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Dark Qiviut

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  4. Dark Qiviut
    Author's Note: This is in response to IDW Comics confirming to have the Twilicorn, starting with the pirate comic arc.
     
    ———
     
    Conceptually, I was fine with Twilight being an alicorn if given more than enough time for her to develop into one. However, her becoming an alicorn in season three was and will always be a factually bad idea for the reasons I outlined a while back here. In order for the Twilicorn to genuinely work, Magical Mystery Cure had to be written very well enough at the least and fantastically at its best: While it "made sense" from Hasbro's perspective, it didn't make sense from a timing perspective.
     
    And what did Magical Mystery Cure do? While I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, it doesn't change how it's a bad episode, although nowhere close to being the worst that season. (Just for Sidekicks, Spike at Your Service, and Games Ponies Play are all easily worse.) Still, with the other bad episodes, since they were self-contained, you can always skip them over. The Twilicorn is the exception, because whatever happened in that episode will follow over to season four, meaning Magical Mystery Cure had to be written RIGHT. It wasn't. MMC was rushed and sloppy; the Twilicorn appeared tacked on. From an objective quality perspective, Twilight's transformation wasn't handled well; five minutes is MORE than enough time to deliver a solid first impression to your audience. If MMC and the Twilicorn's first impression were genuinely handled as well as it should've, then we wouldn't still discuss and debate over the Twilicorn long after its airing.
     
    With the Twilicorn following into the comics, despite my vocal criticisms (especially in the Twilicorn section in the MLP Forums, where I debated there quite a bit for a three- to four-month stretch), I'm still as indifferent about her being an alicorn now as I was back then. If she's written well, I'll support it. If it's not, I won't. It doesn't matter if the medium is in the show (where the writers have much more restrictions than the fans themselves, not just because they're working under a first party's demands, but also due to content guidelines in Canada, U.S., and throughout the West) or the IDW comics. If they show me that the writers can write the Twilicorn well, follow through, and actually develop her to the point where her being an alicorn princess is worth it, I welcome it with open arms.
     
    That said, Twilicorn can't be the mere "adorkable Twilight" we're normally accustomed to. In FIM, an alicorn princess means more than just a title. It indicates a sense of responsibilities and management in not just what they say, but do, too. Cadance, Celestia, and Luna are all heralded in current Equestrian society, and Twilight will be, too. Her being the same character "with merely wings" devolves her character and all her growth from the pilot to MMC, and I hope the comics, like the show, don't toss that aside.
     
    I'm also glad the comic writers and season four are there to hopefully experiment it. MMC gave the Twilicorn a horrendous first impression. If the series was over after MMC, then Twilight's reputation is soiled. IDW and season four give the Twilicorn a chance to work, and I hope their efforts pays off.
     
    P.S.: Despite being a vocal critic, I DON'T want her reverted back to a unicorn. It's a big mea culpa and tells me as a brony that the team doesn't wish to make it work, and that's insulting to the entire franchise.
  6. Dark Qiviut
    If you read my latest status update and its replies here, you were expecting this.
     
    After reading Calpain's sorry "reason" for quitting the brony fandom in last night's Nightly Roundup on Equestria Daily (the main reason why I posted my status earlier this afternoon), it's time to call this excuse out and explain what is my biggest fandom pet peeve: letting the fandom ruin your enjoyment of anything, particularly the product itself.
     
    Why? Simple.
     
    The fandom doesn't determine the quality of the product in any way, shape, or form.
     
    Sonic fans don't determine the overall quality of the series.
     
    Fans of sports teams don't determine the quality of the sports teams.
     
    Likewise, bronies don't determine the overall quality of the franchise, characters, episodes, or whatever.
     
    If you left the fandom (in other words, quit following the franchise) because the quality of the franchise from the ground up was getting bad, I fully support that. Occasionally, I stopped supporting products because they went so bad with no effort to fix it. (I stopped supporting products like McDonald's because the food quality and employee treatment are factually terrible and unethical, and I don't support retailers like Wal-Mart for their notorious, unethical employee practices.)
     
    But to let the fandom ruin your enjoyment of anything is extremely stupid and misguided.
    It tells me you were never genuinely interested in the product in the first place.
    You're scapegoating the fandom. You're shoving problems onto something else and creating a newer, even more unnecessary problem. Scapegoating the fandom is low. Instead of the drama becoming the problem, you're becoming the problem.
    It means you're easily influenced and makes me wonder how the hell can you enjoy anything in life, period.

    All of us get tired of fandom drama every now and then. But the main core of the fandom is a bonus. I've been in drama, and I'm still involved in the Sonic and brony fandoms. I keep fandom drama separated from my life and enjoyment of the products themselves. Even if I so-called "quit the fandom," as long as I support the franchise, I'm still passively involved. Scapegoating the fandom for your ruined enjoyment of a product is absolutely weak, and you lose all sympathy for using that sorry excuse.
     
    Letting continuous poor quality of the product ruin your enjoyment is a good reason to stop supporting it.
     
    But the fandom doesn't influence the product's quality, and fandom drama is NOT a good reason to stop supporting the product. Never was a good reason and never will, period.
  9. Dark Qiviut
    I wasn't going to stay out of this year's "Talk Like Zecora Day," so I'm gonna have as much fun this time as I should've last year!
     
    Check 'em all out below. Happy reading!
     
    ———
     
    Link #1:
     
    Hello, everypony!
    DQ here to start this day early!
     
    Don't dare attempt to give me the orange!
    Breaking the code would be such a cinch!
     
    Go out there and untie that conservative knot.
    We all watch this show simply for the plot!
     
    I don't care if you're from America, Europe, or Aussie.
    Come join the herd to rhyme today, my fellow brony!
     
    Last year, this holiday I mostly stayed out.
    Once tomorrow's over, I'll admit my rhymes, brain, and sillyness made out.
     
    No way this brony will pout.
    I won't be hit like an Arizona drought.
     
    Zecora, my z, 'tis no challenge for me.
    There's a reason ponies call me Mr. Dairy Queen!
     
    ———
     
    Link #2:
     
    Today, we all talk like big Z.
    And it all starts with Call of the Cutie.
    Lookin' for your cutie mark today, eh, Apple B?
    But don't worry. you're supported by two other fillies.
    First comes out Rarity's sister, Sweetie.
    Next we all see hyper Scooty.
    Together, you'll become the CMCs.
    Laughing last at Spoony and Diamond T.
     
    Next, Rogers writes Fall Weather Friends.
    But AJ and Dashie don't lend Twilight a hand.
    Egos so big, will winter's snow billow.
    They have more lead than AJ's pillow.
    "It's okay," Twily says, "I'll always love you."
    "But never face the wrath of forty-two."
     
    ———
     
    Link #3:
     
    On September 4th, it's Talk Like Zecora Day.
    But it's also our first compilation of cosplays.
     
    About time, too. Brony cosplays here got little Internet recognition.
    Today, they get rewarded for their amazing dedication.
     
    There's so much attention to detail, from the texture of the fabric to the feathers in Celly's wing.
    I hope they all pursue a career; these 'plays gives their talent an excellent spring.
     
    1. Dash's cosplay featured looks absolutely stunning.
    Watch out, bronies, because she has a pose that's, oh, so cunning.
     
    13 & 15. From her crown to her beautiful hair to the texture in her midnight blue clothing.
    Princess Luna marvels creatives with wisdom, strength, and authority.
     
    28. Don't look now, everypony! Rarity has prepared herself a trap!
    She's going to Baltimore to fight some nice, giant crabs!
     
    ———
     
    Hey, hey, everypony!
    From the halls of Canterlot's Restricted Library.
    The true story why Celestia turned Twilight into an alicorn.
    But it's not because Twilight was to be reborn.
    It's another transformer.
    Celestia's new alicorn was supposed to be Shining Armor!
    Want me to cut to the chase?
    Okay! Vinyl, drop the bass!
     
