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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 7 |OT| Is this still a fad?
- Thread starter SigmasonicX
- Start date
Trigonometrize.
Member
"The biggest reasons why people like the show, I feel, are that it's cute without being annoying about it, and it has relatable and likable lead characters."
I think this is a good, succinct assessment. FiM is very good at balancing being innocent, while not being childish, being funny, while not being meme-y, being cute, while not being annoying, and being smart, while not being try-hard. It gives off a feel that no other show quite gives off. The show's strongest attribute is its well-defined main cast that any fan of the show is sure to remember, even if Princess Twilight or Starlight Glimmer drove them out.
When I first started watching the show I could've sworn a failed a pre-calculus quiz because I had the theme song stuck in my head. I can't quite remember the details, but it goes something like the night before I watched about the first ten episodes and then the next day I got a 55 and all that was on my mind was ponies.
I think this is a good, succinct assessment. FiM is very good at balancing being innocent, while not being childish, being funny, while not being meme-y, being cute, while not being annoying, and being smart, while not being try-hard. It gives off a feel that no other show quite gives off. The show's strongest attribute is its well-defined main cast that any fan of the show is sure to remember, even if Princess Twilight or Starlight Glimmer drove them out.
When I first started watching the show I could've sworn a failed a pre-calculus quiz because I had the theme song stuck in my head. I can't quite remember the details, but it goes something like the night before I watched about the first ten episodes and then the next day I got a 55 and all that was on my mind was ponies.
UberTag
Member
Whoot at Trigonometrize. adopting the Rarity avatar I trotted out.
I should open up a shop. Will eventually have all of GAF championing the best pony.
But, alas, they're just not quite what I'm looking for in my summer line. Check back in with me closer to the fall.
I should open up a shop. Will eventually have all of GAF championing the best pony.
You get points for ummm... creativity. Yes. These are all one-of-a-kind Fat4all originals. Highly sought after.
i make ava
But, alas, they're just not quite what I'm looking for in my summer line. Check back in with me closer to the fall.
Trigonometrize.
Member
Yep. Forgot to say thanks for the suggestion, lol. Tabitha's Rarity is one of my all-time favorite cartoon characters, no doubt. Literally any time she yells or cries it makes me laugh.
You could sell these on PSN for $2.99 each.
SigmasonicX
Member
You know what, screw it, I'm getting Raritized too.
Old avatar:
New avatar:
And going over some old posts after all.
I didn't think it was strange for Twilight to freak out so much, and ultimately, she did have faith in Starlight, since she chose to let things play out.
BTW, UberTag, just noticed that in one of your posts, you quoted a spoiler block and accidentally broke the spoiler tags. Not that it really matters anymore.
Enough time has passed since their reunion that I thought it made sense for them to fall into old habits that cause resentment, especially since they wouldn't obviously lead to the same situation from 1000 years ago from their points of view.
As for the cutie mark stuff, like previous cutie mark spells, the cutie mark switching is more of a visual indicator of the spell than an actual change in their destiny. This is especially clear in this case since their memories didn't change like in "Magical Mystery Cure", showing that it's a fundamentally different spell. The way cutie marks are earned have changed, but this is due to the CMC episodes demonstrating that there are many ponies who don't understand their own cutie marks. not these spell episodes.
Not much to respond to in the discussion between DrForester and ShinySylvee itself.
I think you were being needlessly combative here. DrForester is allowed to feel what he wants about the episode, and he as an individual doesn't represent the fandom. So I don't think you should cross off "People get super mad at something trivial." As for "Celestia does something useful", she was the one to end Starlight's nightmare.
This isn't really that similar to "Magical Mystery Cure", since no memories were altered, and in that episode, the ponies weren't in the right state of mind to appreciate the change.
Celestia probably wakes up earlier than everyone else (at sunrise), so she has time in the morning to do that. Plus, she's probably a morning person.
Oh right, I noticed that about Luna's cutie mark, but forgot to point it out!
Big post incoming. I'm probably not responding as in depth as I would if there wasn't so much else to read.
I didn't notice that about Twilight's reaction to the cutie mark switching.
Again, I was surprised by how much focus the episode actually placed on Celestia and Luna.
About the fruits, it probably would have just resulted in riffs on the "you like mmmmmm bananas?" meme. Strawberry Sunrise probably would have been a bigger meme in season 1.
Celestia kept up her image until Starlight brought up the particular things each was upset about and then Luna started arguing. By that point, they had basically forgotten Starlight was there.
Not going to react to the next argument between DrForester and ShinySylvee.
Old avatar:
New avatar:
And going over some old posts after all.
I didn't think it was strange for Twilight to freak out so much, and ultimately, she did have faith in Starlight, since she chose to let things play out.
BTW, UberTag, just noticed that in one of your posts, you quoted a spoiler block and accidentally broke the spoiler tags. Not that it really matters anymore.
Enough time has passed since their reunion that I thought it made sense for them to fall into old habits that cause resentment, especially since they wouldn't obviously lead to the same situation from 1000 years ago from their points of view.
As for the cutie mark stuff, like previous cutie mark spells, the cutie mark switching is more of a visual indicator of the spell than an actual change in their destiny. This is especially clear in this case since their memories didn't change like in "Magical Mystery Cure", showing that it's a fundamentally different spell. The way cutie marks are earned have changed, but this is due to the CMC episodes demonstrating that there are many ponies who don't understand their own cutie marks. not these spell episodes.
Not much to respond to in the discussion between DrForester and ShinySylvee itself.
I think you were being needlessly combative here. DrForester is allowed to feel what he wants about the episode, and he as an individual doesn't represent the fandom. So I don't think you should cross off "People get super mad at something trivial." As for "Celestia does something useful", she was the one to end Starlight's nightmare.
Yeah, this was a very funny story, and I did think Celestia and Luna were portrayed pretty well. While I like the Luna micro-series comic, I preferred her portrayal here, since in the comic, she seemed a bit too flippant about the entire situation, while she seemed to be trying in good faith here. And I was glad that we didn't get a sequence of Celestia screwing up fixing nightmares. As for Starlight, I did appreciate how she was really worried about things not turning out well even without things getting obviously bad.
Part of the issue is that, as mentioned, a lot of the same ground was already covered in the comics, so it can feel repetitive. It can feel like, "Ugh, they're still arguing and having trouble with each other's jobs?" even though the show only hinted at this in "Slice of Life".
Yeah, Daybreaker is a pretty clever name. There have been tons of Celestia Nightmare Moons by fans, but did anyone ever use that?
This isn't really that similar to "Magical Mystery Cure", since no memories were altered, and in that episode, the ponies weren't in the right state of mind to appreciate the change.
Celestia probably wakes up earlier than everyone else (at sunrise), so she has time in the morning to do that. Plus, she's probably a morning person.
Oh right, I noticed that about Luna's cutie mark, but forgot to point it out!
Big post incoming. I'm probably not responding as in depth as I would if there wasn't so much else to read.
I don't think there was anything in the story as is that warranted expanding it to two episodes. But yeah, I was impressed by the writing in this episode. I liked Meghan McCarthy as showrunner and a writer, but I think Lewis and Songco have actually been better so far.
I thought Twilight was written really well in this episode, yeah. Starlight's status as an outsider worked to make her more willing to confront the princesses, which not even Rainbow Dash or Pinkie would do.
Yeah, I liked that compared to her previous magic incidents, she really understood the risks of what she was doing. Other ponies probably would have let Celestia and Luna's squabble play out longer, but she feared the long term consequences and acted rashly. Both ponies turning evil probably wasn't a likely outcome, but the fact that it was a possibility drove her actions. I liked how the climax was actually driven by her fears, and it was up to Celestia and Luna to save her from them.
Yeah, I wasn't expecting at all for so much of the episode to be from Celestia and Luna's perspective; me getting a bingo spot for "Celestia POV episode" came as a complete surprise. I was expecting Starlight to completely take focus, and instead everyone was integrated well. Like I said above, Twilight still left everything up to Starlight, so I don't think she was being unsupportive. I don't recall her giving bad advice.
I do think this episode was better than "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep", which didn't place enough focus on Luna's issues and disappointed a bit with how plain the dreams were. I actually appreciated that Daybreaker was disconnected from Celestia's actual feelings, because it's more a reflection of how she's unknowingly hurting others. Daybreaker upsets her because that's how Starlight views her, even though she knows she would never act like that.
Twilight's voice was great here, but I can't comment on the rest.
I didn't notice that about Twilight's reaction to the cutie mark switching.
Again, I was surprised by how much focus the episode actually placed on Celestia and Luna.
