2014... Or "The Year in Review" · 11:30pm Dec 31st, 2014
December. It’s a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But one of the most prominent attitudes is this being a time to reflect on the year gone by.
2014 is probably one of the best years to be a brony. It may not have the same excitement to it as it seemed to have during Season 2, but this was definitely up there. At the very least, throughout the year, I was, to quote one BlackGryph0n, “Proud to be a Brony.”
Having said that, let’s take a look back on the last 12 months and see what made this year so awesome for bronies (or at least this one).
The Show:
For those of you who don’t know/remember, I already made a blog back in May talking about the highs and lows of Season 4, so I won’t spend too much time rehashing all the details. Suffice to say, this was easily the best season of the show thus far. It wasn’t 10/10 every time (with “Somepony to Watch Over Me” being a complete dud in my book), but there were many episodes that I would easily go back to without hesitation (“Pinkie Pride” being the best, not just for the season, but the series as a whole).
But I can still talk about the really big stuff, so long as they happened within the 2014 calendar year.
Twilight’s Kingdom:
Throughout the series’ run, I’d been wondering, “Why are there no callbacks to older generations?” G1 in particular seemed to be a good place to look for old enemies and elements to put through a G4 twist (still waiting for Grogar; that guy was amazing). So when Tirek appeared in the finale, I was amazed, not only by the fact that McCarthy included him in the first place, but also by how well he was written. I could still see traces of G1 in this character, but for the most part, G4 Tirek was his own thing, and I loved everything about him.
Of course, Tirek wasn’t the only thing about the finale that made it awesome. If “Magical Mystery Cure” was an end to Twilight’s character arc, “Twilight’s Kingdom” was the beginning of a new one. It felt like the character we’d come to know and love was moving forward with her new life.
And, as a nice bonus, that ending battle was epic.
Rainbow Rocks:
I think many people were surprised when they heard Equestria Girls was getting a sequel. But the movie came out and the consensus came in: Rainbow Rocks was far more superior than its predecessor.
Now, cards on the table, I liked the first movie: it wasn’t perfect; the third act was probably more rushed than it needed to be; and as much as I think we should just lay off Flash Sentry, the romance subplot was just kinda there. But it was harmless, and there was enough to keep me interested.
But still, in comparison, there really is none when it comes to Rainbow Rocks. It still has a few moments that I don’t particularly like (Rainbow’s attitude being a big one), but I can’t call this a bad movie. Heck, even people who outright despised the first film (such as Tommy Oliver and PaleoSteno) admitted this one was actually pretty good.
And from the look of things (and a Marvel-movie-style post-credits scene), a third movie is definitely in the works. Can’t wait.
Derpy:
I think that, by now, everyone has heard the story of Derpy Hooves, from her humble beginnings to her first (and only) speaking role to the controversy surrounding it to the tragic fate that befell her afterwards. For almost the entirety of Season 3 (minus a split-second shot in the finale [and possibly at least one more]), Derpy was completely missing. Many of us believed that we would never see her onscreen again.
(Disclaimer: I’m not exactly a huge megafan of Derpy; I like her, but not to the extent of placing her on a pedestal.)
Then it happened.
January 18, 2014: “Rainbow Falls” aired for the first time. It was one of those love-it-or-hate-it episodes (I fall more towards the latter, personally). In the third act, Rainbow Dash fakes an injury to avoid choosing between competing in the Equestria Games with her friends or competing with the Wonderbolts. At the hospital, Fluttershy tells Rainbow that they managed to get a replacement.
And Derpy walks in.
If the Reactions are Magic video is any indication, people praised to high heaven: Derpy was back! Not only was she back, but she was in the foreground! And her eyes were still in that iconic off-center position. She didn’t talk, though, but hey, three out of four ain’t bad. (And after that last fiasco, do you really want DHX to poke that particular hornet’s nest?)
Now, I may not have overreacted like that, but I was happy and surprised to see Derpy again, and in such a way that basically treated her as a character, rather than just plain old fanservice.
A Brony Tale:
Okay, so this may not be directly related to the show itself, but it is more official than most of the things I’ll be talking about, so I’m putting it here, dangit. Besides, it’s hosted by Ashleigh Ball, the voice of both Applejack and Rainbow Dash, so that should count for something, right?
I can easily say that this is the best brony documentary I’ve seen thus far. That’s not to say that the one by John de Lancie was bad, but its presentation could have been better (especially the animated segments; those could have been placed better).
But I’m not here to bash Bronies: TEUAFoMLP (wow, that’s a mouthful); I’m here to talk about A Brony Tale. It was interesting to see Ashleigh’s initial thoughts on the brony fandom. I liked that she wasn’t immediately receptive, siding more towards caution until she decides to show up at BronyCon 2012.
And of course, what brony documentary would be complete without a few bronies to provide some inside information? It even has appearances by DustyKatt and jaxblade (and I think I even saw Solrac, but don’t quote me on that). And everyone was portrayed as their own, unique individual who just happens to like My Little Pony: the perfect example of what a brony is.
