Text Review Roundup: "School Daze"

I'll be away for a few days now, which means that my episode 3 review won't be up until late next week at the earliest. It also means that I won't be able to correct any mistakes I've made in this post, so please let me know in the comments if anything looks off and I'll fix it when I get back.

Some changes for Text Review Roundup this year. I've already mentioned the ending of The Super Mario Brony Blog, and it seems that Thrond Media Pony Corner may have gone the same way. On the other hoof, I welcome newcomers Feather Heart, Michaelsety and Rhythm Red. I can't remember whether I've featured ShutterflyEQD here before. Batbrony didn't get his review up in time, and I'm not sure whether ArthurCrane will continue for S8.

This season opener was generally received fairly well, though few people considered it a classic to match the likes of the S2 premiere. Over on Fimfiction, Present Perfect hated it, but Cuddlepug's review is about the most negative I can find away from Fimf.

Cuddlepug – rather negative (graded C; "somewhat unsatisfying")

Derpy News – very positive (graded A-; "the show has not run out of ideas")

Feather Heart – mixed ("[I love] the portrayal of Starlight [but the songs are] boring and forgettable")

Louder Yay – generally positive (3/5; "I seem to have done a fair amount of complaining here, but actually I quite enjoyed this premiere.")

Michaelsety – mixed (graded B-; "good morals [and] new friends are great [but] Twilight gave up so easily")

MLEEP Reviews – very positive (9/10; "another awesome start to [a] season")

Rainbine – positive (8/10; "I like [the Student Six] even though they don't have a whole lot of personality")

Rhythm Red – fairly positive (7/10; "Good songs, GREAT new characters, and an interesting new storyline, but overall, it's nothing all that special")

ShutterflyEQD – very positive ("I really enjoyed the direction they went with this 2-parter.")

TheDragonWarlock – fairly positive (graded B; "far from [...] bad[...], but it didn't need to have most of the characters being moronic.")

Ponyfic Roundup 197: Baggy Green

There are clearly going to be a large number of fics (by 2018 standards) featuring the School of Friendship. I'll probably give it a while before I read any. I'd like to think some of them will be really good, though. We'll see. Also, I'll be away over Easter, so Text Review Roundup tomorrow will be the last post for a little while. I'll put up a review of episode 3 when I get back.

Read it Later story count: 344 (+2)

A mighty three fics under review this time, thanks to my ongoing dental/medical/similar work. This should finally die down after Easter, so if I'm really lucky I may even be able to get back to somewhere near the five fics a week I used to expect to manage. Anyway, here are the three I have read:

Severe Weather Appreciation Week by Cold in Gardez
Hosting Mr. ████████ by Rinnaul
Party Rock by Casca

★: 0 | ★★: 2 | ★★★: 0 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0

The Super Mario Brony Blog ended and deleted by owner

That's all, folks!

Well, that's rather disappointing. The Super Mario Brony Blog, which was a regular in Text Review Roundup (hence my using that tag on this post) is no more. Apparently its owner has decided to move into vlogging instead. A great shame that they also felt it necessary to nuke the archives rather than simply leaving them up with a goodbye post, but what's done is done.

As far as TRR is concerned, please do let me know about any other text-based episode reviewers. They really need to be people who aim to review every ep, not just those they're especially happy/excited/angry about. TRR will continue for as long as there are text-based reviews. Okay, maybe not if I end up being the only person who writes the darn things. :P

Episode review: S8E01&E02: "School Daze"

The Mare Who bucked convention and didn't play by the rules

After what's actually been a fairly short inter-season break, we're back with new episodes of Friendship is Magic. All the previews, the leaks and the 12 million animatics Discovery Family released ahead of time certainly got people talking, though there were mixed views as to how the season premiere itself would be received. There was a heavyweight writing partnership to start us off: Michael Vogel and Nicole Dubuc. My thoughts are after the break, as ever, but first:

Please do not mention anything from the S8 leaks in your comments. I don't want to be spoiled on future episodes! This applies all season. Thanks!

Quick update

I had a dental crown fitted today. The NHS being what it is, it's a metal one. Not even gold these days! Some sort of something-chromium alloy, I think. Still, I'm not too bothered. It's a back tooth, so you can't even see it unless I open my mouth wide. Also, metal crowns are strong and so this takes away some of my fear that I'll break the thing. Today's final fitting was simple – I didn't even need anaesthetic – and I am now one crown heavier and £244.30 lighter. :P

All the above has nothing to do with the MLP fandom, but I thought I should write about it sometime, since it explains why I've had little time for this place for a few days – and also since from tomorrow onwards things may become rather busier! What does have to do with the fandom is that I intend to continue posting episode reviews, and if international scheduling doesn't mess us all about too much, I'll also bring back Text Review Roundup, which I rather like doing.

Writing update: The Danger Within has also suffered a bit due to my other escapades, but I'm making sure I do something with it every day, so expect chapter 5 by the end of this month. I also put in a non-competing piece for this month's Flashfic 150. The feedback I've had so far tells me two things: the bad one is that avoiding being too obvious can go too far the other way, and the good one is that I can get characterisation right sometimes.

Ponyfic Roundup 196: Seaweed, Moss or Kelp

I'll never really understand the obsession with St Patrick's Day among people with absolutely no link to Ireland. It's a break from Lent, but how many people observe that in 2018 anyway? It's not just an American thing, either. I mean, I have Welsh ancestry (and so support Wales at rugby union), but nobody organises massive street parties for St David's Day and GOG doesn't put on St David's Day sales with cartoons of leeks. It's odd. Also, I don't like Guinness. :P

Read it Later story count: 342 (-2)

At long last, I'm actually reviewing a story I've wanted to read for ages! Since it has a short prequel, I'm also reviewing that. Four stories this week, and there would have been five had I not spent a fair amount of time shovelling snow. It's the second half of March; can we stop this, Nature? Thanks. Anyway, here are the four stories that did get read:

To My Princess, on the Day of Her Departure by D G D Davidson
Love on the Reef by D G D Davidson
Watch! Watch! by horizon
Fluttershy Hugs a Chicken by Elusive Phoenix

★: 0 | ★★: 2 | ★★★: 0 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 1

Griffish Isles: tickets now on sale; Elley-Ray announced

Two significant pieces of news from the Griffish Isles convention. First, tickets are now on sale. The pop-up that appears when you click the green "TICKETS" link suggests that Sponsor tickets will be withdrawn from sale on 5 May, a fortnight before the convention, whereas the standard-tier Pony and Foal tickets will remain available until 18 May, the day before the con begins.

Also, the con has announced a show guest! This is Elley-Ray, the voice of Mistmane, as she announced on her own Twitter. Quite a coup for a brand new convention outside North America to get a show guest, so colour me impressed.