My Little Repeats 68: "Castle Mane-ia"

Again for the folks in the back: Angel and Fluttershy adore each other

S4E03: "Castle Mane-ia"
Written by Josh Haber
30 Nov 2013

My original rating: 8/10 (=★★★★)

IMDb score: 8.1

The one with the Bee Stare

Thoughts: Josh Haber's debut. Which of us knew in 2013 how much influence that man would have on Friendship is Magic? This is also the first episode where (fairly mild) "meme faces" really became a fandom talking point, and it was also leaked in advance of its scheduled release date. A real taste of things to come! As for the actual episode: the general consensus on release was that this was "Scooby-Doo with ponies", and that summary still holds good to a fair extent. I'd forgotten the Fluttershy-Rarity team-up, something I appreciated seeing as I've always felt this friendship was underused throughout FiM. A little AppleDash shipteasing from their initial bet onwards, too, as Meghan McCarthy noted! It's a good episode for Angel, one that again underlines how simplistic it is when fans sum him up as "just a jerk". On the downside, Pinkie's characterisation, though fun at times, was rather shallow and one-note – not the last time I'll complain about her portrayal this season. And what was "Star Spider Season" all about, and why was Fluttershy scared of critters anyway? As for the plot itself.. yeah. Scooby-Doo with ponies. Zoinks! Pretty silly, not terribly deep but decent popcorn entertainment. Rather a shame the Castle of the Two Sisters faded away as a plot point before this season was out, but at least the Journal of Friendship is born here. As for the real "Pony of Shadows" at the very end... who was that, I wonder? Tirek has long been one post-S4 fan theory. Anyway, Castle Mane-ia four stars? Not any more; that was too high. But three? Yes, that rating I'll still grant this with ease.

Choice quote: Twilight: "No-one likes sarcasm, Spike." [You were once pretty sarcastic yourself, Twilight!]

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Daring Don't", in its time a very controversial episode for its retconning of the Daring Do legend. I haven't seen it for ages, so I won't guess how I'll find it this time round.

So, about Hasbro's G5 infodump, then...

I will of course be returning to G4 soon, with my "Castle Mane-ia" rewatch and on Wednesday with Ponyfic Roundup, but G5 news has been coming so thick and fast recently that it's really impossible not to talk about it. As virtually everything I'm going to say will be to do with the new stuff, including discussion of the still and animated(!) visuals released yesterday, herewith a nice bold

SPOILERS BELOW

warning. That one was especially for iisaw. ;) Though "spoilers" here just means character names, synopsis and links (not embeds) to still pictures and a few seconds of backgroundless character animation.

A question regarding G5 posts

Very soon I'm going to have to decide what information to keep spoiler-cut and what to accept is just out there now. Bear in mind it will be much harder to avoid everything than it was before the 2017 film appeared. Back then, we all knew already that the Mane Six would star, who their VAs were and so on. Right now we don't even know that about the upcoming movie. Can I avoid mentioning any information at all for seven months? Realistically, that's just not going to happen.

I also note that Equestria Daily has basically completely given up on spoiler warnings. For example, just last night there was a post asking who people's favourite of the (probably) revealed characters was. No warning, not even a G5 tag. We've also seen more than one Drawfriend post with a G5 character as the header image. Again, no spoiler cuts. If you go to EqD at any point between now and September, you will see G5 stuff, end of story.

So... I'm throwing this open to suggestions. What do you think I should do regarding G5 stuff here on Louder Yay? As I say, a total blackout is not really workable. On the other hand, I don't particularly want to plaster this site with spoilery pictures – all the more so now a friend has pointed out that hiding them with page breaks doesn't work properly on mobile. Sure, this is my site and in the end I get to decide. But I'd still like to know people's preferences.

So, about that (probable) G5 bedding

I'm undecided about to what extent and for how long I should treat all G5 stuff as spoilery. On one hoof I really don't think it's realistic to avoid every single mention of G5 for the next seven months, but on the other hoof I don't want to annoy people who are hoping to be surprised. As such, my plan for a while at least will be to use spoiler-cuts here. So...

Link to the G5 picture, plus my thoughts on it, after the page break!

Another PR delay... but the reason is good this time!

