Jump to content
Banner by ~ Kyoshi Frost Wolf
Guidelines

Prospekt

User
 View Profile  See their content

  • Posts

    3,111

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Prospekt

  1. Prospekt
    I have avoided the ToonKriticY2K thread for the past several days. I noticed that it very much turned into a Debate Pit-esque thread in which a few members of our forum community (who will not be named) have lashed out. And it is completely understandable that they are having difficulty dealing with the disgusting actions of a prominent member of the fandom as a whole. I wanted to let all of this process for a bit before saying something apart from merely condemning ToonKritic's actions, which I have already done on a few occasions.
    About a week ago, I first learned about Toon's actions via a video that gave a basic rundown of the situation. I have been a brony for over 3 and a half years now. I often took to the internet for my fix of pony-related content long before I even made a Poniverse account. During that time, I grew to enjoy the brony analysis community on YouTube: their personalities, their unique insights, and above all, their passion for what they love. While I wasn't really a fan of ToonKritic's content from his own channel, I certainly recognized him from the wide array of collaborations that he did with other people in the analysis community. I even came across some of his writing on Fimfiction and enjoyed what he brought to the table.
    It pained me to find out what Toon has been doing behind the scenes. And at first, I didn't even know the full extent of what had been happening. I looked into the situation even more and eventually I learned that ToonKritic had been engaging in similar illicit acts with minors for more than a decade. I already knew that what he had done was heinous and has no place in not only this fandom, but a civil society. But as I dug deeper, things began to look even worse.
    I am incredibly ashamed of members of this fandom who have allowed such perverse activities, no matter how serious they actually were, to continue for a long time. I am ashamed of members of the fandom, specifically the analysis community, who learned about the full extent of ToonKritic's sexual abuse of minors, and kept their mouths shut about it until a Skype call and various screenshots of Toon's interactions with his victims were leaked.
    Pedophilia, and indeed ALL forms of sexual abuse or harassment, are not something to be taken lightly. There are victims whose livelihoods were shattered by the actions of a manipulative child sexual predator. They will forever have to live with the memories of this man taking advantage of them. Justice needs to be served, but that alone is not enough. What about other people who have suffered at the hands of members of this fandom?
    It is an odd coincidence that a thread about pedophilia and underage dating in the MLP Forums community showed up in the Feedback section over a week before ToonKritic's behavior was made public. And this reminded me that incidents of a similar nature have happened close to home. This community is made up of people from their teens all the way to their 40s. In a setting where adults are grouped with and allowed to interact with minors, then there is a risk of abuse. I'm not saying that the majority of adult users of this forum would do such a thing. I'm not stereotyping adult users of the site, because I myself am a 20 year old. But it appears to me that in some way, shape, or form, there have been underage members of this very community who were victimized by older users (who were then given appropriate consequences). And that hurts.
    Yes, the fandom has proven time and time again to be a force for good and positivity in the world. It has broken down barriers. It has changed lives for the better, like my own. It has been a light in the lives of many people in this dark world. But every group is going to have its bad apples.
    If we won't bring to light and discuss the truth that sexual abuse can and does exist within this fandom, then how are we going to fix the problem? While the fandom has been a wonderful thing for many people, staying silent about a problem we are aware of for the sake of preventing controversy is a disaster waiting to happen.
    What do you care about more? The public's view of a fandom that is honestly already stigmatized to begin with, or the innocent young people who have fallen victim to abusers who just so happened to be bronies?
    So in light of the ToonKritic mess, I have this to say to the members of this forum, and indeed all members of this fandom who may happen to lurk on the site without being active contributers. If you are being victimized by a member of this forum, this fandom, or anybody else, then there are people you can reach out to for support. We have administrators and other staff here who have dealt with abusive situations within the community before. There are authorities who can help you get out of an unsafe situation. And I honestly believe that there are good people within this very community who you can talk to and who will be there to support you. You are not alone.
    As for myself? I have noticed quite a bit of talk--not just here, but indeed across all places on the internet where bronies congregate--about leaving the fandom behind in light of the controversy. I will not be leaving the fandom as a result of the actions of people like ToonKritic. I believe that it is your choice, and your choice alone, to stay or to leave. If you no longer feel comfortable in the fandom, then I respect that. But I am incredibly ashamed of the members of the community who have committed such acts of abuse, and who let such things slide without making it clear that there is a problem. I sincerely hope that together, we can tackle this problem head-on, and foster not just a forum community, but a fandom with no tolerance for sexual abuse, harassment, or misconduct in any form, as well as a positive culture that seeks to empower the individual fans in the community and make a positive difference in their lives.
    --------------------------------------
    So, with that, I thank you for reading this. I didn't plan on it being this long, but I needed to vent and express my thoughts on the matter.
  2. Prospekt

