My Little Pony discussion

[Dominic]

Just watched the second episode as background while working on my mid-term paper.

-Pinky is annoying. Oh lord is Pinky annoying.

-Apple and Rainbow kinda grew on me.

-I think a few scenes gave me cavities.

-no lesson about humility. Instead, a lesson on forgiveness.

-onteresting that several of the ponies are given traditionally male virtues, some with masculine phrasing even.

-shame on Hasbro for not making the element jewels, or Apple's damned hat.

-how long until somebody customizes both forms of Nightmare/Luna.

Over all: B/C Not a bad start, and much better than it should be.

Dom
-real men watch MLP in the Forensics Lab.

[BWprowl]

Just watched the second episode as background while working on my mid-term paper.

-Pinky is annoying. Oh lord is Pinky annoying.

Just for the record, I find Pinkie to be funny as hell. Maybe it's the fact that she's really the only over-active, crazy-cartoony "kids" character in this kids' show, but she really makes it work. That the other characters treat her impromptu songs with pointed awareness at how out-of-place they are just sells it. She has some great bits in future episodes.

-I think a few scenes gave me cavities.

Yeah, episode 2 doesn't quite finish what Ep 1 so strongly started. It's likely the cheesiest of the lot. A note: The series undergoes a mild format tweak starting after this, becoming more of a comedic slice-of-life series, rather than Pony Destiny Adventures. Granted, some of those life-slices involve dealing with dragons, dog gangs, and hydras, so it's not a *total* shift.

-shame on Hasbro for not making the element jewels, or Apple's damned hat.

From what I understand, production on the toys began about the same time as production on the show did, with the toy people having only Lauren Faust's character designs and some story notes or something to go on. Yup, we're in Beast Machines country here. I'd wager that as the show gets more under way, Hasbro may try to make the toys more integrated with it, and we'll see stuff like more accurate sculpts and accessories, not to mention characters like Zecora and Trixie.

-how long until somebody customizes both forms of Nightmare/Luna.

Dude, you know it's been done. I don't have pics handy, but I've seen them. You can rest assured.

Prowl can probably name ten overly sexualised anime for kids off the top of his head that make Sailor Moon look like the Teletubbies.

Y'know, I don't know whether to feel insulted or nobly challenged...

Magical Lyrical Nanoha
Godanner
Venus Versus Virus
Ichigo Marshmallow
Negima (first anime)
Moetan
Strawberry Panic
Seikon no Qwasar
Queen's Blade
Kodomo no Jikan

I may be stretching some definitions on some of those, and they aren't all that bad compared to others (I wager that those last three especially could make Dom's head, among other things, explode). Fun fact that I'm not sure what to do with though: Kodomo no Jikan was also created by a straight woman.

[Gomess]

Moetan

I love it when the title of something tells you everything you need to know about it.

Noble challenge, btw.

[Dominic]

So, I made the mistake of googling Moetan. But, the images that came up on google's web (not "image") search pretty much told me what I need to know. Some naughty teacher stuff going on here huh?

A note: The series undergoes a mild format tweak starting after this, becoming more of a comedic slice-of-life series, rather than Pony Destiny Adventures. Granted, some of those life-slices involve dealing with dragons, dog gangs, and hydras, so it's not a *total* shift.

That might actually not be the worst change in format. They solved the destiny question in the first arc, so it is not a bad idea to show them post-destiny...or something. And, I admit to chuckling when one of the ponies said, "Oh, she is not." "She is."


So, Luna's powered down form would likely be a pegasus body with a unicorn's head. How to color the mane? The powered up form would be difficult though, likely involving resin for the main. (Side note, if I make those Chaos pnoies, Celestia would be good for Chaos undivided.)


Dom
-glad to not have kids, especially those who like anime.

[Mako Crab]

Pinky Pie is one of those characters that I instantly marked as annoying. In another show she'd remain this way for the entirety of the shows' life, but she's actually becoming one of the funniest characters in the cast. That, I never would have predicted. Even Rarity, who I found to be kind of dull and prissy at first, has become a lively character while maintaining her air of sophistication.