About the fruits, it probably would have just resulted in riffs on the "you like mmmmmm bananas?" meme. Strawberry Sunrise probably would have been a bigger meme in season 1.
Celestia kept up her image until Starlight brought up the particular things each was upset about and then Luna started arguing. By that point, they had basically forgotten Starlight was there.
Not going to react to the next argument between DrForester and ShinySylvee.
Double Donut
Member
Royal Problem was absolute gold. Loved every second of it. The Twilight gag as the little ballerina thing was great.
I can't get over how much I love Starlight. I can't think, off the top of my head, any cartoon I've watched that added a new main character without dropping in quality. But FiM pulled it off, and I love it. I can't get enough of Starlight. I hope she eventually becomes a full on mane 7th.
Speaking of Starlight, are there any hints that she'll be in the movie as well? If she isn't I'll be pretty bummed.
I can't get over how much I love Starlight. I can't think, off the top of my head, any cartoon I've watched that added a new main character without dropping in quality. But FiM pulled it off, and I love it. I can't get enough of Starlight. I hope she eventually becomes a full on mane 7th.
Speaking of Starlight, are there any hints that she'll be in the movie as well? If she isn't I'll be pretty bummed.
UberTag
Member
She has movie merch... that's been the only indicator thus far, however. I'm expecting a cameo but that's about it.
SigmasonicX
Member
She's in the toyline, but that doesn't mean much. I think it's pretty likely that during the climax, which might have the Storm King's forces attack Ponyville, we'll see tons of cameos from ponies fighting them off, with particular focus placed on Starlight, but I don't think she'll get a speaking role.
And yeah, despite grumblings, Starlight is one of the best "new main characters" I've seen, especially in a children's show.
Speaking of the Storm King...
So, I guess the final confrontation in the movie will be between him and Pinkie.
ShinySylvee
Member
I totally forgot about the distorted audio that most of the uploads that Royal Problem had for some reason. I think all of them just copied the first upload that EQD had put up rather then the higher quality one that wasn't sped up that was posted to DailyMotion later on. (Or the non-sped up ones all got claimed) I didn't experience the episode with sped up sound, although it wasn't super high quality picture.
I largely just thought Daybreaker was really cool and kinda wanted to rep it for a bit. If people like it better then the crayon drawing that looks like cropped porn I was using before I'll consider keeping it though.
Maybe we should all switch to Rarity avatars when the Movie trailer drops or something. I think having some events for us as a community could be a way to keep interest in this thread even when episodes aren't airing. (Literally wrote this before you changed it lol)
Some times I look back at what I wrote and don't understand it at all lol. I did have some rationale for why I thought it could have been a two-parter but I totally don't remember the reason why now.
I've really liked the tone of all of the Lewis and Songco episodes so far, even Hooffields and the McColts. I don't think they do drama and emotional scenes as well as some of the other writers (Largely Confalone and Larson here, although Rogers and McCarthy are better at points as well) but their episodes are always at the very least fun to watch. Since Vogel is working on the movie and Confalone only did one episode for this season I think it makes the most sense for them to be the show's forerunners and they've done an awesome job so far.
Twilight is still a polarizing character in the episode for me. Largely for all the stuff that I've said a bunch of times before. At this point though I should just try to enjoy her for her silliness.
A lot of why I think Starlight has worked so well for me is that I feel like she's usually presented in a way that actually strengthens pre-existing characters rather then belittling them. (Mainly talking about secondary characters here) Sure she's super competent and extremely magically talented, but she also has a lot of other issues that she often needs other people to help her through. I really liked the moment in To Where and Back Again where Trixie comforts Starlight saying that she's capable of pulling the mission off without her and gives her the confidence she needs to push on. The show has had a lot of confidence in just letting her character slowly grow over time, and that has allowed other characters to step in and help her out. And again I think it's brilliant that she has so much on-screen development in an episode where she is largely there to play a supporting role.
My reasoning for calling Twilight unsupportive is that she first causes Starlight to be worried about the mission, (Starlight says that she previously wasn't worried about it until Twilight started freaking out about it) then says that Starlight shouldn't do anything to try to solve the problem because they're the princesses, and then upon finding out what Starlight did starts freaking out and implies that she thinks Starlight is crazy. She's certainly not helping the situation in any way.
My issues with Daybreaker not being as emotionally charged and complaining about the presentation not being as good as it could have been are a bit more nitpicky then most of my complaints usually are. It's more of me complaining about an amazing episode not being god-tier. But I do feel like there's a bit of lost potential there.
Tabitha's voicing of Rarity is my favorite voice acting job of any character I've seen. She does such an incredible job giving so much personality into all of her lines. At least back in the day one of the most memorable and frequently quoted scenes in the show was Rarity whining and what really makes that scene is Tabitha's performance. Rarity is already an extremely well-written character but what really takes her up to 11 is all of the determination, melodrama, and sophistication that Tabitha's voice gives her.
I think Starlight is an excellent example of how to add in a new main character into a well-established and long running show, an excellent example on how to make a strong villain with a more in-depth and sympathetic personality, (Although I feel a lot of that comes after she was reformed as her initial reveal of her past is fairly weak) and an excellent example of how to do a villain reformation and have that character's arc continue on. She's definitely the best addition that they've made to the show over the show's history for me.
As for the movie, it doesn't make sense for me to have her play a major role in it. Since the movie is targeted at a general audience rather then just show fans, I don't think it would work well for them to try to introduce a character that has a fairly complex and intricate personality. The rest of the Mane 6 are generally easy to understand and you can easily infer their personality by just listening to them talk for a couple seconds. (which I think is one of the show's biggest strengths) I love Starlight for her depth but a lot of her intrigue comes from seeing her grow over the course of the show and that will likely be lost on newcomers that don't have a frame of reference for her. As Sigma said I do anticipate her making some sort of appearance in the movie (She's more or less the main character of the show at this point it would be extremely weird if she was a complete no-show) but I imagine that she'll likely be given something unrelated to the main plot of the movie to do early on so they can write her out of the story up until maybe the final battle where she'll show up and maybe do a cool thing or two. Maybe if they ever have a second movie and general audiences are more familiar with the show they might make a story that prominently features her as a main character but as for the first go around I wouldn't expect much of her.
The upcoming comic preview for Storm King is interesting. I wonder how accurate that will be to his actual portrayal in the film but I like what I see so far.
UberTag
Member
No reason we need to have a special occasion to get Raritized. Here is another avatar that needs to find a home...
I still remember when the PonyGAF community used to champion Belle Eve to drum up interest across the forum.
Poor neglected Belle Eve... practically forgotten now.
Rhomega Beta
Member
That's actually how I got started too. G-Fex had an avatar of Applejack jumping through her lasso from Boast Busters.
Pretty much every episode she's been in besides Luna Eclipsed and the CMC dream episodes:
The Crystal Empire Part 1 (Luna and Celestia discuss the Mane Six going to the Crystal Empire)
For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils (goes to place where Rarity is showing off clothes for Sapphire Shores)
Equestria Games (attends games with Celestia?)
Twilight's Kingdom (present when princesses give Twilight magic, also there when Tirek shows up)
Slice of Life (attends wedding)
Do Princesses Dream of Magical Sheep? (comes to Ponyville when Mane Six write about Tantabus)
No Second Prances (attends lunch in Ponyville)
The Crystalling (attends ceremony)
Well I'm much more interested in the Storm King now. I was under the impression he was just a blue Tirek. Here he has armies, and a sense of humor. Also, nice M*A*S*H reference.
SigmasonicX
Member
The Storm King is a more comical character than I was expecting, though perhaps the rest of the prequel comic involves him gaining more of an edge. You know, we haven't actually had a comedic main villain for a multiparter in the show since Discord. But in Equestria Girls, the Dazzlings were very popular and considered to be effective as villains despite having several comedy scenes, so maybe he'll work out the same way. Also, I'm suspicious of this Strife character. It's entirely possible he's the real villain and is just manipulating the Storm King.
We know that he comes from (or more accurately, last conquered) Abyssinia, east of the griffon lands (which actually are part of Equestria I guess). Which my spellcheck doesn't catch. OK, it's actually another name for the Ethiopian Empire, which dissolved in 1974. Weird that they're using a real name, but they likely are just going for the "Abyss" part. Well anyway, from the dialogue and some of the town names, it looks like this is where cat people like Capper come from.
PonyGAF can argue all day about who had the better reformation process between Sunset and Starlight, but in terms of post reformation use, I think Starlight has been much more interesting. As I mentioned, she's been used to improve side characters in an impressive way, and she's had a great track record for episodes. Meanwhile, Sunset is only really having interesting interactions with SciTwi. Granted, this could all change if/when an Equestria Girls show is made.