Brony Works:
For better or for worse, most of the focus within the brony community is mainly on what comes out of it; fanart, fanfictions, videos, music, and a variety of other stuff I’m sure I’m forgetting. But with how much of it is pretty dang good, there’s probably a reason for that. So here’s the cream of the crop among the creations of the brony fandom throughout this year.
Historical Equestria:
I’m always on the lookout for new audio dramas (mostly Doctor Whooves, but I can branch out a bit). One of the newest I’ve seen… uh, heard… is Historical Equestria, by Lady Tenkage. If that name sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve heard her do the voice of Trixie in Doctor Whooves the Great (another awesome drama that, unfortunately, came out last year, meaning I can’t talk about it here).
This series of videos presents, obviously, the history of Equestria, taking inspiration from canon, some real world events and legends, and a large helping of headcanon. The videos take place in the Canterlot Historical Archives, in which the archivist Sky Shadow leads the viewer through a tour of some of Equestria’s most important events.
As of now, the series has finished its first “season,” “The Condensed History of Equestria,” and is currently two parts in on the “Oral History of Zebrica,” with a section on changelings soon to follow. If you’re the type who loves the world-building aspect of My Little Pony, give it try. And be sure to stay after the show for a special treat.
Videos:
I’ve seen a lot of videos this year (I’ve even got a private playlist on YouTube for voting on the monthly top tens). To give each video its own spot would be too time-consuming, so here’s a small list of the best I’ve seen with a short overview.
Beat It PMV—I love AnimatedJames’ work, and this has got to be his best yet (at least in the pony arena). The callback to the original music video makes this a joy as well.
My Little Anime—When this first came out, I could not stop watching it. Between using my favorite brony song from last year and the stellar animation, there was too much to love about this.
Fall of the Crystal Empire—Now I’m not saying this short is absolutely perfect. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it is, at the end of the day, done by amateurs. The sound editing is a little questionable in places, and it focuses far more on Luna than it needs to (and I say this as a Luna fan, myself). But dang it, the animation’s amazing and, for what story issues it may or may not have had, it was still pretty competent.
Music:
These are some of the tunes that I can’t help but pull up from time to time.
Brony Polka (Weird Al Style Medley)
Hey, we had a Weird Al episode, why not make a polka medley like this?
BlackGryph0n & Baasik double feature
These two have made some consistently good songs, and here are my personal favorites.
MandoPony double feature
These songs were just amazing; I’m surprised I don’t follow the guy. (BTW, Better than You is about Diamond Tiara; copyright stuff happened and he had to change the image.)
Are You Proud of Me Yet?
VocalScorePony has to be my favorite brony musician, and his Applejack songs are consistent home runs for me.
No Chance
Love the dual singing in this one.
Soldiers of the Night
Personally, I’m more of a Peace Corps kinda guy myself, but this song rocks.
Poni
Is it sad that I know this song better than the original?
Bronalysis:
A lot of stuff came out of the bronalysis community, as it always does, so what videos would I recommend for your analytical fix? (No embedded videos this time, just brief synopses.)
Let’s Go and Meet John de Lancie—It’s no secret that ILoveKimPossibleALot is a huge Discord fan, and part of that has to do with the man behind the voice. In a project that, for a long time, was dubbed “KP’s Secret Project of Awesomeness,” she talks about what makes John de Lancie a good actor and a great guy overall.
TF2: Analysis Anarchy—This project was five months in the making, and it was worth the wait. You may recall that I made an earlier blog counting down the top ten “Meet the Bronies” videos for this project, so if you want to know my thoughts there, check it out. As for the video itself, it was really enjoyable. The humor was top notch and everyone got a chance to shine. And the story of Firebrand and Ink Rose made it feel more worthwhile.
Nightmare Night 2014—A bunch of bronies in a spooky game against the undead Baron Tall Tales (i.e. Tommy Oliver’s ponysona)? Laughs are sure to be had. When I first watched this, I could not stop smiling. Plus, it was pretty interesting to see everyone respond to their hate mail. What’s really interesting is that the game was based on a real board game called Nightmare (go watch Noah Antwiler’s videos reviewing it if you want to know more).
A Moment with Doctor Wolf: Mane 6 Interviews—At the moment, there is only one video for this series (two if you count DRWolf’s encounter with the CMC), but so far, it’s pretty good stuff. DRWolf’s “A Moment With” series has always been interesting, insightful, and, at times, pretty hilarious. But this subseries looks to be a new kind of take on analyzing the Mane 6 as characters; the one video so far, featuring Fluttershy, realistically posits that our favorite shy mare may have some stronger feelings deep inside. I can’t wait to see what the good doctor comes up with next.
This is just a fraction of what’s gone on in the past year: I can only remember so much over 365 days; a lot of things may have slipped through my radar; and some things I may have liked but hardly consider them year-defining. Nevertheless, it was an eventful year.
Here’s to 2015! Happy New Year, everypony!
