Text Review Roundup: "The Mean 6"

Yay, now TRR is up to date as well! This time, we welcome back both Mega Sean 45 and Dark Qiviut, the latter with a very detailed review. I've also added a new reviewer in ShadowtheDarkNinja. Always happy to hear of new people I could add! (Though not Amino-based reviewers, please, as that place hurts my eyes.)

As usual, how I assess a review will depend on my own feelings after reading it; this is why an 8/10 review can sometimes be classed "positive" and sometimes "very positive". The text reviewers' assessments were all over the place for this one, with the biggest spread of opinions I can recall for a long time.

Cuddlepug – negative (graded D+; "confusing mess of an episode")

Dark Qiviut – wildly positive ("Its storytelling is outstanding with excellent dialogue, comedy, drama, and heart.")

Derpy News – positive (graded A-; "in the higher end of Season Eight")

JDPrime22 – very positive (rated 9/10; "This episode was fun. I loved the interactions of all these characters")

Louder Yay – broadly positive (3/5; "a fairly mixed bag, but a pretty watchable mixed bag)

Mega Sean 45 – mixed ("I say in Chrysalis' side of the episode, it was really good [but] I found the ol switcharoo between the two different plots to be kinda confusing and a bit boring at the same time.")

MLEEP Reviews – wildly positive (rated 10/10; "a marvelous followup to what was a marvelous season [6] finale")

The Railfan Brony – extremely negative (rated Terrible; "The Mean 6 had no point whatsoever; it's the dictionary definition of anticlimactic.")

Rainbine – very negative (rated Very Bad; "Boring, predictable, and worst of all, pointless.")

ShadowtheDarkNinja – mixed (rated 6/10; "I can't give the Mean 6 anything close to perfect.")

ShutterflyEQD – very positive ("As much as I loved Queen Chrysalis returning, I just loved the amount of entertainment that this episode held.")

TheDragonWarlock – generally negative (graded C-; "this episode squandered what could've been an amazing episode for something so underwhelming.")

Episode review: S8E13: "The Mean 6"

We only saw this for half a second, but it cracked me up

Well, it's taken a while, but here I am at last getting up to date with FiM again! The final episode before the mid-season hiatus was written by Michael Vogel, last seen sharing writing duties with Nicole Dubuc in the S8 premiere. The synopsis for this one seemed intriguing, but because of my holiday I already knew it had received a rather mixed reaction. (More of that in Text Review Roundup tomorrow.) Beyond the break, I'll say how I felt about it.

Ponyfic Roundup 207: It does mean changing the bulb

Title explanation: Red Dwarf line

Read it Later story count: 327 (-4)

Hey everyone, look how many stories I have for you this week! That's right: five! Yay! And I'm even going to begin with the fic I trailed last week. (You do read those footnote sections, don't you? Of course you do.) Oh, and the final review this time is my 999th on Ponyfic Roundup. Just saying.

Six Months in July by Fiddlebottoms
Sleeping Habits by Redric Carrun
Banned by Summer Dancer
Bad Decisions Make Better Stories by Sporktacles
Mrs. Robinson's Stand by WishyWish

★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 3 | ★★★★: 2 | ★★★★★: 0

UK PonyCon tickets selling out fast!

Before I get on to UK PonyCon, a quick update on my schedule here. I plan to have Ponyfic Roundup up on Wednesday as usual, then (at last!) my review of "The Mean 6" on Thursday. This will be followed by that episode's Text Review Roundup on Friday, plus something else I keep forgetting about at the weekend. (Wait and see! Nothing thrilling, though.)

On Sunday, UK PonyCon announced that less than 10% of Saturday capacity remains. Unlike last year, there will not be a second tranche of tickets released for UKPC 2018, since capacity is fixed. That means that if you want either a Weekend ticket or a Saturday-only ticket, you need to get your skates on!

Sunday tickets, as you might expect, are a bit further from running out, and these will remain on sale after Saturday/Weekend ticket sales end. In line with UK PonyCon practice for the last few years, tickets will not be sold on the door. In other words, please don't delay and risk missing out on the convention!

The announcement also mentioned that UKPC has "sold more tickets than previous years, meaning this will be the largest UK PonyCon ever." Considering that last year it was already about twice the size of the 2014 event, that's quite something! Under four months to go, and it's getting exciting.

Brief audio thoughts on S8A, with text transcript here

( Text link )

I felt like making a short audio review of the first half of Season 8, so here it is. The whole thing is less than eight minutes long, so don't expect in-depth analysis. It's quite deliberately just a brief summary. For those who prefer to read reviews, a full transcript follows.

Text Review Roundup: "Marks for Effort"

Time to get TRR off the ground again. This episode had a mixed reception, with some reviewers loving it but others being distinctly unimpressed – and indeed, we're starting the list with one of the latter. Unfortunately, Dark Qiviut hasn't uploaded a review of episode 12 (or 13, for that matter), so has had to be left out.

Cuddlepug – negative (graded D+; "I would advise other prospective students look [...s]omewhere less corrupt, with teachers who don't hand out degrees to their little sisters. ")

Derpy News – very positive (graded A; "[Starlight] quickly became the funniest and best part of this episode.")

JDPrime22 – fairly positive (rated 7/10; "pretty fun episode")

Louder Yay – positive (3/5; "Lots of nice dialogue and humour [but] Twilight didn't behave very well")

Mega Sean 45 – no review up yet. Comments suggest one may be coming eventually, but I'm already late with this TRR! Placeholder left here as I know they've written an E13 review.

MLEEP Reviews – positive (8.5/10; "while it does have a few flaws here and there, the effort that was put into 'Marks For Effort' really does show")

The Railfan Brony – mixed (rated Okay; "a thin plot and predictable outcome")

Rainbine – very negative ("3/10; "Before we got to the Starlight scene, the episode felt slow, dull, and boring [...] This was a Very Bad Episode.")

ShutterflyEQD – very positive ("this episode was very enjoyable the whole way through!")

TheDragonWarlock – mixed (graded C+; "just doesn't have anything really special")

UK PonyCon news: Distance Supporter Membership and tram ticket offer

Text Review Roundup has been delayed until tomorrow as I have some convention news to report. It's been a little while since I wrote about UK PonyCon here, but that's going to change now. For one thing, I've booked my hotel, so yay for that. In this post, though, I'm going to mention two things:

1) Distance Supporter Membership

If you're familiar with the concept of "spirit badges" then this idea won't be new to you, but it is new to UKPC. It's a way of showing support for the convention even if you can't actually make it to Nottingham. It costs £20 and for that you get:

• A weekend pass on the premium lanyard – not valid for actual con entry!
• The UKPC 2018 con book
• The UKPC Supporter button badge
• A £5 donation to long-time con charity the RDA

The physical items will be sent to you shortly after the convention has closed, so expect to receive them in late October or early November. When you buy (from the webstore) you can specify whether you'd prefer an Adult, Child or Family ticket.

2) Discounted tram travel

Nottingham's tram network offers discounted travel to attendees of certain events, and the committee have managed to get this offer for people going to UK PonyCon. This will allow you a special £2 day return fare, rather than the usual £4 price. The procedure is slightly fiddly, so here's a summary:

1. Print out and fill in this voucher (PDF).
2. At the tram stop, buy an "Event Ticket" from the machine.
3. Keep both voucher and ticket with you while travelling, as staff may ask to see them.

Note that this is a day return ticket, so if you're attending for the full weekend you'll need two vouchers and to buy a second ticket at the tram stop on Sunday morning.