My Little Repeats 181: "The Break Up Break Down"

Aw, even matching wrapping paper!

S8E10: "The Break Up Break Down"

19 May 2018

My original rating: ★★★★
IMDb score: 7.9

The one with cool leanings

Thoughts: This was a much-needed tonic after the mess of the last episode. I'm usually not a huge fan of romance being brought to the fore in Friendship is Magic, but this story is very enjoyable. You do have to accept one or two clichés, not least Big Mac and Sugar Belle repeatedly managing to miss the simple explanation, but that aside it's fun. The Guys Night stuff is entertaining and it's always nice for Peter New to get to talk a bit. The pacing is without the long saggy periods that some episodes suffer. There's some nice dialogue, especially between Discord and Spike; and the animators managed to sneak a few same-sex couples into the celebrations (one of them especially prominent!) without US TV bursting into flames. The CMC subplot was a little more ordinary, and it's a slight stretch that nopony thought of the other "Belle" given the setup. But hay, we got a Derpy cameo! It's possibly a tad over-generous to give this a four, but I smiled a lot, so it's keeping that rating.

Choice quote: Discord: "Please! Can't you see that that holiday is a commercialised ruse pushed on you by the greeting card industry?"

New rating: ★★★★

Well, that was quite an improvement on "Non-Compete Clause"! Next time, it'll be "Molt Down", which apart from annoying my spellchecker (and me) because of the title's US spelling isn't an episode I dislike much. I can't remember much beyond the very broad-brush details, though.

Ponyfic Roundup 529: Equestria Girls Edition

Read it Later story count: 92 (nc)

Words read this week: 27,285

As I type this, it's 15 °C and sunny outside and there's a feeling that spring really is on the way. (Well, already here if you go by meteorological months.) Back in the world of ponyfic, though, it's time to look at five stories that all revolve around the humanised versions of those same ponies. Yes, it's EqG time today! Here's what I've been reading:

Penance by Bicyclette
Just Want A Hug by SilverStar7
My Little Songfish by BlackWater
Dark Sunset by pabrony83
Asking a Favor by Tinybit92

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 40 to 36

Here we go once more with another look at the Pony music that was shaking the fandom ten years ago. For those of us who've been around that long, it's slightly concerning that some of these songs – and the events that inspired them – are now a decade old. Ah well, time marches on as they say. So indeed do my 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 was able to feature all five tracks. This week? All five again! One required a non-YouTube official source, but it was there! I think it's a good list, even if not all the songs were brand new for 2015:

40: µThunder – I'll Fly (remix)
39: Black Gryph0n & Baasik – Sight Unseen
38: PrinceWhateverer ft. Dreamchan & CGScrambles – Beyond the Horizon
37: SlyphStorm – Nightmare Night (cover)
36: Sim Gretina – In Our Town (remix)

All right, that's the introductory stuff dealt with, so let's avoid getting bogged down in waffle and get moving to the actual music!

My Little Repeats 180: "Non-Compete Clause"

An actual nice reference? In this episode? It's a miracle!

S8E09: "Non-Compete Clause"

12 May 2018

My original rating: ★★
IMDb score: 4.4

The one with er... bite-a-cudas?

Thoughts: In IMDb ratings, this is the lowest that Friendship is Magic ever got, the only episode of the entire series that scored below five. Look, you know it's bad. I know it's bad. Everyone knows it's bad. The students are the only real saving grace, and they stop this from breaking my run of never finding any episode of this series entirely without merit. It's nowhere near enough, though. Applejack and Rainbow are not just hit with the Idiot Ball but repeatedly shot at point-blank range with Idiot Blunderbusses. Even ignoring the absurd character regression, "Fall Weather Friends" did their rivalry far better in the middle of season one. They almost drown Yona and don't show much concern, which is just unbelievable. Their fighting also goes on and on and on. Otherwise? Um... the Fluttershy "Teacher of the Month" joke is amusing, Twilight isn't entirely useless, and... er... the episode looks quite nice. But AJ and RD still bickering at the end? Tedious, like the ep as a whole. I'm only glad for Kim Beyer-Johnson's sake that this wasn't her only FiM writing credit. Her others weren't terrible. "Non-Compete Clause" is, and hard as the students work to save it, they still can't. And now it's over and I never have to watch this episode again. Until I inevitably do. Again. And regret it. Again.

Choice quote: Gallus: "Yeah... it's been like this all day..."

New rating: ★

The only way is up, right? And indeed, the next episode is "The Break Up Breakdown", which I remember rather enjoying – and not only because it wasn't "Non-Compete Clause" any more...

Ponyfic Roundup 528

Read it Later story count: 92 (+1)

Words read this week: 22,543

I don't really have anything of interest to say here, but when has that ever stopped me? I will note that we're now getting to the point in the year when if – if – the sun decides to come out, it can almost feel springlike. I even sat outside a pub with a drink the other day. For about ten minutes before I got too cold, but still. Anyway, back to the ponyfic. Five stories this week as usual, and here's the list:

Pumpkin Talk by Heavy Mole
Try by Nailah
More Than Her Mane by Westphalian_Musketeer
Ever After Never Came by Thunderbug80
The Best and the Worst by Shrink Laureate

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

Sounds of 2015, nos. 45 to 41

It's back to "Sounds of 2015" today, and things are really hotting up. Actually they're kind of doing so in real life as well, since as I type the sun is out and the sky is (mostly) blue, which makes a change after the endless weeks of grey drizzle we've endured in these parts up until recently. Never mind; it's time to blow any remaining clouds away! The usual reminder of my inclusion criteria first:

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. 

For the past couple of weeks, I've had to skip at least one track. This time around, it's back to the full five, although I'm afraid I still couldn't find official HQ download links for most.

45: Sim Gretina – The Pony I Want to Be (remix)
44: TheIronPony & Michael Picher – Rio's Ballad
43: Foozogz – Faded
42: Scraton – Wireless
41: Lenich & Kirya – Love Me Cheerilee (cover)

And now we're done with that, come with me for embedded videos, a few facts and figures, and my trademark semi-pointless ramblings about each song.

My Little Repeats 179: "The Parent Map"

Early-series Twilight doing this at her library might have been fun

S8E08: "The Parent Map"

5 May 2018

My original rating: ★★★
IMDb score: 7.4

The one with chocolate perfume

Thoughts: This is a reasonable enough episode, with a reasonable plot leading to a reasonable moral. It doesn't do anything I hate, and it's nice to see Starlight and Sunburst teaming up, but by Celestia it's predictable in its overall direction. The "don't touch the books" bookshop is strange, all the more so as Firelight does handle them later with no comeback. You do wonder what Starlight's dad was doing while his daughter was off brainwashing ponies. I do like the tension between modernisation and preservation, but then I do live in an old town in Europe! As in 2018, I rather wish that had been the central conflict here. And where are our heroes' other parents? Even a line would have been nice. Some nice visuals and jokes, such as those gates, but even some of those get reused noticeably often. Not a terrible ep, but a bit flat compared with other family-based episodes like "Parental Glideance". All in all, a time-passer of an episode rather than anything more; just too predictable to be more than that. I think only a smidge above the purely run-of-the-mill, which means a top-end two-star rating now.

Choice quote: Stellar Flare: "Use your words, Sunburst."

New rating: ★★

Well now, let's see what's next on the list. And... "Non-Compete Clause". Oh. Well, it has to be done, doesn't it? I suppose. See you there!