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.

Ponyfic Roundup 550

Read it Later story count: 89 (-1)

Words read this week: 29,656

I'm not sure whether PR 550 really counts as a proper milestone, but it's nice to reach it anyway. I keep having things sprung on me in that annoying game called Real Life at the moment, so it's probably more of a milestone for me to get this update out more or less on time...

Overlooked by Sciphy
The Rain, the Poison, and the Job by HapHazred
Does she know— by semillon
Project WNDR-BLT by Bright Keys
I Know You're There by 8_Bit

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

Sounds of 2016, nos. 45 to 41

It's time once more to head back into the mists of time, to see what was making waves in the MLP fandom's musical scene nearly a decade ago. As ever, here are 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. 

For the last two weeks running, I've had to skip one of the five tracks as it didn't meet the above criteria. This time, all five are there! The last one took a little bit of finding before I could be sure it complied with the rules, but comply it does. A remix-heavy week this time. Here we go:

45: Archie – Legacy
44: JoinedTheHerd – Friends are Always There for You (remix)
43: JoinedTheHerd – Pinkie's Present (remix)
42: µThunder – We'll Make Our Mark (remix)
41: Notion – Song of the Sirens II (remix)

That's the end of the intro, so let's have a look at the actual music. Or listen, really. While some of these tracks are associated with visuals such as animations or PMVs – and hasn't "For Kids" and having no YouTube comments ruined the PMV experience? :( –  here at least we're much more concerned with the actual music. Go!

Ponyfic Roundup 549

Read it Later story count: 90 (nc)

Words read this week: 25,278

Well, would you look at that? A Ponyfic Roundup actually going up on the correct day! Here's to hoping this will happen again next week – although I wouldn't advise holding your breath on that score. Here's today's slate of stories. And yes, there's one story I've had to rate "N/A" this week, for reasons I'll explain when I get there.

The Princess and the Reaper by DrakeyC
Rot by Mister E
My house, My say by Felfox
After Glow by TheDriderPony
No Need For Words by Whirring Gears

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

Sounds of 2016, nos. 50 to 46

We're into the top half of the chart, yay! The Equestrian Trot 100 for 2016 has already thrown up plenty of interest, so I'm looking forward – as I hope are you – to finding out what we'll get this week. Here's the usual reminder of my 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. 

I had to skip one track last week – and I'm sorry to have to say that I had to do the same this week. It's frustrating, but what can you do? Here are the four songs I am able to feature today:

50: PrinceWhateverer ft. Wubcake & NRGPony – So Long
49: The Wasteland Wailers – Broken Wing Recital
48: oodorato2 – トワイライト Sunshine Remix
47: PrinceWhateverer ft. Milkymomo – Frailty
46: skipped

I missed out on the waffle here last time, so I'm going to indulge myself a little bit more this week. I really do think the music scene for this fandom should be more appreciated outside it than it is. While plenty of fandoms have a few great songs created by fans, this fandom has well over a decade of them. That's quite remarkable. Anyway, let's continue...