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Stellafera

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  1. Stellafera
    NO SPOILERS PLEASE. It ruins the fun for both me and you; me for obvious reasons, you because you can't see my completely blind reactions to this show. And as they say... there are no spoilers in Stella Fera Se. Except for the myriad ones for A:TLA. Also, by now, all previous episodes of Korra.






     
    Well, that certainly fixed things up a bit. And Mako actually did some non-love-triangle related stuff this episode. But dang, do I miss Episode 3 Mako. Still, this is OK. Especially when he actually sort of apologizes. I'm putting this in the opening because I'm sick of complaining about this stuff and I want to move onto the amazingness that was everything else. Half of my predictions just went down the toliet, incidentally.
     

    My reaction to this episode in a nutshell.


     
    I'm not going to even talk about the rest of the episode. I almost forgot it. No, this review will be all about Tarrlock and Amon. It's like... a role reversal of the Azula-Zuko dynamic, but also so different. This is why I came to see the next creation of Mike and Bryan. Because of stuff like this in the original show. LOK... you completely redeemed yourself in my eyes. Thank you.
     

    Though I mourn the passing of my Amon as Naga theory, I do believe I am entirely okay with this as a substitute


     
    Young Tarrlock resembles young Zuko heartbreakingly; always overshadowed by his talented sibling, berated by his father for his "failure" (not wanting to use his powers for terrible things), and a sweet boy who grows up to become an entirely different man. But Naotak (aka Amon) also resembles Zuko in his sense of fairness and morality. But in the older brother Amon, we see slightly older Zuko, the one who spoke out in a war meeting because he had compassion and concern for those below him.
     
    There is little wonder why Amon sees bending as the source of all evils. Before it came into his life, things were simple and happy. When he and Tarrlock found out that they are waterbenders, everything took a turn for the worse. Their father began to both torture them and innocent animals while teaching them the most horrific of bending arts; bloodbending. Yes, it wasn't a firebender that changed Amon into what he is now. It was something far worse. A man, with no bending powers (thanks to Aang). Just a man, and what an abusive childhood can do to a person.
     
    But do not forget Tarrlock in this. As a segment of an essay that I found on Mark Watches astutely observes:
     
    Tarrlok does not simply reach for power, as Amon does—Amon, for all his cunning, is bolder, more aggressive, more direct, certainly more unflinchingly confident. Tarrlok, though, acts much more like someone accustomed to operating from a position of weakness.
     
    He works behind the scenes; he arranges, he manipulates, he exploits. His response to Korra’s noncompliance isn’t trying to intimidate her, it’s bribing her. (Amon: I will destroy you. Tarrlok: I bought you a car!) Even when he browbeats her into allying with him, he uses predictable responses from other people to do it, not direct force. Nor does he rely on that pressure to keep her in line, but continues to cultivate her.
     
    Although Tarrlok is a highly skilled waterbender, he avoids physical confrontation, unless the odds are stacked heavily in his favour. Even then he leans on surprise. Until his last fight, with the Equalists, he never uses bloodbending except as a last, secret resort, where Amon makes highly public productions out of his own.
     

    History repeats...


     
    That final scene with Naotak and Tarrlock is chilling, and creates yet another link to the past. Yakone Forcing his own children to duel with eachother, bloodbend eachother, knowing that it will be completely onesided... Isn't this like the "Agni Kai" of Zuko against his father? And doesn't Yakone's speech against Tarrlock have the same ring as "You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher"? But it all pales in comparison to what happens when Naotak saves his brother by bloodbending his father. His line is captured above in gif format. It's direct and true.
     
    And then he reverses the line on Tarrlock when the younger brother asks for mercy. Naotak has been hardened into what we recognize as Amon. Yakone morphed him into a bloodbending prodigy and a monster. He has the same sense of justice, but no kindness. Tarrlock, but especially Amon, have become the heartless machines that Yakone wanted them to be and that they tried so hard not to become. History repeats.
     
    I'm ready for the finale.
  2. Stellafera
    In my view, Castle Sweet Castle was an... okay episode. I was vaguely dissapointed by it. For me, it could've been more, and more importantly, it could've been a Twilight episode with more sympathetic characterization of Rainbow Dash (keeping tons of her trophies in her house seems in character for her; dumping them on someone else, not so much) and Rarity, as well as a more focused plot.
     
    I think a lot of it was the Spike subplot, which ate up time for more Twilight in the plot. The Ticket Master showed that you can have a Twilight POV episode involving the Mane 6 and Spike as the primary plot-movers, so why not this one?
     
    Yep, time for a revisionist view of the episode!
     
    Here's how I'd do it.
     
    First part of the episode is the same, except that when Twilight admits her desire to avoid the castle, Rarity gets a bit more involved. While secretly a bit jealous of the gem-studded castle, I'm sure, Rarity is very good at understanding her clients' style, as Suited for Success demonstrated. She quickly connects the dots and aims at recreating the look and feel of Golden Oaks Library.
     
    "Is that what I've really been missing?", Twilight absently asks, but is quickly persuaded by the chorus of her friends all chiming in that yes indeed, that's what she's been missing! Let's chop the wood now! Song about working together!
     
    Except for a certain colorfully-maned pegasus.
     
    Ever notice how barren RD's home is? She's never really been the type for sentimentalism, and something about this really stinks to her. She, naturally, butts heads with Rarity, but Twilight remains the viewpoint character here, providing a note of indecision between going with a plan that sounds really smart and her friend Rainbow Dash having some sort of big problem with it.
     
    When Rarity's plan is completed, Twilight realizes that RD's gut feeling was onto something. The castle feels like it's constantly, hollowly reminding her of a place that simply no longer exists. An attempt to hang onto the past, too much. Spike sadly notes that the grain of the wood isn't the same, Twilight looks up at the tall tall ceiling, the walls echo differently, all these little wrong details end up speaking all on their own for RD.
     
    So Rainbow Dash gets to do things all her way. Tear it all down! All new! Everypony pitches in! Rarity doesn't particularly like where this is going, mind you, and Twilight too, and things end up in the same kind of mishmash as was depicted in the actual version of the episode.
     
    What now?
     
    Maybe... the Mane 6 could look for what each pony's approach did right?
     
    They come to the burnt down original tree, and have an idea, and the rest is history.
     

     
    You can't just replace the lost things in your life, but trying to act like they never existed isn't a good solution either. The best way is like the chandelier; to take the lessons from the past to look forwards into a new future.
     
    And that's the solution/moral things end on.
     
    ---
     
    Plus, we'd get more RD and Rarity interaction!
  4. Stellafera
    Was finally able to reinstall it a few weeks ago, and I've been having lots of fun.
     