[138 Scourge]

Yeah, I figured Rarity was gonna be a stuck up and snobby clotheshorse right at first, but she immediately goes nuts trying to get Twilight's mane and such fixed up, that's pretty cool. But she had me sold when she chopped off her tail for that dragon. She was just like "Oh, you need a new mustache bit? Here's my tail". Didn't even think about it. For a character who's that into being stylish, that's a helluva gesture. So Rarity is pretty cool in my book.

I like Pinkie, too. She's a huge spaz, but in an appealing way.

[BWprowl]

Pinky Pie is one of those characters that I instantly marked as annoying. In another show she'd remain this way for the entirety of the shows' life, but she's actually becoming one of the funniest characters in the cast. That, I never would have predicted. Even Rarity, who I found to be kind of dull and prissy at first, has become a lively character while maintaining her air of sophistication.

I agree about Rarity. I wasn't too interested in her at first, mainly because they simply didn't seem to be doing anything with her. But then these last few episodes have been pretty Rarity-heavy, and she's turned out to be pretty awesome. I loved her melodramatic wallowing-in-whatever-it-is-poies-wallow-in in "Suited For Success", but what really sold me was her using her own wits and abilities to get the Diamond Dogs to let her go a couple episodes later. And there's something to be said for the way Faust handled the necessity of a fashion element in the show. Rarity could've easily become a trend-following shopaholic, but I like the Fashion Art Creator angle much better.

Applejack needs to get an episode soon. It's been way too long since the spotlight was on her.

And because Gomess wanted to be kept up on other animals appearing: A herd of buffalo appeared in the latest episode. And they were actually less of an offensive Native American stereotype than I was expecting. Surprise guest star was Scott McNeil voicing the Chief. Cool episode all around, actually. Apparently the entire town shares Dom's opinion of Pinkie and her antics.

EDIT: Forgot to reply to this:

So, Luna's powered down form would likely be a pegasus body with a unicorn's head. How to color the mane?

You may want to look up tutorials elsewhere, but I know (from having a friend who does so) that Pony customizers almost always handle the mane by pulling out the old color and rethreading it with the appropriate new one.

[Dominic]

How to manufacture appropriate coloured manes though? With Luna's powered down form, I suppose using Twilight's head and Rarity's body, (painted with a mix of Fenris Grey and Midnight blue), and then maybe inking the main? That hair is a huge point of failure on the toys that I had not considered until examining a few of them. (More in this in my upcoming review post.)

to be said for the way Faust handled the necessity of a fashion element in the show. Rarity could've easily become a trend-following shopaholic, but I like the Fashion Art Creator angle much better.

I like the idea that most of the ponies are on the production side of things rather than the consumption side.

Twilight: works with research and intellectual property.
Rarity: produces trends rather than follows them
Pinky: sells, rather than strictly consuming goods
Apple: works in agriculture, (which is explicitly shown to be important)
Rainbow: weather control and (implied) civil defense
Fluttershy: community service, (which is less consumption than it is production)


Dom
-not so much with Prime apparently....

[BWprowl]

How to manufacture appropriate coloured manes though? With Luna's powered down form, I suppose using Twilight's head and Rarity's body, (painted with a mix of Fenris Grey and Midnight blue), and then maybe inking the main?

Dude... You have been severely underestimating the power of the Pony customizing collective. There's no manufacturing required. There are websites (a LOT of them) where you can buy Pony hair in any color of your choosing. There're whole tutorials on how to cut and style it exactly. You're not treading new ground here: These people have been around doing their customizing for a *long* time, and they've thought of just about everything. Get out there on the Google, and see how easy answers to any question you might have can be to find.

[Dominic]

Wait, you are talling me that there are Fan Project pony parts.....

Prowl, you are really not helping. I am trying to cut back on toys. I am months behind in my customizing.... And, now, you tell me that one of the biggest hurdles to pony projects has an effective workaround...


So, what Pony forums do you recommend?


Dom
-getting trampled....