Today we're returning to Everfree Radio's Top 100 tracks of 2013, as voted for by fans at the time. The usual reminder of the criteria I use to decide whether a track is featured:
Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the 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
Here are this week's five songs. Again, there are no skips this week!
29: Sherclop Pones – It'll Be OK
28: The Living Tombstone – Rainbow Factory (remix)
27: FIMFlamPhilosophy – Sinking Ships
26: Awkward Marina – Sombra's Door
25: Coconeru and Steven, A.D. – Tavi and Scratch (A Tropical Octav3)
After the break, we'll get right on with the YouTube embeds and semi-random wibblings that you surely expect from me by now.
Monday 31 August 2020
Saturday 29 August 2020
My Little Repeats 52: "A Canterlot Wedding, part 2"
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| This was really quite shocking the first time I saw it |
Written by Meghan McCarthy
21 Apr 2012
My original rating: N/A
IMDb score: 9.3
The one with the mine cart ride
Thoughts: This was the first time the season finale was broadcast all in one go, meaning that the cliffhanger from part 1 was resolved almost immediately. A slight shame if you ask me. Still, what an episode this is, and what a ride. We have Chrysalis, in my view the best villain the show ever had, and one we now know never got reformed. Quite brave really to have someone who's effectively a succubus in a kids' show. Her reveal scene is breathtaking, and I really like her voice here – the distortion was sadly removed at Hasbro's behest for later episodes. We get our first real fight scene, something that was a huge talking point in 2012. We get "This Day Aria", one of the finest songs of its kind in any cartoon, up there with many of Disney's. The Elements of Harmony are a diversion this time and don't actually matter in the end, which I didn't see coming. Yes, the love-drenched resolution is a bit silly and a bit sappy, and Twilight's laser spell became overused later in the series, but right now I don't really care. Plus we get custom end credits music, with a reprise of the theme from "The Return of Harmony". I always liked it when they did that, and it's a real shame Hasbro vetoed its return for the S9 epilogue. Still, this episode is a triumph. It's exciting, it's moving and it's supremely watchable. It's also, as you'll long since have realised, another five-star episode.
Choice quote: Pinkie Pie: "Meh. I've seen better."
New rating: ★★★★★
Next, I'll make a post looking back at my S2 rewatches and reflecting on what I've seen, along the lines of the one I did for S1.
Friday 28 August 2020
Fluttershy says hello
Those of you on UK of Equestria may already have seen this photo, but I'm posting it here as well. Why? Because I've been lazy and haven't got my rewatch review of S2E26 done in time. So here's some Pony content of a sort. The other day I had a quick trip to Worcester and took Flutters along with me for company. Here she is by the River Severn, with Worcester Cathedral at top left.
You'll note that this is Rainbow Power (remember that?) Fluttershy. From memory, I think she was in one of those odd three-packs of blind bag figures, along with some unlikely combination along the lines of Derpy and Thunderlane. Those two are probably in a box somewhere, but I do take a travel 'Shy quite often. I even managed not to lose her on the train! :P
Wednesday 26 August 2020
Ponyfic Roundup 309
Read it Later story count: 193 (nc)
I met two friends, both fandom members, last Thursday. Separately, and one meeting was only for a few minutes as they were working, but it was the first time I'd seen any friends in the flesh for more than five months. It actually felt quite odd, though in a very pleasant way. Anyway, three more stories for me to look at today, which are:
Scald by Casca
Wasting Time by Pascoite
Sketchwork by Casketbase77
★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.
I met two friends, both fandom members, last Thursday. Separately, and one meeting was only for a few minutes as they were working, but it was the first time I'd seen any friends in the flesh for more than five months. It actually felt quite odd, though in a very pleasant way. Anyway, three more stories for me to look at today, which are:
Scald by Casca
Wasting Time by Pascoite
Sketchwork by Casketbase77
★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.