    Meet Cynthia Malarky. She's your yoga girl. Vegetarian, artistic, excitable, over-emotional; all in all, very adorable. Cynthia, channeling my inclinations a bit, is a stylist and makes over sims for a living.
     

     

     
    She met her wife, Julienne, as one of her clients at the salon.
     

     

     
    Julienne is a snob, and a workaholic, and also a fantastic cook and somebody who generally has common sense.
     
    With the power of modern gene splicing techniques (read: cheats), they had two twins, currently in their teens.
     

     

     
    Both are athletic outdoorsy types, though Andre is more of a dashing kleptomaniac adventurer type and Clementine is more of a grumpy, sardonic, responsible sort.
     
    And, finally, their youngest child, Adele! She's neurotic and sometimes stares off into space, but very perceptive and intelligent. Though she has a bad habit of accidentally setting herself on fire with chemicals.
     

     
    I also like playing home designer. Cynthia's home is the pink one. I wanted something that fit both the neighborhood and her personality well. What I ended up making was a semi-retro house with many fabrics and pastels. Far outside my usual tastes, but that's half the fun of it.
     

     

     

  5. Stellafera
    Applebloom: "Heeey, Spike."
    Scootaloo: "Sweetie Belle tried to sabotage Rarity's work last night and she's the only pony who knows how to make things right."
    Spike: "That's terrible!"
    Scootaloo: "Don't worry, if we hop on the train, we'll be able to get there just in time to save Rarity's career."
    Spike: "Oh, phew. Good luck!"
    Apple Bloom: "Mm-hmm. But we just don't have the money for train tickets-" *winks at Scootaloo*
    Scootaloo: "Oh, but doesn't Spike have some gems lying around? Enough for to pay for a two way trip for... three fillies?"
    Spike: "I'm doing this for Rarity..."
    *glares and gives them a handful of jewels*
    *they run off happily*
    Spike: "AND YOU'RE PAYING ME BACK WHEN THIS IS OVER!"

    --
     
    presumably he badgers them later about paying him back and gets Twilight over and she scolds them for taking advantage of Spike's kindness
     
    then he attempts to bargain with Twilight for more than he originally had because Spike's a dork
  6. Stellafera
    Have you ever wondered "WHY DO THE PONIES MATCH THE WORDS IN PMVS ARE THEY MAGIC AND WHY IS STELLAFERA SO GOOD LOOKING?". Well, I've seen this question a lot and I'm ready to provide some answers. Well, to the first part, at least. You're not gonna get a photograph outta me that easily, folks.
     
    Although it is true; I am very good looking.
     
    Resources
     
    The truth is, though, not even I can do it all on my own. There's 4 resources that can be very helpful in this whole lip-syncing business. One of them is a video editing program. I favor Vegas Movie Studio because it's cheap, but whatever works for you. Another is this chart:
     

    I use this as instruction for speaking with humans in real life as well.


     
    It's very helpful for being able to glance at a scene and generally tell if that's going to fit or not. Play the audio clip in your head while you watch that bit of the episode and ask if that vaguely worked. And the more you work at it, the faster you'll be. Heck, half the time I don't even have to rewatch the scene to know that it'll fit.
     
    "BUT HOW WILL I BE ABLE TO FIND THOSE EPISODE CLIPS I'VE ONLY REWATCHED SONIC RAINBOOM 4 TIMES AND ONE OF THOSE WAS AT 2 A.M!", you say. Well, dude, calm down, you don't need to talk in all caps or watch overrated Rainbow Dash episodes so much. You just need to check out one of these two sources for clips, or, even more usefully, check MLP Wiki's character and episode galleries. They have practically every moment a character appears onscreen on record there.
     
    There is no particular reason why that link sends you to the Applejack gallery.
     
    Actually Lip Syncing And Such
     

    No particular reason why an Applejack scene was chosen to represent this. Or why I reused it from a previous explanation of PMV making.
     
    Yeah, here's the secret. Most clips don't fit perfectly on their own. If they do, it's usually a freaky natural accident involving the theme song for some reason. Speeding up and especially slowing down clips are common tactics, but while they can be useful, sometimes there's just a good thing where the pony starts talking and some BS in between until what you want happens later. What's a PMV maker to do?
     
    Franken-clips.
     
    I'm serious, really! I use it all the flippin' time. Just go frame-by-frame in your video editor and cut the clip into pieces. The reason why I say frame-by-frame is because then you can catch good places where one animation can blend into a later one. For example, a character dipping their head to talk can connect with a character dipping their head to turn and nobody but you and me have to know. I promise I won't tell.
     





    Promises.


     
    You can also use this when characters pause because they want to end a sentence or some other stupid reason. You want them to keep talking and they'll do that, dammit! Or the other way around, too. Shut them up by cutting out the parts where their mouths go gibber-gabber. It's cruel, but it is what we must do as video editors.
     
    Seeing It All Come Together
     
    Nah, just kidding, this is actually where you'll get to enjoy my best lip syncing work as a
    shameless advertisement
    thank you note for actually getting to this part
    generous gift to you, the reader.
     
    Time to watch 50 minutes of My Little Assassins. Or this three minute long video. Whatever floats your boat. This one is basically all lip sync, so I feel like it demonstrates well how it all ends up fitting together. As well as my channel.
     





    There is no particular reason why I chose an Applejack video, either. Gosh.


  8. Stellafera
    "Do you have any OCD like habits?"
     
    "Rarity's OCD about her art makes her not generous"
     
    "I suppose I'm kinda OCD!"
     
    Instead, how about
     
    "Sometimes I feel so stiff and sore! We're all a little arthritic, huh?"
     
    "When my leg falls asleep, I totally get what it's like to be in a wheelchair."
     
    "Urgh, I've got a lump on my face. Stupid cancer."
     
    If you're going to trivialize serious problems that haunt people and hurt their everyday lives, go all the way.
  13. Stellafera
    Part 2 (LAWYER APOCALYPSE)
     




     
    Some on this site may have noticed that DashForever has become a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender this summer. Well, what happened was that I basically strongarmed him into watching it with me, it was fun, and I figured we could do the same sort of thing with a different show later.
     
    That show... is called Total Drama. I found it this summer, watched it, and then strongarmed DF into watching it too, commentating via private messages.
     
    And as of last count, the chat log compromised 102 pages of private messaging. Amongst these messages were many nuggets of comedic gold alongside boring scheduling and stuff. I have begun the task of extracting the best bits out of this mass, and even helpfully (Stella) marking (DashForever) who is talking by color. Each episode is in a separate folder, so you can read as you watch the series. It gets better further on, really.
     