    Fanfiction & New OC

    By Prospekt,

    Hey, everypony! Haven't done one of these in a while. But figured I might as well post something because I've been feeling quite inspired lately and I might as well get some of this stuff down on paper while I'm still feeling the effects of that creative spark.
    First and foremost...
    Anypony remember that Lyra fanfic I started writing on Fimfiction a while back? I haven't forgotten about it. Life, college, and the like got in the way. And I ran into some writers block not because of a lack of ideas, but due to having so many ideas that it was hard to focus on just one and stick with it. I've tried to narrow things down a bit, and I'm happy to say that I've narrowed things down to two specific stories that I will focus on.
    Yay!
    One, of course, is the Lyra fic, In My Own Company. The other is a story called Friendship is Stellar that originally grew out of an attempt to plan a pony fic for NaNoWriMo (which I ended up not participating in due to exams and the like). Basically, the premise is that Starlight Glimmer suffered a horrible accident and was trapped in a block of ice for 30 years. Yes, it's implausible in real life. But this is a block of ice in an enchanted cave with the same kind of crystals as those that make up the Crystal Heart. So, the magic within the cave kept her alive and prevented her from visibly aging. Starlight wakes up to find an Equestria that has fallen into a (seemingly) endless winter, kind of like the White Witch's endless winter in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The Mane Six are nowhere to be found. A new villain has gained enough power to banish the princesses away. Basically, Equestria is a desolate frozen wasteland ruled over by said villain.
    Now, I'm especially ecstatic about FiS, because one of the two protagonists is my first truly fleshed-out OC.
    So, drumroll please...
    Put your hooves together for...
    Silica Pumice!

    The Pony Creator browser program is actually pretty neat. Decided to give it a try because I'm a terrible artist and I actually wanted the character to look like a typical Flash pony. Note: the cutie mark is kind of a placeholder. At some point, I'll give her a better-looking pickaxe rather than cheap free clipart, but this will do for now. And the rest of her physical appearance may change a bit, so this is kind of a rough draft.
    So, in the context of the story, Silica Pumice is the daughter of Limestone Pie. Thus, she is Pinkie Pie's niece. She shares some Pie Family traits, like the typical grayscale look and Limestone's eyes. She has been a miner her entire life, who grew up in the north of Equestria near the Crystal Empire. She was brought up as a miner rather than a rock farmer because the old Pie rock farm was destroyed years ago.
    One day, Silica is out mining in the icy caves near the Crystal Empire, when she comes across the frozen body of Starlight Glimmer and decides to try and revive the unicorn. This is the story of Starlight learning about the catastrophe that erupted in Equestria years ago, and attempting to fix the mess using what she learned from Twilight and the Mane Six all those years ago. Silica is the eager sidekick along for the ride, who is quite starstruck when she realizes that Starlight was once good friends with her aunt Pinkie.
    So... yeah! That's it! Can't wait to get back to writing again. And just in case I ever do get into pony roleplaying, I'll be putting Silica into the MLP Forums character database with extra details I have written down about her personality and whatnot. Prologue to FiS will be up on Fimfiction soon, will post a link once it's up. Might post in the "Written Fan Works" section of the forums, too.
    Have a great day/night/afternoon/evening/morning/unspecified time!
  3. Prospekt

