..

[Petra456]

Go, Twinny! Did you end up having a favorite episode? And what'd you think of the songs?

I personally loved Sweetie Belle's lullaby; it was so stylistically unexpected for me, taking on a 50s R&B/Soul feel compared to the others, that were either directly based on musicals or had more of a pop/rock underbelly/persuasion.

In fact, of everything that the show has going against it in terms of capturing male audiences, I think the music would be one of the hardest sells. Most guys I know don't really like musical numbers. Quite a few girls I know don't like them, either. This got me thinking that pretty much every show I've loved has had at least one entirely musical episode; Scrubs, Daria, Buffy. FiM hasn't really had a musical episode but it doesn't shy away from its music, either.

I'm normally not a HUGE fan of music in television shows, just because it can go horribly wrong, but I didn't really mind here. I love Winter Wrap Up and have been singing it in my head since I first heard it! Sweetie Belle's Lullaby was unexpected, but fun!

It's really really hard for me to pick a favorite episode, but if I was forced to it would have to be "Dragon Shy". I don't remember if you ever answered or not, but do you have a favorite episode, Twinny?

[Luet]

I just watched the episode "Look Before You Sleep" about the slumber party and I was surprised at how much it made me identify with Rarity. Before it, I thought of her as simply vain and shallow. I really couldn't see much good in her. But during this episode, I saw that she really just likes things to be a certain way and is almost a bit OCD about it. Like, she feels a level of anxiety when things are out of place but she can come off kind of whiny when she gets upset.

When she was making the s'mores? Totally like me. I am so particular about making something as simple as a sandwich. I like everything to be evenly applied and neat. And I hate getting dirty and sweaty too. Anyway, I really saw more depth to her and could relate to some of her quirks.

[Satya]

I just watched the episode "Look Before You Sleep" about the slumber party and I was surprised at how much it made me identify with Rarity. Before it, I thought of her as simply vain and shallow. I really couldn't see much good in her. But during this episode, I saw that she really just likes things to be a certain way and is almost a bit OCD about it. Like, she feels a level of anxiety when things are out of place but she can come off kind of whiny when she gets upset.

When she was making the s'mores? Totally like me. I am so particular about making something as simple as a sandwich. I like everything to be evenly applied and neat. And I hate getting dirty and sweaty too. Anyway, I really saw more depth to her and could relate to some of her quirks.

So much this, the OCD part. I mean, she IS vain at times (I am too, part of why I identify with her.) I think you'll find less and less "shallow" in her though as you progress, I think that's just a surface observation that most get at first glance of the character that sticks for awhile. `Winter Wrap Up` will also give you more of that "OCD" impression. I think it's actually great that their flaws are more realistically portrayed than in most cartoons, and show depth as the season progresses.

Sorry, I'm typing fast, the /b/ threads fly by if you blink too much.

Oh, Bean emailed me after I asked him about whether he was an EG fan or not - apparently he was inspired to make these:

http://i.imgur.com/7SAjQ.png
http://i.imgur.com/4iZ0n.png
Also asked only that I link to his deviantart account:
http://misteraibo.deviantart.com/

[Gravity Defier]

"For The New Lunar Republic"

I actually have this opened up in a window from the first time I heard it; I don't know when that was but I thought it was phenomenal.

do you have a favorite episode, Twinny?

Damn, I was hoping to not have to answer this because my answer would be similar to yours, with regards to having a hard time picking one. zero asked me this a while back and I gave an overly long, indecisive answer and to be honest, if I tried again, it'd be a completely different overly long, indecisive answer. Just choosing one, possibly "Green Isn't Your Color," though I kind of have a soft spot for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, so...no, I'm sticking with GIYC as a best guess.

I really saw more depth to her and could relate to some of her quirks.

Your post did two things: 1) it reinforced my love for the show, thanks to it having characters that aren't one dimensional and that are relatable and 2) it made me want to go back and give Rarity another chance. Your larger response is the first thing anyone has ever said about her that made me even pause for long enough to consider she might not be nothing more than a spoiled brat.

Oh, Bean emailed me after I asked him about whether he was an EG fan or not - apparently he was inspired to make these:

http://i.imgur.com/7SAjQ.png
http://i.imgur.com/4iZ0n.png
Also asked only that I link to his deviantart account:
http://misteraibo.deviantart.com/

That is actually really cool. I love it when my fandoms collide.

[zeroguy]

http://i.imgur.com/7SAjQ.png
http://i.imgur.com/4iZ0n.png

NO EXCEPTIONS :D

[Satya]

"Green Isn't Your Color,"

Your post did two things: 1) it reinforced my love for the show, thanks to it having characters that aren't one dimensional and that are relatable and 2) it made me want to go back and give Rarity another chance. Your larger response is the first thing anyone has ever said about her that made me even pause for long enough to consider she might not be nothing more than a spoiled brat.

