My Little Repeats 98: "Make New Friends But Keep Discord"

Maud's sheer contempt for all this is plain to see

S5E07: "Make New Friends But Keep Discord"

16 May 2015

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 8.6

The one with dust bunnies

Thoughts: There was a fortnight's break between "Appleoosa's Most Wanted" and this, so anticipation was fairly high. The Smooze is a very different creature from his G1 incarnation, but he does a job. Discord's jealousy of Fluttershy is what holds the episode together, though, and both the characters play their parts nicely. I also like how Twilight these days can stand up to Discord more than she did even a season ago. The ep's message about different friends in different settings is simple but well enough told. Tree Hugger (voiced nicely by Nicole Oliver) is fairly amusing, though not that strong a character beyond one episode – plus a lot of the fandom stuff she inspired is stoner humour, which I generally find really boring. Maud has a fun cameo with one brilliant line to deflate Discord's stand-up routine, while Pinkie's energy suits a Gala setting well. I really like her shaking the fourth-wall camera! The CMC are taking another step forward; whether this was deliberate foreshadowing of that moment later this season I don't know, but it could have been. I think my four-star rating in 2015 was too high for what isn't an especially substantial episode – but it's still decent entertainment, so letting it keep three of those stars is a given.

Choice quote: Discord: "I'm actually pretty lukewarm about cake."

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone", which of course sees the return of Gilda. I quite liked that one at the time, but looking back from 2021 it doesn't feel like an especially amazing or especially terrible episode. As always, we'll see!

A few tweaks to Ponyfic Roundup for 2022

Before I begin on that: I hope to return to Season 5 of Friendship is Magic with "Make New Friends But Keep Discord" in the next day or two.

As we look towards a new year, I think it's time to mention a few little things that I intend to do with Ponyfic Roundup in 2022. These won't be huge changes: it will still be weekly on Wednesdays (mostly...) and it will still have the same basic layout as it has for years now. The first PR of 2022 will be a Spotlight on Nine Days Down this coming Wednesday. But from the first regular edition, expected on 12th January, there are three small changes that I'd like to make:

1. G5 fics will become eligible. Actually, all generations will become eligible, but I think it unlikely that I'm going to be reviewing more than a tiny handful of those from the pre-G4 days, if even that. With G5, though, there are already over 350 fics on Fimfiction and that number will only grow, especially if the forthcoming series proves a success. Since my Read it Later list has been all-G4 until now, don't expect any G5 fics for a little while – but they're coming eventually! However, I expect G4 stories to remain the large majority of reviewed fics for the foreseeable future. Most PRs will remain all-G4 unless G5 fics truly take off.

2. Only fics with ratings enabled. Fimfiction has for some time now allowed authors to switch off the ability to upvote or downvote their stories. While I have had an unofficial policy for a while not to review fics where this has happened, I am now making this official. The overwhelming majority of reviewed stories come from Fimfiction, but in the tiny number of cases where I find a fic elsewhere, I will apply a broadly similar policy. Stories in hard-copy books produced by or with approval from fic authors will almost always be considered eligible. (That "almost" is to cover any exceptional circumstances I haven't thought of.)

3. More reviews! Those with long memories will recall that Ponyfic Roundup used to review five stories a week, not the mere three seen more recently. While I don't think I can reasonably commit to going back to that, at least for now, I will aim to review four fics each PR. I will also try to give at least a little more room to reviews of mid-length stories (say 10k to 50k words) as these have tended to be neglected both in regular Roundups and in the occasional Spotlight issues that usually focus on a longer fic.

UK PonyCon 2022: 8th & 9th October

Here we go! The first announcement from UK PonyCon about its 2022 in-person convention has been made: the con will be held over the weekend of 8th/9th October 2022. This is in line with the last few in-person UKPCs in that it's the second weekend of October. No announcement about venue yet, but I know some people are already speculating that a date announcement this early may suggest we'll be back in Nottingham once again. (And if so, I think we might as well treat that as a permanent venue now.)

It is far too early yet to know whether I'll be able to attend. Hopefully I won't have to leave a decision quite as late as I did this year, when I didn't think I was going at all until about two weeks away, let alone be able to attend for the full weekend. Obviously the situation in wider society will affect this, as will the more usual concerns of finances, railways and whether I have any other commitments that can't easily be rescheduled. All I can say is that I really enjoyed UKPC 2021, and that I have much affection for the convention.

It's the summer of the soul in December

G3 Minty – Nothing Says Christmas Like a Pair of Socks

As this post is published, the clock will just be striking midnight in the UK to bring in Christmas Day. With that in mind, I'll just take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Hearth's Warming. Up above, you'll see that Minty's next song is about socks. They're not all about socks.

Ponyfic Roundup 373: Return to the RCL

Read it Later story count: 97 (-1) 

Today's fics were all inducted by the Royal Canterlot Library. For newer readers: the RCL was for some years one of the major curated collections of fine ponyfic. A few special exceptions apart, an author could only be featured once. Upon accepting an offer to have their fic inducted, an author also provided an interview which was featured alongside the story's entry. Click the "RCL feature" links in the header of each review to read them, as well as the RCL judges' remarks.

The RCL has not, I believe, ever been officially wound up, but as life intruded more and more on its assessors the regular updates ended in spring 2020 and nothing has been inducted since October 2020. I think it's fair to consider the RCL moribund now, although its archives are happily still available and the collection remains very well worth mining, especially if you're new to the ponyfic game. I was hoping not to only manage three fics this time, and I'm pleased to say I got through four. My stories from the Library were:

Autumnfall Change by MSPiper
The Life and Death of April Fool by Prak
Nothing Left to Lose by Freglz
Do Not Serve These Ponies by Thanqol

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

My Little Repeats 97: "Appleoosa's Most Wanted"

"Can you quit with the 'every "y'all" I play 5% faster' stuff already?"

S5E06: "Appleoosa's Most Wanted"

2 May 2015

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 6.8

The one with Fish My Wish

Thoughts: I was mildly surprised to find I'd given this a three in 2015, as I'd remembered finding it a bit meh – as did the fandom as whole; that IMDb score is fairly representative. But whatever the case, this is now a reasonable enough episode, if no all-time great. Knowing the future for the CMC actually helps, I think: their work for Troubleshoes foreshadows their discovery that their cutie marks represent helping others to find who they are. Troubleshoes himself is quite a fun character, though his lugubrious self probably wouldn't work well as a regular. As I said six years ago you'd think the combination of a rodeo clown and Dave Polsky might have brought even more actual jokes. (The angry mob is an accidental one now, though!) This is an episode where Sweetie's magic really comes on, another quiet bit of foreshadowing that something might be up. A few minor callbacks to "Over a Barrel" (I know some may prefer to forget that one!) but overall this is a nicely self-contained episode. I don't think it's a particularly high three, as it's not that memorable – but I do think it does enough to retain that star rating.

