• Member Since 24th Sep, 2015
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Oliver


Let R = { x | x ∉ x }, then R ∈ R ⟺ R ∉ R... or is it?

More Blog Posts349

  • 106 weeks
    Against Stupidity

    I figure I’ll do some popular sociology. I’ve reached the limit of what I can do at the present time, and I need to take a break from all the doomscrolling, because there’s only so much war crime bingo I can read before I go do something emotionally motivated and ultimately useless.

    Read More

    16 comments · 1,649 views
  • 108 weeks
    Good morning, Vietnam

    My foreign friends often ask me – the very few that know I’m Russian – what does the average Russian think about Ukraine.

    You can see why I have always kept this private now.

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    34 comments · 1,262 views
  • 152 weeks
    Lame Pun Collection

    So I decided to trawl conversation logs for throwaway lines I spout on occasion. Because otherwise I’d forget them entirely, and some of them are actually good ideas. Granted, most of them are stupid puns… But I like puns, and I’m still not sure why you’re supposed to cringe at them.

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    10 comments · 1,333 views
  • 153 weeks
    Rational Magic

    I basically improvised most of this lecture from memory when talking with DannyJ yesterday, but then I thought, why not blog this, should at least be food for thought. It’s not directly pony-relevant, more like a general topic of discussion which one needs to meditate on when writing fantasy – but that includes ponyfic, so you might be interested.

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    24 comments · 1,583 views
  • 160 weeks
    A series of unexpected observations

    So I’ve been reading things.

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    15 comments · 1,508 views
Nov
4th
2018

Points of Canon: Movie Magic · 7:22pm Nov 4th, 2018

Movie-ing on.

  • Chronology markers: We know that this precedes Mirror Magic, and Legends of Everfree is referenced directly, but we can’t place it in relation to Dance Magic, for example.
  • “It is almost time. Once I have all three relics, no one will be able to stop me, and Marapore will fall!”

    • Seeing lightning live implies a very specific approach to special effects: In most cases, that would be done in post-production. Is that a narrative device, or what the characters actually see?
    • Is Marapore an actual location in Pedestria or not?
  • “For I am Stalwart Stallion—!” Which is a name really bizarre in Pedestria.
  • “Sorry. But at this point in the story, Stalwart Stallion would be known as Mojo.

    • Pedestrian Rainbow is a fan of Daring Do books. Now, we’ve never caught her fanning in the movies themselves, which would imply that it was Sci-Twi who introduced her to reading – or did she stumble on them independently? When and how? I think that would point at one of those Summertime Shorts as the moment, but I’m not sure.
    • This sort of error would have been caught in script editing long before the movie got to production in most professional settings, if anyone was treating the source material seriously at all. That no Daring Do fan got to it before Rainbow is quite strange. Or is Rainbow simply wrong? But Zoom accepts her correction, so she isn’t, right? Or did the actor make that mistake, and Zoom just didn’t notice until Rainbow pointed this out? I guess I’ll have to settle on the latter.
  • “We promise we won’t get in the way. Again.” This phrase is strange: It implies that the cold open is not out of sequence, as you would expect with the Humane 7 arriving to the shooting being shown after Rainbow interrupted it once, and yet, Rainbow still “can’t believe we’re really here” while Twilight makes a show of thanking Zoom, as if she didn’t do that already. What’s going on here?…
  • “As a fellow Camp Everfree alum, I was more than happy to afford the girls who helped save it the chance to visit the set of our little film.”

    • A direct reference to Legends of Everfree.
    • Notice the “little film.” It’s almost like Zoom wants to imply it’s an independent film, but it isn’t. A lot of the other things seem to point this way, starting with the general lackadaisical attitude of the crew and down to the eventual appearance of the Humane 7 on the poster despite bit parts, something a studio production would be unlikely to do. Canter Zoom getting Juniper a job selling popcorn in the mall theater in Mirror Magic later on would also fit well with this – the same connection to the mall owners that lets him get her this job would be what gets it screened there at all. I would call this immediately if Zoom was even a little younger: Some notable movies were actually film school projects, like, say, Six-String Samurai. At the same time, this would also imply a license for a successful work of young adult literature, Yearling’s direct involvement implies a deeper connection to the production than you would see even in a studio production, and the movie is being shot on sound stages, with expensive sets – making it rather beyond the range of most indie film. What’s going on here?
  • “According to our visitor schedules, they won’t start shooting the next scene for a while, which means we have time to—” Well, at least they have schedules.
  • “Get my picture taken with Chestnut Magnifico, the actress playing Daring Do!”

