Sounds of 2011, no. 93: "Rainbow Thrash"

Apologies for the delay to Ponyfic Roundup this week – it's all down to my stupidity in accidentally deleting my write-up before it went live! I do still have my notes, so I can easily rewrite the post. As such, PR 224 will be along tomorrow.

93: PrinceWhateverer – Rainbow Thrash

Some brony musicians blaze only briefly across the sky, leaving us with mere hints of their abilities. A good example is Phileo, whose one and only contribution to the MLP fandom was "The Way She Flies". However, others are far more enduring, and British rock'n'metal guitar specialist PrinceWhateverer is most definitely one of those. After all, just a few weeks ago he released "Solidarity", a well-received tribute to the continuing strength of the Pony fandom. If we take him at his word, he won't be leaving soon, either.

Back when "Rainbow Thrash" was released in December 2011, PrinceWhateverer had only around 200 YouTube subscribers and was relatively little known. That he now has well over 50,000 is partly due to this song, a loud, brash track about a loud, brash pony by the name of Rainbow Dash. It does betray its age in some ways, such as the slightly awkward lyrics, but the beat is insistent enough to have kept it as a fandom favourite all these years. Want it in HQ? Pay £1 on PrinceWhateverer's Bandcamp.

The video I've linked to above is actually a slightly revised version of the song, released by the artist just a couple of days after the original. The changes aren't dramatic, but I do think they improve the track. Should you wish to hear it as it first came out, that version is still around.

Next time, I'll have a double bill of music for you. One of the tracks you may well be at least reasonably familiar with. The other is a lot more obscure nowadays, though it is by a name you'll know. What are these songs? Well, that would be telling! Wait and see...

Special review: "Best Gift Ever"

Yeah, yeah, I'm pathetically weak. But come on

Although S8 of Friendship is Magic is now over and done with, there's one more piece of related business to get out of the way before we enter what will probably be the last ever FiM inter-season hiatus. "Best Night Gift Ever" marks the first time the show has had a special, which is odd considering how popular it's been. You'd think they'd have made one a few years ago. Still... this was written by Michael Vogel, and given that his strong record includes the fabulous "A Hearth's Warming Tail" I had high hopes. In the event...

UK PonyCon 2018: Merch Haul and Final Thoughts

This was a lot trickier to photograph than you'd think!

And so we reach the final part of my look back at this year's UK PonyCon. In a minute, I'll give some of my thoughts about it. First, of course, the merch haul photo! I was on a fairly tight budget this year, so it's not a huge one. If you've been reading along, you already know about the Team Custard picture by StewArt (BBQ) at bottom left and the cute little original canvas of Scootaloo by Jowy at bottom middle. The con book and asssociated Crystal Ball programme are pretty self-evident, too.

Other than that? Well, the 3D printed exclusive Britannia figure is at bottom right, sitting on the con tote bag. That has the same design as the con T-shirt at top left. Three badges: my VIP and general UKPC ones, plus a Scootaderp I picked up from somewhere. The A4 Fluttershy, Rainbow and Rarity prints are by Ponebooth. Halfway up on the right is one of the ultra-cute Fluttershy cards I bought from EileMonty. Oh, and there's a con badge in there too. :P One or two other things will be presents so aren't shown here.

It's EQUUS accredited now, too!

So that's that. Now, on to what I thought of UK PonyCon 2018. In a word? It was great. Of the seven cons I've been to, this was my favourite. The venue was pretty nice, spacious, light and very well located – and in most Octobers probably wouldn't have been as hot. The venue staff were excellent, there were places to sit down and rest, the acoustics for the concert were reasonable for a non-dedicated space and the cloakroom was handy. The one significant minus I'll get to in a bit.

UK PonyCon is a much larger event than it was in 2014 – when it certainly didn't have 1,000 attendees or 50 vendors! – but it seems to have succeeded in keeping its friendliness, multi-gen appeal and all-ages mix. Personally I wouldn't like it to get too much larger even if the committee had unlimited resources (cue hollow laughter from UKPC Towers), but balanced against that is the fact that it keeps on selling out. I suppose all they can do is to tweak things as seems appropriate; so far they've done a very good job.

Plushie Stacking was not an official event...

The Crystal Ball concert, 2018's (effective) innovation, was very nice and it looks like something similar may be back next year. There was an interesting question in the feedback form about this, asking how it should be ticketed. Personally I'd much prefer UKPC to remain all-inclusive, and would accept a modest bump in ticket prices for that. Things like the Escape Room this year (which did cost extra) were nice touches but peripheral; I'd consider the Crystal Ball much more integral to the main con schedule.

My least favourite option would be a voluntary supplement; those tend to make people feel under pressure to pay. If you have to charge extra, do so properly and ticket separately, as with the con meal. That said, BronyScot's Rock Nessie and the old Summer Sun Celebration at BUCK have/had no clash with the main con programme. The Crystal Ball did. Assuming putting it on Friday/Sunday evening isn't an option, that clash is still going to be there. Another reason for keeping things all-in.

The only shot I got of PrinceWhateverer, during his sound check

I was pleased with the number of events on the schedule this year, and the only major clashes for me were Crystal Ball/Pub Quiz and StormBlaze/EileMonty; luckily all of those ended up with good attendances. It was good to see a fair bit of G1 content, too. Apart from the heat, the event rooms were good: quite spacious, with decent acoustics and lighting too. The vendor hall was fine, with room to move between people shopping. Signage could maybe have been slightly better, but it wasn't too bad.

Right, now to the one real disappointment. The catering provision, though friendly and cheap, was not sufficient for the attendance. Nor was it reasonable to have only drinks on sale on Saturday evening, even if the pony-themed concoctions were fun. UWE in Bristol's café last year, also in a uni-run venue, was better in most respects, despite that con having a slightly lower attendance. Just because we're in a city centre venue doesn't mean we all want to walk through the rain to McDonald's to get an evening bite.

They could get a thousand people in here, right? Right?