A great scene still.
Though watching it now, I notice that Rarity's expression during the, "I'LL DESTROY HER!" really doesn't match Tabitha's intensity. Her face definitely would have been more exaggerated if that scene happened now.
Really kind of inevitable when the two people who made art for her the most (careksims/JohnJoseco and MykeGreywolf) no longer really post in these threads. It looks like both are still actually pretty active GAF posters, though.
Also, the amount of art produced for this episode has been even more overwhelming than I expected. I suspected before that a lot of the art would be samey, and, well, I guess it is. But there's a lot of it, so there's a lot of variety regardless. I think I'll take an unusual step and only showcase art made before the episode aired in the US today. On Friday for previous weeks, I've usually dumped art from previous episodes, but this time, it will be a full on second follow-up post. I also think I'll rewatch the episode then (very unusual for me) and post updated thoughts.
We know that he comes from (or more accurately, last conquered) Abyssinia, east of the griffon lands (which actually are part of Equestria I guess). Which my spellcheck doesn't catch. OK, it's actually another name for the Ethiopian Empire, which dissolved in 1974. Weird that they're using a real name, but they likely are just going for the "Abyss" part. Well anyway, from the dialogue and some of the town names, it looks like this is where cat people like Capper come from.
Wait, that's what that was?
The stories they wrote are great about showcasing the fun of the characters and Equestria, and the general tone of the stories this season has worked well, with even the misfires being fun. I can't go into a deep comparison between them and other writers, though.
Even people who don't like Starlight have to admit that having characters like Trixie and Maud bounce off of her has done a great job at expanding them, actually making them plausible as recurring characters worthy of episode focus. I wouldn't have thought for a second that Maud could work as perspective character for an episode, and she wasn't in "Rock Solid Friendship", but I can actually imagine it now. And her interactions with side characters have done a lot to make her a more interesting character. Although, her interactions with the other Main Six have suffered a bit for it.
I don't think Twilight making Starlight worry about the situation in and of itself was a bad thing. She should have been worried! But yeah, she did go a bit far in that regard. I don't think she was doing nothing to help the situation: Starlight needed someone to talk to work out the situation, and I think it was important that she only switches the princesses' cutie marks after actually understanding the gravity of the situation. In the end, her stress did lead to a quicker resolution by making Celestia realize how much help she herself needed and how much others were worrying.
Back in the day, I didn't pay much mind to Rarity, merely acknowledging that as a "popular girl" character, she wasn't too bad. "Suited For Success" made me realize there was more going on with her, but it wasn't really until "A Dog and Pony Show" that I started liking her. By "Green Isn't Your Color", she had risen up to be one of my favorites!
PonyGAF can argue all day about who had the better reformation process between Sunset and Starlight, but in terms of post reformation use, I think Starlight has been much more interesting. As I mentioned, she's been used to improve side characters in an impressive way, and she's had a great track record for episodes. Meanwhile, Sunset is only really having interesting interactions with SciTwi. Granted, this could all change if/when an Equestria Girls show is made.
A great scene still.
Though watching it now, I notice that Rarity's expression during the, "I'LL DESTROY HER!" really doesn't match Tabitha's intensity. Her face definitely would have been more exaggerated if that scene happened now.
No reason we need to have a special occasion to get Raritized. Here is another avatar that needs to find a home...
I still remember when the PonyGAF community used to champion Belle Eve to drum up interest across the forum.
Poor neglected Belle Eve... practically forgotten now.
Really kind of inevitable when the two people who made art for her the most (careksims/JohnJoseco and MykeGreywolf) no longer really post in these threads. It looks like both are still actually pretty active GAF posters, though.
I remember that for whatever reason, I thought Applejack was supposed to be smaller than the others, as in filly size, not Appletini.
Hmm, more than I thought. Though all of them are emergencies or places where you can imagine she had time for a nap before appearing. I'm pretty sure she isn't in "No Second Prances".
Also, the amount of art produced for this episode has been even more overwhelming than I expected. I suspected before that a lot of the art would be samey, and, well, I guess it is. But there's a lot of it, so there's a lot of variety regardless. I think I'll take an unusual step and only showcase art made before the episode aired in the US today. On Friday for previous weeks, I've usually dumped art from previous episodes, but this time, it will be a full on second follow-up post. I also think I'll rewatch the episode then (very unusual for me) and post updated thoughts.
Rhomega Beta
Member
You're right. I could've sworn she was at Twilight's Castle with Celestia for some occasion in another episode.
SigmasonicX
Member
All three Equestria Girls specials are available in English now, thanks to a Polish cable provider. For those who watched the Polish dubs and were going to rewatch them in English when they aired in the US, I think it makes more sense to wait for the US anyway so the second discussion can be with new people instead of the same people again, but *shrug*.
Come to think of it, I don't think she's ever been in Twilight's Castle.
Come to think of it, I don't think she's ever been in Twilight's Castle.
Discord mentions Abyssinia in his song in Three's a Crowd, always thought it was a 4th wall-breaking reference (although I can't say pastries from Abyssinia are well renowned), but given this, who knows.
Seriously though, I don't think they thought about this in 2013.
I wouldn't say there's a "comical" side to him just yet, but that Storm King
(aka Mussolini)
Anyway, a minor detail I haven't seen brought up anywhere even when the episode aired in Canada, anyone noticed that we may have had a glimpse at that orange pony's parents in A Royal Problem? Guess it's a little preview from The Perfect Pear.
Rhomega Beta
Member
I have seen it brought up, and I did see it when I watched it.
SigmasonicX
Member
Here are the other dream orbs
Notably we have Doctor Whoof hiding from a Weeping Angel, and this.
Alright, on Derpibooru I reached the point where it displays images uploaded before the US airing of the episode.
(Showing images 121 - 135 of 811 total)
...
EDIT: Fun fact about that Applejack dream, I had actually seen that well before the episode aired in the US too. The Round Stable's handling of these early episode airings created the bizarre scenario of the spoiler forum being less likely to have spoilers than the main episode discussion forum, so I would check out those threads when they updated. Lo and behold in the "The Perfect Pear" thread, someone posted that image. I didn't look closely at the image, but I saw that person's comment that it showed AJ's parents. I also recall someone mentioning that Celestia gave a good speech in the episode, so that made me think that Celestia would end the episode giving a big speech about ponies' hopes and dreams.
Notably we have Doctor Whoof hiding from a Weeping Angel, and this.
Alright, on Derpibooru I reached the point where it displays images uploaded before the US airing of the episode.
(Showing images 121 - 135 of 811 total)
...
EDIT: Fun fact about that Applejack dream, I had actually seen that well before the episode aired in the US too. The Round Stable's handling of these early episode airings created the bizarre scenario of the spoiler forum being less likely to have spoilers than the main episode discussion forum, so I would check out those threads when they updated. Lo and behold in the "The Perfect Pear" thread, someone posted that image. I didn't look closely at the image, but I saw that person's comment that it showed AJ's parents. I also recall someone mentioning that Celestia gave a good speech in the episode, so that made me think that Celestia would end the episode giving a big speech about ponies' hopes and dreams.
UberTag
Member
This is downright adorable.
ShinySylvee
Member
He came off as a big goofier then I imagined, but McCarthy has done respectable and threatening villains with a sense of humor before with the Sirens. Most of her big bads have been very serious before though (Chrysalis, Sombra even though he was kind of a joke, and Tirek) so I would be surprised if he wasn't at least somewhat menacing. I hope that they don't go down the route of having some bigger evil come out and upstage him later. That has always been a very unsatisfying plot development for me when it happens.
Lol I can't tell what you're referring to with the "Wait, that's what that was?" That response works well for both of the paragraphs you quoted. To cover my bases, yes, the weird audio from the episode uploads on youtube was because they were slightly sped up. (You'll notice they all had around a 21 minute run time rather then 22) And no, I assume my old avatar wasn't a crayon drawing and it still totally isn't cropped porn. I didn't draw it myself so I guess it could be crayon drawing, and the picture I used looks very similar to a lot of anime avatars online that are very obviously just cropped pictures taken from a doujin which is why I'm making dumb jokes about it.
Part of me feels like they might be ignoring Starlight's interactions with the Mane 6 because they plan on having her do her own thing rather then work together with them. Which kinda sucks to me because I'd rather that she worked with the pre-established main characters rather then just go off and do her own thing and so far I think she's shown that if written well she can play well off anyone. At this point I wonder of the writers themselves even know what their big plans for Starlight are. She kinda graduated in Celestial Advice but in
Mirror Magic they made it sound like she's still Twilight's student.
