Tag Archives: slice of life

CyborgSamurai’s “Can’t Choose Your Family”

15 Friday Apr 2016

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Make the choice to read today’s story, and you’ll be rewarded with an intriguing romp through Norse mythology.

cant-choose-your-familyCan’t Choose Your Family
[Crossover] [Slice of Life] • 3,937 words

It’s been five thousand years since the Summit of the Gods was last hosted in Equestria, and after dropping off Discord in Ponyville, Celestia returns to Canterlot Castle to meet with the entire Norse Pantheon. Before she can arrive, though, she’s stopped by a guard with a strange message, sent on the behalf of a mysterious figure from her past.

FROM THE CURATORS: This story’s cover art and description suggest the central family tie of the story — but it takes a deeper reading to realize just how cleverly the idea is constructed.  “The story’s labeled ‘Crossover’ because it posits that Celestia and Luna are the daughters of Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged horse in Norse mythology — which means, of course, that their grandmother is Loki,” AugieDog said in his nomination.  “It’s an idea that I just plain find appealing.”  The rest of us were equally taken with those ideas.  “The big draw here is the mythology, and what sells that is the solid characterization,” Horizon said.

Singled out for the greatest praise was the Norse deity who pays Celestia a visit. “There was clearly a lot of thought that went into Loki’s character, from ‘his’ flexible definition of gender to his unconventional sense of loyalty and understanding of betrayal,” Chris said.  Present Perfect agreed: “The way Loki is written has a certain je ne sais quoi. There’s an equal measure of ‘otherworldly god’ and ‘concerned grandmother’ there, very difficult to pull off well.”  But, as AugieDog noted, the Equestrian characters are given equally thoughtful depth.  “The story is a very nice character study of Celestia,” he said, “focusing on the choices she’s made concerning Equestria, in light of the constant sideways glances she and Luna get from the other Aesir due to their heritage.”

And while there was plenty to impress us in the character work alone, this story was also full of little surprises to enrich our reading experience.  “There’s a good deal in here that I’ve never seen before — most notably Discord’s relationship to Celestia,” Present Perfect said.  Horizon agreed: “From how Discord fits into the picture to the identity of Celestia and Luna’s mothers, this is full of surprising ideas that click into place like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.”  All told, as Present Perfect said, this is a story carried by the solid execution of its ideas: “Anyone interested in mythology weaving will no doubt enjoy the way in which the Norse mythos has been applied to Equestria.”

Read on for our author interview, in which CyborgSamurai discusses dangerous shoulds, replacement hips, and sociopathic shattered shapeshifters.

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BlazzingInferno’s “Apple Knots”

01 Friday Apr 2016

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Engage in a little back talk with today’s featured story.

apple-knotsApple Knots
[Slice of Life] • 4,675 words

Lotus is a professional masseuse. She sees the pony below the skin, and tends to coax just as much out of their mouths as their muscles. Late one day, she gives three very different massages to three close friends, all of whom mention a name she isn’t familiar with: Applejack.

FROM THE CURATORS: While the main attraction of this story is its unique storytelling method, what first earned it its nomination was the way it hearkened back to core pony principles.  “One of the things that drew me to MLP when I saw the first two episodes back in 2011 was the way our various heroines all had jobs that they both enjoyed and were actually good at,” AugieDog said.  “This story gives us another pony in town who fits that description, and adds in a wonderful narrative conceit: Lotus chooses to speak only with her hooves while she’s giving massages at the spa, but that doesn’t stop the commentary that runs through her head.”  Horizon fell in love with that conceit: “This is a gem of a story, and the narrative gimmick is wielded as expertly as Lotus wields her massages.”

Several of us commented favorably on the tactility at the core of the story.  “The use of literal body language gives the conversations a remarkable depth, and the asymmetric conversations are a joy to read,” Horizon said.  Meanwhile, Present Perfect found it to work on multiple levels.  “What I think makes this work is the symbolism of the confessing during the massages,” Present Perfect said. “I also particularly love how Fluttershy’s muscles have character; I mean, each of the four tribal representatives is shown to have different muscle issues, but her muscles hide like she does. It’s a great little touch.”  And the way that those different interactions revealed character came in for praise, too.  “The scenes that the author used felt very natural and were well explored — in particular the idea that Fluttershy only mentions she has a date, but not with whom,” Soge said.

