UK PonyConline report, part 1 (Friday)

TrainCon! Sort of. This is no. 2999 Lady of Legend

I'll never get this report on last weekend's UK PonyConline done if I don't get on with it, so I'm splitting it into bits. Today's short first instalment deals with the Friday. I hope you'll excuse me if I skim over some of the fine details, since the main event for me was an online "pre-meet" with a bunch of friends – ten or twelve of us, from memory. This wasn't a public event and so I don't think it would be appropriate to go into lots of detail about every little thing that was said. However, I can still give you the gist...

In pre-pandemic times some of us held "TrainCon" as we made our way by rail to our convention hotels and other weekend bases. Obviously this wasn't an option this year, but my local heritage railway is open again now and so I walked down a bit beforehand and saw a steam train or two to get me in the mood. I also made sure I had those nutritional essentials, cider and muffins, on hand. Incidentally, Maz (UK PonyCon's chair) mentioned later in the weekend that, at in-person cons, he has had to tell venue bar managers to stock more cider than they'd normally expect for the size of event. The power of Pony! :D

Convention essentials at the ready!

Around 7pm we leapt onto Discord (poor guy...) for the pre-meet. While it was of course not the same as being there in person in the pub, the first hour or so was so bouncy and fast-paced that it was closer than any other pre-online-con meet I can recall to having the same hyped-up atmosphere. Things mellowed and slowed down a little bit after that, though it was still very pleasant to be sharing the experience and chatting to friends with a convention around the corner.

I didn't stay all that late, I think until about 10 pm. Then I got a bit confused owing to the lack of crowds of football fans and pub crawlers yelling four storeys below my hotel bedroom window, something that is one of Nottingham city centre's less endearing features. (This would have been a bit of a problem in any case this time, as my house only has two storeys.) Still, the pre-meet had been a good start to what proved to be a very memorable weekend indeed...

Ponyfic Roundup 342

Read it Later story count: 147 (+4) 

The biggest increase in my RiL list for a little while – but, well, it was a convention weekend. People at cons will insist on telling me about stories they like and making them sound as though I need to read them, preferably before the end of the day. In the circumstances, I'm quite glad I didn't end up breaking through the 150 barrier again! Anyway, here's today's trio:

Of Birds and Bees and Awkward Things by JoeShogun
Poolside Pandemonium by Knox Locke
NightmareBoss by RainbowDoubleDash

★: 1 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 0 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.

A fun weekend!

Or possibly a fuf one, though really that word is for PonyFest. Obviously everyone who attended UK PonyConline¹ will have their own feelings, but for me I would rank it as my outright favourite of all the online conventions I've been to in the year and a bit since in-person cons became impossible. As such, I will be inflicting a con report on you fine people within the next few days. Beware! :D
¹Nobody seems to know the exact capitalisation, so I'll use this for now!

I'm sure the con's chosen charity (the RDA) would still welcome any donations. Info and JustGiving link if you click on "the RDA" just now.

UK PonycOnline returns this weekend!

UKPC returns on Saturday and Sunday! Of course, we're now all pretty used to online conventions, but UKPC is always a special one for me. As such, I will be attending it as much as I can. I have an unavoidable commitment on the Saturday morning, so I'll sadly have to miss the first bit of the con. It should be all systems go for the other day and a half, though! :D

As a quick reminder for anyone unfamiliar: this is an all-ages, all-generations convention which welcomes collectors, bronies and anyone else with a love for My Little Pony in their heart. And, as always, the convention will be raising money for the RDA¹, which has been UKPC's chosen charity for many years and is to say the least an extremely worthy cause.
¹Riding for the Disabled Association

The con's online store is now open, too. Worldwide shipping! (But then, what would the Pony fandom be without worldwide shipping...?)

Ponyfic Roundup 341

Read it Later story count: 143 (+1) 

I apologise for bringing up the weather again... actually, no. I don't. I live in England; what do you expect? Anyway, we've just endured the coldest May Day Bank Holiday Monday (yes, all those words get capitalised) in half a century. Lovely. So once again I've been doing my reading inside, with the fire on. Here's what I've been looking at.

Home Is Where The Harp Is by Blueshift
The Dark Roads by P0nies
The Lament of Sweeney Trot by KenSES64

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

Which FiM episode do you consider overrated, and why?

Back in early March, I asked which episode people considered underrated. That post produced a pleasingly active comments section. I said at the time that at some point I'd ask the same question for overrated episodes. Here goes, then:

Which episode of Friendship is Magic do you think is overrated?

As before, you have very nearly a free hand in deciding what's meant by "overrated" in this context. Just bear in mind that it's not the same as "worst". I'm going to keep nearly the same rules as before, but there is one addition:

* Try to pick only one episode. I know it's tough. That's part of the fun!

* I mean full-length show episodes, not films or shorts. "Best Gift Ever" counts.

* Double-length premieres/finales count as one, so they're eligible.

* "The Last Problem" is not eligible. It's simply too darn easy a choice. :P 

You can interpret "overrated" however you want to. I very much don't want to give hard and fast rules here. You can pick an element that you think is overrated now, one that was overrated a lot in the past, whatever floats your boat. :)

Naturally it's only fair that I give my own reply too: "Magic Duel". I never much cared for Trixie, until she teamed up with Starlight several years down the road. I didn't find "Boast Busters" a classic either, but this was so uneven. Zecora's Jedi training was the highlight for me, that and a couple of one-liners (eg the "wheels" quote). Much of the rest... wasn't. I don't especially like the way M. A. Larson wrote Fluttershy, either. For me, it's a reasonable episode, but nothing like the classic some fans consider it.

So there's my answer. What's yours?

My Little Repeats 77: "Pinkie Pride"

Yes, yes, Derpy – but how many noticed Rainbow playing with Tank in the background?

S4E12: "Pinkie Pride"
Written by Amy Keating Rogers
1 Feb 2014

My original rating: 9/10 (=★★★★★)
IMDb score: 9.1

The one with live action

Thoughts: This one is sheer pleasure. In a season where Pinkie is written pretty unevenly, "Pinkie Pride" shows her at her very best, giving her a depth of character some other eps don't allow her to display. "Weird Al" Yankovic is the show's first guest star since John de Lancie, and he gives as good as he gets. Cheese and Pinkie spark off each other very well, but there's also plenty of emotion here. The scene where Pinkie pretends to be fine when Twilight visits is heartbreaking, especially that watering can. Meanwhile, the songs range from decent ("Cheese Confesses") to really good ("Pinkie the Party Planner", "Pinkie's Lament") though it's a fair point to say the visuals – which are superb throughout – often complement them greatly. And though not a real song, Cheese Sandwich nicking "Smile" is truly hilarious. It's also clever that Cheese's party stuff is generally bigger and flashier than Pinkie's, which ties in nicely to the others being starstruck by him. Oh, and there's filly Derpy in a flashback as well. All in all, one of Amy Keating Rogers' triumphs – and she had a few of those over the years. All rounded off with custom closing credits music. Easily the best "key" episode, and one of the best of the whole series.

Choice quote: Cheese Sandwich: "I was ready before I was born!"

New rating: ★★★★★

Next up is "Simple Ways", an episode I remember for Tabitha St. Germain's voice work and not a lot else. I'm open-minded going into this one.