    The MLP Show Bible

    By Prospekt,

    MLP FiM's original show bible leaked yesterday and I'm not gonna lie, there's some really cool stuff in there. Not sure if I can link to it without violating forum rules because after all it appears to be copyrighted material. But I think it's great stuff if you are interested in Lauren Faust's creative process while developing the show, as well as possibly what could have been if Hasbro hadn't insisted on including less of the adventure stories that Faust wanted.
    So just in case I can't post a link, here are some highlights:
    - Lauren Faust predicted that at least some boys would watch the show
    - Many characters had different names, designs, and cutie marks. For example, "Twilight Twinkle" was colored differently and had a cutie mark resembling the flag of Pakistan.
    - Twilight and Cheerilee were originally supposed to be very close.
    - Celestia was supposed to be a queen (this was later changed because Hasbro believed that "queens" in fiction are usually evil).
    - Unicorns were apparently supposed to hail from the mountains.
    - There's a lot of concept art of things that never ended up being used, like different outfits on some characters. For example, some outfits include bridles, which have never really appeared in the final show.
    - The Wonderbolts were originally called the Blue Thunders.
    - There are some episode synopses, meant to give examples of adventure and relationship stories, respectively. Some of these ideas for episodes are recognizable from Season 1, while some ended up being discarded.
    - Deer and seaponies were supposed to be canon from the very beginning. It's possible the unused deer episode was the inspiration for one of the comic arcs.
  4. Prospekt
    Just got back from seeing the new movie with my best friend a little bit ago. We both really enjoyed it. There were only a few other people in the theater; it's likely a school night for kids so keeping them up late by taking them to the movies isn't something most parents are probably willing to do.
    I’m not familiar with earlier generations of the MLP franchise so I’m not sure if nostalgia would be a factor for old fans. If you are at all a fan of Friendship is Magic, then this movie is for you. There are a ton of little references to past episodes of the show to satisfy the dedicated fan: Fluttershy says many yays. Discord makes a tiny cameo early on (as well as during the end credits). Twilight’s Canterlot friends from Amending Fences briefly show up in one scene. We learn that Ursa Minor is the creature who originally robbed Tempest of her horn and left a scar on her face. And Fluttershy counsels one of the Storm King’s minions at the end (leaving them in tears), very reminiscent of some adorable moments in Season 1. Who knows, though? Perhaps a few people who aren’t familiar with MLP at all will go to see this movie. It doesn’t require you to be caught up with the show. But it rewards you if you are.
    I wish we could’ve seen more banter between some characters. The chemistry between Rarity and Capper seemed to be hinted at from some of the concept art I’ve seen, but they didn’t really interact much. I assumed most of the new characters would be clear counterparts of Spike and the Mane 6, but that wasn’t really the case apart from Twilight+Tempest and Rainbow Dash+Celaeno. Oh well. *shrug*
    I know, some people are undoubtedly going to call this fan service, but the Derpy scenes (first with the Wonderbolts, then getting in the way of Tempest’s magic) are adorable and I love the little cameo by Starlight and Trixie early on.
    I like the animation style a lot. Some scenes do look awkward with CGI thrown in for certain objects like the airships (or as Grubber says, boats in the air... air boats...). But the scenery is gorgeous and while character designs took getting used to, I was pretty much used to it by the end. Perhaps this style, just scaled down a bit in visual quality in order to cut production costs, would fit future seasons of FiM. I’m down for that.
    Let’s talk about the new characters…
    - The Storm King is an average villain and probably one of my least favorite pony villains. Not all that interesting, and he shows no development whatsoever. He doesn’t even get to escape so that one day he can return and once again raise hell in Equestria, nor is he reformed. Instead, his death is implied when his crystallized self falls and shatters. Kind of a boring outcome. Still, Liev Schreiber’s voice acting is good. He did a solid job.
