Ponyfic Roundup 375

Read it Later story count: 96 (-3) 

The thoughts of a fanfic reviewer (hey, there's a series title! :P ) tend to include how many stories they can reasonably review each week. As I mentioned recently, I've decided that I can manage four most of the time, so from here on in that is the number I'll be trying to discuss each (normal) week. Happily, I haven't failed this on the first try! Four fics this time, which are:

Insecurities by Shachza
It Takes a Village by Baal Bunny
I AM Flawless by Silver Shadows
Not Alone in the Crowd by Doccular42

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

My Little Repeats 100: "Slice of Life"

The moment FiM quite literally jumped the shark...

S5E09: "Slice of Life"

13 Jun 2015

My original rating: ★★★★★
IMDb score: 9.1

The one with squeaky toy Bulk Biceps

Thoughts: There was a three-week gap between the last episode and this, time for lots of speculation and build-up. In the event, "Slice of Life" was even more remarkable than anyone expected. In the event and as an event. I can't help thinking it does lose a little bit from being seen as a standalone now, years later – for a start, "Derpy speaks again!" will never have quite the impact it did in 2015.¹ This is the ep that would confuse you most if you sat down to watch having never seen FiM, but it was explicitly a "for the fans" episode. Lots of great stuff in here, and the LyraBon stuff seems more knowing given what happened to them in canon by S9! (Though I wonder how well the apparent "Ponies With Hats" reference is known now.) Steven Magnet being named on-screen was quite something, too,² though it's the Vinyl/Octavia sequence that still stands out. As for the actual plot of the episode, involving the Mane Six fighting the Bugbear in the background while the other characters share the limelight for once, with Cranky's marriage to Matilda being the running link? It does its job efficiently enough, as a contrast to all the craziness going on elsewhere. I'm afraid, though it's heretical, I'm not going to give this episode five stars any more. (I only just did so when it was new.) I still find it enormous fun, but I'm not sure it can ever quite be what it was in 2015. Four stars, though, I feel more than happy about. "Slice of Life" hasn't turned into a "so what?" ep since its release, thankfully; it's still very entertaining indeed.
¹Although she isn't named in-episode, Hasbro nevertheless made Larson change her name to "Muffins" on the script
²Though in fact the name was seen on official merch as early as 2013.

Choice quote: Cranky: "I told you we should have eloped."

New rating: ★★★★

Next up is "Princess Spike", which was definitely seen as a major downgrade on this at the time. Shall we see whether things have improved any? Let's do that.

Griffish Isles tickets released

The Griffish Isles website is, in keeping with one of the convention's less welcome traditions, out of date. However, since they've shared a link directly to the ticket-buying portal on the official GI Twitter, I can now say with confidence that you can buy Griffish Isles tickets here. As a reminder, the con will be held at the Pyramid Hotel in central Manchester on the weekend of 7th & 8th May.

Ticket prices

Adult Weekend: £53.32 (£49.00 + £4.42 fee)
Adult Saturday: £35.08 (£32.00 + £3.08 fee)
Adult Sunday: £24.20 (£22.00 + £2.20 fee)

Foal (12 and under) free with a paying adult
Carer free with relevant documentation (see above link)

VIP Weekend: £107.32 (£99.00 + £8.32 fee)

Golden Ticket: £539.59 (£500.00 + £39.59 fee)

Thoughts

In terms of the ticket most people will be interested in, the Adult Weekend, I'd been expecting a price around the £50 mark so this isn't a surprise. It's a bit more expensive than UK PonyCon, but not enormously so. I really wish they quoted all-in prices without the booking fee, but that's Eventbrite for you, I suppose. I went to GI in 2019 and had a good time, so I expect it will be a decent experience for those who do attend.

The VIP tier gives you "first two rows seating, and T Shirt, plus conbook mention in helping set up the convention" (plus possible extra unspecified perks such as autographs), while the staggeringly expensive Golden Ticket's blurb says: "The ticket to sponsor us, front row dedicated seat in theatre, personal named thanks from con chair. First access to the event, plus all VIP perks". 

And as for me...

Last year, on top of all the uncertainties brought by the wider situation (and who knows where we'll be with those by May?) GI rather suffered by being only a month apart from UK PonyCon. This year there's a five-month gap, which will make it more practical for people with normal budgets to do both cons. I am tempted by at least a one-day trip, though annoyingly Manchester is just too far away to do that without some annoying compromises. It will be quite some while yet before I'm sure either way, though.

My Little Repeats 99: "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone"

"When I said I wanted a scone, I meant right now!"

S5E08: "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone"

23 May 2015

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 8.3

The one with griffon scones

Thoughts: Gilda's redemption episode isn't AKR's greatest, but it's certainly serviceable. I enjoyed the world-building in this, as well as the nicely drawn storybook art showing the history of Griffonstone. Maybe Arimaspi (who tangled with griffons in real-world mythology!) was a little bit of a waste, in that we never saw him again, but he at least helped to set things up. A lot of the things I liked here were the smaller details, such as Pinkie's bizarre infatuation with King Grover's statue, Rainbow Dash's Twilight impression (shades of "Newbie Dash" next season) or indeed Pinkie's (again) comments on hugs. The team-up of the two worked quite well. The griffon abandoning Rainbow, quite possibly to die, due to lack of bits was very dark indeed for this show when you think about it. Back in 2015 I speculated that maybe the Abysmal Abyss had a future significance (no) or that the Cutie Map being able to summon only certain ponies was directly related to Starlight's dastardly deeds (also no). Twilight's little cameo at the start was nice, though I did feel for her not being able to accompany Dash and Pinkie! Grandpa Gruff was irritating, and at the time I had no inkling he'd return to the show much later with a completely different griffon. Oh, and William Anderson gave us some fine background music. All in all, a relatively standard but solidly made adventure story. Three stars last time, three stars this time – albeit a high one. Not much more to say about it.

