Sunday, 29 June 2025

My Little Repeats 193: "A Rockhoof and a Hard Place"

"I am never known to quail at the fury of a gale..."

S8E21: "A Rockhoof and a Hard Place"

15 Sep 2018

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 7.4

The one with surfer Pinkie

Thoughts: A clunky pun for the episode title. This was the second of three writing credits for Kaita Mpambara, who began with the amusing "Horse Play" earlier in S8. This is one of those frustrating episodes that has a solid, interesting idea – that Rockhoof finds it harder to adapt to the modern world than the other Pillars – but doesn't always quite get the execution right. That shows up particularly from the end of the second act, when Rockhoof asks to be turned to a statue. This should be an extraordinarily powerful scene – it's not quite suicidal, but it's close for a TV-Y show – but the gravity of it doesn't quite hit home. The episode's pacing is uneven, too, with the section featuring the other Pillars dragging. Bits and pieces: it's a bit much Twilight and Applejack telling Rockhoof off for being a hero when "what we need here is a teacher", given their own approach to their School of Friendship commitments! AJ lampshading the weirdness of hippogriffs having ships is funny, but it doesn't really help!¹ I do like Yona a lot in this episode, and the students in general, really. The resolution of having Rockhoof appointed official storyteller also does seem fitting. I think it's probably right on the two/three border for me these days. I'm not that interested in the Pillars, but even with the issues I mention I think it's just about still a three.
¹ Though iisaw did suggest in 2018 that the ships might be for cargo (or cannons!)

Choice quote: Rockhoof: "I'm, uh, your new Theory and Defence of Friendship teacher."

New rating:

Next time, it will be "What Lies Beneath". In some fans' eyes, this is a contender for the best episode of S8, although a certain even later ep tends to steal the limelight. I remember liking it a lot, although I had very mixed feelings about one particular scene, which I'll get to when the time comes.

UK PonyCon news – venue change reasons and stalls changes

I said in my post on Thursday that one reason UK PonyCon was trusted was that it fronted up when things were awkward instead of hiding. The excellent Reskell (UKPC comms lead) did just that recently. There's now a Stallholder Clarification article, but that title is a little deceptive as there's quite a bit of info in it that's of interest to all potential attendees. It's only really the first section on carer and helper tickets that's narrowly focused. I'd strongly advise you to read the full piece for yourself, but a few bullet points of things that stood out to me:

  • UK PonyCon did not choose to leave Nottingham. Rather, Nottingham Trent University (NTU) was not available for the usual UKPC dates and alternative dates offered clashed with other conventions. UKPC doesn't rule out going back to NTU one day; the language used suggests that relations are still good.
  • Reasons for the choice of Birmingham venue. There are quite a few of these, but notable is the extremely central location of the Birmingham Conference and Events Centre. It also has better air circulation systems, which will be good news to those of us who were dropping like flies at last year's auction!
  • Running UKPC at BCEC costs more than at NTU. This is given as the (main, anyway) reason ticket prices had to increase. We're not going to get fine details since no significant venue wants its contract details in the public domain, but you can make a few more or less educated guesses about why the cost is higher.
  • Reduced stalls space compared with 2024. It seems that the available stalls area is significantly reduced this year compared to what NTU could offer. I suspect it's a painful but necessary trade-off for the other advantages that BCEC brings. But it will mean single tables only, and fewer of them, so be prepared.

There is also a concerning section right at the bottom of the post about certain people having taken it upon themselves to contact the venue directly about booking extra space. Please do not do this! It's really important that concerns and questions go through the UK PonyCon team themselves. A con having good relations with a venue is worth its weight in gold. 

Finally, I'd once again like to compliment Reskell's handling of this. This is how you do it. Front up, give details where you can, be polite but clear and firm, keep your head. They're good at this. No names, no pack drill, but we can all think of other events that would not have dealt with this as calmly and speedily. But as a rule, those events don't survive for 21 years...

Thursday, 26 June 2025

UK PonyCon 2025 ticket details!

You know how when I posted a revised schedule on Tuesday I said that "[i]f any big news intervenes then so be it." Well, about that...