Choice quote: Sheriff Silver Star: "I called for a meetin', not a mob scene."

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Make New Friends But Keep Discord", which engendered some considerable excitement about the return of the Smooze, but which I remember as a moderately-good-but-no-more episode.

Ponyfic Roundup 372

Read it Later story count: 98 (+1) 

Another week goes by, and somehow I've blundered my way through it well enough to still be here to host another Ponyfic Roundup. This is the penultimate edition of the year, and the final conventional edition – see the footer for what awaits next week. Three stories as you've all come to expect by now, and here they are:

The Taste of Blood by Shrink Laureate
In the Shadow of the Stage Lights by Quicksear
"What Does Love Taste Like?" by Poison Claw

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

My Little Repeats 96: "Tanks for the Memories"

Aw, those slippers... and Dash has Tank slippers, too

S5E05: "Tanks for the Memories"

25 Apr 2015

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 8.3

The one with Applejack crying on the inside

Thoughts: It's nice, and fairly unusual by this stage in the series, to see a significant amount of an episode's plot rely on the way ponies control the weather in (most of) Equestria. Good to see an old-school writer handle it, too: this was the last of Cindy Morrow's 11 episodes. (She also wrote "Winter Wrap Up", so she can handle snow just fine!) It also felt a little old-fashioned – again in a nice way – to have the educational snippets about how hibernation works. What's best, though, is that Morrow manages to take Rainbow through the five stages of grief without the episode ever once mentioning death. Fluttershy's handling of Dash later on isn't liked by all fans, but I think it shows that where Rainbow is concerned, and especially by now, 'Shy can have plenty of self-confidence. "I'll Fly" remains a song I like although I still don't adore it, while the whole "Who's on First?" homage is great fun. You can argue that Rainbow's character is regressed a bit for this ep, especially as she suffers no real consequences for her Weather Factory sabotage, something you'd think would be an absolute no-no in Equestria. Oh, and Caramel and we got some Sassaflash too. An established non-married couple is rare in FiM, but I've always liked those two. Overall, then? Enjoyable, but not without flaws that hold it back from real greatness. Three stars last time, three stars this time.

Choice quote: Twilight: "Winter is coming."

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Appleoosa's Most Wanted", which wasn't that popular at the time but which may gain a bit now we know what happened to the CMC later in S5...

Ponyfic Roundup 371

Read it Later story count: 97 (-1) 

The real world continues to behave in a way any self-respecting editor would throw out for being unbelievable, so let's get back to the considerably more sensible unreal world of Equestria. I'm pleased to say my cold/bug/whatever has disappeared and I'm all set for more ponyfic reviewing. Three stories as usual, and here they are:

Treating Her Right by Rated Ponystar
The Rook Triumphant by Halira
Flawless by Arisa-chan

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

Friday PR, volume 2,368...

I'm feeling really pretty meh this evening. It isn't You-Know-What (yay for the UK's free test kits) so I imagine it's one of those pesky Twittermites Normal Bugs that do in fact still exist. :P I haven't quite finished my reading for this week's Ponyfic Roundup, but the headache means I haven't feel very comfortable with it. (Short sessions on a PC monitor aren't as bad, hence this.) To be on the safe side, I'll do the usual and delay PR until Friday. Over and out!

My Little Repeats 95: "Bloom & Gloom"

#RaiseThisHouse

S5E04: "Bloom & Gloom"
18 Apr 2015

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 8.2

The one with the blink-and-you'll-miss-it return of Chicken Pinkie

Thoughts: Those Twittermites! Not pleasant stuff for a TV-Y show, when you think about it, even allowing for them not being real. Anyway, the third and final of the loose "Luna in a Crusader's dreams" collection follows the other two in having some quite disturbing aspects, though this one may be the most so. At the time quite a few of us in the fandom wondered whether all the messing with cutie marks in dreams might be the then-absent Starlight's doing – but by the time Glimmy arrives again, we'll have had the massive show-stopping moment quietly foreshadowed at times here anyway. (Michelle Creber did the voice of AB's "shadow" too.) FiM never really decided to be consistent about the "destiny" aspect of cutie marks, but here in S5 may be where it was the treated as the biggest deal. The whole "you can't be in the CMC without a mark" thing was sensibly dropped later, though it was a real shame we never saw Babs again.* Luna was pretty nice in her short appearance in this episode, while there was dark amusement from Big Mac's expanded speaking role and much warmer stuff top-and-tailing the main story with Applejack's gentle, loving lullaby. I think this one can keep the high three I gave to it six years ago.
* Well, not in a speaking role. Even if they'd needed to find a new VA, it would still have been nice

Choice quote: Luna: "It's been a busy night for us all."

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Tanks for the Memories", which I'm looking forward to as it sees Cindy Morrow writing Fluttershy and Rainbow interacting, something I like to see.

Happy 10th, "Cerulean Blue"!

Replacer – Cerulean Blue

 
This great song wasn't Replacer's first Pony fandom track, but it's most definitely the first of his that's remained a classic to the present day. The instantly recognisable piano intro adds drums and then we're straight into the vocals. Replacer's voice, even if it might perhaps be considered slightly on the light side for pop-rock, has a driving energy combined with an ethereal quality that reflect its subject very well indeed. This is of course early-series Rainbow Dash, and there's clear influence in the lyrics from the likes of "The Mysterious Mare Do Well". Although a moderately long song at 4:26, it's well broken up thanks to its inventive harmonies and instrumental breaks, with a wonderfully bombastic final section to round things off. Oh, and if you're looking at that YouTube upload date and thinking, "Er..." then wonder no more: the Soundcloud upload is dated 4th December 2011. Ten years ago today!

Ponyfic Roundup 370

Read it Later story count: 98 (-1) 

Now thrice Pfizered, I sally forth once more on another nail-biting adventure. Well, no: actually I just write some waffly stuff about a few ponyfics. But hay, you should be used to that by now. I am planning on doing a slightly larger edition again before the year is out, by the way – perhaps another RCL edition in search of a story to which I can award that elusive five-star rating! Not this week, though. Today's three stories are as follows:

Ponyville Chess Club and Mail Swap by Singularity Dream
Longevity by RainbowBob
Nightmare Moon is a...Salespony?! by iAmSiNnEr

★: 0 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 0 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.

My Little Repeats 94: "Castle Sweet Castle"

Spike casually chucking the doll away a moment later, though...

