Sounds of 2011, no. 93: "Rainbow Thrash"

Apologies for the delay to Ponyfic Roundup this week – it's all down to my stupidity in accidentally deleting my write-up before it went live! I do still have my notes, so I can easily rewrite the post. As such, PR 224 will be along tomorrow.

93: PrinceWhateverer – Rainbow Thrash

Some brony musicians blaze only briefly across the sky, leaving us with mere hints of their abilities. A good example is Phileo, whose one and only contribution to the MLP fandom was "The Way She Flies". However, others are far more enduring, and British rock'n'metal guitar specialist PrinceWhateverer is most definitely one of those. After all, just a few weeks ago he released "Solidarity", a well-received tribute to the continuing strength of the Pony fandom. If we take him at his word, he won't be leaving soon, either.

Back when "Rainbow Thrash" was released in December 2011, PrinceWhateverer had only around 200 YouTube subscribers and was relatively little known. That he now has well over 50,000 is partly due to this song, a loud, brash track about a loud, brash pony by the name of Rainbow Dash. It does betray its age in some ways, such as the slightly awkward lyrics, but the beat is insistent enough to have kept it as a fandom favourite all these years. Want it in HQ? Pay £1 on PrinceWhateverer's Bandcamp.

The video I've linked to above is actually a slightly revised version of the song, released by the artist just a couple of days after the original. The changes aren't dramatic, but I do think they improve the track. Should you wish to hear it as it first came out, that version is still around.

Next time, I'll have a double bill of music for you. One of the tracks you may well be at least reasonably familiar with. The other is a lot more obscure nowadays, though it is by a name you'll know. What are these songs? Well, that would be telling! Wait and see...

Special review: "Best Gift Ever"

Yeah, yeah, I'm pathetically weak. But come on

Although S8 of Friendship is Magic is now over and done with, there's one more piece of related business to get out of the way before we enter what will probably be the last ever FiM inter-season hiatus. "Best Night Gift Ever" marks the first time the show has had a special, which is odd considering how popular it's been. You'd think they'd have made one a few years ago. Still... this was written by Michael Vogel, and given that his strong record includes the fabulous "A Hearth's Warming Tail" I had high hopes. In the event...

UK PonyCon 2018: Merch Haul and Final Thoughts

This was a lot trickier to photograph than you'd think!

And so we reach the final part of my look back at this year's UK PonyCon. In a minute, I'll give some of my thoughts about it. First, of course, the merch haul photo! I was on a fairly tight budget this year, so it's not a huge one. If you've been reading along, you already know about the Team Custard picture by StewArt (BBQ) at bottom left and the cute little original canvas of Scootaloo by Jowy at bottom middle. The con book and asssociated Crystal Ball programme are pretty self-evident, too.

Other than that? Well, the 3D printed exclusive Britannia figure is at bottom right, sitting on the con tote bag. That has the same design as the con T-shirt at top left. Three badges: my VIP and general UKPC ones, plus a Scootaderp I picked up from somewhere. The A4 Fluttershy, Rainbow and Rarity prints are by Ponebooth. Halfway up on the right is one of the ultra-cute Fluttershy cards I bought from EileMonty. Oh, and there's a con badge in there too. :P One or two other things will be presents so aren't shown here.

It's EQUUS accredited now, too!

So that's that. Now, on to what I thought of UK PonyCon 2018. In a word? It was great. Of the seven cons I've been to, this was my favourite. The venue was pretty nice, spacious, light and very well located – and in most Octobers probably wouldn't have been as hot. The venue staff were excellent, there were places to sit down and rest, the acoustics for the concert were reasonable for a non-dedicated space and the cloakroom was handy. The one significant minus I'll get to in a bit.

UK PonyCon is a much larger event than it was in 2014 – when it certainly didn't have 1,000 attendees or 50 vendors! – but it seems to have succeeded in keeping its friendliness, multi-gen appeal and all-ages mix. Personally I wouldn't like it to get too much larger even if the committee had unlimited resources (cue hollow laughter from UKPC Towers), but balanced against that is the fact that it keeps on selling out. I suppose all they can do is to tweak things as seems appropriate; so far they've done a very good job.

Plushie Stacking was not an official event...

The Crystal Ball concert, 2018's (effective) innovation, was very nice and it looks like something similar may be back next year. There was an interesting question in the feedback form about this, asking how it should be ticketed. Personally I'd much prefer UKPC to remain all-inclusive, and would accept a modest bump in ticket prices for that. Things like the Escape Room this year (which did cost extra) were nice touches but peripheral; I'd consider the Crystal Ball much more integral to the main con schedule.

My least favourite option would be a voluntary supplement; those tend to make people feel under pressure to pay. If you have to charge extra, do so properly and ticket separately, as with the con meal. That said, BronyScot's Rock Nessie and the old Summer Sun Celebration at BUCK have/had no clash with the main con programme. The Crystal Ball did. Assuming putting it on Friday/Sunday evening isn't an option, that clash is still going to be there. Another reason for keeping things all-in.

