Batbrony

We have questions for you, darlings!  Lots and lots of questions. 

Good afternoon, everypony, how's everyone doing?  I apologize I haven't been as active on the forums as I have been in the past, but let me assure you all that I'm still around and love this place as much as ever.  If it's not too much trouble, however, I have a quick question for you all that relates to some of my own real life affairs.  You see, my girlfriend has recently decided that she'd like to look into starting her own wedding business.  It'd start as a "business from home" kinda deal, but Lord willing if it was successful enough expand from there.  The idea is that, although she'd eventually like to work up to selling actual outfits for weddings, the business will initially start as a wedding accessory business.  Specifically, she'd like to make and sell customized wedding accessories, both locally and online through outlets such as Etsy, DeviantART, Pinterest, etc.

This is very new for both of us, and as such, Juli has a lot to learn before she goes any further in getting this all set up.  As such, she specifically asked me to survey folks around here with one question in particular: whether you're married, planning on getting married, or not married at all, what kind of wedding accessories (for the entire wedding party mind you, bride, groom, maid of honor, best man, bridesmaids, groomsmen, etc.) would you most want to get customized with personal customization that gives it extra meaning?  Hypothetically speaking, which items would you be most willing to pay money for having made customized for weddings (or special events in general, though primarily weddings)?

There is no wrong answer here.  My girlfriend and I simply want to get an accurate idea in our heads of what customized wedding clothing/accessories are most in-demand among potential customers.  The only wrong answer is no answer at all, so please, give us as many answers as you can and feel free to share this with anyone you can think of.  We will both be very grateful for it, and will be sure to keep you up to date on what happens with everything going forward.  Thanks for your help, everypony, and I hope you all have a splendid day today! 

32 minutes ago, ggg-2 said:

Wait, Sugar Belle's already a baker with her own self-run bakery. Why would she want to apprentice under Mrs. Cake?

Because her bakery is a lot smaller, probably has more limited stock, and serves a far smaller amount of customers than Sugarcube Corner does.  Ponyville may be small, but it's not from what we've seen a, "Has one main street and that's it" kind of small like Starlight's Village where Sugar Belle's still living is.  So it makes sense that Sugar Belle would decide that there's plenty she can learn from Mrs. Cake, a baker with decades more experience running a successful business than she has.  She clearly won't be apprenticing in the same way that Pinkie Pie did when she moved to Ponyville, this feels like it'll be more like a fellowship, internship, or entry level job that someone takes on when they're already a doctoral student, if you will.

HOLY SHIT, LYRABON'S CANON!!! 

THAT MEANS BOTH BEST BACKGROUND PONY SHIPS ARE NOW CANON, YAY (and if anyone says Derpy and the Doctor isn't canon after the 100th episode, I WILL FIGHT YOU!!! )!!! 

OK, seriously though, that episode was amazing and the best episode of Season 8 thus far, bar none.  One of the best Discord episodes in some time.  The Ponyville bro squad is officially one of the greatest and under-utilized parts of MLP:FiM.

Still waiting for the CMC subplot to completely implode everything like...

*sees Derpy misdeliver Big Mac's package and the CMC get involved in yet another disastrous Hearts and Hooves Day subplot*

*keeps watching*

*sees five seconds of this episode*

...

...

Well... this problem seems convoluted and avoidable.

My only issue with some of these "student-centered" episodes so far (granted there haven't been many of them, but I'm going off of what we've seen) is that a lot of the problems have still centered around lessons that the Mane 6 need to learn, not the students themselves.  This bugs me for two reasons: (1) while I know the Mane 6 have a lot to learn about being teachers, they've matured enough by this point that it seems like it'd be more gratifying seeing them share their wisdom and experiences with others as opposed to learn lessons that it seems like they've learned before or should have, and (2) having the students not be the center of the lessons being learned makes it easy for them to come off as Mary Sue-ish or Gary Stu-ish.  I still like them a lot, but I wish they were learning more than seemingly imparting the lessons themselves that the teachers are learning.  Here, I'm not even sure if RD and AJ took this lesson to heart since the episode ended with them bickering just like before.  Just doesn't feel like any growth we want to see is happening when the teachers are kind of learning lessons they should know by now, and the students are barely changing at all from episode to episode since they already seem to get along perfectly fine and don't ever seem to butt heads that much as a group.  Hoping this changes going forward, but I don't know if it will.

P.S. Ya know what's also weirding me out?  The phrase "every creature."  It just sounds weird, like if someone were saying, "Come on, every person!"  I get what they're going for since everypony has been the old staple to this point, but why can't they just say everyone or everybody instead?  Every creature just sounds odd.

Ya know what trend I REALLY don't like about Applejack and Rainbow Dash episodes because it is so persistently consistent?  The fact that almost all over their conflicts arise from RAINBOW DASH unnecessarily being an ass about something and starting ridiculous shit.  Oh sure, AJ will eventually get pushed to her limit and do something stupid herself in butting heads with RD, but the only reason she usually ever gets to that point is because RD is being unbearable!  Most of this shit?  Yeah, I'd say 90% of the blame lays on RD for being a complete twat.