Finally, Apple Knots shows off the author’s finesse with a skill that’s normally invisible.  “I remember this one from the February 2015 Writeoff Association competition,” Horizon said.  “I liked the original version with reservations, all of which were addressed by the editing process.  The way that this has grown is nearly as commendable as the finished product.”  AugieDog agreed: “Reading the final version on FimFiction, I can see that the author took everyone’s comments to heart … I’m a huge fan of the revision process in writing, and this shows the revision process done well.”

Read on for our author interview, in which BlazzingInferno discusses telephone fires, fun silences, and liberating compressors from backhoes.
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plumander’s “Happy Ending”

25 Friday Mar 2016

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Today’s story bubbled up to the top of our reading lists.

Happy Ending
[Sad] [Slice of Life] • 4,552 words

Golden Harvest farms carrots, is incredibly devoted to her husband, and lives in bubbles.

Written Script writes and travels far too often, but is charismatic and well-liked.

Derpy likes muffins and is legally unfit to take care of her foal.

And then there’s Dinky, who (legally) belongs to Golden Harvest and (legally) must visit her mother once a month.

Life is incredibly complex, but it’s also profoundly simple.

FROM THE CURATORS: Let’s not mince words here: the tragedy here is on a level rarely seen in ponyfic.  “This story does such a masterful job of making you squirm as you read that I felt absolutely compelled to nominate it,” Chris said, and the rest of us agreed as it sailed to a rare unanimous approval.  “Often, Sad-tagged fics prod you continually with ever-increasing woes, like sticks, hoping you’ll eventually break and cry,” Present Perfect said.  “This Sad-tagged fic punches you in the junk and steals your lunch money.”

At the center of that were the exemplary portrayals of Golden Harvest and a vivid supporting cast.  “This is a story about characters trying to make the best of situations they wouldn’t have chosen for themselves,” Chris explained, while AugieDog focused on Golden herself: “The portrait of a character completely out of her depth is terrific.”  Horizon agreed: “All of the characters are painted solidly, and Golden is laudably complex — while she’s clearly the villain, she’s presented sympathetically, and we see how she’s been damaged by forces beyond her control.  And when she crosses a line, and the story gamely continues on with the other characters pretending like nothing’s changed, we see that damage from a very different angle.”

Several of us also singled out the story’s structure for praise.  “I love how the themes manage to resonate with the plot, the characters, and each other,” Soge said, and Chris agreed: “Perhaps the best thing about this is the poignant simplicity of its ‘bubbles’ motif.  It frames the entire narrative as an exploration of who we are when we’re rocked from our comfort zones.”  But as bleak and non-pony as that might sound — “this is earth-analogue to a fault,” Present Perfect noted — it felt informed by the show on a deeper level.  “It manages to feel pony in spite of all the darkness,” Soge said, and AugieDog agreed: “As the eternal optimist, I’m able to see a bit of light in the ending.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Plumander discusses technicolor reality, non-anti-heroes, and ninja plums.
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SaintChoc’s “Raven”

04 Friday Mar 2016

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Today’s story will always be here to provide you with some quality teatime reading.

ravenRaven
[Slice of Life] • 6,033 words

No one alive today can say where she came from; simply that she has always been there.

And yet, few ponies have had a greater impact on Princess Celestia’s life than Raven, her most faithful aide.

FROM THE CURATORS: “This was just published by an author whose FiMFic account is just a few months old — proof that there are still quality writers coming into the fandom,” Chris said in his nomination.  And there were many ways in which Raven made that quality obvious, starting with the unrolling of its core mystery.  “This has three ‘whoa’ moments, those moments I always enjoy in a story when a piece of information is revealed that makes me re-evaluate everything I thought was going on,” AugieDog said.  “I can’t remember the last time I came across a story anywhere that did that to me.”

That was just one aspect of the careful construction that earned multiple curators’ praise. “The reversed-time narrative worked very well, thanks to the attention to detail from the author,” Soge said.  “Little things like the tea choices or the expressions they use among themselves were well established, and seeing them deconstructed as the narrative regressed was a great way to show not only the passage of time, but also the evolution of their relationship.”  Chris agreed: “What makes Raven work so well is all the little details it works in.  Even as intentional repetitions from scene to scene — and the slow revelation of Raven‘s nature — draw your attention, there are plenty of small touches at the edges which make this feel like a true glimpse of history.”