    • At least for Chestnut Magnifico, this is not the first movie.
    • Notice the hybrid name: It works as a pony name and as a human name. Chestnut Magnifico might not be a local.
  • “And ask her to sign my petition to bring more bird feeders to Canterlot High!” Actually, why would this require such a show of support in the first place? Seems like a trivial enough matter that Fluttershy wouldn’t need heavy artillery for the purpose.
  • “I’d sure like to get a closer look at that volcano.” I wonder why is it that Applejack is interested in the volcano set, rather than, well, just about anything else.
  • “I don’t know what a cupcake fountain is, but I’m pretty sure they don’t have one.” Notice we never see one, even though subsequent lines and scenes imply it actually exists. I suspect it’s a fountain shaped like a cupcake, rather than anything else.
  • “I read it in my 100 Things You Didn’t Know About This Movie Studio: Insider’s Tour Guide.” Notice that this insider tour guide is not a book, but rather, a fold-out leaflet, implying that the list consists of fairly short items.
  • “Is the number-one thing we didn’t know that the guy who founded this studio was an eccentric oddball with a sweet tooth?” “Oh! Yes!” Well, good to know.
  • “Check out the props that A. K. Yearling designed specially for the movie?”

    • Sci-Twi is exactly as much a fan of Daring Do as Rainbow is.
    • Notice that the sword is shaped like an obsidian sword, but is actually made from gold, which is a very strange combination for something that is supposed to represent a real or even a realistic object: A solid golden club base for such a weapon would weigh on the scale of 20 kilograms, making it extremely unwieldy, and I’m not sure if any Mesoamerican culture which used those had the technology to gild wood.
  • “You’re from Canterlot High, right?” Why is Juniper making this guess? Possible options include expecting visitors from Canterlot High and having seen them in the area of Canterlot High, but which is it?
  • “I’m Juniper Montage, Canter the director’s niece.” Notice that Juniper Montage is another hybrid name, when “Canter Zoom” is not.
  • “I tried to convince him to cast me as Daring Do, but… he really didn’t go for that.” More hints that it might be an indie movie: Would really not be an option with a proper studio production, and Juniper would have known she has no snowballs chance in hell if anyone knows she’s the director’s niece.
  • “Have you guys seen the set for Caballeron’s secret lair?” At least in Pedestrian Daring Do canon, Cabaleron has a secret lair, which is actually a surprise: Why would a roaming tomb raider need one?…
  • “Three lunch buffets, six different kinds of fondue, two rooms with nothing but candy, and still no cupcake fountain.” Two rooms with nothing but candy sounds mighty suspicious.
  • “Couldn’t you just get the prop department to make new ones?” “The missing relics were personally approved by A. K. Yearling! We could have new ones made, but we can’t use them until Miss Yearling has given them her official stamp of approval!” Which is actually a strange problem to have: The favored process for making such props is vacuum forming, which makes it easy enough to make two copies (and a lot more difficult to make ten) and Yearling would have to be involved with it back at the sketch/mold stage anyway, so there really would be no chance to bungle that a second time in.
  • “You think it’d be easy to reach someone who is always holed up in her office writing, but Miss Yearling is a very difficult woman to track down.” Which suggests that the Pedestrian Yearling might also be an adventurer in secret, like her Equestrian counterpart, but we never find out.
  • “Chestnut’s contract with us is almost up, and with Mount Vehoovius collapsing, and now this, I fear we’ll have to stop production altogether!” So is Mount Vehoovius an actual location in Pedestria or not?…
  • “We found this on the Mount Vehoovius set right before it collapsed.” It’s actually a wonder nobody tried to blame the Humane 7 for this yet.
  • “Why don’t Fluttershy, Pinkie, Spike, and I follow Chestnut Magnifico and see if we can find anything out?” Why does Sunset select this list, and not any other combination?… If it’s a set of those who have seen the actual props versus those who have not, Applejack is in the wrong set: She was never in the vicinity of the props.
  • With her superspeed, Rainbow should be able to catch up to Juniper easily, and knowing the layout of the set better than she does would not help. There has to be some other explanation, but what?…
  • " I-I-I’m so gonna be fired if you aren’t ready. The director wants to shoot in three minutes!"

