UK PonyCon announces Rebecca Shoichet!

Ponyfic Roundup is delayed again – but for a good reason this time! 

Some big news from UK PonyCon last night: none other than Rebecca Shoichet has been announced as a special guest. VA for Sunset Shimmer, Night Glider and Sugar Belle, not to mention singing voice for Twilight Sparkle, the reveal of her attendance has been extremely popular. I'm not surprised now that the staff who were in the know were finding it a real strain to keep things quiet until they were in a position to announce more!

Also in UKPC news, the weekend schedule is up! There's a lot going on considering the forced move to a smaller venue this year, and on a personal note I'm thrilled that Archer's Pub Quiz will be early enough in the evening that I can attend without having to sprint to the station for my train home at the end! :P Inevitably there are times when two events I'm interested in clash, but that's conventions for you! I'm really looking forward to the first weekend in October. :) 

Sounds of 2016, nos. 20 to 16

After a gap last week, which was largely because I was just ridiculously busy with other things, I'm back today with another look at what was making waves in the Pony music fandom nine years ago. As ever, I'm using the Equestrian Trot 100 chart, which runs from December 2015 to November 2016 – although if a song was popular then, it didn't have to have been released then to qualify. Inclusion rules first as ever:

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. 

Now here's the list of songs we're going to be covering today. And yes, I'm sorry to say there's a skip. We're not quite at the point where Rule 3 conquers all!

20: Saynonara Maxwell – Light of Your Cutie Mark (remix)
19: Aurelleah ft. ButterflyIdentity & Decibelle – Midnight Lament
18: Magpiepony ft. WildCardVA – Our Sweet Little Flurry
17: Aurelleah & Orange B – Under Our Spell (remix)
16: skipped

With all that out of the way, let's get on with the actual music...

Ponyfic Roundup 555

Read it Later story count: 90 (nc)

Words read this week: 13,945

I apologise for the slightly late appearance of this blog, and for the general lack of updates recently. I'd been unexpectedly diverted by something I'd previously known nothing about because I wasn't in that fandom. Suffice to say here that the story of actress Sandra Peabody's experience on one film shocked me, and not in a good way. Anyway, I will be back with "Sounds of 2016" next week, and if everything goes right, hopefully a "Best Gift Ever" rewatch too. Off we go:

The Worst Form of Government by Aquaman
Another Night Alone by TwistedSkittles
Why? by The 24th Pegasus
The Smartphone by SilverStar7
How Many Princesses Does It Take by Georg

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

Ponyfic Roundup 554

Read it Later story count: 90 (+1)

Words read this week: 11,369

We're definitely into (meteorological) autumn now, given the constant flicking between torrential rain and bright sunshine, with the odd near-gale thrown in! As I've noted a few times now, for the near future it'll be low word counts almost always. Not forever! Just for now. Today's quintet:

A Day at the Tracks by BradMayFan
Spring Tide by SPark
Many Parts by OkemosBrony
The Truth About Dark Magic by Waypoint
The Fifth to Final Move by The Lunar Samurai

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

Sounds of 2016, nos. 25 to 21

We really are reaching the rarefied heights of 2016's music scene now, aren't we? The Equestrian Trot 100 chart moves today into the top quarter. From here on in, these songs weren't just quite popular, they were really popular. Still, for the moment the usual inclusion criteria still apply:

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. 

Today's list of songs (all five again!) follows.

25: Silva Hound ft. Eurobeat Brony – Come Alive
24: Magpiepony – I'll Keep Trying
23: Carbon Maestro ft. SweetPoffin & Wubcake – The Siren and the Seamare
22: Caleb Hyles – Lullaby for a Princess (cover)
21: Royal Canterlot Symphonic Metal Orchestra – Fall of an Empire

Has that list whetted your appetite? Let's hope so! Here we go, then...

My Little Repeats: Reflections on Season 8

Official FiM S8 trailer

The official Friendship is Magic season 8 trailer was, to be honest, not particularly fascinating. There was none of the experimentation of last season's "Fresh Princess of Friendship". Let's see how the season ranked overall. You can probably guess where S8 is going to place, but here's the list anyway:

1. Season 4: 3.42
2= Season 1: 3.38
2= Season 2: 3.38
4. Season 5: 3.27
5. Season 6: 3.23
6. Season 7: 2.96
7. Season 3: 2.92
8. Season 8: 2.65

I've said pretty much since this season first aired that it was comfortably my least favourite, and nothing seems to have changed that view. The main problem S8 had can be seen pretty starkly when you look at the star rating breakdown by episode, which you'll see beyond the page break.

Ponyfic Roundup 553

Read it Later story count: 89 (+1)

Words read this week: 12,029

Not a great deal to say up here, other than that it's raining as I type. A higher word count than last week, but not by all that much. So here we go:

Coming Home by The Cyan Recluse
Twilight's Revenge at Midnight by Shadow Light
This Is How A Unicorn Thinks by Casketbase77
If I Were Discord by n [sic]
The Castle's What?! by RB_

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