I touched briefly on ticket prices earlier. This year UKPC kept Standard Adult Weekend entry at £35, the same as in 2017, by withdrawing Early Bird discounts. I felt that was a reasonable approach. It's always a delicate balancing act, as simple maths will tell you that above-inflation rises aren't sustainable indefinitely, but I would be okay with a small rise next year. Say the basic ticket is £39; that would be a rise of 11.4%, which should help to offset some costs. Supporter tickets at £49 would be reasonable, too.

Where should they hold the 2019 con? UKPC these days needs a big venue: I used to think Wolverhampton Grand Station could be an option, but it may be too small now. As for host city: four of the last five UKPCs have been in the East Midlands (Leicester x 2, Nottingham) or just above (Leeds). So looking at other options... Liverpool? Birmingham? Milton Keynes? Southampton? Swansea? Newcastle? Norwich? Wherever is announced, some people are bound to be disappointed. I do not envy the committee on this one!

Beachball shenanigans during "Awesome As I Wanna Be"

Finally, my highlight of the convention. Well, actually the answer is a rather sappy one: it was the magic of spending time with friends, most of whom I wouldn't know without MLP and some of whom I only ever get to see at conventions. Equally, the biggest downside was missing those friends who for various reasons were unable to make it. And you were missed. But if I have to choose one highlight other than that? "I am Octavia", of course. I will never, ever stop being thrilled and grateful to have had that chance.

There we go: Logan's rambly, waffly thoughts on what I truly believe has become one of the great fandom events of the year. No, it's not BUCK or BronyCon or AnyOtherCon. It's not supposed to be, and it's all the better for that. It's UK PonyCon. It stands or falls on its own merits, and judged on that score it most definitely stands. I had immense fun at this year's convention and it made me very, very happy to be in this fandom. That's something everyone involved in making it happen should be very proud of. Thank you.

The sun sets on UK PonyCon 2018

Sounds of 2011, no. 94: "Autumn"

I should have the final part of my UK PonyCon report up tomorrow, but in the meantime let's get back to Sounds of 2011, my series dealing with what Everfree Radio's listeners voted their top 100 tracks for that year.

94: Griffin Village – Autumn

Back in the dim and distant days of November 2011, Derpy being a mailmare was pure canon. Also back then, we saw the concept EP by Griffin Village, consisting of four seasonally-named tracks. Although it ranks the lowest of the four in this series, "Autumn" – sometimes referred to as "Autumn (Derpy Hooves)" – is probably the one that remains the most popular today. "I know a mare / She knows me too / The stunning Derpy Hooves / Or Ditzy Doo" remains a fairly widely recognised opening in the fandom.

It's a gently synthy track by Floridian Jackle App, once a huge name in the fandom but someone whose last Pony music seems to have been "Sweetiecut" from May 2012. This paean to Derpy was released when we were only four episodes into S2, so the controversy of Derpygate was still some way in the future. It's also the origin of the "Trot with me through the autumn leaves" chorus, which these days may be better known from The Living Tombstone's "Good ol' Days". If you want to hear "Autumn" in HQ – and surely you do – there's a $1 download on Jackle App's Bandcamp.

Next time, Sounds of 2011 will have another original track, and one which represented a significant early outing for one of the fandom's most enduring musicians.

Text Review Roundup: "School Raze"

Right, let's get this done, then it'll just be the holiday special before I can take a break from TRR for a bit! "School Raze" got a generally positive reaction with a few major dissenters, something that's pretty common for finales – the final episodes of seasons 5 and 6 also went a similar way. No Railfan Brony this time, as they've chosen to do a video review. That's balanced by TRR welcoming GuardianSoulMLP.

Cuddlepug – very negative (graded D; "Quite frankly, “School Raze” is a disaster [...] quite baffling how poorly written, illogical and nonsensical it all is. ")

Derpy News – mixed (graded B+; "This finale unfortunately ends up on the lower end in comparison to other season finales with only “To Where and Back Again” and “Best Night Ever” being below it.")

The Dragon Warlock – wildly positive (graded A+; "School Raze [...] manages to blow me away [...] Cozy may actually be the best villain the show has put out [...] I haven't felt this good about a finale in a long time")

DrakeyC – very negative ("the good - Neighsay [...] The bad, unfortunately, is everything else. [Cozy Glow] makes no sense at any point [...] a leaky mess of a story held together by two strips of duct tape and a lot of prayers")

GuardianSoulMLP – very positive ("HOLY CHEESECAKE ON A STICK!!! That was so epic!! :D")

JDPrime22 – positive (rated 9/10; "Cozy wants to take over [...] for no reason or real backstory at all. She's just evil because… evil. [...] Other than that, really good finale!")

Lightening McQueen – positive ("Very good. The story was cool [...] Cozy Glow used to be one of my favourite characters, but not anymore [... b]ut Neighsay has grown on me now")

Louder Yay – positive (rated 4/5; "I suspect that it might not age terribly well [but] I did like Cozy Glow as a villain [and Neighsay's] portrayal was interesting [...] It may not have been S8's best ep, but it was surely among its most watchable.")

Mega Sean 45 – positive ("I just love how manipulative Cozy turned out to be [...] We finally get to see Tartarus for the first time, and... it was pretty underwhelming. [...] So was this my favorite finale? I'm not sure, but it's up there")

MLEEP Reviews – extremely positive (rated 10/10; "the first season finale in a really long time to truly feel like a real season finale [...] intense and suspenseful story that keeps you engaged throughout")

ShutterflyEQD – positive ("The student 6 played a role like no other in this big finale.")

UK PonyCon 2018, Monday: One Last 'Spoons

Saying goodbye to Nottingham

I got plenty of sleep on Sunday night, since there was no need to get up early on Monday morning. I'd arranged with Hawthorn that we'd go to the 10am farewell breakfast that had been advertised at the Company Inn. You can guess who runs this pub, can't you? :P I finished tidying up my room and checking for anything I'd left behind, then said goodbye to it and went to check out. The staff member on the desk was excellent and apologised for Saturday night's noise even though it wasn't his fault.

I lugged my bags down to the lobby and looked up to see that Ialyrn and Bearpaw were coming down the stairs. I hadn't seen them much during the weekend as they'd been doing other things, so it was really nice to run into them now. A couple of minutes later Hawthorn appeared with his (much lighter) baggage and the four of us decided to set off for the pub together. Sadly this was another day of thin, cold rain, and although the walk only took 10-15 minutes it wasn't a pleasant stroll.