    You see, Celly always liked SA.
    From his beautiful haircut to how he eats his hay.
    Bold, determined, and strong.
    She even loved his burnt corndogs.
     
    He was with the Royal Guard for several years.
    She was close to bringing him here.
    Where, your voice said, feeling hoarse?
    Why, in the Royal Court, of course.
     
    But when they talked, Celly realized Shining can't be an alicorn at all.
    The problem? He was two sizes too small.
    Of course, she never admitted that. 'Twas too crass.
    But she always admired his cute little ass.
    Will SA be an alicorn someday?
    Hmph! Maybe if eats hay with lesser steroids.
     
    Alas, Shining the Alicorn wasn't meant to be.
    Thereby finalized via her Royal Decree.
    So, she called for a backup plan.
    His sister was to be an alicorn in a twenty-year span.
    Celly knew Twilight was going to bumble.
    But she hoped she wasn't going to be like Sunset and disgruntle.
    Eight months ago, her wish came true.
    Now Twily is royalty, too.
    Now, Twily, Luna, Celly, and Cadance are one big family.
    "My most faithful student, now you're ready."
     
    ———
     
    Two rhymes responding to Link #4:
     
    Best pony?
    Are you serious, Sethy?
    I can tell that you're kidding.
    Everypony is better than Trixie.
     
    Trixie, you fight so bad, you're immediately owned.
    You do magic trix, and everypony groaned.
    You turn Spike into a defenseless little pup.
    The best trick you ever did was an early Winter Wrap-Up!
     
    After today, this brony will lay down the rap.
    Kurt Angle and I have have one thing in common: We'll make you tap!
     
    -
     
    Hello again, my friend, Sethy.
    It is I, the self-proclaimed Mr. D-Key.
    My, my, my, your OP started a pretty big commotion.
    Once I layeth the smackdown on you, Trix, I'll get a prrromotion!
     
    Trixie is best pony? HA! Don't dare make me laugh!
    You're an even bigger background pony than Applejack!
    You scared Ponyville so badly, you stole away its color.
    But witty Twily beat you so much without even lifting a finger.
    Yet, she didn't do it without help. Everypony teamed up together…
    To save Ponyville from your reign of terror.
     
    Before Magic Duel, you were a really big loser.
    Princess Celestia doesn't DARE want you as Ponyville's newest ruler.
    Your rep was so bad, Celly didn't invite you to the Gala ball.
    Luna beat S3&K twenty moons straight. You're still stuck on the barrel!
    Are you kidding me? You're considering putting your magic show in the bin?!
    In the offseason, Scootaloo dedicated her love for you by buying a Trixie rubber chicken!
    Where is it? Why, in the CMC clubhouse.
    Apple Bloom is currently there trying out cutie mark hoedowns.
     
    Admit it, Trixie, you were never Great and Powerful.
    You were always Sorry and Pitiful.
    Then, now, and till the end of time, you will NEVER be best pony.
    That title forever belongs to Derpy!
    With that, I conclude My Little Show.
    And that's the bottom line, 'cause DQ said so!
  10. Dark Qiviut
    Hello, everypony!
    DQ here to start this day early!
     
    Don't dare attempt to give me the orange!
    Breaking the code would be such a cinch!
     
    Go out there and untie that conservative knot.
    We all watch this show simply for the plot!
     
    I don't care if you're from America, Europe, or Aussie.
    Come join the herd to rhyme today, my fellow brony!
     
    Last year, this holiday I mostly stayed out.
    Once tomorrow's over, I'll admit my rhymes, brain, and sillyness made out.
     
    No way this brony will pout.
    I won't be hit like an Arizona drought.
     
    Zecora, my z, 'tis no challenge for me.
    There's a reason ponies call me Mr. Dairy Queen!
  11. Dark Qiviut
    A feature that will be published in the future (not in Beta 2) will be the Pony.FM "Hall of Fame," a showcase of the most high-quality music in this fandom, from people who are well-known to the unknowns. It's based off the panel system from OverClocked Remix, which uses a selections of judges who receive a song for review. Those songs that qualify are elected to the Hall of Fame, but those that don't don't get voted in.
     
    While the intent for good quality is there, this is an idea that can literally open up Pandora's Box and cause people not to join.
     
    How?
    You can really inflate egos for people whose songs do get elected in the Hall of Fame. While having a song get elected into a Hall of Fame can be an honor, there's also a huge adverse effect that it can make the musician too overconfident. What if the musician decides to, instead of producing great music and songs, stagnates instead?
    You run the risk of stagnating creativity altogether. One of the most important elements in this fandom is, no matter who you are, where you come from, and what you do, you can always produce high-quality art. Anyone and everyone gets a fair chance to produce high-quality art. It may not make Equestria Daily's top art (but who knows? It might if cleaned up), but producing the art itself is still something to be proud of.
     
    This is a big risk Pony.FM's Hall of Fame has conceptually. Equestria Daily and EverFree Radio get a lot of content, both great and bad, but neither have a full list of song and then, by panels, imply that the songs who don't make the Hall of Fame are worthless to listen by showing off a Hall of Fame alongside. (EQD has Spotlight music, which makes the front page, followed by the Music of the Day, which is a selected honor. Those that don't make it altogether make neither and aren't published on the blog.) EQD and EFR only show content that make it and, contrary to what some think, factually show good quality control.
     
    Pony.FM will show songs that do and don't make it. With the Hall of Fame and non-HoF publicized, you may send a message to those who don't have a song in the Hall that he or she want to do better. Adversely, you risk discouraging those upcoming musicians from publishing more (or any) content out of fear of constant failure.
     
    To quote what I wrote in my Pro-Brony essay, Bronies and the Explosion of Great Art, "failing is one of our greatest fears." With the other music published, the Hall of Fame implies that their songs don't deserve to make it and, God forbid, their talent doesn't belong in this fandom. If this consequence happens, it hampers the reputation of Pony.FM as for the elite only.
     
    Any brony can make great music, lyrics, and song lyrics, but the Hall of Fame is not the way to go, especially if the other music will be publicized with it, for this reason alone. When you have the HoF and non-HoF music published publicly, that's bad quality control.
    Sometimes a poor song will make it, and sometimes an objectively good song won't. It's a system that has a tendency to work, but will risk slipping, sometimes rather badly.
     
    And I say this as someone with experience. I participated in a Senior Project class in Fall 2011. At the end of the year, there was plenty of great work, but also a lot of mediocre and crappy executions. However, and this is by talking to people who worked during the Senior Project then and now personally, often the professors review the process on a bias and choose which ideas they like most instead of the ones that work best. With permission, I review their sketchbooks and found concepts (hand-drawn and computerized) that objectively work far better than the ideas the professors sought.
     
    (For my Senior Project, I actually went against my professor's advice, chose a concept drawing he passed over, and ran with it because I saw something in it and thought it would work. I don't regret my decision, and it's one of my proudest projects [and not just because it's one of four Senior Projects to receive an A grade */patting my ego*].)
     
    I guarantee you, at some point, the judges can and WILL review the music under a bias, including those who claim to be objective and truly aren't. I worry that it'll spill over very badly, especially when — more likely if — bigger brony musicians join and the biases some people have for or against them.

    My suggestions:
    If you're going to continue with the Hall of Fame, figure out a way to treat songs that do make the Hall of Fame and songs that don't with as much equal respect as possible. The Hall of Fame isn't like the professional sports Halls of Fame (which, unfortunately, is tampered by half-witted professional voters who let their tempers get in the way). You've got bronies here (most of whom are amateurs [a.k.a., don't get paid for their music]) who desire to work on music and do their darnedest to perform at their best.
     