S5E03: "Castle Sweet Castle"
11 Apr 2015

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 8.0

The one with confetti cannons

Thoughts: The first episode credited to Joanna Lewis and Kristina Songco, aka the "Lady Writers", and they made a solid start. All the Mane Six and Spike get substantial parts here, and indeed Spike enjoys one of his best roles, one which is crucial in his spa-centric distracting of Twilight. His relationship with Twilight is the reason it works, too. The song is one that's grown on me (even though I never disliked it) and I also like how Fluttershy is starting to stand up for herself just a little more. Of course, the big deal at the time was that this episode confronted the loss of the Golden Oak Library (never named in-show until this point) and, looking back, I think it did so largely successfully. Most fans felt much as Twilight did about the castle at this point, and even if many never really loved it, this was probably where most stopped hating it. As I said in 2015, this felt in some ways like a return to the simpler early seasons of FiM, without any Big Bads or frenetic adventures – but respectful of the fact that these characters had developed since S1. Apart from brief turns by Aloe and Bulk, every line here is spoken by one of the Mane Seven. I'd been expecting to nudge my four-star rating from 2015 down to a top-end three... and I have. On the plus side, the characterisation is satisfying. On the minus side, the middle act is a bit draggy. Top-end three is still above average, though!

Choice quote: Rainbow Dash: "Touché."

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Bloom and Gloom", an episode which I confess hasn't stuck in my mind much. Except for the Twittermites. Brr. But we'll see how it goes.

Ponyfic Roundup 369

Read it Later story count: 99 (+2) 

My life becomes ever more thrilling. Today, as this goes up, I have my Covid booster jab. Important, yes, but it involves a fairly dull journey to a fairly dull town in what promises to be fairly dull weather. Thank Celestia for the magical world of Equestria, where everything is all sunshine and rainbows! Well, usually. In the first of this week's stories, not so much...

Diamond in the Darkness by Sharaloth
Chrysalis Works at Quills and Sofas by Majin Syeekoh
Her Brother Doesn't Talk Much by Alpha Scorpii

★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 3 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.

Pony Music Library 63: "Solidarity"

I think it's about time I got the Pony Music Library series out of storage again! This entry will probably not be a huge surprise to most of you, but it's a song that's new enough that it simply didn't exist for most of the time when I was making PML posts more frequently. Indeed, I stopped doing that about when this song came out!

PrinceWhateverer – Solidarity

What? "Solidarity"

Who? PrinceWhateverer

Which? Original song

When? October 2018

Why? This song might be considered the last true major hit of the Friendship is Magic era. There's been a lot of excellent music made since then, but mostly with five-figure view counts at best. "Solidarity" has over 305k views on the original post alone, and with 696k for the hugely (and deservedly) popular multi-artist animation from the following year, it's now clocked up over a million YT views overall. (You can also download it in higher quality for £1 on Bandcamp.) This is a song for the fans, all about how even as numbers dwindled and some would "fade to distant memories", our fandom was still here and still meant so much to so many. There's a lot of heart and soul, and PrinceWhateverer's choice of melodic rock over the shoutier metallic style he sometimes uses really helps this have mass appeal. The sample of Twilight's speech from her coronation – an earlier time when some "moved on", mixes nostalgia with inspiration. To me, at least, "Solidarity" took on even more importance during the period when things were often bleak and lockdowns and restrictions meant that "Will I see you at the con?" could only have the answer, "What con?" Even then, the fandom was there for us all. I've always felt that, regardless of what other interests I have already or may acquire in future, MLP will be a part of my life forever. I'm not going anywhere, I'll die with the herd.

Ponyfic Roundup 368

Read it Later story count: 97 (nc) 

Late this week, but here I am at last with today's little selection of stories. Once again I really don't have anything much to say, although it is Griffish Isles this weekend so I hope everyone going to the convention has a great time! One thing I will say, though: I would dearly love to award a five-star rating again. It's been a very long time. Quite a few fours, but nothing that blew me away quite enough for a maximum. That doesn't change today I'm afraid, though there's still some worthwhile reading here.

Business Trip by AlwaysDressesInStyle
No Storms in Canterlot by Esle Ynopemos
Rainbow Dash and Rarity Get Into an Argument by Sonic_Applejack2005

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

Ponyfic Roundup is coming on Friday

I have a little apology to make. Thanks to sheer carelessness, I've managed to delete my Ponyfic Roundup post just as I'd got it done. I won't have time to write it up again until Thursday evening, so I'll schedule it to go up on Friday morning. No, not a big deal, but annoying as it was my fault. Sorry!

Happy 10th, "20 Percent Cooler"!

Ken Ashcorp – 20 Percent Cooler

I almost missed this one! 16th November 2011 saw the initial upload to YouTube of this absolute certified dancefloor banger. [Don't try to talk like that, Logan. It's embarrassing. —Ed] "20 Percent Cooler" is a song that is a legitimately good club track even if you know nothing whatsoever about Rainbow Dash or MLP in general, as indeed several of its Bandcamp reviews make clear. Indeed, most of the references are pretty subtle It has a wonderful, driving beat, the lyrics are cleverly done (and only a tiny bit on the risqué side by club standards), and at only 3:12 in length it doesn't fall into the common fandom trap of outstaying its welcome. This kind of music isn't to everyone's taste – indeed, it's often not to mine. But Ken Ashcorp does it so well in "20 Percent Cooler" that I find it completely irresistible. It deserves to have kept its fame for a decade.

My Little Repeats 93: "The Cutie Map, part 2"

"I was told this image was an old meme now, but I didn't listen"

S5E02: "The Cutie Map, part 2"

4 Apr 2015

My original rating (for the whole premiere): ★★★★
IMDb score: 9.0

The one with balloon binoculars

Thoughts: This was great. Starlight is a deeply threatening villain, powerful and intelligent, with a range that runs from her use of imprisonment and brainwashing, to her clear intent to do harm to the pursuing villagers, to her willingness to yell over one of Twilight's speeches. (Okay, that one I can sort of understand.) The brainwashing section is creepy, what with the use of non-stop slogans over loudspeakers and the way the Mane Six are locked straight back in the moment they don't come around. It's about the closest to Orwellian you could imagine in a TV-Y show aimed at six-year-olds. Party Favor is shown no mercy until he "repents", either. The Cause trumps all. Fluttershy gets a good role in this half of the episode, with her oddly naive behaviour from part 1 being turned into a secret weapon. Starlight doesn't just accept her unquestioningly, though, and without Party Favor's self-sacrifice Sugar Belle at the very least might also have ended up in the Ministry of Equality building. Though who knows, given 'Shy works very hard not to betray anypony? There's not a huge amount of humour this time around, though "even tweets don't make sense any more" always amuses me. Pinkie's "barrel of laughs" line is kind of funny, but also pretty starkly shows how bad things have got at that time. (Pinkie is written well throughout this premiere, I'll note here.) Despite the paucity of laughs, there's certainly plenty going on, and the last third is action packed. Even with their cutie marks restored, it takes everything the Manes and the villagers (notably Double Diamond) have got to tackle Starlight, and even then she manages to escape... for now, at least. Custom end credits music, too! As with part 1, this was hugely watchable. As with part 1, it gets a full five stars.

