Read it Later story count: 212 (-6)
After a brief flirtation with actually publishing PR on the correct day last week, I'm back to wobbling around the week like a jelly. Only the two fics to review this time around, although one of them is much longer than I'd normally include in a non-Spotlight post – and it's a story that was once extremely famous. Was it worth the read? You'll see...
What You Can Imagine by darf
Progress by Andrew Joshua Talon
★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Friday, 10 April 2020
Thursday, 9 April 2020
My Little Repeats 35: "Sweet and Elite"
Oops, I forgot about Ponyfic Roundup! That will be up tomorrow. But now for something completely different.
S2E09: "Sweet and Elite"
Written by Meghan McCarthy
3 Dec 2011
My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 8.4
The one with Hayseed Turniptruck.
Thoughts: Opal's best episode. Not the thing most people remember, perhaps, but it is – she largely acts as Rarity's increasingly ignored conscience, and I find her very effective. Apart from that, this is definitely a step up from the previous ep. We get to meet Fancy Pants for the first time, and this is what I consider his true personality, not the more annoying, less pleasant version we sometimes see later in the series. It helps that here he's so clearly a cut above the snooty Canterlot elite, and that Trevor Devall's voicing is nearly perfectly English. Fleur is amusing, too. Another significant introduction is Pinkie's Party Cannon, though here it's just a quick visual gag. Twilight's terrible dancing, too, which was alluded to in Equestria Girls but – again – not always retained later on. As for this episode, it's a solid one on the whole, and Rarity's song is both very good and very well suited to her character. So many fun visual touches in the song sequence, too. My only real gripes are that Rarity never really gets a comeuppance for blatantly lying to her friends (though she does suffer for other things), and that Fluttershy would surely have been able to tell that Opal wasn't really sick. This is still very watchable, though, and it's not far off a four-star rating. A top-end three, certainly.
Choice quote: Rarity: "What croquet mallet?"
New rating: ★★★
Next up is "Secret of My Excess", which I've tended to see as a bit of a meh episode. Let's see whether that changes.
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| Is this the first airship scene in FiM? I wish they'd used them slightly more often |
Written by Meghan McCarthy
3 Dec 2011
My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 8.4
The one with Hayseed Turniptruck.
Thoughts: Opal's best episode. Not the thing most people remember, perhaps, but it is – she largely acts as Rarity's increasingly ignored conscience, and I find her very effective. Apart from that, this is definitely a step up from the previous ep. We get to meet Fancy Pants for the first time, and this is what I consider his true personality, not the more annoying, less pleasant version we sometimes see later in the series. It helps that here he's so clearly a cut above the snooty Canterlot elite, and that Trevor Devall's voicing is nearly perfectly English. Fleur is amusing, too. Another significant introduction is Pinkie's Party Cannon, though here it's just a quick visual gag. Twilight's terrible dancing, too, which was alluded to in Equestria Girls but – again – not always retained later on. As for this episode, it's a solid one on the whole, and Rarity's song is both very good and very well suited to her character. So many fun visual touches in the song sequence, too. My only real gripes are that Rarity never really gets a comeuppance for blatantly lying to her friends (though she does suffer for other things), and that Fluttershy would surely have been able to tell that Opal wasn't really sick. This is still very watchable, though, and it's not far off a four-star rating. A top-end three, certainly.
Choice quote: Rarity: "What croquet mallet?"
New rating: ★★★
Next up is "Secret of My Excess", which I've tended to see as a bit of a meh episode. Let's see whether that changes.
Tuesday, 7 April 2020
Sounds of 2013, Nos. 100 to 96
Back in February, I said I was going to get cracking with "Sounds of 2013", but of course that seems very long ago now. Nevertheless, I think I'd like to set off anyway, since at the very least it should give folks something enjoyable to read. So, here we go! A quick run-down of my inclusion rules, which are the same as the 2012 criteria:
Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the 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'm featuring just the four tracks on this first day as unfortunately no. 100 doesn't meet my inclusion criteria. You can see the ones that do listed below. Past the page break, you'll get videos and a bit of info about each piece.
100: skipped
99: The Living Tombstone – Nightmare Night (remix)
98: TheDashDub ft. Feather – Never Alone
97: Joaftheloaf ft. Feather – The Hardest Thing
96: Evening Star – Land of Equestria
Please keep reading if you'd like to know more about these songs!
Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the 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'm featuring just the four tracks on this first day as unfortunately no. 100 doesn't meet my inclusion criteria. You can see the ones that do listed below. Past the page break, you'll get videos and a bit of info about each piece.
100: skipped
99: The Living Tombstone – Nightmare Night (remix)
98: TheDashDub ft. Feather – Never Alone
97: Joaftheloaf ft. Feather – The Hardest Thing
96: Evening Star – Land of Equestria
Please keep reading if you'd like to know more about these songs!
Saturday, 4 April 2020
Griffish Isles rescheduled for November
No real surprise, but the Griffish Isles convention has been forced to abandon its originally planned early May slot. According to a notice on its website, the new dates are 21/22 November. The venue remains the same – the Pyramid Hotel in central Manchester – and Guest of Honour Ian Hanlin has agreed to attend on the new date. Having criticised GI more than once for comms shortcomings in the past, I feel it only fair to commend it this time for the pretty detailed and clear statement put out here. A huge and very welcome improvement.