    - Grubber is kind of a throwaway side character. I’m sorry if you’re a fan, but when he’s not randomly munching on sweets I think he’s often annoying and really doesn't need to be talking because I hardly found his little remarks funny. Maybe kids will like him, though. For some reason his design (which I do like) kinda looks like a gray Stitch with hair.
    - Captain Celaeno is a great counterpart for Rainbow Dash. They end up having great chemistry. Celaeno is a loyal captain to her crew who loves adventure. Her crew looks up to her and I like her design.
    - Queen Novo is pretty neat. She’s a stern, just ruler of her underwater nation who greatly values her family of hippogriffs/seaponies. Not too much to say about her, she doesn’t get all that much screen time.
    - Princess Skystar is very much a Dory sort of character. I wonder if that similarity was intentional. :ooh:Very excitable and almost like Pinkie Pie at some moments. Very cute seapony who clearly desires the magic of friendship but sadly has been locked away in the underwater depths without many true friends other than seashells. Fits the story well.
    - Capper is one of my favorite new characters. He’s a sly con artist who actually has a big heart, which becomes apparent when he realizes what will happen if he doesn’t help the ponies he betrayed. Taye Diggs has the perfect voice for Capper. Oh, and Capper has an awesome design...
    - Songbird Serenade doesn’t show up much but she looks adorable and fits in pretty well. Her song Rainbow is cute. I’ll elaborate more on it later. Of the three pony pop stars we have seen (Songbird, Coluratura/Rara, and Sapphire Shores) she’s the least well developed but I don’t really think she’s a weak character.
    - And finally, Tempest Shadow, the new character who most deserves to return in the regular series. Open Up Your Eyes is my favorite song in the whole movie. Tempest’s angsty backstory doesn’t come off as trite; it works for her character's role. And I guess I tend to enjoy fictional characters like that who have some depth. I only wish the Storm King was also like that.
    Now on to the songs…
    - We Got This is a nice opening song. It reminds me a lot of Morning In Ponyville. The song and the visuals do a satisfactory job of setting the stage.
    - I’m the Friend You Need is one of only two songs sung entirely by a single character. Taye Diggs/Capper has such a cool singing voice. Diggs is among my favorite musical actors, with lots of Broadway experience.
    -Time to Be Awesome is very fun. I listened to a clip (was it recorded at Bronycon? or Comic-con? I can’t remember) a few months ago and figured it would be extremely catchy. In that regard, it sure did deliver! Also, grumpy Twilight at the beginning is great.
    -One Small Thing is cute. What can I say? It helps give Princess Skystar some depth. Her heart truly hungers for friendship. Also, some of the most adorable visuals in the whole movie with the seaponies. Especially the little white seapony. He’s adorable.
    - Open Up Your Eyes, Tempest’s song addressed to Twilight, is fairly sad but powerful. I’m not sure any other song in the movie gives me such Disney vibes. And Emily Blunt sure can SING! I love the animation during the flashbacks.
    - And then comes Rainbow. Very catchy pop song by Sia. It’s not as gorgeous as Titanium but it’s fun enough to provide a satisfactory dance party ending scene with none other than—surprise, surprise—DJ Pon-3 playing the music. Kind of a cliché ending, but it’s fun and leads in to cute end credits.
    Overall… I’d give this movie a 7.5/10. Now that’s when judged in comparison to similar movies I’ve seen, not in comparison to Equestria Girls and episodes of FiM. By pony standards, I would go as far as bumping that rating up to an 8.5/10. It’s memorable enough that I will probably see it in theaters again. It isn't really structured like an episode, so it avoids feeling like an extended episode. The plot is cute, the animation is mostly appealing to the eye, the new characters are mostly fun, and overall it’s a real treat. Well done, Hasbro.
    Oh, and I almost forgot…
     
  5. Prospekt
    Well, this new episode came much quicker than expected! Aired a week early in Canada so naturally it found its way to the internet for all to enjoy and I couldn't help but watch it. 