I would argue that in a way Starlight's reformation is still going on since she's still struggling with a lot of the issues that made her a villain in the first place, whereas Sunset's reformation (if it even happened at all) occurred entirely off-screen. As far as reformations are concerned, I don't think there's really much to compare, Starlight's has been handled substantially better.
But whose dream is this? That's the real question.
Just checked out the English versions of the EQG episodes. As expected Dance Magic is just as great as it was in the Polish version and there were even a couple gags (largely with Pinkie) that I didn't really get with the translation, even though the translation as 90% correct. Kinda spoilery but since we're talking about her Rarity is absolutely fantastic in the episode. Tabitha does an incredible job as always with what might be her most diverse set of emotions in an episode yet. Also Sugarcoat was pretty good in the Polish version but I just love her voice in the English one.
Unfortunately I think I might have come across a realization watching one of the scenes in Mirror Magic: I don't think that Rebecca Shoichet is a particularly amazing voice actress. Her interaction with
Starlight in Equestria comes off as being pretty bad. Her delivery feels fairly uninspired and it's especially noticeable by just how expressive Kelly Sheridan's Starlight is. It's really bad for me because Starlight will say a line that's dripping with nuance and personality, and Sunset will respond with a fairly one-note and flat tone.
Also I feel like Kelly Sheridan's voice acting for Starlight is often really overlooked. Starlight is a very emotionally driven character and Kelly does an amazing job at making sure the audience knows exactly how Starlight is feeling with her delivery. Her emotional reactions are usually played fairly seriously so I don't think she's as flamboyant in her presentation as Rarity but Kelly is always spot-on in her acting and I feel like it deserves recognition that I've rarely seen it get.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Add one more little touch to the episode that I actually do like a lot that another forum pointed out to me.
Strawberry Pancakes
Pineapple
Next Day, Pineapple Pancakes
Yeah, it's not really hidden, so I thought it was weird not seeing it mentioned elsewhere. I even searched on Derpibooru, since you can usually find everything there, but to no success. Seeing the image above, I guess my Derpi-fu must improve.
About this, I read a fanfiction of considerable size, Long Road to Friendship, that kinda became my headcanon, unintentionally :lol:
It's not bad, although at some point it gets a bit too "insipid teen drama" for my tastes.
Yeah, getting cutie marks is so special, ponies throw parties celebrating the event and the CMC spent years trying to get theirs. A character removes that and it's supposed to be alright? I feel that isn't right even in a "the end justifies the means" way (that SG needed to do it to make Celestia and Luna walk in each other's shows...).
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Can't disagree with this enough, especially the idea that Sunset's reformation occurred off-screen.
The second movie was her reformation arc. She had to deal with fallout for what she did and work to change. She was given a second chance by the magic friendship beam, but unlike with Starlight, where everyone just forgives and moves on, Sunset has to face the fallout of her actions.
1. The school still hates her for what she did. They resent her for what she did and have not forgiven her.
2. The Human 5 tolerate her. They aren't openly hostile to her like the rest of the school, but they're hardly good friends. They let her hang out with them, but not participate with their activities, like the band. She's just, there. And their trust is pretty thin, as we see when Sunset interrupts their practice session trying to help them.
It's not until the end of the movie, after Sunset has prove herself, is she really friends with the others. Unlike Starlight, where everything was handed to her after a30 second song, we get an entire movie where Sunset has to deal with the fallout of her actions. There are consequences, and she has to overcome them.
Starlight on the other hand, has learned little and still lashes out like a child with her magic every time something doesn't go her way and now she gets praised for it. The only meaningful development I think she's had is her making friends with Trixie's and Maud. And that stuff I think had been done very well. But she's never faces fallout for her actions, and her friendship with the Mane 6 required zero effort. I think that's the big thing that keeps many from liking the character, myself included. She never works WITH the main characters.
Lightning_Roller
Banned
I would have liked if Starlight had an arc based on her learning to be better but I think the writers didn't want to risk fans thinking the show would be about Starlight.
ShinySylvee
Member
Ummm, you're arguing against something I never said. Reformation and redemption are entirely different things and my post was explicitly talking about comparing their reformations. Sunset's redemption was good, but it's also irrelevant to what I said.
Also I've already touched on this a bit before but I feel like it's fairly well established that her motive for swapping the princesses' marks is based on trying to come up with a solution to the problem she was assigned to solve. I don't recall any dialogue in the whole episode that reinforces your claim that she did it because she was upset that the princesses weren't acting the way she wanted them to so she magically forced them to in response. Sure she's done that before (largely when she was a villain) but I don't think that's what happened here. And even when she did do it in No Second Prances with Big Mac and Every Little Thing She Does it's spelled out fairly well that she was wrong and in the case of Every Little Thing She Does makes a genuine heartfelt attempt to apologize for it.
Frankly I'm fine with her relapsing from time to time into her old behavior because it shows that she's still fundamentally the same person as when she was a villain and it allows her character arc to flow more organically and realistically. Seeing Starlight being proactive in trying to be friends with Maud in Rock Solid Friendship is a big deal to me because I've seen how much she's struggled with that in the past. At the very least I think that is better then what Sunset got in terms of a reformation, which is her basically saying "Ok I'll be a good guy now" and then getting swapped with essentially an entirely different character between movies.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
But she didn't have a motive. Her action was purely out of an emotional outburst of hers because things weren't going her way. She has no more self control or awareness of others than Flurry Heart.
Like I have said before, that pretty much killed the episode for me. It shows Starlight still has zero regard for others, and never once thinks about asking others before using magic on them, and it made Celestia and Luna out to be far too stupid. It's one thing for them to have a problem, it's another to make characters totally unaware of a problem and ignore it like that, especially since they have both seen what the worst case scenario is. Makes it look like they have been totally unable to deal with each other their entire lives until Wesley Glimmer shows up as the singular beacon of reason and hope.
And I don't think that violating the mind/body of another is something that should be brushed off as a relapse.
SigmasonicX
Member
For the sake of my bookmarks folder and my sanity, I'm actually going to split the episode follow up into two posts today, in addition to the one on Friday. This post will basically have all the fanart not related to Daybreaker.
Like I mentioned before, the follow up posts today will only include fan content made before the episode aired in the US. A lot of fan artists that don't usually make episode based stuff came out of the woodworks not just for Daybreaker, but various other aspects of the episode. As far as I can tell, most of them haven't gone on to make art for "Hard to Say Anything", "Honest Apple", or "Not Asking for Trouble", so they probably aren't sticking around.
NOTES
By this point, I've usually had time to read reactions on other forums, and thus encounter details I hadn't noticed or viewpoints I hadn't considered. I haven't yet, plus I still intend to make an updated episode review on Friday, so I'll hold off on this.
SCREENCAPS
I'll link the Round Stable posts with screencaps in the next post, when it presumably will be ready. Or maybe those posts have already been made, I don't know. But for now, have edits and captions. EDIT: Round Stable post. Including in this post too anyway.
Comparison of Rapidash Twilight (from "Feeling Pinkie Keen") and Daybreaker
Daybreaker Persona 4 edit
And YouTube captions!
X-Files crossover
What Starlight is really dreaming of
GIFS
Lots of fun animation in this episode. Not including the ones already posted.
Twilight reacting to the map
Ballerina Twilight (embedded) - DeviantArt source.
Edit: Ballerina Twilight with "I have done nothing productive all day"
Ballerina Twilight talks to Starlight
Celestia sitting down - For one frame, Fosgitt is vindicated!
Starlight eating pancakes - Why use a fork with magic?
Tired Luna poking Starlight
Edit: Tired Luna says "I'm not drunk, you're drunk"
Princess double squint
Celestia and Luna argue, move Starlight out of the way
Celestia mocks Luna
Edit: Starlight equalizes the princesses
Obvious Edit: Starlight uses her spell, bad ending
Twilight freaking out
Starlight headdesk with Twilight bouncing - Would embed if it wasn't for Twilight being too small to see at thumbnail size.
Luna fails to smile (embedded)
Luna squints at newspaper
Luna facedesk
Luna under list
There are no timber wolves!
Starlight facehoof in response to Twilight
Starlight putting away the Twilight music box
Twilight cheers on Starlight and guard reacts
Close up of Twilight cheering on Starlight
Starlight sleeping on the ground
Celestia entering the dream world
Ballerina Starlight
Ballerina Starlight and Giant Twilight
Starlight falling loop (embedded) - And here is a 10 minute video version.
