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Malcontent

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Everything posted by Malcontent

  1. episode 4 is up for Equestrian City! :D

  2. Greetings, this is a general update on the state of Equestrian City! Episode 2 and 3 are available on both dA and Fimfiction at the moment. ED I haven't heard a thing from yet. The main Table of Contents for the comic has been updated on the main site and at dA in our supergroup! All links are below! Main Table of Contents for the Comic Equestrian City Supergroup on DeviantArt Equestrian City Episode 2 Equestrian City Episode 3 Equestrian City on FimFiction Thanks for reading!
  3. To me it seemed like this was audition one for the types of episodes they COULD give us. This presented to us was a classic MLP formula episode: Problem. Solution. Speed bump with antagonists Friendship lesson Add a song Resolution. It was nice to hear Sunset but then again I've always said Sunset could read a menu to me and I'd be smitten by her voice The other two are obvious different formulas, again based on what I see as auditions and tests for reception by us. Here's a lovely picture I had done with a model I purchased n.n
  4. As the author Equestrian City, it’s no secret I’m partial to Equestria Girls. In my humble opinion, it’s got far more potential for storylines that are relatable to modern issues, not that the MLP show isn’t good at it, but it feels more real. That and it has Sunset Shimmer. Sunset is by far the most 3 dimensional character they’ve ever made, even more so due to the fact she was, by best I can tell, supposed to be a throwaway character for the one off movie “Equestria Girls”. She turned into something must more, my adoration for her is no real secret either. Each year, it became like a superbowl like wait for that years “Equestria Girls” movie, the best being, again in my own opinion, Rainbow Rocks. So when I heard we were doing three shorts, immediately my hopes of a unlimited series for Equestria Girls soared, as most are aware. The Polish dubbed versions came out to give us a sneak peak, and of course then the English dubs came out, followed by the actual reveal recently on Discovery Family. The first of which, I’ll give my two cents on now, since, well everyone and their brother, sister and mother have already posted theirs, why not me? Dance Magic The title and theme song are, lack luster, but I imagine it will be that way, since it’s really just prototypes. My initial thoughts were “Oh great, they are just doing this one to burn off a song they didn’t use in Friendship Games” and thankfully, it was more amusing than just that. The feeling of familiarity came back immediately as I watched the opening, listening to all the voices I’ve come to love. I was thrilled that we were going to see Rarity do something rather than be window dressing. I’ve always thought she needed more work, thankfully, they seem to be listening recently in the main show But, I was further overjoyed by the fact that one of the biggest letdowns of the Friendship Games (one of many) was the lack of use of any of the Anti-Mane 6 they worked on hyping up and then barely got any interaction with. This time we get to see Sour Sweet, Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare, the analogues to various Mane 6 members. Sunny Flare was nice to see, as she got one line in the movie, and oddly, by the midway point, they felt twice as fleshed out as they did in the 3rd movie. I’m still a bit in the middle about how quickly these girls reform (it seems we’re all about reforming people, if we keep this up we’ll have no villains ;/ ) But, by the time we get to the solution of the problem in a tidy package of 22 minutes, it doesn't even feel like the dance number (which includes a set of repeated animation, but I can forgive that for this time, it’s all proof of concept it seems for a series “Can we do it” sorta thing) As the episodes winds down after Pinkie’s rather epic rapping, we come to the conclusion that these four of Crystal Prep are in fact now friends, despite all the hopes some had that they’d return like the Dazzlings might, later. Overall, it’s a lovely episode, feels a bit typical. Here’s something I’ve somewhat noticed having watched them all several times in various languages. Each episode seems to be a audition in a way. This one is a typical MLP-ish episode. Problem presented. Solution Given Speedbump. Readjust Solution. Epilogue. Sprinkle in a song somewhere and you’re done. The 2nd one is more an homage to Scooby Doo, although the mystery is really easy to guess, and the third one is trying to compress a movie battle AND a cross over into 22 minutes, which, well I’ll go into that later Anyway, thanks for the read, and by all means, please discuss in a civil way, I LOVE to interact and bounce ideas off.
  5. So..should I review the Equestria Girl episodes. Or should I not. Seems everyone reviews everything..and if that's the case..why review anything..*conflcited* 

    1. The_Gobo

      The_Gobo

      Depends on how thoroughly you've thought through the term 'review', the saturation of the market in that sorta thing, and how objective your comment is on the topic

      o3o

      As for 'why', because one enjoys it.