Tuesday 25 August 2020
My Little Repeats 51: "A Canterlot Wedding, part 1"
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| "Anyone, and I mean anyone, who quotes Friendship is Witchcraft at me is going to regret it." |
Written by Meghan McCarthy
21 Apr 2012
My original rating: N/A
IMDb score: 9.0
The one with Pinkie sneezing confetti
Thoughts: This was my first watched-as-aired episode after joining the fandom, and I remember plenty of people whinging that a wedding episode meant a reversion to G3-ness – especially since a Miss America was co-hosting The Hub's coverage. Didn't work out quite like that! Anyway, this is where the break was finally and decisively made with Lauren Faust's plans, with the appearance of a third alicorn in Cadance. Strange now to think how controversial that was in the fandom at the time. Twi's "Oh yeah, I have a brother" bit was mild by comparison, as was the continuing diminution of the sonic rainboom's specialness. I loved this ep, though, especially the way Twilight's belief in Cadance's evilness – which turns out to be right, but for the wrong reasons – leads to her being shunned by her brother, and her best friends, and Princess Celestia. Watch Twi's face after "You have a lot to think about" and you can see her heart breaking. There are so many great touches here: Spike's brony act with the cake figurines, the talking sandwich spell, the introduction of "Twily", the "ladybugs awake" cuteness, Shining Armor and "Cadance" having their muttered argument, you name it. Lyra even got her first speaking line – that was quite a big deal in the fandom at the time. Add to that an excellent cliffhanger, with Twilight not only in great peril but seemingly without anyone left on her side to help her, and part two couldn't come soon enough for most of us. This episode isn't perfect, but you can't take your eyes off it – and it still works wonderfully even though we know what's coming next. I still love this ep. If there's such a thing as a low-end five, this is it.
Choice quote: Applejack: "Why the long face, sugar cube?" Yep, they went there...
New rating: ★★★★★
Next up is "A Canterlot Wedding, part 2, startling as this may seem. I remember adoring it. Will I adore it again? Join me, some time or other, probably same channel.
Sunday 23 August 2020
Sounds of 2013, Nos. 34 to 30
Off we go again! Remember, these tracks come from Everfree Radio's Top 100 tracks of 2013, as voted for by fans at the time. I don't include everything, as to get in a track will have to satisfy at least one of the following criteria:
Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the 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
Five more songs this week, and happily enough there are no skips! :D
34: SlyphStorm ft. Amadhia Dreamsong – SoulSinger
33: TAPS ft. Feather – Sound Barrier
32: TwentyTen – Moving On
31: PrinceWhateverer ft. P1K, Scrambles and ISMBOF – Not Letting Go
30: Sim Gretina – A True True Friend (remix)
I expect you know this by now, but just in case: you'll get YouTube embeds and some waffle from me after the break.
Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the 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
Five more songs this week, and happily enough there are no skips! :D
34: SlyphStorm ft. Amadhia Dreamsong – SoulSinger
33: TAPS ft. Feather – Sound Barrier
32: TwentyTen – Moving On
31: PrinceWhateverer ft. P1K, Scrambles and ISMBOF – Not Letting Go
30: Sim Gretina – A True True Friend (remix)
I expect you know this by now, but just in case: you'll get YouTube embeds and some waffle from me after the break.
Friday 21 August 2020
Reviews of longer fics will return soon! I hope...
I've had a couple of queries recently about when/whether I might get back to reviewing longer fics, perhaps returning to doing the odd Spotlight post. This does remain on the agenda, and now life in the UK is a bit (a bit) less stressful than it was earlier in the year it may actually happen. Time to give you a sneak preview.
So, here are the next ten 30k-plus-word fics that I hope (no more than that) to feature in Ponyfic Roundup over the next mumble mumble period of time. They're listed in alphabetical order, though it's most unlikely I will read them all in that order. Their word counts are in brackets after the author name:
Contraptionology! by Skywriter (134k)
Drifting Down the Lazy River by Georg (99k)
Fluttershy's Bad "Hare" Day by Pegasus Rescue Brigade (59k)
Friendship is Optimal: Always Say No by Defoloce (109k)
Nine Days Down by JoeShogun (144k)
Oversaturation by FanOfMostEverything (37k)
Romance Reports by SleeplessBrony (185k)
Synchronicity by Sev (86k)
Twilight Sparkle of the Royal Guard by King of Beggars (80k)
A White Mare by RandomBlank (39k)
I do not guarantee that I'll get to your personal favourite, or indeed any of these fics, any time soon. I do not guarantee that I won't just throw my hooves in the air and continue to review 2k-word one-shots for the rest of time. I do not guarantee anything much. But hay, it could happen. Only onThe Hub Ponyfic Roundup.