Derpy at Derby: Muffin Horse looks out at the rain-soaked platforms

The Company Inn is housed in an old canal warehouse, but inside it looks like most other 'Spoons, though a little roomier than some. There were several people there already, including Jowy – who was, as he tends to be, drawing! Sadly Daft Night and a couple of others weren't able to join us before catching their trains, but Alliminaro and BBQ did make it, as did Hawker Hurricane, who I hadn't met in person before. Being the unoriginal person I am, I ordered a straight-up fried brekky and coffee.

We chatted away about this and that for a while, and I even got to talk fanfic briefly, having an interesting little discussion with BBQ on the subject. I didn't really want to leave, as this was the last truly social con experience I was going to have this year, but as the clock ticked around to noon I felt I had to get a move on and catch my train. Alliminaro came with me and we found our way through the gloom (it was still raining) to the station where we parted company.

The Last Muffin (of con weekend)

My journey back to Birmingham was pretty uneventful, and I spent most of it listening to EileMonty tracks on my phone. I didn't see anyone else who'd been to the convention, or at least anyone else who cared to acknowledge the UKPC 2018 T-shirt I was now wearing. At New Street, I made sure the piano got a few bars of the Crab Rave tune, then headed for Muffin Break one last time. It was tempting to go for their regular apple and cinnamon flavour, but orange won me over.

I walked through the by now rather harder rain to Moor Street station, smiling slightly at the trams I saw, which probably made anyone who saw me think I was very, very odd. (They weren't wrong!) My bags were too bulky to allow me to do any real shopping, and combined with the weather and my much lighter wallet than on Friday I decided not to pick up any pony plushies at Tokyo Toys. Once again my train journey was smooth but uneventful, and I was home by late afternoon.

Britannia is not allowed to let you back into the building

And that was my UK PonyCon 2018. It felt odd to be going back to my own house, rather than to a hotel room, even though I'd only been away since Friday. I was tired, and the first signs of con crud were making their presence felt, so I did only minimal unpacking of my purchases that evening. Still, I felt satisfied. This had undoubtedly been a hugely enjoyable and successful convention overall, with a few small niggles not detracting from the overall experience. If I can make the 2019 con, I very much want to.

Next time: Merch Haul and Final Thoughts

Ponyfic Roundup 223: Con Crud Edition

Read it Later story count: 297 (-1)

The title is pretty self-explanatory this week! As you'll know if you've been reading my UK PonyCon posts, I had an excellent time at the convention. However, the eternal curse of these gatherings has struck me with a vengeance. Hopefully it will only last a few days, but for now it's tough going. Here are this week's three fics:

Living Forever... by Whateverdudezb
Pinkie's Secret Place by M_D_Quill
Be by OleGrayMane

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

UK PonyCon 2018, Sunday: Derpy Fever!

The pleasingly multi-gen banners (later auctioned) at Selfie Corner

Given my lack of sleep on Saturday night, I was relieved that I'd arranged with Hawthorn that breakfast on Sunday would be at 8am rather than 7:30 – the extra half-hour didn't make a huge difference, but it didn't do any harm. The reason was simply that we wouldn't need to wait to register on Sunday, so there wasn't any point in rushing to get there that early. We had another fry-up at the Joseph Else – sadly we saw no other con-goers there on either day – and tried to delay leaving as long as possible.

This was because the rain that had somehow held off for Saturday... hadn't today. The tram stop wasn't right outside the venue, and this was that unpleasant English rain that isn't very heavy but just goes on and on and on. I had one of those plasticky rain ponchos, and frankly I was glad of it. Having used up my Synthwave Fluttershy T-shirt the previous day, this time I was kitted out in Scootaloo colours. The venue cloakroom was even more welcome this time around!

Zen's OC and Ace's Sunburst "Loaf" plushies watch EileMonty's panel

Sunday is the shorter of the two UK PonyCon days, with no evening programme, and it also tends to have a more laid-back feel as most people have done the shopping they most wanted to do. Indeed, for the first hour or so I mostly just hung around with friends and chatted. At 10:30, I had a choice: StormBlaze's art panel, the mouthful of "10 Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Started Collecting MLP" or EileMonty's panel. They all looked interesting, but I plumped for the last.

Perhaps surprisingly given her outstanding performance on stage the previous night, EileMonty didn't spend the whole time fielding compliments! Instead, she gave some insights into the routine of a voice actor/singer, with some handy tips (drink lots of water!), some interesting info (did you know she's a Beano VA?) and some fun impressions too. The room was still rather too hot, so I was glad I'd taken in a bottle of water, having finally discovered a couple of unsignposted vending machines on the lower-ground floor.

The Griffish Isles flag is auctioned

I'd originally planned to stay in the same room for "MLP The Movie: Its Place in Literary History", but the heat was just too much. I did catch some of the panel, presented by a Dutch(?) person whose name I still don't know (put your name in your con book blurb, people!), but the layout of the cinema room made it easy to duck in and out without causing a disturbance so I also got in a little extra shopping and discovered a couple of new names. Also drank more water and totally forgot to look for a Sky Skimmer...

With the queues at the café again beyond what I considered sensible, I confined myself to a drink and a vending-machine chocolate bar for lunch. Then it was time for the day's big set piece: the Grand Charity Auction for long-time UKPC beneficiary the RDA. Last year's £260 top bid was comprehensively eclipsed by the £440 for a WeLoveFine flocked Derpy figure and many other lots went for plenty. The final total was a con record £4,674! We also got to see Midnight Dynasty presenting in a potato costume, though sadly this wasn't auctioned...

We all sang as "Crystal Princess", which was a cute touch

We were starting to sense by now that the end was nigh, though none of us wanted it to be (even if our wallets did!), which said something. While some did some last-minute shopping as many vendors cut prices, the rest of us headed to the karaoke room. This time I wasn't going to mess around with obscurities. What's the one song that's both well known and fits a multi-gen con? Right: "Call Upon the Sea Ponies". Suffice to say I made a much better job of this one than I had with the previous day's song!