    Don't disrespect the musician fanbase and overall concepts of talent and creativity by casting an annoying beacon over the Hall of Fame and imply that the songs that don't aren't worth our time. You'll only make people NOT use Pony.FM at all and discourage upcoming musicians from ever using the site.
    Only forecast the high-quality music. Any song that doesn't qualify doesn't get published. But Pony.FM, however, is about being the hub of all brony music, not "the hub of great brony music and the hell with the rest." So this is scrapped.
    Can the Hall of Fame concept altogether. The HoF runs the risk of opening Pandora's Box with the system it has and how new Pony.FM is. Choose the wrong people, and you can really kill the idea and overall reputation of the entire Website. Canceling the Hall of Fame's a safer route, but with the Hall of Fame risking people three options,
     
    a. "Pony.FM desires high-quality talent. Maybe I could meet their demands."
     
    b. "Pony.FM is full of snobby judges and are full of show-offs. Screw them! I'll go elsewhere!"
     
    c. "I keep trying, but can never make it. Maybe music is not the way to go."
     
    If I were a Webmaster, the concept wouldn't even enter the table. It's the latter paraphrasing sentence that I, who loves creativity (upcoming, popular, good, bad) and the idea that talent can grow if given the confidence and practice, worry most.
     
    In what way?
     
    Compare the Hall of Fame concept to MLP:FIM's Magical Mystery Cure. If Magical Mystery Cure and the Twilicorn execution were going to be good, it had to be done right and perfectly. If not perfect, then it will be dissected. Magical Mystery Cure wasn't don't right and is a topic that people in the fandom fervently debate over.
     
    The Hall of Fame applies here. If it's going to work, it must be done perfectly. It must treat the good songs with equal respect as the other songs who don't make it. Shine the beacon on the Hall of Fame by as much as a percent, then Pony.FM could risk losing a big userbase. The last thing Pony.FM needs is to have a concept and execution of such be equivalent to the crappy work from Magical Mystery Cure.
     
    Pony.FM is not like OverClocked Remix, and OverClocked Remix is not like Pony.FM. For one, OCR has been a staple in the music community for over a decade and has a good reputation. OCR can get away with the panel system, and people know the panel system's judgment can be trusted most of the time.
     
    It's not the case with Pony.FM, which is a completely brand new system who's trying to break through into the brony music community. The "Hall of Fame," just by the way is planned currently, is telling people that they're putting everything from Pony.FM on the line with a make-or-break system that people may not fully trust. If done right, you'll have a memorable brony music Website. However, if the Hall of Fame screws up, you may have people pass over or abandon the system for competitors (i.e., EQDMusic) that are more user-friendly and embracing for budding brony music stars.
    As a softer alternative, create Pony.FM groups/communities. This is a practice similar to what you see on FIMFiction.net and Fanfiction.net.
     
    FIMFiction Groups are gatherings where people talk, recommend, and share various fanfic, whether it's their own or others.
     
    FFnet Communities (known as C2s when they first appeared in 2004) operate nearly identically, but in much more simpler system.
     
    Pony.FM's communities can operate the same way, with various people operating and uploading songs that they either like or know is of high quality is congregate them under one umbrella.
     
    In a FFnet community, there is one person who operates it all. Staff is invited by the community administrator, and the invited staff accepts (or declines) the invitation. Admin and staff can upload the songs into one community. To go to a community, click on "Community" in the navigation with a constant list for communities, the communities' missions, how many people are on the staff, how many people subscribe to the communities, and how many songs are uploaded into the communities. A user can be staff for many communities, but they can only operate one of their own.
     
    FIMFiction groups are a bit broader. While they run similar to a FFnet community, they also have profile pages where people can join and converse. They also operate tiny subforums and have folders to organize fanfiction (their own or others).
     
    The reason I feel this works best is you have the ability to promote good quality music, but you also show songs who aren't in the communities respect. Communities aren't stuck with one central goal for an entire Website. You'll have a variety of communities for users to choose and follow. What song may not make one community can make it in another depending on a community's mission, purpose, and taste.
     
    Pony.FM groups/communities must follow the global rules and privacy policy of Poniverse with one extra applied to this one only.
     
    Groups/Communities are only there to promote songs. If a community abuses the privilege and puts songs they hate, find bad, and/or want to mock into a community:
     
    a. The community gets cancelled.
     
    b. The people working under the community (administrator and staff) are disciplined, from account suspensions to temporarily or permanently losing their ability to create — or be a staff on — a community to being banned from Pony.FM outright.

    Pony.FM is a site where music in the brony community can be congregated into one unique, whole hub. Search for the song, you'll find it. There's a variety for songs, both good and bad. However, the Hall of Fame is a big gamble and may open up a can of worms that may harm Pony.FM's reputation, especially if it doesn't do everything right. That's why I propose alternatives instead of the Hall of Fame. The community concept — my most favorite — is not as bold as the Hall of Fame, but it offers both a compromise and reward for musicians famous, upcoming, and budding alike.
  12. Dark Qiviut
    The new writers will give season four some new blood. However, I don't know their work and haven't researched them, so I have no real opinion of them.
     
    As for the writers coming back:
    Meghan McCarthy: She has a very well-done, extensive résumé in the form of several popular episodes like Dragonshy, Party of One (my favorite season one episode for being so well-written and well-characterized), Lesson Zero, Sweet & Elite, A Canterlot Wedding, and so on. She's done well as a writer, but has a spotty record keeping the team from collectively rushing out many of season three's scripts. (One Bad Apple, Spike at Your Service, Keep Calm and Flutter On, Games Ponies Play, and Magical Mystery Cure had either moments where the script was poorly paced or had the pace crammed from beginning to end. The Crystal Empire, Part 2's pace crawled, and Equestria Girls was a rushed mess.) With a bigger budget, only time will tell if McCathy can hone her editing skills and perform better.
    Dave Polsky: The episodes he's written have been decent to questionable at best despite being able to write the characters well and blend in some of his unique sense of humor into the characters organically. Feeling Pinkie Keen, despite being a fine episode for the most part, had a very questionably written friendship report that left way too many people scratching their heads. Over a Barrel took a very sensitive concept (a parody of the Natives and settlers) and blew it.
     
    Too Many Pinkie Pies's and Keep Calm and Flutter On's characterizations excelled. (TMPP explored Pinkie's determination to make things right and show how she's not a bumbling, random airhead. If given another twenty minutes, KCaFO would've been more memorable for the right reasons and not for Discord's redemption being crammed and poorly paced.) Games Ponies Play is arguably the worst episode last season and among the worst in the entire series. (I'd argue it's worst than The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, but you can toss a coin on that one.) We'll see what he can do in season four.
    Amy Keating Rogers: It was speculated she was going to come back, and now it's confirmed! *yay* With Larson not among the list of writers, she's the best one so far. Some of her episodes are extremely memorable. (The Best Night Ever, The Last Roundup, Fall Weather Friends, and Applebuck Season are highly popular, and The Smile Song is one of the best songs in the entire series due to its simplicity and memorability.) MMMystery on the Friendship Express and A Dog and Pony Show were both full of blah (the former for making the characters unnecessarily out of character to move the plot, the latter for making the Diamond Dogs so stupid in order to make Rarity the better and more intelligent character), but when she writes well, it's glorious. Good to see her back and hope she can keep it consistent.
    Corey Powell: Despite writing Spike extremely out of character in Just for Sidekicks, she has the talent to write well. Pace was a common problem area in seson three; neither of her episodes had that, and JfS was loaded with content. But her debut episode, Sleepless in Ponyville, was a joy to watch. Great humor. Great storytelling. Excellent characterization. (Rarity was written very well, teasing Sweetie Belle by treating her as both her little sister and equal sister. Luna being a confident dreamwalker showed how much she grew since Luna Eclipsed, all the while without crossing moral boundaries. Rainbow Dash was at her best since Hurricane Fluttershy.) She can write some excellent episodes, and I can't wait to see her talent grow.
    Charlotte Fullerton: AKR was one of the writers absent for season three. Fullerton was the other. She worked a very minute load in season two, being credited for three episodes (May the Best Pet Win!, which wasn't very good; Baby Cakes, which is actually quite good; and the story idea for Putting Your Hoof Down, which Williams wrote her second-best in). However, two of her episodes is completely memorable: Look Before You Sleep for the wonderful way Applejack and Rarity settled as foils (and developing their characterizations in the process) and Suited for Success for the well-written plot, climax, characters, and Art of the Dress. Good to see her back and hope she can perform.
    Merriweather Williams: The most controversial writer currently in the lineup due to her horrible start in the form of The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, an episode so awful that it nearly ruined Rainbow Dash's reputation. Her next episodes, Hearth's Warming Eve and Putting Your Hoof Down, did a great job from a storytelling perspective, but still kept that stigma of writing characters as unlikeable bastards in order to make the story work. (Dragon Quest, one of my favorites, also did it, but with even less success with a questionable ending. The mantra, "Actions by a specific few don't always mean they're the actions of the whole," applies here, spoiling the moral and inadvertently undermining Spike's character development.)
     