So, here are the next ten 30k-plus-word fics that I hope (no more than that) to feature in Ponyfic Roundup over the next mumble mumble period of time. They're listed in alphabetical order, though it's most unlikely I will read them all in that order. Their word counts are in brackets after the author name:
Contraptionology! by Skywriter (134k)
Drifting Down the Lazy River by Georg (99k)
Fluttershy's Bad "Hare" Day by Pegasus Rescue Brigade (59k)
Friendship is Optimal: Always Say No by Defoloce (109k)
Nine Days Down by JoeShogun (144k)
Oversaturation by FanOfMostEverything (37k)
Romance Reports by SleeplessBrony (185k)
Synchronicity by Sev (86k)
Twilight Sparkle of the Royal Guard by King of Beggars (80k)
A White Mare by RandomBlank (39k)
I do not guarantee that I'll get to your personal favourite, or indeed any of these fics, any time soon. I do not guarantee that I won't just throw my hooves in the air and continue to review 2k-word one-shots for the rest of time. I do not guarantee anything much. But hay, it could happen. Only on
Wednesday 19 August 2020
Ponyfic Roundup 308
Read it Later story count: 193 (-4)
Nothing much to report today, so I'll get straight on with the list of fics. Three again this week, and they are:
Symphonies Rock by Soap Box
Daring Do Bakes a Cake by Lucky Dreams
Anxiety by Bad_Seed_72
★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.
Nothing much to report today, so I'll get straight on with the list of fics. Three again this week, and they are:
Symphonies Rock by Soap Box
Daring Do Bakes a Cake by Lucky Dreams
Anxiety by Bad_Seed_72
★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.
Tuesday 18 August 2020
A straw in the wind?
I notice that NordicFuzzCon 2021, a Swedish furry convention scheduled for next February, will not take place as planned. Although this isn't a Pony convention, it is the first one I've personally noticed in a reasonably similar fandom to be called off that was scheduled for next year. The organisers say in the linked announcement that they are keeping their options open as to what to do, since "[t]he world is too unpredictable for us to be able to make any promises or to give any dates at this time".
This suggests to me that right now, in August, time is already running short for cons in the early months of next year. I suspect some organisers are already deep into negotiations with venues about postponements. I wish I could be more optimistic about this, but I suspect that the resumption of large fandom gatherings may well be further off than any of us would like to think. (I think some kind of MLP con did happen in China recently, but I'm essentially talking about Europe and North America here.)
Pandemics are generally long hauls. This one doesn't look like it's going to be very different in that regard, and I would not be especially surprised if there were no more than a handful of full-scale Pony conventions in 2021. I would absolutely love to be proved wrong on this one. As ever, we'll see.
This suggests to me that right now, in August, time is already running short for cons in the early months of next year. I suspect some organisers are already deep into negotiations with venues about postponements. I wish I could be more optimistic about this, but I suspect that the resumption of large fandom gatherings may well be further off than any of us would like to think. (I think some kind of MLP con did happen in China recently, but I'm essentially talking about Europe and North America here.)
Pandemics are generally long hauls. This one doesn't look like it's going to be very different in that regard, and I would not be especially surprised if there were no more than a handful of full-scale Pony conventions in 2021. I would absolutely love to be proved wrong on this one. As ever, we'll see.
Saturday 15 August 2020
My Little Reviews 50: "MMMystery on the Friendship Express"
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| But what have you done with the real conductor, Fluttershy...? |
Written by Amy Keating Rogers
7 Apr 2012
My original rating: N/A
IMDb score: 7.9
The one with alliteration. Lots of alliteration.
Thoughts: First things first: I find it pretty poor that three of Pinkie Pie's best friends can't be trusted to respect a valuable item Pinkie is responsible for. (Ironic that in "A Friend In Deed" it was Pinkie who disrespected another character's valuable possessions...) I'm not impressed at all, and even being played for laughs doesn't entirely overcome that. It's a real shame, as there's a lot to like in this episode. The whodunit is nicely written, with a fun Poirot tinge, and if you look very carefully you can pick up several clues yourself before Twilight reveals her findings. The Sherlock Holmes costumes are amusing, too. I like that Applejack, the only other baker in the Mane Six, is entirely innocent – though I'm told a deleted scene did have her guilty too. Of course, the Three Bakers do succumb to temptation with the other desserts. And then there are the three little homages to various filmic styles – all of them nicely produced and very amusing. We meet our first non-Gilda griffon, too. This would be quite a highly rated episode if only it weren't for Rainbow, Fluttershy and Rarity behaving so badly. I realise this may seem a bit petty, but it does leave a sour taste in my mouth (yes, I know the cynicism in "Ponyville Confidential" didn't. Go figure) and so I have to penalise it; the best I can do for it is a low-end three. It might even have been a two without so many fun touches.
