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Dowlphin

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Blog Entries posted by Dowlphin

  1. Dowlphin

    blogging, duh
    At the supermarket today there were themed chocolate eggs, one Transformers and one MLP.
    Now, the association of those two franchises to boys and girls is vast, traditional and thus kind of common knowledge. But for some odd reason the supermarket added classifications on the price tags, labeling the Transformers ones as for "boys" and the MLP ones as for "girls".
    UPDATE: And sometimes there were bigger eggs next to those, also showing ponies IIRC, and those were labeled "trollies" for some reason.
    First, this made me laugh specifically about the MLP side. Someone must not have gotten the memo.
    Secondly, I had the cynical/sarcastic thought how brave it is of them to do that in these agitated times and risk getting flame for gender stereotyping.
    Later I pondered the whole thing further because I was wondering why they would specifically add that on the tags, as if it wasn't obvious. My assumption is that this is an issue of ever-frightful marketing agenda:
    - The two franchises are strongly target audience optimized, to boys and girls respectively.
    - Parents might be buying those products for their kids without having their kids with them and without knowing what is being marketed to them. (Especially negligent parents. A big market, hah.)
    - That shelf might not even have been maintained by the supermarket staff, but by external reshelvers from specific brand suppliers, a common thing these days.
    - So the person tending to the shelf wanted to make sure that parents ignorant of what their kids are interested in would pick the 'right' product for their kids, i.e. the ones that the kids have been programmed for and which thus would likely be requested by boys respectively girls.
    - Picking the 'wrong' (=marketing mismatched) product could cause disappointment that then creates a negative emotional association with the brand (at least in the imagination of marketeers), which is to be avoided, especially with young malleable minds.
     
    I could add detailed sociological commentary about this, but it should speak for itself and convey various implications. You do the math. (If your math is bad, the result will be accordingly, but I couldn't change that.)
    I'll just add that, in case it isn't obvious enough, I neither like marketing/capitalism nor the agitated societal warfare and PC thought control agenda around gender issues.
    Health is promoting peace, not war. Which begins within each of us.
  2. Dowlphin
    They haven't met face-to-face yet. Did the student six ever tell her? Seems like someone might be getting ninja-trolled here.
    Treelight 'Harmony' Sparkle is best princess
    (My favorite non-equinoid character, followed by Discord. - As for equinoids, Silverstream is lovely, too.)
     
    UPDATE: Now my nickname for her is Harmony Sparkles, and her rarely-used middle name is Actually.
  3. Dowlphin

    This field is required.
    This would definitely be Pinkie Pie under that disguise.
    Also, I imagine this character as a Spanish mascateer.
     
    Pinkie scriptum:
    Mascarphoney!

    I tried many ingredients (cocoa, cinnamon, spearmint, peppermint, molasses, sucrose, erythritol), but none improved on the pure taste and worked together so well as (high-quality) honey! (Doesn't even need much of it. Remember that it's quick sugars!)
    Still gotta try proper vanilla aroma (I bought an utter failure one - Ostmann in canola oil base) and frustratingly forgot to try mayonnaise. ... Now I'll have to get another cup just for that.
    (BTW, in case you never tried it: Pure mascarpone tastes like unwhipped cream. And adding sugar only makes it sweeter, but I find it sufficiently sweet just with the lactose.)
  4. Dowlphin

    i refuse to enter a category mane! (also to use capitalization - i am an anticapitalizer)
    I guess it's a testament to the loving subtleness of introducing the theme.
    It's particularly moderate here because it deals with merely the rigid teenage roles enforced through peer pressure. It's a bit like an antithesis to Rainbow Dash, I guess, who is authentically (well, more or less) tomboyish. Although we could also discuss what in society made her be afraid of being known to like reading books. That must also be a story about peer pressure. She'll have spent a lot of time with flyers and they probably imposed that stereotype complex on her.
     

     
    Also, the fact that I am re-watching season 8 episode 22 after having made a note to rewatch ages ago is a testament to my burnout.
    Then again, maybe it was the perfect time for it. (But if perfect timing was entering my life, I think I would notice.)
  5. Dowlphin

    This field is required.
    Do you remember?...
    https://www.deviantart.com/dowlphin/art/Pinkie-Pie-Perspective-415035787

    ...
    Well, I found an old sign among my stashed crap...
    https://twitter.com/Dowlphin/status/1383373190139842563

     
  6. Dowlphin

    Category Name
    I saw this cloud that looked a lot like some piece of sweet pastry...