GIYC is one of the reasons I like her, in fact. She wants something for herself, but instead that attention and opportunity is given to her friend. With the best of intentions, she pushes her friend to seize that opportunity (because she assumes it's something Fluttershy wants as well). Although she's incredibly jealous, as anyone might be in that situation, she tries not to let it show. Then when she finally admits she's jealous and finds herself resenting her friend's success, she let's it go - when she sees Fluttershy being made fun of by the crowd thanks to Twilight's spell, she rushes to her friend's defense because she can't bear the thought of her being embarrassed in front of all those people...er, ponies (and unwittingly ruins Twilight's plan in the process). The episode showcased her flaws (every character has an episode or two like it), but showed how her strengths overcame them (again, same as each character does in their spotlight episodes).

But I'm still mad at the others for being such bitches to her in the first half of Suited for Success.

[Satya]

ARE YOU READY???

SEASON 2 PREMIER IN T-MINUS 40 MINUTES.

[Gravity Defier]

I can't believe I just woke up early on a workday to watch a cartoon.

[Petra456]

I don't know what time it's actually on, so I missed it : (

[Luet]

I taped it since I'm still not finished with Season 1 (why didn't they do a marathon of all the episodes before Season 2 started?).

[Jayelle]

...why don't you folks just watch it on the website?

[Gravity Defier]

I don't know what time it's actually on, so I missed it : (

It's on at 9AM EST, so currently 6AM our time (but will be 7AM my time once the time changes in November...will stay 6AM for you, sorry). If you don't have the Hub, there are online streams that you can get to at any time in the day.


I posted something on FB with spoilers (because Jota asked me what I thought), so I'll probably import that here later, when I'm not at work. I'll mark it or invisi-text it.

[Satya]

I thought it was a much stronger opener than Season 1, though I'm sure initiating the first season was much more difficult to do. Spoilers:

I thought Discord was a much better antagonist than I anticipated, and John DeLancie is BOSS. Excellent choice of voice actor.

The subversion of each Mane character's attributes was a decent way to go as far as the story goes as well, and I was pleasantry surprised at how well Discord's approach with Pinkie matched my own in my story and that I appear to be clairvoyant in using "element of discord" as a theme before the Season 2 spoilers began to come up.

Fluttershy has ascended to Super Moe mode. (Note: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moe_(slang) not like... Moe from the 3 stooges.)

Derpy has already made an appearance which pleases me.

Luna did not make an appearance, despite being referenced several times early by Celestia.

I am also going to make a prediction: in one of the CMC episodes, ONE of the 3 will get her mark, and the episode will center around the other 2 being resentful and excluding her until they learn the lesson at the end of the episode. Calling it now =).

Lastly: THEM LONG LEGGED RABBITS!

[Gravity Defier]

I thought it was a much stronger opener than Season 1, though I'm sure initiating the first season was much more difficult to do

I think that this season's opener had the advantage of starting out faster, which I think went a long way in giving it strength. Also, the format was slightly different. S1 was slower narrative + introductions, then action. This one is a little bit of slow narrative, a lot of action, and maybe/probably even more action next episode but I think it suffered a bit from a lack of cohesiveness that the first had. You knew more in S1 opener before the action started. Still a good episode but I think it's going to need Ep2 to achieve "great."


SPOILERS:

First, a C&P of what I said to Jota on FB, but with formatting:

I'm still processing things but I can say there were some things I liked and some things I wasn't sure about.

Discord was great in a Joker (from Batman) sort of way and had some funny moments (most notably, doing the running man dance in the stained glass window). [ETA: I think he is a genuinely frightening character precisely because he's so flippant about the destruction and chaos he causes.]

Twilight seemed more frazzled or frazzled in a way I'm not sure is true to character. Pinkie was hilarious and provided some good laughs. I loved that Fluttershy couldn't be turned of her own will; I thought that spoke well of her. And Celestia. She also seemed uncharacteristically frazzled. She seemed to be one step away from falling over the edge, if you know what I mean. Then again, if she has faced him before (and if he had a hand in Luna going to the dark side 1000 years ago), she has every right to lose some of her composure.

And C&P from convo with zero, with some formatting edits:

I didn't record it since they did an encore, so I watched the 6:30 episode, commercials and all. Even with it being the half hour or so that it was because of that, it was over before I knew it. That speaks to how fast paced it was. It really didn't waste any time diving right into the story.

I think that's why I'm not on the "It's great" bandwagon yet. It was a lot of setup and it was a lot of action, but neither seemed to compliment each other much. It was still understandable what was happening within the episode with them all going against their elements, and it was understandable that Celestia needed them to do it since they, in a sense, took over the power of the elements with the whole Nightmare Moon thing, but it wasn't so cohesive. I am mostly sure it'll be much better once #2 comes out.

