My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - Princess Twilight Sparkle - Initial Reactions

Intro

I know I said I wasn't gonna do these anymore, but... circumstances of excitement and art projects made me want to put up my notes. So... here ya go!

SPOILER WARNING

The following Initial Reactions are for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Season 4, Episodes 1 and 2: "Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 1" and "Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 2". If you have not seen the episodes, please go watch them before reading through these. There are spoilers.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - "Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 1" - Initial Reactions

• Figured the flying lessons were at the beginning of the episode.
• Are they in Canterlot?
• Oh gosh, that was an epic crash and burn.
• Oh the shadows! I love that hallway thingy. And hey, highlights!
• Pinkie Pie is so amusing... and Pinkie Promise! Oh, Pinkie Pie.
• What is Twilight goes nuts without her friends?
• I enjoy Spike face-planting into the floor.
• Luna!
• Celestia's face looks weird for some reason. Probably the angle.
• I love how Pinkie Pie is sending party letters to Twilight.
• Oh noes, dark snakey vine...
• NOOOOO! They can't be gone!!!!!
• I love the overly dramatic guards.
• Hey look, there's a brown guard! That was unexpected.
• Poor Fluttershy's animals.
• Of course the apples would be all no-nonsense about the invasion. And Big Mac! That's so amusing.
• Oh, Rarity... And oh gosh! It's messing up magic. And then you blame is on Sweetie Belle. Bad big sister.
• Weaken all the ponies' abilities!
• Random seatbelts on Twilight. Poor Spike, smashing into a window.
• Pinkie sense in action!
• GAAAASP!!!
• When in doubt, blame Discord.
• Discord singing Winter Wrap Up!!!!
• So far, this episode is AWESOME!!

"Would I lie to you?" - Discord
"YES!" - Twi, Rarity, Dash, Pinkie, AJ
"Uhm, maybe." - Fluttershy

• Don't steal AJ's hat!
• Her magic is all Darkside now? Wha huh?
• "Doesn't seem to be working then suddenly working" cliche
• So why is Luna suddenly going all Dark Side again?
• Hello Nightmare Moon.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - "Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 2" - Initial Reactions

• Okay, but what are you doing back in the first place?
• Epic Nightmare Moon kills everything thingy... and seriously injures Celestia.
• OOOOOHHHHHH FLASHBACK! That's a relief.
• TO THE MOON!!!
• Oh, Discord. How amusing.
• So... we're doing a big flashback episode? Yay world building.
• The Tree of Harmony. Taking the elements ended up weakening the tree?
• Did she stutter, Dashie?
• Call backs to the first Season! W00T!
• Except it's a rather awesome looking croc. Teamwork FTW!
• No, dude. Just because Twilight's a princess doesn't mean she can't help. This is super sad!
• Poor cherry Berry and Cosmic! Was that Cosmic? Either him or Comet Tail.
• Way to twist that, Discord. Why are you messing with her so much?
• Stop doubting Twilight, RD. Seriously?
• Fall down a flight of Sombra-esque stairs...
• Dude, did you guys learn nothing about teamwork?
• Way for AJ to be a badass.
• Oh, now we do the teamwork thing.
• No crap, dude. You guys are ridiculous sometimes.
• No, that's your friendship, AJ. And I'm right!
• Yup, that rainbow is the most powerful thing ever.
• Why does Celestia walk with her wings outstretched but Luna doesn't?
• Keys? Season 4 Quest?
• Discord's lovely banners are lovely.
• Go Fluttershy. And Discord in a maid uniform! Lol.
• Last bit of flashback potion... Plunder Seeds? Huh.
• OOOOO!!! Twilight has a new crown!
• Yay Luna! T_T
• Well that was cool! And she stuck the landing!

Housekeeping

I am currently working on an art project I've had sitting around so... my review is gonna have to wait. I'll also be posting my notes/Initial Reactions to the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary episode after it airs... along with a review... I'm so excited!!!!

Love ya, Jessie

Hiatus Announcement

Alright, my plans for reviewing everything this Season have come crashing down around my ears completely, especially given this week. I've decided that it's in my best interests to take a break from reviewing things. I'm tired of apologizing for it, and yes, I know I don't have to, but there it is. Due to work and laziness and tiredness and general brain-not-wanting-to-function, reviewing episodes has become a bit of a chore. I'm going to take this break and recharge. Hopefully I'll come back with better reviews and whatnot.

That said, this Saturday I will most likely be putting up reviews for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Doctor Who. Season 4 of MLP starts Saturday morning and the 50th Anniversary Episode of Doctor Who airs Saturday as well. I have the great fortune of being off on Saturday so I'll be able to watch both of these things. I also have very few people with which to express my excitement/views on things so... reviews will probably happen despite my being largely on hiatus.

Also, if I feel like reviewing something, I will. If not, I'm not apologizing for it. I'm currently at least a week behind on a lot of things and I've also got podcasts to listen to. When I say things are crashing around my ears, I really mean it.

Thank you very much for reading my reviews and more blog-y blog posts. I hope you continue on with me, despite my lack of current-ness with my reviews.