With exactly 100 days to go until UK PonyCon 2025, last night saw ticket details announced! They will go on sale at 7pm BST on Saturday 12th July. That's still over a fortnight away, but nevertheless the tickets page itself is now live, allowing you to see what you get for your money. I'll put some thoughts after the main bit, for which I'll keep to the format I used in 2024:

I'm using Adult Weekend ticket prices here, since I imagine the large majority of people reading Louder Yay will be buying those. There are also one-day, child and family rates – and a cheaper (£15) option granting entry only to the new-for-2025 Friday night music event. The tiers remain as they were last year, except that Silver numbers fall from 75 to 60 and Gold from five to four. That returns the totals to where they were in 2023.

Standard: £75 (+25% on 2024) – entrance to all days of the convention (including the Friday night music), con book, basic blue lanyard. You can have a personalised con badge if you book by 15th August.

Bronze: £99 (+16%) – nicer lanyard, Bronze sponsor badge, name in con book (if you want it), Bronze button badge, vinyl sticker sheet, £5 donation to UKPC's long-standing charity, the RDA. New for this year is the option to purchase (for £60) the sponsor hoodie, which previously could only be obtained by Silver or Gold ticket-holders.

Silver: £210 (+14%) – priority queue, silver sponsor badge, drawstring bag, Silver/Gold sponsor-exclusive T-shirt, art print, water bottle, wooden pin, two autograph tokens, £10 RDA donation. New for this year is a special guest signing session just for Silver sponsors.

Gold: £525 (+17%) – all the Silver perks and sponsor hoodie, Britannia plushie, top-table seating at Afternoon Tea, personalised welcome letter, four autograph/photo tokens, £20 RDA donation. New for this year is custom artwork from a member of the UKPC Arts Team in both digital and various physical forms. The Britannia this year is not a Sewpoke one. It's the mass-produced one from last year, but with a fitted-to-size themed shirt (with each buyer getting a unique design) from the highly regarded shadowonthemoon.

There are more perks I haven't listed, especially for the top two tiers, so go and read those on the Tickets page itself if you're curious! (And why wouldn't you be?)

Anyway, thoughts. First, I'm happy and relieved to see tickets announced. Except for the 2021 iteration, which was held in very unusual circumstances as we emerged from the Covid pandemic, this is by some distance the latest tickets have gone on sale since I started attending UKPC over a decade ago. In 2018, the last time the con switched venues, they could be bought before the end of April. So yeah, this is unusually late even considering the fact that the con has a new location.

Prices? Well, I would first like to compliment the UK PonyCon folks on fronting up on this issue in their announcement blog post. One of the reasons (though by no means the only) that this convention is so trusted is that its staff don't try to sweep things like this under the carpet. I also recognise the amount of effort that went into keeping the popular Bronze tier under £100. I think it's probably still the best value tier, as was the case last year. The gap between Standard and Bronze is in fact now very slightly smaller than it was in 2024.

As I said last year, annual rises of roughly 15% are not sustainable in the longer term and have to end before too much longer.¹ But that's the only real note of concern I'm going to sound in this post. So to get back to good things! I'm glad Friday pre-registration is staying; it was an excellent innovation last year. With that and a Friday night concert this year, it may become more challenging to fit in the informal pre-meets that a lot of us really enjoy, but that can be worked out. Of course one unknown is the venue staff. If they're as good with attendees as the Nottingham ones were, we'll be in good shape.
¹ A 15% rise for the next 15 years brings a Standard ticket to £600+ by 2040, four times what it would be with 5% rises. 

At this point it is traditional for me to say that I don't know whether or for how long I'll be able to attend. This year, with the convention in a city that's convenient for me to access, I'm cautiously on the side of "I will be there". The question for me this time will be whether I stay over or commute in each day – or even adopt a hybrid approach, perhaps staying on Friday night but not the much more expensive (in hotel terms) Saturday. That's not something I yet know, but we shall see!

