well I assume there are no references to show because those events never happened. Can't be having them plot holes.
Last edited by Dal on Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:32 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Undecided wrote:Every time you write a story I cant help but sigh, because I know Im gong to lose another man card.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Dal (?) » Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:30 am

The new FimFiction layout is so hard to use on mobile. I also lost my bookmarked search criteria.
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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Fri Dec 22, 2017 2:04 am

Dal wrote:
Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:06 am
Well I assume there are no references to show because those events never happened. Can't be having them plot holes.
I meant in the sense that it doesn't try to recreate show scenes for this AU, doesn't repeat quotes from the show, etc.

On the subject of FimFiction, they've added FiM as a tag. It's weird and kind of exciting that we're at this point now.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Dal (?) » Fri Dec 22, 2017 6:28 am

Ahh. I see what you mean, and yeah, that shows a that the author is confident in his story--something I have struggled with in my own.
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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SlateSlabrock (?) » Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:46 pm

Physiology of Equus Alicornyus

Just a short goof that showed up in the featured box. :wingsright:

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Sat Dec 23, 2017 11:39 am

SlateSlabrock wrote:
Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:46 pm
Physiology of Equus Alicornyus

Just a short goof that showed up in the featured box. :wingsright:
That was a cute story.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SlateSlabrock (?) » Sat Dec 23, 2017 7:52 pm

Haha, just noticed that FimFiction finally added a search option for "highly rated stories." Time to obliterate the recent submissions list! :scheming:

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Dal (?) » Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:06 pm

Read The Mare Who Once Lived on the Moon last night, or most of it at least. I saw that it had 2.2k likes and thought it could be a cute shipfic despite its steam punk AU setting.

It started off fine, the author giving Twilight and the other ponies she meets some quirks that made sense in setting, but about a third of the way in the fic hits you full force with how shitty living in the Victorian times were. I'm talking stuff like Fluttershy becoming a matron for urchins and a little filly dying in her arms after the poor kid was abandoned because of an industrial accident. Props for showing how awful it was back then, but holy shit I wasn't expecting it :-I

It also portrays Celestia as an uncaring tyrant who was willing to execute Twilight and her family to maintain her power? I don't know.

So I skipped to the end because of that, and that the Luna/Twilight romance - while the main driving force behind Twilight's actions - never really went anywhere. At least there was a reason for Celestia's behavior, but by that point I didn't really care.
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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SlateSlabrock (?) » Thu Feb 22, 2018 2:42 am

Dal wrote:
Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:06 pm
I'm talking stuff like Flutteryshy becoming a matron for urchins and a little filly dying in her arms after the poor kid was abandoned because of an industrial accident.
Ah, the Chrono Cross style of storytelling.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Fri Feb 23, 2018 2:14 am

I was first introduced to that story through this trailer (well, I heard of it before that), so I was expecting darkness going in.

Here's what I wrote about that story last year:

Overall, I enjoyed it, but I found the middle part much better than the start or end. That's a huge chunk of the story, mind.

(spoilers ahead)
A major weakness of the story is that I found all the stuff with Twilight assembling her friends and them learning to get along far more interesting than Twilight's relationship with Luna and all the stuff with Evil Celestia.

Like I mentioned before, the leap from Twilight being interested in Luna to wanting to jump her was pretty sudden. Them communicating through poetry was sweet, but after they met in person, Twilight and Luna simply didn't spend enough time together before it jumped to them getting engaged. Even the final chapter didn't actually place much focus on their relationship. Early on, Rarity brought up that Twilight could just be feeling this strongly about Luna because she's never been in love before, and demonstrated this by easily seducing her. That never got addressed again. On the ship in general, I actually do like TwiLuna, and I think it makes a lot of sense; if they were to make a lesbian Twilight ship canon, this probably would be the easiest one to do. Plus, it doesn't have the glaring weakness of TwiLestia, where Celestia knew her as a child and was a parent figure.

Celestia as a villain didn't work too well. Yes, she was menacing, but she was presented as someone who would arbitrarily kill Twilight if she annoyed her, and there was nothing actually stopping her other than Good Celestia conveniently breaking through. Since Celestia was suspicious of Twilight ever since she confronted her with Rarity, it didn't make sense that she allowed Twilight to do so much, and then later conveniently left her friends alone after arresting Twilight. Besides Good Celestia making things convenient, I mean. It would have been better if Celestia wasn't so overtly cruel, like she seemed to be before the aforementioned confrontation, but still put Twilight under house arrest and then full arrest, minus the threats to her family. Then those actions would make sense.