    • Well, the production assistant is so fired anyway, so at least one ridiculous mistake can be excused – he’s probably on drugs – bit the important part is that both the Power Ponies and the Mane-iac are present in Pedestria as characters in a work of fiction, and nobody bats an eye at the word “ponies” for some reason.
    • Notice also that at least in Sunset’s case, this would involve not just a costume, but also a considerable amount of makeup, so I wonder why didn’t the makeup artist catch the PA at his mistake – whoever that is would know in great detail the faces and hair of the people they’re supposed to work on.
    • Notice that Spike gets costumed, which is something pretty much impossible: Getting an animal in the shot in the first place involves a lot of extra people, all of which would notice.
    • Notice also that they made off with the costumes and props and nobody stopped them.
  • “This is the set of Stormy with a Side of Pudding! … It’s only my all-time favorite movie!” So wait. The movie is already out, since Pinkie tried to get everyone to watch it with her multiple times. Never mind that if they used real pudding, it would be inedible by now, why is the set still up?!
  • “Hey! This is just like the outfit Daring Do wears in the nightclub scene.” Now, how exactly does Rainbow know that? There are multiple possibilities and they would have different consequences.
  • “Why she felt it necessary to wear the geode that gives her super-speed to a movie set, I’ll never know.” Why would anyone else want to part with theirs even for a moment is what I will never know.
  • “Eh, for the road!” Pedestrian Pinkie can hide objects in her hair too.
  • “Did you just make that lock unlock itself?” Twilight’s telekinesis is sufficiently precise to move around parts of the lock she doesn’t even see, if so.
  • “We wanted your permission to search the Tricorners Village set from top to bottom.” …Wait, who are the Tricorners? Are they wearing tricornes?…
  • “I just can’t stand Chestnut! She’s always eating all the peanut butter praline crunch bars, which are the only candy bars I like.” Good to know.
  • “I no longer have to work on that ridiculous documentary about nests next month. Ha-ha! I swear, when they approached me, I thought they wanted to do a documentary about my organization for homeless animals, not on various ‘nests’ around the world! Completely misleading!” Misleading someone like that would be pretty difficult and a very unwise thing to do…
  • “This is so awesome!” Pedestrian Daring Do uses a whip, which Equestrian one has never been caught doing.

Some analysis

  • It starts out moderately weird, but eventually transitions to inexplicable around the moment when the Humane 7 end up in Power Pony costumes: that scene, as well as multiple subsequent ones, require multiple characters, both present on screen and not, to be utterly and completely insane.

    Notice also that this is around the time when Pinkie starts breaking physics, eating pudding that would have been completely rotten by that moment, hiding it in her hair, and otherwise screwing up reality, while Rainbow’s super speed suddenly fails her for no clear reason: She moves at least ten times faster than Juniper and still can’t catch up to her.

    It’s almost like we got the wrong Pinkie here. Which is actually an option, remembering that the portal has been open and unsupervised ever since Rainbow Rocks.

  • Notice that Pedestrian Daring Do contains a higher density of horse puns per square meter than just about anything else in Pedestria. I’d almost be ready to accuse the Equestrian A.K. Yearling of leading a double life, if there was any reasonable way this could have been pulled off. Unfortunately she doesn’t get the excuse of easy access to the portal that Pinkies do.
Comments ( 12 )

Notice that the sword is shaped like an obsidian sword

I did not know this was an actual thing. That looks super cool!

At least in Pedestrian Daring Do canon, Cabaleron has a secret lair, which is actually a surprise: Why would a roaming tomb raider need one?…

To hide the raided stuff in, I guess. Also, who wouldn't want a secret lair?

"I’d almost be ready to accuse the Equestrian A.K. Yearling of leading a double life, if there was any reasonable way this could have been pulled off. Unfortunately she doesn’t get the excuse of easy access to the portal that Pinkies do."
...Hm. Not to that portal, true... but who knows what artifacts she may have come across in her career? Maybe she found a different way to and from Pedestria?

Yeah, this was a particularly zany episode.

So I agree this is clearly some passion project rather than a standard studio movie. I think the producer is some sort of Orson Welles/Willy Wonka type eccentric who funds these films for the tax credit to build the sets as his own personal Xanadu, which he then keeps up permanently.

