Ponyfic Roundup 444

Read it Later story count: 92 (+1)

Words read this week: 30,845

There seem to be a fair number of new writers on Fimfiction, and as far as I can tell they're generally actual real people rather than AI bots. I'm very pleased – even if some of the fics display the usual signs of inexperienced authors, they may go on to great things; new blood is always welcome. Anyway, given the edition number of this Roundup, I couldn't resist the obvious theme. Every one of the seven stories covered this week contains the word "Four" in its title.

Four Truths by Decaf
Four To The Floor by Cardinal Dan Productions
Four Little Words by chillbook1
All Four Love by Scribbley Wibbley
Four Friends Play A Board Game by GeodesicDragon
Four Dresses of Love by elmago02
Four of One by Divide

★: 1 | ★★: 4 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.

My Little Repeats: Reflections on Season 6

Official Season 6 trailer

Remember that Game of Thrones-esque S6 trailer? It was really the first time that Discovery Family made some kind of effort at matching the inventiveness The Hub had shown with its promos. It wasn't up to the best of their efforts, of course, but at least it was something! I remember it causing a reasonably-sized stir at the time.

Anyway, at last here we are at the S6 retrospective. This is about where opinions on Friendship is Magic really start to diverge, and certainly at the time S6 was not an especially popular season. It was often ranked down at the bottom with S3 when comparing everything up to that point. How I ranked S6 this time is interesting, though. Here's the average:

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 3: 2.92

And indeed, S6 does come in low down the list – although only a fraction behind S5. I wonder what odds I'd have got for that when I started doing these rewatches? It's this season's lack of cast-iron favourites compared with its predecessor that really hurts it in the ratings. Talking of which, past the jump you can see which episode scored what.

Ponyfic Roundup 443

Read it Later story count: 91 (-1)

Words read this week: 23,276

Another Bank Holiday coming up this weekend. Hey ho. It looks like being reasonable (though not amazing) weather, at least. As trailed last week, a very low total word count for this Roundup. Still, as we all know, "small but perfectly formed" is a thing, as indeed is its opposite. Let's see whether there are any gleaming little nuggets that can be discovered this time, shall we?

A Real Pegasus by astrolatryy
How The Mighty Fall by ReaderReads
Storm Siren by Undome Tinwe
Symbiosis by Silent Whisper
"Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, Squirt" by gmen15

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

Quick update on review/rating policy

I'm sure most people who use Fimfiction (which is probably most people reading this blog) have by now have seen Wanderer D's post on AI. Without going too much into the specific issues raised there or in the big comments thread (since much of it has done what big comments threads usually do...) I do want to make a clear ruling with regard to Ponyfic Roundup, seeing as that's my decision to make. So:

• I will not review any fic published on Fimfiction that appears to break the "no AI-written fics" rule.
• If I read and review a fic, then later discover it breaks the AI rule, its rating will be rescinded and replaced with a zero-star rating.
• Stories you wrote to an AI-supplied prompt are still eligible. I don't see those as different from entries for a prompt-based contest.
  

There is one specific exemption, for Greenhorne's fic ChatGPT in Equestria: A Digital Adventure (PR 425). As you'll see from my review, I was well aware of what I was doing. [First time for everything! —Ed.] As such, although the fic itself has now gone from Fimfiction, it can keep its two-star rating.

Otherwise? If you write a story yourself, the lowest rating you can get from me is a one. If you pretend to write one when you got AI to do it, and I later find out about it, the highest rating you can get from me is a zero. Do, as they say, the maths.

Sure, I am interested in the use of AI in writing. I've posted the results of my playing around with it on here a few times, and I will doubtless do so again. But there's a place for that, and said place is not in a Fimfiction story.

Ponyfic writing is a bit like sport. To jump off a comment someone (I think Sir Mediocre) made in the Fimfiction site thread, if you turn up at the Derby on a Ducati and do the course in 45 seconds, don't try to tell me it should count because tech moves on.

I hope that's all clear! Pester me in the comments if it isn't.