I hung around there for a couple of hours – missing Mad Munchkin's panel, but I'd attended one of hers at a previous UKPC. Instead, I ended up meeting Alex and Kieran, people I'd only previously talked to online, so yay for that. I sang once more, making a decent go of "Flawless", which seemed to enjoy considerable popularity this year. No complaints from me there! In fact, the members of Team Custard are as we speak hard at work (*cough*) on a UKPC18-specific parody version ("We're Small Horses") which will make sense to about 12 people in the world. :P

An exciting alternative to pony stacking: Polo Pony!

The pre-closing ceremony singalong was introduced by accident in 2016 when technical hitches delayed things, but it's now an established and popular event. A couple of beachballs were chucked into the crowd for us to have fun with, though at one point things apparently got a bit too fun, with one ball going up over a side balcony, and we got a gentle telling off. We enjoyed singing lots of the classics, though I was mildly annoyed when my out-and-out favourite EqG song, "Shine Like Rainbows", was cut off halfway in favour of something bouncier. I mean, come on: "Together we stand / As the rain begins to fall" would have been perfect for Sunday's weather!

And then it was time for the end. Closing ceremonies are never exactly fun, though it was nice to be able to thank those who worked so hard to make UK PonyCon 2018 the roaring success it was. There were the usual prize awards and draw results, and as usual my raffle tickets won nothing at all. UKPC being what it is, we won't know for many months where the 2019 iteration will be held – if it's not tempting fate to assume there will be one! – not least because the committee need a darn good rest. So, reluctantly, it was time to leave.

Go home, Fluttershy, you're drunk

Once outside, Griffin and Oilyvalves (who knew Nottingham better than most of us) suggested Team Custard headed up to the Gooseberry Bush for a post-con meal. This was yet another Wetherspoons, but it did what was required in giving us plenty of food and space to have a nice chat. Far better than simply going back to a cold, empty hotel room! Sadly there wasn't space for a tabletop plushie parade (a happy memory of UKPC 2015) but after my oddly-named Ultimate Burger I did, finally, succumb to the temptation of custard with my apple crumble.

Somewhere around 9:30, Hawthorn and I bade our farewells and started back to the Travelodge. On foot; we didn't bother with a tram as it was dry by now, though there was time for one last look at the building that had until a scant few hours before been full of ponies and pony things and hundreds of happy, silly pony people. I still had my con badge around my neck, where it had hung since I got out of the shower that morning, and there was a real pang when I finally took it off after reaching my room. It was, sadly, nearly time to go home.

The ponies admire the glory that is custard

Next time: One Last 'Spoons

Episode review: S8E25/26: "School Raze"

The two faces of evil. And Chancellor Neighsay

Now then, here we go! At last we've reached the end of S8 (yeah, yeah, I know most of you reached it ages ago) and it's going to be interesting to see where things go. This finale was written jointly by Josh Haber and Nicole Dubuc, and it appears that Haber wrote the first episode while Dubuc handled the big finish. S8 has been an up-and-down affair, but I've liked the second half more, so could this finale keep that up?

UK PonyCon 2018, Saturday evening: Tears of Joy, Tears of Laughter

Buy VIP ticket, get evil villain badge. And G2 Silver Swirl – who was a quiz answer!

I had a date with the cinema room at 5:30pm to see, for the first time ever, the 1986 G1 movie on the big(gish) screen. I'd seen it at home so knew what to expect, but I was glad to get this opportunity – not something you'd have at a strictly brony-focused convention. I don't regret going, but it was a shame that a technical fault meant the film played noticeably too slowly, badly affecting "Nothing Can Stop the Smooze" and making the movie as a whole feel very slow-paced, even more so than it actually is.

It was well after 7pm by the time I got out of the film, and the Crystal Ball had begun. This was UK PonyCon's first real attempt at an evening concert. Steely Hooves was on stage at this point, accompanied by StormBlaze. They worked well as a duo, though sadly I only saw bits of their act. I was hungry, and for some bizarre reason there was no food on sale once the daytime café had closed. (This would get my vote for the 2018 iteration's most irritating feature; Bristol last year did better as its bar sold snacks and sandwiches.) The solution was a quick run to Tesco Express for some egg sandwiches, which I had to eat in the street owing to venue restrictions on outside food.

The Scootacanvas I bought from Jowy. The little easel came with her! :D

I was really keen to get back for 8pm, because the next act was EileMonty. I'd last seen her perform at BUCK 2013, but for various reasons had ended up elsewhere for most of her act. Five years on, I was getting an unexpected second chance. EileMonty did not disappoint, with a 13-song set that included both Pony and non-Pony tracks. We got the likes of "The Moon Rises", "Dark Horse", "The Magic Inside"... and, wonder of wonders, "I am Octavia", which I'd missed in 2013 and been kicking myself over ever since. I had found my way up to the balcony, where crowd noise was lower. It was an enormous thrill to be there for this, and I'll admit to shedding a few tears.

It would have been nice to hang around for PrinceWhateverer and BassPon3, but the Pub Quiz was calling. Team Custard represent! As usual, ultimate Derpy fan Archer was asking the questions and as usual we made a mess of many of the old-gen ones, though we ended up with a worryingly impressive (by our standards) 32 points out of 90. I'd managed to remember to buy a Galaxy bar earlier on, but in the heat of the con venue it had melted to such an extent that it was basically a drink by this point! Never mind: the whole thing was immense fun.

EileMonty performing under the stars. With a roof intervening, thankfully

After the quiz, those of us who didn't have trains to catch hung around for the Saturday finale: the Cartoon Riff. In this UKPC staple, Waterfire presents a bunch of weird and/or terrible cartoons she's collected since the previous con, and there were a couple of highlights this time. One was an anime with hilariously clunky Toblerone product placement... and the other was Crab Rave. Yeah, yeah, I know it's a popular meme – but we did it properly. Lights off, bass up, glowsticks waving. It was glorious. This is where the tears of laughter come in!

We got our coats from the cloakroom and spilled out into the street. As it was 11pm by now, few of us went on anywhere. I went straight back to the hotel and did the minimum of preparation, then sank into bed hoping for a good night's sleep... which I didn't get. There was the most almighty racket from the street below until past 4am, worse than any other city centre I've stayed in, and it was only when sirens were heard (not that kind) that I finally grabbed a couple of hours of shut-eye. Not the ideal preparation for Sunday, it has to be said.

