ponyvangelist

Well, after the latest episode, I take back what I said earlier about Angel. Angel's a spoiled little bunny-brat. Joe Pesci? I'm liking this idea.

I just want to be able to tell my grandchildren that when this all happened, I WAS THERE!

Best combatants? Zombie ponies. Twilight told Spike there were no zombie ponies, but how could she know? Did she look for them? Did she check the pony graveyards? Do ponies even have graveyards? If not, and there's no place to bury them, then they must become zombie ponies. Which, in turn, would be the best combatants. Q.E.D.

I never read it, but I enjoy reading what people who have read it have to say about it. For me, it's kind of like what was in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, and I like it that way. Curiosity may get the better of me, but if it does, I'd still probably wait for the sequel... Cupcakes II: The Cakening

So is the language of ponies "Ponyese", "Poniese" or "Ponese"? I like "Ponese" because of how it sounds when you say "My Little Ponese". Puns 4 teh win!!1!111!!!!

Actually, they speak German... http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXjizYPm08A Of course, we all know the real truth. The episodes we see are translated from the original Ponese to the language of the audience. Thus viewers in English-speaking countries see them speaking English, when in fact they're speaking Ponese. It's also worth noting that things like signs and letters which appear in the show are in Ponese, and are not translated. Interestingly, written Ponese looks suspiciously like like English, but obscured.

If I should happen to fall to the Dark Side, I hope you can rally the mane cast to use the Elements of Harmony to save me. They tend to be a little less brutal in dealing with situations like that than Obi-Wan, if you know what I mean.

The Road Less Trotted I'm not holding myself up as an infallible paragon of virtue, and where I'm wrong, I appreciate having it pointed out. That's not self-righteousness, just honesty. Fans for whom that description doesn't apply have no logical reason to be offended by it. Fans for whom it reads like a personal checklist would do better to contemplate not only why the description (which, again, was written long before any of this happened) applies to them, but why they think it applies to them. There is no more sincere form of confession than that. Up to the point they aren't hassling the people who make my favorite show and painting the entire fan community in a bad light with their actions, I don't have a problem with it. Everyone has their own way of expressing affection, and if fans want to take it to the extreme in positive ways (or at least ways that don't hurt anyone else), I'm all for it. But it is definitely possible to take things too far the other way, and if going along with bad behavior is the price of "unity", then that price is too high. Fans who choose the Dark Side have chosen to splinter off on their own and segregate themselves. That choice has nothing to do with anything I or anyone else says or does. The responsibility is theirs alone. You have used the term "extremist" yourself to describe fans whose behavior crosses that line. I'm not insulting anyone. Those for whom the shoe fits insult themselves. And lest I be mistaken, my criticism is for bad behavior, not anyone personally. Nobody's perfect, including me, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for anyone who is willing to admit mistakes and learn from them. I have been very careful to avoid naming names or pointing fingers at anyone specifically, just explaining what I see as problem behavior and why it needs to be confronted. Any resemblance anyone may see between their own behavior and the behavior described in that article are seeing it in themselves. The key word in "self-marginalization" is "self". Fans who are unable to express support for Derpy or the show in general without being "fan dumb" about it are isolating themselves. Likewise, anyone who wants to join the overwhelming majority of fans who appreciate the show for what it is, do so in ways that are positive, and exemplify the simple but important lessons it has to teach, has already joined. That door is always open for anyone willing to enter it, regardless of whatever may have gone before. Meanwhile, back at the show... It's nice to see Derpy get some brief cameos in the latest episode, but since episodes typically air months after production, it's too early to tell what impacts "Derpygate" may have on the character long-term. Hopefully none, because the most likely alternative would be less Derpy.

Ha! Obvious propaganda.

The first episode was my first episode, and it's still one of my favorites. Despite watching it as a joke, I was hopelessly hooked before Twilight and Spike even left for Ponyville. Granted, there are a lot of excellent episodes throughout the series, but the first episode is special to me, because that's where it all started.