      If people didn't enjoy it, they wouldn't do it

       

  6. More shimmer is the best kind! Here's one that when I look at I imagine her saying to me "So, you ship yourself with me huh? NEVER seen that before. -.-" Now there's an idea.
  7. Thanks n.n Here is a better worded breakdown I find very accurate. Not my video but very true. https://youtu.be/yao7KAW9ICQ
  8. The two examples given are acceptable due to the fact she's the main character and our real eyes in the world. Couplednwirh the fact she and her friends are the avatars for the elements of friendship, this seems reasonable. If the world's problems could be solved by everybody and not just the name six, we would have no reason for the elements xD I hadn't taken into consideration the queen shot her down. T hats an excellent point! Thanks! Perhaps I should have used the term "poorly written" then? I can't see how twilight was a Mary sue because, well, she's the main character but t hats an old issue n.n I was referring to the fact that she seems to be popping up everywhere and solving the problems that come her way, most usually without the same amount of help it took our supposed avatars of harmony to handle large events. I compare it to how say Mary Sue fixes everything wrong in engineering when the supposed chief of said ship can't (but has in canon several times shown themselves compotent) If I sound entitled it's not my intent and I apologize. Look at it this way: for the most part no one seems to have a problem with starlight. By societal rules, the majority opinion rules and is thus considered the normal or "right" answer. If my opinion is not in line with that so called right answer, then something must be wrong with me. In fact there has to be, because the writers of the show seem to keep writing her this way. I love this fandom and I love the shows. Until about a day ago my faith was solid. If they are right, then I must be wrong. If I'm wrong about this, what stops me from being wrong about liking the ip? Imagine how that feels. I understand as I stated above, that we need to teach the lesson that everyone should be given a chance. The lesson however should also be there that not everyone IS redeemable. If this show is supposedly for kids, what kind of lesson are we teaching if we tell them to blindly try to befriend someone that's clearly a threat. There ARE monsters in the world. Don't assume everyone is but be able to tell when one is a genuine threat beyond redemption. Also I apologies for not replying sooner I looked at your icon and lost a few hours of time being hypnotized Thanks for the input!
  9. I appreciate your feedback! The flaws you point out, if thats what they are, can they then justify the seemingly over the top moments I've described not counting the Eqg special? You raise a good point with the flaws however. Those seem to be rather convenient when the story calls for it at times, but still, they are present. That a got me thinking now. So woth this in mind, anyone else?
  10. I consider myself a reasonable person. Who doesn't? SPOILERS for 3rd Equestria Girl Short. STOP NOW if you don’t want them. I’ll remove this WARNING when the episode airs. Starlight Glimmer was introduced, among other reasons, to help be new viewer’s guide to the show. I get that. It’s a great idea. Bravo. The more the merrier. More people means more ratings. More ratings means more episodes. Maybe even Equestria Girls the series. I recently had the chance to watch the 3rd Equestria Girl short, and I was pumped. I was hoping we’d have Twilight Prime or Celestia run into Sunset. Maybe have that wonderful heartfelt “I was wrong!” “I know” moment we all in one way or another, envision! I was extremely disappointed. Not because I didn’t see any of that. I’m fine with that. More suspense the better. First. Lets recap Starlight Glimmer. I’ve said in my early reviews when we first met Starlight Glimmer that my first impression was that of joy. Starlight was presented as a veiled homage to both Socialism and the Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union. I loved that. She had no regrets about what she was doing. She thought she was doing the right thing. Most well rounded villains do. She used a Plot Device to steal Cutie Marks and make everyone Equal. Because when everyone’s equal, no one is better. That's the problem with socialism and communism however, it’s never that easy. There’s always someone in charge. Corrupt most often than not, who keeps the status quo with the help of devoted brainwashed minions. The same was true in Starlight’s village. When the whole thing comes crashing down around her, she does what any good villain does: she runs. When cornered, she tries to flat out KILL the Mane 6. If Twilight hadn’t had her barrier spell, she would have succeeded. Then came the moment of truth. The moment I might add that Sunset Shimmer (who I’m convinced was a prototype for Starlight) choked at. When classically our villain should have a small breakdown and repent, and be accepted and not executed for their crimes, Starlight does not. I was overcome with hope that we’d finally gotten on the right path of balancing realism and cartoonism lessons. Starlight vows REVENGE. She does, quite frankly, what I would have done. For the rest of the season she spies on Twilight and her friends to find out just HOW they beat her, and what she can take away from Twilight to make her feel as awful as she does. Thus making all things equal again. She then waits for the proper moment and tool to strike with: The Time Spell we all but forgot existed from seasons past. Using it, she does, again, what I would have done: she goes back and stops the Rainboom that began the lives of all the Mane 6 from happening. Problem solved. The final part of any revenge plan is to make sure your target knows who destroyed them. Often a pitfall of villains, but still important. What goods the work if no one knows? So Starlight does in fact, let Twilight know who is responsible. Then the moment I personally was waiting to find out: What horrific event made this monster? Villains aren’t born. They are made. Something tragic usually. Personal, and always life altering. Starlight