Trailers (Because I Feel Like It)

Love ya, Jessie

Things That Annoy Me: Internet Stuff

GIANT DISCLAIMER

• This will basically be a rant. A well structured rant, but a rant nonetheless.
• This is what happens when TV shows go on hiatus and I start thinking about stuff.
• I know I'm not going to change anything be writing this, I just feel the need to get it out there.
• Don't send me comments about how wrong I am about this stuff... I don't care and will ignore you.
• All opinions expressed here are opinions. If you don't know exactly what "opinion" means, you need to go look it up.
• There's swearing. Deal.
• There's also some over-explanation just in case people don't know what I'm talking about.

 INTRODUCTION

As stated in the disclaimer, this is what happens when TV shows go on hiatus. I start thinking about stuff that really has nothing to do with anything else I might post about. This time, I started thinking about the internet and how people interact with other people through it... and whatnot.

PAYING FOR PIXELS

What annoys me most about people paying for pixels is that they then get pissed off when whatever they paid for doesn't then pay off for them in turn.

Example: I play OviPets. OviPets uses credits as their currency. There is only one currency. You either spent tons of time "turning eggs" to get credits or you pay for credits. Credits are used to buy traits for your pets. These traits can then be passed on to the offspring of the pets. Credits are also used to generate and research pets. It takes a lot of credits to essentially get exactly what pets/traits you want. Also, unless you pay actual money for credits, you can't do anything with your earned credits but research, generate, and trait your own pets. You can't "buy" pets from other people using credits.

Still the Example: One of my friends on OviPets got annoyed because she spent a lot of actual money to get credits to pay for a "project" and no one was "buying" the results of that project. I saw her complaining about this and thought to myself: "Most players aren't paid players and therefore can't buy your pets. Also, you paid for pixels. Essentially nothing. So... why don't you just stop spending money on the game. It's obviously not worth it."

I didn't articulate this to her, of course, but you get my point, right? Yes, actually paying for pixels supports the webite/game/whatever but at the same time, it's completely within that website/game/whatever's rights to just up and shut down, leaving you with less money and none of those pixels you paid for. I'm not sure if people don't understand this or think their website/game/whatever won't go under or live up to expectations.

My personal feelings: Don't actually pay for something you're not going to get physically if you're the type who's going to get pissed at companies for doing what they do. Or, if you are going to actually pay for pixels, make sure you really, really like the thing you're paying for and that the thing is stable.

OTP FIGHTS

Most people probably aren't familiar with the term: OTP. OTP is an acronym standing for "One True Pairing." The term is mostly thrown around by people in fandoms who write fanfiction or have very strong opinions about which characters should be in a pairing together. I hadn't actually heard it until I started listening to podcasts run by people who were very immersed in the fanfiction scene.

Anyway, OTP fights border very closely to evangelical religious types. "Let's take this thing and shove it down your throat 'til you either get pissed or start agreeing with me."

I just don't understand why people get into fights over them. Granted, I have a few OTPs myself, but a) I have very few of them and b) I'm not going to shove them at you and make you believe they are THE OTP.

HEADCANON WARS

This basically goes along with the OTP thing. A "head-canon" is something your head does to explain why something happened or how something you would like to have had happen in actually canon came to be in your head. Basically: fanfiction.

People get so attached to their head-canon that they will argue with you about it for hours on end until you either agree with them or get the hell out of the conversation. No one wins these things. People walk away with basically the same head-canons they came into the fight with.

Even worse, people create a head-canon that ends up not meshing with what the original content ends up being. Example: Vinyl Scratch/DJ-Pon3 from the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic cartoon. Vinyl Scratch wears these sunglasses all the time. We, as a fandom, had no idea what color her eyes were. We sort of collectively decided that Vinyl's eyes were red, because they looked cool with her white coat and bright blue mane. However, Hasbro had other ideas and her eyes ended up actually being magenta. Hello giant uproar. Hello disgruntled fans.

SHOWING DISABLED CHARACTERS IN CARTOONS

Of course, talking about My Little Pony brings me to talk a little about "The Derpocalypse." And yes, I will be using the not exactly PC term of "disabled" because that's the word I've used all my life and I don't see a problem with using it.

Okay so... there's this pony who started out her life as an animation error. One of her eyes pointed up and the other one pointed down. She's this gray pegasus with a blond mane and gold eyes. The fandom took her and named her "Derpy Hooves" because her eyes are, as the internet has coined, "derped." She appeared in a lot of episodes in the background, as a lot of ponies do. But then there was this episode in which she got to hang out with Rainbow Dash for a bit. Derpy was clumsy, oblivious, cute, and actually got her name. Her voice was done by the same woman who voices Rarity, though she sort of talked in a sleepy drawl that might have made Derpy sound disabled in addition to her eyes being funny and all the clumsyness. Otherwise, Derpy was treated as just another pony. Yes, Rainbow Dash got annoyed when she kept breaking stuff, but she wasn't sent to sit off in a corner with "safety scissors and glitter."

Cue overprotective mothers calling Derpy offensive. Cue the episode being pulled. Cue the episode being slightly re-written and slightly re-voiced. Cue episode being re-released and aired with the new edits. Cue fandom losing their shit.

