The My Little Pony: Frienship Is Magic Thread

[Kris@WLP]

[bar1scorpio]

[Happygun]

*Holds up "Not Gathan" sign*

I'm okay with MLP: FiM fanart so long as it isn't overly explicit and doesn't feature . Some MLP fanart is ridiculously well-drawn, some is hilarious, some is both. comes highly recommended. I don't go out of my way to look for MLP:FiM fanart, however, if only out of fear of stumbling upon something truly horrible.

I DO go out of my way to find MLP: FiM fanfiction, but I'm very, very, very picky about it. I like Humans in Equestria(TM) fics because I'm fairly certain humans will never appear in the actual show (nor should they) but I like stories where two different species/cultures meet and work out their differences. I avoid dark MLP: FiM fiction like the plague - granted the actual show can get fairly dark at times, but excessive darkness and violence runs contrary to the essential joyfulness of the series and ruins it. Ditto for anything sexual. I did peruse the (in)famous fanfic (warning: OH so very NSFW!) and its because the author is VERY well-written and insightful, posing interesting theories on Equestrian culture and society based on what has been seen on the show. The problem is that over half the fanfic is excruciatingly detailed inter-species erotic; reading it is like traipsing through a minefield. With a very few exceptions, I avoid crossover MLP: FiM fanfiction. Crossover fanfiction is a guilty pleasure of mine but I rarely indulge in it anymore; the internet has ENOUGH Sonic/Naruto/Mario/Evagelion/Cheers/Scooby Doo/BeyBlade/Jungle de Ikou/Firefly/Big Bang Theory/Sailor Moon* fics and I don't want to encourage them.

I can recommend the follow MLP: FiM fanfics - all Human in Equestria:

- EXCELLENT first-contact piece between a lone human astronaut and Equestria. Also features PONIES IN SPAAAAAACE!

- The Mane 6 play only peripheral roles to Lyra's search for humanity (and boy, does she find it!). The writing is a little stilted, but it's a worthy fic.

- A first contact piece featuring a stranded U.S. marine. It gets fairly dark but never goes over the edge. More importantly, the author gets the Mane 6's personalities and mannerisms right (i.e. how they're portrayed in the show) - something I consider to be critical for a good MLP: FiM fanfic. It's worth noting that this story is written by a honest-to-goodness U.S. marine.

- A fairly unconventional "human stranded in Equestria" fic. Unconventional in the sense that the main character, a college student hiking enthusiast, has yet to make contact with the Mane 6 after 8 chapters and 61,258 words (the Cutie Mark Crusaders, however...). Hard to describe. It reads like a survival story yet one gets the feeling the overarching story has just begun. A VERY good read - here's hoping it updates soon.

- One of the few MLP:FiM crossover fanfics I tolerate. A BattleTech/MechWarrior crossover that remains true to BOTH franchises without having one ruining the other, which is, frankly, amazing. Features some very impressive fanon world-building stuff. You don't have to know anything about BattleTech or MechWarrior to enjoy this.

I haven't been particularly drawn to the Pony music scene (yes, it can be justifiably called a scene) though I've enjoyed a couple of the original pieces (particularly a Rainbow Dash tribute called Spectrum) and the battle music from My Little Pony: Fighting is Magic.

*The sad thing is that there's a very good chance such a fic already exists.

[Ganthan]

Fan ART I'm fine with. I do appreciate any and all MLP fan art. I guess I have an easier time dealing with non canon stuff when it's just a picture to look at as opposed to a bad grammar story I have to read.

Unlike Happygun, I WILL look at and enjoy smutty MLP art of all kinds, whether anthro, non anthro, humanized etc. My only deal with humanized MLP art is when they still have unicorn horns or pegasus wings and such. I say if you're going human go FULLY human, otherwise you start to look like Japanese "Cat Girls". I like a nice even blend of features, not just human girls with one or two animal parts glued on.

Fan art: Yes
Fan fiction: No

[Happygun]

[Ganthan]

[bar1scorpio]

I'm just sayin'... there's my FurAffinity. And a recent upload straight from MFF.

[Happygun]

[Ganthan]

[Happygun]

Sure, whatever. Let's stop talking about pony sex now.

