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Dark Qiviut

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  1. Dark Qiviut
    With the 100th episode of FIM around the corner, there's speculation for what will come up next. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also somewhat reserved, because the episode will be nothing without a solid story and characterizations that make sense with how the background ponies act and look. Core brony fandom references are nothing new, but DHX's track record has been rather spotty.
     
    And lately, one of the reasons many people are looking for it (or not) is "because bronies will complain about their shattered headcanons."
     
    Three words: Cut — it — out! Bronies don't fucking care if the show deviates or breaks away from headcanon, whether it's their own or a collective. They only care if the show executes their story well. All they care is the following:
    Is the story solid and making sense?
    Do the characterizations the background ponies feature make sense with their already established visual, verbal, or active archetpyes? For example, Derpy's actions fit with her innocence, Vinyl's casual attitude, etc.
    Do the background ponies actually have a reason to be there, or are they there just to pander to older and younger demographics?
    Does the story not mock its fans and the fanon, longstanding or otherwise? The IDW comics have already done something similar: The mocking of brony critics throughout the Reflections Arc, including having Pinkie Pie (one of the most likeable characters) act as their vessel. Here, the main comics jumped the shark.

    There's only been one time people complained about broken headcanon, and they had a really good reason: Daring Don't. Do you know why plenty were up in arms? Because the actual plot made no sense. One common headcanon, Twilight Velvet being the author of the DD novels, was a really unique idea for two reasons:
    It kept the zany, adventurous worldbuilding of Daring Do alive without sending implications that would affect not only the worldbuilding of FIM altogether, but also not treat Celestia as an inept ruler.
    It would be a great, subtle callback to The Cutie Mark Chronicles. There, all six have some symbolic connection dating back before they ever met. Dash and Twilight are very loyal fans of the series. TV as the author would reinforce that cycle.

    I already lambasted over the "you're afraid of change" and "it's for kids" fallacies. It's time to cut this crap out, too.
  2. Dark Qiviut
    More than a month ago, I replied back in a topic with this comment:
    See the bolded part? It's been a trend that I've using lately and stuck with it. Rather than calling FIM a "little girls' show," I called it a "feminine" or pro-feminist show.
     
    The reason why is simple: Femininity and masculinity are gender-blind. Millions of girls worldwide openly display a combination of supposedly feminine and masculine qualities. For boys, the very same thing. Unfortunately, like "masculinity," "femininity" has also been used as a very label to publish very sexist products like Puppy in My Pocket, MLP G3, Barbie, and so on. This type of detrimental attitude attaches the gender stereotype by associating masculinity and femininity to one sex.
     
    Friendship Is Magic openly challenges the archetypical "feminine" ideal by applying to anyone who watches the show unbeknownst. All six display original feminine personality qualities, blending in archetypes and creating conflicts where all of us can relate to somehow. Shows like this and how their characters are handled send a message about how the two words shouldn't be used to create artificial social and gender constructs.
     
    FIM is one such product, but more needs to be done. The more family cartoons openly challenge the social constructs and reveal unique ways to be masculine and feminine without attaching a singular gender and excluding the others, the better.
  3. Dark Qiviut
    That was my introduction to the MLP Forums on March 1, 2012. Three years ago today. Ironically, the first ever Derpy Day.
     
    Needless to say, it's shocking how much time flies when you're having fun here. Back when I registered, I was still considered a newbie in both the fandom and the forums themselves. Prior, I wasn't that immerse in the fandom, but the Derpy controversy changed that. March 1, 2012 can all but be considered my permanent arrival in the core brony fandom. Rather than talking about and confining myself to just a couple of places, I decided to expand my horizons.
     
    Today, I think it's safe to say I'm one of the more prominent members on this site. I know, I don't post as much as many other members; to this day, I don't even have 1,000. But quantity of posts I couldn't care less. It's the quality. It's the ability to go into a thread and present an argument. To be meticulous and really get into the nitty-gritty. Of my place on the Forums, the feature that helped me locate my now strong voice is the blog. In the Garage, I often act silly, carefree, casual, and relaxed. But in my Columns, I display my ability to argue the best I can be. If you've followed my history, my voice and craft in my ability to analyze, critique, and review have become more refined over the years, and the multiple analyses and reviews on and off the forums helped guide me grow into that meticulous way of thinking. Yeah, I'm very opinionated, and I'm damn proud of it!
     
    But it's also not the forums without you. I've made plenty of friends with the members, donors, and staff; but I've also pissed off plenty of others. >) It's also the community here that helped me find my path after my aunt's cancer became terminal. I needed the shoulder to cry on after she died late last year, and the forums here did that.
     
    With that, thank you, and hope for another three years!
     
    Happy Derpy Day, bronies!
  4. Dark Qiviut
    Derpy's the essence of what the brony fandom is. Without it, Derpy would never have existed. Inspired by a simple animation error, she became the fandom's beloved mascot.
     
    There are two great videos that capture her beauty perfectly:
     
    Derpy Loves Her Lava Lamp:

     
    Derpy's Christmas:

     
    Also, Forest Rain's signature song: Great to Be Different.

     
    Happy Derpy Day, everypony! /)
  5. Dark Qiviut
    Author's Note: Credit goes to @@Batbrony, Wind Chaser, Tommy_Oliver, @@Dulset Tarn, @@Arctofire, Digibro, and @@Nuke87654 for this positive critique of Discord.
     

    It's no secret, The Return of Harmony was Friendship Is Magic's best two-parter until The Cutie Map aired. Each of the Mane Six shone. The comedy was very effective. Twilight was the central character, but didn't become intrusive nor feel like it was a Twilight episode. Meanwhile, her Discorded friends were hilarious and had merit for changing who they are. After twenty-six episodes, Twilight's exclusive letters to Celestia were given a magnificent payoff, reminding Twilight of what she learned while also treating Celestia respectfully. The only two real downsides were some issues with the pacing early and late and the anti-climax.
     
    But one more part helped make The Return of Harmony so spectacular. At that point, he's the one who stole the show.
     
    Discord.

     
    Inspired by Q from Star Trek (hell, John de Lancie was Q in TNG), this draconequus is the Equestrian version of a troll. Once he's free from his stone-cold cell, he causes massive havoc in Canterlot, Ponyville, and wherever else he desires. More specifically, he elaborated a very creative scheme to mentally and emotionally manipulate each of the Mane Six. He could've turned them all into Discorded characters on the spot; that's how powerful he is. But he prefers doing it in such a way that permanently destroys their confidence unto others and, even more importantly, themselves. That's why he was extremely active so early and then laid back as Twilight's hopes for a more harmonious Equestria slowly dwindled. Underneath all the hilarity, Discord was a really effective and scary bastard.
     
    Another aspect from Discord and The Return of Harmony that was used so effectively is the execution of his three-dimensional characterization. More specifically, how he approached himself morally.
     
    Season two's two-part premiere is a host of so many fascinating lines. You see many bronies converse about and reference them in comments and memes. "Good boy, Angel! Mama's so proud!" and "That…big…dumb…MEANIE!!" are two such classics remembered today. Yet, funny as they may be, they're not the best lines. The best comes from Discord in Act 2 of Part 1:
    The whole paragraph above is easily the best line of the two-parter. But the point of emphasis is when he called out Celestia for turning him into stone. What makes it important? Immediately, Discord reveals one thing no other villain in this show had then and since: integrity.
     
    Every other FIM villain would do whatever they could to achieve what they want, however they can. If it means capturing, maiming, and killing the Mane Six, they would.
    Nightmare Moon: Although never stated, it's heavily implied NMM captured Celestia and sealed her in the sun when the millennium-long spell was finally broken. When the Mane Six trotted into the Everfree Forest to find the Elements of Harmony, Nightmare Moon played some dangerous games, including starting a rock slide that could've killed at least four ponies.
    Queen Chrysalis set out her army of changelings to fight, cower, and feed on other ponies' love for the Canterlot Royalty however they can. During Return of Queen Chrysalis, she got very pushy and violent.
    King Sombra: Two words: pure evil. He would manipulate, enslave, and destroy anything in his path. This character had no morals whatsoever.
    Sunset Shimmer: Tried to kill Twilight and the HuMane Five in hopes of conquering Equestria.
    Ahuizotl: Capture and kill Daring Do.
    Mane-iac: Brainwash, maim, and/or destroy the Power Ponies.
    Tirek: Also pure evil. Will fight and kill anyone who stands in his way.
    Dazzlings: Their siren spirits came alive with plans to "finish" the Rainbooms.

    Discord doesn't embody any of their traits, especially the ability to kill or maim. "Chaos" and "disharmony" are the two best words that describe him during The Return of Harmony. But there's one more: freedom. The Elements of Harmony establish the ability to spread goodness in everyone. Conversely, when disharmony or evil stand in its way, the Elements become a weapon. This weapon is dictatorial and is forced upon this evil. Nightmare Moon's anger against the world vanished. Discord was reverted to stone and back again as a half-baked test for Fluttershy to reform him. When corrupted, the Bearer's memories of their past lives are switched. Sunset's personality was retconned, permanently damaging this weapon's reputation. Discord's capable of doing whatever he wanted. Why? Because that's who he was as a villain. He desires uncontrollable freedom to spread villainous mischief.
     
    Nevertheless, Discord complies to his own set of standards of how to approach his schemes. Unlike Celestia, Luna, and eventually the Mane Six, physical weapons enacted by priceless jewelry aren't his preference. Instead, it's the ability to play mind games and keep playing them even when he's not physically there. If he wanted to, he could deliver punches to the face. But not only does he not do it. He chooses not to. Discord doesn't throw down because that's not him. He's one such villain with no desire to injure or kill anyone.
     
    Ideal freedom is one key reason why he never bothered capturing any of his enemies. Again, he has the power and wherewithal to capture or kill anyone who stood in his way of Equestrian conquest. The Mane Six, Spike, the CMCs, Celestia, Luna, whoever. But he doesn't, because that's not him.
     