    "Wow, Fluttershy. I've never heard you speak with such conviction!" I think that quote says it all... Fluttershy has grown so much as a character and this episode makes it very clear. That's not to say she isn't timid anymore. She's always been that way and it's a vital part of who she is. But even Iron Will would be proud to see how far this pony has come. The new Fluttershy is here, and she's got such a determined demeanor.

    The episode revolves around Fluttershy's dream to establish a wildlife sanctuary. For a while, I figured this was something she would be interested in. I even had a headcanon theory that Fluttershy's house and the surrounding area already were a sanctuary and Fluttershy was the mayor-appointed wildlife "guardian" of sorts. But this still works fine!

    When Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack bring in some "experts" to help design and build the sanctuary, they fail to grasp the vibe that Fluttershy wants: natural, mimicking the natural habitats of the critters that will live there. And I like how Fluttershy has developed the courage to stand up for what she does want. Assertiveness! See Fluttershy, it can pay off.

    Oh, and look who made an unexpected reappearance after a couple of seasons: Big Daddy McColt. His beard still looks fake, though.


    The whole sanctuary is beautiful; shows how much effort is being put into the scenery this season. Not to mention it's adorable.

    Oh Spike, you poor, poor thing. You're helping out your friend Fluttershy when you could be napping back in the castle. 

    All in all... I can't help but adore this episode. Can't really find anything to complain about. Not sure if that's my love for Fluttershy's character talking, but regardless, this is the best we've seen this season thus far. It's a 9/10 episode, easy. LOVED IT.
  6. Prospekt
    Well well well, everypony. Time for another new episode.  
    Maud Pie is one of those unique characters who shows so little emotion, yet manages to be extremely lovable. So of course I wanted to jump for joy when I found out that she was getting an episode early on in the season. And once again, Maud failed to disappoint. But what really made me happy was seeing how Starlight was unexpectedly integrated into the story. Looks like Starlight and Maud have actually crossed paths before, in a strange twist of fate that led to Starlight's enslavement of her old village...

    But alas, now that these two have encountered each other once again, they have a cool chemistry going on. Maud tells Starlight that one reason she holds rocks so near and dear to her heart is that they can never judge; rocks don't care if you're different from everypony else. And that theme fits this pair so well... Maud is Starlight's Boulder who accepts her regardless of the regret that still tries to eat away at her. Heartwarming lesson at work here.
    My only real gripe about this episode was Pinkie Pie. Yes, good old Pinkie means no harm and only constantly bugged her sister out of love. But even I, a viewer, have trouble dealing with Pinkie when she's too hyper and in everypony's face too much. It just gets boring; Maud and Starlight (seemingly) have a moment alone with each other to bond, and then Pinkie comes in like, "OH MY GOSH AREN'T YOU TWO HAVING SO MUCH FUN TOGETHER? AREN'T YOU BECOMING THE BEST OF FRIENDS?!?"
    Then there was Pinkie's mysteriously out of character behavior that made her more like Twilight than anypony else. Seriously, doing scientific analysis on friendship is Twilight's job, not yours, Pinkie.

    Whatever, though. The good far outweighed the bad.
    I suppose I should call some attention to the cute little Bon Bon, Lyra, and Derpy moments, too. Some people will undoubtedly call these moments fan service, but you know what? I see nothing wrong with showing some love for these background ponies. Bring it on.


    Overall, nice episode that hopefully means we'll see a bit more Maud this season than we normally would, since she's now got a beautiful cavern abode on the edge of Ponyville. Seriously, I may not be a geology geek, but LOOK AT IT:

    Nice scenery in this episode, if I do say so myself.
    Anyways, I give this a rock solid 8.5/10.  Apart from an overwhelming Pinkie, it showcased plenty of cute moments with plenty of beautifully deadpan Maud humor. Definitely an episode I want to re-watch a bunch of times.
    One more thing... these two are adorable together. I can already see the shipping starting to happen.