    Enjoy Season 1...
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 1-2 (Not So Happy Campers)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 3 (The Big Sleep)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 4 (Dodgebrawl)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 5 (Not Quite Famous)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 6 (The Sucky Outdoors)
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 7 (Phobia Factor)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 8 (Up The Creek)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 9 (Paintball Deer Hunter)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 10 (If You Can't Take the Heat...)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 11 (Who Can You Trust?)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island Episode 12 (Basic Straining)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island Episode 13 (X-Treme Torture)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 14 (Brunch of Disgustingness)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 15 (No Pain, No Game)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 16 (Search and Do Not Destroy)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 17 (Hide and Be Sneaky)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 18 (That's Off The Chain!)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island Episode 19 (Hook, Line, and Screamer)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 20 (Wawanakwa Gone Wild!)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 21 (Trial by Tri-Armed Triathlon)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 22 (Haute Camp-ture)
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 23 (Camp Castaways)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 24 (Are We There Yeti?)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 25 (I Triple Dog Dare You!)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 26 (The Very Last Episode, Really!)
     
     
     
     
    Total Drama Island, Episode 27 (Total Drama, Drama, Drama, Drama Island)
     
     
     
  14. Stellafera
    Omegle's a great site. Of course, you have to sift through the perverts and disconnects, but sometimes anonymity gives you a treat:
     

     
    And sometimes answers to seemingly serious questions can be downright hilarious:
     

  16. Stellafera
    Fantastic: Watch This First!
     
    Welcome again (or not) to Stellafera Reviews Littlest Pet Shop, where one of the less well beloved shows on the Hub gets its chance to shine in the spotlight! Today we review Gailbreak, which is a great episode that serves as a much better introduction to the show and most of the characters than the premiere did. Took till episode 4 for a good one? Some waited longer for MLP to start getting good in their eyes. Let's go!
     
    daasds
     
    The episode starts off simply, with Blythe just walking Zoe down the sidewalk. Zoe reveals to the audience that she has a sister named Gail, and is excited about getting to introduce her to Blythe later in the day. La de da, polite chatter, until Zoe notices Gail trapped inside Largest Ever Pet Shop daycare, looking very depressed. Dun dun dun!
     
    After the theme song, the opening credits reveal the writer of this episode; Mitch Larson! And trust me, you should not be worried at all by the fact that he now works on this show and has less time with MLP. It's absolutely deserving of his talents.
     
    Zoe confirms that it's Gail from that fabulous collar, and the two notice something else; THEY HAVE A FREAKING ROBOT SECURITY SYSTEM. Not just cameras or anything. I'm talking a mobile, vaguely humanoid robot that talks. Why? Why is that necessary? Couldn't such a discovery be used for something more important? No matter, Blythe tries to go into the store and inform them of what is clearly an obvious mix up. Suddenly, the Biskits.
     
    dsdasdaasdadddsda
    asdasdasdsdaasdadadlll"So we like, heard that Stellafera missed us and stuff."
     
    Apparently the Biskits control the robot, named Monban, and the store. Great job, parents. Great job. They are, as always, a hoot in this scene, and Whitney in particular gets some clever lines. In order to demonstrate what their robot can do, they decide to have Monban ban Blythe from the store for two weeks. Might as well be two months, or even two years for poor, lonely Gail.
     
    Or for Zoe. She returns to the pet shop, completely devastated and heartbroken. She insists that nothing will cheer her up, until...
     

     
    Zoe's spirits now lifted, they need to figure out how they are going to rescue Gail and be back in time for their owners to pick them up. Actually, no, because during this sequence, apparently Russell was busy being a supergenius and already formulated a complex plan. We get another alternate art style sequence where he details it. *takes deep breath* In order to get past the lasers (???), Pepper has to illuminate them with her skunk spray, then Vinnie has to sneak between them and turn them off, then Penny Ling goes in with her ribbons and disables Monban by wrapping him in ribbons, then Sunil has to hypnotize the Biskits so they don't do anything, then Minka has to lockpick the door to the daycamp center, then Zoe has to shatter the plexiglass crates with her singing voice, then they have to get Gail, then Blythe has to call them all back via headsets, and finally they all meet at the rally point. Sunil points out the convoluted nature of this whole operation. Russell's response? "Piece of cake." Sunil's supposed to be the one with the magical abilities, but Russell doesn't seem to be half bad at jinxes.
     
    They arrive at the rally point in pretty nifty black turtlenecks and hats... and one pair of girly pink headphones. Eh, things couldn't go perfectly according to plan. I'll take a little diversion for a moment here. This episode is a bit odd among the LPS episodes in that there is no separation between the "Blythe story" and the "Pet Story". In this case, it helps keep a tighter focus. Also, you might be wondering why I recommend this episode so much as an introductory one. One of the reasons why is because the execution of each part of the plan shows off each pet.
     
    dsdasdaasdadddsda
    asdasdasdsdaasdallMy reaction when I overprepare for the final level in video games.
     
    Pepper and Vinnie go in first, only to find that the laser security system is only on when the store is closed. Very reasonable, of course, since that would be distracting and threatening to the customers. Instead we have this big, scary, monotone robot going around-wait. Anyways, Pepper runs outside and informs Russell of this fact. She runs back in to get Vinnie, but Monban catches them, and recites his catchphrase ("No pets allowed outside designated area.") and tosses them into the cages. Now they have to save Gail and two of the main characters. Pepper shows off a bit of her sense of humor and brashness, while Vinnie shows off his dancing and his somewhat stupid nature.
     
    This isn't too much of a setback for their plans, though, because Pepper and Vinnie were only needed for something they didn't end up having to do. Russell goes through the plan again, and then Minka pulls a Leeroy Jenkins on them and rushes in. The Biskits spot her through the security camera, and after mentally asking themselves what the flying feather just happened, they tell Monban to capture the monkey in aisle 8. No wait, aisle 7, no wait, aisle 9, no wait, aisle 10? Aisle 11? Minka is eventually cornered when she runs to the daycamp center and is caged up. This basically sums her up except for being an artist, yeah.
     
    dsdasdaasdadddsda
    asdasdasdsdaasdalladddYou can't stop an avalanche as it races down the hill...
     
