Fandom Classics Part 70: Twilight's List

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Over the past few years, I seem to have developed a weakness for tattoo-themed reality competitions.  I mean, I keep watching them, and while I'm usually only half paying attention, they're still something I keep up with.  There's just something horrifyingly compelling about the idea of people being willing to get themselves permanently marked by contestants of uncertain skill, working under strict time limits in a foreign, unfriendly setting.  Getting a tattoo is one thing, but getting one on a reality competition is a whole different level of dedicated/idiotic.

So, yeah.  That out of the way, let's move on to my review of kits' Twilight's List, below the break.

EDIT: Because I can't figure out how to put multiple spoiler tags in the text without one overwriting the other's text, the rating today is unspoilered.  Just a heads-up, if you're one of those "don't want to see it until I've finished reading the review" folks.


Impressions before reading:  Honestly, my first impression isn't a good one.  "Twilight has to go on a date with somepony for reasons," sounds like the kind of setup of a story that works fine for people just looking to enjoy a bit of shipping, but which doesn't necessarily hold up for anyone outside of that group.  Then again, that might just be prejudice from seeing that kind of setup abused one several far too many times; there's no reason this couldn't be more than a transparent attempt to pair two ponies, after all.

Zero-ish spoiler summary:  When she was a filly, Twilight made a list of One Hundred Things Every Filly Should Do.  Now, only one item remains unchecked: "Go on a date, obtain first kiss."  So she decides to see if one of her friends can help her add a final checkmark.

Thoughts after reading:  The most interesting thing here is the ending, so let's start by talking about everything else.

Although the writing is good on a technical level, Twilight's List is padded to the extreme.  To its credit, the padding is often readable, if not necessarily engaging, but this is at its core a short story stretched out to novel length.  From blow-by-blow details of Dash's stunts to multiple digressions about cloud-mechanics, this story is full of asides and fluffery.  Some is genuinely interesting (cloud talk is something I always enjoy reading about), and a few bits are genuinely boring, but most fall into the middle category of "fine for what it is, but ultimately unnecessary."  As a result, this story feels slow, despite the whirlwind nature of the romance in question.

And that whirlwind romance is clearly the main attraction here.  Ultimately, a reader who isn't a shipper at heart can be forgiven for feeling left out to dry by a narrative that takes the potential for mutual romantic interest between any (all?) of the main six as a given.  To the author's credit, though, the characters still feel recognizable throughout.  Even beyond easy identifiers like Twi's slavish devotion to her lists, Twi and Dash both are easily recognizable whenever they speak or act, and the minor characters are handled equally well.

What I really enjoyed about the story, though, was the ending.  Unfortunately, major spoilers there.  If you aren't worried about knowing how this fic concludes, click the link below.  Otherwise, let me just say up here that, although it ends on the obvious (or rather, preordained) note, the way the story resolves has some pleasant surprises.

Look, when you sit down to read a story like this, you know the characters are going to end up together.  What I wasn't expecting, however, was the way kits resolved the major conflict he'd built up throughout the story: that Rainbow Dash thought the date was real, that Twi thought it was purely a favor between friends so that she could complete her list, and that neither realized that the other wasn't on the same page.

A "typical shipfic" would go like this: Twi and Dash have a dramatic incident where their true intentions are revealed, Dash is shocked and hurt, Twi is mortified but angry.  One or both of them eventually talk to their friends and realize they love the other despite the misunderstanding and hurtful words, there's a tearful reunion, everything's all better.  That is literally the formula for a romance: budding love plus unstated/unknown/secret conflict, build to a climax and quickly resolve, then kiss.

kits flips the script on its head at the end, though, by turning the climax into an anticlimax.  Dash's casual reaction, and her trust in her friend's intentions (and in her own read on Twi) feels a hundred times more genuine than the stock version simply by virtue of being different.  Moreover, it does go some way toward justifying Twi's behavior at the start (I asked myself more than once why Twi was putting so much effort into finding the right pony to date at the beginning if she wasn't going to date them in the first place; this may not provide a particularly satisfying answer, all told, but at least it offers something).  The romance may still follow the traditional script for a story like this, but there was enough of a change-up here for me to feel like I'd read more than the literary equivalent of a paint-by-numbers project, without question.

Star rating:   ★★★☆☆ (what does this mean?)

While this ultimately is a "ship fic" first, second, and last, with the attendant character assumptions and aggressively romantic focus, it's a well-written one that puts enough of a unique stamp on the romance to stand out, while also throwing a few SoL-worldbuilding bones to more general readers along the way.

Recommendation:  If you're into TwiDash, this will probably be right up your alley.  If you're not a shipping fan, you don't need me to tell you not to bother.  For the rest of you, this might be worth a look for readers who don't mind a plodding narrative and some common-to-the-genre character assumptions.

Next time:  Life on the Frontier, by Starwind Dood