    Instead, he takes a very radical approach, even in family shows like this one. As everyone gets angry at him for stealing the Elements of Harmony, he spreads riddles and makes up several rules to hilariously befuddle and injure their spirits. When they were forcibly split up, the ReMane Five became very vulnerable. Although each of them learned their lessons of friendship, Twilight writes them and recites them, so she learns them collectively even though she doesn't get to truly experience them. The others didn't learn the lessons as extensively as her; Discord sensed it and took advantage of the opportunity. How? In the evillest way possible without crossing his moral boundaries: taunting them and psychological examining their biggest weaknesses. Applejack's lack of desire to listen to the harshest truths. Pinkie's love for laughter being turned against her with no way to escape. Rarity's lust for the priceless (projection of the too-good-to-be-true) diamond and keep it. Fluttershy's timidity and helplessness (only to be countertrolled ). Rainbow Dash's will to save Cloudesdale from (the illusion of) destruction, thus disqualifying herself and her other friends from the contest. While characters like Sombra and NMM lie in wait, Discord personally greets them and brags about how he'll manipulate you right in your face.
     
    When the others are Discorded, Twilight becomes the glue to keep their friendship intact. One criticism of Twilight here is how she's an idiot for not seeing the characters turn gray. There's a difference between being an idiot and unobservant/not caring. Here, Twilight was unobservant. Her main focus was meeting in the center of the labyrinth, where she assumed the EoH were there. When she found out she didn't, she focused on finding them and keeping her bickering friends in check. The way she worked about it was how despite being different, they were still her friends. She didn't give a damn if they turned gray or not. The fact they were there was all she cared.
     
    How can this be deduced? From this exchange in Part 2:
     
    This tells the viewer Twilight knew they were gray and realized how they changed. But because her friends were with her in essence, the Elements of Harmony would hopefully change everything. It was when she realized they couldn't care less about Discord did she lose her cool and consider their relationship worthless.
     
    Actually, this aspect of Discord's scheme is the cleverest. When he no longer needed to do the work himself, he let his Discorded pets take care of the job for him. He understood perfectly what their newfound attitudes were going to do to Twilight. Since she grew up the most, he needed to break her down more slowly and more deeply. The others were crushed much more easily because, once again, they were more vulnerable than her. How he approached this part of the plan took plenty of time, but because of Twilight's character, he didn't desire to rush it. Otherwise, his scheme could fail miserably. Put it simply, it was ingeniously executed.
     
    Another comment I get to see (and even I wondered about it) is why Celestia — and presumably Luna — bothered to put Discord in such a place where other people could see it. What Celestia did with Discord was rude at best and dangerous at worst. In her brief explanation, she basically described him as maniacal, dictatorial, and tyrannical. So it wouldn't make much sense for Celestia to put him there.
     
    Discord knew this. He all but bluntly told her and the rest of the Mane Six how stupid it was of her to display his makeshift jail in plain sight where one day he'd break free. Think of the entire exchange, particularly his tone. He was mocking Celestia and the Mane Six, but he was also really angry. Angry at Celestia for locking him up. Angry at Celestia for foiling his plans. Angry at Celestia for being such an idiot. He called her out for violating his own morale and putting others at risk. It's one thing to make such a stupid mistake and either ignore it or condone it like Rainbow Falls, Trade Ya!, or Bats!. It's another for a character to make a stupid mistake and be shamed for it. Celestia was shamed for it and deserved it. When he set out on his master plan to turn Equestria upside-down, he was proving to her, the Mane Six, and the rest of Equestria how much Celestia let—them—DOWN!
     
    Production-wise, why is it how Discord is able to be so evil yet never had to throw a punch?
     
    Think about season one in general, particularly its other rating: E/I. Educational/Informational is government-regulated; its purpose is to deliver high-quality television that teaches and expresses morals and lessons to children. Think about its goal: education. Everything the characters do has to have them learn something. One element in TV that's criticized a lot is senseless violence on TV, particularly fantasy violence that either lent no morals or violence that was condoned. Fall Weather Friends had a violent scene of Rainbow Dash and Applejack fighting as they crossed the finish line. It wasn't criticized because it was meant to deliver a lesson of how not to allow competition to affect their friendship. In The Return of Harmony, the violence expresses the exact same message: "maintaining friendship isn't always fun nor easy, but worth it at the end." The fight scenes between the CMCs and later Twilight, Pinkie, and Applejack were meant to be criticized and deliver how friends will sometimes fight, but true friendship will never dissipate.
     
    Originally, season one was twenty-eight episodes; The Return of Harmony was the season one finale before it got delayed to become the S2 premiere. In other words, The Return of Harmony had to comply with not only TV ratings like TV-Y, but E/I, too. If RoH had to comply, so did Discord. Like The Best Night Ever, the E/I rating forced Larson, Rob Renzetti, Faust, et al to write an episode unconventionally. Rather than crumbling underneath the pressure and delivering a cliché, they approach The Return of Harmony like AKR and crew with The Best Night Ever: take advantage of their restrictions. In turn, Discord became one of the cleverest and best villains in cartoon history.
     
    The Return of Harmony is one such episode that ages better and better over the last few years. Even though two well-known flaws are exposed, it's extremely timeless. Rather than relying on one scene, RoH is a fantastic character study of how much the Mane Six and Celestia learned the values of friendship. However, Discord is the central stealer in RoH. He was not just evil, but deliciously evil. He has the wit, humor, and especially integrity.
     
    His integrity is the basis of his character and approach to his evil. He knows right from wrong, plays by specific morals that he self-established, and refuses to deviate from them. He wasn't out there to capture or kill. He was there to have fun and make the Mane Six miserable. If they challenged to a fist battle, he'd decline because Discord is above pointless fighting. He's a master manipulator and uses a combination of his morals and mind games to beat you and gloat about it. Discord's vocal criticism of Celestia over turning him to stone and visual criticism of her poor decision-making weren't quick exposition dumps to progress the plot. Like Sweetie Belle blurting how the drama surrounding her ruined fifth birthday party in season four, Discord's line I emphasized earlier in this blog was the backbone of not only his villainy, but the episode's entire conflict, as well.
  6. Dark Qiviut
    Band Geeks is easily one of the best episodes of Spongebob. To many fans, it's the best of the show, and with great reason. There are a ton of fantastic jokes. Every character is in character. Squiward, who was written often as a karmic butt of jokes, had an entire episode dedicated to him wanting to triumph over his rival, Squilliam. Each character had a great role, from Plankton to Sandy to Patrick to Patrick. When it was doomed to fail, Squidward had every reason to feel hopeless, but did it anyway.
     
    But there's one more ingredient that puts Band Geeks over the top (this user disabled embedding, so you must watch it on YT).
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANk8xlsp1pQ
     
    Sometimes we tend to use "payoff" a little liberally, but this is exactly what a payoff should be. The tired work to try to get the band to work, Squidward's despair, and ultimate surprise over how everything went even better than he and every single Spongebob fan thought.
     
    Sometimes teams won't go the extra mile to create a memorable experience. Here, Spongebob's team at the time really dedicated themselves to creating a great episode and ending it as an amazing episode. And it's all thanks to such a bang that you'll remember it forever.
     
    Here's the full song, BTW:
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1ef20zbq5M
  8. Dark Qiviut
    It's the same old. Another blog from me bitching about Nickelodeon's Breadwinners, a show worse than Sanjay & Craig, Fanboy & Chum Chum, and current Spongebob.
     
    Last year, I went on a tirade about why that show is so terrible. The animation and characters are just terrible. The humor and stories are even worse, relying a lot on butts (including twerking) and stereotypes. It's honestly baffling that Breadwinners has any support and remains on the air.
     
    In my rant last year, I ranted about Love Loaf:
     
    But lately, I thought about Love Loaf, and it hit me. This episode is even creepier than I thought.
     
    SwaySway is in love with Jenny Quackles. He finds a love loaf that will make any duck fall in love with the first thing he or she sees. This gives SwaySway (who's a good guy) the idea he could force Jenny to eat a part of the loaf, marry her, and have ducklings.
     
    Yeah, there's a term for this. It's called rape. And it wasn't subtle, either. It was stated without actually stating the word.
     
    It can't get any creepier, right? Yeah, it can.
     
    From my plot summary:
    Jenny is in summer camp and isn't a camp counselor. She's just as much a kid as the other girls in the camp.
     
    Yeah, "kid." Jenny is an underage duck!!!
     
    SwaySway — an adult duck — is in love with a minor. With the love loaf in his hands, he hopes this underage duck eats the loaf so she falls in love with him. That way, he can marry her, molest her, and start a family with her as his wife and caregiver.
     
    Not only is this "episode" terrible on a technical level. It's morally SICK!!!! The entire plot being a molestation joke is disgusting enough. What makes this more repulsive is the fact that this joke is written for a show rated TV-Y7. Yeah, a cartoon that's supposed to be suitable for kids.
     
    Seriously, who would want to write something that's so DISRESPECTFUL to EVERY victim/survivor of rape and child molestation?! Y7 rating or not, you DON'T write these jokes. EVER! They're disgusting, and those writers should feel awful for coming up with something as demented as a humor-based plot based on this topic.
     
    Why the FUCK is this abomination of a show even on the air, anyway? Because Nickelodeon doesn't get kids, believes parents will let their kids watch whatever is plastered on the screen regardless of parental quality control, and doesn't give a crap about quality! That's why! I mean, Nick got away extremely gross closeups of Spongebob's face, a closeup of Spongebob's infected thumb in The Splinter, and a whole episode dedicated to driving Plankton to attempt suicide (using realistic approaches, I might add) as a joke. A whole show centered on disgusting fart jokes like Sanjay and Craig is gross enough, but at least the jokes are merely stupid.
     
    Breadwinners is a show based off "ducks" that embrace and say "Racist stereotypes, twerking, obnoxious protagonists, useless butt jokes, and child molestation jokes are a-okay for your kids!" Breadwinners doesn't deserve to exist, doesn't deserve the high ratings, doesn't deserve to be renewed for a second season, and should be pulled off the air and burned for good.
     