Choice quote: Starlight Glimmer: "QUIET!"

New rating: ★★★★★

Next up is "Castle Sweet Castle", which was a bit overshadowed by this premiere but which did at least address something we'd all been wondering about.

My Little Repeats 92: "The Cutie Map, part 1"

Until Starlight fixes it later, that picture is hanging not quite right

S5E01: "The Cutie Map, part 1"
4 Apr 2015

My original rating (for the whole premiere): ★★★★
IMDb score: 8.9

The one with tasteless muffins

Thoughts: At almost 11 months, the S4/S5 hiatus was the longest in Friendship is Magic's run. Luckily, we got Rainbow Rocks in the gap... and a superb start to the new season when it finally arrived. Although its Hugo nomination came via controversial means, I think Starlight Glimmer's debut really is perhaps the most interesting episode FiM ever did. After a relatively normal opening scene introducing us to the titular map – which turned out to be largely just a plot device – we're into... "whatever the name of this village is that we're in right now" (thanks, Pinkie). Our Town starts off a bit unnerving and gets ever creepier as we go along. Rewatching and knowing the story, I pick up more on side details, such as Double Diamond's warning body language as Sugar Belle chats to the Mane Six. The eventual cliffhanger trap is teased, then seemingly over, then actually there. (Plus it only happens because of the Mane Sixers' own plan, which makes you wonder whether Starlight anticipated that.) Starlight herself starts out friendly, but there's always that hard edge – and she doesn't have the washed-out colours of her, frankly, cult members. The song, which Daniel Ingram consciously based on WW2 propaganda, contains the full-on terrifying lyric, "You can't have a nightmare if you never dream." By the end it's clear that we are in... it's often called a dystopia, and it is, but perhaps "false utopia" might be a better description. It is legitimately chilling, an extraordinary feat for a cartoon for six-year-olds about talking horses. This episode gets better with age, and as such I'm bumping it up a point to the maximum. I can't wait to see part 2 again in a few days.

Choice quote: Sugar Belle: "Is your friendship ending?"

New rating: ★★★★★

Next up, of course, is "The Cutie Map, part 2" – and I really hope I like it as much as I liked this!

Ponyfic Roundup 367

Read it Later story count: 97 (+1) 

This is one of those weeks when I have nothing to say in this intro paragraph. There's really not a lot going on in these parts. Griffish Isles is in less than a fortnight, but I'm really not going to that one. Well, almost certainly not; yes, I do recall what happened with UK PonyCon! Most unlikely this time, though, if only because of the miserable refusal of the world to shower me with the necessary readies. Anyway:

The Profanity Garden by J Carp
It's The Eyebrows by Lets Do This
Gentle Persuasion by Minds Eye

★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 3 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.

Text Review Roundup: A New Generation (part 2)

Off we go with part 2 of TRR! This time I'm looking at text-based reviews from within the fandom. It's worth noting that reviewers can change their minds – an example is Mike Cartoon Pony, who I know has warmed to the film somewhat since he first saw it – but for the most part I'm going on their main review, not separate posts they may have added afterwards. If the main review itself has been updated, as for example Mike's has, that will be taken somewhat into account.

Apologies to several reviewers for my savage cutting of their reviews. ANG prompted a fair number of long reviews – for example, Jarvy Jared's, Mike Cartoon Pony's and TheDragonWarlock's each weigh in at around 7,000 words when all's said and done – and it's just not possible to do more than give the tiniest flavour in a TRR-sized bite. Please bear that in mind as you read.

Interestingly, the fandom reviewers seem less strongly agreed on ANG's high quality than the general reviewers did. There are a couple of outright negative reviews in this bunch, whereas you'd have to search quite hard to find more than moderate criticism in the non-fandom assessments. Since this post goes on a bit, I'll shove it behind a page break.

Text Review Roundup: A New Generation (part 1)

Finally, I'm getting back to A New Generation, and today it's the first part of Text Review Roundup. The second part on (I hope but daren't actually promise) Monday will cover some of the fandom reviews – not all, as I'm bound to miss some – but today it's the turn of reviews from outside the MLP fandom itself.

There aren't a huge number of these, partly because the interest was somewhat limited (maybe because ANG didn't get a cinema release*) and partly because several of those that were published are paywalled. This is a bigger issue now than it was in 2017 for the G4 movie, and frankly if people want to hide their content unless I pay to read it, I don't see why I should give their reviewers free publicity. I'm looking at you, New York Times.
* Okay, technically it did. But not in the UK or US

Right, that's that little whinge out of the way, and in fact there are still a reasonable number of reviews once you count non-fandom blogs. Remember, I'm not just covering general, professional media today. Anyway, here we go. Click on the publication name to go directly to the review page.

BeautifulBallad – very positive (graded A; "a winning addition to the My Little Pony Family [...] “Gonna Be My Day”, sung by Hudgens’ Sunny, was the clear standout song [...] Whether you are someone with kids, someone without kids, or a kid yourself, this movie is an overall good time.")

CGMagazine – mostly positive ("My Little Pony: A New Generation works well as both a continuation of the nine-season series and as the launching point for the next. [...] While the computer-generated graphics lack some character of the previous generation’s animation, it still looks great and has its own charm [but] the ultimate conclusion felt a little quick")

FSM Media – very positive ("The movie is adorable and really funny and not in that cheesy kind of funny that a lot of kids’ movies peddle. [...] The animation is on another level [...] a great movie with a great message")

KPCC – kind-of positive ("I don't know if I respect what this movie is doing, but I appreciate the absurdity with which they do it.")

Mama's Geeky – very positive ("incredible cast [and the] animation [is] gorgeous [though] the plot is predictable [...] some moments are going to hit you right in your heart until you cry. This movie has something for everypony, and is the standout family film of the year!")

Movie Mom – mostly positive (graded B; "candy colors, poppy music, gentle humor, warm-hearted lessons about friendship, and basically a way to sell merchandise [...] I prefer [G4's] flat, 2D-style animation to this movie’s 3D CGI modeling [and] the characters and messages of the film are likely to raise some parental eyebrows and perhaps some hackles as well [but] the only message here is the real magic of trust, understanding, cooperation, and generosity.")

