So I read chapter 20.5. Not a lot to talk about there. Littlepip and Homage have sex, Littlepip angsts for a bit about how she’s worried about being bad in bed, then they talk about being a hero and Littlepip delivers the line "GOODNESS IS NOT A BLIGHT" and then she imagines Derpy getting her tongue cut out and then they go back to having sex. Also, Littlepip orgasms a lot and Homage has a double-ended dildo that Littlepip is less than enthusiastic about. And it ends with the line “Goddesses, I am so gay.” Take it from someone who has two fanfics that have gay jokes as their very foundations: that is not how you do it.
I probably shouldn't have skipped it. Reading it after the end it just seems kinda divorced from context. Also, I'd probably take the Littlepip as a big fucking hero stuff more seriously if I'd read it then, because at that point I found Littlepip was infinitely more likable. But apart from that there isn't really anything to say about it. There's one line that's almost funny. And then there's a bit where she orgasms just at the sight of Homage's crotch. I know that I'm a virgin, but somehow I have doubts about that.
So yeah. That's pretty much everything on Fallout: Equestria, and now I have complete closure. Though I never did stick in that The Walking Dead cannibals/Arbu comparison all the way. Well, I mentioned it in the thread at least.
Before I get back to Dusk Shine, I have to wonder what else I should read. Past Sins stirred a lot of talk back in the day, and there's always... Romance Reports...
Or maybe I could branch out a little. I might be interested in covering Sweeney Todd fanfiction. This could be especially interesting for me, as I'm a big-time Sweeney Todd fan who doesn't see much of a point in fanfiction for it. I mean, stuff like Harry Potter or My Little Pony or Avatar: The Last Airbender has a lot of room for fanfiction because they establish their own worlds and have lots of characters and are giant realms full of possibilities to build off of. Sweeney Todd, on the other hand, is a very tight, straightforward piece that's it's own story set in a very mundane world not too unlike reality, apart from all the music that's trying to be Bernard Herrmann. And on that note something seems rather ridiculous about taking a musical famed for it's musical score and then taking away the musical score.
But that was actually sort of my introduction to the world of internet fanfiction and the accompanying shipping. Some years back I was looking up videos on the internet and I stumbled upon some bizarre thing that editted a bunch of scenes from the movie into some Sweeney/Anthony montage, with a summary of the story below. And I find myself being really confused and going "Wait... I don't remember this happening in the musical at all."
Looking at the fanfic recs page on this site reveals a number of shipping fics where the pairing is "Sweeney T. and Eleanor L." Eleanor L? Who the fuck is Eleanor L... Wait, Mrs. Lovett? Who the fuck calls Mrs. Lovett "Eleanor"? But then again, I can't quite comprehend how anyone can ship the two. I mean, Mr. Todd is back in London after fifteen years in a penal colony. I have my doubts as to whether or not he can even hold an erection, nevermind actually being interested in a relationship, what with him being emotionally dead and all. If you actually pay attention during the show you'll notice that the relationship is completely one-sided on Mrs. Lovett's part. And then there's the fact that he murders her at the end. I think that kinda kills most shipping prospects, honestly.
But that isn't ponies at all. Onto Dusk Shine.
We continue the "Suited For Success Arc" with more of Opal delivering more backstory that I didn't bother to read. Rarity makes the dresses, and Opal makes a point of how she did this completely out of the goodness of her own heart and with absolutely no ulterior motive, and she is suitably shocked that the author has actually treated the character with respect.
And then we go through the usual "making changes to dresses because her friends are idiots," wherein Rarity learns from Fluttershy that she went on a date with Dusk and predictably has a fit, confronting him about it. It is at this point that Dusk has to let her down gently, saying that while he sees her as a good friend, he isn’t going to pursue a romantic relationship.
Well, that’s gonna take a bit out of the fun here, isn’t it?
So they have their terrible outfits and put on the fashion show, but unlike in the episode, Hoity Toity praises Rarity for her originality and defiance of social convention. And then apparently there’s a big payoff to all that backstory stuff I skipped in regards to soul vessels or something. Whoops. Guess I should’ve read it.
Also, there’s an interim chapter that’s set back in Dusk’s foalhood, because the author couldn’t fit it anywhere else. It’s Hearts & Hooves day, and he approaches Princess Celestia with a card, asking her to be his special somepony. Princess Celestia has to decline, however, as, among other complications, she is a lesbian, making her the only principal female character that isn’t out to sex him. And this gives us an interesting paradox in which the gay female is the Straight Man.
Oh, and there’s a reference made to the fucking talent booster from Double Rainboom. I got about halfway through that and then stopped at “The City of Townsville.” I mean, really.
