• Home
  • Archives
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Precursors

Royal Canterlot Library

Author Archives: Chris

Titanium Dragon’s “The Collected Poems of Maud Pie”

11 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by Chris in Features

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

author: Titanium Dragon, comedy, random

Today’s story is about rocks.  It’s about lots of different kinds of rocks.  Because not all rocks are the same.

The Collected Poems of Maud Pie
[Comedy] [Random] • 1,018 words

Maud Pie has written thousands of poems.

Here are some of her poems.

They’re about rocks.

FROM THE CURATORS: When you think about Maud’s poetry, if you do at all, you probably don’t think of it as anything more than a gag about Maud’s emotionless obsession with rocks.  This story nails that joke; Horizon said it “works on the level of a character study; it’s a reflection of its dull, singleminded author.”

But there’s more here than just a thousand words worth of dull.  As Chris explained, “it starts off with just enough of what you’d expect to set the rest up as variations on that theme, and Farming Rocks was such a perfect and unexpectedly serious poem that… well, that I remember the name without even clicking the link to the story.”  Horizon concurred: “A piece like “Farming Rocks” sneaks up on you, just when you had your expectations set, and blows you away,” and highlighted several other poems that catch the reader off-guard in a refreshingly thoughtful way.

But whether it’s being stolid or surprisingly deep, the one thing this story always was was entertaining and well-written.  JohnPerry said “the poems themselves are actually really well-written, and do an excellent job capturing the voice of Maud Pie.” Horizon added, “the occasional author’s note, and the author’s contributions to the comments section, both reinforce the voice of the poems”; Chris concluded “These are clever, memorable, funny, and as many other superlatives as you want to throw out there.”  

Besides, as JohnPerry put it when he nominated this story: “it’s Maud Pie. Do I really need to say more?”

Read on for our author interview, in which Titanium Dragon talks about how overrated gold is in the D&D draconiverse, the importance of being an editor, and what he has in common with James McAuley and Harold Stewart.
Continue reading →

Blueshift’s “Home is Where the Harp Is”

13 Friday Dec 2013

Posted by Chris in Features

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

author: Blueshift, dark

Today we bring you a surprisingly dark story from an author better known for his comedies — and a story which shows that “dark” doesn’t have to mean “violent and edgy.”

Home is Where the Harp Is
[Dark] • 6,312 words

Ever since Bon-Bon left for a new life in Manehatten, Lyra’s life has lost its focus. She gets up, she goes to work, she eats, she goes to sleep. One day she knows she’s going build up the courage to tell Bon-Bon how she really feels about her and they can live happily ever after.

That day will never come. Something terrible is happening in Equestria. Something that could be the end of the world. The Smooze has arrived and no-one can stop it, not even Twilight Sparkle. What hope then does Lyra have?

FROM THE CURATORS:  There was quite a bit of discussion concerning whether this was the best fanfic of the author’s to showcase; Blueshift has written plenty in other genres, and it’s difficult to compare a goofy, light-hearted parody with a much more serious piece like this.

But in the end, we all felt that Home is Where the Harp Is was an undeniably high-quality piece of writing: “…if anything of Blueshift’s gets put up, it should be “Home is Where the Harp Is,” which is better than nearly every other story in the fandom I’ve ever read,” said Vimbert.

Read on for our surprisingly breezy interview, in which Blueshift talks about the difference between writing drama and comedy, his love of repurposing characters and elements, and his fandom background in another Hasbro franchise.
Continue reading →

Bob From Bottles’ “An Imaginative Performance”

25 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by Chris in Features

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

author: Bob from Bottles, comedy

This Friday brings us a story which is both light and lighthearted, but don’t mistake its whimsy for ephemerality — there’s more here than meets the eye.

21952_r

An Imaginative Performance
[Comedy] • 24,578 words

It’s once again time for Ponyville’s annual school performance. This year, it’s a musical retelling of a story about what it means to be a hero. With curtains only minutes away from rising, each student is finding their own way to deal with the pressures of being on stage. Some have no fear at all, while others are just hoping to get the night over with. A few even distract themselves by pretending the audience is doing something silly. Then, there’s Apple Bloom, who imagines everything happening on stage is real, regardless if it makes sense or not. 

FROM THE CURATORS:  All of us noted how funny the story was; no surprise, considering it’s a comedy.  “It’s solid humor,” observed Vimbert; “this one has great comic balance… it might be his most consistent [story],” added Chris.

But what really set this apart for us was the way that it meshed that comedy with an unerring sense of its characters.  As Horizon put it: “This is exactly the sort of misadventure the CMCs would get into, in exactly the way they would do it, and the humor is in service of a moral ripped straight from the show.”

Continue down to see our interview, where Bob delves into his somnambulent inspiration, his use of lyrics, and the origin of his name.
Continue reading →

UPCOMING FEATURES

None. Thank you for nine great years of fanfiction!

Recent Posts

  • All Our Best
  • MSPiper’s “Autumnfall Change”
  • TCC56’s “Glow In The Dark, Shine In The Sun”
  • The Red Parade’s “never forever”
  • Freglz’s “Nothing Left to Lose”

Recent Comments

Frith on All Our Best
The Cloptimist on jakkid166’s “Detec…
Present Perfect on jakkid166’s “Detec…
SheetGhost’s… on AstralMouse’s “Twe…
Zaid Val'Roa on Grimm’s “Don…

Categories

  • Admin (19)
  • Ask The RCL (1)
  • Features (314)
  • Uncategorized (4)

Pages

  • About
  • Archives
  • FAQ
  • Ponyfic: There Can Be Only One
  • Precursors

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 173 other followers

Follow Royal Canterlot Library on WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Royal Canterlot Library
    • Join 173 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Royal Canterlot Library
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...