Plugged In – positive ("Unity and friendship is definitely the clarion call here [...] a sweet little film filled with bouncy musical tunes, delightfully cute characters and truly funny moments")

Pretty in Baby Food – positive (rated B+; "My Little Pony: A New Generation surprised me, and I was not prepared to like it as much as I did. [...] it is Kimiko Glenn as Izzy and Ken Jeong as Sprout who are the standouts [and the animation is] spectacular")

Skwigly – mixed ("the plot tries to pack in too many characters [...] The animation though is really well made [...] Young fans of the previous shows might enjoy what this new generation of characters has to offer, but it didn't quite cross the finishing line as someone who is not the biggest fan of My Little Pony.")

South China Morning Post – fairly positive (rated 3/5; "While the film is not Pixar-level brilliant, A New Generation doesn’t fall flat either [...] never gets too preachy [...] lively pop tunes that don’t really stick but are fun while they last [...] comfortably in the middle")

Variety – fairly positive ("retains its predecessors' lively, spirited drive centered on friendship, empowerment and magic [...] layered, smart subtext to the narrative, despite it following a predictable path [though notably disappointing are] no consequences for those in power positions who’ve defrauded the public [and] the third act climax gets unnecessarily tied up in itself [but nevertheless] with its resonant sentiments on conquering fear, obliterating bigotry and bravely facing adversity, the toon finds its strength and emotional draw.")

With Ashley And Company – very positive ("a colorful, fun adventure [...] vivid colors, big musical numbers, and plenty of adventure [...] Friendship is still working magic in Equestria and it is as strong as ever.")

Ponyfic Roundup 366

Read it Later story count: 96 (-3) 

So here I am at PR 366. Why is that number significant? It isn't, really, but it does mean that if I'd posted a PR every day since the start, I could now have filled up an entire leap year. That's quite a lot of ponyfic. The fact that I'm still not bored with reading the stuff just goes to show how interesting people's ideas about this remarkable cartoon can be. As we will see today...

Forever Young by Trick Question
The Shadow of a Doubt by Ardensfax
Twilight Sparkle Puts It in The Wall by JimmySlimmy

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

November plans for Louder Yay

Heeeeeeere's Glimmy!*
* May take up to 28 days. We are not liable for postal delays. Governed by the Laws of Equestria. E&OE

As I've said before, the combination of A New Generation and UK PonyCon has knocked me right off my stride in terms of doing stuff on here. This week should be the week I get back into that stride! And you know what? I'm gonna live dangerously and give you actual dates this time. So you can expect:

• Ponyfic Roundup 366 this Wednesday (3/11)
  
• ANG Text Review Roundup (part 1) this Friday (5/11)
  
• ANG Text Review Roundup (part 2) next Monday (8/11)
  
• Ponyfic Roundup 367 next Wednesday (10/11)
  

Hmm, a lot of Roundups there. But then, at long last...

• My Little Reviews, "The Cutie Map, part 1" the following Saturday (13/11)

That's right, folks. We'll be a-headin' back to Friendship is Magic, that world of endless colour and songs and 2D Flash animation. It's been quite a while – if I stick to my plan, that MLR will be one day short of three months since I did the review of S4E26 – but hay, we've endured longer waits than that in this fandom.

Generation 4 is by no means done yet as far as this blog is concerned! :)

Happy 10th (and one day...) "Nightmare Night"!

WoodenToaster & Mic the Microphone – Nightmare Night

Yeah, mea culpa: I should have posted this yesterday. But better late than never, right? It's such an iconic track in this fandom that I don't think I can leave it out. "Nightmare Night" is inspired by the S2 episode "Luna Eclipsed", but it takes that inspiration and canters away with it. Yes, it's full of the electronica and voice distortions that were everywhere in the early fandom. But in this case, who cares? Someone might well: I don't. The Living Tombstone's 2013 remix is perhaps slightly more often played these days, but I prefer the original, with that piano riff to set us going. There are a heap of remixes and PMVs of this, but for me the finest will always be Ferexes' SFM video. It says something that I like that so much even though I'm not much of an SFM fan and I don't care at all about TF2. But this post is mainly about the song. Mic performed it at BUCK 2014, so I've seen it live, but its heart is being the Halloween song for us bronies. It's a rare late October when I don't hear it quite a few times!

Lots of G5 on the way next year!

 (Via EQD.) It seems that an Italian website has provided what looks like a reasonably convincing bare-bones schedule for next year's G5 offerings. We'll be getting a "mini-movie" (ie special) in May, then the series proper will begin in September. Another special looks set for Christmas. So, a bit of a gap now, but we managed with long hiatuses (hiati?) in the G4 era, so I'm sure we can deal with this. It's just good to know more G5 is not too far away now. :)

On another, more meta, note: I am at last getting ready to post the Text Review Roundup for the movie. My late decision to go to UK PonyCon meant I didn't have the time to do that when I expected to, but I'm now pretty sure I'll be doing it next week. The first part will be for reviews from outside the MLP fandom, including any professional reviews that aren't paywalled to Tartarus. The second part will cover reviews by fans. It is coming!

Ponyfic Roundup 365

Read it Later story count: 99 (nc) 

We're back to the usual small hoof-ful of short stories this week. In truth I'm quite glad I've actually managed to get three done. Lots going on at this end, although almost none of it very interesting. What I will note is that M&S muffins are very nice and remarkably good value at a quid each, especially since you don't have to buy a multipack as you do in most supermarkets. Anyway, here are this week's three:

Friendship is Optimal: Terra Online by Raugos
Fluttershy Gets a Shot by Lucky Seven
Gallus Makes A Turkey Sandwich by BootyPopperzZz

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

UK PonyCon report, part 6: Brave and strong and weird and clever

Well, what did you expect?

UK PonyCon 2021 was a resounding success, and the people who made it happen deserve enormous thanks. Once it became clear how many people I knew were planning on attending (even before I discovered I would be too!) I was reasonably confident it would work out, even if I forbore to say so too loudly for risk of tempting fate. I thought there might be a bit of nervousness and awkwardness, but no. Well, not beyond the usual standing about awkwardly – but then that's what bronies are supposed to do. (Not that everyone at UKPC is a brony, of course!)

The venue

Nottingham as a city remains what it has been the last few years to me: a nice enough place in the daytime, but not one of my favourite places after dark. Walking back through the city to the railway station on Saturday night didn't feel threatening as such, but it wasn't all that pleasant. More specific to the con, Nottingham Trent University's building has never been the most thrilling of venues, but it did a good job this time. In particular, the space it offered was welcome in this year's unusual circumstances.