Derpy lost her name and now sounds like a blond airhead. Yeah... cuz that's not at all stereotypical or offensive or anything. All Derpy merchandise has now been labeled "Best Pony"... not that it was ever labeled "Derpy," but that would have been nice.

My point, I guess, is that there is more wrong with disabled characters not being shown in kids cartoons, or in fact in most TV shows or movies, than there is with them not being shown at all. At most, there's that one kid in Glee with Down Syndrome and a random smattering of people in wheelchairs. I personally have a more realistic expectation of disabled people by being around them than I do from watching TV.

And no, I'm not saying TV is realistic at all, I'm just saying it's ridiculous how upset people get over "offensive" content.

THE END

Okay so... yeah... that last one was only tangentially internet related, but my point is still valid, I believe. But yeah... that's it from me for tonight.

Love ya, Jessie.

 P.S. Derpy Icon by Pix3M of DeviantArt.

The Pinkie Pie Review

So... there's nothing but Doctor Who on this week. Like, everything is on a break/showing reruns. I've expressed my annoyance with this ridiculousness in the past so I'm not going to dwell on it now. What I am going to do is a departure from my usual TV/Movie/Book/Fanfiction reviews. This will be my first toy review; possibly, my only toy review.

Preliminary Warning

This post is image-heavy.

Please excuse any funky lighting or blur on the photos. I took them in my room, which is lit by two lamps... which is horrible lighting for taking pictures. I have fans going, so things blew around a very small bit. I am also not a tripod nor do I have one so... slightly shaky person + camera = blur. I picked the pics with the least amount of blur, but I'm not perfect.

Pinkie Pie Review

This past weekend, I went up to Dallas to a) hang out with my littlest sister and b) get a Build-A-Bear Pinkie Pie. Build-A-Bear just recently came out with an officially licensed Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. They are gorgeous. They are cheaper than getting a custom plush. They are perfect in almost every way. I got a Pinkie Pie because... well... I'm not overly fond of Dashie and they have yet to come out with a Rarity or Luna. (Sad Brony Is Sad)

I'm gonna go ahead and get the flaws out of the way so I can gush about the greatness.

1. Rainbow Dash's wings are made of that funky, crinkly, iridescent fabric. (Actually, I don't know if the fabric is crinkly, I didn't touch it. It looks crinkly.) Do Not Want. The wings should be the same fabric as the rest of the body. They're not magical or anything. Assuming Hasbro decides to do the rest of the Main Six (and possible other ponies), the unicorn horns will probably also be made of that fabric. But I'm just speculating.
2. The Cutie Marks are printed on only one side. This is a constant bug-bear of mine with all My Little Pony toys. Come on Hasbro, the Cutie Marks are on both sides in the show, why aren't they that way on the toys?!
3. The hair is the same brush-able stuff from the plastic toys. It's kind of crap on plushies due to how it feels. Also, Build-A-Bear plushies are not, strictly speaking, washable. I can't style the hair the way I would normally because I don't want to get the plushie wet.

Now that that's out of the way... Here's my Pinkie Pie:

Isn't she just adorable?! I originally did her hair like this because I was carting her down from Dallas, but I'm gonna leave it like that so it doesn't become the tangled mess it was when I got her. She's super-soft and totally huggable. And yes, she's standing by herself. Build-A-Bear lets you pick the squeezable-ness of your plush so you can make them all floppy if you want. Oh, she also didn't come with any hair-things. The flowers (to-be-pictured-later) come with her bridesmaid dress and the bows are pretty much free at Build-A-Bear.

Here's the detail of her Cutie Mark and Eyes. They're partially embroidered and partially appliqued. I'm really impressed with them. A lot of high-end custom plushes will have both details embroidered.

The Bridesmaid Dress

This is my Pinkie Pie in her bridesmaid dress. When I saw the dresses on the Build-A-Bear website, I thought the dresses were supposed to be from the Gala... which was obviously wrong. The set comes with the dress, necklace, and flower-thingy. I got her the shoes separately cuz I thought they matched well and looked cute.

The outfit details are another area of these that really impressed me. The attention to detail is just phenomenal. I've only got two little niggles: The dress should have covered the torso as well as the flanks and the flower-thingy really should have been a headband. But really, those niggles are seriously minor. I mean, just look at the detail on the necklace!

Overall, I'm just very, very impressed with the Build-A-Bear ponies. They're much better than the last few batches of plushes, in my opinion. If you don't believe me, have a look:

Build-A-Bear Staff

I just wanted to say, the staff at the Build-A-Bear in the Firewheel Mall were awesome. The day my sisters and I went in, the place was really busy, but not overly packed. We had a couple conversations with the ladies working that day about ponies and Doctor Who (because I was wearing my Doctor Whooves T-shirt). They were really nice, happy, and helpful. I have never had a better Build-A-Bear experience. Thanks ladies!

Housekeeping

Tomorrow, I'm partially planning on doing a little review thing of the new chapters of Pottermore that were released today. I've already been through them and... well... I'll go ahead and just leave that till tomorrow.

Love ya, Jessie.

PS: The last plush pic is property of Hasbro. I didn't have one on hand so I kinda stole that.

In Which I Rant a Little and Review Arrow

Today, I watched an episode of Arrow, went to Target with my mom and sister, spent a bulk of my evening de-Easter-Grassing Celestia and Luna ponies, watched an episode of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, and then spent till now de-Easter-Grassing Cadance.