Choice quote: Gilda: "Here we go. Typical pony hero complex."

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Slice of Life". Enough said!

Ponyfic Roundup 374: Spotlight on Refrain

Read it Later story count: 99 (+2)

Although I'm unable to review Nine Days Down (see here for why), I've chosen to stick with the Spotlight format today for another story. This fic is a bit shorter than most I give this treatment to, but on the other hoof it's a bit longer than most I discuss in my regular PRs. This story was runner-up in a Write-Off back when they were on /fic/, so we're going back quite some way in fandom history.

Refrain by NTSTS
Octavia, OCs and Other
Sad/Slice of Life; 25k words; Jul 2013; Teen

My name is Octavia. I play the piano. I'm not sure that's the best introduction, but it's the one I've used for most of my life, so maybe it will do for now.

This is Octavia's story, told in first person, from her early fillyhood to early adulthood. It turns out that her childhood was not especially happy, possessed as she was of a controlling mother who was ever more obsessed that her daughter become a great pianist. Octavia herself doesn't really want to play the piano, but her mother knows what's good for her. In the background lurks the question of where her father might have gone. It's a solid enough tale, with Octavia's voice usually keeping in check the excessive purple-proseyness that can infect writers trying to write a posh character. The focus is quite tight, which is good in some ways but also makes things a little bit relentless. It's a pretty decent character study, especially by 2013 standards, but it's lacking a bit in life at times. ★★★

You can find a few more of my thoughts, together with major spoilers, beyond the page break.

UK PonyCon 2022 will return to Nottingham

In what I called elsewhere earlier the least surprising announcement in UK PonyCon history, the convention has announced that it will be returning to Nottingham for the fourth successive time (2018-19-21-22) on 8th/9th October. The venue itself will also remain the same, the Nottingham Trent University building just north of the city centre.

I confess to mixed feelings here. While there's no doubt that the venue works, that the con's relationship with venue staff is very good, that the city is fairly central in the UK, that it has excellent transport links... I can't say I have all that much enthusiasm for Nottingham, and however many extra events are put on as the blog post (linked above) hints, that won't change. My problems relate more to the fact that I just don't much like the city itself. It is, for example, the only place I've ever had an entirely sleepless night due to constant noise outside my hotel until four in the morning.

There's another aspect, too. For its entire existence from 2004 until moving to Nottingham in 2018, UKPC moved around the country. It never stayed more than two years in one city, and usually not even that. It made the con a great opportunity to explore somewhere new, it stopped it feeling samey, and perhaps most importantly it meant that people who lived too far away one year could hope that it might be closer in the future. Maybe I'm being unreasonable there, since people in places like the US will even travel thousands of miles sometimes to get to cons.

I actually feel quite uncomfortable posting all this, since after all it's a great privilege to have a Pony convention within reach at all – millions of people don't – and an even greater privilege that it's a con that is consistently popular, enjoyable and very well run. Barring my issues with the city it's in, I loved it last year and indeed have greatly enjoyed all four Nottingham PonyCons. I also don't want to downplay the importance of not overworking the staff, and it undeniably is a lot more work to establish a new host. And if I'm truly honest with myself, if I were the one making the decision then I'd probably have stuck with Nottingham too. I'm just a little sad that something unique and (to me at least) special and highly appealing has gone, maybe forever.

Right now it is far, far too distant for me to say whether I'll be able to go to UK PonyCon 2022. Even aside from the wider situation, and after the last two years who knows what that will be by October, I simply don't know yet what my personal circumstances might be by the autumn. There's Griffish Isles in May first, and it's just possible I may choose to go to that instead simply for the change of scene. But without a doubt it is UK PonyCon that has the greatest hold on my affections.

Regardless of any of my less enthusiastic comments here about the location, I absolutely wish UKPC 2022 to be the enormous success that UKPC 2021 was. It's a wonderful convention run by wonderful people about a wonderful franchise. It supports a wonderful charity, too. That's worth a lot.

Spotlight review of Nine Days Down is cancelled

Apologies to those of you looking forward to this, but the reason is simple: JoeShogun has removed the story. Judging by the most recent entries on this comments page, it happened in December, after I'd decided to read and review it here. I can't see any explanation from the author. However, I have a rule here that I will not feature stories that are not publicly available at the time of review. Sad as it is, I need to honour that rule.

So what I will do is this: I will find a mid-length fic on my RiL list, one that I can read in a few days, and I will Spotlight that story on Wednesday. So you'll still be getting a focus on a specific ponyfic. However, it will not be the one I was expecting. All I can say about Nine Days Down, unless of course it returns one day, is that it has been a good read despite a few flaws. It won RCL induction, so it's a big loss. But what can you do?

PS: I note in passing that President Dead has also deleted their stories. I had one on my RiL list (I, Fluttershy (Or Autumn Without End)), but again that can't be reviewed now. Don't worry, I'll still find something.