    Now, excuse me while I throw up…
  9. Dark Qiviut
    I posted a status ranting about it, so I'll say it again here.
     
    According to Wikipedia:
     
    One word I absolutely hate its guts is "manchild." I've hated it since I entered this fandom in 2011, and I've grown to hate it more and more. Although it doesn't have the stinging power of "autism" or "retard," it's no less bigoted. "Manchild" is inherently an ad hominem attack; instead of attacking the argument, you're attacking the person on a really deep level. The second you use "manchild," you're throwing an extremely sexist slur towards men.
     
    Just like any other slur (including the two already mentioned), "manchild" or any of its derivatives like "manchildren" is bigotry. Whether any of you like it or not, there's absolutely no excuse to use it under any circumstances, and you're deluding yourself if you think there is. You have absolutely no credibility in whatever you say anymore if you ever use it because you can't help but chip down to people on a personal level. Only bullies use "manchild." To use the slur makes you a bully.
     
    And if you don't use it personally, yet support or embrace opinions containing the slur? In my opinion, you don't look any better than the people who use it.
  10. Dark Qiviut
    Author's Note: As of Monday, January 26, Mr. Enter's YouTube account has been revived. With that, comments here are locked.
     

    As many of you already know, cartoon reviewer The Mysterious Mr. Enter had his account terminated last night courtesy of multiple copyright violations from Viacom (the main corporation responsible for managing companies like Nickelodeon). He had one review taken down two days ago, and then YouTube vacuumed up his account, hitting five total videos with copyright strikes consecutively.
     
    I posted my response on EQD's page detailing his account closure (with Silver Quill's and Dr. Wolf's videos informing others). My response is below, C&P's from EQD itself:
  12. Dark Qiviut
    After all the vitriol I gave to EQG and Rainbow Rocks, betcha didn't see this one coming?
     
    One of the most important overall concepts of Friendship Is Magic is subversion. Feminine concepts that were written to fit gender roles of men and women are reversed to empower the characters, which empowers the audience in return. Equestria Girls and Rainbow Rocks had absolutely none of that. Each fall for the same high school cliches and accomplish them really poorly.
     
    So after posting this, I began to think: What if Equestria Girls can be subverted? The world of Canterlot High is sterile as hell. Why not create an idea that critiques these systems? A fanfic that addresses these issues.
     
    At this point, these are the ideas:
    Flash Sentry Walking Cardboard won't appear. Less of this Gary Stu, the better.
    Change the entire backstory of Sunset Shimmer. In EQG, Celestia described Sunset as being "cruel and dishonest" while under her tutelage, and IDW showed her as selfish and antagonistic. Rainbow Rocks made her a completely different character; pen a new name, and you got someone different.
     
    When Twilight became Celestia's student, Celestia wanted to help Twilight grow. She's a teacher and desires to see Twilight mature into someone who could help rule in some capacity. Instead of being so focused on being a princess, why not have Sunset become so focused on her tudies and feels like she has to put so much weight on her shoulders, she eventually can't anymore. The stress took a toll, and she can't respond. By chance, she sees the mirror that would send her into a world where she doesn't have to feel the burden. As a result, she decides to drop out and run into the mirror, only to enter into a world she had no idea about. And worse, she learned how once she climbed through the portal, she couldn't return.
     
    Stranded, she began to adapt to her new environment. As a human, she was forced to start anew. Train how to walk on two feet, write, put on clothes, write, learn how she can't use magic, and learn the language without tagging ponyisms. Because there was nowhere for her to live, she was forced to steal and eat garbage to survive before she found a map that led her to a homeless shelter, where she was given new food and new set of clothes. There, a human version of Pinkie Pie volunteered working for the shelter and gave them comfort. The two would later become very good friends, and Pinkie eventually asked Sunset if she could stay at her house with her family permanently.
     
    This led to Sunset eventually applying for a scholarship at Pinkie's school, Canterlot High. There, she let her smarts finally come to fruition. She was able to learn and excel in her classes. With the intense pressure of Canterlot and homeless life behind her, she started to receive very high grades, passing the tests, and receive honors. However, she also disn't like about how structured her school was. Everything was locked into groups, never really talking to each other, and fitting into stereotypes, something she always found uncomfortable. Which is completely different from her stay in Equestria, where everything was hands-on unless directed.
    Canterlot High would be a critique on how structured the public school system is. You saw this critique in Testing Testing 1, 2, 3, but more confined into how individuals learned. Here, it's how sterile Canterlot High is. You saw how in Equestria Girls, everyone was in groups they felt most comfortable with. Sunset Shimmer was one of those people who could fit in any one of them and got along with them well. But she felt really uncomfortable over CHS's segmented society within the school, and no one ever dared to talk to anyone else. The only reason she never spoke out against it is because she always did well in school and felt it didn't affect her, only to be told by Twilight and the others that what she sees affect everyone, including herself.
    This concept would be antagonist-free. May of us love a good antagonist, but having an antagonist to spice up the plot would make it too cluttered and too forced. Not every story needs one, and it'd focus more on the slice of life aspect. Anything to do with adventure would be mostly for trekking.
    A scene where Equestria!Twilight and Sunset would develop their friendship and become close. To the point where Sunset looks up to Twilight as a mentor. A scene where both ride the city on bike.
     
    How do I envision it? Something like this (from Tale of the Brave):
     

     
    When Sunset asked Twilight if she's able to stay in this world, Twilight admitted that she's a prncess from another world, and her purpose was to bring her home. The portal is open, and it was going to close tonight. As Twilight bikes away, Sunset is left to think about it.
    Although Sunset Shimmer would love to go home, she also gained a close friendship with the HuMane Five. She gets hit with a dilemma when asked about wanting to go home. Human Equestria was just as much a home to her as Equestria in the other world. So with the portal temporarily open, she's left with a choice: to stay in the human world or return to Equestria?
    Only Pony!Twilight goes through the mirror, and only because she senses an urgent call from someone she can hear, but can't see. She goes alone with Spike to Canterlot and located the mirror. Celestia, Luna, and Cadance tell Twilight Sunset's story and her family's reaction to her disappearance. Twilight asked why neither of them tried to open it, but they said they couldn't. The mirror only opens once every three years and only remains open for one week, and they were advised never to go through at risk of possibly never returning. Twilight, however, believed there was a risk necessary to return Sunset home. She tells Celestia et al to inform the others that she'll be back soon. As a result, she and Spike travel through the mirror to the Human World, where Twilight becomes human and Spike becomes a talking dog. In fact, the portal is the statue by Canterlot High's entrance and only accessible to her.
    The Elements of Harmony are out of the equation. The last thing this concept needs is to forcibly change a personality.

    There's still plenty to be done, and I don't know if or when I'll ever work on it. If you have any ideas or want to comment on them specifically, let me know in the comments below.
  14. Dark Qiviut
    The 1920s and 1930s are among one the greatest eras of baseball. The New York Yankees had greats such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Bill Dickey (including Murderer's Row). The Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals were prepared to make runs for championships. The Cubs were still relevant. Walter Johnson slowly ended his career. The Hall of Fame opened in 1936 with five of the greatest of all-time elected.
     
    But one thing the 1920s and '30s have in common is how no player is able to tell any more personal stories of life in baseball. Today, they can only be told by family, people who went to the games, and historians. Former Go Go Sox manager Al Lopez died at 99 in 2005, the last ballplayer alive in the 1920s.
     
    But one from the 1930s is alive today: Hall-of-Famer Bobby Doerr.
     

     
    At nineteen years old, he first broke into the Majors with the Boston Red Sox and played there through his whole career, from 1937 to 1951, not playing in 1945 while on WWII duty. When his career ended, he was considered to be one of the greatest defensive and offensive second baseman of all-time; at a .980 fielding percentage, it was an all-time record until 1953 and was involved in the most double plays turned as second baseman (1,507) until 1963. He played no other position other than second base. Offensively, his 223 career home runs were third-most all-time by second basemen at the time, hit for the cycle, and had a .315 career home BA. In 1986, the Veterans Committee elected him to the Hall of Fame, and Boston retired his #1 jersey in 1988.
     
    Today, this Red Sox legend is the last player connecting Baseball's beginning of the Live Ball Era (the only living former player from the 1930s). At 96, he's the oldest living Hall of Famer and oldest former Red Sock.
  16. Dark Qiviut
    After a string of episodes that weren't really objectively terrible, yet not objectively amazing, either, Rarity steps into the spotlight in Rarity Takes Manehattan. While it was referenced in Cutie Mark Chronicles, One Bad Apple, and Apple Family Reunion, it was shown only in TCMC. This marks its first appearance since then, and the scenery is spotlit more. In the first Rarity-centric episode since Sweet & Elite (and first Rarity-centric appearances in the official media since the Rarity micro comic and Nightmare Rarity chapter — each only above-average at best), Polsky delivers.
     
    ———
     
    Strengths:
    Everyone (minus Spike) has a purpose in the story. While not everyone is brim with dialogue, they're not confined as background ponies. They belong and carry an important role in the story. It's especially the case after Rarity finds out Suri Polomare had plagiarized her dress line.
    Suri Polomare (voiced by Tabita St. Germain) is an excellent antagonist. While Rarity's generosity was pushed to the brink before in the form of Suited for Success and Green Isn't Your Color, this is the first time anyone takes advantage of it so maliciously. Suri is every artist's biggest nightmare: a lying, no-good, sleazy plagiarizer, and just about every one has had their work plagiarized before. It's no fun, and Rarity has every right to be pissed.
     
    Suri is written as a lying, manipulative bitch. An anti-Rarity.
     