The Crab Rave in full swing. Amazingly, the Noise Control Officers didn't come round

Next time: Derpy Fever!

UK PonyCon 2018, Saturday daytime: A Taste of the High Life

This year's con exclusive: a 3D printed figure of UKPC mascot Britannia

For once on a pre-con Friday night I got a reasonable amount of sleep, so getting up in time to meet Hawthorn for breakfast at 7:30 the next morning wasn't too bad. In any case, he'd arrived on a late-night Megabus, so if anyone had the right to be exhausted it was him. As the hotel restaurant didn't open until 8:00, we made our way to the Joseph Else, another 'Spoons. This was named after a local sculptor, but more importantly it did me a 1,500+ kcal breakfast and coffee while we chatted.

This pub is about ten yards from a tram stop, and this was exciting because I'd never been to a convention by tram before. (I'd had the chance for BUCK in Manchester years ago, but hadn't taken it.) Nottingham's tram network is better than Birmingham's and just a few minutes later we were making our way to the inevitable QueueCon, where I gave a wave to Griffin and BBQ/StewArt and got a hug from fursuiting con mascot Britannia. It was still blowing a gale, but otherwise the weather wasn't too bad and nobody got wet while waiting for the doors to open.

Among the first to sign the Griffish Isles flag, later auctioned for £95

For the first and quite possibly last time, I didn't have to join the regular queue, but could instead go to the VIP line on account of, well, my VIP-tier ticket. These sold out in twenty-six minutes this year, so we're talking Glastonbury levels of demand. Sort of. Moody Magpie was the only person I could find who I knew at all, so we chatted vaguely until, at 9:00 the doors opened. One of the VIP perks was being let in half an hour early. The bag check was quick – top tip: tote bags are much faster to get okayed than rucksacks with 267 pockets – and so was registration. I was in!

UK PonyCon has doubled in size in the five years I've been attending, but an endearingly homespun feel still holds on around the edges: I wrote in my own name on my con badge in biro. I also got a goodie bag: T-shirt voucher, tote bag, exclusive art print and VIP lanyard. Time to head for the vendor hall and have the first pick of the merch! Here I picked up a lovely little canvas painting of Scootaloo from Jowy's stand and some equally adorable Fluttershy-themed Christmas cards from EileMonty's. Both really nice people, I'm happy to say.

BBQ's glorious picture of Team Custard in the con book

By this time other members of Team Custard were filtering into the venue, and (as I had) discovering with surprise the fantastic cartoon of our various OCs drawn by BBQ and now appearing in the con book. There was an A4 print of it for each of us as well, which was really generous. The usual desultory early-morning singalong (because few people were inside yet!) was followed by an opening ceremony which was fine, but about which I remember pretty much nothing beyond the theme (Crystals). Sorry!

At 11:00, most of us filed into an upstairs side room for Idris's "Joining Things" panel. Not about clubs and meets, but instead literally about joining things for cosplays etc. Bolts, screws, buckles and the like, all passed around for us to have a peer at. If you've ever been to an Idris panel, you'll know that his laid-back likeability makes it feel like a relaxed chat with a mate, and so ideal to ease ourselves into the con. Idris said afterwards that he thought "Wonderbolts and Glue" might have been a good title! :D

The cosplay contest; we were in the basement, natch

There was a bit of a lull around lunchtime, so being the strange person I am, I grabbed some food – though given that breakfast, I bought only sweets and a muffin. One of the few irritations at UKPC this year was the café: the range was decent and cheap, and the staff were friendly, but one "catering pod" was insufficient for the attendance and queues sometimes got silly. We ended up going to the Roebuck for lunch, though I only had a cider. On a happier note, the water cooler and drinking fountains were extremely welcome as it was unseasonably warm and this was reflected inside.

The cosplay contest was pretty much compulsory to attend, though I must admit I rarely find them that interesting, preferring to see people's costumes as they wander more naturally around the con. A special note here for con treasurer Guiding Breeze, who had made a superb "Coinky-Dink World" dress. They're not comfortable with photos, so didn't enter the contest and you'll have to take my word for this, but it was outstanding. I thought about going to the G1 Show Discussion panel, but didn't get round to it in time. Never mind: simply chatting to other pony people was good enough.

Looking down on just a few of the ~50 stalls

My Little Karaoke is always a highlight of UK PonyCon for me, so it was off there next. I went out on a limb and chose Phileo's rather unjustly forgotten "The Way She Flies" and... well, let's just say there's a reason I'm not a professional rock singer. I wasn't awful, but MLK's volume was set so low I could barely hear it and so I got out of sync with the beat at times. I'm glad I gave it a go, but I don't think I'll be choosing that song at future cons. After an hour or so enjoying others' singing, I left and headed for the cinema room. You'll have to wait to find out why...

Next time: Tears of Joy, Tears of Laughter

Con crud strikes

Hardly news. It comes to us all (well, most of us) and it's come to me. As such, I'm not posting anything except this today. I hope to have the next part of my UK PonyCon retrospective up tomorrow, and then I'll see how I feel. As for my S8 finale review, I've decided it will go up this coming Monday. That gives me a few days to recover and also fits in with my usual day for posting such things.

UK PonyCon 2018, Friday: Muffins with Muffins

A question I would ask myself repeatedly

Bright and sunlit were the skies as I ventured forth from home and—no, actually they weren't. It was raining. This would become something of a running theme. Still, I was off to UK PonyCon, and for that I can put up with some damp even when carrying two heavyish bags. (Because I am useless at travelling light.) I was going by train as usual, and the trip was pretty uneventful, which suited me. I managed to get in a quick one-finger "Babs Seed" on the New Street station piano, and ate the compulsory Big Mac, but that was about the height of the excitement.

More fun was that, from Birmingham onwards, I had company in the shape of CuldeeFell, who thinks that Fluttershy is best pony and occasionally comes to the Worcester meets, both unerring signs of quality. (CrossCountry also provided us with a train with room to sit down for a change...) We spent the time having a sometimes quite in-depth chat about MLP's past, present and future; written down here in black and white it seems sad that we felt it might be for the best if G4 did end next year, but it didn't feel that way on the train.

