Comic mini-review: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #47

Obviously a companion piece to #46's cover

Yes, I realise I'm horribly behind schedule with these, but at least it allows me to put this review out on US election day. The Applejack/Cherry Jubilee Friends Forever review should be up before too much longer. Anyway, this is the concluding half of the "Filthy Rich gets elected Mayor of Ponyville" arc, and like the first part it's fairly amusing and fairly solid without ascending to brilliance. The story as a whole does feel slightly like filler before the Discord three-parter that comes next, but it's enjoyable filler and I'm okay with that. ★★★

Remember this?

( Text link )

Yeah, you're right, this is just filler. But hey, if the show can do it, why can't I do the same? I remember when this video came out in July 2012, and it blew me (and plenty of other people) away. JanAnimations got even better later on, before the C&D hit, but this was the first time I realised what a superbly talented animator the guy was. Also, I heard EileMonty sing the song live at BUCK years ago, which is definitely worth some memory-jogging. :)

Also, in case you're one of the three people wondering: no, I'm not going to be featuring the song (by MandoPony) in the Pony Music Library, for the simple reason that the song is pretty much inseparable from the PMV in my mind.

Pony Music Library 29: "My Arms Around Her"

It's been a while since we've had one of these on here! A lesser-known song today, albeit from a musician who was once one of the most famous in the fandom. He's now moved on and changed his account's name, and this video is unlisted – but the archive containing it is openly linked from the guy's current YouTube page, so I see no reason not to include it here.

( Text link )

What? "My Arms Around Her"

Who? UnderpΩny

Which? Original song based on sample from show

When? March 2012

Why? The artist's comment about this relaxing Applejack-themed piece is "a simple song for a simple pony", and that about sums it up. It uses a loop of background music written by William Anderson, who UnderpΩny felt didn't get sufficient credit. I'm not a huge fan of country music on the whole, but this track fits AJ very well indeed. As long as you're not bothered about the human/pony romance overtones, it's an excellent, laid-back song to have playing – fittingly enough – in the background.

Text Review Roundup: Legend of Everfree

"Look over there! Can it be... a peanut butter cracker?"

Here we go with the long-promised TRR for EqG 4! As you'd expect, there are a fair number of reviewers weighing in on this movie who don't generally comment on Friendship is Magic itself. Quite a range of opinions about this film, too, albeit largely positive ones...

Articles of Destroyer – generally positive (rated 7.5/10; "poorly developed romance, but there’s a lot to appreciate")

Common Sense Media – slightly negative (two stars; "[a]ppropriate only for kids who are comfortable with pretend scares and action.")

Derpy News – extremely positive (graded A; "truly on par with Rainbow Rocks")

The Entertainment Nut – underwhelmed (graded C+; "turns what should be an exciting adventure, into something that just seems to meander along")

Inside Pulse – positive (rated 4.0(/5?); "filled with musical moments to keep fans entertained and humming along")

Louder Yay – mildly positive (three stars; "a notch above 'just okay', but no more than that")

MLEEP Reviews – extremely positive (rated 9.5/10; "came pretty damn close to becoming my favorite film in the franchise")

Pop Culture Beast – very positive ("might be the best Equestria Girls movie so far")

Super Recaps – mixed ("a whole lot of wasted potential [but] still a lot of fun"

TheDragonWarlock – mixed (graded B-; "better pacing and a much clearer story [but] huge plot holes ... and ... a rather anti-climatic ending")

Thrond Media Pony Corner – negative (rated 40%; "an insubstantial, repetitive slog")

Ponyfic Roundup 130: To Rest my Eyes in Shades of Green

Read it Later story count: 493

After the break for UK PonyCon last week, PR is back! Before I begin, I'll note that a couple of reviewers whose views I respect have been considerably less complimentary about Canterlot Seven (PR 128) than I was, so I went back and read it again. There's little doubt in my mind that its effectiveness does largely depend on not seeing the twist coming – but not being particularly genre-savvy, I didn't. So it's keeping its four-star rating here. This week's little collection is a fairly mixed lot:

Pinkie Pie Gets A Credit Card by GeodesicDragon
Appellation Mountains by FanOfMostEverything
Sail of the Vampire by Dramapony
Nothing is Scarier by DuncanR
The Epic Battle Of Good Versus Slightly Less Good But Still Pretty Good In The Long Run by Akumokagetsu

★: 0 | ★★: 2 | ★★★: 3 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0

New(ish) story by me: Starlight Repeatedly Teleports into Custard

Starlight Repeatedly Teleports into Custard by Loganberry
Starlight Glimmer and Twilight
Random/Slice of Life; 2k words; Oct 2016; Teen

Starlight's teleportation skills are becoming very impressive. There's just one little problem...

Starlight's teleportation skills are becoming very impressive. There's just one little problem... she doesn't seem to be able to go anywhere without coming to a rather sticky end. Okay, not end exactly. But definitely sticky. 

"As soon as I saw this story title, I was like, This is a good story idea." – Super Trampoline

I've been posting about my UK PonyCon experience over the last few days, but here's a story that somehow ended up being linked to my time at the convention. It was actually published for no sensible reason a couple of days beforehand, but for some weird reason it took on minor meme status at the con. Our pub quiz team was even called "Custard's Last Stand". I'm pleased to say that it's getting a much warmer reception than Sunset's Sales Snag did.

Also, while at the convention, I seem to have at least semi-committed to writing a sequel of sorts. With that in mind, I officially dub this fic the first story in the Custardverse.

UK PonyCon 2016, Monday: Goodbye Giant Horse City, plus Afterthoughts

I'm not going to dignify this picture with a response... :P

Sorry for forgetting to post this blog this morning! Anyway... the Monday morning after a convention is never the most enjoyable time, all the more so if the con has been as great as UK PonyCon 2016 was. I didn't know of any farewell breakfasts, so I had a quiet early morning and checked out around 10 am. Once again, the bus into Leeds was late, though I did hear rumours that an accident had blocked the road earlier. Past the break for more!