gives us her backstory, finally, and despite the fact it kind of resembles what I thought was going to happen to the Cutie Mark Crusaders when one got their mark (by the way, what a cop out :P) it was comic book perfect. We learn that unlike the wonderful happy friends that the Mane 6 are, Starlight didn’t get her Cutie Mark when her best friend did. When he did (which apparently was for being able to sort by the dewey decimal system I guess?) his family showered him with enough praise and uplifting that anyone would be upset, let alone our villain. He quickly disappeared out of her life, leaving her alone. The most important thing to any pony, had made HER the most miserable one. She didn’t want that to happen to anyone else. So she started (with Maud’s help it seems) her plan for the village. Then it was destroyed by Twilight, making it extremely personal. Bringing us to the end of that season where Starlight is literally inches away from winning, and she chokes. Somehow, the Magic of Friendship wins, making her an instant friend. I’m all for the lesson that “why make enemies when we can make friends” don’t get me wrong. It’s something that needs to be instilled more and more each generation. But, we can’t be so naive to let the lesson be that if you try hard enough it will ALWAYS happen. Try that the next time you are mugged at gunpoint So, thus Starlight joins our merry crew of ponies and despite the fact she’s new and knows she makes mistakes, she’s able to learn fast! She learns in half a season or so what it took us 4 seasons to teach everyone else, and THEY are supposedly the elements avatars. Starlight is not. Yet there she goes, excelling. The unthinkable happens: the 2 demigod like sisters, Luna and Celestia, and everyone else that actually matters to the world, are replaced in a two parter that I loved as a callback to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The Queen who was in the finale of season 2 came back and hatched an evil scheme, and unlike Starlight, actually did something right. Gathering the best of our backdoor favorites: Discord, The Great and Powerful Trixie, and Thorax who gets the silver medal one becoming the fastest friend we EVER pick up, form a Suicide Squad to get everyone back! Because if a seemingly immortal alicorn, her sister, and her student, her student’s hand chosen friends and the rest of the royal family can’t, clearly what we need are Jobbers But I’ll be damned if they don’t pull it off, thanks to STARLIGHT’S plan. Which looks like she’s making up as she goes along. Let's quickly summarize: Starlight enslaves a town in such a way they thank her, she’s thwarted by Twilight and company, she then escapes without reforming. She then returns and execute a perfectly timed plan using time travel to undo her opponents before they even become, celebrates her victory in front of Twilight. Twilight gives a speech, Starlight see’s the errors of her ways and all is forgiven. She then turns into the 7th pony in half a season. She then saves the entire kingdom of Canterlot, neigh say, the world, with the help of tertiary characters and her wits. This sounds remarkably like a literary trope I was once warned about. Now, all that behind us. Let's go to the Equestria girl short #3. Sunset goes through the portal and meets the only person apparently minding the castle, Starlight Glimmer! She then returns with Sunset (because who's going to steal a castle!?) and adapts way faster than Twilight, who for all intents and purposes, is third in line for wisdom at this point, and has just an awful set of jeans. Sunset and Starlight hit it off, I can honestly forgive this given their similarities. What happens next is the issue. So the Monster of the Week, Juniper something or other, has trapped Sunset’s friends in a mirror. Seems villainy enough, right? Ok, so then Sunset goes to confront her, and knowing very well how dangerous magic can be, and having beaten three CLASS A supervillains across as many movies, is sucked into the mirror as well. Starlight is now left alone in an alien world with no magic and only her wits. The two square off and play an amusing game of round and round we go, followed by the most atrocious thing I’ve seen since they let Sonic SatAM just STOP with a cliffhanger: Starlight pulls a card from the bargain bin of solutions and does exactly what Sunset did to SciTwi. She tells her that there’s another way and let me show you, paraphrased of course, but that's it. THAT'S it! We get a Darth Vader moment where the villain proclaims it’s too late, but then that's it. NO FIGHT. No CONFLICT. Not even danger. Starlight singlehandedly comes to a world she literally knows NOTHING about less then two hours ago, gets some ice cream, fights a resident villain of that world on their own turf, and simply TALKS THEM DOWN..and then makes them a friend! Starlight has been able to do all these things and we’ve known her, what two seasons MAYBE? 5 seasons it took the mane cast to get to the point they are, Starlight takes course by mail and she’s surpassing them after less than HALF the time it took the best of the best? This is a Mary Sue. As close as you can come to one without everyone having romantic relations with her. (which seems to be happening. Go check Rule 34’s site) Yet everyone I see talking about her for the most part just loves her. I can either conclude two things: Characterization has taken a great fall in the minds of this latest generation or they don’t know it’s an awful character. If the rest of the show was as poorly written and executed as Starlight, I could see that as no issue. But it’s not. It’s a rich show, with excellent writing. HOW this happened and WHY more people aren’t seeing this, is beyond me. So I end this with an open friendly, mind you, challenge. If you care enough to get to this point in the article, you’ve no doubt got a very well thought opinion of this one way or another. Am I looking at this character the wrong way? If so, please, PLEASE, I welcome constructive input in the matter to help me see it another way. I don’t want FLAMES. I want civil discussion. Thank you
  11. I did it. I skimmed magic mirror. X.x but I don't speak polish x.x 