The truly stunning view from my hotel room

We arrived in Nottingham just before 3pm and set off for our respective hotels, though I stayed a few moments to give a quick rendition of "Winter Wrap Up" on that station's piano. It was a very windy day, but thankfully not (quite) raining, so lugging my bags for ten minutes wasn't too much of a trial. Check-in was quick and painless, as it usually is with Travelodge, and I was allotted a corner room on the third floor. As a result, it was noticeably larger than the chain's usual standard, which was nice.

I'd been wearing my UK PonyCon 2017 shirt on the way, but I now changed into my Derpy shirt for something I'd really wanted to do since I discovered it would be possible: I walked a short way to the 200 Degrees coffee shop in Flying Horse Walk (named after a former pub). It was really crowded, but I just about found a place to perch and had a cappuccino and a very nice lemon curd muffin. So there I was, wearing a Derpy shirt, eating a muffin, in Flying Horse Walk. There must be worse starts to pony conventions!

Forbidden Planet's idea of going all-out for the convention market

After nipping into Poundland to get some mints for my annoying cough, I went back to the hotel before going to the Roebuck, a Wetherspoon pub about three minutes from where I was staying and therefore very convenient, to meet up with some friends and (gasp!) talk about ponies. I won't try to name-check everyone here as I'm bound to miss someone out, but during the five hours or so I was there I think I talked to about ten other people. I ate fish and chips and drank the weekend's first cider, followed by a very chocolatey brownie with ice cream.

I walked back to the hotel at a bit after 11pm, and though quite lively (there'd been an away England football match) it wasn't too bad, at least on my side of Nottingham. I forced myself to spend a few minutes getting stuff ready for the morrow, such as my "Friendship Squad" tote bag (this design, but pink and plasticised). By this time I was knackered. And so to bed and dreams of pony conventions, as Samuel Pepys would doubtless have written had he been a brony. And 350 years younger.

A terrible mix-up meant the Phil ended up in the concert hall next door

Sounds of 2011, no. 95: "Cerulean Blue"

No Ponyfic Roundup this week, thanks to UK PonyCon last weekend, and for the same reason my S8 finale review will be a few days yet – so have this instead.

95: Replacer – Cerulean Blue

Well, how about that? We've reached our first original song! I'm sure that the only reason this track by New Zealand musician Replacer charted so low in Everfree Radio's Top 100 for 2011 was that it wasn't released until early December of that year. It's certainly a song that's stood the test of time, being instantly recognisable from the pulsing piano chords that open the track. From there, we get a fast-paced celebration of early-series Rainbow Dash, but also a nagging worry that she's not quite fulfilling her potential.

For such an old song, the production values on "Cerulean Blue" are pretty high, perhaps one reason it's retained its popularity; the simple yet striking image on the video can't have hurt, either. A few of the drum sounds are a bit tinny, but Replacer's own vocals stand out quite well. There's also some nice variety, with a short guitar solo around halfway through and a great big Blur-style section nearer the end. "Rainbow Dash is best pony when the world seems Everfree" is a clever lyric – if not one this Fluttershy fan entirely agrees with!

Replacer – who styles himself replacer (all lower-case) – is a musician who remains active in the fandom to this day, having released a new post-apocalyptic surf-rock track (yes, really), "Still No Words", in September. If you're interested in getting hold of "Cerulean Blue" in better-than-YouTube quality, you'll need to look in the video description, where there are Mediafire links for both MP3 and WAV versions, plus instrumental, a capella and stem files. Although Replacer does have a Bandcamp, this track is not available there.

Next time on Sounds of 2011: another original song, and again one that's still quite well-known.

Back from British Personal Small Horse Convention

Yes, UK PonyCon is over for another year. It was a wonderful experience, full of... well, friendship and magic. I can't see the future, but if UKPC happens in 2019 and I can get to it again, I'm there.

There will be my trademark rambly posts about my UK PonyCon experience in the near future, but I'm much too tired for now; I haven't even fully unpacked the things I bought yet.

Suffice it to say that this was the happiest convention weekend I've ever had.

Sounds of 2011, no. 96: "For the New Lunar Republic (Thorinair Mix)"

I'm currently away at UK PonyCon, so this is a scheduled post.

96: Thorinair – For the New Lunar Republic (Thorinair Mix)

Last time on Sounds of 2011 we had four remixes. This time? Just the one! "For the New Lunar Republic" is one of the more enduring of early-fandom tunes, and we'll be meeting the original by Not a Clever Pony down the line. What we have here is a version by Thorinair that turns the song into a swoopy, swishy trance track. (Yes, those are technical musical terms.) It perhaps feels a little too long at over seven and a half minutes, but otherwise it's great as background music.

It's been a long time since this homage to the Princess of the Night, but Croatian musician Thorinair is another still active in the fandom as of 2018: his Twilight-themed "From That Very First Day" was uploaded to YouTube this January, and you can hear him on the Glory of the Night show on Ponyville FM. Should you wish to get his "FtNLR" remix in higher quality than YouTube can offer, there are Mediafire links in the video description, or it can be purchased for $1 on Thorinair's Bandcamp.

Join me again next time, when Sounds of 2011 will be featuring... an original track! (Gasp! —Ed.) Yes, that's right: no. 95 in the chart is not a remix. You'll have to wait a little while longer to find out just what it is, though. Well, unless you know already. But don't spoil it for the others if you do, eh? Thanks. :)

Sounds of 2011, nos. 100 to 97: four from Eurobeat Brony

I'm currently away at UK PonyCon, so this is a scheduled post.

100: Eurobeat Brony – Giggle at the Ghostie [ParaParaSprite Remix]

99: Eurobeat Brony – Winter Wrap Up [Euro Spring Mix]

98: Eurobeat Brony – Evil Enchantress [Euro Spell Mix]

97: Eurobeat Brony – My Little Pony Theme (Europener Mix)

Earlier this month, I mentioned here that I felt like doing a look at the songs that made the Everfree Radio Top 100 back in 2011. Although on many occasions I'll be sticking to just one song per post, I'm starting with a multipack. That's because entries 100 through 97 in the chart were all written by the same person. It's someone who remains well-known to this day and indeed performed at BronyCon 2018: Eurobeat Brony, aka Odyssey Eurobeat.