If you have figured out that I'm going to rant about Easter-Grassed Doll Hair, you'd be right. I have always hated that stuff. It would periodically show up in Barbie dolls when I was younger. We'd play with them a little and then go to brush their hair, only to find out it was made impossible by EASTER GRASS. Yes, it makes the hair look more shimmery while in the box. Yes, it makes the hair look terrible once the doll or pony is out of the box. Yes, it tangles the hair very easily. Yes, I just spent a good three-ish hours cutting it out of my ponies' hair with a razor. Yes, it was annoying. No, they shouldn't put it in toys.

This stuff was in every single hair plug the ponies had. It looked horrible. It was annoying as all get out to find, especially in pink, yellow, and purple hair. There was A LOT of the stuff, too. See Figure A.

Figure A.

Anyway... I mentioned I watched Arrow today, yes? Here's your SPOILER WARNING. If you have not seen this week's episode of Arrow, go away and come back later. There are lots of SPOILERS in the following review. Oh, and a SPOILER for River Song's identity, if you haven't gotten there in Doctor Who yet.

Arrow - "Dead To Rights" - Review

This episode was fun. It also blew my mind there at the end, that was fun. I spent a good five minutes pacing in my room freaking out. I was not expecting to see Ms. Alex Kingston show up and proclaim that Sarah Lance might be alive. Alex Kingston, for those who don't know, has been on Doctor Who for the last... three, four years?... as Professor/Doctor River Song/Melody Pond/Mels. That's two Doctor Who alumns to show up as parents on Arrow. Gah! Oh, and I also thought Mrs. Lance was dead for some reason... but meh.

Speaking of Doctor Who alumns, I really, really enjoyed John Barrowman in this episode. I think that's partially because I'd rather see him in action instead of trying to look creepy. He doesn't do creepy well. My completely unrelated weird crossover fan observation: I was slightly disappointed when Mr. Merlyn did not come to with a gigantic gasp of breath any of the times he came to. But that's just me being a little weird and nerdy...

But that's a good segue into how awesome Felicity was this episode. I like that she's getting some combat training from Diggle instead of just sitting at a desk. However, the quick costume change from work-out gear to work gear was a little... disconcerting. But she was awesome anyway. Quite the Oracle-type-person... which I keep saying.

The other big reveal of the episode was Tommy being told point blank that Olly is the vigilante. I don't think it bodes well. I think Tommy's going to end up being a villain. I think he's going to hold Olly not trusting him as a big thing and that'll be part of what sends him to the villain side. I do like that he's keeping Olly's secret, though. It's nice. I'm also wondering when Olly's going to tell Dig and Felicity that Tommy knows.

Can't wait for the next episode. Hope we get some answers to some of my questions, because those questions are important.

Obelisk War Coverage

Basically, today's thing is Battledome centric. Really easy battles with various members of the other team. Yay.

Housekeeping

Buffy took precedence over TVD, sorry. Hopefully, I'll be watching Supernatural and TVD tomorrow. I'll also be styling some ponies so... ya know, that'll be fun.

Love ya, Jessie.

Games Tiny Ponies Play

Today was much more relaxing than the weekend. Surprising because it's Monday, no?

Anyways... here's the SPOILER WARNING. If you have not seen this weekend's episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or Once Upon a Time and you care about being SPOILED, you should leave the blog, watch the episodes, and come back to the blog later. There will be SPOILERS.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - "Games Ponies Play" - Review

I quite enjoyed this episode, though I'm not exactly happy with bits of it. One of the bits I detailed in my review of "Just For Sidekicks." The other bit was... I felt the Mane Six not realizing they had the wrong pony felt like it was insulting their intelligence. Ms. Peachbottom was very obviously not Ms. Harshwhinny. A games inspector, especially an official games inspector, would not have been acting at all like Ms. Peachbottom did. She was just too... ridiculous and laid back. She also wasn't acting like she was inspecting anything. She was surprised by everything the ponies were doing. She was just obviously not the games inspector. Also, the type of luggage being the only thing they had to identify Ms. Harshwhinny... what? Why? That was not explained at all.

I did, however, like that they made the Crystal Ponies all crystal-y. I thought it was a bit odd that they went all crystal-y and suddenly weren't... it made much more sense in this episode. I liked that we had a bunch of new character designs. I liked that we got both Shining Armor and Cadance showing up. I liked watching the Mane Six scramble to get everything just perfect. I liked that Twilight didn't go completely crazy. There should have been more made of that, but it was nice that it was addressed. At the same time, that was something I was going "huh?" about. It seemed like a non-issue that was suddenly an issue. She did fine at the wedding and everything since... meh.

Once Upon a Time - "Tiny" - Review

I think it would have been better for this episode to have been stretched to cover at least one more. The entire giant thing was rushed. Anton was made out to be stupid and completely dense. I had no sympathy for Arlo when he died. I wanted to slap him when he just started talking about "growing beans is what we do!" So annoying. I had no problem with Jack dying the way she did. I had no real connection to her. Also, I'm glad James is dead. Good riddance.