    Surprisingly, season three used less cynicism. Wonderbolts Academy was the best Dash-centered episode since Sonic Rainboom, but Spike at Your Service stunk due to Spike being contradictorily incompetent (among other reasons). That said, she's a good writer who has since been able to hone her skills and perform better. I wonder what she'll do next.

    As for the new writers, welcome aboard the brony train! You have the résumés and talent. You showed it in your other work. Now prove it in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Good luck to all of you!
     
    Yeah, it's a shame M. A. Larson and Cindy Morrow aren't going to write episodes for the upcoming season (their recent tweets confirmed it), but there's a good team who can churn out good episodes if given the right concept, budget, guidance, understanding, and leeway to do it. Good luck, Larson and Morrow, and we'll (hopefully) see you in season five.
     
    ———
     
     
    Source: List of writers for Season 4
  13. Dark Qiviut
    This is a mistake something so many people (myself including) make, and it's something needed to clear up.
    My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has two market audiences: little girls for the toys, families for the animation. A market audience is an audience to attract to, and Hasbro wants to attract families and children to Friendship Is Magic.
     
    Little girls are not Friendship Is Magic's target audience. Kids are never a target audience.
     
    Why?
     
    How will they get the money to buy the product or get the "okay" to watch the animations when it's the guardians who are responsible for safekeeping the money and deciding where the money goes?
    If you are a guardian for a child, raise your hand.
     
    The kids' guardians are the target audience for Friendship Is Magic. In other words, the kids' parents, babysitters, older siblings who can live on their own and afford an income, nannies, or any other guardian you can think of. They are the ones who will review the product to see if it's appropriate for the kids to buy. If they decide it is, they'll buy the product, record the animation, and hope their kids like it enough to follow.
     
    If you're a guardian to a kid, then you're FIM's true target audience.
    Equestria Girls's target audience is the same as Friendship Is Magic, but its market audience is adolescent girls/tweens. People ages ten to fourteen are who Hasbro wants to attract. It's a different age range compared to the main series.

    Market audience = attracts. Target audience = sells. Often, they intertwine, but they're not the same.
  14. Dark Qiviut
    This person in the small image above is the late Johnny Vander Meer, a pitcher during the 1930s, '40s, and '50s.
     
    Seventy-five years ago this week, Vander Meer did something no other pitcher did before and since.
     
    As a member of the Cincinnati Reds, he pitched no-hitters in back-to-back starts.
     
    His first no-hitter came at home in the old Crosley Field, he no-hit the Boston Bees (who later became the Boston Braves). Four days later, on the road in Ebbets Field, he no-hit the Brooklyn Dodgers.
     
     
     
     
    It is considered to be one of the unbreakable records because it's so difficult to throw one no-hitter. Throwing two is hard, two in one season especially (Roy Halladay threw two no-nos in 2010 [the first one a perfect game, the second the second postseason no-hitter ever and first since Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series]). Vander Meer threw consecutive no-hitters, and only pitcher came closest: In 1988, former Toronto Blue Jay pitcher Dave Stieb was one out away from throwing back-to-back no-hitters, only to have both broken up.
  15. Dark Qiviut
    This trailer is mixed.
    The beginning shows something that looked interesting and good. The chase scene with Twilight and Sunset Shimmer is very intriguing and action-packed, yet suspenseful.
    The moments Twilight behaves in the alternate dimension (running on all fours) is funny and shows how she hadn't adopted to the dimension.
    On the other hand, so much information is crammed in, particularly after Twilight and that son of a bitch, Spike, land in the dimension. We know that the only way to "genuinely" retrieve her crown will be to be the "princess" of the Fall Formal (a.k.a., a "prom"). That's a very key point in the plot, and the dresses offer a key clue how she may get it. Like what I wrote before, if you really want to wet people's whistles, be simple, graphic, and to the point, like for Sonic Unleashed. Too much information makes the movie overwhelming and shows less respect for EQG (and the main series itself) as a whole.
    The animation of the humans sucks. The walk cycle looks stilted, the squash-and-stretch effect to make the animation nice and fluid is absent, and the lip movement is stiff. In FIM, the ponies move organically and look like something from a handdrawn Disney movie. Here, you can easily tell that DHX used Flash, but used it in such a way as if to cut corners instead of treating it as a respectable animation program/enhancer.

    This trailer is a mildly better one, because some parts are funny and demonstrate a better ability to attain interest. However, it still crams in too much info, especially in the second half. It's even more unfortunate that this wasn't the first trailer, because the first trailer was an info-dump that spilled so many key points, while this one shows a tad more, yet still tells me to have faith in it instead of showing me they have faith (although not to such an extent as the first trailer).
     
    ———
     
     
    Source: New Equestria Girls Trailer
  17. Dark Qiviut
    Each of my reviews for a banner will be located here in chronological order, starting with my earliest review to the latest review. If you want to read them, click on the links with their respective titles.
    ~Cider Barrel~'s "Napping Applejack"
    Gone ϟ Airbourne's "Party of Chaos"
    Akoura's "Bright Derpy Bubbles"
    ~Lawful Jordo~'s "Rainbow Crash"

  19. Dark Qiviut
    Normally, because it's a fan animation, I tend to be much more lenient in my comments. However, Zachary Rich helped produce this whole piece (along with 104 other people) with the intent to graduate from Savannah's College of Art and Design. This fan-made episode is out there to prove to everyone that he is ready to work in the professional field. Therefore, I'll review it as if it truly is a professionally published piece.
     
    ———
     
    This is a strong animated piece, with lots of action, characterization, and humor. Rich and crew took what is My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and created something that could fit within the realm of the canon while inserting of their own ideas. What are really strong is the following:
    Without question, the animation is the best part of Double Rainboom. One key component in animation is the fluidity of it, and it was extremely well-done. In some cases, it flowed a little better than some parts of the show and really pushed the boundaries of Adobe Flash, something DHX has been able to do.
    The characterization of Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash are, for the most part, IN character, especially given the current timeline, which is somewhere in season two. Twilight retains that adorkable edge while freaking out, getting annoyed at the right moments, and caring at the right time. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, retained that recklessness that she didn't dispel until Wonderbolts Academy. She likes to push herself to the edge, occasionally going too far, and used to fly very recklessly. In Read It and Weep, she flew so wildly, she crashed and broke her wing. Pinkie Pie's antics worked extremely well, retaining that cheery, bubbly confidence that everyone knows so well.
    The pop culture references are abundant, but don't intrude to the story. WeLoveFine, EQD, Toy Story, Harley Quinn, and so on blended right in the piece, and you have to really slow down in order to find it.
    The plot twist was shocking, but made a lot of sense. Whether you love it or hate it, NO one saw that crossover coming. But it was done in a way that works given the fantasy, folklore, and logic the canon provides. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic exploits their zany worldbuilding, but so does The Powerpuff Girls, and a lot of the crew worked on both projects. Lauren Faust, in part, worked as a storyboard artist in Powerpuff Girls, and the simplicity in PPG's characters and atmosphere are noticeable in FIM.
     