    Unlike Rarity, whose so many facets create a great character that breaks the snobby fashionista cliché, Suri breaks it, too, by making her so evil. The Diamond Tiara of Rarity, but with extra dimension. (And way more dimension than the generic "character" called Sunset Shimmer.)
    Speaking of Suri, Coco Pommel, her protégé, is just as excellent a foil as Rarity. Unlike Rarity's vast experience, Coco is still grasping of talent and career: designing high-quality dresses within a quick schedule. Like Suri and Rarity, Coco wants to make it in Manehattan, but she's given very bad advice and is commanded all the time. Her will to grow and acknowledgement that Suri is not for her because of her vileness proves how genuinely likeable and well-developed she is, even in her youth. Cathy Weseluck did a fantastic job voice-acting her. I honestly hope she isn't a one-shot, because she has so much potential.
    As a New Yorker, Manehattan really respects the cultures of the city. New York City is a gigantic melting pot of so many cultures in and out of Manhattan. From the popular tourist attractions like Broadway to The Statue of Liberty to Grand Central.
     
    The bridge where the train scuttles past during "Generosity" is possibly one of the following ponifications:
     
    a. Park Avenue Viaduct (connecting both halves of Park Avenue — split by Grand Central).
     
    b. The Manhattan Valley Viaduct (located along 12th Avenue in Manhattanville, before going underground in City College) or northern West Side El (from Inwood’s Dyckman Street to Van Cortlandt Park).
     
    c. The old 3rd Avenue El (an old elevated subway line from the Financial District to Gun Hill in The Bronx. The Manhattan half was demolished in the 1950s (leaving the Lexington Avenue line a victim to an over crowdedness so severe today, the MTA revitalized the constantly delayed 2nd Avenue Subway project; the Bronx portion was closed and later torn down in the 1970s; it was replaced by the Bx55 Limited, which is now the Bx15 Limited).
     
    d. The Metro-North Railroad viaduct (along Park Avenue from 97th Street to the bridge in East Harlem before the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven lines split The Bronx’s Mott Haven).]
     
    The big bridge crossing from the mainland to Manehattan is likely a reference of the Brooklyn Bridge or Verrazano Narrows Bridge.
     
    (None of the pics/clips are mine.)
     
    While it's mostly fixated in Midtown/Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, and the Financial District, the multitude of cultures and classes make the city so grand, from Greenwich Village to Harlem to Flushing to Pelham Bay/Orchard Beach to Coney Island to Richmondtown to Corona to Riverdale and so on. If the team ever revisits Manehattan, I'd love to see them reference the other neighborhoods, especially from the outer boroughs and suburbs.
    Albeit referencing more of the upper-middle-class and upper class parts of Manehattan, it shows the respect and hustle of the city. As a New Yorker, I've seen a lot of people mumble and grumble over it, including the long waits for a cab.
    As a character, Rarity is significantly balanced. There are so many little facets that make her so endearing and complex. RTM takes full advantage of it, from teasing Spike to showing her generosity to the bell hopper, taxi driver, and fellow tourists. She overly dramatized, loved for her friends, wanted to one-up Suri no matter the cost, and realized her crimes in friendship.
     
    Her best moment: the reprise and walking in Manehattan in the storm with nothing to cover her. While she covered herself with a newspaper earlier, she didn't here. That showed how much she grew over the past three-plus seasons, from being pissed off by just touching the mud to taking part in the Sisterhooves Social after being responsible for the strain she caused with Sweetie Belle to worrying more about her friends instead of her vanity. Although her vanity, selfishness, and greed aren't going to go away in a snap, her other qualities shone.
    As for "Generosity," its initial tune really captures the Mane Six's joyous, hopeful spirit. They visit the city, and they're excited and hopeful. Its tone is very upbeat and Broadway-like. With a wide vocabulary and good composition, it foreshadows Suri's plagiarism later on. Conversely, it tells Rarity's element a bit too much, and its lack of catchiness doesn't help.
     
    This is why her reprise works better. It shows the consequences of her actions via the mood of Manehattan, somber score, Rarity's lack of care for herself, Kazumi Evans's sorrowful voice, and subtlety in the lyrics.
    While there is plenty of comedy, it isn't as zany as the other stories Polsky wrote. Even in Too Many Pinkie Pies, his darkest story, his comedy was abundant. The slapstick is much more toned down in exchange for something more serious. According to Polsky, it was a completely different direction compared to his initial concept.
     
    Suffice it to say, RTM's is among the deepest in this series, and Polsky shows his wide talent range. If he wrote RTM similar to his other episodes, the mood would've been way too inappropriate, and all that potential would've been lost.
    One of the biggest criticisms this season — the pace — is all but nonexistent. While there are perhaps a couple of moments where the pace speeds a tad too quickly, it isn't jarring. There is plenty of material to cover, but it flows so fluently, each sequence feels organic. To make it better, unlike PTS, DD, and PoP, the episode has many moments to relax and collect itself without failure.
    While we don't actually see Suri's consequences (i.e., her reaction to being lost and Coco Pommel quitting), doing so would've sensationalized the moral and perhaps make Rarity the bad mare. Because she didn't give a damn about the fashion contest anymore and instead treated her friends to an exclusive performance of the Bridleway musical, Hinny of the Hills, she shows her worth by that alone. Coco sees this, too, and her conversation with Rarity (along with presenting the trophy and gift to Rarity and being the one to design the costumes for the next show) presents good karma. Whether Suri will ever learn her lesson or not, I don't know.
    The morals aren't shoehorned. They're reinforced with each action and consequence, along with the thorough characterizations and goals from the Mane Six, Suri, Coco, and Prim Hemline.
    As a big bonus, RTM actually feels like a community and helps complete the atmosphere. There are so many ponies, both new and reoccurring, appearing here, making Manehattan feel alive. This is something Friendship Is Magic needs: the community interacting with each moment. It's been absent for most of Season 4, leaving a very wide gap that gives the canon life. More interaction with the background ponies, the more complete the canon becomes.
     
    BTW, kudos to the team for plugging in Sapphire Shores, Hoity Toity, Photo Finish, Fancy Pants, and Fleur de Lis!

    Weaknesses:
    Spike's role as background comic relief is too old and tiring. After Power Ponies, the development he receives is tossed away. Heck, throughout Season 4, he's basically there just for the audience to laugh, and that marginalizes his character.
     
    Like what I wrote in my Castle Mane-ia review, lay off the Spikabuse, pleeeeeeeease.
    The Grumpy Cat meme is forced and distracting; the criticisms are completely justified. Two key reasons why (one related to the story, the other not).
     
    a. The meme is taken straight out of the Internet and plastered onto the flank as a cutie mark. No ponification. No effort to blend it into the scene. It's the actual face of the meme as a cutie mark. It sticks out way too much and is too in-your-face. It's not like Chanel, Derpy, The Big Lebowski, the Nyan Dash, or Sweetie Bot (in Equestria Girls), as they are blended into the canon.
     
    If you're going to reference a well-known meme like the Grumpy Cat, show some effort by blending it into the canon and ponifying it. Don't rip it off and make people wonder if the artists lack the creativity to include interesting background ponies and organically blend pop culture simultaneously.
     
    b. Instead of letting the previews and writing attract the older and computer-savvy demographics, The Hub is trying to appease them by advertising the episode via a pony with a ripped off meme. Inadvertently, The Hub left RTM with a very bad first impression and made your general audience wonder if it was actually well thought-out and written well, even if for a split second.
     
    Hub, don't pull this stupid stunt again.
    "Generosity" (not the reprise) tells too much and hammers Rarity's element excessively. Combined with it not exactly being catchy, it hurts the song and messages Polsky and Ingram relay. It's good for other reasons (a couple being very well-scored with a strong vocabulary), yet somewhat forgettable.
     
    It's compared to The Smile Song in one way. Like TSS, Generosity is a character exposition song. However, there are some differences.
     
    a. While The Smile Song tells a lot, it's counterbalanced by some very catchy lyrics and a very bouncy score that gets the audience pumped and excited. When it's very catchy, it's very memorable, and The Smile Song works to its advantage partially by the bouncy, upbeat score.
     
    Generosity, on the other hand, is actually quite tame, and that works to its disadvantage. While it also catches the urban, upbeat tune of the city, it doesn't have the giddy bounciness that The Smile Song has.
     
    b. As far as The Smile Song's musical is concerned, you see Pinkie using smaller measures to make her friends happy, but with each lyric, Ponyville catches its happiness, and it became bigger and bigger. Soon, Pinkie Pie's song and ability to make others smile affects everyone.
     
    Generosity, conversely, doesn't do that. While the generosity starts small and ends up with Pinkie and Applejack helping, you don't get to see the results until after it ends. Although it works from a storytelling perspective, it falls flat when self-contained.
     
    Also, Rarity's element works much better when it's a bit more subtle or really demonstrated, as Rarity is a complex character. What she did and sung aren't out of character, but it doesn't fully work for a character whose qualities and characterization are more about showing her rewards and consequences rather than telling everyone who she is and can be, something Art of the Dress and the reprise succeed. Combined with the self-contained rewards being absent and delivery of her messages like a carpenter nailing a wall with a hammer, it doesn't give what she did as much justice in the beginning as hoped.
     
    Generosity isn't a bad song, but it doesn't have that oomph. More show, less tell.
    Twilight is an alicorn princess (and there are only four, all royalty, discounting the animation hiccups), and in a city as big as Manehattan — with all of the tabloids, business of the city, and how the Twilicorn was gigantic news in Equestria entirely — surely Twilight will be more recognizable than Mayor Bloomberg.
     
    While her status shouldn’t be so glorified that Rarity's focus is stolen, at least give her status some recognition (i.e., a taxi colt telling Twilight crossly, “Back of the line, Princess!”). Ignoring it ages Magical Mystery Cure more and more and disserves her growth.
    Pinkie, you left your brain at Sugarcube Corner. Please retrieve it the next time Rarity displays tickets. (Thank Luna Rarity interrupted her.)
    The timeline gets lost, demonstrating some issues with the pacing. The script constantly reminds the viewer the whole event was "Fashion Week." In other words, the contest and results should occur from one end of the week to the next. Usually, it's seven days (or five, if confined to only the weekdays). Instead, we only see the first three days and never witness the rest of the week. Whether it's because they were perceived to be irrelevant or not, I don't know. It would look much better if RTM shows more of Fashion Week beyond just the contest.

