The support means the world to me, and thanks to your kind contributions I was able to go and visit my boy in Britain. I'll try and mock up a proper recap blog—though I am notoriously terrible at doing those, I don't think I've ever managed a proper recap blog for any of the various conventions I've gone to over the years. I guess there wasThe Death Of Artistic Vision In The Modern World [SPOILERS] · 7:40pm Sep 12th, 2015
Sassy: If we have a FAMOUS pony showcasing the dresses, it'll be a hit! That's why I've chosen Twilight to be the model for the grand opening!
Rainbow: Hey, wait! We've all saved Equestria like, five times! We're all pretty famous.
Sassy: Yes, but you're not Princesses; The elite of Canterlot could care less about filthy commoners who've just happened to be next to Twilight Sparkle when she's defeated Equestria's enemies.
Rainbow: Oh please. It's not like Canterlot's that superficial!
(awkward silence)
Rainbow: [screams internally]
Well, first episode after the mini-hiatus! I must say, I wasn't disappointed, but I wasn't completely elated, either.
Rarity is best pone, so I was stoked for this episode, and right away things seemed like they wee gonna be good. However, and I don't know if it's just the video I watched, something seemed... off. Pinkie's schtick swapped between funny and cringey really quickly, but her voice seemed different somehow. This happened a lot throughout the episode, although Twilight and Rarity were consistent. All the other mane six (except Fluttershy, who didn't really talk) seemed somehow different, and it unsettled me.
Sassy was irksome. I didn't like her, really, but it is nice to see Fleur's body type being used again. Gave me some ideas for unicorn genealogy and biology. But overall, she seemed like the writers were torn between making her a massive bitch or between making her a well-meaning character who got carried away. In the end, the latter was true, but the buildup was too shaky.
The real meat of the episode was something I really enjoyed, though. It basically describes how the creative process (and this can be applied to any art form) is destroyed when it's applied to a mass scale. The assembly-line production of art and artistic creations is a hugely prevalent thing int he world, and as Rarity essentially voiced, it's completely soulless. It's all for cash, and there's not heart put into it. The episode resolved neatly with her realizing that she can have her boutique but as long as she stays true to her vision, she can satisfy her creative needs.
And that's fucking awesome.
Also, the song—oh my god. This has got to be the best song in the show so far for me. I'm not a huge fan of the show songs, and even less-so of fan made music, but this song was almost completely perfect. I do love Art Of The Dress, and this song was basically Art Of The Dress 2.0 but was still unique in its own way. The little downtempo, sadder part of the song actually tugged at my crusty, shriveled heart a little. Top quality.
So yes, even though this episode was essentially Suited For Success mashed up with Sweet and Elite, it is carried on its own merits and takes the spirit of those episodes while keeping original.
bonus bits:
- Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee ponies. [externally fanboys] I know I'm just projecting, but gloomy pone, Sunshine Smiles, and the mare with the Azula hair who complained about Rarity's modded dress are too much like them in my mind to ignore.
- new facial expressions and animation techniques were pretty neat, I expect more reaction images to flood shortly
-Fashion Plate was so fucking irritating, holy shit. I know we're gonna get a lot of gay art of him, and I'm glad we're getting new stallions, but he's even more annoying than Trenderhoof, holy fucking shit.
- this
tumblr is now canon
The Cutie Map pts 1 and 2
Slice of Life
The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone
Canterlot Boutique
Make New Friends But Keep Discord
Castle Sweet Castle
Amending Fences
Appaloosa's Most Wanted
Tanks For The Memories
Party Pooped
Bloom and Gloom
Princess Spike
also, I will review Do Princesses Dream Of Magic Sheep eventually
Gotta love it when Rarity does her happy dance.
A lot of songs in this series just feel like contractual padding (it's a kid's show; sing, monkey!), but it seems that Rarity's always manages to actually move the story of the episode along, which is probably why her songs are always among the series' best.
i.imgur.com/ruKVp3e.png
So many waifus
So little time
3387734 >having more than one waifu
kill yourself
Thank you for the embed. I managed to give it a watch and jot down my own thoughts on the episode.
3387845 no probs bro
I find Mr. Plate both irritating and endearing. He's freaking adorable.
To my co-worker Sassy, who grubbed for everything she could get from me, and cried crocodile tears when I needed sympathy... To Sassy I leave a boot to the head.
3387766
u 1st bby
You know, it had never occurred to me that we didn't have fat ponies in the show up to this point. The closest we got were Mrs. Cake and Babs Seed, and they're just pudgy (and cute as hell).
So to see a bleached sausage with legs really threw me off the first time.
Have we just witnessed the first pony of Walmart? Is that a thing? My first reaction to her was Walmart people.
The song from this episode might be my new top favorite. Let's face it, without that song this episode would've been terrible.
>Azula, Mei and Tai Lee
OH MY GOD
3388607 IT'S TRUE
it really is though
3388484 hey, i thought the episode was great, the song was just icing on the cake
For me, it was a solid meh. Not horrible, but not exceptional. However I think you're absolutely right, this episode does certainly show the dangers of turning creativity into an assembly line, or whatever metaphor adequately describes the way that the creative process is drained of all life when applied on a mass scale and used only for profit (not in my best writing mode today). Oh who am I kidding I'm never in my best writing mode.Get it? Because my writing sucks lololol
But seriously, what was up with that giant pony at the end? I mean, there's random, and then there's just...wat
3388618
I forgot the damn trollestia. I didn't mean to say the episode had one saving grace seriously.
As an artist, I can appreciate what this is about.
Rainbow: "Just who the fuck do you people think you are?"
Sassy: "We're the Aristocrats!"
And then the main characters were serfs.
Seriously, though, I want a politics episode. If only so we can make jokes about how Blueblood's TOTALLY REAL NON-TOUPEE hair looks like Trump's. Wisecracks about how Celestia won't let Equestrian authorities look at the letters she's sending through Spike. Have Applejack rant about tax rates and how the bit going off the gold standard will bring about the end of Equestria as they know it. Make Moondancer into a particularly bloodthirsty liberal arts instructor at whatever the horse equivalent of university is. The opportunities write themselves.
At this point, Spike would be improved if they stopped voicing his character and just had him make the noises of a 56K modem whenever he opens his mouth.
Oh, the song. Yes. Quite an unusual rhyme scheme compared to her other numbers.
I loved that episode, it was pretty great
the song was good also, I enjoyed it a lot.
And at the end, with that giant pony... holy shit. xD I lost it.
I also loved thet one pony, the one who reminds me of Maud, she is the best!
Hehehehe