"Power Ponies" liveblog transcript

...is up here. And here's the upload we used, by the way.

On the off chance anyone is interested, below the break is the chatter that went on just before and just after we watched the episode:

[12:41] <DecoyOctopus> so assuming I'm reading the post right, this is go in like 15 minutes, right?
[12:41] <Froborr> My brain is so melty right now. I'm trying to read "Background Pony" by end of day.
[12:41] <Froborr> I started Thursday.
[12:41] <Froborr> Yep!
[12:41] <@Sylocat> Oh jeez
[12:41] <Froborr> 19 minutes by my count.
[12:41] <@Sylocat> Sorry to hear that
[12:41] <DecoyOctopus> just wanted to be sure. is Background Pony the one with Lyra
[12:41] <Froborr> Yeah.
[12:41] <DecoyOctopus> ah
[12:42] <@Sylocat> Be warned, it's the second most depressing fic in the history of anything ever
[12:42] <Froborr> The one with the version of Lyra who never uses 5 precisely chosen words where 80 sloppy ones (three of them just plain wrong) will do.
[12:42] <@Sylocat> Is that what you're analyzing tomorrow, then?
[12:42] <DecoyOctopus> I think I saw it go up on FiMFic when it first came out, just never gave it a chance
[12:43] <Froborr> Spoilers: Yes.
[12:43] <DecoyOctopus> gasp
[12:43] <@Sylocat> Yikes
[12:43] <@Sylocat> Sorry
[12:43] <Froborr> Further spoilers: Unless something changes dramatically in the remaining 4 chapters, it will not be particularly glowing.
[12:43] <@Sylocat> (the things you do for us)
[12:44] <Froborr> Eh, it's still better than Supernatural.
[12:44] <DecoyOctopus> well I would hope a fic wouldn't get you irradiated
[12:44] <Froborr> lulz
[12:44] <DecoyOctopus> also everything is better than Supernatural
[12:45] <@Sylocat> Would this be a good or bad time to volunteer to write a guest post on Fallout:Equestria?
[12:45] <Froborr> I've actually read Fallout:Equestria, and I'm planning to cover it for a later Derivative Works Month.
[12:46] <DecoyOctopus> is FE any good? I never really gave it a chance because it's kind of a novel
[12:46] <Froborr> Hmm.
[12:46] <@Sylocat> I love it
[12:46] <Froborr> It's an absolutely fucking terrible MLP fanfic, and a reasonably good Fallout fanfic.
[12:46] <DecoyOctopus> I think I tried out one of the side-stories but that's about i-ah
[12:46] <DecoyOctopus> I quite like Fallout so maybe I'll check it out at some point
[12:47] <Froborr> So long as you realize that none of the characters, places, or species that share names with things in the show have any actual relation to the show, it works.
[12:47] <DecoyOctopus> it's that OOC?
[12:47] <Froborr> Yes.
[12:47] <DecoyOctopus> jeez
[12:48] <@Sylocat> Well, it was written before season two had even aired
[12:48] <Froborr> I read it before Season 2 aired. =P
[12:48] <@Sylocat> Ah ^_^;
[12:48] <DecoyOctopus> was it even done before season 2 aired? I seem to recall it still being updated during it
[12:48] == mere_oblivion [46e2a66b@gateway/web/freenode/ip.70.226.166.107] has joined ##rabbitcube
[12:48] <DecoyOctopus> welcome to the chat, oblivion
[12:48] <@Sylocat> Hi dad
[12:49] <@Sylocat> Everyone, this is my dad, mere_oblivion... I invited him to join us for the livestream
[12:49] <Froborr> Its OOC-ness has nothing to do with Season 2, and everything to do with the fact that there is no conceivable way in which anything that happens in its backstory could conceivably ever be done by the shows' characters.
[12:49] <Froborr> Hi Sylocat's dad!
[12:49] <DecoyOctopus> ah, hi sylo's dad. hope you enjoy the thing
[12:50] <DecoyOctopus> @Froborr: yeah even from the bit of the side-story I read it seemed fairly "what"
[12:50] <Froborr> But like I said, if you can get past the fact that it's ponies doing things no pony would or could ever do, it's pretty good.
[12:51] <@Sylocat> I think Fo:E has a nice metatextual swipe against the main problems with grimdark fic in general
[12:52] <Froborr> Oh?
[12:52] <DecoyOctopus> oblivion I hope we're not completely talking over your head with all this grimdark horsefic chat :P
[12:52] <@Sylocat> (brb)
[12:53] <Froborr> Entirely unrelated: There is nothing to eat in my house except leftover cake, and I'm completely uninterested in eating it. I can feel six-year-old Froborr glaring at me from the past, wondering what happened.
[12:54] <DecoyOctopus> heh
[12:54] <@Sylocat> I'd have to make a lengthy blog post as to what exactly I mean by that about Fo:E
[12:54] <Froborr> Of course I *am* eating breakfast at 2 in the afternoon, so teenage me is nodding and saying, "Well played."
[12:56] <Froborr> Well, it might be interesting to get two different views on it when the time comes.
[12:56] <Froborr> But definitely not going to tackle it until after Season 3.
[12:56] <Froborr> 5 minutes.
[12:56] <DecoyOctopus> two by my count, but alright
[12:56] <Froborr> I wonder if anyone else will show, what with the time change and me not posting this to the DC bronies until 1:30...
[12:56] <mere_oblivion> hello everyone, and thanks for welcoming me to your party. I don't think I'll be too overwhelmed by the level of horsefic expertise, as sylocat has done a yeoman
[12:56] <DecoyOctopus> oh wait no my computer's clock is just wrong
[12:56] <@Sylocat> Did I mention that mere_oblivion is my editor and collaborator on my fanfic "The Merry Ponies of Equestria?"
[12:57] <DecoyOctopus> ah
[12:57] <DecoyOctopus> welp, I feel silly for being concerned then
[12:57] <mere_oblivion> 's job of introducing me to the fascinating world of MLP in general and bronies in partic. I fancy myself an honorary "geekzer" (my word for a geek who's also a geezer) and most of what I know I owe to sylocat.
[12:58] <DecoyOctopus> sorry for interrupting your message there, I'd just assumed "yeoman" meant something different from what I was thinking
[12:58] <@Sylocat> We're both Shakespeare veterans as well, so be prepared for some vocabulary quirks
[12:59] <mere_oblivion> Oh, you didn't interrupt, that was just a geekzer move of hitting Enter without realizing it and then picking up the message in mid-syllable.
[12:59] <DecoyOctopus> ah, alright
[12:59] <@Sylocat> Ah, I wondered
[12:59] <Froborr> About a minute, get ready to hit play.
[12:59] <@Sylocat> Everypony ready?
[12:59] <DecoyOctopus> I've had it buffering since you first linked it
[13:00] <@Sylocat> It's 1 PM
[13:00] <Froborr> play