So the next episode to be covered is Feeling Pinkie Keen. Oh boy.
So, we know how the episode goes. Starts more or less the same, with Dusk Shine finding out about Pinkie Sense, followed by hilarious injuries.
Then Dusk goes over to Pinkie’s place where he takes a bath to clean up after getting all dirty and stuff. At which point Pinkie proceeds to be very inappropriate and goes “heehee, that was a borderline clop scene!” Her intention is to force the author into a scene transition so that she can say that she and Dusk totally had sex. Which I actually thought was pretty funny. There’s also a bit where Dusk says “Pinkie, I’m dating Fluttershy” and she’s all “that’s okay, it’s the same VA.”
They have that thing where Twilight/Dusk hooks Pinkie Pie up to the fancy cartoon science stuff and nothing happens, and then...
Y’see, it turns out that Dusk Shine’s dad was a dream-jumper. Like, you know how in “Sleepless in Ponyville” it’s revealed that Princess Luna goes around in dreams and sorts out nightmares? Well, Nightmare Moon was messing around in folks’ dreams, and so there were ponies who had to go in and shoo her out. With those thingies from the movie Inception.
So Pinkie hooks them up to that and they go on a dream date... why do I get the feeling that there’s a lot of Inception slashfic that uses this very same premise?
And, as an added surprise, Pinkie Pie appears as a white pegasus with a blonde mane, and Dusk is an alicorn, to which Pinkie says “God complex much?”
Then Pinkamena drags him into her little dreamspace and starts making threats that he better make reaaaal nice with Pinkie. Otherwise she’ll disappear and then Pinkamena will take over and we’ll get a trip down psychotic-land. Oh, boy, I was wondering how the relationships in this fic could get creepier.
You know, from the way things are going, Dusk’s relationship with Fluttershy seems the most stable and the least creepy. After all, Fluttershy’s never pressed on him. I mean, Pinkie Pie has made unwanted sexual contact, Pinkamena’s basically just threatened him, Rarity is a big neon sign screaming “GET A RESTRAINING ORDER,” Luna tried to rape him, Rainbow Dash did rape him, Trixie’s possessive, and Applejack, well, I don’t think she’s particularly creepy, but she has demonstrated she’s capable of being jealous.
So Pinkamena’s ultimatum basically amounts to “pretend to love Pinkie Pie or I get out and do bad shit.” Dusk tries to find a way to talk to Pinkie Pie, but she already knows and tells him not to worry. She figures she has a pretty good chance anyway. After all, she says, it wouldn’t be much of a story if he just went with the first one he liked back in the first chapter.
And then we get a reveal - Pinkie Pie is actually Surprise, Dusk Shine’s foalhood imaginary friend, who got sent into Pinkamena’s body when the sonic rainboom happened and he hatched Spike. And I thought this was a very interesting twist...
...until I was informed that the author basically just cribbed it from Petriculture, explaining the author's note at the bottom. I’ll have to read that fic.
You know, on a bit of a tangent I’m reminded of Doctor Who. One of the Doctor’s companions on that show, Amy Pond, had him as an imaginary friend in her childhood after he showed up one day. “Raggedy Man.” I thought that was a neat idea and I was annoyed that they never really did anything with it beyond it being mentioned in like, two episodes. And now Amy’s been killed off. What a waste.
So yeah. Pinkamena’s been all repressed because Surprise has supplanted her. Dusk feels bad for Pinkamena, but I don’t, given she’s a psychopath. Then again, I’ve just never been very good at empathy for characters that aren’t named Murky.
So then Luna is alerted to the activation of the dream-jumper and goes to investigate the dream shenanigans. And we’re informed that the dream-sex shenanigans involved a bunny girl suit.
There’s a long bunch of complaining from one person in the comments on this chapter about how the Pinkamena stuff is creepy as fuck and the story has veered from what was originally promised. I could understand this complaint being made back in chapter 2 or 3, but by this point it should be obvious that the story is just the author pulling every stop that he finds funny at that particular moment and setting off on the train for wacky, and he doesn’t care if it crashes, because hey, a trainwreck is fun to watch sometimes if it’s carrying flammable materials. Also apparently the Pinkamena scene was really gory. I probably just don’t remember it very well because it’s been a while since I read it.
Yeah, I’ve been kind of lazy. Finishing Fallout: Equestria has left me somewhat unmotivated, and making fun of it isn’t quite as fun since the thread’s gone down drama lane.
And Dusk Shine’s gone on indefinite hiatus. There goes another fic. What to do, what to do...
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