    At the same time, Rich and crew carefully researched various theories, especially the idea of exploring and ripping through an inter-dimensional, space-time continuum. There were bits and pieces foreshadowing the crossover, but there was one that, following the interview on Everfree Radio, gave it right away.Twilight's contraption when holding Rainbow Dash back. I remembered seeing it once before when the preview was uploaded on YouTube a few weeks ago, but didn't know where. Rich explained that it came from the Powerpuff Girls episode, Bubblevicious (one of the most popular PPG episodes, by the way), and it rang in my head wondering how I missed that! It was subtle, but very clever.

    [*]There's another part of the professional world of MLP:FIM that shines: the background score. It shines here, too. Andrew Stein (MandoPony) did a splendid job with the music, giving it his flavor, but simultaneously blending in the canon. It's fast when needed, somber when needed, and hilarious when needed. It added so much flavor to Double Rainboom.
    [*]The humor is top-notch and follows the zany roots of both The Powerpuff Girls and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The funniest part is easily Rarity's hairdo becoming Twilight's, scaring away Spike.
    [*]There were plenty of brony references, but almost all of them came during specific moments where it didn't intrude to the plot. The Scootachicken joke belonged, and it was hilarious. Derpy had more secondary screentime than seasons one and three combined, desperately trying to eat her muffin (but couldn't); and you can't help but feel for her. WeLoveFine and EQD were there, but were so subtle and so quick that you couldn't spot them immediately. Berry Punch's brony reference for her alcoholism is there, too, but almost unnoticeable because it was in the background.
    [*]The tones for all of the characters match. The Powerpuff Girls were perfect. Twilight Sparkle, voiced by Rina-chan, closely associated with Strong's voice; and the same is said for Pinkie Pie. The only one that was half-and-half is Rainbow Dash. But despite the different voice, the way it was conveyed (her tone) matched her headstrong reckless character that was prevalent during seasons one and two.
    [*]The crew did a spectacular job portraying the consequences of the double rainboom. It was forceful and damaging. Ponyville was in shambles, as if in the middle of a nuclear explosion. They wanted it to be graphic, and they got it.
    [*]The end credits are akin to one of a Pixar film. Instead of being an afterthought, it's part of the episode, which is a very clever touch.


    But there were also rather noticeable flaws.
    One brony reference was redundant: Snowflake's "YEAH!" Albeit funny, it ate up too much time on the clock.
    Some of the animation look like it was tweened too much. The biggest example is Fluttershy escorting the chickens before Rainbow Dash zoomed by — It was rather choppy.
    Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup's lines were way too simple to display much genuine character. The only moment where the character was displayed was Buttercup's aggression during the fight with the monster.
    The script was to the point, but it was actually too simple. While many of the lines were in character, some didn't have the depth necessary to make the characterization as convincing as it should, especially the Powerpuff Girls'. Better lines from them and more hilarious conversation between the PPGs and Dash (and maybe Professor Utonium, if you want to brainstorm) would provide such great chemistry.
    The explanation for the double rainboom was nonexistant. Where did it come from? It's evident through the script's effects that, if going fast enough to break through the speed of sound AND light, a double rainboom causes a rift in the continuum, landing the individual who's going through it into another dimension. But there was never any history or backstory behind it in the form of the actual script. It came off as extremely abrupt, and we still never got the full details behind them. In other words, given the current writing, it's a glaring plothole.
    Twilight's mere anger following Rainbow Dash's return didn't match. She was worried that Dash would kill herself, and then couldn't find her. She showed absolutely NO relief that Rainbow Dash is back in one piece, just frustration and anger, and it didn't fit her one bit. A combination of both (combined with disappointment) would've been much more in character.
    The deus ex machina, while fitting in the canon and Pinkie's "fourth wall breaking" was stupid! Despite the foreshadowing early in Double Rainboom, there was absolutely NO buildup for it, and it made no sense, even in the context of the letter.
    The letter to Celestia fit: Dash drank the potion without thinking ahead and resulted in some serious consequences. But the letter felt very incomplete and didn't have the right enough polish for it to make it very convincing. (The reference with Pinkie entering through the "FL" door was hilarious, though.)
    The episode is too short and didn't have the balance between Rainbow Dash's hilarious scurrying in Townsville and Twilight's method to get her back to Ponyville. It was exclusively Rainbow Dash's side of the story, and part of the plot suffered from it. Double Rainboom's plot would've been much better if the perspective was more omniscient here, focusing on both Rainbow Dash and Twilight. If the perspective was balanced, then Pinkie Pie's portal traveling wouldn't be such a rough deus ex machina, and Pinkie Pie's inclusion would've made more logical sense.

    In short, Double Rainboom had very great polish in its animation, and there was a lot of heart. There were minute, but very glaring issues in the executions of the PPG's characterization and concepts that bogged down Double Rainboom, so what could've been even greater wasn't. Nevertheless, for a long production, Rich and crew did a marvelous job laying down the groundwork needed for the fandom to come up with future material. He shows that he is ready to go out into the professional world of animation once he graduates, and I can't wait to see what other ideas he has in mind in the future. Very good work!
     
    ———
     
     
    Source: Double Rainboom
  20. Dark Qiviut
    This morning, I submitted my first unsolicited review for a published MLP Forums banner. This series is officially titled, "Banner Reviews" and are located in my main blog, "Dark Qiviut's Columns" under the "Banner Reviews" folder. Every week, I'll post a review for the new banner that is published by the administration and comment on its strengths, weaknesses, and suggestions to make it work better. The next one won't be published until the next one is uploaded by the technical administrators.
     
    To reiterate what I wrote in my Protocol, I'll only post reviews for each banner that gets posted from now till the future. Past banners won't be reviewed unless it falls under one of these two circumstances:
    If the administration decides to post an old banner.
    OR
    If the designer of the past banners ask me if I can review it.

    If it falls among the latter, then you, the designer, must ask me first. I will never ask you nor pressure you to have your banner reviewed. If you want it reviewed, I want your consent on your side first, and I want you to ask me, either via PM or Profile Feed.
     
    But if the banner is a draft/concept and hasn't been submitted for publishing, you're more than free to PM me with the draft so I can comment on it. However, I'll only review it privately, as publishing a review for a draft would be unfair to the designer. Reviews of drafts will never be reviewed under any circumstances on my behalf.
     
    Earlier today, I published my first banner review, which is Cider Barrel's Napping Applejack. You can find it here. Soon, I'll publish a portal showing the collection of reviews, starting from the first one and continuing onward. You'll see it soon after I submit my second or third Banner Review.
  21. Dark Qiviut
    The banner
    Uploaded Saturday, March 23, the administration approved and featured this banner. Designed by @@~Cider Barrel~, it features Applejack reclining and relaxing in Sweet Apple Acres. Mountains fade into the background, with the farm seen in both the middleground and background. A path leads to the farm, and trees on the right create nice shadows in contrast with the rest of the banner. On the left, Applejack naps on the side of the MLP Forums logo, relaxing the rest of the day away.
     
    Composition
    Nothing in the banner is directly in the center, and that shows to people like myself that Cider Barrel comprehends composition and used it to his advantage. The closest thing directly in the middle is a foothill in the middleground, but there's barely any detail, and it's leaning a bit to the right, so it still works without being bothersome. The right side doesn't have a lot of hills, with the only obvious building being the farm and some trees in the right-hand side. But there is a balance with the closeness of the hills and trees opposite it. Cider Barrel knew what he was doing when designing this banner, and he did an excellent job checking on the composition.
     
    Navigation treatment
    Applejack contains several oranges, normally: the orange for the front, a more muted orange for the shadowed legs, and a dark orange for her stroke. However, the orange here is a bit lighter when not clicked/inactive. When hovered, it's a gray-brown. When active, it's a rich brown. The brown stroke from Applejack's hat is used to wrap around the navigation and "View New Content" box.
     
    What is supposed to catch my eye is Applejack reclining the logo, but the navigation hexidecimal color is too bright. I'm actually seeing the navigation first before the rest of the banner. The banner is the center of attention; you're supposed to look at the main subject and then look down. On its own, the banner succeeds, but with the navigation being a bit brighter, this hierarchy gets lost.
     