This post is long enough now, I think. I remain of the opinion that UK PonyCon is a wonderful event that is run in a way that reflects very well on the British My Little Pony fandom. It is, after all, the longest-running MLP convention in the world, and you don't earn that status by accident. In the old days, coming of age used to be your 21st birthday. Unless you're an American wanting to buy beer, turning 21 now has less resonance – so I'll borrow UK PonyCon's 2025 theme title and simply say... Adventure Awaits!

Tuesday, 24 June 2025

Yep, yet another of those meta posts

Honestly, if you've been here any length of time, you probably know what this is without even reading the body text! The lack of a "My Little Repeats" post on Sunday might have tipped you off, too. But yeah, I've run out of time to do stuff again thanks to life being life. Nothing especially bad, just that I've been ludicrously busy and expect to continue being so for a little while yet. (And yeah, this is also why I'm still behind with my Ponyfic Roundup courtesy notes on Fimfiction.)

So here's the deal:

  • have managed to get "Sounds of 2016" out, as you saw earlier today.
  • Ponyfic Roundup should be up on Friday or Saturday, with a low-word-count week to follow.
  • "My Little Repeats" should happen on Sunday.
  • Things should be back on an even keel by this time next week. 

I can't promise any of these (well, maybe the first one) but it's what I currently think is likely. If any big news intervenes then so be it. But one thing I can reassure you all about: I am definitely not losing interest in this fandom. Ponies still rock!

Sounds of 2016, nos. 75 to 71

It's time once again to return to the Equestrian Trot 100 for 2016, which as you may remember actually runs (in terms of voting period) from December 2015 to November 2016. It's the best you're going to get from me, though! Comforming to my usual custom, here are the inclusion rules:

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. 

It's always nice when I can feature all five songs in a week's selection, but it doesn't always work out that way. This time, though, it absolutely did! Huzzah! How many tracks do I receive? [Five. That's kind of the point. —Ed.]

75: Spectra – Welcome to the Show (remix)
74: JoinedTheHerd – I Can Do It On My Own (remix)
73: Forest Rain ft. Luna Jax – Let the Magic Fill Your Soul (cover)
72: Crusader! – Power Ponies GO!
71: Aurelleah & Kadenza ft. PegasYs – Firelight

You can make up your own pre-break waffle here. I'm going straight to the tunes!

Wednesday, 18 June 2025

Ponyfic Roundup 544

Read it Later story count: 87 (nc)

Words read this week: 42,149

A mini-heatwave is happening here over the next few days, with temperatures nudging the low 30s – notable for England. As it's almost exactly midsummer, there's not much darkness overnight, but what there is, is also pretty warm and humid. It's not the easiest weather to do things in, though I can at least manage reading! A good job too, as this week's word count is the highest for some time, barring Spotlight editions.

The Long Payoff by totallynotabrony
I Want to Dance with Somepony by ThunderChaserCreate
Zephyr Breeze Doesn't Know How To Flirt by alafoel
Pinkie Pie Swear by Annuska
Rainbow Shadow by RainbowShadow [sic]

★: 0 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.

Tuesday, 17 June 2025

Sounds of 2016, nos. 80 to 76

Back to 2016 again now, and today it's the final part of the bottom quarter of the Equestrian Trot 100 chart. Look, I have to say something up here, all right? :P Let's start with the usual reminder of the inclusion criteria:

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. 

Last week I had to skip the very last song of the quintet. This time, I'm delighted to say that we're back up to a full complement of five! Here's the full list of tracks:

80: OhPonyBoy – You are Wonderful
79: Silva Hound – Diamonds
78: µThunder – Lost on the Moon (remix)
77: AwkwardMarina – Open Your Eyes (a cappella cover)
76: Aviators – Dragonheart

After the jump break, if you're using a computer to view this page, I'll post the songs and some waffly waffling about them.