The way the Elements of Harmony were handled was... bizarre. I'm not really sure what it was in the end. Just some device Twilight put together after hearing about it from Luna? Made from spare parts in the ship? And it's just a magic amplifier that has to be charged up with lightning? You can't just bring in the Elements of Harmony and not have it involve a group of friends coming together. At least give Twilight an internal monologue about how the device couldn't have been created without the efforts of each of her friends.

By the end, I thought the other girls were presented pretty well. My favorite parts were those that involved everyone hanging out together and being friends, notably that bit where everyone got drunk together. After all the stuff with Rarity and Applejack, I'm pretty surprised the story didn't go for that ship, instead appearing to pair off Rainbow and Pinkie, which I didn't see coming.

Of Twilight's friends, the one handled worst was Fluttershy. I thought her initial characterization was interesting, but after befriending Twilight, it seemed like the author just didn't know what to do with her. Unlike the others, she didn't form any close friendship with anyone. Maybe Rarity, since they share scenes together? But those moments felt more like Rarity talking and Fluttershy being used just to have someone respond to her. And by the last chapter, she's acts like the shy Fluttershy from the show, even though there was no indication in the story beforehand that she was actually shy--the opposite, in fact.

On the subject of Fluttershy, the orphans she took care of were handled oddly. It was just weird to make a big deal out of how they shouldn't be used as labor, due to all of the injuries they've gotten... but oh, it's fine to work on Twilight's experiments, and it's even encouraged! I wasn't a huge fan of the focus they got, but they were alright. I'm pretty sure the story lost track of a couple of them, though, like the violin playing girl, Viola.

And I just realized: the author completely forgot Spike was part of the story. He doesn't even appear in the final chapter! In fact, when was the last time he was mentioned? ...Third to last chapter, helping prepare some food. He isn't mentioned during the launch or when everyone is captured, or at any point after that.

On a smaller note, there's a moment toward the middle where it's revealed that Twilight's laser injured Flash Sentry accidentally, and it's treated as a joke. Then it's revealed he died. But it's just mentioned in passing, Twilight brushes it off, and it's never touched on again. Why do that?

The story made it obvious what the author is interested in (and his name, MrNumbers), and like I mentioned before, the science stuff was all pretty interesting. Having space actually be filled with aether, that can be converted into a huge source of magic, and using that to influence the spacecraft's design was pretty inspired. However, all this detail in certain areas made it more obvious where it was lacking. For one thing, they break open a hole in the wall to make an entrance to the sewer, and they happily just take that route to Fluttershy's home and back. There are really no issues with that? And how did they handle poop on the ship?
Overall, I did think the fic was good, and it was quite engaging. I enjoyed the world building and character interactions, and would have liked more of that instead of the actual main story. But despite my complaints, the main story isn't bad at all, just not as good.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Dal (?) » Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:44 am

What made me really dislike it is that it has foal-death, threats of executions, Pinkie being mentally abused and enslaved by the Thomas Edison stand in, casual murder, and random blatant sexual innuendo all in a story without a sex/violence/dark tag.

Its popularity is just a reminder how out of touch I am with the fandom at this point.
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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Perrydotto (?) » Fri Feb 23, 2018 11:54 am

For big chunky amounts of spoilers, please use the "hidden" tag instead of the "spoiler" tag since it's a bit of a pain to read otherwise. Fixed that in your post just now, hope that's okay.
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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Perrydotto (?) » Fri Feb 23, 2018 11:58 am

Dal wrote:
Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:44 am
What made me really dislike it is that it has foal-death, threats of executions, Pinkie being mentally abused and enslaved by the Thomas Edison stand in, casual murder, and random blatant sexual innuendo all in a story without a sex/violence/dark tag.