    Despite the annoyances, the rest of the episode is very well written, and they don't diminish the overall quality significantly. Polsky and crew carefully researched Manhattan to make sure it replicates the real life's atmosphere organically and tastefully. Instead of it being contrived, Manehattan's overall design feels like it belongs: industrialized to a point, yet not abandoning its simplified roots.
     
    In a fresh twist, Polsky trades his usual slapstick comedy for a more down-to-earth, slice-of-life, serious character study, giving him the opportunity to explore Rarity's actions in response to being plagiarized and shortsighted (yet extremely justified and believable) ambition to one-up Suri and claim the top prize. Combined with a solid pace, excellent writing, and fantastic characterization of Suri, Coco, and Rarity, Polsky executes easily not just his best episode to date, but also Season 4's best episode thus far. Rarity Takes Manehattan is a clear home run.
     
    ———
     
    Source: S04:E08 - Rarity Takes Manehattan
  17. Dark Qiviut
    Prior to the wet-on-wet oil painting technique, Bob Ross was a "traditional" painter and painted oils the old-fashioned way that you see the classics painted. Instead of big brushes that can create scenes very quickly, you had to wait for layers to dry before continuing. Therefore, a simple painting could take several weeks to complete.
     
    The wet-on-wet painting technique changed that, and he saw The Magic of Oil Painting, a program that would win an Emmy. Bill Alexander, the host of the program, grew up in Prussian Empire and was later drafted into WWII by the Nazis. When he was captured, he painted pictures of Allies' wives, and he and his wife immigrated to North America, were he revived the wet-on-wet technique.
     
    The video located below from YT user electrotherapy is an episode featuring Alexander in that signature style of painting from The Magic of Oil Painting (an episode from at least thirty years ago). You can find many more on his account.
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFnuc-Kxl7I
  19. Dark Qiviut
    The fact that the rapper used (and defended her use of) a gay slur when bashing Perez Hilton is disgusting enough. Now she stepped out of line even more by calling rapper T.I. a "shoe-shining coon" in a radio interview while bashing Iggy Azalea, too.
     
    For those who don't know what the four-letter C-word means, it's a lesser known racial slur of a black person. In other words, she called T.I. an N-word without literally saying the N-word.
     
    There are ways to criticize people without having to use extremely homophobic, racist, and misandrist language. You're not entitled to use disgusting slurs and not get called out for revealing your hateful colors. It no longer matters how you're black, bisexual, and a feminist. Bigotry doesn't see skin color, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. What matters now is how your overall bigotry is going to do nothing except hurt your own career, invite even more scathing criticism, and make others disassociate from you.
  20. Dark Qiviut
    Everyone who's seen DeviantArt knows this logo:
     

    Since 2000, DeviantArt's trademark is iconic. You have the "d" and "a" forming what looks like the roof of a house, representing unity and hominess. Despite its angles and changes over the years, it's been rather consistent. Does it look dated? Maybe, but it's a really bad idea to change an iconic logo, because you risk damaging its already established brand identity. Some have worked.
    The Twitter canary from a simply cute bird to one where the shapes have meaning.
    Nike changing from the Swoosh/oblique type to just the swoosh.
    Apple's rainbow apple and complementary wordmark to just the silver apple.
    Simplifying the Starbucks logo into the green mermaid they've used for years.
    Microsoft's flag being simplified into windows instead of adding a combination of gradients that amounted to nothing.
    NBC's peacock in 1986.
    FedEx's current logo we have today from the generic American Express from yester-decade.
    The current Poniverse logo.

    But this?
     

     
    This is NOT an improvement.
     
    I mean, let's look at the technical aspects. It's actually really good. It's extremely polished, and the sharp angles have the edge of moving forward, something we've seen in logos like Dodge. And if you're looking for a bold color, the green is a perfect balance with the black.
     
    But there are several huge problems.
    It's way too cold. If you want to see what I mean, compare it to the current Nickelodeon logo.
     

     
    Despite the casual attitude Nickelodeon presents in its wordmark, the biggest flaw here is how corporate it feels. It doesn't have the fun or energy that the old Nick splat had. It's cleaner and works well in smaller sizes, but it's too rigid.
     
    DeviantArt's new logo is exactly that. DeviantArt's previous logo had a feeling of comfort thanks to its abstract roof and quirky design. It's way too mechanical, and its precision is actually hurting its presentation.
    The trademark has one fatal look when it comes to making the logo smaller. Take a look at where the stroke and bars meet and the corners. There are little curves, which are completely opposite of the wordmark. Those little nubs will vanish the second they reach a certain size, and that decision will look like a big mistake.
    It doesn't speak as "art." There are many ways to ask yourself, "What is art?" One key reason why they do it is because it allows people to show what they can do. Art lets them feel loose. Instead, it feels like a bastardized version of the Via Rail Canada (the logo itself is a simplified rail system).
    The fact that DeviantArt had to explain the point to the audience, both by Spyed and this video.
     

     
    One of the most important rules in logo design is how much can you reduce it to a point, yet still have the audience to get it without help. NBC's peacock, ABC's button, the old UPS shield, Enron's RGB block-E, the New York Yankees, FedEx's arrow, the Dallas Cowboys sheriff star, Toblerone chocolate's bear, the CBS eye, and the Swoosh are instantaneously recognizable. You don't need to explain these to the audience.
     
    But when you ask the crowd about the new DA logo, you're going to get completely different answers. Many say it looks like a Z, an F, a don't equal sign, or two A's (my observations).
     
    Instead, it's supposed to be an abstract dA.
     
    DA's logo is TOO abstract. One of the biggest cardinal sins in logo design is having to explain to your audience the logo's purpose. Your audience is supposed to immediately capture the essence of the logo and recognize its visual cues. If you have to inform your audience about your logo's meaning, then your logo sucks. It doesn't matter if anyone likes it or not. From a view of objective quality, it's bad. Plain and simple.
     
    While recreating the logo, DeviantArt user Nsio picked up another big flaw: the lack of amodal completion. Basically, the brain is able to pick up visual cues to create the shape. Here's one of the more famous ones:
     

     
    Your brain is able to pick up the two triangles. The black-stroked triangle is visually connected with each other, and the same is said with the white triangle. It's a key component in graphic design, and psychology of visual perception is a required course for my graphic design bachelor's degree.
     
    There are absolutely no visual cues with the new DeviantArt logo. You can't make out the "dA" without any help. There needs to be more with the trademark to make it look remotely like "DeviantArt."

    Quite simply, the logo is a massive failure of a rebrand and the worse I've seen since PepsiCo and Arnell rebranded Tropicana's famous packaging in 2009.
  21. Dark Qiviut
    "Retarded."
     
    That word really strikes a chord, doesn't it? As someone who might have Asperger's Syndrome, this word cuts as deeply as using "autistic" as a slur.
     
    If you read my blog attacking the word "autism" as a slur, then you know my feelings. Like "autism," the R-word is an insult that attacks people with autism or people with other mental deficiencies. By calling someone a "retard," you're cutting that person deep in such a way that's indescribable. By using the R-word, you're telling me, "I'm a bigot and will demean the very core of what you are." It's like calling a black person the N-word, a gay person the F-word, a woman the C-word, a transperson the T-word (or "she-male" for a transwoman), or a Jewish person the K-word.
     
    The casual use of an offensive word does nothing except make people feel unwelcome and insecure. Words cut deep. "Retard" is one such case where it cuts REALLY deep, especially to someone like myself, because it attacks me as a person. And I know it affects millions of others, too. The second you use this ableist slur so freely, you're being a bigoted bully. Language shouldn't be taken for granted, and casual use of "retard" should not be tolerated.
     
    The sad part about this is how often I see it on here. I won't be afraid to admit that I am someone who once reported people occasionally for using it so casually. Unfortunately, the posts often stayed up, so I don't remember the last time I did it. I don't know the current situation about it, but if usage of this word as an ableist slur (either in verb or noun form) isn't a part of the abusive behavior rule, then I feel it needs to be changed.
  23. Dark Qiviut
    Like my Micro-Series and Season 4 (first half) ranking blogs, this is my list of my three most loved and most hated episodes for each of FIM's first three seasons. I'm not ranking it from an objective quality perspective, but more how they impact me personally.
     
    Time to begin!
     
    (In case you're wondering, Equestria Girls is NOT on this list because it's not episodic. I would if I wanted to, but that'd be cheating.)
     
     

    Top 3 Season 1 Episodes!


    Party of One: Prior to Magic Duel and Sleepless in Ponyville (respectively), this was my most favorite episode by far. Although the ending was one we've seen before, the path leading up to the ending was top notch. Each moment of comedy was hilarious without beating a dead horse over it. Although Pinkie Pie is the main star here, all seven main characters shared the spotlight and genuine characterization without exaggerating anything nor going over the top. But Pinkamena Diane Pie's appearance and third act that followed really took the cake. It was both funny and VERY creepy, a mixture of the deliciously dark humor featured in both Return of Harmony and Lesson Zero. Her tandem with the hardheaded Rainbow Dash really nudged the rest of the conflict along.
    Winter Wrap-Up: My all-time favorite Twilight-centered episode outside of Magic Duel and the best episode Morrow has written so far. (I'd also argue that this episode, not Lesson Zero, is the best Twilight-centered episode of the series.) It's also the episode where FIM really took off. Twilight's conflict in getting involved in Winter Wrap-Up felt very organic: After each humorous screwup or moment of sympathy, none of the sequences didn't pace itself way too quickly or way too slowly. The adorkable unicorn apparently lived in Ponyville for some time there, but still evidently felt like a stranger amidst the rest of Ponyville. With her using her ability to use her wits and attentiveness, she was able to figure out how to work into the town without having to abandon what she loves most: magic. It also transcended every other moment after, adjusting into Ponyville permanently and becoming more self-confident. And I didn't talk about the fantastic song, which addresses the great worldbuilding of Ponyville, Canterlot (by association), and Equestria as a whole, meanwhile addressing the WWU's main conflict.
    Suited for Success: Easily Fullerton's best episode and the one that really explored Rarity's three-dimensional, creative character the best (until GIYC and later RTM). There's so much to admire. The creativity of the concept. The way the Remane Five bounced as varying failed clients (each of whom that match themselves to a "T"). Art of the Dress is beautiful. The episode's conflict was resolved wittingly with the Remane Five learning the lesson the hard way. It's also a sideswipe at both the creative design process and how bigger companies tend to meddle in their noses where they don't belong. (EQG, I'm looking at you! )


    Bottom 3 Season 1 Episodes!


