Sounds of 2014: Nos. 85 to 81

Guess what, folks, it's time for another peek into the songs that were shaking the fandom a decade ago. That's right, we're back with the 2014 edition of the Equestrian Top 100. First up, the usual reminder of my criteria for inclusion in this series:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion.

The first three editions of "Sounds of 2014" had no skipped entries at all. This time, we're not so lucky. I did have to think about one song before deciding it justified a Rule 3 application, as you'll read below. The final entry, though, I felt fell the wrong side of the line, so it's not here. Sorry! Here's the list:

85: General Mumble – Couldn't You Just Simply Die?
84: Forest Rain – Nightmare Night
83: Sim Gretina, EileMonty & Copper – Moving On (cover)
82: Turquoise Splash & Megaphoric ft. Joaftheloaf – The Twilight Will Rise
81: skipped

As usual, if you come with me beyond the jump break, you'll get a YouTube embed of the relevant songs, together with a paragraph of my comments and thoughts about each of them.

New reviewer: abrony-mouse

Years and years ago, I remember a poster called abrony-mouse was very active on the late lamented UK of Equestria forums. They've had a Fimfiction account for longer than I have, but it hasn't been very active for years.

Well... they're back! And not only that, but they're doing ponyfic reviews! Well, more of a recommendations series (as with TCC56) than a review one as such, and with a deliberately short'n'snappy format. The first two are here and here. I always love to see new reviewers, given how few of us there are these days, so yay for abrony-mouse!

Edit: and a mini-review of my very own We Are the Everfree is right here!

Ponyfic Roundup 487: Spotlight on How We Met

Read it Later story count: 94 (nc)

Words read this week: 49,651

Well look at that, it's Spotlight time again! No 300,000-word behemoth this time, though, but instead a story that clocks in at just under the 50k-word mark. I've read and liked some other Rated Ponystar fics – for example, Treating Her Right (PR 371). How We Met is an old story, something I did bear in mind, but I'm obviously a sucker for Fluttershy/Rainbow backstory or I wouldn't have written Where They Understand You myself all those years ago! Anyway, let's see how this one does.

How We Met by Rated Ponystar
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash
G4; Romance/Slice of Life; 50k words; Feb–Oct 2012; Everyone

A story of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash's relationship from their first meeting to their end

You can probably tell where this is going by the combination of the title, the shortdesc and those genre tags – and you'd be right. This is a story which starts with the two as fillies, although the bulk of the action takes place after they've grown up, got their cutie marks and moved to Ponyville. There are some cute moments and even the mid-story shift from friendshipping to plain shipping isn't too clunky. The writing is generally serviceable but isn't going to win any awards for style, and there are too many typos, awkwardly constructed sentences etc. Also, as PaulAsaran noted, the as-it-was-being-written Author's Notes every chapter irritate more than they illuminate. Not a bad story, but very predictable indeed in its progression. Its age and the author's relative inexperience in 2012 do show and do cost it a bit. ★★

You'll doubtless know this by now, but, expect spoilers beyond this point!

My Little Repeats 161: "Daring Done?"

They do the sand dance, don't you know?

S7E18: "Daring Done?"

9 Sep 2017

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 7.2

The one with hotel mini muffins

Thoughts: This is a G. M. Berrow episode, so you know what to expect, and for the most part you get it. This isn't one for those who want perfectly crafted writing, but it does have some nice world-building with the (admittedly shaky) Somnambula legend. A special note too for the visuals and even more so the music, which really is nice. Characterisation is pretty variable: A. K. Yearling not being a flawless hero is good and I rather like Pinkie Pie here, but I'm not so impressed by Rainbow Dash – you know you can fly to escape Caballeron's henchponies, girl? Talking of which, the "hah, no flying here!" thing is a bit irritating, though I don't object to it as much as some fans apparently do. But the worst thing is that (as I said in 2017) the air-vent solution to save Rainbow is absurdly out-of-nowhere, right down there at bunyip levels of eye-rollingness. The main reason I'm downgrading this from a three-star episode to a two is that it's so frustrating: it does well for the first two-thirds, but then it falls apart. So, so much more could have been done with the third act. Oh well, on we go.

Choice quote: A. K. Yearling: "They don't sell my books in southern Equestria." [Er... why not?]

New rating: ★★

Next time around, we'll reach "It Isn't the Mane Thing About You". This is an episode which tends to split those irritated by overly convenient plot hoof-waving and those who just want to kick back and relax with the ponies. I tend to be in camp two by this point in FiM's run, so I quite liked it.

Hoping to post a bit more

Mildly ironic that I'm posting this at a time when I'm not posting more, but that's simply because I am extremely busy this week. You'll have noticed that last week I had a run of seven successive days of posts. That was fun, but in truth is not where I expect to end up – rather somewhere in between, yes. The "Daring Done?" rewatch should be along early next week, and with that, "Sounds of 2014" and Ponyfic Roundup there'll be at least three updates before the following weekend. Hooves crossed!

Ponyfic Roundup 486

Read it Later story count: 94 (-1)

Words read this week: 34,257

In this week's intro, Logan will not be talking about 1960s pop groups. Sorry! Instead, he will mention that he has finally got hold of a £1 charity shop DVD of Titanic. The 1997 blockbuster, not the one with the rapping dog. No, it's not exactly difficult to find, but while I wanted to watch the film (I've never seen it!) I wasn't prepared to pay Amazon or Disney+ subscription prices to do so. Also, this way it's mine. I may report back when I've seen it, but more likely I'll forget. Anyway, today's fics are:

Ambulance Inspection Rejection by SockPuppet
Little Muffin Stand of Horrors by sister_mike
Above All Else by 8686
Sight by Slywolf930
Pieces of Me by DwarvishPony

★: 0 | ★★: 2 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 2 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.

Sounds of 2014: Nos. 90 to 86

Welcome back to our canter through the Equestrian Trot 100 chart of the most popular My Little Pony fandom songs of 2014. As a reminder, a track doesn't have to have been released in that year, just to have been popular enough to make the chart. As usual, I'll remind everyone of the criteria I use to decide whether a song should be included:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original artist.
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this.
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out.
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion.

Third time lucky today, in that once again in the 2014 series I'm not having to skip a song. At one point I thought I would, but... well, that's explained below. Here's what we have:

90: d.notive – Loveless Lovechild
89: Forest Rain et al – On Our Way
88: PsychGoth ft. Rina-Chan – Lulamoon
87: Aviators – Crash
86: Vylet Pony – Twilight's Kingdom (parts 1 & 2)

You probably know this by now, but beyond the jump break you'll find a little waffling about each of the five songs and YouTube videos to match. Onward!