    Russell comes up with a Plan C now. If Penny Ling just reverses the polarity of the neutron flow cash register, that should send a signal at the right frequency to shut off Monban and I didn't pay attention to the rest because I'm too busy being amazed that they made a Doctor Who reference. Blythe says she has something simpler in mind. She walks in and distracts Monban while Zoe sneaks by. Monban runs down the hall while shouting "Stop! Resistance is futile useless!". Q and Star Wars ending in The Return Of Harmony and this? Something tells me that Mitch Larson is a science fiction fan. Zoe gets there and nearly busts them out... but her favorite song comes on again, and she can't resist the music. Chekhov's Gun No. 1, checked off. The Biskits find Blythe, who receives a double ban from the Largest Ever Pet Shop.
     
    Monban's battery runs low, and while he's charging up, Penny Ling goes in with her ribbons. She gets tangled up with them and some boxes, but she figures that Monban is off, and therefore there's nothing to worry about. Her reduced speed proves to be her downfall, and Monban finishes charging just in time to stop her from letting the pets go. Well shit. Now we are down to Blythe, Russell, and Sunil.
     
    Russell's Plan L looks to be about 20 pages long. Unfortunately, it requires Penny Ling, and the frustrated Russell convinces me of his best character status when he bemoans that he should have listened to the voices in his head and gone with Plan K. Blythe is inspired by the phrase "voices in my head", since Monban is controlled by the voices of Whitney and Britney. She forms a much simpler plan, but it'll all be up to Sunil, because Blythe has been double banned and Russell would curl up into a ball (it's a hedgehog thing). Sunil will come in with the headphones (Chekhov's Gun No. 2) and hypnotize the Biskits, then put the headphones on Monban, who will recieve voice commands from Blythe through her walkie talkie to let all the pets out. It's a flawless plan except for the fact that Sunil is a terrified coward with no belief in himself and can't summon the guts to pull it off at all.
     
    It seems like there's nothing they can do, but Russell knows one thing that will bring out Sunil's TOTAL BADASSERY. Sunil is a mongoose, remember? And what are mongooses known for?
     

     
    I wasn't a big fan of Dragonshy, but I imagine this is what the fans of that episode saw when Fluttershy stood up to the dragon. I promised that I would explain why everybody loves Sunil so much, and this is why. His transformation from coward to warrior is just awesome, and the amazing backing music doesn't hurt matters. He murders the pet toys and food and then just tops it off by hypnotizing the Biskits in a flash and throwing the headphones on Monban like a boss.
     
    The rest of the plan works like a charm, the pets all make it out, yada yada yada. It turns out that "Gail" was actually a male dog with a sparkly collar and this was all completely pointless. The real Gail, who sounds suspiciously like Rarity, was waiting for Zoe all afternoon at the Littlest Pet Shop. Dance party!
     
    dsdasdaasdadddsda
    asdasdasdsdaasdalladddasfsfsfsfsfsfdaafsffaasShipping!
     
    dsdasdaasdadddsda
    asdasdasdsdaasdalladddasfsfsfsfsfsfdadShipping everywhere!
     
    So, overall? This was a very fun episode, on par with the great adventure episodes of My Little Pony. It did a good job of giving each pet a chance to shine, especially Zoe, Russell, and Sunil, and let some of the human characters shine too. While the Littlest Pet Shop fandom isn't big, it's pretty much united in its approval here. Definitely worth a look if you are curious about the series.
  17. Stellafera
    There were simply too many images to fit in part 1 (see what I mean about a large cast?), so in part 2 we meet the pets! After this, I'll take a look at the pilot, which is sort of mediocre and not that great. But enough chit-chat! Time is... well, time. Isn't it supposed to be the end of the world today or something? Let's move along quickly.
     
    The Pets: The Mane 6 Main 7
     
    Zoe:
     

     
    It's not Twilight Barkle, got it? Despite looking like a certain egghead unicorn, Zoe has far more in common with the other purple haired unicorn Rarity. In one word? A diva. She loves to sing and thinks herself a great singer. Zoe is a touch smug and self satisfied, but she takes charge and has pride in herself. Voiced by Nicole Oliver, also known as Princess Celestia and Cherilee.
     
    Pepper:
     

     
    Pepper is voiced by the many talented Tabitha St. Germain, the lady behind Rarity, Luna, Granny Smith, Photo Finish, and so on. She's a comedian, as you might guess from her prop in the picture, though she's not always funny. Pepper's main flaw is her brashness and lack of tact. Either on command or when she's upset, she can spray her skunk scent, despite real life pet skunks having to have their smell producing glands removed before they can be owned. And just to tell biology to take a hike, when she's really happy she makes a nice smell. How does that even work?
     
    Vinnie:
     

     
    Vinnie is a chameleon apparently, despite having hair, ears, and never changing color. Whatever. He's one of the two dancers in the cast, and the show makes countless Micheal Jackson references in regards to this. He's not the brightest bulb in the box and is generally an idiot, but he's not mean.
     
    Penny Ling:
     

     
    Okay, I can buy the skunk thing, but seriously, a panda? There has to be some sort of law against that. Penny Ling is the other dancer, and does some sort of ribbon dancing thing. Superficially similar to Fluttershy, but she's not very shy at all. What Penny Ling is is incredibly sensitive and concerned with hurting other people's feelings. She has a tendency to tell white lies and never speak up for herself. Cries buckets of tears so readily that I think at this point it can be called a running gag.
     
    Minka:
     

     
    Just like Zoe, Minka can be described in one word: Pinkie. It was hard to find a picture of her where she wasn't hanging upside down or jumping around, which should tell you about her personality. Somehow even more manic than the element of laughter is, and leaps from place to place like, well, a crazy monkey. She's an abstract painter and loves her craft, which adds a bit of character depth to her as she frequently gets artistic inspiration from the events in the episodes.
     
    Sunil:
     

     
    Indian mongoose voiced by none other than Peter New, aka Big Mac. He's a magician, although his tricks often (literally) blow up in his face. In his own words, an "unbelievable coward", but has moments of great bravery. Think Fluttershy from Dragonshy and you have a good idea. A fan favorite due to his careful blend of epic win and endearingly epic fail. Friends with Vinnie, and they often appear together.
     
    Russell:
     

     
    Russell is best pet a hedgehog (not a porcupine) and the only one of the pets who isn't some variety of artist or performer. His obsession with organization reaches Twilight Sparkle levels, although he is less concerned with scheduling and more occupied with neatness, safety, and keeping everyone else in order. Russell is the planner of the group and is a pretty smart guy, being seen in the opening reading a book. One problem: He does not know how to relax. Like, at all. Voiced by Sam Vincent, who appeared in MLP as Flim, of Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 fame.
  18. Stellafera

    The Art Of The PMV

    By Stellafera,

    Stellafera how do you do it?



    I wish I had such abilities.



    I wish I knew how to make PMV's.