Two things you should be aware of you might not be: In the post-credits scene for one of the movies, I forget which one, Pinkie Pie slips through the portal to switch with her pony counterpart, giving her a lollipop in the process, so after that point EQG Pinkie could be pony Pinkie at any given moment (and even the reverse!)

The next movie is all about there being another portal found off on a mysterious island, so Daring Do could have been sneaking through that.

4963108

To hide the raided stuff in, I guess. Also, who wouldn’t want a secret lair?

Only, the Equestrian Caballeron sells the stuff he raids. He doesn’t need a secret lair so much as a public lair. You know, a place where he can invite a lady for drinks…

4963168

…Hm. Not to that portal, true… but who knows what artifacts she may have come across in her career? Maybe she found a different way to and from Pedestria?

Plausible, but so far we don’t have much of anything to support this idea. That said, the Pedestrian Yearling / Daring Do weren’t even mentioned as often as the Equestrian ones are, so we might one day…

4963214

I think the producer is some sort of Orson Welles/Willy Wonka type eccentric who funds these films for the tax credit to build the sets as his own personal Xanadu, which he then keeps up permanently.

I’d accept this, if not for pudding: Try leaving an open jar of pudding on your table. Come back in a week or two. The very least disgusting thing that is going to happen to it is that it’ll dry out.

There will be more disgusting things.

Post-production on a movie typically takes at least half a year, and Pinkie already had enough time to determine that it’s her favorite movie ever and ask the Humane 6 to go with her a zillion times.

The least insane way this can happen is that a sequel is being filmed, so that the sets are retained from the first movie, but the pudding actually is fresh… Which is still a considerable health hazard.

In the post-credits scene for one of the movies, I forget which one, Pinkie Pie slips through the portal to switch with her pony counterpart, giving her a lollipop in the process, so after that point EQG Pinkie could be pony Pinkie at any given moment (and even the reverse!)

Actually, that’s precisely the scene I’m thinking of.

4963216
"Hey, babe, do you want to see my villain lair?"

that scene, as well as multiple subsequent ones, require multiple characters, both present on screen and not, to be utterly and completely insane.

Is this the grand conclusion to the Points of Canon in general once we've collected all the data? :twilightsheepish:

Notice also that this is around the time when Pinkie starts breaking physics, eating pudding that would have been completely rotten by that moment, hiding it in her hair, and otherwise screwing up reality,

Oh Oliver, She's been doing things like that since the first movie. (I couldn't find the clip, but I am pretty sure she also pries off a bottlecap with her hair in EqG1)


Though, it still makes for a fun idea to explore. Someone really ought to write a story about that.

4963330

Is this the grand conclusion to the Points of Canon in general once we’ve collected all the data? :twilightsheepish:

Nah, at most, 30% of all the individual PoC subjects produce this.

I couldn’t find the clip, but I am pretty sure she also pries off a bottlecap with her hair in EqG1

She generally does this to a much lesser degree than here. Post-Rainbow Rocks, though, the stunts become much more overt.

The Tricorner Villages, Mount Vehoovius, and Marapore are all from Daring Do and the Marked Thief of Marapore, one of G.M. Berrow's contributions to the franchise. From context, I think it's safe to assume that this movie is an adaptation of the Pedestrian version of the book. For the record, the Tricorners are three villages that surround Mount Vehoovius in a triangle and hold off its eruption with three ancient artefacts called the Flankara Relics. Marapore is one of these villages, and the other two are Lusitano and (of course) Ponypeii.

With how frequently they're referenced in primary canon, I think it may be worth covering these books yourself. I can send them to you, if you want.

Another thought I had: If Daring Do is real but AK Yearling keeps things a secret here in Pedestria as well, doesn't that suggest there are a few ancient magical artifacts out there in the world somewhere?

4963548

With how frequently they’re referenced in primary canon, I think it may be worth covering these books yourself.

I suppose there’s no avoiding G.M. Berrow encroaching deeper and deeper into primary canon now.

4963579

Another thought I had: If Daring Do is real but AK Yearling keeps things a secret here in Pedestria as well, doesn’t that suggest there are a few ancient magical artifacts out there in the world somewhere?

There is at least one at the moment Movie Magic is going on: The Memory Stone.

I.e. yes, and they’re probably Equestrian anyway.

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