Choice quote: Pinkie Pie: "Huh? Who turned out the Moon?"
New rating: ★★★ (just)
Next up is "A Canterlot Wedding, part 1", the very first episode I ever watched as it aired! I've always liked the S2 finale very much, so I'm hoping I still will.
Friday 14 August 2020
What future for MLP's social fandom?
As the months of the pandemic drag on and on, many of us are missing our in-person social interactions with other fans more and more. In my case, the last time I met any other ponyfan in person was when I attended our final Worcester ponymeet, five months ago today. I suspect that at the time many of us quietly hoped it would only be a few months before the meets could restart. Sadly, it now looks like being a good deal longer than that. I don't think there's any realistic chance at all of restarting in September, a hope some of us perhaps entertained in early summer.
It's a lonely time for many of us. So how long will it be before we can all meet up again in something like the old way? Well, who knows? That depends on all kinds of things, and since discussion of those can stray into the realms of politics I'll try to avoid some aspects here. But the fact remains that for a lot of people – by no means all, but a lot – being with friends who share our love for and enjoyment of MLP has been a highlight of our time in the fandom, and something we're missing very badly. What happens next?
Lots of musing on this after the page break.
It's a lonely time for many of us. So how long will it be before we can all meet up again in something like the old way? Well, who knows? That depends on all kinds of things, and since discussion of those can stray into the realms of politics I'll try to avoid some aspects here. But the fact remains that for a lot of people – by no means all, but a lot – being with friends who share our love for and enjoyment of MLP has been a highlight of our time in the fandom, and something we're missing very badly. What happens next?
Lots of musing on this after the page break.
Wednesday 12 August 2020
Ponyfic Roundup 307
Read it Later story count: 197 (+2)
I'm still wrestling with the poorly designed nature of New Blogger, but I hope I've at least got it to the point where individual posts can be reasonably easily read. I know the various links at the bottom are still an utter mess, but I'm really not sure how to change that without dramatically altering the entire look of the blog. I'll keep plugging on, but for now here are three ponyfics to consider:
Broken Roads by Not_A_Hat
Friendship is Optimal: Broken Bird by Eakin
Batch-22 by The Plebeian
★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.
I'm still wrestling with the poorly designed nature of New Blogger, but I hope I've at least got it to the point where individual posts can be reasonably easily read. I know the various links at the bottom are still an utter mess, but I'm really not sure how to change that without dramatically altering the entire look of the blog. I'll keep plugging on, but for now here are three ponyfics to consider:
Broken Roads by Not_A_Hat
Friendship is Optimal: Broken Bird by Eakin
Batch-22 by The Plebeian
★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.
Saturday 8 August 2020
Sounds of 2013: Nos. 39 to 35
Right, I've switched back to Blogger's legacy interface for now. I'm sorry if it's still a mess in places for you readers, but at least I can edit without a headache now. Until the end of the month, anyway. Then everything goes to Tartarus whether I like it or not. A quick reminder of my inclusion criteria:
Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the 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
Five songs listened to this time around, and happily they all qualify for inclusion! Yay for that.
39: Poni1Kenobi – Fade to Grey
38: Dawn Somewhere – Tubby Wubby Pony Waifu
37: Andrew Huang – Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Rainbows
36: mslkarishipper – Luna's Reply
35: Aviators – Open Your Eyes
More info about these songs, including those all-important embedded YouTube videos, will magically appear if you click past the page break.
Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the 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
Five songs listened to this time around, and happily they all qualify for inclusion! Yay for that.
39: Poni1Kenobi – Fade to Grey
38: Dawn Somewhere – Tubby Wubby Pony Waifu
37: Andrew Huang – Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Rainbows
36: mslkarishipper – Luna's Reply
35: Aviators – Open Your Eyes
More info about these songs, including those all-important embedded YouTube videos, will magically appear if you click past the page break.
Friday 7 August 2020
My Little Repeats 49: "Ponyville Confidential"
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| This is me trying to get Blogger's appallingly designed new editing interface to behave |