Fight GIFs
Daybreaker wags her eyebrows
Daybreaker breathes fire
Daybreaker blasts Nightmare Moon
Nightmare Moon pushes away Daybreaker
Daybreaker goes supernova
Starlight cries while shots impact her shield
Luna's teeth fall out
Celestia pulls Luna through the mirror
Celestia and Luna watch the fight
Celestia and Luna make up
Daybreaker sets the throne room on fire
Celestia blocks shots from both nightmares
Celestia defeats the nightmares
Celestia eats the bad pancake
Twilight teleports in, brings toothbrush
Twilight hugging Starlight then dragging her away (embedded) - Reminds me of this.
FAN CONTENT
Again, I'm only including stuff made before the episode aired in the US, and in this post, I'm not including any Daybreaker stuff. When I say "day one", etc., below, I mean day of Canadian airing. There was an astonishing number of content made then!
Ballerina Twilight
Ballerina Twilight by dinodraketakethecake - Made day one.
Music Box Twilight Stained Glass Style - Made day one.
How Odd - Made day two.
Twisket - Made day two.
Action Twilight - Made day two.
Ballerina Twilight Sparkle by intronium - Made day three.
Ballerina by patty-plmh - Made day three.
CGI Ballerina Twilight - Made three weeks ago. Not embedding because it's a GIF.
Twilight in a tutu - Made three weeks ago.
(no embed)
Twilight Music Box by okusheny - Made two weeks ago.
Twilight Sparklelina - Made two weeks ago.
Ballerina Twi by lavandercavalerie - Made two weeks ago.
My Little Ballerina - Made two weeks ago.
Little Dancer - Made one week ago.
Celestia
Princess Pancakes - Made day three.
Luna
Luna by frecklesfanatic - Made day one.
Lunar Introvert - Made day one.
Poor Luna - Made day one.
Pineapples - Made day one.
Princess Luna Unhappy with Student Funraiser - Made day one.
Luna loves pineapples - Made day two.
Eating Pineapple - Made two weeks ago.
meh - Made two weeks ago.
Princess Luna by twinke19 - Made one week ago.
Other ballerinas
Luna by lemanda - Made day one.
Shimmerina - Made two weeks ago.
Celestia by lemanda - Made one week ago.
Starlight Glimmerina - Made this week, though it's a cleaned up version of art made three weeks ago.
Celestia and Luna
Sorry but not sorry - Made day two.
Not A Morning Person - Made a week ago.
Misc
DJ H34r7 - Made day two.
A Royal Problem (Another Version) - Made this week. Shows an AU where Starlight shrunk the princesses instead of her actual spell.
Phew. I usually do this calmly while watching videos, but I had to focus entirely on this to clear out all this art. Now I can take a break, then I can relax while posting Daybreaker art.
*opens all remaining bookmarks*
*gets warning that I'm opening 84 new tabs*
...
Like I mentioned before, the follow up posts today will only include fan content made before the episode aired in the US. A lot of fan artists that don't usually make episode based stuff came out of the woodworks not just for Daybreaker, but various other aspects of the episode. As far as I can tell, most of them haven't gone on to make art for "Hard to Say Anything", "Honest Apple", or "Not Asking for Trouble", so they probably aren't sticking around.
NOTES
By this point, I've usually had time to read reactions on other forums, and thus encounter details I hadn't noticed or viewpoints I hadn't considered. I haven't yet, plus I still intend to make an updated episode review on Friday, so I'll hold off on this.
SCREENCAPS
I'll link the Round Stable posts with screencaps in the next post, when it presumably will be ready. Or maybe those posts have already been made, I don't know. But for now, have edits and captions. EDIT: Round Stable post. Including in this post too anyway.
Comparison of Rapidash Twilight (from "Feeling Pinkie Keen") and Daybreaker
Daybreaker Persona 4 edit
And YouTube captions!
X-Files crossover
What Starlight is really dreaming of
GIFS
Lots of fun animation in this episode. Not including the ones already posted.
Twilight reacting to the map
Ballerina Twilight (embedded) - DeviantArt source.
Edit: Ballerina Twilight with "I have done nothing productive all day"
Ballerina Twilight talks to Starlight
Celestia sitting down - For one frame, Fosgitt is vindicated!
Starlight eating pancakes - Why use a fork with magic?
Tired Luna poking Starlight
Edit: Tired Luna says "I'm not drunk, you're drunk"
Princess double squint
Celestia and Luna argue, move Starlight out of the way
Celestia mocks Luna
Edit: Starlight equalizes the princesses
Obvious Edit: Starlight uses her spell, bad ending
Twilight freaking out
Starlight headdesk with Twilight bouncing - Would embed if it wasn't for Twilight being too small to see at thumbnail size.
Luna fails to smile (embedded)
Luna squints at newspaper
Luna facedesk
Luna under list
There are no timber wolves!
Starlight facehoof in response to Twilight
Starlight putting away the Twilight music box
Twilight cheers on Starlight and guard reacts
Close up of Twilight cheering on Starlight
Starlight sleeping on the ground
Celestia entering the dream world
Ballerina Starlight
Ballerina Starlight and Giant Twilight
Starlight falling loop (embedded) - And here is a 10 minute video version.
Fight GIFs
Daybreaker wags her eyebrows
Daybreaker breathes fire
Daybreaker blasts Nightmare Moon
Nightmare Moon pushes away Daybreaker
Daybreaker goes supernova
Starlight cries while shots impact her shield
Luna's teeth fall out
Celestia pulls Luna through the mirror
Celestia and Luna watch the fight
Celestia and Luna make up
Daybreaker sets the throne room on fire
Celestia blocks shots from both nightmares
Celestia defeats the nightmares
Celestia eats the bad pancake
Twilight teleports in, brings toothbrush
Twilight hugging Starlight then dragging her away (embedded) - Reminds me of this.
FAN CONTENT
Again, I'm only including stuff made before the episode aired in the US, and in this post, I'm not including any Daybreaker stuff. When I say "day one", etc., below, I mean day of Canadian airing. There was an astonishing number of content made then!
Ballerina Twilight
Ballerina Twilight by dinodraketakethecake - Made day one.
Music Box Twilight Stained Glass Style - Made day one.
How Odd - Made day two.
Twisket - Made day two.
Action Twilight - Made day two.
Ballerina Twilight Sparkle by intronium - Made day three.
Ballerina by patty-plmh - Made day three.
CGI Ballerina Twilight - Made three weeks ago. Not embedding because it's a GIF.
Twilight in a tutu - Made three weeks ago.
Twilight Music Box by okusheny - Made two weeks ago.
Twilight Sparklelina - Made two weeks ago.
Ballerina Twi by lavandercavalerie - Made two weeks ago.
My Little Ballerina - Made two weeks ago.
Little Dancer - Made one week ago.
Celestia
Princess Pancakes - Made day three.
Luna
Luna by frecklesfanatic - Made day one.
Lunar Introvert - Made day one.
Poor Luna - Made day one.
Pineapples - Made day one.
Princess Luna Unhappy with Student Funraiser - Made day one.
Luna loves pineapples - Made day two.
Eating Pineapple - Made two weeks ago.
meh - Made two weeks ago.
Princess Luna by twinke19 - Made one week ago.
Other ballerinas
Luna by lemanda - Made day one.
Shimmerina - Made two weeks ago.
Celestia by lemanda - Made one week ago.
Starlight Glimmerina - Made this week, though it's a cleaned up version of art made three weeks ago.
Celestia and Luna
Sorry but not sorry - Made day two.
Not A Morning Person - Made a week ago.
Misc
DJ H34r7 - Made day two.
A Royal Problem (Another Version) - Made this week. Shows an AU where Starlight shrunk the princesses instead of her actual spell.
Phew. I usually do this calmly while watching videos, but I had to focus entirely on this to clear out all this art. Now I can take a break, then I can relax while posting Daybreaker art.
*opens all remaining bookmarks*
*gets warning that I'm opening 84 new tabs*
...
ShinySylvee
Member
Evidence I found in the episode that strongly indicates that her swapping the marks was part of a plan to solve the problem of the royal sisters not getting along:
> "Well I can't do nothing. The princesses aren't the best at communicating with each other"
> "There, now you'll know exactly what it's like to be each other"
> "It may have been extreme but I think it's still a good idea"
> "You said it yourselves. Neither of you believes your sister knows how hard it is to be you. So this is your chance to prove it"
> "It was the right call, I hope"
> "Going with my gut was the wrong call. I was supposed to bring you closer together, but I've only driven you farther apart."
> The fact that she's on a mission to solve a problem and is in the process of trying to solve it when she casts the spell
Evidence I found in the episode that strongly indicates that her swapping the marks was purely an emotional one responding to things not going her way and isn't at all related to her mission:
I dunno, literally every line of dialogue that she has talking about what she did indicates to me that she was doing it in context of completing her mission.