One big thing that bothered me: The Giant Wars. Hook told Emma that the giants were killed in a war. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wars usually last longer than a few hours, right? Also, Jack apparently got her sword engraved just to go die with it? Huh? Why? I'm not exactly clear on how that entire thing constituted a war. That was a crap war.

I thought the bit with Gold/Rumple in the airport was interesting. I'm not sure exactly what happened when the shawl was going through the metal detector, but they made it seem like he was having some mental stress there. I'm glad to see he's actually affected by not having magic. He's been using it as a crutch for so long. It's nice to see him freaking out a bit about it.

I'm not at all happy about Regina. I thought when she showed up at the apartment that maybe she was going to tell Snow and Charming about Cora attempting to manipulate her and maybe double cross her. But no, she's just being strangely obsessed with being evil again. I don't like it. I don't like it at all. Her quick turnaround  from "I'm trying so hard to be good" to "Whelp, Mom's back, better be evil again" totally kills her character for me.

Overall, I thought this episode was quite interesting, if mostly filler. Can't wait for next week. My theory: Neil is totally Balefire. Gotta be.

Housekeeping

Sorry if the reviews were disjointed, I'm currently listening to Bronyville while typing. NEVER AGAIN. Bad plan. Makes my brain work harder than it should.

Tomorrow... I have no idea, again. Oh! You should totally head over to Gaiaonline.com right now! They're having their Tenth Anniversary/Valentine's Day Event. It's super fun. There are lots of fun things to do, including a peek at how far the site has come.

Love ya, Jessie.

Twilight Sparkle, The Newest Princess

SPOILERS

So... I'm not breaking this post up into sections. I'm just gonna go ahead and give you my reactions to the news that Twilight Sparkle is becoming and Alicorn Princess. Permanently.

Frankly, I think turning her into an Alicorn is ridiculous. There's no reason, as of right now, that a Unicorn would be changing into an Alicorn. This does not make sense.

I read an article (THIS ONE) that sort of explains the reasoning... which I agree with to a point. The point I have a problem with i sort of ranted about above... The point I agree with is that apparently in Equestria, being a Princess is something that's earned. The message the show is trying to get across is that you can live up to the ideals even if you can't actually be a princess. Makes sense to me.

However, that doesn't really explain things like Princess Cadance. How did she earn her place as a Princess? As a teenager, she was an Alicorn, which is apparently a mark of being a Princess. It also doesn't explain Prince Blueblood. Are Princes not the same rank as Princesses just male? This seriously confuses me.

Anyway... I'm not completely passing judgement until after I've seen the episode. I also want to say that I will not be leaving the My Little Pony fandom over this. I like ponies, I like the show, I don't see any reason to just up and leave the fandom even if the show does something I don't like. I say this because of some comments I've seen on DeviantArt... and no other reason, really.

Love ya, Jessie.

A Rant Just For Sidekicks

I'm incredibly sorry, but ABC has decided to delay the next episode of Once Upon a Time until FEBRUARY! GAH! But more on that later...

If you did not see Saturday's episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic or do not wish to have anything to do with my Brony-ness, please feel free to skip down to the section after this next one. There will be SPOILERS and discussions of ponies.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - "Just For Sidekicks" - Review

In this episode we get Spike... exercising his Dragon Greed with a bit of complete randomness. I'm not a fan of this episode. Spike is not Best Dragon. Spike needs to stick to being a secretary because he pretty much fails at pet-sitting. Yes, he learned a little something, but I can see that not sticking.

I'm extremely glad that animals in the Friendship Is Magic universe are semi-sentient, otherwise Spike and the Crusaders would have been found out as soon as they arrived in The Crystal Empire. Those animals would have made bee-lines for their owners and made a gigantic fuss in that train car. Spike definitely would have deserved to have been found out, though how no one noticed he was being ridiculous about those gems, I just don't know.

But anyway... I'm being incredibly down on this episode. Here are some good things about this episode:

• Rainbow Dash and Tank were super cute.
• The Cutie Mark Crusaders were awesome, as usual.
• Angel was not being a spoiled rabbit.
• Pewee got a cameo.
• Crystal Empire Continuity!

The Rant About TV Scheduling

Okay so... I go to turn on Once Upon a Time last night and find out that they've decided to rerun episodes from earlier in the season. Why? No actual reason that I can see. This greatly annoys me. I would understand it if they had a sporting event or awards show, but no. They had neither of these things. Just: Oh, your show is back for two episodes and then gone again for a couple weeks, but here, have some reruns. WHY?

Mind you, I get really annoyed when my shows are delayed by sporting events or awards shows, but I really do understand that. I even understand, though not really, breaking shows for the holidays. Apparently no one watches TV over the holidays... Wrong, but just me saying it isn't going to change anything. Seriously, would it kill them to just air a show until the season is over rather than toying with us like that?

Okay... think I'm done with that rant now...

Housekeeping

Uh... not sure what I'm going to do about blogging tomorrow, seeing as there's nothing on I care to review until Wednesday. Yeah so... see ya!

Love ya, Jessie.