The atmosphere

Wonderful and, in its own way, quietly jubilant. I'd mentioned a few times since the convention was announced that I was concerned whether singing would be restricted. Thankfully that was not the case, and for me at least that really helped. That pre-closing ceremony not-very-angry mob will stick in the memory for a long time. Using LT2 (the cinema room) for big events was very successful, although it was only really possible because of the rejigging caused by the lack of a music stage. Oh, and the heating was set to just right. Walking around in a T-shirt I felt comfortably warm but not too hot.

The problems

Happily, there seemed to be very few of these. There was the odd technical hitch, but these seemed to be less common than sometimes in the past. The con schedule being separate from the con book was a minor irritation, I guess caused by late confirmation of the timetable. I did hear second-hand that one of the Sunday cosplay prizes was won by a fart-themed entry, and it's fair to say that makes me roll my eyes a bit. Sure, maybe that's partly my personal boredom with that theme talking,* but then this is my personal blog. :P Still, if that's the worst thing that happened over the weekend, it's a pretty good result overall.
* I am thrilled that the G5 movie had zero fart jokes, incidentally

The 'rona

Okay, time to deal with this aspect. I thought UKPC handled it very well, without being overbearing, and I never felt at all unsafe. The Covid status check was done quickly and efficiently before the con opened, and hand sanitiser dispensers were plentiful. Masks were optional inside the convention venue (PonyCon Holland the following week had the same policy) and after the Saturday morning queue I'd estimate that about 80% of people dropped them, including me. We can't predict the future, but hopefully this will be a one-off section for this year, and by UKPC 2022 we'll have left it gratefully behind.

The food

As I touched on in the main report, the café pod worked much better than it had in 2019. Queues were far shorter, and not shutting down in late afternoon on Saturday made a difference too. It didn't match the space or fun range of food at the Bristol 2017 café, and the lack of any muffins was disappointing, but it did the job. Unlike in 2019 there was no hot lunchtime food available, which was a mild shame. Also unlike 2019, the venue was entirely alcohol-free. The lack of a bar didn't bother me at all, and I'd be quite content if it remained the case in future years.

The people

I was delighted to learn about the presence of people who'd come to UK PonyCon after enjoying G5 but with no other MLP experience. The multi-generational nature of UKPC is one of its core strengths, and the advent of a new gen was absorbed very smoothly. Slightly less positively, it's a bit of a shame that relatively few families seem to attend these days, compared with a few years ago. I've mused in the past that the ending of on-the-day ticket sales from 2015 could be a factor there. I suppose there's not much that can be done about that, especially given the lack of American-style enormous con venues.

The charity

I was absolutely thrilled that UKPC 2021 managed to raise over £10,000 for the RDA, which I have always been delighted is the con's chosen beneficiary. I wasn't at all sure how much it would be possible to raise in this year's odd circumstances, but to get that much with a significantly reduced attendance was brilliant. Not that much reduced, though: although it was clearly quieter than in 2019, we apparently had more than 500 attendees. That would have been a very respectable attendance for a UKPC anyway before the last few years. 

The future

We've already been told that there will be a UKPC 2022 – it will be online if absolutely unavoidable, but if at all possible it will be like this, in person. This is excellent news! We won't find out for a while yet whether Nottingham will be its home again, or whether there'll be a return to the traditional touring status. My personal preference would still be for the latter, but then I'm not the person who has to do all the work investigating new cities and venues. Apart from the US My Little Pony Fair, UKPC is the longest-running Pony convention in the world: this was its 17th iteration. It deserves its honour.

The mayonnaise

Bing-bong!

UK PonyCon report, part 5: Sunday (second half)

The lot's official name was MAYONNAISE, BING BONG BING BONG

Mid-afternoon rolled around on the Sunday of UK PonyCon 2021, and that meant one thing: Charity Auction time! Although there had been auctions in a few formats tried online, nothing really matches up to being there in person, so there was a real frisson of excitement as we piled into the mane stage room, remembering to pick up a numbered card to hold up. I happened to get number 100, which was indicative of... absolutely nothing. We had to give the cards back later in any case, which was a shame.

And then, after a quick intro talk from an RDA representative, it was on! As always, predicting what any one lot might go for was a bit of a fool's errand. I had very little spare money left by this time, so I wasn't expecting to pick up anything, but it was fun to participate even so. Some of the highlights included a "mark one" Flufflepuff for £250 and UKPC Britannia seapony plush number 000 for... well, I can't remember, but it wasn't exactly low. People had been saving for two years!

I'd rather... siiiiiiing!

However, the really eye-opening bids came elsewhere. A lovely big Derpy plushie went for a staggering £1,400 – but that wasn't even the highest! Three people in the audience seemed to have set their hearts on the roller banners that promoted UKPC inside the venue. (You can see them in the second photo in part 2.) No fewer than three of these went for four-figure sums, with the most expensive being £1,600. I think that is the highest price for a single lot in UK PonyCon's history!

Mind you, the real star of the show was of course the keenly awaited battle for the jar of mayonnaise. Yes, really. I actually stuck my hand up for the opening bid or two here – Celestia knows what I'd have done if I'd won! – but things escalated quite a bit, and in the end the mayo went to con chair Maz for the little matter of £100. I don't know who else bid or what will happen to it, but a tiny little part of me hopes that it'll be being used to scare unicorn foals come Nightmare Night. :P 

Amlaur (centre) considers the pros and cons of unlimited imperial power

We were given a quick estimate of the total raised at the end of the auction, but later on it emerged that the total raised for the RDA during UKPC 2021, including from other sources, had topped £10,000. Given attendance was announced as only around 60% of that in 2019,* when the all-time record of £11,000 was set, this was a truly wonderful result. None of us who were there that afternoon will ever forget that auction. It was one of those things people will be talking about for a long time to come.
* That implies a 2021 attendance of a bit over 500. Very good indeed in the circumstances!

Sadly, we were getting towards the end of the convention by now. Most unusually for me, I hadn't so much as visited a karaoke room this con, so I followed a few of the others over for the last singing session of the weekend. Although I didn't sing solo, partly to allow kids to do so, I very much enjoyed being able to join in a variety of G4 and G5 numbers. The room wasn't too crowded and the tech wasn't misbehaving, so it made quite a relaxing way to spend half an hour or so.

The sunny venue. Also the Sunny venue

And then it was time for the closing ceremony. Boooo! Before we began, though, we had a little mass singalong. The only G4 track I can remember was the classic "Cafeteria Song", but for once even that was overshadowed. G5's thoroughgoing success was underlined with a wonderful, raucous group rendition of "Danger, Danger" – we weren't a very angry mob in reality, but it was enormous fun. The usual thank yous and prizegivings followed... and then we really did have to leave.