    Owl's Well that Ends Well: One of the most assured bad episodes from season one beside Feeling Pinkie Keen (which is second on this list) and Boast Busters (which isn't). The plot is a classic retread of the main character being the antagonist in order to scapegoat the other he or she's jealous with. While Owlowicious has personality, it's so hidden, "subtlety" doesn't describe it. It can easily be missed. Spike's treatment as a butt of jokes is really exploited and makes him very out of character. The others reward the owl despite never seeing him before. And the plot is too damn slow. In all, a really bad episode. If you want to watch a more plausible and better overall story of jealousy, watch Green Isn't Your Color instead.
    Feeling Pinkie Keen: When the slapstick got extreme, it got way too mean-spirited and out of place for the show. Twilight's stubbornness against the Pinkie Sense went on far too long. Every single sequence was as subtle as an anvil being dropped on the head. The Pinkie Sense is cluttered and confusing (not to mention a stupid excuse for "comedy"). And the dialogue used to drive the conflict (and, by association, the accidental false debate between creationism versus science) proves to the audience and DHX how important language, subtlety, subtexts, and double entendres are and to properly address them if you can figure it out. It also accidentally promoted faith over science (not bad science, as it's subtly dictating, but science, period), which will annoy your audience.
    A Dog & Pony Show: Structurally, it's rather good. The pace is strong. The comedy is timed well. Rarity is very in character and uses her strong wits and intelligence to her advantage. The moral is strong conceptually. But incompetence (especially if meshed with stupidity) makes for terrible entertainment. The Diamond Dogs are both incompetent and stupid, whose only purpose is for Rarity to play her mind games. When you portray one side shallowly in order to make the other half appear better, that's a shallow conflict, and you offend both sides from a creative standpoint. "Just because she's ladylike doesn't mean she's helpless or weak" is an excellent moral and uses the right character for it, but the poorly written conflict underminded both Rarity's character and the moral it was trying to relay.


    Top 3 Season 2 Episodes!


    Return of Harmony, Part 2: Yes, not the first part, which surprisingly didn't interest me so much despite being very well written for the most part. But this episode is one of the few where I constantly rewatch and love it more each time. The reason: Discord. He was a splendidly hilarious bastard and all the more proves how dangerous a villain he was. He had a very simple goal, but his lack of end goal and unpredictability is his appearances makes the humor so dark in subtext and him so dangerous. Without question, he was the best villain in the entire series because he's three-dimensionally evil. The only part to reign this back really was the anticlimactic ending, but it doesn't stop it from it being the best two-parter in the series so far (and one of two personally where I like the second half more than the first, the other A Canterlot Wedding).
    Luna Eclipsed: The episode to reintroduce Luna and make her into an even bigger character in popularity. Not only is it beautifully animated, but the visuals are scary and breathtaking simultaneously. Luna herself was given a fresh start with a brand new design and fully fledged personality that makes sense given the context of the episode and conflict. Pinkie's behavior can be put into question, but the fact that she was aware of it all and only saw Luna at the moments of confusion created the misunderstanding that drove the conflict further. Also, the karma Dash suffered at the end was deserving.
    Putting Your Hoof Down: The first (and only) non-good episode to enter this list. (I would've put in A Canterlot Wedding, but that's fourth or fifth on my list.) The plot is contrived. Several plot points are nonsensical. Angel is extremely out of character. Continuity's disregarded. Iron Will was wrongly portrayed as an antagonist when he really wasn't one. And the episode was extremely mean-spirited — *stares at Mare-Do-Well* — just to drive the moral. But I still can't help but love it. The little details (a.k.a., looking at the story from 'Shy's POV) are breathtaking. There's plenty of great animation, especially the slow camera move that rotates Fluttershy's head in Act 3. The background score is fantastic. At this point, I shouldn't love this episode because it's quite bad (it doesn't matter how well-done the little details are; if you can't hone in the bigger ones, they're moot), but I still do, and I still rate it as my favorite Fluttershy episode. (The best one so far is either Hurricane Fluttershy or Green Isn't Your Color.)


    Bottom 3 Season 2 Episodes!


    The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well: Very expected to be on this list. Rushed pacing. Very contrived plot. Poorly executed moral and being told into Dash's face b. It's extremely predictable. And every one of the Mane Six is out of character. Rainbow Dash OOC for being an even bigger jerk than what she's capable of (even bigger than May the Best Pet Win!, another horrid episode) and being way too dumb to figure it out despite it being blatantly in her face, the others for being extremely hypocritical and vindictive in their approach to teach Dash a lesson (without suffering any consequences themselves). The visuals and score were the saving graces, but not enough for it to be on my dislike list. (It's actually one of few I hate.)
    Hearts & Hooves Day: A bad episode, but nowhere near as atrocious as, say, Rainbow Falls. The humor was cringeworthy and often plain random and/or stupid. Twilight was extremely stupid and out of character of her to actually hand over the book about the love poison to them (despite it being in her face) along with the suggestion to hand over the guide to the EoH. The ending itself is extremely mean-spirited and out of character of Cheerilee, Big Mac, and the show itself. You don't rub salt in the wound of kids, especially if they underwent a major tailspin to rectify those mistakes. That alone ruined any enjoyment I had for the episode because it was that insulting.
    Sweet & Elite: Rarity was shown to balance out her life in Canterlot and Twilight's party, but her lies and deception were way too cruel and, if you ask me, very out of character of her, even in her S2 state. Fancy Pants, Fleur de Lis, Becoming Popular, and Twilight's adorkable dance were great, but the Liar Revealed trope was not subtle one bit. The portrayal of Canterlot as full of upper-class, stuck-up sheep besides a spare few is stereotypical and one-dimensionalizes the city. It also doesn't help when Rarity is immediately forgiven, not punished, and basically rewarded for her dumb stunt. Learning the lesson doesn't excuse her stupidity! The pace, Remane Five (where the hell was Spike?!), and Opal were good, too, but that doesn't save a crappy conflict. Give me Sisterhooves Social (which actively punishes Rarity for her jerkish behavior and then has to rectify herself to complete the conflict) over this any day of week.


    Top 3 Season 3 Episodes!


    Magic Duel: I love so much about this episode, and it's my most favorite in the show. The fantastic animation. The unique blending of famous references (including clever callbacks). Very hilarious wit in the form of Corrupt!Trixie's lack of trust in wheels. A great pace that resolves the conflict nicely. Zecora was used in a way that didn't devolve her into a plot device, instead treating her as a character. And the broken fourth wall was classic Pinkie (with Twilight in the fold). Even better, Twilight has to use the magic of her friendship with the others as well as her intelligence to resolve the conflict. And that's refreshing, as sometimes Twilight is dumbed down a bit just to create the story in other episodes. Fluttershy's flanderization and holds MD back from making it too solid, but I love so much of it for it to begrudge me.
    Sleepless in Ponyville: My second-most favorite episode in the show and easily the best in season three. None of the characters were shoehorned, only allowing the character to spend a specific amount of time needed. Scootaloo was given the character development she richly deserved. Apple Bloom and Applejack played off each other nicely. The relationship between Rarity and Sweetie Belle was teasingly funny, but never crossed the line into Rarity being out of character. The G3 meta-reference — Dash cutting off Scootaloo's story — made me laugh out loud. Each scene impacted the story beyond simply the humor perspective and focused a lot on timing, punctuality, action, and drama. Luna's inclusion really expanded the world of herself and the alicorn sisters as a whole, opening plenty of questions into their psyche and way they behave and act beyond the typical Equestrian perspective. The fact that Powell actually went forward to put Scootaloo into a life-or-death situation as a result of her frights eating her up alive was fantastic and showed how she isn't merey a Dash clone. Lastly, the bonding between Dash and Scootaloo cemented the growth between the two and Dash's character development up to that point There was so much heart poured into the dialogue and writing, and I love every bit of it.
    Wonderbolts Academy: The last of the Big Three and my most favorite Dash-centered episode to date. It's also easily Merriweather Williams's best episode. (I rank this as the secone-best episode last season, behind SiP and in front of both Magic Duel and Apple Family Reunion.) Pinkie's worry might've lasted a bit too long, but made sense because of the situation Dash is in. Spitfire's blunt, commanding characterization and objective behavior made perfect sense given the environment, for it demonstrated respect and integrity of herself, the passion she prides, and every single cadet in the Academy (Dash including). Lightning Dust painted a really nice foil of Dash and perfectly demonstrated how much Dash grew since the pilot. Moreover, WA has Dash's characterization presented in the best balance since Sonic Rainboom, a classic episode in its own right. Dash's morale was put to the test thrice, each being built to the last when she had to rescue the Remane Five from an accident. The fact that she put down her wing pony bade and said, "I quit!" perfectly demonstrated how much she's grown and how much she loves her friends family. Although the ending is very ambiguous, it makes perfect sense because it continues to build on her quest to be a Wonderbolt and provides the consequences of Dust's selfish behavior.


    Bottom 3 Season 3 Episodes!