Ponyfic Roundup will be delayed for the zillionth time. As I write this, I'm not sure whether it'll turn up in a few days' time or whether I'll skip this week entirely. As I say, though, the reason is a very good one: yesterday I had my (first dose of) Covid vaccine! :D I'm now starting to suffer the expected side effects. Nothing terrible so far, but I feel achy and fatigued and not really in the mood for writing longish blog posts. Once I feel up to it again, I'll be back.

My Little Repeats 67: "Princess Twilight Sparkle, part 2"

Nothing is ever made of it, but both princesses are clearly not entirely unscathed

S4E02: "Princess Twilight Sparkle, part 2"
Written by Meghan McCarthy
23 Nov 2013

My original rating: 8.5/10 (=★★★★) [for the entire two-parter]

IMDb score: 8.6

The one with the Twicane

Thoughts: I've always had an iffy relationship with the Tree of Harmony. I never really warmed to it, even as a plot device, even way down the line in S9. And here it is for the first time. This is an interesting follow-up to part 1, and unlike some I do like the flashback sequences to Discord's rule and Luna's banishment. However, the whole thing is rather bitty, and that irritates me a little bit more than it did in 2013. Discord himself is very good pretty much throughout, there's some real emotion in Twilight's scene with "dead" Celestia, and I rather like the argument in the Everfree – but it's perhaps stretching credulity for all five of the other ponies to be okay with sending Twilight home and to remain so until much later. (Applejack, this really wasn't your best moment.) There are also maybe slightly too many conveniences, eg Spike happening to spot the castle and Pinkie happening to find the staircase. At the end, of course, we get the start of the show's most serious attempt at a season-long arc – a pretty good one all told, though now we know where it leads it's hard to have unmixed feelings about that, either. So... rather to my surprise, I find that I can no longer quite justify a four-star rating. It's a top-end three with considerable ease, but in some ways I actually preferred part 1, which perhaps felt slightly more coherent than this arguably overstuffed second instalment.

Choice quote: Discord: "Fine. But I don't do windows."

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Castle Mane-ia", an episode that wasn't really like anything before it. I remember quite liking it, but finding some aspects mildly annoying and others just a bit odd. It's also Josh Haber's writing debut, for better or for worse.

PMV: "Go West"... to Equestria!

Pat1711 – "Go West"... to Equestria!

A little bit of nostalgia for you today, though maybe not if (like me) you didn't know this PMV existed until now. It was released on 25 June 2011, so it lacks the bells and whistles of more recent PMVs – but by the standards of the time it's nicely done. Besides, there's not much Pet Shop Boys in the fandom anyway. I don't know anything at all about Pat1711, probably because they hardly released anything. This PMV has had over 25,000 views though, so it's not that obscure.

Ponyfic Roundup 332

Read it Later story count: 157 (-1) 

Back to Wednesday this week, I'm pleased to say. I had a nice walk down to the local river yesterday – the first time I'd done that in two months, due to winter mud and flooding more so than the pandemic – and very rejuvenating the experience was too. That helped, and so did being able to get this done on time. Today's three fics are:

Lily's Letter by Miller Minus
All You Ponies by Mitch H
fallin' by The Red Parade

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

My Little Repeats 66: "Princess Twilight Sparkle, part 1"

The contrasting expressions on Dash and Shutterfly's faces really make this shot

S4E01: "Princess Twilight Sparkle, part 1"
Written by Meghan McCarthy
23 Nov 2013

My original rating: 8.5/10 (=★★★★) [for the entire two-parter]
IMDb score: 8.6

The one with Spike checklisting in his sleep

Thoughts: We'd had a long wait for this: over nine months, broken only by the first Equestria Girls film. There was a lot of anxiousness about what the show would be like now Twilight had ascended – but this first episode went a fair way towards allaying the fears, for now at least. It helped that it was visually very attractive, a step up from S3 which was itself a step up from S2; some lovely lighting and shade effects in particular. As for the actual story, it was quite solid, even if the Plunder Vines were mildly dull – no actual villain here, though Discord was highly watchable in his few minutes, with it really not clear whether Fluttershy was right to trust in his reformation. (Mind you, I still laugh at him singing "Winter Wrap Up" in the bath.) It's always good to see Zecora, even if her appearance and potion are overly convenient. The last couple of minutes are the best, though, with a can't-take-your-eyes-off-it flashback sequence to Luna's transformation to Nightmare Moon. That was a huge deal among fans at the time, since it was the first real expansion to that backstory since the S1 premiere. I wish we hadn't gone straight on to part 2, since this was a great cliffhanger. Finally, a mildly changed title sequence for S4, with quite a few more ponies in the photo and Discord appearing in Fluttershy's window. A sign of things to come there! Add to that the nice balance between fun and sympathy when depicting Twilight's uncertainty as a new princess and I think four stars is still right. A good start to a generally good season.

