Ponyfic Roundup 492

Read it Later story count: 92 (-2)

Words read this week: 31,201

First up, I must warn folks that I will be at Worcester hospital next Wednesday having lasers fired into my eyes. (No, really. It's not Twilight's fault.) As such, I doubt I'll be in much of a frame of mind to respond to stuff on here when I get home. There will be a Roundup on 5th June, but comments may take a little while to get read. I won't know until a little after then whether there'll be a PR on 12th June or whether I'll take a week off. Right; back to today!

The Root of the Problem by BlazzingInferno
One Storm at a Time by Impossible Numbers
The Afterparty by Honeypelt945
Tracks in the Sand by DwarvishPony
As the Sun Sets, Twilight Covers. by Pickleless

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

Fimfiction is getting regular ponyfic reviews on its site posts again!

This is something I should have mentioned some days ago, and indeed intended to before I did that usual Loganish thing of forgetting. Long-time Fimfictioneer, prolific ponyfic author and extremely dedicated reviewer PaulAsaran has been asked if he'd be willing to have his fortnightly ponyfic blogs given a spot on the Fimfiction news pages. I'm very happy to say that – at least for a trial period – he has accepted!

Happy for several reasons. First, he's a damn good reviewer and he's earned this. If you don't already follow his blogs, what are you waiting for? Second, as Ghost Mike points out, we've had several years without any regular reviews on the site pages. I'll come back to a thought on that aspect in a moment. Third, with a few tweaks (such as, very slightly sadly but understandably, writing a little less about his non-fandom life) he'll be able to keep doing his review posts the way he has for years.

Now, I said I'd come back to point two. One thing I'm going to be interested to see is how newer Fimfiction members react to this, given that they didn't experience the old days when you encountered reviews a lot. Another thing, though, is whether it will encourage a renaissance in reviewing. We've had a few new folks in the past few years, most recently abrony-mouse, but I think all of us current reviewers would be delighted to see more join the ranks. Hopefully many authors would, too!

But let's return to the most important person here: PaulAsaran. I think he's done a lot for Fimfiction in general, just like the (different) person who's going to be revealed soon as the subject of my next Author Spotlight edition of Ponyfic Roundup. By accepting the invitation to have his reviews in the Fimfiction news pages, he'll be doing it – and the cause of anyone who loves ponyfic – another service. I await Paul's first site post with great eagerness!

Sounds of 2014, nos. 75 to 71

Time to get back to the Equestrian Trot 100 chart, to see what kind of music was rocking the fandom ten years ago. As ever, this means popular then, not necessarily released then. Also as ever, here's a run-down of the criteria I use for inclusion:

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

There is one skip this week, which as usual is something of a pity, but these things happen. It doesn't meet any of the criteria, so that's that. Here's the list of what we do have:

75: Foozogz – Winter Spirit
74: Foozogz – Make a Wish (Cotton Candy RMX)
73: YourEnigma – My Roommate is a "Bassist"
72: skipped
71: Vocal Score – Under Luna's Sky

Past the jump break, there'll be the usual collection of YouTube embeds and Loganish rambles. Why yes, I did just copy and paste that bit from last time.

Ponyfic Roundup 491: Spotlight on Taken for Granite

Read it Later story count: 94 (+1)

Words read this week: 61,172

The second Spotlight in four weeks, and in both cases they're fics with [Romance] genre tags – in the case of this week's story, that's the only tag. Perhaps not something you'd expect from me, and indeed I was quite surprised myself, but I've had this fic on my watchlist for a long time and I've noticed it get consistently positive reactions and reviews over the years. Time to see whether I agree!

Taken for Granite by Cloudy Skies
Applejack and Pinkie Pie
G4; Romance; 61k words; Aug 2013; Teen

Ask Applejack, and she'll tell you Pinkie Pie can be a few apples short of a bushel. They've always been good friends, but what could they possibly have in common? Turns out there is an answer to that question.

This is not a flash-bang, incident-packed shipfic – and it's all the better for that. Set in the FiM we knew at the time of publication, ie early-mid S4 with Twilight an alicorn but Maud not yet around, it concentrates on character. This works well since it's largely (but not entirely) told from Applejack's perspective, and we get a nice look at how her straightforwardness can be compromised. First by a secret Pinkie entrusts to her, but also by matters of the heart. I like Pinkie's depiction here as well: she's very Pinkie, but she has the essential core of wisdom that stops her feeling one-dimensional. ("Wise fool" is I think iisaw's definition of Pinkie, and to some extent at least she's that here.) It's a slow-burn romance, and if you want fireworks you should look elsewhere. But as a largely show-tone (the Teen rating is cautious) look at a slightly unusual pairing in ApplePie, Taken for Granite¹ works very nicely. Shades a four as a result. ★★★★
¹ The A/N mentions that the title was Present Perfect's idea.