    Just for Sidekicks: Not close to the worst episode last season, but for a while was my most hated episode in the entire show. (Rainbow Falls is now.) While the CMC were fantastically characterized, there were three problems. Fluttershy was out of character. There was no railway and geography realism, thereby making the latter half of the conflict implausible. And the biggest: Spike was extremely out of character. While Spike at Your Service made him out of character for making him too stupid and incompetent for no good reason, he was just as badly characterized from the other side of the scale by becoming way too evil and selfish for his own. JfS sacrificed his character development up to this point for humor at his expense and artificial conflict. Yes, he learns his lesson, but the fact that he learned his lesson beforehand made the conflict redundant.
    Spike at Your Service: Although it's second and easily one of the worst episodes in Season 3, I actually don't really hate it. It was very funny, but sacrificed good characterization and continuity for it. Spike's stupidity, incompetence, and carelessness don't fit him at all and is extremely overplayed. Continuity was sacrificed to drive the conflict forward. Applejack was out of character (in Act 3). Too often, the animation of the Timber Wolves was very out of place and demonstrated the limitations of Flash.
    One Bad Apple: A new addition to the list and will certainly climb the more I read the transcript, watch the episode, and understand the implications better. Babs Seed (the song) was great. The visuals were great. The animation was spectacular, the music video nostalgic. The CMC were okay. But that's all the good. DT and SS are flat, one-dimensional bullies again, nullifying the character growth from past seasons. Babs Seed suddenly turns to them and becomes an even bigger, physical bully by terrorizing them and doesn't give a good reason to associate herself with the Disasterly Duo. Applejack and the rest of the Apple family are incompetent because the bullying resulted in AB sleeping on the floor; if they had the competence and intelligence, they would've spotted it immediately and get to the bottom of things. The pace in itself is sloppy, going way too fast. Pinkie was flanderized and acting stupid. The fact that Babs Seed became a bully because she was bullied was excused in the script; that's NO excuse for bullying! There's a one-size-fits-all method, which is to come to AJ (or any other adult) in case of bullies (something SB suggested several times earlier!). That doesn't always work because some don't care, while some adults enable the bullying or are the bully. And Babs Seed not only wasn't punished. She was basically rewarded for her immoral behavior. You don't screw up a very sensitive subject. You know what happens if you do? You could cause a reverse effect and enable this kind of behavior.

  24. Dark Qiviut
    In January 2012, I graduated from a four-year college Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Technology in Communication Design (the graphic design module with bits of entry-level web development and Flash animation). Despite the near-perfect GPA, my search for a graphic design position flat-out sucked, and it went absolutely nowhere. Hell, I didn't even get an interview.
     
    After two-and-a-half years of trying and failing, I decided to pursue a Master's in web and multimedia. I'll still dabble at graphic design, but I'm also expanding my experience on Website-building and become more advanced.
     
    Weeks are flying by, and despite devoting plenty of time on my big projects, I still feel the need to devote more. Therefore, until the semester ends (around December 20th), I'll be cutting down my time here starting tomorrow morning. Chances are you won't see my submit a post until then. I may post a blog or status, and you will see my name in the active users section below here and there, but it'll be much less for a while.
     
    My schoolwork comes first, and I need to buckle down. Till then, see ya 'round!
  25. Dark Qiviut
    After seeing Feld0 at BronyCon, he wondered when I was going to post my review for the Poniverse logo (both the original and revision) that I promised to publish. The following is my review.
     
    Overview
    This logo's intended purpose is to integrate multiple networks into one supercommunity. "Poniverse" is a portmanteau of "pony" and "universe," so a theme of "universe" follows in the signature (the term to describe the trademark-wordmark combination). The trademark is a stylized "P" in the abstract shape of a pony's head (the oval being the pony's eye). Surrounding the head is an abstract galaxy, rotating at high speed. In the revised version, the trademark is separated from the wordmark, and a graphic symbol encompassing the trademark are multiple circles (satellites) surrounding one huge hub (a star or galaxy), indicating how several networks are merged into one.
     
    Josefin Sans Light, a sans serif type style, is used to make the logo the central focus. The typeface uses simple, organic shapes akin to the show. To make the supercommunity more easygoing for multiple audiences, the "p" in "poniverse" is lowercase, capturing the casual, light, happy-go-lucky nature of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and its respective networks. Lastly, the revised wordmark uses cyan — a very light, pastel blue compared to sky blue above it — combining the feeling of corporate, loyalty, and fun in one hub.
     
    Trademark
    A lot of elements signatures have is called a trademark, which is the main symbol that defines the brand. Examples of trademarks include:
    NBC's peacock
    Chevrolet's bow tie
    Toyota's stylized "T" (made up of three rings: the customer, the company, and the big ring wrapped around the "T" for unity)
    Dunkin Donuts's coffee
    Baskin Robbin's BR (which hides the "31" for "31 flavors")
    CBS's eye
    The Pepsi smile
    Microsoft's four colored windows.

    Some companies only use the trademark like:
    Apple's bite of the apple
    Nike's Swoosh
    Starbucks Coffee's mermaid
    McDonald's golden arches.

    Poniverse's trademark is two galaxy clouds of dust swirling clockwise, positioning in a form to where it looks like a "P." However, there are several issues with it.
    It doesn't look like a "p." While it's supposed to be abstract, there's abstract and then there's going too abstract to the point where the Prudential rock looks like a triangle instead of a rock. When I first saw it, it looked like the galaxy was designed to where it looked like a squished "O." It also doesn't help when the human eye looks from top to bottom instead of the other way around. Just flip the vision, and it suddenly looks like a "d" instead. This accidental double meaning hurts the abstract trademark's message. More definitive shapes are recommended.
    The pony head looks way too squished. When you look at ponies from their bases, you notice that each part of their anatomy is consisted of circles, triangles, ovals, and rectangles (minus the eyes, mane, tail, wings, etc.). A pony's head consists of one circle (or egg from frontal view). However, this pony's head looks like a rectangle, gave it really rounded corners, and then rotated it a few degrees clockwise. The head looks inorganic and doesn't fully scream "pony head."
    The lines that make the abstract "p" are way too close to Nike's Swoosh.
     
    Here's the Swoosh:


    Rotate the Poniverse trademark, and you'll get this:
     

     
    People can and will catch that if it stays around long enough. I noticed it the second the winners were announced.
     
    Wordmark
    To make the wordmark (the distinctive lettering for the signature) connect with the trademark yet not disturb the eye, the typeface Josefin Sans Light is selected. It has a lot of qualities similar to other great Art Deco typefaces like Futura, Kabel, and Avant Garde, but with minute differences in stroke, angles, and weights to make it unique.
     
    The choice fits wonderfully. When viewing the trademark, you notice how heavy it looks. Each shape is very thick and easily visible whether big or small. Josefin Sans Light is a beautiful contrast in the form of light anatomy. Even in a small size, I still notice the typeface's anatomy. Furthermore, the size of the type compliments well with the trademark. It's also a great choice making "poniverse" lowercase throughout, making the entire wordmark readable and mentally accessible for a general audience. And as My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic uses mostly simple shapes (for both the characters and atmosphere like the houses and mountains), Josefin Sans Light is extremely in character.
     
    That said, while the typeface, size, and weight work, it still needs some cleaning up. Here is a small demonstration.
     

     
    Look closely at black lines in between each character. That indicates the space between each character. Space in between each character is called kerning (while the total amount of space for each word, line, sentence, paragraph, or document is called tracking), and good typography in logo design pays close attention to the kerning so each letter looks even as you read it.
     
    Each space in between the characters is irregular. For the first example, the "o" in "poniverse" leans too much to the left, leaving a big gap between the "o" and "n." There's also a little too much irregularity between the characters from the "o" to the second "n"; extra polish would clean it up. However, the tracking in "net" is tight, showing inconsistency in the typography. When it's one line like "poniverse" or "poniverse.net," either keep the tracking loose or tight. Don't do both.
     
    Graphics
    Besides the trademark, there is one main graphic: the circles behind it. One big circle (basically a star or large planet) is surrounded by several smaller ones (planets or moons), either via overlapping or approximate distance, sending a message that several smaller communities is operated by one gigantic hub.
     
    The message of the big supercommunity operating smaller communities is clear in itself, but there are two big issues.
     
    If you want to see it, review the Skype icon here:
     
     

    The background graphics for Poniverse look way to similar to Skype. A big circle encompasses the "S," and two smaller ones orbit around the main hub or caller. For Poniverse, you have several small circles orbit Poniverse.
    The blue color, which symbolizes loyalty, is also too close to the Skype logo, which also uses a brilliantly sky blue.

    Suggestions for Improvement
    Clean up the kerning and unify the tracking. Instead of using two sets of spacing, use the same amount of space throughout. If you want the space between each character to be crowded, make it crowded. If more open, leave it all open.
     
    To see if the space between the characters look evenly distributed optically, alter the size for the wordmark. Look at it in a big point size like forty-eight, sixty, or seventy-two points or higher and at a small size like eight, ten, and twelve.
    Choose a brand new background symbol. Currently, the bright blue and coordination of perfect circles give unsuspected audiences an impression that the logo ripped off the Skype icon.
     
    An idea is a galaxy (with some hubs on either side), for they're one of the most recognizable masses in the universe and the trademark plays off one in the form of a spiral.
    Choose a brand new color for Poniverse. Currently, when I see that light cyan, I think of Skype, which is a communication company. Try to think of another color besides cyan, and there is a very wide palette. Suggestions include:
     
    a. Scarlet — a calm red. Symbolizes empowerment, brightness, defiance, and enthusiasm.
     
    b. A soothing green like emerald or jade — make it too light like lime, and you make it look like it's unprepared.
     
    c. Orange — a bright, warm orange, which can enhance socialization. However, this may cause problems: AT&T uses orange to both honor Cingular Wireless (the company AT&T bought) and accentuate its globe trademark.
     
    d. Brown — warm and creates a sense of security depending on its saturation. Be careful not to make the brown look like chocolate brown, or people will instantly think you're a candy bar organization.
     
    e. Purple — luxurious, but also wise, creative, and exotic.
     
    f. A deeper blue — darker and not light like cyan, but retains the same messages.
     
    -----
     
    Don't be afraid to not combine colors to capture the feeling of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Poniverse itself, creativity, inspiration, and majesty.
     
    If you're going to use a blue in the same range as cyan, my suggestion is twofold:
     
    a. Dull it with a little bit of magenta or black so the color isn't as bright.
     
    b. Use it as a secondary color. In the official logo, cyan is the primary. Maybe you can use a sky blue as the color for the wordmark.
    Redraw the trademark. A stylized "p" in the form of a galaxy is a great idea, but the triple messages and the way people view compositions risk confusing people and muddling the trademark's symbolism.
     