     
    All of the above are real comments I have gotten about my PMVs. First of all; PEOPLE STOP DEVALUING YOURSELVES. Second of all, it's made me think about this particular niche in the brony community. While there is PMV Today, on the whole it is sorely lacking in any resources or guides. So I decided to make my own, and will be using one of my more intricate videos in order to demonstrate how I personally do things.
     





    As well as self advertise.


     
    The Tools Of The Trade
     
    This is bar none the most irritating part to get through for a beginner. I don't like to elaborate much here, but basically; I find that paid software is really worth it for video editing. I have Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 12, a stripped-down version of Sony Vegas Pro for about $50 (it was my Christmas present for myself). It has some limitations in terms of effects, but is very intuitive to use. There's free trials for it, too.
     
    Ponyship has color corrected 1080p episodes, which gives things a consistent and sharp look to them. I'd recommend finding the highest quality source possible for your audio. Don't you want the best?
     




    Of course you do. Because you're worth it.


     
    Gotta Keep In Mind My Pacing: Planning And Ideas
     
    Phew, got all the annoying software stuff out of the way. Every PMV I make starts with an idea. If I turn down requests, it's not usually because I think it's a bad song or anything. It's because it doesn't quite click with me. I was inspired to make "Applejack's Lights" while watching Todd In The Shadow's top best hit songs list for 2012, hearing the song on there, and going "OMG there's family and the lights are like totally AJ's parents and also the Sonic Rainboom this is like a driving theme through her life man holy cow my headcanon and my favorite pony and my love of star symbolism can all unite".
     




    There is a reason why I am callled Stellafera


     
    After the initial idea, I load the song in my video editing program, give it a few good listens, examine the lyrics, and space out the time into sections. I'm always constructing some sort of story in any video I make, and I am UTTERLY RELIANT on planning to do so. Organization is like breathing to me or something. Here's how I mentally sketched out "Applejack's Lights":
    Hello I am invisible
     
    Something Perfect To Inspire: Scene Selection
     
    Apparently this is something I'm good at. Part of it might just be how my memory works, but there's a method to it! It is true that the more PMVs one makes, the easier it is to figure out what scenes there are to use and the better one's memory of the episodes becomes. Still, I have some tricks and tips:
    Use scenes OTHER than the famous ones from episodes about the character you are making a video of. Party Of One is a goldmine for this.
    Similarly, look for scenes with that character in it that are NOT from an episode about them. Suited For Success works very nicely.
    What emotion are you trying to convey? Remember scenes where the character expressed that one.
    I like to create mini sub-sections of clips in order to get my point across. Try to tell a story of sorts with your scene selection! This was basically the only possible way to not endlessly repeat scenes when I made a PMV of Bohemian Rhapsody.
    In a more artistic sense, try to create a feeling of momentum. The best way to learn this one is to either do an instrumental song or a montage-like section. Without fancy lipsyncing, you'll need to make the scene selection itself move the video forward. "Lights 1" of "Applejack's Lights" is an example of a section powered almost entirely by camera and character motion.
    When using a clip, go frame by frame to determine the exact start and end times of a movement. You might cut it short later, but it's best to have all the footage possible at the start.

    A Stitch In Time Saves Nine: Lip Syncing
     
    The tips about scene selection should help in getting a broader range of clips to lip sync, but the single most useful advice for lip syncing that I have found comes from a video about animation:
     




     
    Obviously, we aren't working in Flash here, but the information about mouth shapes is just as useful for us as it is for animating. Knowing what each sound looks like is immeasurably useful for determining whether something will sync or not at a glance. It's not exact, but it makes things much faster.
     
    Guess how many times a clip has just lip synced the first time I put it in? NEAR ZERO. A lot of people use speeding up and slowing down in order to make clips fit the time, but I rarely try that first, and I rarely do so to a noticeable degree. Unless you are deliberately attempting to do something, the viewer should have no idea that you tampered with the video. Which is good, because otherwise all my PMVs would appear to be horribly spliced monstrosities. A normal bit of lip syncing from 1:32 to 1:35 in this PMV:
     

    If you think this is bad, you should see the work file for "What Is This Feeling"


     
    Learn to utilize the art of cutting. If a character's mouth is moving when you don't want it to, use duct tape cut out the frames where their mouth is open. If a character's mouth is shut when you don't want it to be, use WD-40 cut out the frames where their mouth is closed. If there's no major body or background movements in between, it'll look seamless. You can see that near the end of the picture above.
     
    If there are, I have a few tricks up my sleeve. One is to separate out the movement section and speed it up so that doesn't mess up the lip sync and take up space. Another is to cut even further ahead for a part that lip syncs while doing a similar motion. If a character turns their head, you could cut to a place where they are ending a head turning motion. I used this twice, I believe, in the above image in order to cover all the movements that I wanted.
     
    Blend Color And Form: Transitions and Effects
     
    First, transitions. I love the things; they are perfect for softening scene changes or adding some interest to an otherwise boring part. Even simple dissolves can work wonders. When they show up, try to take advantage of transitions already in the show (like the one at 2:39 in the video), but don't be afraid to mix things up too! Some of the "transitions" in this video are actually timed effects in disguise (like the one between 0:53 and 0:55).
     

    And some effects are just bloopers


     
    Which is an excellent way to move into effects. Even if this wasn't the best video to demonstrate lip sync, it is a great one to demonstrate effects, since I used them so extensively. I don't have a program with particularly powerful effects tools, so I improvise. Lots of times effects happen by accident.
     
    The whole look of the shooting stars thing? That was because I couldn't mask the characters in color with my program.
     
    The middle section? I realized that you could use glows to trick the luminance based masking system to not display stuff like clouds and other fainter details.
     
    The running on a blank background? Well, actually... greenscreens that I found on Youtube. Yay?
     
    Dear Princess Celestia: The Most Important Thing
     
    ...Is to have fun. Well, after that, the second most important thing is to make sure that everything is serviced to make the video as enjoyable to watch as possible.
     
    Oh, and a third thing. Wow, I'm bad at brevity. The third thing is to make sure to get your name out there. Submit to EQD, PMV Today, and post it here while you're at it. And if at first you don't succeed keep making videos and keep on trucking. You'll make it eventually.
     
    So, any questions? Post them in the comments!
  19. Stellafera
    I'm REALLY excited about this one! The song is "Lights", and it's truly a perfect fit for the perfect pony.
     

     



     


    As you may have read before, my recent inactivity has been thanks to playing two games of Mafia simultaneously. It's one of the most fun games I've ever played. Both games have me as Vanilla Townie, heheh.