Now you can argue that they didn't do a good job at articulating it in the episode or that acting so rashly is still a problem but I think it's pretty clear that in the context of the episode that the writers' intent of her doing that was to be her attempt to fix the problem at hand, not because she's getting triggered and having a magical temper tantrum.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Then maybe the episode shouldn't have had her perform the magic without mentioning one thing to the ponies she was about to victimize with her magic. She literally got triggered and performed magic on them. That's literally what is in the episode. She tries to defend her actions by trying to bullshit her way out of it afterwards.
Unless she planned all along to just blindside them with magic whenever she felt like it, because screw asking. Consent is for losers, not Starlight Glimmer.
It's still her having zero respect for others and having no control of herself. She just does what she wants, whenever she wants. No need to learn anything from her past actions. Violating others is now her special talent, and something to be celebrated and praised!
Again, this is my problem with the episode. They go to such out-of-character extremes with Celestia and Luna's conflict, just to turn Starlight's habit of zapping whoever she wants, whenever she wants, into positive trait, rather than a character flaw. They could have had Celestia and Luna be less stupid, and Starlight actually show some respect for others, just by having her ask, and Celestia and Luna consent.
Unless she planned all along to just blindside them with magic whenever she felt like it, because screw asking. Consent is for losers, not Starlight Glimmer.
It's still her having zero respect for others and having no control of herself. She just does what she wants, whenever she wants. No need to learn anything from her past actions. Violating others is now her special talent, and something to be celebrated and praised!
Again, this is my problem with the episode. They go to such out-of-character extremes with Celestia and Luna's conflict, just to turn Starlight's habit of zapping whoever she wants, whenever she wants, into positive trait, rather than a character flaw. They could have had Celestia and Luna be less stupid, and Starlight actually show some respect for others, just by having her ask, and Celestia and Luna consent.
Myke Greywolf
Ambassador of Goodwill
You're right that we haven't seen Belle Eve in a while. Perhaps it's well time that we check up on her, see what she's been up to.
... Yeah, still being a typical GAFfer.
UberTag
Member
SigmasonicX
Member
You're right that we haven't seen Belle Eve in a while. Perhaps it's well time that we check up on her, see what she's been up to.
... Yeah, still being a typical GAFfer.
I didn't expect you to show up; am I to assume this because you searched your own user name? >_>
But anyway, good to see you! I know you're still doing MLP commissions, but have you been keeping up with the new season? Any thoughts on it?
(Saying this as someone who didn't actually post in these threads when you were a regular.)
EDIT: Ha, sorry, forgot to compliment the art. It looks great!
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
You're right that we haven't seen Belle Eve in a while. Perhaps it's well time that we check up on her, see what she's been up to.
... Yeah, still being a typical GAFfer.
Looks good Myke. Glad you stopped by.
Myke Greywolf
Ambassador of Goodwill
I have been keeping up with the happening and synopses, but I haven't seen the episodes yet, since I'm waiting for the end of the season to binge watch them along with my wife. From what I've seen, it's still going strong, and I'm looking forward to get the full experience.
I apologize for being so absent, there's always so much to be done, I'm a very slow writer, and I feel that most of my current artworks haven't been suitable for this or the community thread.
Conkersbadfurday
Member
The reason Starlight is impulsive and quick to rely on a magic fix is what makes her interesting. She's flawed. As soon as she swapped those cutie marks, her face was, "OH FUCK I DID A BAD!" and she talked her way out of it. When she told Twilight, Twilight had a fucking freakout.
In the end, her response worked, but only barely. Like, I don't think we're supposed to come away with this episode going, "STARLIGHT IS BEST!" but more like "Starlight is lucky."
She hasn't learned much since her intro, and I agree that her becoming buddies with everyone happened way too fast, but I like where she's at. At this point, her willingness to go, "eh fuck it let's see what happens" with bad ideas is what makes her more interesting than anyone else right now. i've grown kinda bored of the main cast.
In the end, her response worked, but only barely. Like, I don't think we're supposed to come away with this episode going, "STARLIGHT IS BEST!" but more like "Starlight is lucky."
She hasn't learned much since her intro, and I agree that her becoming buddies with everyone happened way too fast, but I like where she's at. At this point, her willingness to go, "eh fuck it let's see what happens" with bad ideas is what makes her more interesting than anyone else right now. i've grown kinda bored of the main cast.
SigmasonicX
Member
I was referring to your comment about your avatar.
... I don't actually remember what it looks like >_>
I have been overlooking Starlight's voice work. I suppose I can't recall any oddly acted moment from her, and her episodes do tend to have her experience a lot of emotions. I'll keep an ear out for this in the future.
Oh, neat.
No worries. You looking forward to the movie?
Second half of today's follow up. Again, stuff made after this episode aired in the US will be in a later roundup on Friday.
NOTES
After the last post, I did end up reading ED's follow up (reposted from three weeks ago), and they pointed out why Celestia got Luna's butt splotch: otherwise, Luna's cutie mark would blend right in with Celestia's fur. Also, it does indeed make her look like a cow.
Starlight walking alongside Luna's carriage instead of riding in it was also definitely punishment.
There are also a surprising number of crystal ponies walking around Canterlot. While it's still a shame that they never, you know, did anything with them being 1000 years displaced, it's nice to see them acknowledged outside of the Crystal Empire.
The newspaper that Luna read is the Foal Free Press. I guess their expansion under Diamond Tiara is still under effect.
A bit unrelated, but their roundup post reminded me of Ask Sketchy Twilight Sparkle! You know, the blog that made this Twilight X Large Scroll art. The artist is probably the most famous example of someone ragequitting due to "Magical Mystery Cure", after he wrote a big post complaining about how the show was no longer for him; he even drew art of Twilight getting her wings surgically removed. Looking at the blog, there was actually a semi-recent post where he says that he's watching the show again, but it's still been months since this blog or the NSFW blog he claims he'll be consistently updating has updated.
Another detail I hadn't noticed from when the two stallions are debating in front of Luna, which I'll just directly quote. "According to the credits, these two should be the Mayors of Baltimare and Fillydelphia, voiced by Scott Underwood and Tony Alcantar. If you don't know which pony is which, then you've never had a cheesesteak. Also, as the scene transitioned to 3 hours later, you may have missed the sky get darker and the lavender wilting."
As the roundup points out, Daybreaker is technically not the canonical evil Celestia: it's just Starlight's headcanon. Nightmare Star, from the card game, could still be a thing. Nightmare Star, as a reminder. It's relevant below.
EDIT:
SCREENSHOTS
Whoops, completely blanked on including this. Here's the Round Stable post collecting screenshots. Also including in the first post.
FAN CONTENT
Equestria Daily's Best of Daybreaker Drawfriend
Again, note that this post only includes art made before the episode aired in the US.
Daybreaker alone
Daybreaker by mylittlegodzilla - Made day one.
Daybreaker by midlstrit - Made day one.
Evil Celestia - Made day one.
Orange Princess - Made day one.
Daybreaker Pancake - Made day one. Text says, "You like it? Just kidding. I don't care," at the top, then, "... Then why did you cook them?"
Daybreaker by das-leben - Made day two.
Daybreaker by kurochhi - Made day two.
Daybreaker by redheadfly - Made day two.
Animated Daybreaker - Made day two. Not embedded because it's a GIF.
Daybreaker by nutty-stardragon - Made day three.
Daybreaker by sibashen - Made day three. By the way, I just discovered this artist, and their work is great. I'll post more of it in Community later.
Daybreaker by Aelwyng - Made three weeks ago.
A more powerful version of you - Made three weeks ago.
The better, prettier, and more powerful one - Made three weeks ago.
Art from Twilight's Super Secret Ship Fic card - Made two weeks ago.
Daybreaker by Lum and Light - Made two weeks ago.
Birth of a Wish - Made two weeks ago.
Daybreaker by wopphank - Made two weeks ago. Text says, "You look disgusting."
Daybreaker by edgymushroom - Made this week.
Daybreaking Queen - Made this week.
Pony Town Daybreaker - Made this week. In fact, on Friday. This is the newest image in this post.
Humanized Daybreaker
These are probably the safest ones. Really.
Daybreaker by racoonkun - Made day two.
Daybreaker by xXMarkingXx - Made two weeks ago.
Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon
Nightmare Moon Vs. Daybreaker by scarlet-spectrum - Made day two.
Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker by Ilona-the-Sinister - Made day three.
Arise - Made day three.
Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon by vanezaescobedo - Made two weeks ago.
Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon by yukandasama - Made two weeks ago.
Sibling Rivalry - Made one week ago.
Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon by snowflakewonder - Made one week ago.
Chibi Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker by vcm1824 - Made one week ago.