I also really enjoyed the storytelling device used in this one; the stained glass (S2), compared to the older, more storybook styled art (S1). I like both. I'm glad they used both to achieve the same ends.



Also, if I'm overthinking these, I'll be happy to go to a more bullet-point, lesser posting style in here.

[Satya]

You're not overthinking it.

Some other points I considered:


First: HUB has gone full blow subliminal advertising:
- Chocolate rain? Chocolate milk ad
- Applejack scene? Apple Jacks ad

Second, the mini-shoutouts to the fandom/internet culture like Chocolate Rain, "The Game" etc.

As far as the actual content goes:

I suspect that Twilight's loss of composure is more true-to-character than might appear at first; recall how frazzled she was at the beginning of Season 1, when determined to stop Nightmare Moon's release while supposed to be on assignment learning friendship/preparing for the Summer Sun celebration. Also, how she went a bit crazy during the parasprite invasion. And not being experienced in dealing with friends, she is understandably slow to pick up on there being something wrong with the rest of the group.

With Fluttershy, you are right. She couldn't be manipulated into betraying her personality. But it was almost... disturbing how willing she was to say those things about her self:
"I AM weak and helpless"
"I don't mind my friends constantly pointing out my flaws"
I think the animus for her element being subverted was in her all along.

I liked that AJ, even when manipulated into lying, was tricked into it using a lie and with the idea that sometimes it's in everyone's best interest to lie - and even then, she was terrible at lying and couldn't keep a straight face. Her expression in each lie is priceless.

Rarity and Dash's were pretty cut and dried. Especially Dash, breaking her loyalty by splitting it between her friends and her home.

Celestia was the difficult one to grasp. On the one hand, it was obvious at the end of Season 1/Episode 2 that she had somewhat planned for those events all along - sending Twilight to Ponyville specifically for that purpose. I mean, if she's got the power to send her sister to the moon for 1,000 years, it doesn't stand to reason she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. It must have been more about teaching Twilight a necessary lesson and helping her and the others take their place as representations of the Elements. But in this one, it seems as if she starts to do that - getting the group ready to take on Discord, perhaps feigning her concern at the situation, but from the point that he reveals he has the Elements seems genuinely perturbed. Then again - aren't the Elements inside of the group anyways? I may have to rewatch the pilot.

Some of the backstory she revealed confuses some of the 'origin' story for Equestria as well. Discord apparently ran things? Celestia/Luna come from somewhere and turn him to stone, then take over rule? Doesn't really make much sense, did they just control the heavens and let Discord run things before that? Now THAT may be overthinking it, but I kind of like to have some coherent backstory/origin for how things got to where they are. I may never get it, though. =/

[Gravity Defier]

SPOILERS:

Twilight's loss of composure is more true-to-character than might appear at first.

But it was almost... disturbing how willing she was to say those things about her self:
"I AM weak and helpless"
"I don't mind my friends constantly pointing out my flaws"
I think the animus for her element being subverted was in her all along.


Celestia/Luna come from somewhere and turn him to stone, then take over rule? Doesn't really make much sense, did they just control the heavens and let Discord run things before that? Now THAT may be overthinking it, but I kind of like to have some coherent backstory/origin for how things got to where they are. I may never get it, though. =/

You know how you stated Celestia seemed genuinely perturbed? That's how I feel Twilight reacted. That is to say, I think it's in her nature to flip out some but she seemed frantic on a whole new level. I will need to rewatch this to see if it appears that way on multiple views.

Though, yes, I was somewhat alarmed by the way Fluttershy was speaking (even if, to be honest, it seems to fit with people I've known who are similar in personality to her) but that got lost to my other reactions somewhere along the way. Its impact on me was brief.

As for the backstory, I think I also need to go back and watch for details.

[Petra456]

Chocolate rain guys, CHOCOLATE RAIN!

[Gravity Defier]

Yay, you saw it!


Satya, I'm going to call myself a bunch of silly things and say even if Twilight was acting out of character, it was explainable by her unpreparedness for Discord. I really was overthinking that one.




(Sorry, too tired to dig up invisifont so white it is.)

[Satya]

Yay, you saw it!


Satya, I'm going to call myself a bunch of silly things and say even if Twilight was acting out of character, it was explainable by her unpreparedness for Discord. I really was overthinking that one.




(Sorry, too tired to dig up invisifont so white it is.)

Hm, I just use #EEEEEE.


Yes, I think the whole group can have some of their reactions attributed to being unprepared, not only for a new antagonist, but one as cunning/crafty as Discord.

Also, WTF is up with Celestia having encased this obviously powerful adversary of good in stone and then making him A GARDEN DECORATION IN A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE WALK BY ALL THE TIME, AND APPARENTLY THE SLIGHTEST DISTURBANCE WILL FREE HIM???