About a dozen of us headed for the Gooseberry Bush pub for a post-con meal – fish and chips in my case. I'm sorry to say that my newly acquired Fluttershy doll disgraced herself when faced with my pint of cider. Worse, a certain person who really ought to remain nameless (but won't – hi, Culdee) sat her on the vinegar bottle to declare "Fluttershy on acid". Dearie dearie me. After 90 minutes or so I headed for the tram to the station, accompanied by Stu and Oilyvalves, both of whom shared a convivial table with me for part of the train trip home.

Go home, Fluttershy, you're drunk

And that was it for my first convention in two years! What a weekend it had been. The event had been a resounding success, and I was delighted to have been able to be a part of it. The experience of UKPC 2021 has certainly made me very much hope that I will manage to be there for UKPC 2022!

Next time: some bits and bobs and random thoughts I couldn't fit in the standard report

UK PonyCon 2021 report, part 4: Sunday (first half)

Morning in Nottinghamshire shimmers...

After a decent night's sleep (now there's a novelty!) I checked out of my hotel early to head for the bus station, there being no early trains from Mansfield on Sundays. Thanks to some iffy directions, I very nearly ended up getting on a bus to the local Amazon warehouse, which would have been awkward. Happily this was averted and I enjoyed a pleasantly quiet 40-minute ride into Nottingham. It was a bit chilly, but the weather looked like being reasonable.

Breakfast this time had been arranged in advance, and there were five of us at table in the Roebuck – which was also pleasantly quiet. Wetherspoons Large Breakfast certainly lives up to its name, but it's rather handy for cons when you're never quite sure how you're going to fit in lunch. With our UKPC badges already sorted out and around our necks, we strolled in leisurely fashion to the venue and were inside pretty quickly to enjoy another day of small horses.

Five minutes to opening! Featuring Griffin's hat (bottom left)

I'd asked online whether anyone would be interested in playing Chase the Ace, and Ace (fittingly), Zen plus one or two more had said they were up for it. This is a simple card game that we play at nearly all Worcester meets. I'd always wanted to play it at a convention, and I'd nearly managed it in 2019. Of course, you-know-what meant a long delay after that, but at last it actually happened! Unlike two years ago, I had a proper MLP pack which really does make things a lot more fun.

As with Saturday, the Sunday morning was fairly quiet, so we found a spare table on the upper floor and got cracking. This was a non-competitive game, so we didn't bother with the usual "three lives" setup. As time went on, more and more people wandered along and joined in or spectated. By the end, I think we had something like 13 people, making this something not a million miles away from a "renegade" Chase the Ace panel! :P Sounds silly I know, but this was a big highlight of the con for me.

Chase the Ace: I suffer the Curse of the Cakes, averted only by Twist (right)

Around 11 am, some people headed off to Reskell's panel comparing the furry and Pony fandoms – they're a member of both, which gave them a useful insight. I was thinking about going, even though I'd watched Reskell do a similar presentation at one of the online UKPCs... but it was at this point that my second (and last) minor attack of social anxiety hit. As with yesterday's, it wasn't a big deal, but it was just enough to put me off wanting to go to a panel that I suspected would be quite well attended. Ah well.

I reprised my plan from the Saturday of going downstairs to look at the vendor hall, since that gave me plenty of space and allowed walking around, which helped a lot. There were some highly impressive lots on the charity auction table, and I'll certainly be returning to that in the next part of this report. I also had to cast a proprietorial eye over the Newcomer Customs entries, given that I was the sponsor of that contest! Not a judge, thankfully, as I would have found it pretty hard to pick a winner.

Some of the impressive Newcomer Customs entries (eventual winner on the left)

Definitely time for lunch now. As most of us (now including unexpected Sunday arrival Oilyvalves, who'd kept that quiet!) weren't really up for a walk, we stuck with sandwiches and snacks from the café pod. The chocolate cupcakes were very nice! Slightly later in the afternoon (temporary jump ahead because I can't edit properly yay!) I did a bit more shopping. Jowy's Hitch prints had definitively sold out, but at least I managed to get an Izzy. A bit later on, I also spent £1 on a  charity tombola spin and won a Fluttershy EqG doll. Could be worse!

Back to the present! At 12:30 quite a few of us, this time including me, headed for the Tails of Equestria panel. This was about the popular licensed MLP role-playing game sold by River Horse, and was given by game designer Jack Cæsar. He proved to be an excellent presenter, talking interestingly and in quite some detail about the process of working with Hasbro to make the game work to everyone's satisfaction. One little snippet he shared: Hasbro were adamant that players should not be able to have an alicorn character!*
* As Cæsar pointed out, you can hack this by giving a character earth pony, pegasus and unicorn abilities...

Applying the concept of RPG balancing to a world containing an all-powerful chaos lord. And Flurry Heart

Next time: auction stare-outs, angry mobs and Fluttershy really letting herself down

Ponyfic Roundup 364: Lets Do This Edition

Read it Later story count: 99 (+1) 

As trailed a fortnight ago, today PR is concentrating on some of the works of one particular author Lets Do This. Several factors prompted me to choose them, including the fact that they only started in 2018, that they have a sizeable body of stories to choose from, and that they have a reasonable variety of genres under their belt. (Lots of Twilight, but I can live with that!) However, I decided I would not be reading any of the significant number of stories in their various AU series. Maybe another time, but not this – when for once I have five fics to look at. These are:

No More Letters by Lets Do This
It's Just Magic! by Lets Do This
Starlight Breaks Magic by Lets Do This
Style Guide by Lets Do This
Flying While Pegasus by Lets Do This

★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 4 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.

UK PonyCon 2021 report, part 3: Saturday (second half)

My muffin did break, but I can't say I wasn't warned!

After the cosplay contest, I decided I really, really needed a muffin. Well... actually there was a small ulterior motive. For the first of two times that weekend, I had a minor attack of "I need to be not sitting still in a busy room" type social anxiety. Please note minor. Anyway, Nottingham is happily possessed of a Muffin Break within ten minutes' walk, so I headed off to the (busy!) Victoria Centre and found myself an apple and cinnamon muffin. Happy now, AJ?

I was feeling fine after my few minutes in the open air, so I came straight back into the venue. (A note of appreciation here for the excellent venue security staff, who were reassuring, professional, calm and unobtrusive throughout.) I can't actually remember what happened at this point, but I expect I found a friend or two and rambled on inanely for a while. As usual, I also looked from a distance at the serious collectors' stalls and felt slightly intimidated!