In the Name of Fluttering On

Okay so... last night, my family decided we all needed to play Scene It Jr. instead of football. This was all well and good except that I missed watching Once Upon a Time last night. Fear not, for I watched it this afternoon. You're only missing out on my thoughts while watching. I also have a review of this week's My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, because I really like ponies and because I can. So, if you have not seen last night's episode of Once Upon a Time or Saturday's episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, you should be very aware of SPOILERS from this point on.

Once Upon a Time - "In the Name of the Brother" - Review

I had a lot of fun watching this episode. I also had a lot of GAH!s during it.

On the topic of Rumple and Belle, I enjoyed the handling of that. However, I don't think Belle freaking out like she did was necessary. I mean, Gold healed her. Not like he did anything bad to her. I'm sad the "True Love's Kiss" didn't work, though that would have been too easy. I'm also sad about the cup being shattered. That scene was heartbreaking.

Speaking of heartbreaking, Regina and Cora. I think it's completely out of character for Regina just to change her mind like she did. If she's really trying so hard to be worthy of Henry, why would she succumb to Cora's manipulation like that? She just said she was taking Cora and turning her over to Snow, Charming, and Emma, and then she doesn't for no real reason. I wanted to slap her.

I quite liked that Ruby was the one to get through to Frankenstein. The way that part was done was quite sweet, I thought. Not sure I like how the Frankenstein story was handled, but I knew it wasn't going to be like the book from the last Frankenstein episode so I'm gonna just let that go. I did like Rumple in that part, though. He looked very... gold in that outfit with the coloring done and all. On that same note, the way they integrated colored Rumple into grey-scale Frankenstein world was fantastic.

I really think the car-crash guy should be denounced as a crazy person by his wife or whoever. That kind of talk usually gets people locked up for their own good, doesn't it? Regardless, I can't wait to see what happens with that next week.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - "Keep Calm and Flutter On" - Review

It's been a while since I've done a pony-centric review, but I keep thinking about this episode and how fantastic it was... so here's this thing.

First, I would really like to know what Celestia needs Discord's powers for. That was really vague and doesn't really make sense at this point. She just shows up and is like "Oh, reform him for me. He should use his powers for good. Oh, and as a reward, you get to keep the Elements of Harmony with you so you can stop him if he gets out of control again..." Seriously, lady? WTF?

I really appreciate the continuity-filled reactions of the Mane Six to Discord. Yes, compared to Fluttershy, the came off as complete jerks. No, I don't think they should have come off as anything other than complete jerks compared to Fluttershy. In the words of Rainbow Dash "This is Discord we're talking about!" He did almost manage to defeat them the last time and was obviously not repentant at all about it. I'd act like a jerk too.

My only real problem with this episode was Discord's fairly quick turnaround. Yes, I know they had to do it because of time constraints but... gah! It just did not sit right with me. Also, making Discord say "Friendship is magic"? Why? What was the point? It was incredibly corny.

Anyway... I thought this episode was fantastic. It showed that yes, there is continuity beyond random stuff *cough* and Trixie. *cough* It also showed that Fluttershy can get frustrated and angry with people who push her buttons. The character building here was awesome as were all of Discord's antics. Can't wait for new pony on Saturday!

Housekeeping

Uhmm... not much here, really. Though I do want to tell you that if you're looking to play Scene It Jr. you should have a good knowledge of the '90s. Like, it was '90s nostalgia fest. The first My Play we got was a Buffy: The Vampire Slayer clip... though the question that came with it was stupid and incredibly obvious assuming you knew it was Buffy... which the entire living room did so... yeah... Does that count as a game review? I dunno... not labeling it as such...

Love ya, Jessie.

Vampires, Hexenbiest, and Ponies

I'm going to start out with a big fat SPOILER WARNING for anyone who has not seen last week's Grimm or My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. And also, if you haven't seen Breaking Dawn Part 2, go away. There will be SPOILERS! Also, there is a small instance of profanity. If you'd like, though, you can just skip down to the Housekeeping section to find out what I'm doing these next couple of days.

Grimm - "Season of the Hexenbiest" - Review

I think I forgot how much I liked Adalind running around messing with people. She's a giant slimy bitch, but she's fun to have around. I liked that we got a lot of Monroe this episode, he made me laugh. He also has a semi-permanent room for Nick, which is cool. And speaking of, the whole Nick/Juliette/Renard thing has really heated up and I'm glad we got to see more of Juliette having issues because of it. Her picking at the Wessen thing is nice, I hope she gets to be let in on the big secret soon.

Altogether, I really enjoyed this episode. I want more!

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - "Too Many Pinkie Pies" - Review

I was left with the overwhelming urge to slap Twilight Sparkle, and everyone else for that manner, a few times. It was SO OBVIOUS that the sad Pinkie was the real Pinkie! Twilight even tells Spike "They all say they're the real Pinkie." Only, the real Pinkie didn't so... that's gotta be the real one, duh? I wasn't really enamored with this episode, but it was kinda fun initially.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 - Review

This was my first time seeing a Twilight movie in a room full of fans and that definitely had an impact on my enjoyment of this movie. Overall, the acting was much improved from the beginning and it was further underscored by my little sister and I having watched New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn Part 1 the night before. I really, really enjoyed this movie.