[Ganthan]

MLP Season 3, Episode 4 "One Bad Apple"

As per usual, the Cutie Mark Crusaders centered episode wasn't quite as well written as the others. I guess that's unavoidable with a show like this, you have to occasionally take a break from the mindless silliness and show little kids how they're supposed to behave. Even in that regard, I'm not sure I like the overall direction. "If someone is bullying you then you need to tell on them. Trust us, it will always turn out well." What's the difference between schoolyard bullies and international governments? Governments don't have any authority above them to stop their fights.

So once again all of the enjoyment come from the various 'little moments' of clever jokes, culminating in a build sequence ala The A Team. I am a little disturbed, however, on what the CMC's revenge on Babs was gonna be. "Lure her into this float and then RUN IT RIGHT INTO THE LAKE!! Aaahahahahaha!"

Woohoo! Scootaloo can fly for several seconds at a time. Also, was that... MAGIC that popped out of Sweetie Belle's horn?

[Happygun]

Yeah, that was one of the weaker CMC episodes. It felt like a throw-back to 90s Saturaday morning cartoon specials and the song was anything but spectacular. Predictable, too. Then again, it's hard to write a story about bullying without sounding pedantic and patronizing

[bar1scorpio]

Hey, I liked the song! No coincidence that watching the song alone on youtube, AKB 48's "Sugar Rush" pops up in the recommendations.

Also, that Twilight gets three "No!"s... wow, she does lecture, doesn't she?

finally, back to the song. OH GOD SHE'S DRINKING MY BRAIN!!! needs to be a meme.

[Ganthan]

[Happygun]

[bar1scorpio]

[Monfang]

Here's the best review for the most recent episode I can find: http://rhjunior.livejournal.com/565910.html

And here's the follow up: http://rhjunior.livejournal.com/566217.html

[Kris@WLP]

I tried watching once, bonked. Bully stories are MASSIVE push-buttons for me.

Tonight I finished watching it.

"One Bad Apple" is a mixture of the really, really bad and the amazingly good.

The bad parts: well, everything which wasn't a good part, really.

The good parts (and these were VERY good): the way the CMCs badly oversold the club while making Babs very obviously uncomfortable, the song (definitely one of the better ones), the A-Team homage, pretty much the whole parade chase sequence, and especially the CMC initiation ceremony. ("YOU wrote this!!")

As far as being believable: not all bullies are the same. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are class-A "I love me and can do no wrong" bullies, this is true. But there are also a lot of people who bully because it is the price of not being "out of the group." And as a kid- think back to your own childhoods- it felt REALLY bad to be the outsider, the weird one, the one with problems, the one who just didn't fit in. The show did NOT do a good job of giving Babs a sympathetic moment during the bullying- that ought to have been done somehow.

There is a more important message, and it's aimed at the adults: listen to what the kids tell you. Do NOT make them afraid to trust in you. It is true that far too many authority figures don't want to be bothered about keeping order and peace among the kids. This is wrong. This needs to be corrected. And this show drives home, in Hammerlicious style, that it is not a bad thing to be a snitch or tattletale. That's a lesson adults need to learn more than kids.

Finally: yes, OF COURSE they did this Very Special Episode. The subtitle of the series is "Friendship is Magic." The show is about people GETTING ALONG. I'm only surprised bullying took until season 3 to get a whole episode on the theme. It's a shame that, on the whole, they botched it due to bad writing, but don't complain about the FiM people doing a story that fits right in with the theme of their series.

Overall verdict: lousy episode as a whole, but with a lot of wonderful stand-alone moments.

[Ganthan]

Okay, wild speculation time.

1. Trixie is, and always has been, either Celestia or Luna in disguise to test the strength of Twilight's character.

or

2. Trixie's suddenly enhanced powers come from that enchanted necklace and the overall lesson of the episode will be a warning against steroid use.

[Happygun]

[Happygun]

[bar1scorpio]

The emerging theory is that it has something to do with King Sombra still being around -

Twilight hooked on pep pills to study, and singing "I'm so excited." Would possibly collapse into a pop culture singularity.

[Monfang]

The one after this one is Sleepless in Ponyville. Possibly because they didn't want to make a new place and find a pun for Seattle.

[Ganthan]

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Season 3, Episode 5, Magic Duel

Ahem

[Monfang]

Indeed, it was a lot of fun.

Can't speak much about it though, don't want to break the spoiler rule.