  20. Stellafera
    NO SPOILERS PLEASE. It ruins the fun for both me and you; me for obvious reasons, you because you can't see my completely blind reactions to this show. And as they say... there are no spoilers in Stella Fera Se. Except for the myriad ones for A:TLA that mean that... Aww forget it. DashForever knows he shouldn't be reading these.






     
    WHAT DID I JUST WATCH. THE ENDING. MY BRAIN WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT NOPE NOPE WHAT WHAT sfisfksdiofksdofksdofkosdkfopsfksdopfkpsdofkofsfksdfss anyways...
     

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbNK1g9b8ygMy reaction to this episode in a nutshell.


     
    When they talked about the tides changing, I thought it was going to be in Amon's favor. In the end... I have no idea. I'm not going to do this review like I normally do, in proper order and detail and all, because I'm still like WTF DID I JUST WATCH.
     
    I'm getting kinda mad at the characterizations now. I miss episode 3. Now all characterization has just been dissolved into a love triangle. PLEASE CHANGE FOR FINALE. Also, Mako, what the heck, I've been giving you the benefit of the doubt and loving what you were in episode 3 and now I have to echo everyone else and just be like DUDE STOP SUCKING THANK YOU ALSO MOAR BOLIN PRETTY PLEASE.
     
    Lin Beifong and all the airbenders are still fabulous, though. Seriously, at this point they are far more individual than Team Korra.
     
    But the main thing is WTF ZUKO VOICE AND HIS NAME IS IROH WHAT WHAT WHAT THE WHAT THIS I DONT EVEN ITS EXACTLY THE SAME AS HIS ZUKO VOICE THE WHAT WHAT WHAT BRAIN BRAIN WHAT WHAT WAHT WHAT WHAT I DUN WHAT WHAT IS THIS WHAT TWILICORN FELT LIKE WHAT aijdadkasikdio MY LIFE askdaskldasldasd
     
    I want to watch the next episode, please... just to make sense of this. And maybe not have terribad Team Korra.
     




  21. Stellafera
    NO SPOILERS PLEASE. It ruins the fun for both me and you; me for obvious reasons, you because you can't see my completely blind reactions to this show. And as they say... there are no spoilers in Stella Fera Se. Except for the myriad ones for A:TLA that mean that DashForever should be more careful at what he looks at on TV Tropes.






     
    Intros. Yeah. They are nice. And such. Wow, I'm almost as good at playful banter as Mako is! That was a joke. You know. Jokes. Like Amon. He tells good jokes. That was sarcasm. Yeah.
     


    My reaction to this episode in a nutshell.


     
    The beginning has some nice humor with the airbender kids, and for some reason the line "I'm a boy!" from Bolin cracks me up. He just assumes that this is not known information and Jinora must be informed of this fact. Also, I'm sure someone has estimated the size of Airbender Island and thereby the whole city via that information about trees. It is probably HUGE by that measure.
     
    Tarrlock has officially graduated from sleazebending into outright jerkbending. He's half Azula, half Long Feng, and all terribleness. He brings Korra to freaking tears. NOT COOL BRO. Part of the reason why Korra is so likeable is because she knows she's a failure at airbending and spirituality. And it gets to her. It really does. Thankfully her friends are there to help, and decide to form the new Team Avatar! Oh yeah, and Sokka...
    Hi I'm in white
     
    Don't worry about that. I'm still calling them Team Korra, though. It's less confusing to me. Also, Asami
    is totally a hairbender, and owns the Batmako-mobile! And all of this fun comes to an end when Sifu Jerkbending arrives at the scene. Non-benders, who already appear to be segregated by income into the slums, now have strict curfew and are rounded up and arrested if they are caught outside at night. Do you just LIKE giving the Equalists good reasons to exist? Republic City reminds me more and more of Ba Sing Se each moment. Less brainwashing, more police brutality, though.
     
    Tenzin is the best. I have a feeling that he is a brony.
     
    The best scene in this episode, however, is easily the confrontation between Tarrlock and Korra. It's interesting how each of them have strong adverse reactions to being compared to certain other people; Korra hates the idea of being like Tarrlock, and Tarrlock vehemently denies the obvious comparison to Amon. I will be upset if it turns out that Tarrlock was Amon the whole time. Too easy, too simple. My headcanon is that it's Naga, but I'm not sure the show will back me up on that one.
     
    The bending battle is intense. Korra is very much the opposite of Aang; she was most certainly intending to kill Tarrlock (Kyoshi approves of this sentiment). Korra behaves much more like a native earthbender than a waterbender, and this is shown by her brute force method of fighting. It works though, until..
    .

    I will perpetually use this image for every shocking plot twist of anything


     
    BLOODBENDING. One wonders how Tarrlock learned it. Maybe he heard of Katara using it, which, if true, is on equal grounds with Chi-Blocking in levels of "WHY DID X CHARACTER HAVE TO LEARN THIS IN A:TLA WHYYYYYYYYY". The very Amon-like pose as he lunges over her makes me seriously think that they are going to reveal that Tarrlock and Amon are the same guy.
     
    This was a dark, dark episode, and I loved it. MOAR.
  22. Stellafera
    NO SPOILERS PLEASE. It ruins the fun for both me and you; me for obvious reasons, you because you can't see my completely blind reactions to this show. And as they say... there are no spoilers in Stella Fera Se. Except for the myriad ones for A:TLA that mean that DashForever is NOT allowed to read this.






     
    Originally, I intended to watch an episode a day, but I couldn't resist watching 7 after the awesomeness that was And The Winner Is. This was an... interesting episode. A very flawed, but... interesting episode. Despite the fact that there are far more problems with this episode than, say, The Spirit Of Competition, I have to say it is better. The latter was mediocre. This episode fails, as Master Piandao would say, in a very special way. Also it got me to italicize more, and that's when the fun starts.
     

    My reaction to this episode in a nutshell.


     
    There was a "MY CABBAGE CORP" gag that I actually did hear about beforehand, being one of the few things I went into the series already knowing. What was more interesting was Korra's reconciliation with Tahno, now without any of his old swagger. It's really sad, and reminds us that no matter how justified the Equalists may be in their concerns, their methods hurt and shatter others' lives. But I think there's a glimmer of hope for Tahno. He's taken a huge slice of humble pie, and he's much more thoughtful and kind. The smile and the "Uh-vatar" joke as he leaves shows some signs of healing.
     
    50 bucks says he never shows up again.
     
