State of Affairs: Edge of October Edition · 11:30pm Sep 30th, 2014
Well, in light of the drama of the last blog post I did, why don't we chat up how I'm doing as we move into October. Namely, the more hot-button topics in the fandom right now, what my take is on the most recent additions to canon (namely, the TV Show, Films, and Comic Canon), and how I'm doing in terms of horse words.
Why don't we start by addressing the elephant currently navigating the living room right now. Ted Anderson, one of the writers for IDW's MLP Comic Series included the original character of big-time "Down With Molestia" supporter, brony hater, and self-proclaimed misandrist DragonDicks in the 2014 Annual Issue as a cameo. If you're wondering exactly where, it's on the bottom-right most panel of page 13 on a television monitor, and although recolored, she is very distinctly bearing the smug sense of apparent superiority that most Social Justice Extremists—and I use that phrase in particular because it's a bit more focused than the blanket statement of Social Justice Warrior has become—of her ilk tend to carry in their countenance.
To be honest, her appearance doesn't bother me so much, namely because while I was involved in the Down with Molestia drama to know the basic jist of what was going on—and let the record show that I was for allowing her to still exist and be allowed to be taken down by JohnJoseco himself than just suddenly axing her—I was not and don't have an interest with being deeply enough ingrained with Tumblr or the Social Justice Culture contained within to know many of the figureheads in it besides PinkiePony.
What did get me, however, was the apparent support Ted Anderson had given to DragonDicks, confusing her misandry for satire, and supporting her ideology.
PR Protip: Do not ally yourself with someone whose ideology flies directly countercurrent to the primary purchasing demographic of ladies and/or gentleman that purchase your comment. You're going to have a bad time.
In summary, her appearance really doesn't irk me, mainly because I neither knew any of DragonDicks' characters, nor knew her intimately enough to give half a damn beyond the obligatory, "Oh boy, more hiatus drama appears before us, let's see what the big problem is now." response I usually give to drama like this that pops up during the off-season. If you want to see a better breakdown of this whole thing, Bronystories did the topic far better justice than I ever could. Go check out his blog's more recent entries to get the details.
As for The Hub being retired and being replaced by The Discovery Family Network, I honestly don't find much fault with it as long as I can catch my favorite equines on the same station as usual.
On that note, let's segue into the actual pones, starting off with the big release of the week: The official limited theatrical release of My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks.
Let's get the first impressions/thesis statement out of the way right now. Oh, and just so I don't get yelled at by Followers planning to see the movie soon, I'm just going to put this here:
This has to be one of the best contributions Season 4 made for the fandom.
Rainbow Rocks is, in more respects than one, a sound improvement over the first Equestria Girls in almost every degree. The characters are better handled, the music is vastly greater, the technical aspects are far improved and some of the visuals are downright awesome as far as Flash animation goes, the plot goes far snappier and with much better character and world building, and the antagonists, while a little underdeveloped, provide a much larger-scale threat and substance to drive the narrative along.
As for what I particularly liked, it's a number of things. The Canterlot High universe is more intricately connected to the prime Equestria universe, the reason why the antagonists are there is laid out rather early in the film, and the setting feels more like a proper Alternate Universe than the previous one, making it a better example of how you do the "High School AU" story better. Sunset Shimmer's actions from the first movie carry an actual continuity that sticks with her throughout most of the movie and carries actual weight, making her eventual redemption legitimately satisfying.
With all the establishing bollocks squared away with the first movie, a lot more time can be spent between the song developing character, and Sunset Shimmer seriously reaped the benefits of this. She becomes a genuine protagonist in this movie, and even when Twilight comes back to help the newly-redeemed member of the Humane Six out, she keeps her place while Twilight takes a deuteragonist role. I think the only character who doesn't get much from this movie is Spike, and that's mostly the fault of him no longer having to play the Straight Man to Twilight's Fish Out of Water. All in all, aside from Rainbow Dash being even more of a brash, egotistical cunt-muffin than I remember her being, most of the characterization of the main cast is pretty rock-solid.
As for our antagonists, the Dazzlings, their backstory is pretty interesting and ties both universes together, and the three of them have to be by and away the closest villains to ever beat the heroines yet in this generation's history. Their powers and how they work at using them are almost stupefyingly effective, and almost entirely undermine the efforts made by the last movie to unify the student body and ensure peace and harmony. As previously stated, however, I find that their personae is rather underdone, to the point where they can be defined by a single trait. Adagio Dazzle's the charismatic, coniving plan-maker and de facto leader, Aria Blaze the Snarky Brainiac, and Sonata Dusk the Adorable Airhead and resident Waifu-bait of the three of them.
I will give them this accolade. The Dazzlings are the among the first antagonists (aside from Chrysalis and Flim and Flam) to not completely destroyed/redeemed, and I am genuinely curious what they'll be up to now that their magical auto-tune is gone. Not to mention, they were only a hair's breadth away from actually winning.
As for the plot and little things, it was okay. Relatively predictable if you've seen this kind of thing, but has enough good character moments to keep things interesting. It does, however, have one of the most subtle bits of foreshadowing I've seen in a while.