     
    ... and then five minutes later Pinkie Pie jumped out of the clouds.

    (She was more easily recognizable a moment before, but it took me a moment to get the camera ready.)
  7. Dowlphin

    Category name?? ... Whatever.
    At some point I regretted not having saved a link and then someone posted a comment on the thread and the notification brought it to my attention again, and this time I saved a link, heh.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzzUCoaPAN4&lc=Ugi91bpnX6F9angCoAEC.8-5ykZGd31f7-KECsb4_Q6
    (It's on a Weird Al video and responding to someone who thought I should change my profile pic and brought the weirdest reasons.)
     

  8. Dowlphin
    UPDATE 2014-01-29: Did some additions and restructuring.
     
     
    I like season 4's episode 11 "Three's A Crowd" a lot because of the valuable lessons contained within that are touching on my own life experience ... especially one unlearned (!) lesson that might be too in-your-face (or inconvenient) for people to notice.
     
     
    To begin with, this episode toys with a common tool in script writing, where subplots are wrapped up and vanish and we never hear of it again. I'm sure many people were wondering: "So now Discord is reformed? Where is he? Doesn't he still need the friendship that caused him to reform?"
    And the episode treats this as if it happened exactly like that. The mane cast (excluding Fluttershy) really couldn't care less about what Discord is doing, as long as he leaves them alone.
     
    This is a situation very close to reality and makes this like an episode inside of an episode. It is disappointing, because one would think that Fluttershy's amazing strength and skill in winning Discord as a friend would surely inspire her friends to try that approach, too, among other things to practice forgiveness. But instead, they don't care. Out of sight, out of mind. They still want to cling to the past, despite Discord's actions from back then having been relatively harmless.
    Not only is this an unwise and somewhat shameful behavior towards Discord, but it is borderline disrespectful towards Fluttershy. Despite her amazing accomplishment that none of the other ponies would have deemed possible, they still don't give her credit for what she did. She basically singlehoofedly freed Equestria from a villain, and she didn't even get a lousy t-shirt.
     
    And Discord (hopefully, finally) taught them a valuable lesson, making him a real - but sadly unappreciated - friend to the mane 6. The kind of friend that is not just pampering you with rainbows and unicorns, but the kind of friend who's got your back and calls you out on your bullshit and pokes you when you're losing 'the path'.
    A while ago Fluttershy taught Discord a lesson about friendship, and he is a good student. He understood the lesson, while Fluttershy's close friends are still struggling. Such a good student in fact that he is now helping the other ponies learn lessons about friendship. This makes those ponies look quite bad, and it should. You gotta handle the cognitive dissonance and see in what way Discord is/was a better person than those ponies. Those who miss(ed) something the most will also have the greatest appreciation for it.
     
    Life lessons can come from where you least expect them. But if your whole perception of reality is slanted towards your expectations, you might miss the most valuable ones.
     
     
    Some moments in the episode that stood out for me:
     
    1) When Discord showed Twiley the letter he got from Fluttershy and stated that he never hears from the other ponies, Twiley responds by saying that she doesn't even know where he lives. He abruptly silences her, and one can see various meaning/intentions in this, or no deep reason at all, but at that moment I was thinking: "Yes, Twiley, what does that tell us about you? Why DON'T you know where he lives? Of course he could have relayed the information to you directly, Princess :-P, but he did to Fluttershy! Did YOU ever bother to inquire about his whereabouts? Ask Fluttershy maybe? No."
    Pinkie Pie spelled out what the others thought, too: They were truly surprised that Fluttershy and Discord are pen pals. They still cannot comprehend the level of sincerity in Fluttershy's friendship.
     
    2) When Twiley eventually got angry that Discord was just faking, this is an interesting moment, because he didn't try to conceil it, and his ways are no secret. She really should have known that he is faking, but doing it for a good reason. Of course faking the need for help is not as motivating as a real need, but hey, from a certain standpoint there was a real need. He was merely playing the nemesis. He took a route of action that in a different light could be interpreted as a mildly desperate act.
     