Sunday, 15 June 2025

My Little Repeats 192: "The Washouts"

The facial expressions are great in this ep: strong without being overdone

S8E20: "The Washouts"

8 Sep 2018

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 7.2

The one with the limited edition half-eaten tomato sandwich

Thoughts: Nick Confalone is usually a decent choice for a Cutie Mark Crusaders episode, in this case a Scootaloo special, and so it proves here. We have a clearly "rebellious teen" Scoots here, and it largely works. She's no longer obsessed with Rainbow Dash, and that's leaving Dash herself confused and somewhat bereft – obvious analogy of course, but again it largely works. Lightning Dust's part was apparently spoiled in 2018, but you could guess it was coming. It makes no sense that Scoot didn't know about Dusty, though, given "Parental Glideance". Mind you, Scootaloo was superbly animated in her "caught in the middle" role during Dash and Lightning's argument. And, of course, her "I... can't fly!" which was quite something for us fans at the time. Dusty's sidekicks, the Aussie (why?) Rolling Thunder and the well-named Short Fuse, are... mildly fun. Spitfire's rant was inspired by this SNL sketch, and SNL isn't an "everyone will get this" reference in the UK. Twilight, where's the, well, loyalty to Rainbow? And why are you waiting until Scootaloo is potentially going to die before acting? Sod personal responsibility for teenagers at that point. the episode again looks fantastic, with heaps of inventiveness in the stunt setups. A fun episode, but there are enough irritations that four stars was too high. One of those is being cut.

Choice quote: Rainbow Dash, to Twilight: "Please tell me you got that stuff so you could rip it up and throw it off a cliff."

New rating:

Another decent score, and though not without its flaws this episode was enjoyable enough for me to feel good about having watched it again. Next up is "A Rockhoof and a Hard Place", an ep which may have a bit more to do. I'm not that interested in the Pillars on the whole

Wednesday, 11 June 2025

Ponyfic Roundup 543

Read it Later story count: 87 (-2)

Words read this week: 30,385

It's been dry and warm today, but in classic "English weather" style, there's plenty of rain – and perhaps thunder – on the cards for tomorrow. I may have to spend the evening sitting indoors reading ponyfic. I know, how dreadful! Anyway, it's Wednesday and so I'm back again with another edition of Ponyfic Roundup. Here's today's selection:

Hypothetically by _Undefined_
Javelin by McPoodle
Tacet by Jade_Turtl
Numbers by The 24th Pegasus
Twilight Sparkle Has a Type by errant

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

Monday, 9 June 2025

Sounds of 2016, nos. 85 to 81

Now we return to the Equestrian Trot 100 chart for 2016. I haven't really got anything much else to say up here this time, so it's a pretty short introductory section today. Here's the usual reminder of my inclusion criteria:

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. 

We've had two weeks of being able to feature all five tracks in the relevant portion of the chart, but unfortunately the very last song this time wasn't one I could find anywhere online from the actual artist. It's not super-famous, so it has to be skipped. Sorry! Here's what I can feature:

85: FritzyBeat hugs Port Blue – Seagulls
84: GhostXb ft. Wubcake and many more – Unleash the Magic (remix)
83: Aurelleah – Rainbow Factory (remix)
82: Exiark & Chi-Chi – Life Still Left in Me (Club Mix)
81:
 skipped

All right, now you know what songs await you, let's get to them!

Sunday, 8 June 2025

My Little Repeats 191: "Road to Friendship"

This is what I mean about the visuals. So many little details for a short scene.
S8E19: "Road to Friendship"

1 Sep 2018

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

The one with the world's longest-lasting cup of tea

Thoughts: With Pinkie's yovidaphone disaster behind us, here's a far more fondly remembered episode, and perhaps one of my favourites from Josh Haber's. Yes, it's StarTrix time! Well, not officially, but even Cadance in an admittedly slightly disconnected early scene openly notes Starlight and Trixie's chemistry together. They really are great together, even when they're bickering for days on end about carrots and juice. I enjoyed the snarkiness of their grumbling. The song is wonderful, and it's nice to see something inspired by a classic musical – reminiscent of the Sondheim homages of the early seasons. We now know "nine [seasons] at least" was indeed foreshadowing! Hoo'far was okay as a guest character, but his not being named in the episode seems bizarre: he's even "that pony from Saddle Arabia" after StarTrix have known him for ages. The pacing didn't quite keep up the snappiness that this kind of plot demands. Buuuuut I still had a lot of fun. Was some of that because I'd come off a short run of poor episodes? Well, yes. I won't deny that. Still, it both looked and sounded superb – all the little details in the inns we saw for only a second each, for example. We didn't see Saddle Arabia (the new animation would have been too expensive, according to Jim Miller) but still. Objectively "Road to Friendship" is probably a high three, but the happiness of really enjoying an episode again pushes it over the line. It can keep its four.

