My Little Repeats 186: "A Matter of Principals"

Note: I'm reviewing "A Matter of Principals" now because I'm going by the episode order used in the Wikipedia article. That means "Yakity-Sax" will be treated as episode 18, despite having been previewed (and first seen by me) at the end of the mid-season hiatus. I did go back and forth about this a few times, but in the end I chose to stick with what I'm doing now.

Maybe they should just have made the marmoset a substitute teacher...

S8E14: "A Matter of Principals"

4 Aug 2018

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 6.4

The one with Limburger cheese

Thoughts: Apart from the preview of "Yakity-Sax" as noted above, part two of S8 began with a double-header, of which this was the first. The whole Mane Six are called away on a map quest, and finally realise how the School of Friendship's setup is stupidly idiotic requires backup in these circumstances. So Starlight is made acting head mare, since Twilight couldn't be bothered to make her deputy to start with. Anyway, the ep gets going with Discord's interference with the selection of substitute teachers.¹ Iron Will's cameo is disappointing, we weirdly don't see Maud teaching at all, and Trixie's appointment is somewhat nepotistic but Discord's "how do you do, fellow kids?" take-off and bananaphone are mildly amusing, if both over-extended. (Pacing is often off by this point, as many have observed. So is dialogue, which doesn't much zing here.) Spike has quite a solid episode, and Starlight does too for the most part. But Discord is far too unpleasant to the students, and what he does to Yona is indefensible. He had that zap coming. I actually do like the idea that Discord feels left out of the School, and after that apology to him I reckon Starlight was clever enough to have it out with him later, away from the rest. But the execution before that rubs me up so much the wrong way that it significantly harms my enjoyment of the episode as a whole. Sadly, another one I'm knocking down to a two, albeit not as low a two as I'd feared.
¹ Supply teachers – though the American term is starting to gain ground in the UK too.

Choice quote: Gallus to Silverstream: "You've been underwater a long time. Haven't you?"
The gap before the last two words sounds weirdly unnatural, but it's still a fun line.

New rating: ★★

Next up, of course, will be the second episode in the aforementioned double-header, "The Hearth's Warming Club". That one was well received at the time, and I know I enjoyed it quite a bit. I hope I do again!

Ponyfic Roundup 536: Comedy Special

Read it Later story count: 89 (nc)

Words read this week: 30,946

Before I get going today, I'd like to acknowledge the fact that DrakeyC has announced their retirement from ponyfic and from fanfic as a whole. A very fine writer, good enough indeed to have been asked to write official MLP content (several of the claymation shorts). I certainly wish them well for the future. Back to the matter in hoof, and today it's all about the [Comedy] tag. I'm looking here for stories that are actually funny, which isn't quite the norm is should be when it comes to this genre marker! Let's see what these fics can do:

Beating the Deadbeat by BikerPon3
Metagaming by Snowday_Pegasus
Starlight Saves Equestria With Custard by hawthornbunny
Lyra's Deepest Secret by Palm Palette
Regarding the Need for Sex Education by GaPJaxie

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 5 to 1!

Here we are at the grand finale! The top five songs, as voted for by users, in the Equestrian Trot 100 chart for 2015. As a reminder, the tracks don't have to have been released in that year; as you'll have seen if you've been following along, plenty of 2014 songs (and one or two from even earlier than that) have been featured in the 2015 list so far. Now, up until now my inclusion criteria have been as follows:

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. 

However, the top five of an annual chart open internationally is not just anywhere. At that point, I think a song is famous pretty much by definition. As such, Rule 3 applies across the board today. That means every song will be featured, even if it's no longer available officially. As it happens, though, all the songs are still available officially, so it doesn't matter anyway! :P Here's the list:

5: OhPonyBoy – We Dreamt Our Dream
4: Scratch21 ft. EileMonty – Strangers
3: Black Gryph0n & Baasik – Fighting Back
2: WoodenToaster – Prototype VIP
1: MandoPony & Silva Hound – Wild Fire

That's the (not very exciting) build-up finished. If you're reading on a PC or in Desktop Mode, there's a jump break below, but either way beyond this point are the tracks themselves. Read on...

Ponyfic Roundup 535

Read it Later story count: 89 (-2)

Words read this week: 30,861

As I anticipated last week, the endless blue skies have... ended. The weather now isn't awful, but it's much more typical of England in April. That means plenty of cloud, some brisk winds, scattered showers and the like. Just the weather for sitting inside with a good ponyfic! Talking of which, here's what I've been reading recently:

The Same Scenario Repeated Three Times by Seer
Celestia's Prophet by Aegis Shield
Late Night Snack by GrangeDisplay
A Little Bittle of Sunshine by River Road
In His Image by daOtterGuy

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 10 to 6

It's been quite a ride, but here we are at the penultimate "Sounds of 2015" entry! Yes, I absolutely will be doing the same for 2016 when the time comes, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. As a reminder, this is based on the chart given in the Equestrian Trot 100 for that year, as voted by users – sadly I'm not certain of the precise voting mechanism. My usual inclusion criteria follow:

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. 

We're into the top ten now, everyone! I was going to think about whether I should invoke Rule 3 as a blanket thing at this point in the chart, or just for the top five next time, but in fact that's not an issue as all today's songs are still officially available. Yay for people making my job here easier!

10: Pinkie Rose et al – Friendship Through the Ages (cover)
9: Michelle Creber, Black Gryph0n & Baasik – Getting Stronger
8: Sayonara Maxwell – Cupcakes (remix)
7: Wasteland Wailers – Fly Like You
6: SquareHead – Under Our Spell (remix)

Well, there you are. Usual intro bit over with, so let's get into the music...

