Ponyfic Roundup 552

Read it Later story count: 89 (+1)

Words read this week: 9,038

A very low word count indeed this week, and that's likely to remain the case for a little while. I haven't lost motivation for these, but I have been absurdly pushed around by real life. What I'm hoping to do is to get my reading a full week ahead of publication, and if I can do that then there should be significantly fewer occasions when I have to delay Ponyfic Roundup. However, to get to that point I'll need some weeks with fewer words, so here we are.

Ciderfire by ambion
Dressed in Dappled Gold by CharmingMarething
Discord's Time Travel Trip. [sic] by Hotel Chicken
Dressed to Egress by AsiagoUnicorn
Balloon To The Moon by The Sleepless Beholder

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

Sounds of 2016, nos. 35 to 31

Into the top third of the Equestrian Trot 100's chart of Pony music for 2016 we go! (Okay, strictly it's roughly December 2015 to November 2016, but close enough.) While songs right at the top of the chart will be featured come what may, we're still low enough in the rankings for me to go by my usual 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. 

Here's the list of songs. As you'll see, there's one absent this week, which is a pity but unavoidable. The other four make a pretty good selection, though:

35: Sayonara Maxwell ft. MiatriSs – Magic Everywhere
34: Spectra – Luna's Future (remix)
33: PrinceWhateverer – Spectacular
32: Aurelleah – The Magic Inside (remix)
31: skipped

All right, enough with the yattering and on with the music!

My Little Repeats 197: "School Raze, part 1"

The interior layout of Tartarus leaves something to be desired...

S8E25: "School Raze, part 1"

13 Oct 2018

My original rating: ★★★★ (for both parts)

IMDb score: 8.2

The one with crosswords

Thoughts: I really liked this finale (as a whole) on first watch, but I said in my 2018 review that "I suspect that it might not age terribly well once a cooler, more critical eye is turned upon it". Well, that was partly right. The fact that we never got a proper explanation for Cozy Glow is a big problem, and it diminishes her otherwise fun evil monologuing. There are questions elsewhere, too: why is Tirek getting letters in Tartarus? Why this incredibly convenient skeleton key artefact thing? On the plus side, Sandbar is finally about to have his day in the sun – and it's already clear in this episode that his "change of heart" to Neighsay is a ruse. The students are a real unit by now. So, a mixed bag, really. I still enjoyed it, but it did indeed have more issues than it used to. Three stars feels about right – remember, I'm not rating part two until next time.

Choice quote: Sandbar: "Sorry, I ran out of apples."

New rating: ★★★

Next time, of course, is "School Raze, part 2" – the end of the journey as far as Season 8 is concerned. A little while after that, I shall do the usual post-season summary and see where S8 stands in my overall rankings.

Ponyfic Roundup 551

Read it Later story count: 88 (-1)

Words read this week: 33,900

Oh look, another 30 °C heatwave. We're really not used to this in the English Midlands, you know. It's also been really dry, and all the grass is yellowing. At least I can still read ponyfic, and that's just what I've been doing this week. Here at last is the slate:

In Droves, They See by Odd_Sarge
The 108th Page by Rightir_Russian_Mare
A Better Way To Be Dad by Jade Ring
Mourn The Wicked by SoundoftheWaves
Octavia's Last Night by Rune Soldier Dan

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

Sounds of 2016, nos. 40 to 36

Although I've had to delay Ponyfic Roundup, "Sounds of 2016" is less time-consuming and so I've been able to give you this, albeit also a day or so late. 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. 

Last week I was able to feature all five songs – and happily, the same is true again this week! Huzzah! Here's the list:

40: JoinedTheHerd – Luna's Future (remix)
39: OhPonyBoy – Blob It
38: Aurelleah – Chromatica
37: Aviators – Chaos Theory
36: Notion – The Midnight in Me (remix)

All right, enough with the yattering and on with the music!

Yes, again :/

Another week, another delay to Ponyfic Roundup. A hospital appointment and a couple of other unexpected issues have meant I'm going to have to delay until Friday again. This is frustrating me as much as it is you, so apologies. 

My Little Repeats 196: "Father Knows Beast"

"Remember those pancakes? Well, I've gone a whole lot better!"

S8E24: "Father Knows Beast"

6 Oct 2018

My original rating: ★★★

IMDb score: 5.6

The one with stone-skimming Smolder

Thoughts: Here's something that may surprise you: the text-based reviewers largely liked this episode on release. A major exception was DrakeyC, who despised it. My view was once middling – yep, I gave this three stars in 2018 – but has since moved towards his. I still don't hate all of it. Smolder is good value, for one; and the song is vaguely okay, if a long way from amazing. But I've become much more negative on Sludge himself. I originally saw him as a bit of a "lovable rogue" character, but not now. He's a one-dimensional, tedious slob. Zephyr Breeze had considerably more about him, and that's saying something. The script is dull. The Mane Six ask all the right questions about Sludge's story – then just... stop asking. Spike is absurdly gullible, then he deeply hurts Twilight and doesn't seem to mind – nah, not having that. There's a deeply tedious adult joke that isn't even consistent within this episode. It's all just so bloody superficial for such a potentially emotionally rich subject. To borrow a phrase I use in ponyfic reviews, this is a top-end one.

Choice quote: Spike: "You know how I get when I'm in the embroidery zone."

New rating: ★

The next episode is "School Raze, part 1". The S8 finale is one of the more divisive, with reactions running the gamut from delighted to seriously unimpressed. I liked it at the time, but S8's rewatch experience has often had me lowering my ratings from 2018. This one might as well, but as ever we shall see.