Ponyfic Roundup 442

Read it Later story count: 92 (-3)

Words read this week: 39,425

Barely anything of any interest to say up here this week, other than to repeat my Fimfiction comment that Sweden's Eurovision song was okay at best and not a winner in my book. (I voted for Norway's entry and also liked Switzerland's.) While not having anything of interest to say doesn't usually stop me, this time I'm going to carry right on to the story list:

Firelight by MegatronsPen
B.B.B.F.F.B.R. by 8686
The Many Deaths of Twilight Sparkle by Jinzou
The Bun, The Oven, and The Muffin Man by Crosis
When The Rain Fell by Alicorn

★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 3 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.

Feeling old again

I tend to at least skim through the "This Day in Pony History" series that Equestria Daily does to cover up the lack of new content remind us all of interesting happenings in the past. At the moment we're seeing some of the pre-release trailers and discussions regarding the first Equestria Girls film. It really is interesting to see just how vehement some people were that this was not only a bad idea but would utterly destroy the MLP fandom.

That was a decade ago, egad. But I wonder what those people think now, when Rainbow Rocks in particular is more fondly remembered than a fair chunk of Friendship is Magic episodes...

Ponyfic Roundup 441

Read it Later story count: 95 (nc)

Words read this week: 33,784

Here we are again, then. As I type this the sun is out and if I squint a bit I can see a reasonable amount of blue sky. Springtime is here! This being England, that usually means that within ten minutes it's freezing cold with overcast skies, but I shall remain determinedly optimistic. [Like the fool you are —Ed.] Yes, well. Another lowish word count this Roundup, but what about the actual stories? Let's have a look at this week's quintet:

For the Love of Science by Cold in Gardez
The Hug by the dobermans
The Perfect Drink by GaPJaxie
Amo Ergo Sum by DrakeyC
Eternity by DawnFade

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

Curses – foiled again!

The results for the Arboreal Yearnings Contest are now out, and as I'd expected We Are the Everfree didn't get anywhere. Well, okay – in the interests of strict honesty, I thought it maybe had a very outside chance on account of being more tree than some of the entries – but though I'm happy to have finally turned that long-standing idea of mine into a story, and although it's had a good if limited reception from readers, I'm not going to pretend I think my effort has been robbed of its rightful recognition as an utterly outstanding piece of ponyfic.

There were 18 entries for the contest, all of them short, which is the kind of thing that makes me interested in reading and reviewing the lot of them for Ponyfic Roundup, as I did with the Thousand Words Contest a while ago. Watch this space!

My Little Repeats 143: "To Where and Back Again, part 2"

"Starlight, how do you do that with your leg? Doesn't it hurt?"

S6E26: "To Where and Back Again, part 2"

7 Oct 2016 (Tiny Pop; 22 Oct on Discovery Family)

My original rating: ★★★★ (for both parts)
IMDb score: 8.3

The one with a klutzy draconequus

Thoughts: As with part one, I expect some people to feel I'm being absurdly generous to this episode. So, let's start with my least favourite part, ie the changeling reformation. It was too quick and easy, and the new changeling designs aren't appealing. I'd have much rather kept the "black but with shimmery wings" design. The rest, though? Way more fun. Trixie's sniping with Discord is fantastic throughout. Starlight grows as a leader and is a more appealing character for it. Chrysalis reminds us all why she's Best Villain – she's clever, she's scary, and as we now know, she will never reform. Thorax's impersonations are crucial to the success of the mission. Discord overcomes his hardest test: the Room of Crying Fluttershys. The hive animation is interesting. All in all? This is not only a four, it's a high four. One of my favourite season finales.

Choice quote: Trixie: "It is absolutely ridiculous that that worked."

New rating: ★★★★

And at last that's the end of Season Six! As usual, I'll do a brief retrospective next time, and then it will be on to the reasonably fondly remembered first part of S7.

Ponyfic Roundup 440

Read it Later story count: 95 (+2)

Words read this week: 39,689

As promised last time, the word count is back to something reasonably respectable this week – although almost half comes from the fifth and final fic reviewed.

A Moment of Truth by A Man Undercover
Quiet Boy and Moon Horse by horizon
Little Twilight and the Scary monsters by Luna_pulsar222 (review requested by author)
The Endeavor Within by Mike Cartoon Pony
Trixie And Her Amazing Pet Changeling by Georg

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