Its popularity is just a reminder how out of touch I am with the fandom at this point.
Legitimately curious, was this ever any different? Things like Cupcakes or Fallout Equestria were really popular too, some still are, and people often acted very cavalier about the dark content.
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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Dal (?) » Sun Feb 25, 2018 4:51 pm

Here is a fun story about Rarity earning her wings by making a absolutely perfect dress: The Dark Art of the Dress, by Magnetbolt.

While it has comedy and random tags, the author doesn't try and fail to imitate Pratchett or beat you over the head with zaniness/references.

The characters are done well, though some are amped up a tiny bit at times for comedic purpose. It also has a moral at the end which shows that the author - while have fun and being silly - does understand Rarity's character.
Last edited by Dal on Sat Aug 18, 2018 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Dal (?) » Wed Mar 21, 2018 10:03 pm

Some fun stories I've read lately:

Of Lilies and Chestnuts by Prane
Fancy Pants and his lovely wife Fleur are quite possibly Canterlot's most heroic duet. Together they conquered countless events, faced hordes of snobbish socialites, and emerged victorious from the most dire of faux pas. May their bravery and finesse be forever remembered on parties to come!

There is a missing element in their perfect life, though: the joy of having a child and becoming a family. When conventional methods fail, will the couple muster enough courage to seek out the alternative, or will they stay a duet forever?

Enter Chestnut—a daring filly from beyond Equestria, out of their social stratum, and definitely exceeding their boldest expectations.

For better or worse.

We Believe In You, Luna by KayeStar

It's been a few years since Princess Luna returned, yet Celestia has only just now realized a crucial error: Luna doesn't have a throne! How could she have overlooked her sister like that? Why didn't Luna ask?

Well, Celestia will fix that. When Luna's birthday draws near, Celestia decides it's time to finally give her little sister the gift she should've had waiting all along.
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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:28 am

Dal wrote:
Sun Feb 25, 2018 4:51 pm
Here is a fun story about Rarity earning her wings by making a absolutely perfect dress: The Dark Art of the Dress, by Magbetbolt.

While it has comedy and random tags, the author doesn't try and fail to imitate Pratchett or beat you over the head with zaniness/references.

The characters are done well, though some are amped up a tiny bit at times for comedic purpose. It also has a moral at the end which shows that the author - while have fun and being silly - does understand Rarity's character.
Just got around to reading this, and I liked it a lot. The writing is a bit odd, in that it's mostly pretty subdued but then occasionally has moments like the narration commenting on Spike not doing much, which felt pretty out of place. Besides that, it actually is a pretty interesting look at what would happen if Rarity became a princess for making really good dresses, with her dresses no longer living up to her standards and having to rediscover why she likes making them. Plus the explanation for why the perfect dress is so terrible is pretty good.

As for fics I've read... hmm, there are two I'd strongly recommend, but one breaks rule 1 (and it's just starting anyway) and the other breaks rule 2.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Bremen (?) » Thu Aug 16, 2018 4:09 pm

The Dark Art of the Dress was great. I especially loved Luna (I think?) commenting that as the creator of a work of art, Rarity could never seen anything other than its flaws. A little self referential, I suspect.

As for my own recommendations, I recently quite enjoyed an old story, A Study In Rainbows, an AU story that mixes Sherlock Holmes and Friendship is Magic and somehow makes such a bizarre combination work.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Sat Sep 01, 2018 8:36 pm

Well this is interesting. MrNumbers is converting The Mare Who Once Lived on the Moon into original fiction, and in the process, changed the genders of some characters. He talks about that in the link. I was unconvinced about the changes going in, but once he describes them, they do make sense. I am curious about how he'll handle the things that weren't explored much because they relied on familiarity with the show. I particularly wonder how he'll handle the Elements of Harmony in this version.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Dal (?) » Sun Sep 02, 2018 11:02 pm

The Brightest Star I've Ever Seen Shine by Twinkletail

With the Helping Hooves Concert in their rearview, Applejack and Coloratura decide to catch up a bit before she has to leave. Before either can move on, though, some feelings need to be put out in the open.
A cute Rara X Applejack ship fic.
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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Bremen (?) » Sun Sep 02, 2018 11:17 pm

SigmasonicX wrote:
Sat Sep 01, 2018 8:36 pm
Well this is interesting. MrNumbers is converting The Mare Who Once Lived on the Moon into original fiction, and in the process, changed the genders of some characters. He talks about that in the link. I was unconvinced about the changes going in, but once he describes them, they do make sense. I am curious about how he'll handle the things that weren't explored much because they relied on familiarity with the show. I particularly wonder how he'll handle the Elements of Harmony in this version.
The elements did feel a bit like a tacked on in the ending, so changing the story to use something else might be an improvement. I'm more curious how the story's fundamental conceit (a love story with someone stranded on the moon) works without the FiM background.