Also, was that whistling when you're scared bit a... a reference to "The King and I"?  Cause if so, that's a random ass reference.  Don't get me wrong, overall I'm enjoying this episode a lot so far, I just think RD is being completely ridiculous for the sake of making any of this conflict even happen at all.

OK, can we all agree that that gag about Fluttershy constantly getting "Teacher of the Month," while funny, might have opened up a gaping plothole?  Like, there's NO WAY the school's been open for that many months already, there simply isn't!  I refuse to believe that that much time has passed since the season bucking started. 

*when I read this announcement*

In all seriousness, welcome to the Poniverse team, Sunset Rose!  You've always seemed very friendly, polite, and pleasant to engage with, and I imagine you will be a valuable and beneficial member of our staff.  Best of luck, and feel free to ask any of us staffers any questions you may have! 

2 hours ago, ShootingStar159 said:

Just like we saw Rainbow’s dad in the Equestria Games flashback... oh wait. It was just someone we assumed was Sunburst’s father, it could have been an uncle, or even someone who just looked like him.

Hence why I specifically used the word 'seems' in my original post, you know, the verb that specifically means "to give the impression or sensation of being something or having a particular quality," and whose synonyms include 'imply,' 'suggest,' and 'insinuate'? 

Obviously until the show ever decides to specifically address it we have no idea if that stallion was his actual father or someone else, but my original point was that we have, as of right now, more evidence of a father/father-figure in Sunburst's life at some point than we do to date a mother in Starlight's.  The fact that Sunburst has always had a far less dramatic backstory than Starlight in general and took a far more mundane path in his own life up until Starlight returned as a presence in his life somewhat supports the possibility that Starlight might have had this added misfortune as well, as she clearly had a boatload of insecurities growing up that led her down the dark and extreme path she herself took.  I doubt losing her only friend alone was the sole contributing factor, and added isolation from the lack of a mother and having a father who, although well-meaning, as she got older she felt overly-coddled by, could certainly have contributed to her descent into darkness as well.  None of this is obviously fact, but it is fun to hypothesize and speculate based on what little evidence we have, and we certainly now know a bit more about both Starlight and Sunburst's parents and childhood after today's episode than we did before.

Good episode all around.  I can probably relate more to Sunburst's issues with his mom, but I kinda wanted to learn more about Starlight and her dad considering, well, her far more interesting backstory and the dark path she obviously took after leaving home.  Interesting too to wonder where their other parents are?  Based on Firelight's over-protectiveness and doting upon/infantilizing his daughter, I think there's a decent chance her mom may not have been in the picture early on, either from leaving the family or passing away.  Sunburst seems to have had a dad in his life at some point, but he was nowhere to be found now, which begs the question as to what he's up to as well.

Lol, Starlight's drier sense of humor is completely on point here and I am all here for it.  She is so ridiculously fun to watch when she's exasperated about something. 

Wow Sunburst, that level of unawareness is so impressively bad it's scary.  On a brighter note, his, "WHY AM I YELLING?!" line gave me a nice chuckle. 

Good morning, everypony!  Hope ya'll are having an absolutely splendid Saturday.  This certainly sounds like a fun premise for an episode, can't wait to finally learn more about Starlight and Sunburst's parents. 

P.S. Was also quite pleased to see that Twilight didn't get to play Celestia, but instead Fluttershy.  It would've been pretty insulting and annoying if Twilight had gotten to take center-stage after all the mistakes she made in this episode.  Glad the episode didn't indulge in the show's all-too-often need to thrust Twilight into the spotlight, at least in ways that hurt the episode.

Princess Celestia > Director than Twilight 

Also, the return of Trollestia at the end there was very gratifying to see.

Glad to see AJ got her proper credit as well for having the right mindset from the very beginning given that, so often, she's so modest that she doesn't even take the, "Told ya so" route.  All in all, this was a great episode that I had a lot of fun watching.

When it all blows up in Twilight's face...

Bravo, Twilight, bravo.  Yet another instance of, "Should've listened to Applejack right from the get-go!" 

OMG WE FINALLY GOT TO HEAR CELESTIA'S ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE!!! 

Also, is it just me or is Spike cosplaying as Zack Snyder?

At this point, I'm pretty sure Spike is just going along with this because he wants to see how badly this all blows up in Twilight's face for his own amusement.  I'm also kinda hoping AJ gets a BRUTALLY honest moment with Celestia.   Overall, this episode so far is as funny as I'd hoped it'd be.

When I hear Twilight wrote a play...

When Celestia prances around...

When Twilight casts Celestia in her play...

OK, this premise sounds like it could lead to a positively hilarious episode.  The idea of Princess Celestia performing badly in a play just tickles me silly in all kinds of ways, so here's hoping we get a fun episode with a solid lesson while we're at it. 