and afterwards...

[13:27] <Froborr> Which is what makes it the best Spike episode.
[13:28] <@Sylocat> Yep
[13:28] <DecoyOctopus> @mere: I dunno who that is but google says you spelled it right
[13:28] <Froborr> The name sounds super familiar, but I can't quite place it... this is going to drive me nuts...
[13:29] <@Sylocat> He's from Buffy
[13:29] <@Sylocat> The guy who turns everyone's Halloween costumes real
[13:29] <@Sylocat> Giles's old friend
[13:29] <Froborr> Oh, right! Giles' old friend/nemesis.
[13:29] <DecoyOctopus> never watched Buffy, so that's why I didn't know
[13:30] <mere_oblivion> Exactly! Meanwhile, despite the fact that his name is Spike, Spike reminds me of a sort of prepubescent version of Xander (which is sort of imposs, since Xander thinks only of sex) -- and maybe i've thrown in enough Buffy refs for today?
[13:31] <Froborr> No, I can see it.
[13:31] <@Sylocat> Well, Spike isn't THAT much of a jerk
[13:31] <Froborr> They're both surface-harmless dudes that, if you really think about what they do and why they do it, are really completely awful.
[13:32] <Froborr> You know, it's weird, when Buffy was first on I hated it, even though I was exactly the target audience. (I was in the same year of school as Buffy throughout high school.)
[13:33] <Froborr> It wasn't until I watched the first couple of seasons of Nu Who and went back to Buffy that I understood what it was doing and why it was good.
[13:33] <DecoyOctopus> isn't it on netflix?
[13:33] <mere_oblivion> @ Froborr; I sometimes think Buffy and Angel were too simple for kids and too complex for "grownups."
[13:34] <Froborr> I think it is Decoy.
[13:34] <Froborr> Heh, I like it oblivion. Sounds about right.
[13:34] <DecoyOctopus> google says so. might give it a chance at some point.
[13:34] <Froborr> I recommend starting with Season 2. Season 1 is... rough.
[13:35] <DecoyOctopus> didn't Angel have an episode with evil puppets or somethi-well isn't it always
[13:35] <@Sylocat> Best episode of Angel, IMNSHO
[13:35] <mere_oblivion> Good advice, Froborr!
[13:35] <Froborr> I should really watch more Angel.
[13:35] <@Sylocat> (it was Joss Whedon's tribute to his father's years at the CTW)
[13:36] <Froborr> I've seen the first season, and basically liked it, but every time I try to watch the second season I get a couple episodes in and then drift away to other things.
[13:36] <DecoyOctopus> I seem to recall hearing it got worse later on
[13:36] <@Sylocat> I thought season 5 was the best season of Angel
[13:37] <mere_oblivion> It got worse in Season 4, where they went down the Invasion of the Bodysnatchers hole, then much better again Season 5, after which Fox pulled the proverbial plug.
[13:37] <Froborr> A lot of people hate Buffy seasons 6 and 7. Pesonally I think that their season-long arcs are weak, but have some really excellent episodes.
[13:38] <@Sylocat> Well, season six has "Once More With Feeling" and season seven has "The Storyteller" and that one with the girl who predicts she's going to die
[13:38] <mere_oblivion> Tru dat, Froborr and Sylocat.
[13:39] <Froborr> Also the last episode, which I love.
[13:39] <Froborr> Anyway, my roommate wants me to record some VO for her webshow's Christmas special, so I'll take my leave.
[13:39] <DecoyOctopus> later froborr!
[13:39] <Froborr> Talk to you all later!
[13:39] <@Sylocat> See ya
[13:39] <Froborr> This was fun!
[13:40] <mere_oblivion> In-deed. The last ep of Angel's beyond belief too!
[13:40] <mere_oblivion> Ciao for now, thanks again.
[13:40] <DecoyOctopus> I've got to go as well, have things to attend to. will try to be back next week, this was definitely snazzy

Why yes, I will be making that blog post on why I like Fo:E.