    Also, Discord was toying with her real motivations; those that made her ignore the obvious fact that Discord was faking: Apart from wanting to quickly get back to her relaxing time with Cadance, she wanted to preserve the image she has of herself. We all know how Discord is, so rejecting him shouldn't have been received badly by the other ponies... except Fluttershy! ... at least that's what Twilight thought, because she had a guilty conscience. It is like one of those situations where two people are lying to each other and both know it but don't say anything for mutual face-saving. (Discord's unspoken words here: "You know I'm just faking and I know you just want me gone. But I don't kid myself about my real motivations.") When in the end Discord made her compliments about how she indeed is the true friend he doubted she'd been, that compliment was as fake as Discord's illness. A true friend to him, like Fluttershy, would have had the confidence based on that authenticity to tell him he should stop faking ... but of course, Discord wouldn't have played that game with Fluttershy in the first place, since he knows she is a true friend to him. There is no lesson for reformed Discord to teach. And he also values their true friendship too much to risk ruining it by being dishonorable of what Fluttershy did for him. When Fluttershy caused Discord's reformation, she didn't do it for mere personal gain, but out of real compassion for the pain that made Discord become sorta nasty. He probably only was like that because personal experience made him believe that people like Fluttershy don't exist in the world, or at least that those acts of compassion are not available to him.
     
    3) When Rarity and Applejack stated that Discord got what he deserved, I thought: Indeed, he got at least one true friend (the first he ever had), and while they were referring to his illness that apparently was real this time, he actually got another confirmation of Fluttershy's sincere caring for him. And he used the same wording towards her that he used earlier when he was faking it just to rub it in the other ponies' faces. Or did you really think when he asked for a glass of water again that he had any intention to toy with Fluttershy like he had done with Twilight and Cadance? If so, then think again!
     
     
    In contrast, the official lesson learned at the end of this episode was pretty much a copy of what had already been conveyed in the season 1 finale "The Best Night Ever" and degraded Discord to a mere catalyst for it.
     
     
    Now you see how much can be learned from the show if you look closely and accept inconvenient thoughts, too. And it should also make clear why the show means so much to me. Often it's like what I've been thinking/feeling/saying all along, and the show is like a rare incident of hearing a familiar voice - a likeminded entity - all the way to the core. And the contrast between this and what I mostly experience in the real world can be very painful and disheartening.
     
     
    P.S.: I wanted to add that Pinkie Pie was the least disrespectful to Discord, so when I'm talking about the ponies, I'm not only fully excluding Fluttershy, but also to some degree Pinkie Pie. ... After all, she shares a certain passion with Discord, hehe. ... And she also left the stage quite early. But while she, too, didn't care what Discord was doing, when he was there she was trying to make the best of the situation. And he rejected her hospitality because he knew that the other ponies had a much bigger need for working through their issue with him. And Pinkie Pie even objected to not being allowed to help him, haha. In a way she turned it around and toyed with him in his own unique style. This deserves a "Well played, Pinkie Pie!". But here, too, it is not just a little fun, but a display of the wise approach of solving a problem by focusing on the solution instead of the problem, or to realize the core motivation behind behavior. It's really deep stuff.
  9. Dowlphin
    I know it's probably much more marketing than taste variety, but still, how could -I- possibly pass -this- up?

    I did skip the pony-themed one though, because, I mean, that's really just shameless.
     
    SUPPLEMENT: They got a mild berry flavor. The violet ones a bit more distinct, like dark berries. (I am generally not getting excited about this common wine gum stuff anymore. But they're alright.)
    SUPPLEMENT 2: The sugared ginger-lemon stuff they have is much more exciting. The smell reminds me of sweaty feet and urinal cakes (that will be the ginger ), but the taste is stimulating. You should give that a try if you like moderately sour-spicy stuff.
    SUPPLEMENT 3 (2020): This P&L has remained a wine gum staple for me. (P.S.: At first I wrote "wind hum stable" because I am drunk. ... Ah, the ponetree!)
  10. Dowlphin
    How very fitting that this was performed by the Dazzlings.
     
     
    Escapism is flight, running. Seems necessary sometimes, but a temporary relief confirms what you run away from.
    A repetitive, uneventful series of days can be torment for some, bliss for others. It all depends on the inner state, but which is reflecting the outside world.
    Meaning, if society is healthy, people can lead the same clichée-boring lives as today, 9-5- cubicle job and such, and be fulfilled and content. Because the context matters. Who and what are you working for?
    Deeper meaning, even by definition, can only be found in the depths, meaning within, not in externals. Connect to your own and others' depth. If you can, there is potential. It will not succeed with those who are at war with it. It can be anyone. Some are cursed with having attained great influence and power for spreading fear, others are less entrapped because they cannot succeed on the path of fear.
    Shape the world through shaping yourself without it first. Otherwise, you are inviting the world to shape you. THEN you are the nothing you so dread.
     