  12. Howdy all. Whose excited for Sunset and Celestia reuniting. I know I am! But I'm more hyped at the possibility we get an unlimited series! and slightly startled at the Power ..humans? episode after all my work on Equestrian City xD oh and here!
  13. IDEA! Sunset goes back through the mirror..and comically misses Celestia around each turn and then leaves xD

  14. Just watch the Russian Equestria Girl Short and I don't even watch Anime In subtitles. THATS how epic it was :D I FEEL ALIVE AGAIN!

  15. Episode 2 "Old Wounds, New Problems" is live for Equestrian City at FimFiction!
  16. Good news. I spoke to the staff and they enabled spoilers for me n.n so I went back and hit all images with it! Does this fix it?
  17. Part of my intent was to keep my project somewhat active. However if it's become to the point you've had to intervene I suppose I've offended someone. I'm unable to use the spoiler function at work via the mobile app so I will need to figure that one out. I hadn't noticed the larger threads having the need for spoiler functions bit I assume were all treated with the same fairness so I'll stop..well...foe lack of a better term I'll stop being so active. Thanks for the post!
  18. New rarity up on my thread n.n 

  19. Heres a peuce i call "Make the worls go away". Its to show the artist i need to find still what mood i need rarity in. A functional alcoholic after watching Sweetie Belle die o.o You'd think that would make ya a little dependent on downers. Still need to find an artist though..
  20. Tie between Extermination for the ps2 and sewer shark for the saga CD. X.x
  21. I personally think this is giving Celestia too much credit. We've recently seen she's very human in regards to insecurities. If she knows everything will play out..she wouldn't be unsure of any move she made.
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