8 minutes ago, Truffles said:

The lesson I took away from this episode was ponies should pay no attention to Applejack's advice, which is unfortunate because it seems like she (or more specifically, her conscience as perceived by Rainbow Dash) was thrown under the bus to create the main conflict for the episode. She's pretty much never going to live down what happened in "Somepony to Watch Over Me," and it seems like the stick-in-the-mud aspects of her character are what the writers tend to gravitate towards when coming up with ways on how to use her.

It's kind of like how Spike used to get written as being out-of-control of his greed as a plot device, even after it wore out it's welcome.

I disagree with that take concerning AJ, I really don't think this episode or the writers at large have anything against her.  She's frequently depicted as being the most mature member of the group, especially when it comes to basics and practical matters, and her biggest fault is when she overthinks things or gets stuck into a routine even if the routine doesn't make sense.  Here's what I said above about how she was depicted in this episode:

"I don't think they were trying to critique AJ very much.  Her guidelines may have been overly stringent, but I have a feeling that if she'd been chaperoning them, things probably would've gone smoother just because she knows all of those ponies so well and what kind of fun they can and shouldn't be getting up to way better than RD could.  My theory is that RD was (very justifiably) worried that AJ would kick her ass if she let anything happen to them, and couple that with the fact that she really doesn't know any of these ponies much, not even Granny Smith all that well, it was really easy for her to go overboard.  She needed to watch out for them, but there was a far healthier balance to be struck between chaperoning and having fun with them than she initially achieved."

8 minutes ago, Truffles said:

I'm seen folks wondering why RD would care about a rollercoaster since she's the fastest thing on the planet, but I can see how she'd want to go on the ride. It's one thing to fly around but have to work at it to keep going so quickly. It's another when you can just sit back and let a ride take you on an exciting journey, not being sure of how it will feel or what surprises it has in for you. Plus since the Wonderbolts were the ponies who got her interested in it (yay, Soarin speaking appearance!) I can see how she'd want to be in on the fun they had.

I'm sure RD wanted to enjoy the roller coaster, but it seemed that the beginning of the episode was mostly implying that she wanted to ride it since every other Wonderbolt had and she'd feel slightly less a part of the group if she didn't.  Is that kind of petty and shallow?  A little, but if anypony in the Mane 6 would worry about that kind of social acceptance, especially in the group she's been trying to get into her entire life until recently, it'd be RD.  She's always trying to be the best Wonderbolt she can possibly be and has frequently proven that she's willing to take every step necessary, even little ones that might not seem all that important to most ponies, in order to do so.

40 minutes ago, StitchandMLPlover said:

So I saw MLP "Grannies Gone Wild" and I thought it was really good and super cute. It has a good lesson about letting people make their own choices about what they can and cannot do and not being over protective. Nice to see Applejack's over protective side addressed again. It was interesting to see Applejack basically tell Rainbow to treat the elderly ponies in a similar way to how Applejack treated Applebloom in "Somepony to Watch Over Me" with Granny Smith and the others having to sneak away like Applebloom did but here it works even better because Granny Smith is an adult. It reminded me of how I had to learn not to be overprotective of my friend when he had a stroke. I had to remember he was and adult who knew his own body and how much he could handle. The way Applejack pops up in RD's head is hilarious!

I don't think they were trying to critique AJ very much.  Her guidelines may have been overly stringent, but I have a feeling that if she'd been chaperoning them, things probably would've gone smoother just because she knows all of those ponies so well and what kind of fun they can and shouldn't be getting up to way better than RD could.  My theory is that RD was (very justifiably) worried that AJ would kick her ass if she let anything happen to them, and couple that with the fact that she really doesn't know any of these ponies much, not even Granny Smith all that well, it was really easy for her to go overboard.  She needed to watch out for them, but there was a far healthier balance to be struck between chaperoning and having fun with them than she initially achieved.

Not a terribly strong episode as far as the lesson goes, or rather, it was just hard to say what lesson at all they were trying to convey.  Not that I'm saying the show always needs to be on the nose with their lessons or anything, this just felt like an episode where the lesson learned itself wasn't terribly important.  That said, it was certainly a step up from last week's episode and was wildly entertaining to boot, especially the antics that Granny Smith and her relatives all got up to!  Would've been nice to see the whole group doing a few different activities at the end of the episode, but overall this was just a fun, solid, entertaining episode for me, and I'm totally OK with the episode for what it was. 

Is... is one of those magicians Trixie's dad?  Like, they had the EXACT same color scheme, coat and mane!  Makes ya wonder if he might show up in another episode later this season.  I highly doubt they'd introduce him just as a one-off character if he practices the exact same career as his daughter.  The fact that he's a very successful magician makes the idea of seeing him later this season even more interesting.  Maybe Trixie has some hidden insecurities about being in her father's shadow and not living up to his rep?  Ooooooooooo, the possibilities are endless!