Daybreaker vs. Nightmare Moon by samoht-lion - Made this week.
Daybreaker and Nightmare Star
Fall day (pony version) - Made day two.
Fall day (mythological crow version) - Made day two.
Daybreaker and Celestia
Daybreaker and Celestia X Discord - Made two weeks ago.
Daybreaker by icerrhythm - Made one week ago. Celestia is there, she's just small.
Daybreaker and other
Forgive me - Made two weeks ago.
Alternate Past Sins - Made two weeks ago. A reference to the classic fanfic "Past Sins".
Comics
Duel to the Death
These two appear to be part of an already existing AU series. Apparently what's happening is that Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis have each invited different evil Celestias, and they get into a conflict, with Nightmare Star overcoming Daybreaker and using her as a campfire.
Bald's War
How to get a campfire
That actually was easier than the first roundup post.
UberTag
Member
Truth be told, I've been a Kelly Sheridan fan FAR longer than I've been a fan of Tabitha St-Germain as she had far more noteworthy and prominent roles in English anime dub localizations back when I was an avid enthusiast of that industry in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Some of her more prominent roles include Hitomi in The Vision of Escaflowne (she voiced the lead and this received a brief run in a Saturday morning block on FOX Kids), Ukyo in Ranma ½ and Sango in InuYasha. She also stars opposite Rebecca Shoichet as one of the two leading title characters in NANA.
That said, some of my personal favorite voicework from her - which really emphasize characteristics of self-doubt and uncertainty which are mirrored in her performance as Starlight Glimmer - can be found in the shoujo soap opera, Boys Over Flowers, where she plays Tsukushi and - in one of my all-time favorite anime titles - the sci-fi character drama, Infinite Ryvius (aka Lord of the Flies in space) - where she plays Juli. She's an incredible talent with a knack for emphasizing just the right amount of emotional nuance for any scene.
ShinySylvee
Member
My old avatar was a cropped version of this:
Like I said her voice usually isn't as over-the-top as others and so I think since it's not the butt end of a joke it might not be as noticeable. But as a character Starlight has really spanned the gambit of emotions over her time on the show. (I would argue that she's right up there with Rarity and to an extent Twilight as the hardest characters to voice act due to having so many emotions that they display. Andrea does a great job most of the time when she voices Fluttershy but for the most part she's usually either being kind or scared. Often when she's forced to go outside of those emotions things can get a bit rough) She's gone from deceptive cult leader, to antagonistic jerk, to being smug, to being vulnerable and unsure of herself, to being confident. Starlight has been through a lot and Kelly always does a great job at voicing her which combined with the show's strong animation makes sure that Starlight is almost always presented to be feeling how she should be feeling in the scene. For the most part I feel like a great VA is one that fully articulates the character's personality and emotions from scene to scene and whose performance doesn't distract from anything else. This is a scene that comes to mind when I think of an example of Kelly doing a great job at showing off Starlight's emotions and how they change over the course of the scene.
I never really got into anime much so I don't know too much about a lot of the voice actors that made a ton of appearances in dubs over the years, other then that Jamieson Price is amazing. So aside from Tara Strong (who I mainly know from voicing Timmy Turner from Fairly Oddparents) all of the VAs for the show were new to me. I feel like the show has really gotten an impressive cast overall. Aside from what I mentioned earlier about Andrea and Fluttershy I feel like all of the Mane 6 have got great voices, and a lot of the guest actors they've had come on are great too. Discord and Quibble Pants are obviously great, but I think Trixie, Bow Hot Hoof, and Iron Will (DHX pls bring him back) as well as bunch of others I feel are done extremely well too.
Also I would say that Kelly's most famous role is as Barbie in the official material. (As an aside watching through it that show is way funnier then it has any right to be, although the extremely basic CGI animation kinda wastes Kelly's performance since there's not much depth in emotions there.
Lastly I saw this at my local theater when I went to see Wonder Woman yesterday. (A couple flaws aside it's an amazing movie would highly recommend it) I used max zoom on my phone because I didn't want to be super obvious that I was taking a picture of an MLP poster so that's why the quality is horrible.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Trigonometrize.
Member
Equestria Girls has been a huge bummer to be honest. MLP characters in a high school setting could actually be pretty fun, but insteas it's just a bunch of hyper-romantized bullshit with equestrian magic thrown in as the cherry on top. I hope these episodes (that I haven't watched yet) and the (probable) EQG series goes more in that direction.
Like, I don't even think in the first four movies they are ever seen in a classroom learning. They spend infinitely more time fighting things from Equestria than doing hogh school things, wtf.
Like, I don't even think in the first four movies they are ever seen in a classroom learning. They spend infinitely more time fighting things from Equestria than doing hogh school things, wtf.
Conkersbadfurday
Member
That the first movie wasn't a heist with Twilight trying to steel her crown back will remain one of the biggest sins in MLP:FiM history. or it would if the following Equestria Girls movies didn't get worse and worse with each iteration.
SigmasonicX
Member
Now to clarify, I did actually remember it, but your previous comment made me think, "Crap, am I actually confusing it for someone else's avatar?"My old avatar was a cropped version of this:
Yeah, when you lay it out like that, she has done a pretty good job in the role.
I was aware VAs tied to particular roles in shows I watched before, but I never really paid attention to such a large portion of the voice cast until this show. I vaguely recall people bringing up Kelly's role as Barbie when Starlight first appeared, but I had completely forgotten about it until now.
As for the show getting an impressive cast, I sort of feel like it's less that they went out of their way to get good VAs, but that many of the prolific western animation VAs aren't really given the same opportunity in their other big roles that they have here.
Lastly I saw this at my local theater when I went to see Wonder Woman yesterday. (A couple flaws aside it's an amazing movie would highly recommend it) I used max zoom on my phone because I didn't want to be super obvious that I was taking a picture of an MLP poster so that's why the quality is horrible.
Coward.
I agree. You must repent by offering a Rarity figurine to the poster.
Does any "high school story" actually place much focus on the classroom? It's more an excuse to have a bunch of teenagers who may not necessarily get along, and force them to share a room. Though I guess Equestria Girls is particularly egregious in how it doesn't depict class at all.
In the news, Daniel Ingram has finished scoring the movie!
And in fan news, Sunshine and Moonbeams has updated with "A Royal Problem" comics! Here's the first one, and I'll show the second one below.
EDIT:
I thought Rainbow Rocks was better than the first movie, but I've never actually rewatched any of the movies, so it's hard to rank them otherwise.
Actually, that might be worth doing during the season break. I haven't rewatched any of the shorts either.
EDIT 2: Myke's new Belle Eve art was on today's Drawfriend!
Infinite Justice
Member
Hilariously enough the most school related things the EG crew has done i feel is actually in that Sunset Shimmer novel that was released some time ago.
IIRC there was hardly any magic (although one of the plot points was Sunset investigating magic)
But what could they do about "high school things" that wouldn't be just boring? Honest question.
Personally, after Everfree I just hope they'll go full magical girls/superhero squad.
UberTag
Member
As far as the Equestria Girls universe is concerned, I enjoyed Rainbow Rocks (both the movie and the promotional shorts). I enjoyed Dance Magic. I enjoyed some of the musical numbers in Movies 1 and 3. I enjoyed Sugarcoat and her iconic bluntness and would get a kick out of seeing her pony equivalent. I enjoyed Sunset Shimmer's return to Equestria and one-on-one interactions with Starlight Glimmer in Mirror Magic.
And... that's about it. The rest of it ranges from disposable to downright bad - the downright bad points being their poor attempt at romance in the first movie and Legend of Everfree, Movie Magic and pretty much anything to do with either Juniper Montage or Flash Sentry.
And... that's about it. The rest of it ranges from disposable to downright bad - the downright bad points being their poor attempt at romance in the first movie and Legend of Everfree, Movie Magic and pretty much anything to do with either Juniper Montage or Flash Sentry.
I'm not sure it's right for this property necessarily but the animated series, 6Teen, was pretty much nothing but high school things in a mall and was pretty darnn entertaining for its entire run of 93 episodes.
Didn't know this series, but looking at Wikipedia it seems more related to "teen things" rather than "high school things", since it takes place, as you say, in a mall. Maybe I misunderstood what Trigonometrize meant.
Besides, while it could work for a series, I don't see a 70 minutes long movie about such things be particularly interesting.
ShinySylvee
Member
I think the first EQG episode Dance Magic might be a bit more your speed. There's no magic in it at all and the story is more like a typical teen story. There's still not a classroom in sight but given that a full-on EQG show can't just be big budget magic-filled episodes like Mirror Magic I think that stuff like Dance Magic would likely be more fitting to what the show's bread-and-butter would be, although the episode definitely has high production values as well.