I used to wonder what Neo-Medievalism could be

Four o'clock came, and with it the next panel I was attending: this was given by long-time UKPC and fandom supporter Dr Ewan Kirkland, aka "Dr Pony". A serious academic who realises the immense importance of pastel talking horses. This year's subject was "MLP and the Gothic", and it was a very interesting and thought-provoking hour. The first audience suggestion to "Who is the most Gothic pony?" was Pinkie – and on examination, that wasn't entirely a joke.

Dr Pony's talk ranged widely, from the 18th century origins of Gothic literature to modern computer games like A Night in the Woods. I'd definitely recommend his panels if you haven't had the pleasure before. I think after this I probably wandered off to have a look at some of the lots for Sunday's charity auction. I wish I'd been able to think of something to contribute to it myself, but most of the Pony tat I own would be lucky to raise more than 75p...

Fluttershy cookie, before she lost her head

I think it was at around this time that Stu asked who'd be interested in a quick run down to Burger King. I tagged along with about half a dozen others and we walked briskly through the chilly autumn air (it wasn't that close!) to the aforementioned fine establishment. I like BK burgers, but in Nottingham at least they ain't cheap. Still, "cheap" and "convention" don't really go together. A shame our table was in a howling gale, but still, ventilation, eh? :P

After a good chat we all headed back to the con. The next highlight was the "Great Britannia Bake-Off". Venue restrictions meant cooking actually in the hall wasn't possible, so we watched a very amusing video of several of the staff making Pony-themed treats with... various levels of success. Jez benefited (well, kind of) from his posh "rich man mixer", as pointed out mercilessly by the on-screen captions. I wish there'd been a dire warning about the Fluttershy biscuit beheading, though! ;)

"What did G1 Taffy spill into spaghetti?" Backcard canon. Oh, Hasbro...

Pub Quiz time! UK PonyCon legend and Derpy superfan Archer (who was at the first UKPC at Morecambe in 2004) returned to her equally legendary role asking the questions. Our team, shamelessly called "Derpy Continuously Flies into Custard" put up a worryingly good showing, and we only avoided the disaster of winning the thing thanks to some judicious wrong answers.* That's our story, anyway. It was a fantastic hour, though, and felt just like a UKPC Pub Quiz should.
* One day there will be a question to which the answer really is "Kaiser Wilhelm II". This was not that day

I had ages to wait until my train so hoped to join a few friends in the nearby Roebuck. However, central Nottingham was heaving (not helped by England's men's football team playing the mighty Andorra that night) and so I decided not to join the others in their quest for a pub with room to stand up in. Instead, I headed for the station. Oh, there were all the football fans. A not very pleasant half-hour journey to Mansfield later, I was in the Travelodge reflecting on a pretty darn good day one.

The pride of the Northern fleet. Not pictured: 745 loud football fans

 Next time: avoiding Amazon, big breakfasts and renegade panels

UK PonyCon 2021 report, part 2: Saturday (first half)

I remain far from convinced that this time in the morning actually exists

Thanks to my late, late decision to attend UK PonyCon this year, I could only really justify a one-night stay. (Saturday night hotel rooms = £££!) As such, I was on the platform at Kidderminster station with my single tote bag of clothes'n'stuff before six o'clock. The trains ran like clockwork, and so I was in Nottingham around half past eight. I wasn't sure what to do, but Culdee kindly invited me to join his little group in the pub for breakfast, so I accepted. Two stops on the tram and I was there.

We walked up to the con venue, since it wasn't worth getting the tram again. The queue didn't look too big when we arrived, and like everyone else we were curious as to how many attendees there'd actually be. However, the line lengthened steadily and I was glad not to have waited until the last minute! A final reminder of our current strange times with the Covid status check later, I was picking up my badge at the reg desk and I was through the portal into another, better world. Where everypony knows your hame.

Hi, Pony, I'm home!

For reasons that rather escaped us the con book (which was generally excellently produced) listed events in alphabetical rather than time order. This didn't work all that well, as it meant for example that the opening ceremony was listed after the closing ceremony; we spent a bit of time flicking back and forth to find stuff. Talking of the opening ceremony, this was a quietly emotional affair. We'd all, from committee to us 'umble hattendees, waited so long for this. But we were back!

The con schedule this time was a little quieter than in previous years, with the opening ceremony not kicking off until 11. This was fine, as it allowed time for us all to get reacquainted with the venue (also used in 2018 and 2019), buy a little merch (as ever, I had to have the UKPC T-shirt!), meet friends who in some cases we hadn't seen in person for two years and just generally readjust to being in the half-forgotten World of Conventions. (That sounds like a theme park. In a way I suppose it was!)

We're here! We're strong! We're gonna shout bing-bong!

After an initial wander around some of the stalls, quite a few people headed for the "Discorded Quiz". This turned out to be a kind of QI-influenced affair, with questions that demanded some lateral thinking. I enjoyed these, although many of the questions were ones I'd seen before and there was a bit less actual Pony in them than I'd have expected. Then it was time for a spot of light lunch. The café pod's huge queues from 2019 were far less of an issue this time, so a big tick there! There was definitely no mayo on my BLT sandwich... :P

More chat and stall-wandering followed, wherein I picked up the Spike badge by StormBlaze that you saw in my merch haul post. One of the most welcome changes this year had been the introduction of free water coolers (not near the art stands, obviously!) and I hope those continue at future UKPCs, whatever the venue used. The hand sanitiser dispensers were appreciated, as well. From memory in 2019 there were drinking fountains in the toilet areas, but those had gone, maybe for Covid reasons.

Hey Google, what's the definition of a lost cause?

I was deliberately not attending as many panels this year as I had in the Before Times, as being with friends and soaking up the atmosphere were more important. Also, I had after all woken up before five that morning! However, I did want to attend the Cosplay Contest. As with other "mane" events this year, it was held in the big cinema-style lecture theatre. This worked very well, as the raked seating, good sound and big screens made it a comfortable experience. Excellent, my favourites probably being the trio of G1 cosplayers: Megan, Danny and Catrina.

By now it was fairly clear that G5 had made a positive impression: one staff member told me that they'd met several people who had only experienced G5, and yet had been impressed enough to do the convention thing. "Bing Bong!" echoed through the halls every time someone dared to utter the M-word. For now, loads of fun, though now I come to mention it I hope it's dialled back a little in future cons, as "Fun! Fun! Fun!" itself had to be back in the BUCK days. Still, we were off to a great start. :)

Cosplay! Featuring Ace as Best Babysitter Sunburst...

Next time: rich man mixers, Hasbro's increasingly worrying G1 history and Saturday night trains