I'm kind of surprised that one of the characters gender shifted was Rarity; as a socialite and matchmaker she was one of the more stereotypical feminine characters in the original. Still, it might be a good thing that it's not as simple as shifting the more traditional masculine roles (like Applejack) to male characters and keeping the feminine roles female.

If the author finds a publisher I might be tempted to pick this up just out of curiosity about how it works.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Dal (?) » Sun Oct 07, 2018 8:13 pm

I read The Gentle Nights: Audience of One by PaulAsaran last night, and boy was I impressed. It's a beautifully written romance staring Octavia and Luna set during Season 1+2 but written well after it.
Octavia Melody is calm, patient and longing to break the boundaries of class through her career as a musician.

Princess Luna is lost in the eddies of her past, struggling to belong in a new age that doesn't seem to want her.

A chance meeting after a disastrous gala gives these isolated souls a chance to find companionship and comfort. As Luna seeks solace in Octavia's soothing music, Octavia comes to recognize the princess's loneliness and fears. When it's your duty to protect other ponies' dreams, who protects your own? Octavia might just be willing to try.
I loved everything about this fic: the pacing, the prose, the characterization, and most importantly how it stayed true to the source material unlike many, many other shipfics. Speaking of the characterization, the way the author fleshed out Octavia's backstory and personality is what really sets this apart from other fics staring background ponies. She had her own voice, her own dreams and struggles, she felt like she really belonged and if you didn't know better you would assume she was a main part of the actual show.

If you like shipping, or just really good fanfics in general I wholly recommend this story. It's writing like this that I wish I could aspire to, and reminds me of why I fell in love with FiM's setting and characters in the first place.
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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Fri Oct 26, 2018 2:16 am

Continuing my series (the start of which I can't post about here), I read another fandom classic, Hard Reset by Eakin. Twilight traps herself in a time loop while changelings invade, and she has to find a way to save everyone. It's pretty good! Definitely much better than the last fandom classic I read. Wasn't keen on that alternate ending, but it is alternate. I was told the sequels aren't good, and indeed, they don't look appealing from the descriptions and lengths. What got me to even consider actually reading it when it was recommended to me was that it was far shorter than I thought it would be. I had read the TV Tropes page for it years ago, and assumed it was a Fallout Equestria style behemoth. Instead, it spent just the right amount of time on each loop variant and didn't overstay its welcome.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SlateSlabrock (?) » Fri Oct 26, 2018 8:10 am

It has its ups and downs. Certainly a darker style of storytelling that one would want to see in the show, but thought-provoking.

Mostly notable these days in comparison to actual episodes that touch on similar situations, like "The Cutie Re-Mark" or "Castle Sweet Castle."

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Sun Oct 28, 2018 3:51 am

SlateSlabrock wrote:
Fri Oct 26, 2018 8:10 am
Mostly notable these days in comparison to actual episodes that touch on similar situations, like "The Cutie Re-Mark" or "Castle Sweet Castle."
"Castle Sweet Castle"? I don't see the connection to Hard Reset at all.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SlateSlabrock (?) » Sun Oct 28, 2018 11:19 am

SigmasonicX wrote:
Sun Oct 28, 2018 3:51 am
"Castle Sweet Castle"? I don't see the connection to Hard Reset at all.
The "Closure" chapter. Also the first chapter of the second story.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SlateSlabrock (?) » Thu Nov 01, 2018 12:44 pm

A Break in the Clouds

Just a short little conversation-type story with Tempest Shadow and Sunburst, with a snippet of magic theory.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Thu Nov 08, 2018 1:53 pm

I read 80 Days 'Til the World's Farthest Shore by Cynewulf, which is about Twilight finding herself in a human world and trying to find her way out. This is in a fantasy steampunk-ish setting, and the story is told from the perspective of a woman student at a magic school who helps her. I liked it a lot! Here's the review I posted.
This was a great story. Like other people have said, it was confusing at first who was narrating when, but I got the hang of it by the second chapter. I did think the descriptions were too flowery and rambly at times, but that worked as a reflection of who Sophie is.