    Meanwhile, Mr. Sato (I'm too lazy to look up the spelling of his first name) is suspiciously compliant with the police. When Korra goes to the Sato's estate to check on her friends, I expected that what was going to happen was an episode where they become complacent and Korra tries to face the Equalists on her own and almost gets killed before the rest of Team Korra saves her (sort of like A Canterlot Wedding with Mr. Sato as Chrysalis). Not quite what I got, although the basic idea of Korra being the only skeptical one was right. Also, Bolin wants makeovers. WHEEE MALE GENDER STEREOTYPES RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW. Unfortunately, I was upset with the general way they handled Asami in this episode.
     

    Rarity is a perfect example of how to do Asami right.


     
    First, her speech to Korra after the race has to be a callback to Toph. Except that Asami... isn't a Toph. The assumptions of helplessness made about her were not quite as severe (and I dislike how the writers linked up Korra's comments about femininity with Asami's "helplessness"), and she doesn't react by so aggressively being the opposite. She was never forced into having girly tendencies; they are a part of who she is! The saving grace here is that this is from Korra's perspective. She sees femininity as a weakness; as far as she's concerned, a strong woman (or anyone, really) upholds the macho tomboy stereotype. Therefore, if Asami shows masculine traits, she immediately rises up in Korra's eyes (man, the analogues to MLP characters are SO EASY). What I dislike is that the show itself seems to endorse Korra's viewpoint. Do we need the Kyoshi warriors again to straighten Korra out?
     
    That scene with Korra and makeup. That was hilarious. Then Korra spies on OBVIOUS EQUALIST MR. SATO OBVIOUS OBVIOUS OBVIOUS. Nobody believes her, though, and one of my predictions sort of comes true. Mako becomes disillusioned and leaves... Korra. Well, that's 1/3 right, I guess. I was really worried they were going to make Asami a villain. Thank goodness they did not, but they did make a certain someone else a villain in a way that pissed me off.
     
    So, say... about that offhand comment back in my review of Episode 4. You know, the one two days ago.
     
    I was right in more ways than I realized when they found the factory. After completely finishing this episode, however, it turned out I was wrong in more ways than I realized when they first went down there.
     

     
    Namely, I thought that, like the Mechanist, Mr. Sato was going to be a sympathetic victim of the Equalists doing what he can to keep his daughter safe, and not suddenly a flat, cackling villain.
     
    This was what pissed me off. Both A:TLA and LOK usually have their lack of bad, one dimensional villains as a hallmark trait. I hate how Sato takes gleeful delight in attacking them. I mean, perhaps he bought into the Equalist doctrine, but he might as well grab Bolin's mustache from episode 3 and start twirling it. Also, Mako does a "stay in the kitchen" sort of thing to Asami. I know he's concerned for her well being and Mako tends to have maternal tendencies, but she's a big girl. It does make sense for the character, though.
     
    I did like the attempt at moral ambiguity when Asami shows up. Also, this isn't A:TLA, can we have A NON FIREBENDER KILL PEOPLE'S PARENTS? Anyways, but even though I knew that Asami wasn't going to join her father, I didn't expect her to be so... violent. It's kind of worrying. I wonder if her expression in the airship partially extends from regret about how she attacked her father. And my suspicions that she was going to join Team Korra were true, although it didn't quite happen in the way I suspected. I wonder what they'll do in the next episode?
     
    Edit: Korra character development by the end = love. She's gotten over her jealousy, finally. Go Korra!
  23. Stellafera
    NO SPOILERS PLEASE. It ruins the fun for both me and you; me for obvious reasons, you because you can't see my completely blind reactions to this show. And as they say... there are no spoilers in Stella Fera Se. Except for the myriad ones for A:TLA that mean that DashForever is NOT allowed to read this.






     
    Currently having just finished Episode 5, I figured that I ought to do these before it stops being fun because I lose my ignorance of what will happen. This should be interesting...
    Asami will be a double agent pretending to work for the Equalists but actually working for Team Korra
    Bolin is going to have a moment where he saves everyone else and stands up for himself
    Mako will become disillusioned with the others at some point and temporarily leave
    Amon will take Korra's bending away, but she'll discover the more spiritual aspects of being the Avatar in the process
    Korra will master airbending by the end of the season, but only by the end
    We'll see Amon's face at some point
    Tarrlock will get much more extreme and dangerous in his actions and turn against Team Korra
    Asami will have to prove her loyalty to Korra at some point
    The Fire Ferrets will lose the championship and then the plot will go much deeper into the Amon stuff and things will get dangerous
    Korra will only come into the Avatar state at the end of the season
    Korra will ask Avatar Aang for advice at some point
    Lin Beifong will do something awesome to help our heroes
    At the end of the season, Team Korra will venture outside of Republic City
    Asami will be instrumental in the plot
    Hiroshi Sato (whatever his name is) will die
    Most of the pro-bending teams and Tenzin's family will help Korra against Amon
    Non-benders will actually get some representation in their government after the Equalist thing
    Mako will come up with plans for infiltrating the Equalists, Sokka-style
    Tarrlock has some serious karmatic punishment headed his way
    Amon's end will mostly just be sad; his own followers will turn on him and attack him
    Amon is a bender; an energybender, and Korra will take his powers away from him
    Korra will show her friends the Southern Water Tribe
    We'll learn about what's going on outside of Republic City
    Korra will go into the spirit world

    I'll see by the end of the season how many of these I got right and how many I got terribly, terribly wrong.
  24. Stellafera
    NO SPOILERS PLEASE. It ruins the fun for both me and you; me for obvious reasons, you because you can't see my completely blind reactions to this show. And as they say... there are no spoilers in Stella Fera Se. Except for the myriad ones for A:TLA that mean that DashForever is NOT allowed to read this.






     
    Well, I've made up my mind on who best character, best ship, AND character who is most like me are! Answer one is Bolin, answer two is Bolin/Pabu, and answer three is "dead", because it is still Sokka! Let's dive right in.
     

    My reaction to this episode in a nutshell.


     
    This episode was... okay, I guess. Part of it is that, contrary to popular belief, I am only 13. I've never had a crush on someone, much less gotten involved in a complicated love triangle. Therefore, I can't relate. And I've never been a shipper. The biggest ship I advocate is Iroh/Tea (OTP FOR LIFE), followed by Zuko/Honor. This isn't my kind of episode.
     
    I do like how they did the framing with the "team huddle" thing, though. Bolin smiles and glances to Korra, Korra smiles back but shifts her eyes to Mako, and Mako coughs awkwardly until he sees Asami. That is good and efficient staging. This episode also does a very nice job using the metaphor of the team's gameplay to reflect their relationships. Very clever.
     