If you'll recall far back, when we were only just getting the short films to tell us about the goings on before the film came out, the first one was Music to my Ears.
In this short, we followed Vinyl Scratch/DJ-Pon-3 on her way to Mr. and Mrs. Cake's Cafe, to the tune of some relatively okay electronic music and visual effects that might imply she may have a case of synesthesia (which, if you're curious, is a neurological phenomenon in which the stimulation of certain senses activates in tandem, to the point of overlap, such as seeing sound distortions, or tasting colors).
One particular moment of note comes when Vinyl finally reaches her destination and goes to approach Ms. Cake. During a slow-mo segment, the camera pans over the Human Mane 5, sans Spike, Twilight, and Sunset Shimmer.
In the movie proper, Spike and the rest are properly present, and you can actually see her walking in much the same way she did in the short in one pan, if you look closely. If you want to find it yourself, it's during the scene where they're all catching up. While I can't currently find a GIF of this, you can also see her at the counter when Rainbow Dash decides to demonstrate how good she is at Street Fighter imitation.
Now, this might seem like just a little tie in to the shorts, but let's remember the fact that aside from her unmasking in the "Helping Twilight Win the Crown" song, she is never seen without her headphones on.
This may not seem relevant to the plot, but let's take into account that the Dazzlings' main power seems to be charming ponies/quasi-human creatures with occasional equine features with what basically amounts to Bardic Magic, i.e. Magic Music. Said magic seems to be able to affect everyone who hears it, aside from particularly empowered folk like our main characters, who are protected due to their connection to the Elements of Harmony and their ability to Counter-song.
All except for Vinyl Scratch.
In the climax of the film, when the gang appears trapped beneath the stage, where Trixie's Illusions (and later, the Dazzlings themselves) are performing, Spike comes along to save the day, with Vinyl Scratch in tow, who was unaffected by the magic at work.
Why?
Because she never removed her headphones at any point during the songs.
I'll let that roll in your head for a few seconds.
Megan McCarthy, you sneaky, sneaky bitch.
This seriously blew my damn mind when I realized it. Mainly because it's so subtle, most viewers won't have caught it until they saw it a second time around.
Seriously, give McCarthy a cookie.
But yeah, I should probably wrap this up and move on.
Final word, I really liked this movie. It's a sound improvement over the original, similar to how Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 is a sound improvement to the original Spider-Man. Most of the awkwardness that made up the first movie is all but gone from this one, save from a few perhaps intentionally cringeworthy moments, and almost all of the problems that came from the original movie (including one that I will not mention because it is relatively old-hat to this very day) have been fixed. While it is not perfect, it is still a great follow-up to a rather risky venture in Hasbro's long line of animated features made to promote products. Megan McCarthy managed to make it work, and William Kevin Anderson and Daniel Ingram delivered a damn good score that, while not entirely Rock music, still carried the movie pretty damn well, and helped add to the really good moments in the film.
If you insist on scores, I give it 7.5/10, 4 Stars, and a Recommendation.
Now onto the comics. While I will admit, I have been truant with the comics this hiatus season up until recently, I have been catching up, and have reached up to Issue #22 in the Main Series, and Issue #7 in the Friends Forever Series, and as previously stated, have read the 2014 Annual.
Issues #21 and #22, or as I'll call them, the "Diamonds in the Rough" Duology is the first mystery story the comics have done, near as I can tell. It involves Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders heading to Manehattan to see Babs for a Magic Show at Carneighgie Hall. There are rumors of a jewel thief stealing away all of the city's most precious diamonds and gems, and a lot of the town's on their guard. The Magic Show is headed by none other than The Great and Powerful Trixie, who performs her best illusions using what appears to be a highly-valuable diamond, making it disappear. When she can't complete the trick by revealing said diamond to be nestled in her hat, the Police Department barges in and clears out the place, and Trixie reveals it was a clever ruse to lure the infamous cat burglar/jewel thief Rough Diamond, and that the missing gem is actually a fake, which is revealed to be in Applejack's hat.
See, Trixie's been helping the MHPD catch this crook, and the real diamond is safely in the office of the Director. However, when they go to said office to investigate a break-in, a smoke bomb goes off in its hiding place, and the diamond is believed to have been stolen by Trixie.
What ensues is a fairly simple "catch the real thief to clear the accused suspect's name" plot, which is somewhat ruined by the fact the artist's depiction of what Rough Diamond is thought to look like makes it very easy to tell who the real culprit is, making the end reveal somewhat underwhelming.
All in all, it's not bad—heck, it's actually exciting and a tad bit funny—the fact the comic itself kinda gives away the real bad guy spoils the surprise.
As for Friends Forever, I've most recently read issues #6 and #7.
#6, keeping in the tradition of odd, but workable pairings, pairs Rainbow Dash and Trixie. Rainbow Dash is requested to make a performance of her acrobatics for the Queen of Diamondia, a relatively unknown kingdom about a day's flight from Ponyville. Rainbow Dash, being the egotistical showboat she's often known as, accepts the request, and goes alone there.