Twilight and Sophie's journey was interesting, and I especially liked how Twilight was portrayed. I didn't realize this was a Far Future Twilight until she revealed that, but this story hits just about everything I like about that concept. Her intelligence and her commanding presence give a feeling of having lived and experienced much, but still with her Twilightness. I like that her journey was spurred on by her friends dying, yet she isn't in constant despair like some people present Far Future Twilight.

I admittedly wasn't too interested in Sophie herself in the early chapters, but she went in an interesting direction at the end. I figured she was meant to be that world's Twilight from early on, especially since a Celestia equivalent existed, but her adventures that were only hinted at are intriguing.

Overall, I'm definitely glad I read this.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Bremen (?) » Fri Nov 09, 2018 12:56 am

That's a favorite of mine, but unfortunately (or fortunately) my gushing about it got lost with the forums database. Cynewulf does love flowery sentences but I thought it worked well for that sort of story.

Two I've enjoyed recently:

The Doom that Came to Tambelon. A very silly comedy story where Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, and Tempest Shadow babysit Flurry Heart during a princess meeting and things keep getting more and more absurd.

Truthseeker. Lyra Heartstrings receives a blessing from the god of truth that lets her see through any lie or deception. She then gets recruited into an organization of ponies (mostly) with extraordinary abilities whose goal is to protect Equestria. A fairly long adventure style story that does some fun things with the world. Some slightly dark elements, but nothing particularly notable for an adventure/action story.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Thu Mar 07, 2019 2:59 am

I read The Doom that Came to Tambelon a while ago. I found it alright, but it didn't quite click for me.

Ah, finally, a new Monochromatic story that I can post about here! The new greatest fanfic has arrived.
Your Own Worst Enemy by Monochromatic
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Princess Twilight and Rarity are dating.

The other Rarity in Twilight's life isn't quite sure how she feels about any of this.

My review
Well damn, you actually did it.

This was amazing all the way through, but the best part was the cut from Rarity talking to Rainbow to Rarity talking to Pinkie.

In general, it's great to see you make these spontaneous fluff pieces again. Epics are good, but it's these stories that make them special.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by Dal (?) » Mon Apr 08, 2019 9:04 pm

I'm going to recommend this silly HiE romantic comedy just because of how much Rainbow Dash gets owned in it.

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/298089 ... your-heart
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Undecided wrote:Every time you write a story I cant help but sigh, because I know Im gong to lose another man card.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Wed Oct 09, 2019 12:22 am

I wrote a fanfic!
RariTwi: Love is War by SigmasonicX
Canterlot Royal Academy: a prestigious university with an ancient and honorable origin, and the primary destination of Equestria's elite.

Student council president Twilight Sparkle and vice-president Rarity are in love, but they can't bring themselves to admit it to each other. The only path forward is to get the other to admit her feelings. Thus begins a battle of wits the likes of which has never been seen at the academy.

Inspired by the anime/manga Kaguya-sama: Love is War. Note that the characters aren't intended to be one-to-one matches, and this is in college instead of high school. No characters or settings cross over, so this isn't tagged as a crossover.
Only the prologue and first chapter are out, but I expect to have more later. Note sure if that will be this month; I'm considering writing a separate Halloween themed story.

This was part of Monochromatic's RariTwi Bomb, and that reminds me, to kick it off, she released chapter 17 of The Enchanted Kingdom, and wow, it was a doozy. It goes heavily into the subject of depression and how it can resurface even after you think you've conquered it, but it ends in a very nice way.

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Re: Old Mares' Tales - General Fanfic Chat/Purgatory

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Tue Oct 15, 2019 10:12 pm

If you're itching for a post-finale story, then Monochromatic released a really nice story. It is RariTwi, as a heads up. RariTwi that will never be contradicted.

In Everything But Name
Faced with Twilight's coronation, Rarity must contend with what it might mean for their relationship. After all, quietly stashed away in the back of her closet are dozens of books that aren’t hers. Someday, she hopes she'll be able to give them back.

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