    One great method to see if you have that hierarchy correct is by scaling things both big and small. To demonstrate this, on any of the pages, zoom out; the banner will shrink in size. Because of the brighter inactive color and inner glow of the buttons, the chroma is brighter, looking more like a tint and forcing my eyes to examine the navigation. It's fighting with the main subject of the banner.
     
    Legibility is not an issue here under any circumstances.
     
    Logo treatment
    Normally, I would frown on the stroke surrounding the logo, but here, it's one case where it really works. If it were plain orange, it would blend in too much in the green, and both colors would clash. The brown stroke separates the logo from the green hills, making it stand out. It toys with the logo, but also shows respect for it. There are no special effects that blind the viewer nor make it illegible. It feels like it belongs in the banner without adding extracurricular effects.
     
    However, despite showing massive respect for the logo, it's still incorrect proportionally. The "Forums" is too small: If stacked on top of each other, "Forums" would be completely under "MLP," when "Forums" should be wider and bigger.
     
    Other
    Depth is carefully treated. The foreground is exquisitely detailed in the trees, weeds, fence, flowers, and dirt path; but the background foothills disappear more and more as it moves further in the distance.
     
    Indications of shadows are evident by the way the trees on the right side of the path are highlighted and shadowed, but there isn't enough to truly feel like they really are in the viewers' eyes. The flowers and bushes are quite bright, slightly losing that sense of darkness.
     
    Ideas (for improvement)
    Use the correct scale of the MLP Forums logo, which is found in my review here. The proportions are there for a reason and should be used as such. Whether that is making "Forums" bigger or "MLP" smaller is up to you.
     
    And for anyone who wishes, a vector format of the logo can be found under my Google Site: EPS, SVG, and PDF.
    Applejack looks like she is on the ground, but to make it a bit more convincing, a small shadow can be placed under her. The same can be said for the apple in front of the logo, because it looks like it is floating without the shadow.
    For the navigation, instead of a dark border around the navigation, you can make it pop a bit by putting the light orange from the inactive buttons as the stroke. That way, the border can pop without being intrusive. For the inactive buttons, you could switch the brown hovering color with the orange. The brown color that can be seen when the cursor hovers over the button could become the color used for the inactive buttons, and the orange fill color for Applejack can be used to for those who hover their cursor above the letters. When doing this, then Applejack and the logo become the center of attention followed by the navigation, solidifying that visual hierarchy to the audience.
    To create that dark, shadowed, vignette effect, the foreground trees on the right could be darker with just a tiny bit of highlight. The background apples on the right can be shadowed into a deep crimson (or removed altogether). As for the bushes, they can also be darker, with some highlighting on the left of some bushes. One key component about creating anything is thinking about where the lighting will strike. Having the right side being almost completely dark forces the eye to look at the design from the left to the center, making it more dynamic.
    More of an idea to push the middleground further back. The green farm foothills in the middleground could lose some of its saturation by adding a very transparent off-white (with some blue) layer over it. The more washed out the color, the further away it looks, and the closer the foreground appears, amplifying the illusion of depth.

    Conclusion
    Designed by ~Cider Barrel~, he shows Applejack a lot of respect by having her reclining happily as part of the main subject of the banner. The logo is evident and enhances the brand of the MLP Forums. It's a well-composed piece and respects the core atmosphere of the show. With a little cleaning up, it can become an even grander banner.
  22. Dark Qiviut
    Last night, I posted a question about whether I should review the MLP Forums banners featured atop of the message board. Nine clicked on the poll, and three people legitimately answered why in the comments.
     
    That is more than enough to sway my decision: I will review each weekly banner.
     
    Compared to my other reviews (my most common being a list format for episodes and season overviews), this one will follow a different format. The review will be divided to standardized sections, whose purposes are to breaking down the banner's design and taking a look at it analytically while keeping the review organized, each of which will be in a bold type style. Keep in mind, some comments in one section will overlap with others.
     
    Also, the banners that will be reviewed are the ones from here on out. In other words, the Applejack banner up here and ones in the future. I will not review a past banner unsolicitedly unless:
    It gets featured again atop the board.
    (If not featured) The designer asks me privately if he or she wants me to review.

    Any public requests will be ignored. If the banner is a prototype, and if you want me to look at it, send me a PM, and I'll review it privately. These unsolicited reviews are only for published banners.
     
    As of this point (and may change before my first formal review), the review will be broken down like this:
    The banner
    Composition
    Navigation treatment
    Logo treatment
    Other
    Ideas (for improvement)
    Conclusion

    The banner
    This is an introduction to the review. It will break down the banner's story. What the banner is about and its purpose to my own eyes. If it's a tribute to an episode, I'll dictate so. I'll describe the background, setting, colors, characters, and logo placement. If one of these can't be described, like the setting (like some banners in the past), then I won't describe that at all. I'm breaking down the banner here.
     
    Composition
    Where I begin truly reviewing. I'll be dissecting the banner's composition and judge its organization, like focusing on the side instead of dead in the center, "the rule of thirds," and so on. Judgment of depth, placement, and balance will be here, too.
     
    Navigation treatment
    Every time the banner changes, so does the color of the navigation, unclicked, clicked, and hovered. The colors for the navigation are there to correlate with the main subject in the banner, sent to the administration in the form of the hexidecimal color code. They will be judged based on this criteria:
    Does the color match the banner?
    Is the navigation legible?
    Does the color accentuate the main subject in the banner, or does it fight with it?

    Logo treatment
    Each banner has the logo somewhere. I'm a logo designer, and I have a passion for them. The logo will be judged on this criteria:
    Does it fit in the composition?
    Is the logo legible?
    Is the logo being treated with respect? In other words, does the logo contain special effects (i.e., drop shadows, transparencies, halos, strokes) or not? (If there are special effects, unless it really makes sense and works in the design, expect me to be quite unhappy: Logos are there to tell people what this forum is, not to have it treated with unnecessary effects. Special effects make the logo appearance inconsistent and risks making the logo illegible. Companies like Apple, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and CNN have very strong brands, and consistency in the signature is one reason why.)
    Regardless of placement (horizontal or vertical), is the logo's proportionally identical regardless of scale? To see the true scale of the banner, check out my review for the logo here.

    If the logo is different than the default one, like seen in @@Vexx3's banner and @@Kyoshi's Vinyl one last week, the logo will be reviewed, too, and will be given the same criteria as the default one along with how effective it is on its own.
     
    Other
    Other comments and critiques of the banner, like the resolution, color, and little details that either make the banner pop out or make it not so tidy and professional.
     
    Ideas (for improvement)
    For the flaws featured in the banner, suggestions to improve it and make it better will be presented here. At times, there will be more than one suggestion. Keep in mind, these are suggestions. The designer is under no obligation to listen. Whenever you write a review (or anything, for that matter), you're engaging in a conversation, and suggestions are no exception.
     
    However, there may not need to be so much (or little) improvement. But I may pitch in an idea to make the banner more interesting.
     
    Conclusion
    My final thoughts on the quality of the banner.
     
    -
     
    Each banner will be reviewed based on its quality. There could be times where I really like the banner, but may be mediocre. However, there may be times where I loathe the banner, but may be really great. Taste and quality aren't interchangeable.
     
    If you can have any ideas yourself, comment below and detail why.
  23. Dark Qiviut
    On January 23, with singing from EileMonty and MEMJ0123, Jeff Burgess published the original brony song, Home. With EileMonty of Picture Perfect Pony fame voicing a younger Luna and MEMJ0123 doing the same for a more maturely voiced Celestia, the duet shares a yearning relationship with each other and describes their wish to be reunited.

    This slow rock song executes and explores their relationship so well beyond anything the canon has showed post-Friendship Is Magic, Part II. Via Burgess's lyrics, both Celestia and Luna show their sisterly love for each other and desire to do "whatever it takes" to reunite. Even after one thousand years of separation, the lyrics capture the inseparable bond they have had long before the Elements of Harmony's successors via sadness, wishful happiness, their equal desire to permanently reunite in spite of Nightmare Moon corrupting part of Luna's conscience, and hope.