These are very early tracks, so there are a few rough edges that got smoothed off later on, as well as a slightly less impressive production quality overall. Nevertheless, the distinctive Eurobeat Brony sound is very much present and correct. Of the four, I think the "Winter Wrap Up" one may be my favourite, though it's impressive how a little ditty like "Evil Enchantress" can be remixed into a full song.

All four of these tracks can be found on the classic album Super Ponybeat Vol. 1, which was released on 26 March 2011 and remains available on a name-your-price basis on Odyssey's Bandcamp. (It's also cc-by 3.0 licensed, fact fans, so you can do pretty much what you like with it subject to appropriate attribution.) You will probably not be surprised to learn that we shall be encountering this musician again during the course of this countdown feature!

Not for a little while yet, though. Next time on Sounds of 2011, I'll be looking at... well, actually it's another remix. But it's by a different artist!

Text Review Roundup: "Father Knows Beast"

This will be the final post made while I'm actually here, before I leave for UK PonyCon tomorrow morning. I've decided to fill the gap by beginning my "Sounds of 2011" series looking at the songs that made the Everfree Radio Top 100 that year. As such, there'll be a couple of scheduled posts while I'm away. I'm not sure when I'll be back to regular posting, but we'll see. Right now, though, it's time for TRR.

"Father Knows Beast" got a pretty positive reception from the text-based reviewers. It's hard to tell with JDPrime, who seems to have a games magazine approach to review scores, but with one exception the others were all at least broadly positive about the episode. The outlier was DrakeyC, who absolutely hated it.

Cuddlepug – mostly positive (graded B+; "we are left wondering who Spike's real parents are and why his egg was abandoned [but the ep is] a success on the whole [...] positive message this creates about the adaptable nature of family")

Derpy News – positive (graded A-; "a much better episode than “Dragon Quest” and one of the main reasons is Smolder")

The Dragon Warlock – generally positive (graded B; "a good premise [...] Sludge [...] is an enjoyable villain [but] I think we all deserve a proper explanation about why Spike ended up in Equestria")

DrakeyC – extremely negative ("THAT line left me fuming with rage [...] this is a shitty episode [...] a repeat of Dragon Quest where the villain is slimier, the heroes dumber, and the pathos recycled")

JDPrime22 – mixed (rated 8/10; " So much potential for this episode... and it was kind of wasted... but then again... not really.")

Lightening McQueen – very positive ("it may be kind of similar to Dragon Quest, but I still liked it [...] Smolder was also great in this episode")

Louder Yay – mildly positive (rated 3/5; "has Twilight really never thought to ask Celestia where [Spike's egg] came from? [Still,] Spike's interactions with Smolder were really good")

Mega Sean 45 – positive ("The episode I've been waiting for... or so I thought. [...] Smolder [...] was amazing [but] this episode just followed the same moral as Dragon Quest")

MLEEP Reviews – positive (rated 9/10; "the 'liar revealed' plotline [was] used again [but] there was so much new information about dragon culture and heart between the characters")

The Railfan Brony – broadly positive (rated Good; "a good, enjoyable episode in the end and the lesson Spike learned was a useful one for kids to learn [but] the series might be creatively stagnant")

ShutterflyEQD – positive ("It's safe to say that Sludge's moments were just more reasons to hate him. Even his song was not really anything too interesting. [However,] Smolder's pointers were perfect [and t]he Spike and Twilight moments were also very sweet and tender.")

Ponyfic Roundup 222: The Hooded Fang

Title explanation: Mordechai Richler children's book

Read it Later story count: 298 (nc)

Thanks to one story I was going to review being deleted before I got here, together with me being pretty much out of commission for a couple of days with a horrible cold, I have only four fics on the reviewing table today rather than the five I was hoping for. Oh well, still better than some weeks of PR! Without further ado, here's today's quartet:

Chuckling Over my Cheery-O's by chrumsum
I Didn't Sign Up For This by Cillerenda
The Royal Proposal by Everyday
Dance by Martian

★: 0 | ★★: 2 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.

Episode review: S8E24: "Father Knows Beast"

"Books! The answer is always books! Spike's real dad? A book!"

I have a rather nasty cold at the moment, so this is going to be another of my rather short reviews. Oh well, better to have the cold now than during a convention weekend. Maybe it's a sort of pre-emptive con crud! Back on-topic, the last Josh Haber episode was the fantastically fun "On the Road to Friendship", so I was hoping for something of a similar standard from "Father Knows Beast". In the event...

Episode review will be on Tuesday this coming week

I've been out for most of the weekend and I'm very tired, so my review of episode 24 has been pushed back a day and will now appear on Tuesday. Thanks to UK PonyCon being next weekend, the S8 finale review will also be a bit late, though right now I'm not going to commit to a specific date.

Hiatus plans: Back to 2011!

I've been wondering what to do on this blog during the S8/S9 hiatus, and I think I have the answer. A while back, somewhere in the dark and nasty regions where nobody goes – ie DeviantArt – I discovered a zip archive containing all the tracks that made Everfree Radio's Top 100 for that year. I wish I could remember exactly where on DeviantArt I found it, but oh well.

Anyway, I plan to count down from 100 to 1 on that and write a little something about each track. And, when I can, point to where you can get them.* That might be tricky in some cases: while some of the songs are classics to this day (for example, "Nightmare Night" and "Flutterwonder"), others have been hit hard by the ravages of time and are now very hard or impossible to find online.

Still, that will make it a fun adventure! (At least, I hope so.) I'll continue with this blog's usual ramblings as well, so consider this countdown something to fill in the gaps on days when I'm not posting Ponyfic Roundup or the like. Since I wasn't in the fandom until 2012, I'm really looking forward to discovering some of the music that was popular before my time!

* Note: I won't be uploading anything myself. If they really have disappeared entirely from the web, then I'll respect their creators' wishes.

UK PonyCon questionnaire thingy, 2018 edition!

I did one of these last year, so I thought I might as well do one again. I've made one or two slight tweaks, but the basic format is very similar. So...

