Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Warning: The Story Linked in This Post May Rip Out Your Heart and Stomp On It

Unrelated to this article: The book is now available in both e-book and dead-tree formats. I have set up a page for links to where you can buy the book, and I will add more as they become available--I should have Amazon and Kindle Store in the next week or so, and hopefully B&N, Nook Store, and Apple Store by the end of the month.

Discovered this story by way of Mark Reads. It's a Nebula award-winning short story by a professional writer published by one of the biggest names in the business, Tor. It is also quite recognizably a My Little Pony darkfic, and possibly among the first, seeing as it was written somewhere between "Applebuck Season" and "Dragonshy."

A really, really dark fic. As in "I didn't sleep last night because of the sad" dark.

Trigger Warnings: Animal cruelty, bullying of an individual by a large group, bullying among young girls

"Ponies"

11 comments:

  1. Aaaaaaaagh. *reads first few paragraphs of story* AAAAAAAAAAGH. *stops reading*

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    1. I went back and read the rest shortly after posting the previous thing. "Huh," I said. "That was really messed up. But I wonder why it hit Froborr so hard?" Then I went to work. About halfway through my shift this story snuck up behind me and kicked me right in the gut. Felt so sick I had to run to the bathroom in case I threw up.

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  2. I got about as far as Harrison. Sorry I just can't go there right now.

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  3. I *completely* understand. I am not kidding about this story destroying me, nor about it needing trigger warnings.

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  4. Oof. Right there in the stomach. I've read worse, but oof.

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  5. It's visceral, that's for sure. A sadly accurate social allegory, and the kind of story that makes you so enraged that you want to go out and make the world a better place just as a personal screw-you to the villains.

    I just wish the story hadn't felt the need to repeatedly pause itself and spell out the allegory for us.

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    1. Because that's what makes it an allegory, rather than a metaphor.

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    2. Maybe a metaphor would have worked better.

      Ironically, the big-print labels made it harder for me to parse what it was about. I thought the names for TheOtherGirls were supposed to be jabs at internet usernames.

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  6. "Wait -- I remember you!"
    -- "Babs" Seed at the best Summer Sun Celebration ever

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    1. Alicorn Sunny is the prior form of Celestia, Sol Invictus (recall Osiris, destroyed and remade as Horus). Barbara is the prior form of Babs Seed.

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