    For the stylized "P," how about making the spiral galaxy look a little more like a "P"?
     
    If you haven't done it, take your revised signature and see it in black only. Black is neutral and bold, which forces you to view the logo from a compositional standpoint (the trademark, wordmark, placement, and logo/typography relationship), the foundation for any great logo. If you review it in color only, then your brain gets tricked into thinking the best way to show off your logo is to tweak the color. Once you have the composition complex, then add the color.

    The Poniverse Revised Logo: Step-By-Step
    I have some suggestions for the revised logo, but instead of telling how to do it, I'll show it step by step process, from the black vector to the completed graphics. Click the "spoiler" to view them and the explanations.
     
     
     
     
    -
    This is a trio of suggestions with some minor differences. Each signature contains both the trademark and wordmark. Josefin Sans Light is still being used, but cleaned up with some semi-wide tracking to make it accessible big and small better. The wordmark is placed both below and to the right of the trademark, each one containing the ".net" address and without. Plus, each signature is in black to review the composition before advancing to color (which I'll show next).
     
    But the big difference is the galaxy. Poniverse's official trademark has been altered to where it officially looks like a "p" instead of a combination of a "p," "o," and "d." The trademark has three variations.
    The "p" is sliced into two separate pieces. The bottom of the bowl is separated from the top with the intention of the eye connecting the rest of the letter. Two small arms make up the outer edges of the spiral galaxy.
    In the second and third, the "p" is connected from the bottom of the bowl to the rest of the letter. The only difference between the two latter options is the extra arm below the bowl is missing in one of them.
    Instead of a squished head, the inner-body is a perfect circle, commemorating the organic shapes of the letterforms, pony's bodies, and atmospheric graphics. There is an oval eye, slightly slanted, as most of the pony's eyes are an oval shape.
     
     
    -
    Another suggestion, in color, is below:
     
     
     
     
    -
     
    However, each example uses one color for the entire signature. How about using more than one to see if the colors contrast nicely?
     
     
     
    -
    Now you see how the logo is coming together more. With a combination of colors, you send more and more messages as to what Poniverse will feel and tell to your audience.
     
    Now, of the colors presented here, we can begin narrowing them down. So far, the ones that work most are purple, navy blue, lavender, and periwinkle. Emerald and bronze are on the border. Scarlet, brown, and black don't work.
     
    Purple and navy blue are creative, bold, and full of life. Purple is one of the most complex colors because it hosts multiple emotions. Navy blue is still blue, but it doesn't stick to the cyan scheme, where people will immediately think of Skype. Furthermore, it still stimulates creativity, passion, and will to work at your best.
     
    The newest colors in the edition are lavender and periwinkle, which are tints. Periwinkle is the lighter tint and is more to the blue hue, while lavender is darker. These colors are warm, comforting, and a bolster for creativity, but aren't as bold as the darker siblings, giving the trademark its much needed focus. Plus, the pastel colors still remind people that this is brony- and MLP:FIM-related.
     
    As you work with the colors, you begin to develop the color palette: the main and secondary colors used for the Poniverse brand. (The brands within Poniverse can wait temporarily, and then the colors can be slightly adjusted depending on Feld0's and Poniverse Staff's desires.) Part of the palette will be on the main logo and graphic symbol for Poniverse.
     
    Now you can begin thinking about the colors on the border.
    Bronze is a medal used commonly in the Olympics, with gold and silver above them. Bronze is more of a dirty gold in appearance, but it can lead to an impression that they're very relaxed and don't set a standard for creating a great supercommunity. Therefore, you can eliminate bronze (along with gold and silver) for the main logo.
    Emerald or jade is about wisdom, purity, and generosity. But when you think of Poniverse, you think of pony and universe. Emerald, like green, is more earthy, and we're trying to attract a wide audience from multiple cultures, not just one. Emerald is a more singular color, so emerald/jade won't work for the signature.
    At this point, you now have four colors: two dark, two light. But now you have to think which colors best symbolize and promote the Poniverse brand in the form of the logo?
     
    This leads to the next spoiler below.
     
     
    -
     
     
    -
     
    The revised logo has several options, but one thing is consistent: either purple or navy blue for the trademark.
     
    The signatures with the blue trademark have various shades of lavendar in the wordmark: light, medium, and dark. The ones with the purple trademark have two shades of lavender and dull blue in the wordmark (a new color into the mix).
     
    But scroll down, and you'll see pairs of logos where the trademark is paired with a dual-colored wordmark, where "poniverse" is in lavender or periwinkle and ".net" in a dull blue. The difference makes it differentiate, but also blend with the "poniverse" portion of the wordmark.
     
    However, my senses tell me the two colors in the wordmark don't work.
    It makes ".net" appear tacked on and has no purpose other than telling people, "Hey, I'm a Website only."
    ".net" is stuck on an island rather than actually be a part of the overall signature.
    With that, I can cross off the three-colored signature.
     
    Also, the dull blue doesn't fit the message Poniverse is trying to achieve. Instead of trying to be a proactive community, the blue looks gray and implies a morbid mood. So the blue goes, leaving behind the four colors again. However, the light blue as a spectrum may still be used as a secondary color to accentuate the trademark.
     
     
     
    This leads me to the stage where I suggested to combine the galaxy-like graphic with the trademark and wordmark. Click on the next spoiler to access it.
     
    -
     
     
     
     
    With the graphic symbol structure finalized, I can drop in the color combinations that are located below.
     
    -
     
     
     
     
    -
     
    Above are a group of suggestions of what the colored graphic symbol-trademark-wordmark logo relationship would look like when stacked. The primary color options are navy blue and purple; the wordmark options are a light blue, a light lavender, and a dark lavender. I brought back the blue for the wordmark to balance the rest of the secondary logo without it being so bright and hindering the hierarchy, yet not so dull to confuse the audience's impressions.
     
     
    -
     
    But what about an option where both the graphics and wordmark are positioned across?
     
     
     
     
    -
     
    Two of my favorite colored options are located below.
     
     
     
     
    -
     
    After this tedious step-by-step process, my most favorites are the following:
     
    http://i107.photobuc...l-5A_Page_1.png
     
    http://i107.photobuc...l-4A_Page_3.png
     
    http://i107.photobuc...l-5A_Page_2.png
     
    http://i107.photobuc...l-4A_Page_4.png
     
    -
     
    For the top two, navy blue is the main color to stimulate creativity. While it's a very cool color, it's also the one that sends messages of sincerity, trust, confidence, and will to communicate. To provide contrast, lavender provides the inspiration, three-dimensionality, and life to the audience. When the trademark and graphic symbol are merged, the trademark is dropped, using the white background as the color.
     
    (The white trademark you see in front of the galaxy graphic apples to all of the other trademarks. I chose my most favorite of the bunch, but whichever one you like most applies to you.)
     
    As for the bottom pair, it's in reverse, with purple as the primary and sky blue/azure as the secondary. Purple is the most complex color, but with it shifted more to the magenta side, it symbolizes life, creativity, and imagination. With the purple clean, it doesn't muddle the message. Sky blue is a very calm, comforting color, inspiring the audience to be creative despite not being the central focus.
     
    Why the contrast?
     
    Several reasons:
    Poniverse is designed to be a powerful, fresh, willful supercommunity. One of bronydom's strongest points is the ability to socialize via social networking. The word-of-mouth advertising from one brony to another spread the messages of not only the show, but the brony community altogether, too. Poniverse is a hub to unite as many supercommunities as possible without having to separately join each one, from forum-browsing to uploading music and so on. It's an extremely bold idea, and the two main color options are presented very boldly. You have a bold message, hence the bold primary trademark colors.
    Meanwhile, Poniverse is centralized behind the theme of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. One of its strongest elements is the bright, pastel, warm colors. The lavender and sky blue retain the messages the original, bold colors provide, but it's softer and pastel to remind people that this is a brony/MLP:FIM supercommunity instead of merely a supercommunity in general.
    The two obvious contrasts provide a balance. You have the bold trademark colors as well as the softer, brighter pastel colors. When you have the logo consisted of one color throughout regardless of strength, then the logo becomes extremely overwhelming and uninviting. You make everything one tone/hue/saturation, you risk muddling the overall message and may make people choose something else. When you have two contrasting colors, you can marry the entire logo as one instead of risking the two separate parties divorcing.
     
    If you want one official example, look at the NBC peacock with the NBC wordmark below it. The six feathers (representing the six separate departments at the time of the logo's release in 1986) are the main colors of the rainbow. The black wordmark balances the composition out.
     
    The contrast in the final Poniverse logo ideas balances the parties and strengthens the composition. Blue and purple are next to each other on the color wheel and help guide the eye rather than taking one very sharp, bright color like red and slapping it into the composition.
    When it comes to the composition with the galaxy graphic symbol, the elements being stacked on top of each other allows the viewer to see the logo scaled in multiple sizes while providing more effective real estate for other mediums like letterheads, business cards, envelopes, print ad campaigns, and apps. When the signature is across, it takes up a lot of room and real estate regardless of size. You can have the logo be about an inch high, yet six to eight inches across, and that's a lot of room. However, the stacked format puts the signature in a near-perfect square, which allows the designer to scale it in multiple sizes without losing the identity.
     
    If anyone's curious, here's a sheet with the logo (with the graphic symbol) scaled in multiple sizes, starting from one big size to the smallest possible without it being unrecognizeable.

    Conclusion
    Poniverse is a supercommunity with the purpose of congregating several smaller communities under one hub. It is a bold idea that we haven't seen before in the brony community, which means a bold logo that encompasses everything into one. The stylized "P" in the form of a galaxy is an excellent idea, but design issues in the trademark, color, and graphic symbol jumble the message. The critiques in this review and process to make a revised logo hope to fulfill Poniverse's bold, creative, imaginative messages to the brony community and beyond, while not replicating another company's logo design.
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