Choice quote: Trixie: "The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't chant."

New rating:

That's a bit more like it! If anything this ep has become more popular as the years have passed, perhaps partly since it's one of the last examples in FiM of the successful cementing of a team-up. Of course Starlight and Trixie had worked together before, but this was the ep that truly underlined how good their chemistry was. Anyway, next up is "The Washouts", which being a Scootaloo-heavy episode I naturally liked last time – although not without reservations.

Wednesday, 4 June 2025

Ponyfic Roundup 542

Read it Later story count: 89 (-2)

Words read this week: 23,630

Before I forget again, I really must note that the excellent Thousand Words Contest is back for its fourth edition. Bicyclette and co have done a superb job in running this since its creation, and the sheer level of interest it's gained even in today's smaller fandom is testament to its popularity. And yes, I shall make every effort to ensure that I have a story in there somewhere! But talking of stories, here are five that I didn't write, and they're the subject of today's PR:

Love Defenestrates by Liquid Truth
Mistmane and the Torii of Time by Impossible Numbers
The Dangers Of Teleporting While Intoxicated by naturalbornderpy
Dinner with Rose by Admiral Biscuit
Reminiscing by Gleaming

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

Monday, 2 June 2025

Sounds of 2016, nos. 90 to 86

It's time we paid another visit to the Equestrian Trot 100 chart for 2016 – though, as I noted last time, it's not quite the full calendar year as its voting period ran from December 2015 to November 2016. Close enough, though! Certainly the closest you're going to get in these parts. Here's the usual reminder of my inclusion criteria:

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. 

I was able to feature all five songs last week, and this time around I can do that again! This is always the best-case scenario, all the more so when – as has happened this week – all the songs remain on their creators' YouTubes and discoverable without much effort. The five this time are:

90: WeimTime – Rainbow Factory (orchestral arrangement)
89: StrachAttack – The Spectacle (remix)
88: OhPonyBoy – Mox Super Jupiter
87:
Synthis – Hold Me Close
86:
PON3 – Secrets

There we go; now you know what's on the way! Talking of which...

Sunday, 1 June 2025

My Little Repeats 190: "Yakity-Sax"

Well, this isn't disturbing at all...

S8E18: "Yakity-Sax"

25 Aug 2018 (previewed by Discovery Family 20 Jul 2018)

My original rating: ★★
IMDb score: 5.3

The one with randomly Irish Lily Daisy

Thoughts: This ep was not in fact hated by everyone from the start. But it had a negative reception overall, sometimes very negative – and if anything it's got worse over time. A few nice touches, such as AJ's callback to "Horse Play". The way Pinkamena gradually gets greyer and greyer. I quite like the Pinkie Pie Appreciation Party, too. But. But. Here we have Pinkie valuing a hobby we've never seen before over her friends. Twilight making a mess of wording the "you're bad at this". Pinkie deciding the best response is to run away to Yakyakistan, saying that without the yovidaphone her life has no meaning. The Manes being unutterably thick about how they need to talk to Maud. And the rotten cherry on the whole stinking mess of a cake, the appalling moral. "Sod everyone else, Pinkie, your personal obsession beats their welfare any day!" So: don't be honest with your friends when they're keeping a whole town awake, just encourage them to annoy everyone even more! Besides, there is a canon silence spell ("Amending Fences") which Twi doesn't even mention. Use that, for Celestia's sake! There's actually a fun episode somewhere in this basic premise. The teeny, tiny snag? This ain't it.

Choice quote: Pinkie Pie: "Those apple turnovers aren't gonna apple themselves!"

New rating:

And breathe. Next time it'll be "Road to Friendship", which isn't a perfect episode by any means but is on another level to this. It's one of Josh Haber's most popular eps, helped by the chemistry of its principal characters and a very catchy song. I liked it a good deal in 2018, and I hope I'll like it a good deal again this year!