The only shot I got of PrinceWhateverer, during his sound check

I was pleased with the number of events on the schedule this year, and the only major clashes for me were Crystal Ball/Pub Quiz and StormBlaze/EileMonty; luckily all of those ended up with good attendances. It was good to see a fair bit of G1 content, too. Apart from the heat, the event rooms were good: quite spacious, with decent acoustics and lighting too. The vendor hall was fine, with room to move between people shopping. Signage could maybe have been slightly better, but it wasn't too bad.

Right, now to the one real disappointment. The catering provision, though friendly and cheap, was not sufficient for the attendance. Nor was it reasonable to have only drinks on sale on Saturday evening, even if the pony-themed concoctions were fun. UWE in Bristol's café last year, also in a uni-run venue, was better in most respects, despite that con having a slightly lower attendance. Just because we're in a city centre venue doesn't mean we all want to walk through the rain to McDonald's to get an evening bite.

They could get a thousand people in here, right? Right?

I touched briefly on ticket prices earlier. This year UKPC kept Standard Adult Weekend entry at £35, the same as in 2017, by withdrawing Early Bird discounts. I felt that was a reasonable approach. It's always a delicate balancing act, as simple maths will tell you that above-inflation rises aren't sustainable indefinitely, but I would be okay with a small rise next year. Say the basic ticket is £39; that would be a rise of 11.4%, which should help to offset some costs. Supporter tickets at £49 would be reasonable, too.

Where should they hold the 2019 con? UKPC these days needs a big venue: I used to think Wolverhampton Grand Station could be an option, but it may be too small now. As for host city: four of the last five UKPCs have been in the East Midlands (Leicester x 2, Nottingham) or just above (Leeds). So looking at other options... Liverpool? Birmingham? Milton Keynes? Southampton? Swansea? Newcastle? Norwich? Wherever is announced, some people are bound to be disappointed. I do not envy the committee on this one!

Beachball shenanigans during "Awesome As I Wanna Be"

Finally, my highlight of the convention. Well, actually the answer is a rather sappy one: it was the magic of spending time with friends, most of whom I wouldn't know without MLP and some of whom I only ever get to see at conventions. Equally, the biggest downside was missing those friends who for various reasons were unable to make it. And you were missed. But if I have to choose one highlight other than that? "I am Octavia", of course. I will never, ever stop being thrilled and grateful to have had that chance.

There we go: Logan's rambly, waffly thoughts on what I truly believe has become one of the great fandom events of the year. No, it's not BUCK or BronyCon or AnyOtherCon. It's not supposed to be, and it's all the better for that. It's UK PonyCon. It stands or falls on its own merits, and judged on that score it most definitely stands. I had immense fun at this year's convention and it made me very, very happy to be in this fandom. That's something everyone involved in making it happen should be very proud of. Thank you.

The sun sets on UK PonyCon 2018

Sounds of 2011, no. 94: "Autumn"

I should have the final part of my UK PonyCon report up tomorrow, but in the meantime let's get back to Sounds of 2011, my series dealing with what Everfree Radio's listeners voted their top 100 tracks for that year.

94: Griffin Village – Autumn

Back in the dim and distant days of November 2011, Derpy being a mailmare was pure canon. Also back then, we saw the concept EP by Griffin Village, consisting of four seasonally-named tracks. Although it ranks the lowest of the four in this series, "Autumn" – sometimes referred to as "Autumn (Derpy Hooves)" – is probably the one that remains the most popular today. "I know a mare / She knows me too / The stunning Derpy Hooves / Or Ditzy Doo" remains a fairly widely recognised opening in the fandom.

It's a gently synthy track by Floridian Jackle App, once a huge name in the fandom but someone whose last Pony music seems to have been "Sweetiecut" from May 2012. This paean to Derpy was released when we were only four episodes into S2, so the controversy of Derpygate was still some way in the future. It's also the origin of the "Trot with me through the autumn leaves" chorus, which these days may be better known from The Living Tombstone's "Good ol' Days". If you want to hear "Autumn" in HQ – and surely you do – there's a $1 download on Jackle App's Bandcamp.

Next time, Sounds of 2011 will have another original track, and one which represented a significant early outing for one of the fandom's most enduring musicians.

Text Review Roundup: "School Raze"

Right, let's get this done, then it'll just be the holiday special before I can take a break from TRR for a bit! "School Raze" got a generally positive reaction with a few major dissenters, something that's pretty common for finales – the final episodes of seasons 5 and 6 also went a similar way. No Railfan Brony this time, as they've chosen to do a video review. That's balanced by TRR welcoming GuardianSoulMLP.

Cuddlepug – very negative (graded D; "Quite frankly, “School Raze” is a disaster [...] quite baffling how poorly written, illogical and nonsensical it all is. ")

Derpy News – mixed (graded B+; "This finale unfortunately ends up on the lower end in comparison to other season finales with only “To Where and Back Again” and “Best Night Ever” being below it.")