Choice quote: Rainbow: "Oh yeah. Just like old times!"

New rating: ★★★★

Next up is "Princess Twilight Sparkle, part 2". You astound me, Holmes. Part 2 is very important to the future of the series, more so than most of us realised at the time. I'm expecting to enjoy it at least as much as part 1, though.

The G5 film is going straight to Netflix

This news is in Variety, so I think we can assume it's accurate. Given Hasbro's apparent determination to stick to their original autumn 2021 release date, I suppose this is anything but a surprise. Nobody has any idea right now what state cinemas will be in come the autumn, and Hasbro will doubtless have preferred the much more reliable option of a Netflix release. Whether this is also the case in the UK we'll have to wait and see, but I imagine it's likely.

Speaking personally, I do think it's a shame. I saw the 2017 movie and the first three EqG films in cinemas with friends, and it was definitely a fun experience. I'm not a big cinema-goer (cost is a major issue) but I'm sure our local meetup group would have attended a G5 movie screening. On the other hand, we never got Legend of Everfree in cinemas and that still turned out to be an entertaining film. So right now I'm still reasonably optimistic.

The Variety article also reveals a few names involved with the new movie. I've never heard of any of them, but then I'm hardly an insider where such things are concerned. If you'd said "Jayson Thiessen" to me in 2010, I wouldn't have had a clue who that was either. Right now, things like that are only of mild interest. What I really hope to see before too much longer is something visual, even if it's only a single still image.

Ponyfic Roundup 331

Read it Later story count: 158 (-1) 

A couple of days later than originally planned, but at long last here's this week's PR! Three stories under review, as has usually been the case in recent months. Let's have a look at what they are:

Philomeanie by Skywriter
How We Burn by Cold in Gardez
Taxing and Waning by Daffodil

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

Ponyfic Roundup will be on Friday this week

I've had a pretty unhappy day or two – nothing terrible, just the usual, but it's sapped me of motivation for a while – and as such, I haven't finished reading the three short stories I wanted to review this week. Things seem to be on a slight upswing again now, so I plan on having a quiet evening today and then catching up in time to post on Friday. I'm obviously aware I don't have to do PR every week, but I like to do that if I can as it's something to look forward to, so that is currently my plan.

My Season 4 rewatch should begin within the week

 As the title says. I think I've had enough of a break now since the end of S3, and so "Princess Twilight Sparkle, part 1" will receive the rewatch treatment soon. I'm currently leaning towards Monday for posting it, but it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that it might be sooner. As I've said, I'm looking forward to what I feel will be a very interesting season. You are, of course, all invited along for the ride!

Another con postponement: PonyCon Holland this time

NB: PonyCon Holland has no connection with UK PonyCon.

Some not unexpected news from Dutch convention PonyCon Holland yesterday: it's been postponed from its existing May weekend until 16/17 October. Whether the event will be able to go ahead then is anybody's guess, of course, but I wouldn't put a great deal of money on any full cons happening this year. I suppose that, like many people, I have a bit of a "once bitten, twice shy" mindset after the false dawn of last summer. We'll see how things go, I suppose.

One of the major problems that comes to mind is that if a convention needs a whole bunch of restrictions that basically say "Don't do anything loud or get close to others", then in my book it's not really a convention at all. It might still be an enjoyable event, but if you can't hug anybody, do silly things in the queue, burst into spontaneous song or nip down the pub for lunch with your friends, it's hard to call it a con in the true sense of the word. In short, I don't think social distancing and conventions are compatible. For as long as we need the first, I doubt we can truly have the second.

Ponyfic Roundup 330

Read it Later story count: 159 (-7) 

I've made quite a dent in my RiL list this week, but as you'll note that's not because I've reviewed any more stories. It's simply that I've transferred a few extra fics to my phone for future reading. It'll be several months yet before I can sit in the garden to read, but it is now nice to sit in a south-facing room on a bright day with the sun slanting in. Right, today's three fics are:

Feathers by Flutterpriest
She Is Why I Drink by Tethered-Angel
Practice and Patience by Matthew Penn

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