The Inner Struggle Every member of the mane cast has significant, often exaggerated insecurities which mirror their talents and strengths. Twilight Sparkle is a well-organized, studious pony and a neatness freak of OCD proportions. As we see in Lesson Zero, she has a neurotic fear of being tardy, or more broadly, being disorganized, and above all, being seen as such by her mentor, Princess Celestia. Despite her passion for reading, she is rarely able to find the book she wants without help (even Pinkie's better at it than she is), which is a running gag from the first episode onward. Rainbow Dash lives to fly and loves to win. Owing to her extraordinary abilities and competitive spirit, she's very good at both. But her braggartly nature masks tremendous inner securities, because she defines herself based on the strength of her talents. She hates losing, and when faced with the prospect of defeat, can utterly collapse into a quivering mass of multicolored jello. But beneath that glass jaw resides her true spirit, which ultimately cannot be broken. All of these elements of her personality are illustrated in Sonic Rainboom. Applejack represents honesty, but often finds herself in situations where she doesn't want to tell the truth. This leads her to dissemble to a degree that is often misleading, if not downright dishonest itself. She fears disappointing others more than anything else. Like Rainbow, Applejack has a great deal of pride in her abilities and abhors failure. Unlike Rainbow, Applejack will drive herself to near death before she'll fold. Applebuck Season laid this all out early in the series. Rarity has a fairly straightforward personality. Having come from a humble background in Ponyville, she sees her career as a "fashionista" as a way to elevate her place in society and bolster her self-esteem in the process. Obsessed with appearances and devoted to fabulosity, Rarity fears public humiliation above all else, and to her, nothing could possibly be more humiliating than not looking fabulous. Should that happen, she is prone to drama queenery and depressive withdrawal. Pinkie Pie, as we see in A Friend Indeed, loves to make her friends smile. Her talents are dedicated to the happiness of everyone around her. By surrounding herself with happy ponies, Pinkie seeks to quell her inner demons: fear of abandonment and betrayal. Pinkie's fanaticism about keeping promises is legendary and features prominently in several episodes. Likewise, when she believes her friends have abandoned her in Party of One, she literally becomes unhinged (aka, "Pinkamena"), desperately replacing them with bizarre, inanimate companions. So far in the series, it's not clear why she has these traits, but it's reasonable to assume she has been abandoned and betrayed in the past (perhaps by her real parents?), and never wants to live through it again. Fluttershy is inherently timid, and thus afraid of pretty much everything. As the one pony whose primary trait is her insecurity, she has the ironic distinction of having the most consistent personality of all the ponies. Except when she gets angry, then out comes The Stare. In light of that, it might make sense to consider Fluttershy inverted: her insecurities are obvious and her talents (aside from caring for and communicating with animals, which is somewhat inherent) hidden. In summary, all the ponies tend to have obvious strengths and hidden weaknesses (except Fluttershy, who's the opposite), and these combine in various ways to drive the complex chemistry of the ensemble cast. If we were to summarize the theme most common among them, it might be... "The mass of ponies lead lives of quiet desperation." ...with apologies to Thoreau.

I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek myself, but I do think a lot of things are being either ignored or glossed over when it comes to the campaign to change Derpy back. As an example, I've seen a lot of fans criticize the idea that Derpy is offensive because she has a handicap. I don't see it that way at all. What makes Derpy potentially offensive is the way she portrays ponies (and by extension, people) with handicaps. Is someone with a speech impediment also going to be clumsy and have strabismus? Comparisons with Downs Syndrome have been made. Are people with Downs prone to clumsiness and sparking disasters? Should they not be entrusted with tasks like the ones Derpy can't be entrusted with? Then there's the presumption that people who would be offended by Derpy are either overly sensitive or trolls. How do we know? Do we even know who they are? Do we know any of the relevant details? No. We don't. So sure, fans can be upset about Derpy being changed. No quarrels here, I don't like it either. But aside from the Quixotic nature of the campaign, I'm seeing a lot of one-sided thinking. As examples, it's wrong for people to be offended by Derpy, but right for people to be offended by Derpy being changed. It's wrong to criticize Derpy, but okay for people to insult anyone who does. It's wrong to demand Derpy be changed, but okay to demand she be changed back. Apples and oranges, or food for thought?

Quoted for irony.

Forever? That's like... FOREVER!!!

Same here. A little more openness would satisfy me. Some things have dribbled out, but this feels too much like Hasbro is clamming up. With all the sound and fury, which they clearly anticipated, I guess I can't blame them for keeping mum, though I still would prefer they level with the fans. And yeah, they aren't going to flip twice. Ain't gonna happen. But then, I confess bias in all this, because the "New Derpy" is more like I expected her to be in the first place than the "Old Derpy", which seemed too "dopey" to me. So I, for one, welcome our new Derpy overlords. A Derpy that has strabismus and is clumsy because of it is good enough for me. I don't think she needs any more challenges dumped on her to be endearing. But we'll see how this shakes out. Hopefully we'll see a happy ending to this troubling episode and plenty of thoughtful letters to Princess Celestia in the end.