I love, love, loved the vision Alice shared with Aro. I'd known it was coming, but I got sucked into it anyway. One of the guys sitting behind my sisters and I was like "I was getting into it!" after the vision ended. The action during that scene was awesome and thoroughly satisfying. I think my favorite bit was Alice dragging Jane to Sam to get her comeuppance.

Of the new characters introduced, I enjoyed Benjamin and Garrett the most, just like I did in the books. Benjamin was just a blast of fresh air into an almost entirely uptight cast of newcomers. Favorite bit with Benjamin: his first appearance. That was just epically awesome. Garrett totally made my day in the few scenes he got to be in. He was funny and entirely genuine. My favorite part with him was around the campfire as he commended Liam on an awesome revolution. I laughed.

I really liked that we didn't stay home with Bella and Edward like we did in the books. Traveling with the others and even getting a glimpse at what the Volturi were doing made the story feel just that much more epic. Favorite part of traveling: Emmett and Rosalie picking up Garrett. Garrett telling his prey to shut up had me loving him instantly.

There were a couple of things that bug me about the movie versus the book, though. First off, Bella twigged about the Merchant of Venice book immediately in the book, but here it seemed to take forever. Second, there wasn't enough interaction between Bella and Renesmee. Kristen Stewart seemed kind of fake in a couple of the scenes she had with Renesmee simply because the interaction wasn't there. I was especially sad Renesmee wasn't in the scene where Kate, Garrett, Emmett, and Edward were teaching Bella to shield properly. The entire reason Bella got her shield extended in the books was because Renesmee was in "danger" from Kate. Another niggle: Seth didn't break any bones. When he leapt between Bella and Jacob, her was supposed to have gotten his shoulder broken. But no, he just shook it off like being thrown really hard into a tree was nothing. What?

Anyway, I do believe Breaking Dawn Part 2 is my favorite in the series. I will definitely be watching it a few times after it's on DVD.

Housekeeping

Uhmm... yeah... I was gonna watch Arrow last night but my computer decided it didn't like Flash Player for no reason. I should be getting both Arrow and The Vampire Diaries watched in the next couple of days. Meantime, I'm going to be painting my nephew's chifferobe and working on redoing/doing some fanfiction covers for my stuff on fanfiction.net. I've already redone the one for Heat Wave, if you wanna go have a look...

Love ya, Jessie.

Dear Bronies

Bronies, we need to have a talk. It's about our wonderful ponies and the tendency to graft human problems onto them. Sure, that's sort of what they are there for, but we need to draw some lines.


Line 1: Scootaloo the Chicken

No, I have no problem with us calling dear little Scoots a chicken. What I have a problem with is grafting her with a handicap and sad story of not living in Cloudsdale. I bring this up because of a Brony panel (which was not actually a panel, by the way) that took place at Comicpalooza. The Philosophical and Sociological Aspects of My Little Pony consisted of a single guy who spent WAY too much time talking about how Scootaloo's eing size prevents her from flying and therefore is a handicap. He also told us about his head-cannon where Scootaloo and her parents had to live in Ponyville because Cloudsdale is unsafe for poor, flightless Scootaloo.

So... what if it turns out Scootaloo just has flightless parents, like Pound Cake. What then? What if, the next time we see her, she manages to take off and fly? This would completely destroy all of that. But no, apparently, Scootaloo is handicapped be too-short wings.

And then there are the sad stories about Scootaloo being an orphan. They're just... unnecessary. Seriously. The reason these stories popped up were because Scootaloo's parents haven't showed up in the show. Which, if you notice, is true for 99% of the ponies in the show. We might as well just brand all the ponies orphans, if that's the only reason Scootaloo is an orphan.


Line 2: Ditsy Doo/Derpy Hooves

First, let me say this: Derpy is Best Background Pony. However, just because she is a walleyed and clumsy does not mean she is sad or has a sad life.

This, I bring up, because I listened to BaldDumboRat of YouTube's reading of "Bubbles." It was cute, for the most part. However, I have a gigantic objection to the abusive mother portrayed in the story. "Hey, I think it's a good idea to poison my daughter and then leave her alone in the forest." Stop. Just... seriously. Stop it!

This is a kid's show for Pete's sake! Postpartum Derpy's mom we do not want or need. It's annoying and makes me cry. I watch ponies and do pony stuff to brighten my day and smile. I don't need depressing stuff. Yes, I found "Bubbles" depressing. I found it more depressing than sad "Derpy-pocalypse" art. And don't even get me started on that.


Line 3: Cupcakes/Rainbow Factory

Haven't read them? Don't. No, seriously, don't.

Read them? Stop talking about them. Me included.


I guess what I'm trying to say is this: STOP taking cute, cuddly, smile-inducing things and making them resemble human everyday.

I believe ponies are meant to educate about friendship and acceptance. They don't need to be burdened with our crap. We all know they've got their own crap to deal with. Party of One, anyone?

Fandom

Hello again. So sorry I haven't posted in over a month... comes from being distracted by other things. However, I had this little thing niggling at me at 1 AM, so I wrote it down and here it is:

So, I've had a few people scoff at me for liking certain things -- one of which was My Little Pony. Instead of just walking away from what was sure to turn into an online confrontation, I asked them if they'd ever seen an episode of the afforementioned My Little Pony. A couple of them answered in the negative. I've only ever had one person say they'd seen it and didn't get it.