    Also, Bolin is adorable as always. The way he says "You know what I'm talking 'bout, Pabu, I'm talking 'bout real love" makes me laugh and smile every time. He's just SUPER LIKEABLE. Appa still beats Naga any day, but I'm starting to think I like Pabu more than Momo. Can you imagine Aang without Momo? Yes. Is it possible to imagine Bolin without Pabu permanently affixed on his shoulder?
     

    Eenope.


     
    Still, going directly against your brother's orders is not cool, Bo, and asking out Korra was what set half of this mousetrap into motion. I guess I do like seeing the two of them together though. They really complement each other's personalities, much better than Mako and Korra do. And that's as far as my shipping preferences go. And besides, Bolin's personality complements everybody.
     
    Of course, Korra is an idiot and decides to Makout with Mako (please don't hurt me) even though she very well knows he already has a girlfriend... right in front of Bolin, who breaks down into tears. The dramatic impact of this scene, however, is ruined by another great meme from the LOK fandom:
     

    There's also one of Korra and Asami kissing and Mako being like "Wat"


     
    Seriously, I have never encountered a fandom with such a high density of good memes before. Anyways, Bolin, who was previously being awesome and responsible (!!!) goes and gets himself drunk on noodles. I love this show sometimes.
     
    Korra realizes that she's ruined basically everything, and pulls herself together and wins the match for her teammates by using strategy and airbending-style waterbending. Oh yeah, there's characters other than Bolin in this! Everybody patches things up, Korra uses techniques from Katara, and we all hope that we can plz get back to equalists and conspiracies again. Also Bolin.
  25. Stellafera
    NO SPOILERS PLEASE. It ruins the fun for both me and you; me for obvious reasons, you because you can't see my completely blind reactions to this show. And as they say... there are no spoilers in Stella Fera Se. Except for the myriad ones for A:TLA that mean that DashForever is NOT allowed to read this. Well, that's sort of obsolete now, but whatever.






     
    So, I watched Avatar: The Last Airbender and adored it; I honestly believe it to be a better show than MLP. And I also watched the first three episodes of The Legend Of Korra a while ago, and loved Korra and Mako and Bolin and the setting, so I decided to share my reactions to it to the rest of the world! My favorite blog on the internet is Mark Watches/Reads, where he does the exact same thing as I will do here; I highly recommend Mark Reads Harry Potter and Mark Watches Avatar: The Last Airbender. So, with that out of the way, shall we begin?
     




    My reaction to this episode in a nutshell.


     
    Anyways, we open with an obvious nightmare. We are only on episode 4, guys. Stuff shouldn't get that real yet. Still, it's pretty scary, and pretty insightful onto best character Avatar Korra, who is incredibly reliant on her bending to a far greater degree than Aang ever was. She can't comprehend the idea of not being a bender; it's her entire identity. Aang was the last of a culture, was a goofy kid in an iceberg, was the not so goofy kid who defeated the fire lord; he was many things, and Avatar was only one. Not quite so with Korra.
     
    Then we meet Tarrlock, who OH MY GOSH IT'S THAT GENERAL FROM THE AVATAR STATE I COULD RECOGNIZE THAT VOICE ANYWHERE [EDIT: Apparently I can't because that's not the same guy]. Anyways, unlike that general, this man immediately screams sleaze. Could you at least not slick back your hair so obviously? Meanwhile, Tenzin makes good points about not pissing off all the nonbenders in the city, but Tarrlock is like "lol too busy listening to the sound of all that oiliness dripping from my skin". This could've been an interesting case of moral ambiguity, like one of my favorite characters from the original, Jet, but this guy is way too mustache-twirl-y. But for what he is, he is very good at being a villain supposedly on our hero's side, reminding me heavily of Season 2 A:TLA in a good way.
     




    Pictured above: More subtlety than Tarrlock


     
    Amon proves to be a smart villain and realizes how easily he can exploit the task force as evidence of non-bender oppression. This is Azula vs Long Feng all over again. Although his scariness is slightly lessened by the fabulous "Bad Comedian Amon" meme.
     




     
    So Mako is walking down the street, and then everything changed when the fire nation attacked he almost gets run over by a motorcycle. Ridden by a gorgeous lady. Who is also really rich. Anyone else notice the equalist-esque mask, though? I was expecting that she would be nice and try to help him until she realized he was a bender, but she's all for pro-bending, so nevermind on that. I love how adorkable Mako is here. I was just about ready for him to say "Hi, Mako here." Apparently, some people initially disliked him for his rude behavior towards Korra, but I was never bothered by that. I've always had a thing for jerk-with-a-heart-of-gold characters and for the "responsible one" and for adorkability and Mako is all of those things at once YES.
     



     
    Time to cut back to Tarrlock and his sleaze-bending! Except he totally gets his chi blocked by Korra. And I honestly expected that he was going to put Korra in a life or death situation where she had to work for him, just like in The Avatar State. What I got was less Avatar State and more Mysterious Mare Do Well, but as we all know, Stellafera is totally down with that.
     
    Cut back again to Mako being Mako and Asami being awesome and breaking stereotypes about rich people left and right. Her relationship with her dad reminds me a lot of Teo and the Mechanist and I really should evaluate this show on its own merits but it seems like I just can't.
     
    Well, except when it comes to Bolin. He's just the best. No wait, Korra is. No wait, Mako is. Oh dang. Anyways, he's just so sweet and is not jealous or anything at anything and just wants Korra to be happeh and is just a winnar. Too bad there ain't much of him this episode.
     
    So, yeah, Tarrlock manipulates Korra, Korra is terrified but goes along with it anyways, gets in over her head, ya de da de da. I feel really bad for her; she could've avoided this if she were better with words and more strong in her convictions. She gets in way over her head in stupid stuff because she cracks under pressure. Poor girl.
     




    No resemblance to a certain pegasus that is my second favorite pony or anything.


     
    Also, WHY DOES EVERYBODY HAVE DEAD PARENTS? I mean, in A:TLA, there was a war, but here, it just seems... excessive? Shoehorned in? I can believe it for Mako and Bolin, I can doubt it understandingly for Amon, but Asami just seems like the average Disney character in terms of parents being dead and not really being affected by it.
     
    AND OH MY GOODNESS THAT SCENE WITH AMON I THOUGHT HE'D TAKE HER BENDING AND WE'D HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON HOLY COW BRB NIGHTMARES FOREVER. And I feel so much for Korra here. I'm just as terrified as her, except that I know this is all fake and she doesn't. It's really thought-provoking to see her so scared.
     
    Random fact: So, like, did anyone else notice how firebending and earthbending almost seem to come more easily to Korra than waterbending? She certainly has a personality to suit them better.
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