/b/'s conclusion is that she is once again trolling Equestria.

And... I had to share this Fluttershy comic. I just.. I lol'd, in spite of myself:
http://i.imgur.com/saVrj.png

[VelvetElvis]

How do you even know that my little pony comes on tv?

[Gravity Defier]

I'm not following your question.

[VelvetElvis]

I mean, do they show previews? How do you know the channel and when it comes on?

[Luet]

It's on the Hub channel (called D-kids in my online listings) and then do a search to see when it's on. Either through your cable box or online or whatever. If you have the channel, then you can watch it! If not, you can watch it online somewhere.

[Satya]

It's on the Hub channel (called D-kids in my online listings) and then do a search to see when it's on. Either through your cable box or online or whatever. If you have the channel, then you can watch it! If not, you can watch it online somewhere.

All of the eps are back up on youtube, including Season 2/Episode 1, and in the glory of full 1080p.

I watched a livestream when it premiered. A bit laggy but that was to be expected with the number of people watching and in the livestream chat. I could have watched it on TV but... a big part of the draw with the show is honestly the community/fandom that goes with it. Talking during it was fun. That, and grabbing some screencaps right away too.

LIKE THOSE SALVADOR DALI RABBITS!

[Jayelle]

Q! Q as Dischord.

Awesome.

[Satya]

Q! Q as Dischord.

Awesome.

You know, the funny part is...

He's basically the same character when you think about it. A powerful, nearly omnipotent god-like antagonist, who is not necessarily "evil", but revels in mischief and making things difficult (for others of course, it's just interesting to him). You could think of Celestia/Mane 6 as Picard and the Enterprise really. He even has some similar lines in TNG where he's calling Picard a bore for not playing along with his little games or becoming exasperated with his riddles.

I loved it. John DeLancie, in hindsight, is the perfect choice for the character and I think it was nod to the fandom and its subculture of geeky, internet-raised types.

[Jebus]

I don't get this whole thing.

It seems like a sweet, cute kids show. Were I to have children, I would want them to watch it. But for me, from the first couple of episodes I watched, I found it boring, and pretty formulaic oldskool children's program, and (as is necessary for the genre) it delivers its messages by definition heavy-handedly. What am I missing? I know it's not lack of heart; since the blackest, most sinful hearts known to man have been melted by this show. I just don't get it.

Maybe I occupy the middle space between the people who love this kind of stuff anyway, and the people so jaded by their worldview that the child in them makes them cling to this show like a teddy in the night to bring the fleeting feeling of the security of youth back to them.

Or maybe it's an American thing, because you guys are, in medical terms; kwazy.

[Satya]

I don't get this whole thing.

It seems like a sweet, cute kids show. Were I to have children, I would want them to watch it. But for me, from the first couple of episodes I watched, I found it boring, and pretty formulaic oldskool children's program, and (as is necessary for the genre) it delivers its messages by definition heavy-handedly. What am I missing? I know it's not lack of heart; since the blackest, most sinful hearts known to man have been melted by this show. I just don't get it.

Maybe I occupy the middle space between the people who love this kind of stuff anyway, and the people so jaded by their worldview that the child in them makes them cling to this show like a teddy in the night to bring the fleeting feeling of the security of youth back to them.

Or maybe it's an American thing, because you guys are, in medical terms; kwazy.

Not really sure what there is to say in response. Matters of taste aren't going to have much room for discussion when differences arise.

I can say this, though. It's not about the surface 'message', delivered bluntly for easy comprehension by any age.

It's also not an American thing; it's Canadian, actually.

[Satya]

SEASON 2 / EPISODE 2 AIRS IN 10 MINUTES!

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE HUB NETWORK, IT WILL BE STREAMING AT joowz.com!

LAST WEEK'S EPISODE WAS UP ON YOUTUBE 35 MINUTES AFTER AIRING

[Petra456]

Meh, still not finding it on Youtube : (

Totally wanted my Ponies to get me pumped for today!

[VelvetElvis]

Ponies on the interwebs?

[Satya]

Meh, still not finding it on Youtube : (

Totally wanted my Ponies to get me pumped for today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3wfy0d9C1A" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Slight audio/video mis-sync.

Will probably have full 1080p and better syncing up soon I'm sure.

Edit: Nevermind:

Use this one, 720p and audio issue fixed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cvhGp9t2AU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Wil]

http://audioboo.fm/boos/426740-my-littl ... ed-my-life" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Satya]

http://audioboo.fm/boos/426740-my-littl ... ed-my-life

The caption about how it's funny that some people take him seriously is true.

But the better part is that, for some people, the show (but more importantly the community of fans) has indeed changed people's lives for the better.

For example, someone I know..

[Jayelle]

My daughter was sitting on my lap while I was reading pweb and got very, very excited that Apple Jack was on the screen.