When she arrives, it turns out that said kingdom, as it's name somewhat implies, is the apparent kingdom of the Diamond Dogs, whom we haven't seen since, whom I think we last saw in Player Piano, and is greeted by the queen's chancellor, Jim. Naturally, Rainbow Dash isn't exactly keen on being in what could be enemy territory, citing the events of A Dog and Pony Show as past evidence. Jim, however, reassures Dash that those Dogs were outcasts who were too rough and tumble for their liking, and pleads her to stay and see the Queen.
When Rainbow Dash pays a visit to the queen, she is revealed to be none other than The Great and Powerful Trixie! After excusing Jim, Trixie explains how all this started.
Trixie was setting up for a a show, when her trunk of props and costume jewelry and gems is spilled in some mud. In the throes of her Melodrama, the citizens of Diamondia believe her to be a diviner of gems, and elect her as their queen. At first, being Trixie, she takes the opportunity of being royalty in stride...only to be told she cannot ever leave the kingdom. So, naturally, she wants out.
What follows is some actually pretty nice worldbuilding for the Diamond Dogs, who in this comic appear to organize in a Republican Commune placing high value on personal wealth and trade, and less on just amassing a horde, along with some interesting character play between Trixie and Rainbow Dash, and perhaps one of the more clever plans that the two could possibly think up.
This one's definitely worth a read, and it's worth noting that it actually gets referenced in Issue #21 in the Main Series. That alone should be a sign it's pretty good.
As for #8, we get some Pinkie Pie and Luna. The Set-up? Princess Luna goes to see Twilight and Spike concerning a problem of hers. Particularly, she seeks advice about the ways of humor. Why? Because in the events following her banishment, Princess Celestia wanted to bring herself closer to the common pony through a banquet called "Chuckle-lot", as a way to cut loose and show ponies that she isn't always as serious and taciturn as she seems. However, when she invites Luna to take part, she fears that her subjects that are still afraid of her, and that she doesn't know how to make ponies laugh, so she hopes that Twilight can show her.
They do some study on the theory of comedy, but Luna wants to learn about the practice of it all. So who else do they go to but Pinkie Pie for coaching?
This one's particularly interesting because it's a pairing of characters that, for quite a while, have not had good history together, and couldn't be any further apart in personalities. They actually do have dysfunction together, and it isn't until the end where they start to understand each other's world-views. It is one of the most distant pairings we've had, and it works.
Lastly, we have the 2014 Annual Issue. We've already discussed the huge elephant in the living room, so what does the actual comic entail?
Well, as the aptly titled Power Ponies showed us, there is an in-universe comic called Power Ponies, which focuses around a 7-man team of superheroes styled somewhat after The Justice League. In this issue, we have a classic "Team is having trouble fighting as a unit, Villains work even better as a unit, Team learns to work together to take out the Villains" story. While it is a tired premise these days, it is nonetheless a staple in any comic centered around a superhero stable.
So what makes this comic work? A couple of things, really.
For one, there's the fact that we see the Power Ponies as individual characters, rather than as the Mane Six wearing their personae. Second, there is the team of villains the Power Ponies face, each with a unique gimmick and design. Third, there's the variation on the standard plot, which even goes as far as to include the "superheroes get their powers stolen by the villains" subplot. Then, there's way in which the team is brought together, and the way they manage to defeat the villains. It's a twist that really does fit within the flavor of a comic set within the Friendship is Magic universe.
Even taking into account DragonDicks' cameo, the meat of this comic is pretty good, even if the premise is tired. The delivery is what makes this one stand out and worth reading.
The last few pages, however, are nothing to sneeze at. It's a simple "What if two of the same villain from different universes met each other and decided to team up" story, with Mane-aic as the main character meeting her EQG counterpart. While it's nice character-play, and it does provide a nice action sequence, it doesn't get to go anywhere because it comes as bonus comic. I'm pretty certain this half of the book was solely made as a tie in to the recently released toy of The Mane-iac that came out recently. It's rather underwhelming, and I wish they made a larger issue that included both stories in full, given that it's a special edition.
All in all, these last few comics have been pretty good, with Issues #21-22 of the Main Series and the later half of the 2014 annual being the weakest out of the bunch.
And now, for the last of the reports.
The reason why this blog is tagged with Hand in Hoof is a simple one. After a long road of milling out the finer details of the plot of this particular part of Lance's journey, Chapter 13 is completed. It is currently in the process of final edits before I officially publish it to FiMFic. While you're waiting, you'll be happy to know that I'm also working on Chapter 14 as we speak, and I am hoping this will be one of the more dramatic moments in the fic as of this writing.
Any fans of Giant Monsters and Prehistoric Biology should be happy.
In any event, that's all my current events sorted, and now, I'm off to think up about what I can do with all this lore for Hand in Hoof.
Hoping he made good use of time and effort,
AdamThePony
On the note of vinyl she is actually visible in the back ground of two of the songs from our big bads, and both times she has her head phones on. Bobbing her head to a song with a different beat then the one being sung.