We also found much to like about the careful balance of its characterization.  “It’s a nice tale of dedication and friendship,” Soge said.  “Raven‘s actions are never self-centered, but also not really subservient, so there is always the sensation that, even though she serves Celestia, she is her equal in a sense.”  Ultimately, that added up to a read that rewarded us from start to finish, as Chris noted: “It unfolds at just the right pace, and feels a lot longer than it is — the mark of a story with pleasant depth.”

Read on for our author interview, in which SaintChoc discusses small successes, hidden 110%s, and nightmare teas.
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naturalbornderpy’s “Princess Celestia’s Newest Arch Enemy”

19 Friday Feb 2016

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Prepare for an adorable war on your heartstrings as today’s story marches into the library shelves.

newest-arch-enemyPrincess Celestia’s Newest Arch Enemy
[Comedy] [Random] [Slice of Life] • 4,656 words

When a colt named “Bad Dude” storms into Celestia’s personal study and declares himself as her latest arch enemy, the Princess can’t help but nearly gush from the sight. As perhaps the cutest villain Celestia has ever encountered, she hurriedly calls for Luna to meet him as well.

But is there more to “Bad Dude” than his cute exterior would suggest?

No. No there is not.

FROM THE CURATORS: This story’s path to a feature started — as so many others do — with outside word-of-mouth.  “The clickbait title and blatant appeal to cuteness should have made this story radioactive to me, but when MightyFenrir recommended it, I had to see what that was about,” Horizon said. “What I found was a story that pulled off a surprisingly intricate balancing act between adorable, silly, authentic, and subversive.”

What immediately leapt out at us was the humor that also sent this story rocketing to the top of the Featurebox. “I’m beside myself,” Present Perfect said.  “The Potatoville line is about the funniest thing I’ve heard all week.  This is what reading Progress was like, way back in the day.”  AugieDog was more metaphorical (but no less effusive) in his praise: “Good silly is hard to do.  When we’re all supposed to be sliding and giggling together down the side of Silly Mountain, more often than not we in fact get our sleeves caught on the rocky outcrop of ‘Eh, it’s okay’ or the creosote bush of ‘Yeah, I guess.’  But this one was silly all the way to the bottom.”

It wasn’t just the humor that caught our eye, though — there was also plenty to love about the characterization.  “What makes the story for me is Celestia,” Horizon opined, while Chris said: “Bad Dude may be one-note, but it’s a funny note.”  And the story carried its premise through to a strong ending.  “It manages to pull off a genuine twist without breaking tone,” Horizon said.  “Watching that unfold was the moment that elevated this from ‘enjoyable read’ to ‘RCL feature’.”

Read on for our author interview, in which naturalbornderpy discusses visual drugs, story graveyards, and riding the soup-can gravy train.
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Ara’s “Fluttershy’s Secret Kissing Story”

12 Friday Feb 2016

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Today’s story offers us some vivid characterization straight from the horse’s mouth.

fluttershys-secretFluttershy’s Secret Kissing Story
[Romance] [Slice of Life] • 11,064 words

Fluttershy remembers the kisses she’d shared over her lifetime, reflecting on the different circumstances and how she’d grown as a pony.

FROM THE CURATORS: “This is an experience,” Present Perfect warned us along with his nomination. And, indeed, this was one of those rare features where our fellow curators’ reactions were nearly as engrossing as the story itself.  Horizon flailed for adjectives: “Visceral, tactile, disquieting, and memorable as all get out.”  Chris tempered his dislike with respect for the story’s effectiveness: “In many places, it’s disgusting, and occasionally deeply disturbing … and yet, I can’t argue with either those things’ effectiveness, nor their appropriateness in context.”  AugieDog, meanwhile, assigned it his first-ever top score: “This story hit me right between the eyes, drilled through my head, and popped out the other side like a perfect, dew-bedecked daisy.”

What made the story so effective?  “It takes all the tropes and trappings of a romance story and uses them powerfully to create something very different,” Horizon said.  “It does supremely awkward things and then doesn’t shrink from the consequences.”  But it’s not just a shock story, as Present Perfect noted: “It exists in this weird Schrödingerian realm of not making sense and making perfect sense all at once.  The writing is that weird, awkwardly discordant style you get from trollfics, but it’s all straightforward and serious.”  And if you take the story seriously, it will reward you with unexpected depth, he added: “The strangeness of the kissing ties together not only Fluttershy’s character, but some major elements from the show.”