As usual with Spotlights, spoilers await beyond this point!

My Little Repeats 163: "A Health of Information"

We only see it once the danger is over, but swamp fever's final stage is real Nightmare Fuel stuff for MLP

S7E20: "A Health of Information"

23 Sep 2017

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

The one with Zecora's drum kit heartbeat

Thoughts: Two Zecora appearances in a row! More to the point, though, this was and remains my favourite Pillars episode and one of my favourite Fluttershy starring roles from late Friendship is Magic. It's credited to Sammie Crowley and Whitney Wetta, making their second and last appearances after the okay-ish "A Flurry of Emotions". This one is better. For one, the stakes are very high indeed: swamp fever's progression is about as close as FiM gets to explicitly saying Zecora's life is in danger. Indeed, there's more jeopardy later when 'Shy herself is infected. She has a really meaty role this time, showing lots of initiative and determination – though a little less common sense when it comes to sleep, as both Twilight and Cattail point out. Meanwhile, we've heard about the excellent Mage Meadowbrook and her clever realisation about the flash bees, which Fluttershy later works out herself. Not everything is perfect – the bees being yet another conveniently magic-resistant thing made me groan. But so much more is good, topped off with a solid, relatable moral. I am more than happy to maintain this episode's four-star rating. It's still one of my favourites.

Choice quote: Twilight: "Anypony who lives in a tree is okay by me."

New rating: ★★★★

Only one more show episode before I rewatch the G4 film! That ep will be "Marks and Recreation", which is one I've gone back and forth on a bit over the years but expect to find at least reasonably still appealing.

Quick note to the person who uses "aftermath" a lot in their comments

You're welcome to comment, of course, but I do ask that people who use the "Anonymous" option when commenting provide some sort of a name to use so I can keep track of who commented what and don't reply to a completely different person using "Anonymous" – there is more than one. Just putting something like "--Logan" (using your name instead) in plain text at the bottom of your comment is totally fine.

 You don't have to use your real name, it's absolutely fine to use a pseudonym if you want, but I'm not going to respond to someone who comments without any kind of name at all. Thanks! :)

Ponyfic Roundup 490

Read it Later story count: 93 (+1)

Words read this week: 30,858

I saw the Northern Lights for the first time ever last Friday night. They weren't incredibly spectacular – let me tell you, those photos you see of the aurora blazing away above Birmingham or something as though it were bright enough to cast shadows are often very long exposures and/or enhanced within an inch of their lives. That is definitely not what I saw with the naked eye! I don't care, though: I'd never seen the Lights at all before, and the experience was magical. Talking of magic, it's ponyfic time!

Lunch with Fluttershy by iisaw
Twilight Sparkle at the Gate of Heavenly Peace by Cold in Gardez
The Runaway... Ears?... by Lulamoon-Crystal
Stone Cold Justice by Featherstroke
Doused Flame by heartlessons

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

Gemini writes ponyfic

Kind of prompted by iisaw's recent blog post, it's AI ponyfic time again! A new challenger has entered the fray. Well, not new as it's been around for a while now, but Google's Gemini hasn't been featured in this series before. I've kept the same prompt from last time, though with a slight addition at the end:

Please write a My Little Pony story (with a suitable title) in which Fluttershy and Rarity discuss a sensitive issue over a cup of tea. The two ponies are very long-standing friends and trust each other completely. Both of them are quiet conversationalists, so the conversation should have a restrained emotional tone. However, the much brasher Rainbow Dash barges into the cottage halfway through. Please remember that readers will already be very familiar with these characters, and so don't need reminders of their basic personalities.

Past the page break for the story – and it's one of the odder entries. There's some interesting stuff here, and Gemini has handled a few elements quite well compared with most if not all of its predecessors. It even came up with a title that wasn't in the usual tedious "A Delicate Conversation" line. However, it has a bad case of ellipsis addiction, and more seriously it completely failed to include a rather significant part of the prompt...

Sounds of 2014: Nos. 80 to 76

It's been a little bit too long since I last posted a "Sounds of 2014" entry, so let's do something about that today. Before I get to the actual music, here's the usual reminder of the criteria I use to decide whether to feature a track:

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

No skips this week, I'm happy to inform you! We also have a double bill from one artist, someone who remains very well known in the fandom to this day. Indeed, the overall roster of artists here is quite a heavyweight one.

