FimFiction Link - Short ID: 506414/a-parents-love
Published: Nov '21
'A Parent's Love' is a nine thousand and six hundred-word oneshot in which Sunny's father, whom everyone believed to be dead returns from the grave. The review will contain unmarked spoilers, so to give you my opinion first: It's an alright at best drama with a rushed and undeserved resolution.
The fic tries very hard to tug at out heartstrings. The first scene depicts Sunny who's expecting her father to come home late, only to be told by Phyllis that he will never come. Yet, just as we jump to the present, here he is, seemingly alive and well. Even without reading the description, the identity of "Argyle" is fairly obvious from the get go. Moments after his arrival, Sunny starts suffering from weakness and both her and her "father" begins to act in a really spiteful way that causes the rest of the cast to grow worried. With the help of a camera-ex-machina, the trio of Izzy, Hitch and Sprout find out that he's in-fact a Changeling. Upon confronting the creature, she reveals that she's in fact the last living Changeling and a mother to a new brood, who hopes to save the species by syphoning all of Sunny's love. The trio offer their help in return of Sunny's protection and she gives them a day. The town is called together and Hitch presents the Changeling as a new friend, urging the townsfolk to give her their love, which they - after a bit of encouragement - do. The larvas hatch, however, the mother dies from her exhaustion. The story ends with her funeral and Sunny's rumination on the whole event. She wants to forgive the Changeling, but she feels like she just experienced her father's death all over again.
The fic's sad parts do their job okay. I didn't feel particularly invested because everything happens so fast, but it's not the worst drama I've read. The author also nailed the non-OC characters' acting. Ironically, I found Sprout to be the most entertaining in this fic, his emotional immaturity provides some much needed comedy to an otherwise sad story.
However, that's about the limit to my praise, because the rest of the story is just a rushed mess. "Argyle" turns evil way too fast and the fact that the trio didn't realize it earlier that things are messed up is hard to believe. Still, this is nothing compared to the ending: In five minutes, Hitch convinces the entire town, who used to be not just against the other tribes, but for some reason also homophobic (in this fic, Izzy and Sunny are dating) to accept and help what appears to be a literal monster. They never even consider the idea that she might just be manipulating them by looking for pity before backstabbing them. Especially because she's so extremely fast to accept their help. From her inner monologue we learn that she doesn't want to hurt Sunny, but the trio has no way of knowing this for sure.
Overall: 4/10 Meh. For a concept that had potential and from an author who can nail characters, this was a disappointment.