It was ultimately that depth that most impressed us.  “The prose — such as the passage from Chapter 1 about the way kissing changed as she grew into adolescence — shows a level of insight that I find deeply appealing,” Chris said.  “There are a lot of powerful moments in this story.”  And underneath it all, as AugieDog noted, was a core earnestness that was most powerful of all: “I support wholeheartedly any story that shows how even the most damaged of us can maybe turn out all right.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Ara discusses spurious inspirations, soonish horses, and self-imposed sticky conceits.

SleepIsforTheWeak’s “Just Give Me a Reason”

29 Friday Jan 2016

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There’s a very simple reason to read today’s story: it’s an intimate and moving portrayal of a troubled relationship.

just-give-me-a-reasonJust Give Me a Reason
[Romance] [Sad] [Slice of Life] • 3,653 words
[NOTE: This story contains sexual themes.]

She waited for Rarity’s face to bloom into softness, the way it always did when Rainbow made some big romantic gesture like this. Rarity’s face stayed impassive. But she smiled. It was a smile that was reserved and slightly tired—barely genuine. The warmth in it was quiet, self-contained.

And that’s when Rainbow’s entire world came crashing down.

She did not need her any longer.

FROM THE CURATORS: “Call me a sucker for tragic romance,” Present Perfect said as his vote spurred this story to its feature, but this story was richly rewarding to more than just genre fans.  “Even though this one had my guts twisting almost from the get-go, I loved it,” Chris said.  “It uses the relationship that’s falling apart as an opportunity to explore its characters, and to really get inside Rainbow’s head in particular, all while offering authentic and rewarding hope.”  He wasn’t the only curator commenting on authenticity.  “As someone going through an amicable divorce, I can confirm that this is heart-rendingly authentic to the way that two people treat each other when they care for each other but are no longer quite in love,” Horizon said.

Those two people — or, rather, ponies — were central to what made this story exemplary.  “The author sells me on the romantic relationship right from the start,” AugieDog said. “Of course, ‘romantic’ is probably the wrong word, but the portrait of the two characters in the dust and ashes stage of things is just marvelously well done.”  Present Perfect also agreed on the excellent character portrayals.  “What really makes this work is you can’t tell this story with two other characters,” he said.  “More to the point, this is very obviously a Rainbow Dash who’s been Rarity’s marefriend for three years. She can read Rarity like a book; she understands nuances of decor! She can, in a perfectly matter-of-fact manner, talk about her feelings. It’s one of the most believable ‘the ship already happened’ stories I’ve ever read.”

That sense of realism drew us all in, and the end result was a story that was gripping and powerful from start to finish.  “This hooked me early, and my engagement extended straight through until the very end of the story,” Chris said.  “The very end of the story provided perhaps the most honest and believable reason for Rainbow Dash and Rarity to be in a long-term relationship I’ve ever seen, and managed to somehow be completely cynical and emotionally reaffirming at the same time.  No mean feat, that.”

Read on for our author interview, in which SleepIsforTheWeak discusses invincible bouncing, sweet torments, and the benefits of professional jealousy.
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Miller Minus’ “Analemma”

22 Friday Jan 2016

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It’s always sunny somewhere in the world, and it’s always a good time to dig into the mysteries buried in today’s story.

analemmaAnalemma
[Mystery] [Slice of Life] • 11,639 words

Once every month, a mare appears on a remote beach, far from her home. She plays, she reads, she sleeps, and she wastes precious, precious time.

FROM THE CURATORS: Princess Celestia taking relaxing vacations on an idyllic beach — certainly not the first thing you’d think of when browsing through the archives of FIMFiction’s new Mystery tag.  But this one was positively arresting in the slow build of its revelations.  “Wow, what a remarkable piece,” Present Perfect said.  “Hardly anything made sense throughout the story, until the final chapter tied it all together in the most satisfying way possible.”  Chris agreed, adding: “The real brilliance of this story is in how often Celestia or the narrator does something that doesn’t seem to make any sense, even as the story gives you enough clues and assurance to convince you that yes, there’s a reason for all this.  And when that reason comes, it’s invariably satisfying.”

That’s not to say that the mystery here is the only thing to appreciate.  “The narrative voice is unique, and I really appreciated the way it manages to pull off multiple levels of headfakes as it slowly unrolls its core plot,” Horizon said.  Chris also appreciated the characterization: “This story manages to tell us a lot about both Celestia and the narrator, in ways both obvious and subtle.”  And AugieDog found Analemma’s pacing exemplary.  “Puzzle stories like this are really hard to do; they’re all about doling out the information at exactly the time the reader needs it,” he said.  “This one added each compelling detail just when I needed one, and kept that pace right up to the end. Even the point-of-view switch in the last chapter, something that throws me out of a story 99% of the time, didn’t bother me that much.”