     My next question was "Why not?" Okay, actually, I sent them something that essentially said "don't knock it till you've tried it." But I did eventually get around to discussing why they either hadn't seen it or why they're come to decide not to even try it.

     The answer, to my surprise, had to do with the fandom. Us Bronies are apparently too crazy or something. The reason this surprised me was my own experience with fandom. The Brony community is generally not made up of crazed individuals. In fact, a prevailing mantra we have is to love and tolerate.

I'm not saying there aren't those of us who aren't a bit crazed, but those are the minority.

     This then led to other discussions with other people about other things. One person I talked to had never read any of the Harry Potter books nor seen any of the movies. When I asked why this was, they cited fandom as the reason. Nothing specific about their personal tastes, just that fandom puts them off the entire thing. Not reading the books because they don't want to be associated with the fandom.

     As a memeber of multiple fandoms (including but not specifically limited to, My Little Pony, Harry Potter, Twilight, and Doctor Who) this citing of fandom as a reason not to get into things has me confused. I find pretty much all of the fandoms I'm in have such nice people as members. We're not like some exclusive club or anything. We're just people who like something and want to share and discuss it. There's a place for everyone. And yes, that includes the crazy contingent.

     But really, is that small minority what puts people off? Is the fanbase a valid reason not to give something a try? I don't get it. It's not like liking something means you have to actively participate in fandom. I generally don't.

     Okay, yes, I have written fanfiction in the past. I do draw ponies for people and post them to DeviantArt. But for the most part, my fan-participation badges only include listening to podcasts, listening to music, looking at art, and reading fanfiction. I'm a fairly passive fan. I don't even do all of those things for every fandom. Heck, some of my fandoms don't even have any of those.

     Personally, I don't feel like fandoms are represented in a good light by outsiders. Take the Bronies, for example. Boys, grown men, and grown women liking pastel colored ponies aimed at little girls. They're weird. There's something wrong with them. Right? Wrong. Bronies are just people who like this brilliantly animated, brilliantly written cartoon. We make wonderful art. We write some of the best music I've ever had the pleasure to listen to. Hell, we even contribute to charity. What is so wrong with that?

     The real answer is this: NOTHING.

     Society has these things they call "norms." "Norms" basically take people and shove them into ill-fitting boxes. If you don't fit in your box, you're automatically an outcast. But people don't fit into "norm" boxes and never have. If you think you do, you're wrong. We're all different and we all want to be accepted for who we are and what we like. That's where fandoms come in. We take a group of people who like something and we turn that group into a community. Everyone has a place. We share, we make friends, we have fun! That's what fandom is all about.

     So maybe you're afraid to get into something because of fandom. I encourage you not to be. There's a place for you, even if you choose not to participate. Try it anyway. Who knows, you might find something you like.

Because You Knew It Had To Happen...

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has invaded the blog... as if the bouncing Pinkie Pie at the beginning of the year wasn't a dead giveaway...

I started watching My Little Pony sometime in... November... I think... of 2011. I was watching it with my littlest sister, just, in order to have someone to talk to about it. We fell in love with it. The animation is wonderful, the characters actually have depth after the first couple of episodes, and, yeah, they're fucking cute. Of course, being a girl, Friendship Is Magic was hardly my first Pony experience. My little sisters and I used to watch it when the Disney Channel was airing it... back when the ponies looked closer to actual horses... only smaller, cuter, and fatter. I used to love watching My Little Pony Tales. My favorites at the time were Melody and Baby Buttons. However, going back and watching them now... the voices are kinda... wrong. Everyone sounds like they're trying too hard to be cute or they have a stuffed-up nose...

Explanation

     For the uninitiated, the My Little Pony cartoons started out as a vehicle for selling the My Little Pony toys. There have been several generations of My Little Ponies over the years. You can see a good example HERE (links to a DeviantArt meme pic). The current crop of My Little Pony shtuff started as a cartoon pitched by Lauren Faust. The concept is simple: each episode is dedicated to teaching a lesson to the young viewers... and sell the toys. The lessons aren't heavy-handed and are often only mentioned when the characters write to Princess Celestia at the end of the episode. If you're going to watch My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, I suggest watching at least four episodes, the characters flesh out more as you go in.

Characters

The main characters, seen above, are (From left to right, top to bottom): Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, Rarity, Spike, Fluttershy, and Apple Jack. Each has their own distinct personality and talent. As each pony has their own special talent, each has their own cutie mark -- the little design on their flanks. Ponies start out without Cutie Marks and earn them when they figure out what their special talent is. Oh! And let's not forget the ever-important types of ponies...

Pony Types:

Pegasus  In charge of the weather

Unicorn  Can work magic

Earth  Have a special connection to the earth

Princess  Design only used for Princesses Celestia and Luna. Cross between Unicorn and Pegasus

My Pony Preferences

My favorite ponies are Rarity  and Princess Luna  My favorite pony type is Unicorn (I collect them... unicorns). My favorite episode so far is Stare Master. I am most like Twilight Sparkle And last, but certainly not least, this next picture is my "Pony-sona."

Love ya, Jessie.