My Little Repeats: Reflections on Season 8

Official FiM S8 trailer

The official Friendship is Magic season 8 trailer was, to be honest, not particularly fascinating. There was none of the experimentation of last season's "Fresh Princess of Friendship". Let's see how the season ranked overall. You can probably guess where S8 is going to place, but here's the list anyway:

1. Season 4: 3.42
2= Season 1: 3.38
2= Season 2: 3.38
4. Season 5: 3.27
5. Season 6: 3.23
6. Season 7: 2.96
7. Season 3: 2.92
8. Season 8: 2.65

I've said pretty much since this season first aired that it was comfortably my least favourite, and nothing seems to have changed that view. The main problem S8 had can be seen pretty starkly when you look at the star rating breakdown by episode, which you'll see beyond the page break.

Ponyfic Roundup 553

Read it Later story count: 89 (+1)

Words read this week: 12,029

Not a great deal to say up here, other than that it's raining as I type. A higher word count than last week, but not by all that much. So here we go:

Coming Home by The Cyan Recluse
Twilight's Revenge at Midnight by Shadow Light
This Is How A Unicorn Thinks by Casketbase77
If I Were Discord by n [sic]
The Castle's What?! by RB_

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

Sounds of 2016, nos. 30 to 26

Getting quite exciting now, isn't it? Remember, I don't know what's going to top this chart, so no spoilers please! I do however know what's in today's mix. As ever, here's the 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. 

Here's today's list of songs. All five today! :D

30: JoinedTheHerd – The Pony I Want To Be (remix)
29: Animated James – Brony Polka
28: BassBeastJD – The Magic Inside (instrumental cover)
27: Silva Hound ft. BlackGryph0n – Egomania
26: JoinedTheHerd – The Magic Inside (remix)

And now on to the bit that I imagine most readers look at first!

My Little Repeats 198: "School Raze, part 2"

"Let me be crystal clear: Real Pony Fanfic about me is not permitted in this school!"

S8E26: "School Raze, part 2"

13 Oct 2018

My original rating: ★★★★ (for both parts)

IMDb score: 8.3

The one with Mane Six marionettes

Thoughts: This final episode of Season 8 is certainly packed with stuff, and that's really its main problem: it's too packed with stuff. We have Cozy Glow, Neighsay's sudden change of heart, the CMC's semi-comedic diversion, Starlight stuck in that magical prison until she isn't, the Young Six saving the day, Celestia asking for trouble at the end, a lengthy diversion to Tartarus, Tirek playing his own part... it goes on and on. I actually did still enjoy most of it. The students in particular are great and almost deserve that graduation they don't get, though I'll never stop finding "Land of Hope and Glory" disorientating in a US-style school. Cozy's manipulation is interesting on and off, though as with so much else the knowledge that we never do get a backstory grates here too. Overall? Half as much stuff given twice as much time could have made this a classic. As it is, it's fun but not amazing. So as with part 1, down it goes from four to three stars.

Choice quote: Spike: "Um... there's seven of us."

New rating: ★★★

And at last it's the end of the penultimate season of Friendship is Magic! If your memory stretches back far enough, you'll recall that after each season I do a recap post. I'll be doing the same again this time around – including the all-important average score. (If you've worked that out for yourself already, please don't spoil me!) Then of course we'll be on the home straight.

Ponyfic Roundup 552

Read it Later story count: 89 (+1)

Words read this week: 9,038

A very low word count indeed this week, and that's likely to remain the case for a little while. I haven't lost motivation for these, but I have been absurdly pushed around by real life. What I'm hoping to do is to get my reading a full week ahead of publication, and if I can do that then there should be significantly fewer occasions when I have to delay Ponyfic Roundup. However, to get to that point I'll need some weeks with fewer words, so here we are.

Ciderfire by ambion
Dressed in Dappled Gold by CharmingMarething
Discord's Time Travel Trip. [sic] by Hotel Chicken
Dressed to Egress by AsiagoUnicorn
Balloon To The Moon by The Sleepless Beholder

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

Sounds of 2016, nos. 35 to 31

Into the top third of the Equestrian Trot 100's chart of Pony music for 2016 we go! (Okay, strictly it's roughly December 2015 to November 2016, but close enough.) While songs right at the top of the chart will be featured come what may, we're still low enough in the rankings for me to go by my usual inclusion rules:

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. 

Here's the list of songs. As you'll see, there's one absent this week, which is a pity but unavoidable. The other four make a pretty good selection, though:

35: Sayonara Maxwell ft. MiatriSs – Magic Everywhere
34: Spectra – Luna's Future (remix)
33: PrinceWhateverer – Spectacular
32: Aurelleah – The Magic Inside (remix)
31: skipped

All right, enough with the yattering and on with the music!

My Little Repeats 197: "School Raze, part 1"

The interior layout of Tartarus leaves something to be desired...

S8E25: "School Raze, part 1"

13 Oct 2018

My original rating: ★★★★ (for both parts)

IMDb score: 8.2

The one with crosswords

Thoughts: I really liked this finale (as a whole) on first watch, but I said in my 2018 review that "I suspect that it might not age terribly well once a cooler, more critical eye is turned upon it". Well, that was partly right. The fact that we never got a proper explanation for Cozy Glow is a big problem, and it diminishes her otherwise fun evil monologuing. There are questions elsewhere, too: why is Tirek getting letters in Tartarus? Why this incredibly convenient skeleton key artefact thing? On the plus side, Sandbar is finally about to have his day in the sun – and it's already clear in this episode that his "change of heart" to Neighsay is a ruse. The students are a real unit by now. So, a mixed bag, really. I still enjoyed it, but it did indeed have more issues than it used to. Three stars feels about right – remember, I'm not rating part two until next time.

Choice quote: Sandbar: "Sorry, I ran out of apples."

New rating: ★★★

Next time, of course, is "School Raze, part 2" – the end of the journey as far as Season 8 is concerned. A little while after that, I shall do the usual post-season summary and see where S8 stands in my overall rankings.