My Little Repeats 185: Rollercoaster of Friendship

Look, just be grateful I resisted the temptation to use a pic where they're gazing into each other's eyes!

Rollercoaster of Friendship

6 Jul 2018

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 6.7

The one with Megan Williams

Thoughts: This just got a three-star score from me first time out. It's where we encounter villain/antagonist Vignette Valencia, who by chance got a look-in last Ponyfic Roundup. Amazingly, a seven-year-old cartoon's social media stuff doesn't come across as unbearably prehistoric now; nice work, Nick Confalone. Valencia's zapping phone thing is silly, but that's okay. The solution to the "white room" problem, though, is idiotically stupid and a significant mark against the special. Vignette reforms much too quickly and easily, but the end song is okay if not amazing. Mostly, though, Rollercoaster of Friendship is remembered for the RariJack shipteasing, of which there is plenty almost from the word go. Just a little FlutterDashing on the side, too. Other notes: (some) Americans pronouncing "caramel" as two syllables always gets me. Vignette's dog being called "Yas Queen" is... strange. The ponying up late on is pointless, but apparently Hasbro demanded it, so... I think my overall view is the same: not quite as good as Forgotten Friendship, but though bitty and imperfect it is still quite fun – and so it maintains its rating as a low-end three.

Choice quote: Sunset: "It's not about the parakeet!"

New rating: ★★★

Unlike in 2018, I don't now have to wait ages for the next Friendship is Magic episode, which is nice. As I said last time, in strict release order the next ep would be "Yakity-Sax" – but although I did watch it early back then, pretty much everyone places it at E18 nowadays. That being so, I will have to put off the misery experience for another time. "A Matter of Principles" will be next on this blog.

Ponyfic Roundup 534

Read it Later story count: 91 (+2)

Words read this week: 27,058

It's been another week of sunshine and blue skies here, which is really different from the same time a year ago! Last month was the sunniest March in England since modern records began over a century ago, and early April has continued in the same vein. It should last a few days longer before showers start appearing again. Also appearing again right now, the list of this week's ponyfics:

Villains aren't supposed to Die by IGIBAB
Waking Up is Hard Sometimes by RB_
Captain Twilight by Moonlight Eclipse
No Filter by ReedHoarse
The Brave Little Caretaker by Estee

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 15 to 11

You'll doubtless have noticed the lack of a "My Little Repeats" this week. I just haven't had the time, what with various things including the PoniesOnline virtual convention. I might have squeezed it in had it been a normal FiM episode, but as it's the Rollercoaster of Friendship special I thought it best to leave it for a little while. Don't worry, it'll be here before too long!

Back to music, and it's the last edition of this series before we get to the top ten. Exciting, eh! Oh, be like that then. I think it's exciting and it's my blog, so there. Here's the usual reminder of my inclusion criteria; for this week, Rule 3 is still not being automatically applied.

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 managed to feature a full set of five tracks. This week, as happened fairly recently before, I got all the way to the end and then found I needed to skip. It's frustrating, but the track in question just wasn't famous enough for Rule 3. So, here's the list:

15: PrinceWhateverer – Frailty
14: Animated James – Winter's F***ed Up
13: µThunder & FritzyBeat – Sinking Ships (remix)
12: EileMonty & David Larsen – I am a Parasprite
11: skipped

There's your list of songs. Now to see what they actually sound like!

Starlight turns ten

Season 5 of Friendship is Magic began exactly a decade ago, on 4th April 2015, with "The Cutie Map". Widely seen (including by me) as one of the best episodes the series ever produced, this also marked the debut of Starlight Glimmer. Opinions on that vary rather more, although personally I like her even as a reformed character. Whatever your feelings, the double episode itself remains, I think, a classic. Since Hasbro has been nice enough to upload it in full to the official YouTube channel, I can legitimately embed it on Louder Yay, so here it is!

Ponyfic Roundup 533: RNG Choice Edition

Read it Later story count: 89 (nc)

Words read this week: 22,153

I forgot to update this bit earlier – oops! Anyway, this time the stories I read were largely determined by the random number generator. I say "largely" because I did have a slight restriction, over and above my usual ones such as stories needing to be incomplete. For today's edition, I only allowed one Mature fic. Here's the list:

Liable for Content by Sarcasmo
Sentinel by Xenos
The Truth That Lies Within by Ps3luver
We Can't All Be Friends by Awesomo3000
Fear Itself by saarni

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 20 to 16

We really are getting to the sharp end of things now, as we move into the top 20! As a reminder this chart was decided through votes from people following Equestrian Radio at the time. I'm afraid I'm not entirely certain of the precise voting mechanism, but that doesn't really matter for our purposes. Here's the usual reminder of 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. 

Last week, I had to skip one of the five tracks that made the chart. We're not quite at the point just yet where Rule 3 will apply across the board, but it doesn't matter this time: a full five tracks today!

20: SlyphStorm ft. 4EverfreeBrony & Midnight Melody – Soldiers of the Night
19: PrinceWhateverer – Your Own Sky
18: Silva Hound ft. Odyssey Eurobeat – Come Alive
17: MandoPony & MegabyteBrony – Spitfire (Give It All You Got)
16: ponyphonic – Applejack

So, we've reached the end of the introductory stuff, which means we can get on with the actual point of all this: the music!