    The video could be understood as a prologue, a glimpse into what drove the Dazzlings to become what you saw in Rainbow Rocks.
     
    Heroism is not a career path.
  11. Dowlphin
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    They let them run along, they imprison them, then they petrify them.
    ... It was somewhat amusing how Discord chose that course of action, but the implied message is a solemn one: Once again, like in the very beginning with Nightmare Moon, Equestria now has to grow and mature until it is ready to reform Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow. Change in them will come with a change in their environment. Which also conveys our own work to be done if we want to change others. For that we have to be that spark of something different in their life, that offers a better way, and have to actually not WANT that change, because that disempowers again, gives that which you try to raise an opportunity to lower you instead. And that which can be controlled easily is not respected.
    This two-parter also shed light on the weakness of champion worship or offloading responsibility to leaders. If not everyone is empowered, the overall system is weak and vulnerable and can shatter in the blink of an eye when the mask falls.
    Leaders emerge as a reflection of the whole. The potential for anything is always there, but the whole chooses what to support.
    A good leader is first and foremost not a commander, but a teacher and student. Then respect is not commanded, but earned. Through wisdom. Through a natural understanding of what matters. That is inner strength.
     
    And after watching the last episode, with mixed feelings, I can definitely reiterate that this realm of ours is in hardmode.
    But it doesn't have to be forever.
    Choices create reality.

     
    P.S.: The final episode was not just about friendship being tested when friends move apart, but also about dealing with the show ending.
  12. Dowlphin
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    This episode escalates what has always bothered me a bit: Daring Do / A.K. Yearling, a writer character who isn't in it for the fame, but the stories are just too good to keep to herself, name-based on a human writer who is only in it for the money.
    Which also creates an interesting meta in light of the episode's plot about Caballero making himself look better through rewriting his character, and also the whole truth amulet thing.
    On a brighter note ... lots of .
    And I mean that in all facets. Fluttershy once again showed the power of the heart and why, in my book, she is the real princess of friendship. (But it is probably better that she doesn't carry the burden of the title, heh.)
    It was a beautiful story arc.
     
    Related reading: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Marshall+Rosenberg+non-violent+communication
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    It feels a bit disturbing: This never-talked-about topic, which I assumed to have always been resolved elegantly and magically, maybe also like an ongoing project to change habits from what is normal in the Everfree Forest, by formulating a vegetarian and synthetic diet, is now shown to never have been resolved. (I do remember Fluttershy feeding worms to birds though, and back then that was already a bit of a headscratcher in light of the special lifestyle of animals in the Ponyville area.)
    I was aghast: Out of awkward necessity Fluttershy expects a snake to not eat animals and then she goes hardcore and prescribes vegan?! And she is expected to FIX the gecko's diet? ... Considering how important it usually seems to be to Hasbro to not give kids (or 'adults', hah) the wrong ideas, this is not setting a good example of how to not ... you know ... severely and maybe fatally malnourish your pets. (Or babies, even. ... There have been disturbing cases.)
    As for Zecora's potion, I strongly suspect she has learned to use poison joke in her brews. (The outcome was of course very predictable.) - Actually, Zecora could have played a major role in animal diet design expertise. I was also puzzled that she couldn't recognize the lizard type at first.
    Further into the episode I was still wondering since when snakes eat elephants. Then it revealed itself to be a gross exaggeration joke. (That snake got an eating disorder, hah.)
    Angel here painted a clearer picture of a weird canon by confirming that animals are like very intelligent beings there that are trapped in an unusually limited body. That Angel in Fluttershy's body could immediately articulate himself in all detail of pony language, it is  a bit odd. And it got even more mindboggling when it was shown how all the other animals understand ponish but not Angel's way of communicating. Dunno, maybe Angel is like a hybrid, been around ponies for so long that he prefers to communicate closer to their ways. But he is still only understood by Fluttershy.
    So the whole episode felt more like a writers' capitulation than an elegant resolving of open questions.
    But it is a Fluttershy episode, and that is always ... well ... nice.
     