Of course, we all know that even November is far from certain. It's very unlikely there will be a vaccine for Covid-19 by the autumn, so pretty much all big social events are up in the air even if it's been possible for restrictions to have been loosened a bit. It would be lovely to think that GI could go ahead, but if I'm entirely honest I think the odds are somewhat against it. I would be utterly delighted to be wrong. I enjoyed the con last year, even if I could only make part of it, and it would be nice to think people (not me) could do so this year.
We shall see.
Of course, we all know that even November is far from certain. It's very unlikely there will be a vaccine for Covid-19 by the autumn, so pretty much all big social events are up in the air even if it's been possible for restrictions to have been loosened a bit. It would be lovely to think that GI could go ahead, but if I'm entirely honest I think the odds are somewhat against it. I would be utterly delighted to be wrong. I enjoyed the con last year, even if I could only make part of it, and it would be nice to think people (not me) could do so this year.
We shall see.
Friday, 3 April 2020
My Little Repeats 34: "The Mysterious Mare Do Well"
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| Snips is here. Snails has gone to get another dictionary |
Written by Merriwether Williams
26 Nov 2011
My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 6.2
The one with the Hoofer Dam. (At least, that's my name for it.)
Thoughts: Okay, here we go. In the early days of the fandom, this episode tended to win "Least Favourite Episode" contests. Its 6.2 score from IMDb is testament to that. Is it that bad? Well... no. It's a mixed bag. On the plus side, it's undeniably entertaining, and there are some very amusing bits. Ghostwriter Spike, for example, and the Batman: The Animated Series-nodding crowd scene. Scootaloo's Rainbow Dash Fan Club opening scene. The score is excellent too. On the debit side of the ledger, not only is Rainbow Dash at her worst in inflated-ego terms, her friends aren't very nice either when they all brag about Mare Do Well in front of her. Ponyville also doesn't feel all that much like the town we know and love – that cliff the pram hurtles towards, for example. When did that turn up? And as for the hydro dam... Fast forward a few years and episodes like this, that don't really get Ponyville, became more common. But for Season 2, this is a mis-step. It's not awful, but it's certainly very uneven and well below par overall. It deserves its rather poor reputation, if not really the actual hate it used to get.
Choice quote: Unnamed stallion: "Excuse me? Do you think you could skip your catchphrase and just hurry up and save us?"
New rating: ★★
Next up is "Sweet and Elite", an episode I've been looking forward to considerably. Several significant debuts coming up in that one!
Thursday, 2 April 2020
Whither Pony conventions in 2020?
Note: This post deals with physical conventions. The future for online cons such as PonyFest is very interesting, but it's one I'll perhaps deal with another time.
I thought about writing this a few days ago, but stepped back because I wasn't personally involved in any cons and so wasn't sure I had enough knowledge to make the post worthwhile. But then I thought, no, I should write it because I'm not involved in running cons. That means I don't have any of the NDAs and contractual restrictions they do, and I don't have to negotiate with venues and insurance companies. That being so, I can talk freely about what I'm expecting to happen, not merely about what's been announced for certain. Less specialist knowledge, but also fewer restrictions. So here we go.
First up, we already know that 2020 is not going to be a normal year. Several major conventions have already been postponed until later in the year or cancelled entirely, BABSCon and GalaCon being among the most prominent. There will most assuredly be more. I think we should always bear in mind the immense difficulties facing con organisers at the moment, and not complain that they haven't all announced exact plans this very minute. Any well run con – and thankfully in this fandom that means most of them – will be talking a lot behind the scenes and not doing its negotiations over Twitter.
Lots more waffling to come!
I thought about writing this a few days ago, but stepped back because I wasn't personally involved in any cons and so wasn't sure I had enough knowledge to make the post worthwhile. But then I thought, no, I should write it because I'm not involved in running cons. That means I don't have any of the NDAs and contractual restrictions they do, and I don't have to negotiate with venues and insurance companies. That being so, I can talk freely about what I'm expecting to happen, not merely about what's been announced for certain. Less specialist knowledge, but also fewer restrictions. So here we go.
First up, we already know that 2020 is not going to be a normal year. Several major conventions have already been postponed until later in the year or cancelled entirely, BABSCon and GalaCon being among the most prominent. There will most assuredly be more. I think we should always bear in mind the immense difficulties facing con organisers at the moment, and not complain that they haven't all announced exact plans this very minute. Any well run con – and thankfully in this fandom that means most of them – will be talking a lot behind the scenes and not doing its negotiations over Twitter.
Lots more waffling to come!
Wednesday, 1 April 2020
Ponyfic Roundup 289
Read it Later story count: 218 (nc)
And for a change, Ponyfic Roundup actually appears on the right day of the week. Go me. Anyway, I'm feeling quite cheerful right now, having actually managed to get a supermarket delivery slot within the next 47 years. What better way to celebrate than with another little collection of ponyfic reviews? I suppose with a large collection of ponyfic reviews, but you can't have everything. Here goes:
Flashes on the Horizon by Goblin Scribe
Under the Willow by Orbiting Kettle
A Perfectly Ordinary Day in Ponyville by The Equestrian Gentlecolt
★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
And for a change, Ponyfic Roundup actually appears on the right day of the week. Go me. Anyway, I'm feeling quite cheerful right now, having actually managed to get a supermarket delivery slot within the next 47 years. What better way to celebrate than with another little collection of ponyfic reviews? I suppose with a large collection of ponyfic reviews, but you can't have everything. Here goes:
Flashes on the Horizon by Goblin Scribe
Under the Willow by Orbiting Kettle
A Perfectly Ordinary Day in Ponyville by The Equestrian Gentlecolt
★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
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