  7. Prospekt
    All in all, really not bad. It was just what I expected: Twitter and Spike watch Flurry Heart and things go wrong because we all know cartoon babies with magical powers are a real hassle to deal with. Not sure how Twilight could lose track of time like she did, though. Kinda out of character, if you ask me.
    For me, some of the best humor actually came from the art gallery Cadance and Shining Armor visited. I liked how it poked fun at how downright strange (some might say "boring," too...) some of the more abstract art out there can be... the whole subject makes for a lot of controversy when it comes to defining exactly what "art" is. 
    This episode parallels Baby Cakes a bit, as well as Stare Master, so it's not exactly something that hasn't been done on the show before. Flurry Heart's unpredictable magic had already showed up in The Crystalling, too. But it was nice and heartwarming to watch so I'll give it 7.5/10.
    Not a terrible start to the season. I reckon the best has yet to come, just because this was only the third episode. This one had brand new writers, correct?
    Nick Confalone, writer of Party Pooped, Hearthbreakers, No Second Prances, The Saddle Row Review, and Dungeons & Discords, returns with next week's episode. He's already done some nice work with Pinkie and Maud in Season 5, plus some of my favorite Season 6 episodes, so I'm excited to see what's in store.
    Bring it on! 
  8. Prospekt
    I was planning on watching the streams live, but sadly I had to wait until I got family stuff out of the way, with Easter tomorrow. Finally watched a little bit ago though, and here are my thoughts:
     
     
    Celestial Advice:
    Ok: how in the heck is Starlight ready to move on? In the name of Celestia (yes Celestia, you ARE an expression ;)) does Twilight have nothing left to teach her? Are we missing like another season (or two?) worth of Starlight episodes, because we did not see too much progress from her in Season 6. Yeah, To Where And Back Again was impressive, but give me a break... I'm a Starlight fan and I feel a bit cheated. I wanted to see her journey but it progressed too quickly. Oh well, at least she isn't disappearing indefinitely.
    With that out of the way, hmm, let's see... the Twilight, Spike, and Celestia moments were heartwarming. Especially Celestia's memories of the time immediately before she sent Twilight away to Ponyville.
    I'm just gonna say this now: Discord was pretty annoying. He was too much of a pest to Twilight. Like come on bro, give the princess some space... Starlight's not your student.
    Oh well. The situation with Starlight bugs me, but whatevs. As I said, we can only assume that there was a whole lot she did that we didn't get to see in Season 6.
    6.5/10. Probably my least favorite premiere episode.
    All Bottled Up:
    I can't help but think this would've fit pretty well in Season 6, before Starlight's "graduation." Would've made for a good sequel to No Second Prance. But whatever.
    As I mentioned previously, I'm a Starlight Glimmer fan. And reforming Trixie was one of my personal highlights of Season 6. Finally, one of my favorite "obscure" characters is getting the screen time she deserves. And thank Celestia, Twilight's grudge with Trixie has dissipated. So seeing Starlight and Trixie both in the spotlight again was nice.
    The Mane 6's friendship retreat was pretty cheesy. I don't have much to say about it other than I liked the persistent gag in which their dialogue mirrored that of their pals back in Ponyville. And I guess the song wasn't bad. *shrug*
    The episode's moral was kinda forgettable. Sure, it's good for kids; don't bottle up your anger, lest it build up so that it ends up hurting someone. But I suppose it wasn't terribly original. Green Isn't Your Color and Putting Your Hoof Down come to mind as episodes with similar morals.
    Hmmmm... what else...?
    Again, not an amazing premiere episode, but at least it was presented as more of a standalone story. Starlight and Trixie are cute together, makes me want to see more duo episodes with those two.
    7.5/10
×
×
  • Create New...