    But the lyrics wouldn't have any impact without some amazing music. It's a slow rock, but the melody masterfully sets the mood and overall tone of the song. It starts off very slow with an eventual introduction to the guitar and later speeds up, but the music never beats so quickly to retain the realistic mood in character to the two Princesses.

    In Friendship Is Magic, Part 2, Celestia and Luna share their inseparable bond that shows the brony audience how much they care for each other. Since then, however, we barely see that; but Home reverses this course, shining this deep, rich relationship shown beyond the canon through powerful lyrics sung by EileMonty and MEMJ0123 and amazing background music to correlate the helpful mood. Burgess took six months to compose the piece, and his patience pays off here.
  24. Dark Qiviut
    Season three has come and gone with Magical Mystery Cure. Initially, I said the episode was good, but its major pacing problems was why it was really weak. I rewatched it twice, and it's unfortunate to say that this episode is not only easily the weakest finale, but also the fourth out of five clunkers since Apple Family Reunion (even though it's easily the best of the four bad episodes).
     
    Like I did with all of my other reviews, I'll display the strengths first.
     
    1. The songs are incredible. Throughout the series, we've heard some amazing songs, and each one has yet to fail. The score is magnificent with various instruments and tones to create certain moods. Through each song, the plot progressed from one moment to another, creating a flow from one scene to another.
     
    a. Life in Ponyville/Equestria (Reprise) dictates the happiness Ponyville tends to have as well as Twilight's close relationship she has with not only her friends, but the entire town, too.
     
    b. What My Cutie Mark Is Telling Me has a conflicting, yet funny beat and score that hints to the audience that the mishap is hilarious.
     
    c. I've Got to Find a Way, however, changes the tone completely. What was a hilarious sequence previously suddenly turns darker than previously thought. The music and lyrics are sad and powerful. I'll be writing a more in-depth review for this later on.
     
    d. A True, True Friend returns the episode to optimism and hope, and the progression in the instrumental score — to triumphant and upbeat — in the background signals this.
     
    e. Celestia's Ballad is easily the biggest shock for me, and it creates hope and passion for Twilight's more advanced work. A more in-depth analysis is coming up.
     
    f. Behold, Princess Twilight Sparkle has a royal flavor in it with the grandiose style of the music.
     
    2. Even though the cutie marks are switched, the characters are in-character. Fluttershy's attempt for laughter is forced. Rainbow Dash is lost in her ability to discipline the animals and cracked under pressure. Pinkie Pie's cheerful exposition is lost. Rarity tries to control the weather, but does it while keeping an eye on composition and pattern. Applejack is struggling to sew. Each character has a different cutie mark, and they're in a vicious dilemma.
     
    3. A small, but very pleasant surprise.
     
    4. The two songs, beginning with I've Got to Find a Way.
     
    a. It's only a minute long, but it's easily the best one in the entire episode (and maybe the whole season). It's an amazingly dark surprise to an accident that, indeed, caused so much heartache. When Twilight inadvertently caused the cutie-mark-switching spell, all that they've known for was reversed, and Ponyville descended into chaos far worse and more tragic than what Discord could dream of. Ponyville was in despair, and the sadness in the lyrics, atmosphere, and score enhance the quality of the song. It's in character of the canon, but also transcends into something more personal and sincere. It's the most realistic song in the episode, and it's so refreshing. Unfortunately, it's only a minute long. I hope Ingram uploads the longer version soon!
     
    b. Celestia's Ballad does one thing that the other episodes didn't do: character-study Celestia. I'm a big Celestia fan, but one of her biggest downsides is her lack of character expansion. This song really explored her as not just a mentor, but a character, too. Warm, sincere, and proud. It gives her tremendous depth, something not seen in some time. (That said, a [hopefully good] Celestia-centered episode someday, please!)
     
    5. The pop culture references. The musical-esque episode reminds me of some of the musical-centered classics from the past. But given the title, it reminds me somewhat of Yellow Submarine (a cel-animated movie featuring the Beatles). "A True, True Friend's" handling of the cutie-mark-switching reminded me of the Beatles' song "All You Need Is Love" within that movie It's a nice touch. The meeting with Celestia and Twilight had "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" all over it, too, but never stuck out as bothersome.
     
    6. The transformation to the Twilicorn (and "alicorn" is now cemented in the canon besides being an amulet! *yay*) is handled a hell of a lot better than I thought it would be. It's a reward for something one of the greatest magicians of all-time couldn't do, and she was able to get things right again. There needed to be a great reason behind the Twilicorn, and this makes some sense. I'll be writing more about this in a bit.
     
    But despite the many good things here, this episode is the best of the four bad episodes this season has (the other bad episodes being Games Ponies Play, Spike at Your Service, and Just for Sidekicks).
     
    1. The pace was way too fast. Keep Calm and Flutter On's lone issue in the entire episode was exactly this, but the pace was even faster here. Despite the slower songs, the pace itself did nothing except speed up abnormally from the very beginning to the end. Season three's finale had no time to calm down and physically slow down the pace. There were two episodes that desperately needed to be a two-parter. This is one of them. Each main point of the plot progressed unrealistically quickly.
     
    2. The songs are fantastic, but they made the story so condensed that the little details and "foreshadowing" got quickly lost. I've been to many Broadway musicals over the years, and the ones that tend to go bad are when characterization and plot progression are hidden or lost via a barrage of songs. (This is why Phantom of the Opera, Rain, and Chicago are bad musicals, and it's also one of the biggest reasons why the second act of the West Side Story revival sucked.) Good musicals offer a balance between character interaction and character/plot-driven songs, as they share a variation of pace and good characterization. Having a musical be almost entirely of songs makes the plot whiz by. For a twenty-minute episode, it makes the finale even more abnormally rushed. For a twenty-minute episode, at most three would've been best (Life in Ponyville, I've Got to Find a Way, and Life in Equestria are my choices). The seven songs are plain overkill.
     
    3. The foreshadowing got shoved in very inorganically. As a storywriter and analyst myself, one important point in foreshadowing is to hint it, but have it not stick out. Star Swirl the Bearded's book was shoved in extremely quickly (one moment, it was the chaos; then Spike asking; and finally a flashback), and the inclusion of the Elements of Harmony within the protected glass (a callback from Keep Calm and Flutter On) stuck out.
     
    4. The concept of the Twilicorn in the season finale. I said it before, and I'll say it again. This concept got shoved in by the marketing department of Hasbro as a means to sell toys to little girls (a very poor excuse at that; kids may eat some things up, but Hasbro has a pattern of taking kids' intellect for granted). This is an idea that had literally no momentum from The Crystal Empire, Part 2 onward. They were adventure/slice-of-life episodes, and then BAM! The concept drops in unannounced. This concept is factually stupid, and nothing will change that. I posted my anti-Twilicorn editorial several times already; but if you want to read it, head over here.
     
    5. The in-canon reason for the Twilicorn was strong, but its path was shoddy, leading to a so-so first impression. Because of the episode's significant rush, it made the progress feel very inorganic. There was only one way for the Twilicorn execution to be entirely sold: The plot must be so well-done that it masks Hasbro's meddling immediately. Unlike A Canterlot Wedding with Cadance and Shining Armor, this was something that has the danger of altering a very close dynamic, even though the final minutes don't dictate this. There had to be NO gray areas or mishaps. The in-canon reasons were okay at best, but the plot mishaps were aplenty. That's not how to successfully sell a first impression to your audience. Instead of solving questions, it opened up to more confusion, and it felt more like a poorly done series finale instead of a season finale. Exploring it in season four's premiere isn't good enough: First impressions carry more weight than subsequent appearances. Twilight Sparkle is her own brand identity, and altering it is an extremely risky task unless executed perfectly. Twilicorn's first impression is extremely faulty, and you don't want that at all.
     