It all added up to a story that left us unanimously impressed.  “The story makes a lot of promises and fulfills them all, which is an exemplary quality in a mystery,” Horizon said.  Chris summarized it as “a clever little bundle of a story,” and Present Perfect found it “a joy to read” throughout.  “In the end,” Present Perfect said, “it shows us that there are still creative new ways to tell age-old stories.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Miller Minus discusses poetry creeping, trampoline jumping, and magical husband lamping.
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Bugle’s “Random”

15 Friday Jan 2016

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Today’s story is more methodical than one might think.

randomRandom
[Sad] [Slice of Life] • 6,834 words

The tensions of estranged family run high when Cloudy Quartz’s mother, Change, comes to see her newborn grandfoals.  Things only get worse when Change makes a discovery that spells hope for her species, and promises disaster for her relationship with her daughter.

Pinkie Pie has the soul of a draconequus.

FROM THE CURATORS: This piece definitely went in directions we never expected. In the words of Present Perfect, “It could easily have been, ‘Wow, Pinkie’s part draconequus, that explains so much!’ but instead, that’s merely the backdrop for this tale of family tensions.” Added AugieDog, “I also love how the author made this into a story about Pinkie in which she doesn’t actually appear.”

The curators agree, the author’s decision to focus on family dynamics is what drew us to it. The conflict between Pinkie’s mother and grandmother is relatable and approachable. “A lot of authors would have let themselves get caught up in the mechanics and backstory of the draconequui,” said Chris. “The central conflict is one that anyone with an extended family has seen play out firsthand.” Augie agreed: “The struggles here are the sort that go on in families every day.”

Relatable, too, was the character of Igneous Pie. “He provided not just a writer’s tool for promoting reconciliation,” Chris said, “but he also ended up being the character I related to best.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Bugle discusses the MLP collectible card game, diversity in the fandom, and the tribulations of writing for an ever-evolving canon.
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MidnightDancer’s “Blankets”

08 Friday Jan 2016

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Today’s story reminds us that even loving spouses sometimes will make cold decisions.

blanketsBlankets
[Romance] [Slice of Life] • 2,556 words

Marriage is the hardest thing Carrot Cake has ever done, second only to being a father to his two foals.

Woken by a chill and finding himself quite bereft of blankets, he finds himself pondering the canyon that has appeared between he and his wife.

FROM THE CURATORS: As the description suggests, this is a story about relationship problems — but it’s full of the sort of realism and nuance that elevate the premise from angst to art.  “I always enjoy it when writers take a situation from the show and apply real-life psychology to it: how would someone really react to this situation, and how might that reaction change the character’s outlook on life?” AugieDog said.  “Even better, we then get the character reacting to that first reaction and deciding it was the wrong thing to do.”

Several of us noted the deft way which Blankets dug back through both the Cakes’ troubled relationship and the incident that caused the rift.  “Even when we discover what happened, there’s never any attempt by the author to act like this single thing is what’s pushing them apart,” Chris said.  “Instead, this is a story about all the little barbs, all the slightly-too-guarded conversations, all the individually unimportant but oh-so-crucial-in-the-heat-of-the-moment battles which drive people apart, told with beautiful metaphors and no small amount of self-awareness.”  And that storytelling finesse even won over our doubters.  “It started out feeling like a generic midlife crisis story, but once the curtain pulled back on the original source of their rift, that did wonders for my engagement,” Horizon said.  “The central conflict and the realistic approach to that growing divide of paranoia are exemplary, and I really appreciate the way that the resolution turned on trust rather than on the truth.”

But ultimately, Blankets’ strength comes from its uncompromising look at the truth behind a marriage in crisis — and that wouldn’t have been nearly as powerful if it hadn’t gotten so effectively inside its characters’ heads.  “Mr. Cake makes no bones about what’s happened,” Present Perfect said. “He’s laying his soul bare, not asking for pity. If anything, this story reveals that he does truly understand his wife in the way only someone who’s been with another for a long time can — we see him seeing himself through her eyes.”

Read on for our author interview, in which MidnightDancer discusses dark days, basic morals, and that old time-thief Soap.
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