Yeah I think that might be part of it too. I looked up Martha Speaks and Tabitha's performance certainly feels a lot more subdued there. For the most part really just not given much to work with there. (Also weirdly the first clip I looked at was her imagining going to prison and in that scene her performance feels extremely flat like she's not even trying, but once the imagination scene ends her voice acting sounds way better, so I don't know if she just wasn't feeling it that day or she was supposdw many of the other shows that they've worked on. (Like all the previous generations of MLP or stuff like Barbie and Strawberry Shortcake which a lot of the VAs have also done)
Man I was legitimately going to go to the movies again this weekend and take another picture with a Rarity brushable I was given as a gag gift with the movie poster. You and your weird Nostradamus powers Sigma.
Also since we're talking about it here's my official patent-pending power rankings for EQG goes as follows:
Rainbow Rocks/Dance Magic (Rainbow Rocks has an absolutely incredible soundtrack and overall is a pretty strong story. Dance Magic is pretty much single-handedly selling me on this EQG spinoff show potentially working. Hard to say which I like more but they're both among the best things the show's had so far)
Legend of Everfree (I actually really liked Timber and Lewis' and Songco's laid back and fun vibe they have in all their stuff is definitely present here. I like this one a lot)
The first half of Mirror Magic (As many problems as this episode has it at least starts out pretty well)
Equestria Girls 1 (I actually dig this one quite a bit. The interactions of Twilight learning about the human world are pretty fun and it doesn't actively make me upset, which is not the case for the rest of the stuff)
Movie Magic (Exceedingly boring and a really poor introduction to a villain who will likely play a decently important role in the show if it does end up happening)
Friendship Games (A couple of neat scenes are basically what save this from the bottom. The movie is extremely repetitive what with all of the Mane 6 needing to have a scene where they pony up and get their magic stolen by SciTwi, who acts like a complete moron the whole movie despite supposedly being a genius even though she creates a literal plot device and has no clue as to how it actually works. I think it speaks volumes that by far and away the best scene in this movie is when she gets yelled at for all of the things I just listed)
The Second half of Mirror Magic (Somehow they made the villain even worse here. I struggle to find anything of quality to point out here the whole climax is a mess and the moral gives Feeling Pinkie Keen a run for its money.
Overall although I don't like the setting as much as Equestria I don't actively dislike EQG like some do. I usually am able to get into the premise and have at least some fun with whatever is given to us. (Except for Movie Magic and the second half of Mirror Magic there's not much there to like in those) I do hope that they end up making a spinoff series both because I want more from the franchise and because Dance Magic I think shows off that there's a lot of potential in this show if they play their cards right, and that a lot of the cooler stuff they could do just wasn't possible with all of the previous output of the series being short made-for-TV movies which mandated that the stories be about some world-shaking event rather then the slice of life that I think the spinoff could excel in.
SigmasonicX
Member
Well they could have Dash have to study for a test and Twilight helps her and... oh, wait.
Haven't seen it, but a big focus of that show seems to be part time jobs and romance. I suppose a potential Equestria Girls show could do some stuff with the former, but I expect they'll largely stay away from the latter besides what's already been grandfathered in.
Oh right, there was something in particular I wanted to bring up in the part you quoted, and that's it! Previous MLP shows! A decent chunk of FiM's cast worked in previous MLP shows, including Spike's VA playing G3 Rarity, and if you asked me if they were good VAs and I had only seen the G3 specials, I wouldn't have thought so at all.
I think you mean Sigma Sense.
Again, haven't rewatched anything EQG, but my views on the movies and specials right now are:
Equestria Girls
For the first two movies, since they aired in theaters, I was well aware of what happened in them before I watched them, and thus didn't consider things like Sunset Shimmer turning into a demon to be a pleasant surprise like theater-goers did. I definitely remember that the sheer fact that it had an action finale was enough to make people think it wouldn't be too bad after all; myself included.
When I watched the movie, I had already read descriptions of all the major scenes, so there were no surprises there. I enjoyed the scenes of Twilight getting used to being a human (plus, it led to great fancomics like this), and at the time, this was the only way to see how they would handle Twilight as a princess. Otherwise... it wasn't as bad as it could have been, certainly, but it was all quite half baked. I can't really blame them, since they did have a relatively short time to make it, but besides Brad and Sunset's dumb plan and how does time even work, which everyone talks a lot about, there's the lasting impact this event was meant to have on Twilight.
Ostensibly, this is the story where Twilight learns to be comfortable with her new alicorn body and role as princess. This is continued in "Princess Twilight Sparkle" of course, but we see in that episode that she's already part of the way there. The first Equestria Girls movie has Twilight at the starting point of her adjustment, and the few scenes directly involving that were good, but there just isn't enough of it. The movie had Twilight turn into a human, and thus couldn't give proper focus to her becoming a princess, outside the "if I could handle being a human, I can handle being an alicorn!" aspect. Twilight's entire adjustment period should have been in the show proper. At the very least, the scene of Twilight's wings making it hard for her to sleep should have been in the show.
Rainbow Rocks
Like I mentioned, I knew the story of Rainbow Rocks before I watched it too, but I didn't actually listen to the songs besides what was officially previewed. Since the movie is a musical, there was a lot more new stuff to appreciate. Honestly, about half the songs are rather lame: the hero songs. The heroes have rather trite friendship songs that are weak compared to what's in the show, while the Dazzlings got catchier songs that couldn't be compared to anything else from the franchise. The exceptions are the final battle ("Welcome to the Show") and the credits song ("Shine Like Rainbows"). Even then, I think the hero parts of "Welcome to the Show" are weak up until the climax. That said, the climax is still by far the most exciting villain defeat of the franchise. I don't know why they haven't tried a musical climax again. "Shine Like Rainbows" doesn't have any conditions, it's just catchy. Well, the chorus, at least; I just realized I remember nothing else about it.
The Dazzlings were also fun villains. I'm honestly amazed they haven't contrived a way to turn them good and make them recurring characters yet. I'm also surprised we haven't had a real team of villains since, at least until the upcoming movie.
This is where I split off from big fans of the movie, though. A lot of people praise Sunset's storyline in the movie, but I didn't think it worked that well. First, there's the widely acknowledged fact that she acts nothing like she did in the first movie. But what bothers me is that for Sunset to be of any relevance at all, everyone else has to act dumber, and things have to otherwise be contrived to make her important. Why does Twilight try to write a song to counter the Sirens? They confront Sunset about her actions in the first movie, meaning they know about magic, so trying to surprise them with magic makes no sense. The only purpose is so Sunset can know Twilight isn't going about this the right way and help her later. Why is it only Sunset that is able to calm everyone down when they start arguing? Etc. I'll allow the heroes only winning the song battle when Sunset joins in since that at least thematically makes sense.
Plus, the Brad parts of this movie actually annoy me more than in the first movie. In the first one, Twilight barely showed him any interest, and you could excuse what was there as a side effect of turning human. In this one, she blushes at his mention and almost kisses him.
Hmm, I didn't intend to write so much about these. I'll make the others shorter.
Shorts
I barely remember the shorts leading into Rainbow Rocks.
For the Rainbow Rocks branded shorts released after the movie, the Vinyl one was alright, and notably actually depicted a classroom! "Friendship Through the Ages" was good, with interesting visuals, though the song kept building up to something only to go back down before reaching it. A lot of people like "My Past is Not Today", but I think the song is weak, particularly in how it has the same problem of not really building to anything. I don't really remember the Rarity one.
I barely remember Friendship Games lead in shorts. If there were others I haven't mentioned, then I don't recall them.
Friendship Games
Dumb. So dumb. Songs were good, though, and while I didn't think there were any as good as the best of Rainbow Rocks, the score was overall more solid. Midnight Sparkle and angelic Sunset have neat designs, but everything else about the former is dumb.
And I actually did go into this blind, so there were no previous reactions to bias me.
Legend of Everfree
Eh. I don't actually remember too much about this.
I'm definitely more willing to look at the good parts of Equestria Girls than I did at the start. On the subject of an EQG show, I get the feeling that it will be a bit more continuity focused than the pony show, given the movies and how the specials are described. Most of the episodes would be slice of life, but they'd do more building up of threats and the magical girl battles will move an overall story forward. I expect the non-battle stories to focus a bit more on interactions with characters and situations not present in Equestria, which matches how "Dance Magic" is described.
==
Speaking of which, we have new Equestria Girls Mini shorts (with 3D computer animation). I usually put them in Community, but I'll link them here because they have a certain character introduced in the new specials. Part 1, and part 2. I think it's cute for what it is.
Also, they get to see the movie before us. Jealous.