80: Foozogz – You've Got The Music (Foozogz DELIGHT MIX)
79: Aviators – The Party Song
78: Vylet Pony ft. LilyCloud – Fall to the Clouds
77: Vylet Pony ft. LilyCloud – Starcrossed
76: MandoPony – Away in the Sky

Past the jump break, there'll be the usual collection of YouTube embeds and Loganish rambles.

Ponyfic Roundup 489

Read it Later story count: 92 (-5)

Words read this week: 27,709

Pickled onion flavour crisps. Why are they so damn good? And no, this is not the shortdesc of a forthcoming ponyfic, though possibly it could be. For someone. In some alternate universe where crispfics are unaccountably popular. Anyway, a rather lower word count this week than has mostly been the case in recent times, but still more than enough to cover five stories. Look below to see what they are.

Does a cyborg have a soul? by GrayOnBlue
Movements of Fire and Shadow by Inquisitor M
The 2,000 Year Friendship by DaeCat
Angel Crashes a Wedding by Prak
Velvet Quill & Sunny Skies by Sledge115

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

My Little Repeats 162: "It Isn't the Mane Thing About You"

"Now Pinkie Pie, I must insist that you do not yell 'What a twist!'"

S7E19: "It Isn't the Mane Thing About You"

16 Sep 2017

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 7.9

The one with the anniversary of the Cake twins' first sneezes

Thoughts: I wonder how many people see this episode's name and think, "Punk Rarity!" – but don't remember many more details than that? I suspect quite a few. Even me, despite liking this a lot seven years ago. Perhaps a little more than most, but many did at least enjoy it – this ep did quite well in Text Review Roundup. Now, though? Well, I still enjoy it, even if it is an episode you probably don't want to examine too forensically. Right at the end, I'm not sure it's a great lesson for kids (especially in the social media age) that it's fine to send photos to be published without the subject's knowledge. Zecora's out-of-nowhere stuff about how mane magic is especially hard doesn't jibe¹ with Trixie doing it in "Boast Busters", either. Josh Haber, innit – but at least this episode still works in the "Is it fun?" stakes. It's nice that secondary characters (Zecora herself, Carrot Top, Mr Breezy, Davenport, Filthy Rich...) get significant speaking roles. Pinkie is fun. The Flower Trio's colourful stall is nice. And yes, Punk Rarity does look pretty cool. Four stars might have been slightly over the top, but it's still getting a pretty solid three. Despite its faults, I still like this one.
¹ Admission time: I had to check it should be "jibe" here, not "jive"...

Choice quote: Rarity: "One shouldn't have to brave the darkest part of the forest for shampoo."

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "A Health of Information", which was my favourite Pillars episode, and which featured Fluttershy in a good central role. Okay, so those two things probably aren't entirely unrelated...

abrony-mouse reviews We Are the Everfree

Over on Fimfiction, abrony-mouse (who I mentioned the other day) has done me the kindness of giving a more detailed review to one of my fics, We Are the Everfree. This story, as some of you may remember, was the one I produced for Mockingbirb's "Arboreal Yearnings" contest, in which characters had to want to be, pretend to be, actually be, etc trees. And no, they didn't have to be Fluttershy. They're not here.

There, abrony-mouse goes into quite some detail about my story, and there was definitely food for thought. There's also a small Q&A with me at the end, which is an honour I've very rarely had – it was fun to answer. I don't necessarily agree with everything abrony-mouse said in the review (surely woodenness is kind of a given with a treefic ;) ) but I'm very grateful for said reviewer's thoughts and good nature.

Read the deep-dive review on Fimfiction!

Ponyfic Roundup 488

Read it Later story count: 97 (+3)

Words read this week: 36,057

It's May now, everycreature! Season of greenery, sunshine (sometimes) and at least later on, hay fever. What relevance this has to this blog is debatable at best. If you're going to Griffish Isles in a couple of weeks then that will probably be among this month's highlights, but since I'm not it isn't. What is relevant is that I've recently had several fics recommended to me, which is one reason the RiL count has increased. I'll be reading some of those before adding any more, though, so that count isn't going to go back to three figures!

Losing a Rhyme by Original Username
Cozy Glow: FIENDship is Magic by RainbowDoubleDash
New... Friends? by OneLonelyPickle
The Tumultuous Tribulations of Time Turner. by midnighttowboy
Prince Blueblood VS Big Macintosh by MontyCS

★: 1 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 0 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 1
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.