What do I call you? Logan. Everyone else does. I mean, I don't mind the full "Loganberry", but Logan is the easiest option all round.

What will you look like? Even older than I did last year. :D I'll have a pony shirt of some description, probably Fluttershy on Saturday morning. I always wear glasses. I never wear jeans. For some ludicrous reason I bought a VIP ticket this year, so inside the con venue I'll have a VIP lanyard.

Who will you be with? A bunch of like-minded silly pony people. Some of whom will have plushies, in all probability. Other than that, whoever can stand me!

What will you be doing? Ponying. But specifically: there'll be music involved somewhere, whether karaoke or Crystal Ball or both. I'd like to do at least a little non-G4 stuff. Naturally I'll be attending the Charity Auction. I don't play the CCG, so I won't be doing that.

Can I talk to you? Of course you can! I mean, don't go on about exactly the same thing every time you speak to me and please don't fill up my precious pony weekend with hours of chat about non-pony stuff. I like cricket and trains and weather and so on, but for the most part those subjects can wait. But otherwise, by all means say hi!

What can I talk to you about? I'm not desperately fussy, and I'm happy to talk both FiM and EqG stuff, or even other gens to the limited extent I know them – but I would be delighted if anyone wanted to talk ponyfic. It's my favourite part of the creative fandom, so if you get me started on the subject, you may have trouble stopping me!

Can I take your photo? Not sure why you'd want to given that I don't cosplay. But as long as you ask first, I'm unlikely to object. If you've taken a photo/video and I'm in it only incidentally (eg in the audience) then there's no need to ask. If you take a video of me doing karaoke, though, please let me see a copy afterwards!

Can I hug you? If you really want to, then I don't see why not. Please do ask first, though, in case I'm carrying something breakable.

Can I buy you food or drink? If you must! I really don't expect anyone to buy me muffins or cider, though.

How long are you staying? Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, so the whole convention with a little bit either side.

Where are you staying? Travelodge Nottingham Central. Convenient and fairly cheap.

How are you travelling? By train, on Friday. I'll wear the UKPC 2017 T-shirt on the journey, so feel free to say hello if you see me around – I'll be at Birmingham New Street station at lunchtime, and I aim to reach Nottingham a little after 3pm.

Favourite characters? Fluttershy, Scootaloo, Celestia, Silverstream, Starlight, Derpy.

Anything else I should know? Yes. If you find out what it is, please tell me.

Them's Writin' Words

A few months ago, Scribbler uploaded the first edition of a new podcast, Them's Writin' Words, to her YouTube channel. In this, she was joined by Goombasa, Neighrator Pony, Thornquill and Luna Farrowes to discuss billymorph's fic A World Without Kindness. They went into a lot of detail, enough that this 17k-word story was discussed for well over an hour – and, unlike in many long podcasts, this didn't mean 2% discussion and 98% pub banter. Also, because these are high quality readers, you can actually hear what they're saying.

I must admit that I didn't listen to the entire podcast: while I have read A World Without Kindness (PR 54), I neither loved it nor hated it enough to want to listen to over 100 minutes of discussion of it. However, earlier this month, Scribbler released episode 2 of the podcast, and I thought I'd listen to it right through. Same cast, but minus Luna Farrowes. The subject this time was TheGreyPotter's Body of Work, which I knew nothing about, so I wanted to see whether the podcast could hold my attention.

And yes. Yes, it could. It helped that the reviewers didn't all have the same opinion: Scribbler didn't really like it, and she wasn't shy about saying so. As I mentioned above, once again the banter didn't overwhelm the actual discussion. Nor was it full of swearing: unsurprisingly Scribbler's language in particular wasn't entirely TV-Y but it was hardly unreasonable for a podcast like this. I'm not sure I personally want to listen to an hour-plus of talk about a single story very often, but for those who do want that level of detail, I think the series could fill a niche nicely.

Text Review Roundup: "Sounds of Silence"

Time for some kirin-tinged opinions of episode 23. This episode got a pretty good reception, though few reviewers got quite as obsessive about the kirin as Seth over on Equestria Daily. (If anyone ever creates a kirin/batpony hybrid, I fear he may actually explode.) Cuddlepug is back this week, and there's a clear split this time between reviewers who loved the ep and those who were underwhelmed. Nobody hated it, at least.

Cuddlepug – very positive (graded A; "a fantastic return to form in terms of providing audiences with an episode that puts the 'magic' back [...] a triumphant episode that oozes with charm")

Derpy News – extremely positive (graded A+; "The show went back to some of the basics with this episode and it paid off magnificently [...] a great lesson")

The Dragon Warlock – mixed (graded C; "I do love the world building, the song is great, and Autumn Blaze is a good new character, but the pacing, characterization issues (mostly Fluttershy), and the weak story [drag it down]")

DrakeyC – mixed ("Autumn Blaze is a great character [but] I knew this was a celebrity guest voice [...] The concept of the Kirin was very creative and interesting, and the Kirin had great designs. But the execution was lacking.")

JDPrime22 – very positive (rated 9/10; "just a fun ol' episode. The song, especially, is one of the best of the season.")

Lightening McQueen – very positive ("Autumn Blaze [was] such an amazing character; Rachel Bloom is just perfect for her voice")

Louder Yay – very positive (rated 4/5; "[Autumn Blaze] was a fun character [and though it felt] more like an AJ-with-Flutters episode than a true double act [...] snappy dialogue [meant it] continued late S8's strong run of episodes.")

Mega Sean 45 – positive ("We have a new writer here, and he's already nailing this! [... The kirin] were cute [but] that old man with the end of the line part [...] wasn't even that funny.")

MLEEP Reviews – generally positive (rated 8/10; "despite having a weak story, 'Sounds Of Silence' [was a] pretty decent episode full of beautiful animation and plenty of laughs")

The Railfan Brony – mixed (rated Okay; "Autumn Blaze was... fine, I suppose [...] the plot is very thin on the ground [though] the characters and theme do their best to make up for that")

ShutterflyEQD – positive ("These friendship quests are moderately predictable [but the silent kirin were] very adorable[, and Autumn Blaze's design is] just over the top beautiful)