The Dragon Warlock – wildly positive (graded A+; "School Raze [...] manages to blow me away [...] Cozy may actually be the best villain the show has put out [...] I haven't felt this good about a finale in a long time")

DrakeyC – very negative ("the good - Neighsay [...] The bad, unfortunately, is everything else. [Cozy Glow] makes no sense at any point [...] a leaky mess of a story held together by two strips of duct tape and a lot of prayers")

GuardianSoulMLP – very positive ("HOLY CHEESECAKE ON A STICK!!! That was so epic!! :D")

JDPrime22 – positive (rated 9/10; "Cozy wants to take over [...] for no reason or real backstory at all. She's just evil because… evil. [...] Other than that, really good finale!")

Lightening McQueen – positive ("Very good. The story was cool [...] Cozy Glow used to be one of my favourite characters, but not anymore [... b]ut Neighsay has grown on me now")

Louder Yay – positive (rated 4/5; "I suspect that it might not age terribly well [but] I did like Cozy Glow as a villain [and Neighsay's] portrayal was interesting [...] It may not have been S8's best ep, but it was surely among its most watchable.")

Mega Sean 45 – positive ("I just love how manipulative Cozy turned out to be [...] We finally get to see Tartarus for the first time, and... it was pretty underwhelming. [...] So was this my favorite finale? I'm not sure, but it's up there")

MLEEP Reviews – extremely positive (rated 10/10; "the first season finale in a really long time to truly feel like a real season finale [...] intense and suspenseful story that keeps you engaged throughout")

ShutterflyEQD – positive ("The student 6 played a role like no other in this big finale.")

UK PonyCon 2018, Monday: One Last 'Spoons

Saying goodbye to Nottingham

I got plenty of sleep on Sunday night, since there was no need to get up early on Monday morning. I'd arranged with Hawthorn that we'd go to the 10am farewell breakfast that had been advertised at the Company Inn. You can guess who runs this pub, can't you? :P I finished tidying up my room and checking for anything I'd left behind, then said goodbye to it and went to check out. The staff member on the desk was excellent and apologised for Saturday night's noise even though it wasn't his fault.

I lugged my bags down to the lobby and looked up to see that Ialyrn and Bearpaw were coming down the stairs. I hadn't seen them much during the weekend as they'd been doing other things, so it was really nice to run into them now. A couple of minutes later Hawthorn appeared with his (much lighter) baggage and the four of us decided to set off for the pub together. Sadly this was another day of thin, cold rain, and although the walk only took 10-15 minutes it wasn't a pleasant stroll.

Derpy at Derby: Muffin Horse looks out at the rain-soaked platforms

The Company Inn is housed in an old canal warehouse, but inside it looks like most other 'Spoons, though a little roomier than some. There were several people there already, including Jowy – who was, as he tends to be, drawing! Sadly Daft Night and a couple of others weren't able to join us before catching their trains, but Alliminaro and BBQ did make it, as did Hawker Hurricane, who I hadn't met in person before. Being the unoriginal person I am, I ordered a straight-up fried brekky and coffee.

We chatted away about this and that for a while, and I even got to talk fanfic briefly, having an interesting little discussion with BBQ on the subject. I didn't really want to leave, as this was the last truly social con experience I was going to have this year, but as the clock ticked around to noon I felt I had to get a move on and catch my train. Alliminaro came with me and we found our way through the gloom (it was still raining) to the station where we parted company.

The Last Muffin (of con weekend)

My journey back to Birmingham was pretty uneventful, and I spent most of it listening to EileMonty tracks on my phone. I didn't see anyone else who'd been to the convention, or at least anyone else who cared to acknowledge the UKPC 2018 T-shirt I was now wearing. At New Street, I made sure the piano got a few bars of the Crab Rave tune, then headed for Muffin Break one last time. It was tempting to go for their regular apple and cinnamon flavour, but orange won me over.

I walked through the by now rather harder rain to Moor Street station, smiling slightly at the trams I saw, which probably made anyone who saw me think I was very, very odd. (They weren't wrong!) My bags were too bulky to allow me to do any real shopping, and combined with the weather and my much lighter wallet than on Friday I decided not to pick up any pony plushies at Tokyo Toys. Once again my train journey was smooth but uneventful, and I was home by late afternoon.

Britannia is not allowed to let you back into the building

And that was my UK PonyCon 2018. It felt odd to be going back to my own house, rather than to a hotel room, even though I'd only been away since Friday. I was tired, and the first signs of con crud were making their presence felt, so I did only minimal unpacking of my purchases that evening. Still, I felt satisfied. This had undoubtedly been a hugely enjoyable and successful convention overall, with a few small niggles not detracting from the overall experience. If I can make the 2019 con, I very much want to.

Next time: Merch Haul and Final Thoughts

Ponyfic Roundup 223: Con Crud Edition

Read it Later story count: 297 (-1)

The title is pretty self-explanatory this week! As you'll know if you've been reading my UK PonyCon posts, I had an excellent time at the convention. However, the eternal curse of these gatherings has struck me with a vengeance. Hopefully it will only last a few days, but for now it's tough going. Here are this week's three fics:

Living Forever... by Whateverdudezb
Pinkie's Secret Place by M_D_Quill
Be by OleGrayMane

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