Ponies and Technology

Ponies and technology. Two good things that go great together, right? Well, yes and no.

Setting a hard technology level for Equestria is a real hassle for a number of reasons, all of which we'll hopefully be able to address. But suffice to say that Faust's intent was quickly moved away from in favor of convenience and expanding the possible stories, and for the most part I feel that was a good move. But if we're to approach ponies with machinery, just what is considered going “too far” and breaking the setting?

April Fools Day Review: So Many Ways to Play

Happy April Fools Day, everybody! I hope you're having fun with...whatever your favorite sites are doing this year, because there will be no hope and joy in this post. Today, we're going to use this holiday as an excuse to look back on the very last thing produced in G3.5 and see just how badly Faust and her team needed to swoop in and save this franchise.

Yes, we're looking at the infamous Newborn Cuties and one of the two animated straight-to-DVD cartoons bundled with the toys. This is So Many Ways to Play.

A Study of AUs: The Lunaverse vs the Dashverse

The Alternate Universe genre of fanfiction is usually held in a rather low regard. Far too many writers use the tag as a means of escaping things like keeping characters true to their canon selves and adhering to everything the plot presents, even if it's something they personally didn't like. (And I'm not including fics that were made AU because of significant changes in the canon. There's a rather large difference between the two ideas.) The same tends to be true in a lot of pony fiction, although there are stories that try to get around these issues and instead present clever “What If?” scenarios.

But what we're looking at today are two universes, the Lunaverse and the Dashverse, and looking at the way they break away from the canon and explore their own beliefs and alternate interpretations. Also note that I am mostly focusing on comparing Rainbooms and Royalty to Longest Night, Longest Day, since both are alternate versions of the pilot. (I will be including Boast Busted later on, though, to compare the handling of Twilight.)

Top Ten Favorite Moments of Friendship is Magic

This is a post I've been wanting to do for a while, but have simply never had the time to pull off. And in retrospect, I still don't, but I'm doing it anyway. Because that's how I roll. Badly.

This is my personal Top Ten Moments of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Not yours, but mine. Some of it might offend you. Some of it might shock you. Some of it might make you fall to your knees and beg God to smite this infernal planet before I can say another word. But this is my opinion and...well, you clicked the link, poor soul, so you might as well look at it and laugh.

Now let's begin.

On Fausticorn

(Requested by DashieShy3597)

This is going to be an...interesting topic today. I don't know how it's gonna go, if anyone's gonna be interested, or if I should just cut my loses now and go to the countdown, but whatever. Let's discuss...Fausticorn.

Is Hasbro Trying to Kill the Fandom?

This has been an...interesting last couple of weeks, to be sure. So far our fandom has weathered Alicorn Twilight, the Friendship is Witchcraft and episode takedowns, and now Fighting is Magic has been Ceased & Desisted out of existence. And with this perfect storm of madness, a harsh line of thinking has begun to take prominence:

Is Hasbro trying to kill the Brony fandom?

Here's my answer in a single word: no.

On the Subject of Princesses

Sorry to go back into this topic, but I feel this needs to be addressed.

One of the big criticisms of the whole Alicorn Princess Twilight debacle is the notion that Twilight becoming a princess robs her of what makes her a unique character. Up to this point, she's been mostly a socially awkward bookworm, with the former gradually vanishing as she grew closer to her friends and now only showing up when Celestia is involved. After all, princesses are all about having tea parties and sitting in castles looking pretty. What happened to the good old days of there being different ways to be a person? Making her a princess robs her of any character she had!

To which I say, neigh.

Why No Luna?

(Requested by NonFaustDevotee)

One of the aspects that make Friendship is Magic so popular is its large and diverse cast, especially after the fandom gets hold of them. Can you imagine a show where the fans didn't name every single background pony, give them extensive backstories, and then write fanfic after fanfic exploring their fan-granted personalities? But back during the first season, there was one particular pony that fired off the imagination like no other, one that received the most fan attention of all the characters despite having less than a minute and two lines worth of screentime.

Princess Luna.

So that's the point of today's article: Why was Luna, a character with such a significant role in the show's backstory and such a large fandom, totally ignored for a full season?

A Study of Ponies: Comparisons Between the Show and Real-Life Horses

One of Lauren Faust's goals with Friendship is Magic was to reintroduce the idea that the ponies are...well, ponies. The original G1 cartoon followed this principle to an extent, but subsequent series gradually moved more and more towards the characters just being humans in pony suits, capable of standing on two legs and holding objects in their hooves without difficulty. And while FiM has adopted more anthropomorphic traits as its run has continued, there are still numerous real-life behaviors and movements that are emulated by the cast.

And that's what this post is about: cataloging what traits are exhibited and how they impact the ponies and our works.

On Rarity

Yes, I know I didn't have a blog post scheduled today, but this came up and I had to address it.

Let's Watch the Other Hub Shows (Part 1?)

I had a large blog post for today...but I need to do a lot more research before I feel comfortable posting it. (To the curious, it's about real-life horse behaviors the ponies emulate in the show and fanfiction and tips on using it.) So in the meantime, let's do something that isn't really pony-related, but I've wanted to do for a while: looking at some of the other shows on the Hub. So...feel free to ignore this if you want. Just be back for the review on Saturday, k? The preview makes it look promising.

So...let's start.

Darkness Induced Audience Apathy

After a great deal of willpower and just forcing myself through it, I finally finished shortskirtsandexplosions' "Background Pony." And for the most part, it's earned its hallowed place in the fandom's halls; it's incredibly well-written, even beautiful and poignant in several places. But here's the thing. You see how I started this paragraph? I should never have to say that about a great piece of fiction. Everything about the story just felt draining, and after a good while I really didn't give a damn about any of the characters or the crap Lyra was getting shoved through.

Fortunately, TV Tropes, that eternal enemy of productivity, has a term for just such a feeling: Darkness Induced Audience Apathy.

Spike's Portrayal in the Series

Well...this is a bit of a rant, so feel free to skip if you want. Either way, I feel I have to say something.