Out To Pasture The "Anon" video is a good example of what I've been talking about. The strategy is to harass Hasbro until they meet the demands of a portion of the fanbase. While anger and outrage on the part of some fans is understandable, channeling that into a campaign to bully Hasbro into changing Derpy back is misguided and counterproductive. Spamming Hasbro's email and snail mail inboxes with demands will send a strong message, all right: don't listen to or try to deal with people who cannot be reasoned with. The problem for Hasbro is if they give in to this sort of campaign now, they can expect more of the same in the future, for Celestia-knows-what. It can, of course, be persuasively argued that this whole mess came about because they caved to someone (who, exactly?) in the first place, but there's just no way Hasbro could possibly produce the show going forward with the threat of this sort of thing perpetually hanging over their heads. Given a choice between a dysfunctional relationship or no relationship at all, the choice is obvious. At the risk of belaboring the point, and with the proviso that I'm not knocking people who feel hurt and want to deal with it constructively, I'm compelled to remind anyone who follows the link below that the article in question was written long before any of this came about. If the horseshoe fits, wear it. Compare and contrast what's written there with some of the behavior we're seeing now. It's uncanny. Prophetic, even. And definitely apt when it comes to the unseemly self-aggrandizement of a few on behalf of the assumed many. I'm not suggesting that any of this be swept under the rug (I would prefer a lot more openness from Hasbro et al in cases like these), or that Derpy fans shouldn't express their unhappiness in ways that are sensible, positive and healthy. I'm all for that and applaud fans mature enough to do that. What I have no truck with, however, are fans who think abusing Hasbro over this is the right thing to do. Again, the link above speaks for itself. I pray that no one watching all this from the sidelines should ever mistake them for representing the fanbase as a whole, because that would be an even greater injustice against real, living people than anything Hasbro could do to a lovable but nonetheless fictional character named Derpy. They certainly don't represent me.

Because it makes me smile.

Pegasus. Because it's fun to say "pegasi". Oh, and the flying thing. And living in cloud mansions. And being able to control the weather. And because Rainbow Dash is best Pony.

Definitely Rainbow's for me. I like how the classical Greek motif of the dress matches the classical Greek motif of Cloudsdale and the pegasi in general (including Dashie's crazy cool cloud house). Her hair looks great in it as well, and the gold laurels and wrap sandals are epic. She could wear that outfit to the Gala or a toga party and fit right in. Plus I like the fact that the token "tomboy" of the group has no problem whatosever wearing a dress -- as long as it's about 20% cooler.

I couldn't vote because I couldn't decide. Too many episodes I consider first-rate were written by too many different writers. I couldn't pick a "worst writer" for the same reason. They're all quite good, in my opinion.

I would probably say "sorry guys, you really bucked up this time!" They did get away with slipping in "the trots" in Cutie Pox, so it's not like they don't have a sense of humor. But if they dropped a phrase like that, they would be royally bucked.

I guess I'm still scarred by the initial hategasm over on EQD. One could directly attribute the fact that I'm now a member here to my distaste for what I saw there, and a resulting desire to discuss teh poniez in a more positive environment. So far, so good. If you haven't seen the numerous boycott threats, or email-bombing threats, or organized protest efforts aimed at trying to get Hasbro to change Derpy back through various forms of persuasion, some more threatening than others, then I truly envy you and advise against looking into it further. There are, of course, also campaigns with the same goal that encourage more positive feedback, but my humble opinion is that there is little to no chance of any of them actually accomplishing anything. As for buying stuff to show support, I installed iTunes after swearing it off years ago for the sole purpose of doing that, and like the "shut up and take my money" attitude so many bronies have. I'm sure Hasbro doesn't mind, either. I still think it's a niche compared to the tons of plastic ponies being shipped out of China each day, but if Hasbro were to offer high-end dolls for $100 a pop, I know more than a few bronies would buy them -- IF they were worth it to them. Having thought about what I might shell out a hundred bucks for, the first thing that comes to mind would be a good-sized pair of detailed, well-sculpted statuettes, Celestia in brass and Luna (adult) in pewter, or something along those lines. They may not want to go into that business themselves, but I can foresee a lucrative secondary license industry build up around the property. Time will tell.

Party Cannon, because a cannon that shoots parties has to be the most awesome concept ever devised. And also, because Pinkie Pie.