    It would've been easily better if it were two parts to not only calm the pace down, but also spread out the songs to balance out the characterization and genuine interaction. A rough draft I have is as follows:
     
    Part 1:
    Prologue: Celestia and Luna discuss Star Swirl the Bearded's book, and they flip through to seeing an incomplete last page. Celestia told Luna that, if Twilight can complete it, she'll be rewarded to the next level of her studies. Luna asks her about what happens if Twilight writes the spell wrong, but Celestia reassures her that she'll be fine.
    Act 1: Twilight and the rest of the Mane Six discuss the adventures they had together and how much they grown since being conjoined by the Elements of Harmony. Following a quip about how happy Ponyville looks and is, "Life in Ponyville" commences (only without an interruption of Rarity accidentally dumping rainwater on top of her). When they're done, the Mane Six laugh. Suddenly, Spike burps, and a letter plus Star Swirl's book appear before her. Everyone oohs, especially Twilight, who was responsible for finishing the spell. Everyone wonders how to finish it, but one asks who Star Swirl the Beared is. Twilight Sparkle explains who he is and his legendary. Some of the spells (like the aging spell Trixie cast on Snips and Snails from their duel) came from him. He was one of her idols when she was a filly, and it was his greatness as to why she yearns to be the best magician alive today. If she could finish the spell, she evolves to a new level of her studies.
    Act 2: Twilight returns home and begins researching Star Swirled and reads his book of spells, starting from the small ones to the aging spell. Then she came across the incomplete spell again. Forgetting that the Elements of Harmony were behind her, she began to chant the spell, but nothing happened. So she changed it by completing it, not knowing that the Elements of Harmony altered in color (all but her). Next morning, she hums Life in Ponyville again, only to have water dumped on her. Rarity's cutie mark was Rainbow Dash's lightning bolt. Twilight asked what happened, but Rarity doesn't remember anything prior. Cue "What My Cutie Mark Is Telling Me."
    Act 3: Twilight panics and tries to convince her friends to remember what they did, but they couldn't. They didn't even remember what happened yesterday. Twilight races back home and looks at the book again and Star Swirl's past history again. Then she looked at the Elements of Harmony. All of the colors altered. And Twilight realized that what she did resulted in her friends' livelihoods being altered, and harmony quickly turned to despair. And she looked at the results. Carousel Boutique was being boarded. Sweet Apple Acres became desolate. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy felt hopeless. Rarity slunk into a corner crying for what she did. Twilight's mood saddened and felt even more hopeless. Cue "I've Got to Find a Way." End Part 1.

    Part 2:
    Prologue: Recap Part 1.
    Act 1: Twilight researches her books and kept looking at the spell she enacted. She tried to white it out and rewrite it, but each time she attempted, it got blocked. Frustrated, Twilight throws her book down hard on the ground, frustrated. For the first time since her discordance, she felt hopeless. A tear sheds, landing on the book. Celestia appears and consoles Twilight. They disappear into Canterlot, where Celestia brings her into a room where all of Twilight's memories and accomplishments are kept. An altered version of Celestia's Ballad commences, reminding Twilight of all the hardships and triumphs she underwent. She reassures Twilight that she can and will fix the spell and not quit. It's still not too late to make things right. Follow your dream and your heart and put it out in Ponyville. Twilight was inspired and realized that, if she can't rewrite the spell, she can fix it by reminding them of their true talents.
    Act 2: With the Elements of Harmony gathered, Twilight finds Fluttershy and tells her that only she can help Rainbow Dash and make things right again. So they visit the cottage, where the animals held a mutiny against her. Fluttershy was able to successfully communicate with them and, with help from her Element, got her true talent back. Commence "A True, True Friend." The Mane Six group-hugged and was very happy to see them back to themselves again. And here, she was able to think of a way to fix the spell. They looked at Star Swirl's book one final time and noticed a pattern of attempting to live a life and evolve further, but the spells felt negative and cold. Twilight was able to connect the idea of maybe evolving into something more important and greater. And the spell was a method to conclude it. Instead of rewriting the spell from the paper, Twilight rewrote it from scratch, but changed the final lines. Suddenly, the Elements of Harmony charged, engulfing Twilight into a ball of light. When the light fades, everyone gasps.
    Act 3: Twilight wakes up and unfolds her wings, revealing to be an alicorn. Everyone was shocked, but excited. Twilight was surprised, but worried about how all this can happen. Celestia appears and explains Star Swirl's past about not being able to understand friendship. He was a powerful unicorn, but was always alone and worked on his spells solo. His legacy didn't begin until long after he passed away. He wanted to be great, but Twilight did something no one ever did: complete Star Swirl's magic of alicorn evolution, a concept that's never been thought of before. Furthermore, Twilight evolves into a Princess of Magic, surprising everyone. Twilight wondered how to do her duties, but Celestia reassured er that everything will be okay, and all of her questions will eventually be answered. Twilight reluctantly accepted it, but took a look at her wings with some doubt. Cue "Behold, Princess Twilight Sparkle" and her coronation. In her speech, she thanked all of her friends for helping her grow into the pony she is today. After a group hug, "Life in Equestria" commences. At the end, Twilight asks Celestia if everything will be fine, and Celestia happily winked, and Twilight smiled hopefully. End Part 2 (with Twilight NOT flying towards the screen).

    (This idea is only a draft. If I were to write a script or story for it, I'll definitely be refining the idea more so it genuinely flows and makes it plausible.)
     
    Magical Mystery Cure brought us an array of one really good idea and one horrid one. This episode is an extremely risky one because of all the dangers and paths they carry. M. A. Larson did what he could to execute the Twilicorn concept well into one twenty-minute episode, but it didn't successfully deliver as it should. Liking the episode is fine, but calling MMC good is hyperbole. This episode tried its hardest to get things right, but it ended in a strikeout (yet didn't whimper like a lamb like the previous three bad episodes this season).
     
    And this concludes season three's analyses. To copy-and-paste from my review for season three:
    Quote
    ———
     
     
    Source: S03:E13 - Magical Mystery Cure
  25. Dark Qiviut
    Compared to my previous reviews, I'll be posting a first impression of the season three finale first.
     
    —
     
    My first impression of the finale is somewhat mixed.
     
    To begin with, the Twilicorn concept was handled a hell of a lot better than I thought it would. Like I wrote in my editorial in the MLP Forums, the concept Hasbro dished out there was needlessly stupid because it had literally no momentum and had many complicated paths that could risk altering the dynamic of the Mane Six. M. A. Larson did what he could and mustered out a canonical idea that made the idea of Twilight evolving to an alicorn intricate and sensible.
     
    The songs were great and told the progress of the story. Each song expressed the characters' thoughts about the moments now and in the future. Particularly Twilight's sad song as her friends struggled. (The scenes of Sweet Apple acres and Carousel Boutique were rather dark.) The best songs were Celestia's Ballad and I've Got to Find a Way; they demonstrated the seriousness of Twilight's consequences and Twilight's reward for solving this problem.
     
    And a small, but happy moment: Derpy's back WITH her derpy eyes! She's spotted twice in the coronation aisle.
     
    But if there was one thing that really hurt the episode's overall quality, it was akin to Keep Calm and Flutter On: The pace was WAY too fast! Each moment leapt from one moment to another and had no time to calm down and relax. It started extremely fast and just increased in speed. Magical Mystery Cure is like a pot of water, except it boiled immediately and kept boiling faster and faster, hotter and hotter, and the water never evaporated. This finale would've been even better if it was a two-parter, as that transformation would've had more plot development and time to slow down the pace and foreshadow the moment even better. Here, her transformation had no in-canon momentum, not in this episode and not for the entire season following Crystal Empire, Part II. For a change this radical, you need to hint these moments more in order to build it up, and it didn't.
     
    The episode has its moments, but the extremely rushed pace made the episode (and execution of the horrid Twilicorn concept) not as good as it should've been. Overall, a decent finale, but very weakly executed.
     
    ———
     
     
    Source: S03:E13 - Magical Mystery Cure
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