    P.S.: I also had the thought that "She Talks Like Angel" would have been a good title instead. (Unless they thought that would be giving too much away.) - EDIT: Someone pointed out it is based on a song: "Black Crowes - She Talks to Angels"
  14. Dowlphin
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    At the beginning of the episode I thought, oh no, this is gonna be a nerdisode. Not what I'm in the mood for right now.
    Then Fluttershy and then Pinkie Pie entered the building and things began to look a bit brighter.
    Dual-hyper attack with movie-style grimacefest aside, this saved it, and the fateful contrast of Twilight and Pinkie is always appreciated. And I didn't expect another kinda-Pinkie episode could follow so quickly, although I did hope for it.
    With all those Ps involved, Twilight should have predicted Pinkie Pie to be a potential participant.
    Pinklight Twinkie TwiPie FTP!
    I hope that plate was edible. ... I mean meant to be eaten.

     
    It was hard for Twilight to not focus on external disturbances/distractions when the whole trivia game is about external validation.

    During the cupcakes question, it was really a conflict. Right-away you would say this is totally Pinkie's moment, but you also have to consider that the question involved Princess Celestia, so of course Twilight knows every detail about that.
     
    DING! - You gotta admit, that was a very pinkish move from Twi there.

     
    Lesson of the episode: If you got a PERSONAL record to uphold, then don't join a TEAM. There shouldn't even be personal correct answers counts in a team game, since TECHNICALLY the TEAM gives the answer, since the TEAM gets a point for a correct one.
    Or in short: It's all fun and games once you lose an I.
     
    P.S.: Did you notice right at the end? The entrapment of the push-pull conundrum - a classic derp.

     
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  16. Dowlphin
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  17. Dowlphin
    I miss the feeling.
     
    (The fact that the body coloring creates such a good impression of mane and tail is torture. ... Anyone wanna electrostart my long dormant happiness?)
     
    ...
     
    And here is the PinkR3 Pie version, which is probably more theme-appropriate, but the Fluttershy one just feels nicer to me.

     
    ...
     
    This would probably be quite enjoyable, too:

    ...although I think I would prefer PrincYS Luna style for that one:

     
    ...
     
    OK, now the R3 is mandatory, since I got TWO puns with her name and have difficulty deciding - PR3ncess or PrincR3s?
    (I would probably put one variant on each side.)

     
     
     
    Pony Scriptum: And here an example of how trying to make the body parts resemble a pony even more might not be an aesthetically wise idea:

    (It is very tempting though!)
     
    UPDATE - scooter! (I resisted the temptation to make a Scootaloo-colored one. )

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  19. Dowlphin
    First this appeared in S2E9 - Sweet and Elite:

     
    And now this in Equestria Girls - Spring Breakdown Part 5 'Hoofin' It':

     
    Note how the old one has, arguably as a bit of an immersion breaker, a more realistic painted art style, but the new one has the cheese that is such an upgrade. Various elements became more odd/abstract, and the wear marks near the corners are mostly identical, too.
    One could spin all kinds of theories as to what happened here.
    Diegetically this would mean that the wear marks are intended part of the piece and this is the artist's or a copy artist's remake of the original painting.
    This could just be an innocent, playful prop decision by a show artist, but it is still odd, since it is a kind of crossover reference to the show's past, and there was also a rubber chicken in a cushioned case shown, likely a reference to the Cheese Sandwich episode.
  20. Dowlphin
    Not only did Spike exploit a sibling rivalry in a sibling rivalry, but he created it in the first place. Spike asked Thorax to impersonate Celestia while she was on important business and instructed him to deliberately brush off all of Luna's security advice to make her susceptible to allying with him for the betrayal.
    Spike also hired Grogar to abduct all castle guards and replaced them with changelings so that they would be unrealistically easy to distract.
    Shining Armor was also a changeling, that's why he seemed totally fine with his security being circumvented. The real one would of course eventually come for a visit, but then Spike would already hold the crown, and legitimately, as proven by his shrewd scheming.
    Grogar never returned the guards. He didn't call back. All guards are changelings now, and they like having a job.
    Spike could only convince Grogar to help him by promising him that he could keep the guards and do with them whatever he wants.
    Twilight's parents gave him a gold start for this. (According to rumors not entirely on their own volition.)
    Pinkie Pie is still inviting Spike to all her parties, and he is the guest of honor. Afterwards there's always plenty of cake left.
    What Spike does not realize just yet is that Luna was a changeling all along. A royal one, in fact. And she's after the crown. For that sweet sibling love.
  21. Dowlphin
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    Luna only held a grudge for 1000 years.
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