elsporko

I really only had two problems with the movie

1. They made Rue black. This is kind of minor but I got the impression from the book that she is suppose to look very similar to Prim. It takes away from that if the person is a different race.

2. The riot in the district should not have happened. It is too extreme too soon. Its going to have to be addressed why the capital didn't crack down harder early on. I liked it alot more in the book with the subtle gesture showing that unity in the districts was possible.

Other then those two issues I was happy with it. The entire thing does feel like it was sped up compared to the book, but thats what happens in movie adaptions. They can't afford to show Katniss wandering around searching for water or spending a few days in a cave because that would be boring

In Equestria prince and princess may be a general term for the higher levels or aristocracy, which would explain why the nation is ruled by princesses and not queens. The words have slightly different definitions then how we use them.

Niece may also be used in a more general way. I know in my dad's family cousins were called aunts or uncles if they were significantly older, or an aunt or uncle could be a cousin if they were the same age as the person addressing them

I think the elements and those who use them are equal in power in a way. The elements themselves are useless without somebody who truly represents it commanding it, yet without the elements that character trait cannot be used as a weapon. The elements can be used in theory by anypony, but finding a group who represents them and has the friendship would be very rare

hi hi

To take this a step further, would ponies even like to read about the bad stuff? (The paper that the CMC's were working at was a school newspaper, but didn't they also reference the existence of a real newspaper as well?)

I'm guessing that pony interest stories are a big portion of the news, especially since everypony seemed to be so interested in reading stories about their neighbors. Weather would be another good one, I bet it would be more like reading the TV guide though, since the weather is planned out in advance.

Based on the way everypony reacted to Gabby Gums my thought was that the established newspaper was pretty much just news (how much negative stuff they report could be up to debate) but Gabby Gums was their first exposure to a tabloid style of reporting, which would explain how popular it got. Pony stories in the normal paper are probably like human interest pieces rather then anything really juicy

Grandma died and the Sweetie Bell ruined the funeral

I worked ten hours on Easter but aside from taking the two residents who didn't get to go home to a volunteer dinner at an old folk home I didn't really do much. Getting holiday pay to play Left 4 Dead and read Hunger Games is the best way to spend a holiday

Body swap with Applejack and Rarity doesn't seem like a good idea to me. They've already come to appreciate each other a couple of times.

We could bodyswap Twilight and Celestia. That is why Twilight is in charge!

I gotta agree, reading novels is good. They also have the benefit of coming in book form which you don't have to read them on computers.

Some cute books I can think of

Watership Down: Its about bunnies

The Unlikely Ones: the majority of the characters are cute animals

Various Xanth novels: various cute characters. Incredibly easy to read

I agree with the idea of having a clip of a song. I wouldn't go with Fluttershy murdering bears or the Fluttershy is a tree clip because I think middle schoolers would find it easier to compare the hedgehog clip to a song

Pinkie is oddly good at finding books

Witches are made out of wood, this is why they weigh less then a duck

I bought the DVD the day before I found out about it being on Netflix.

Maybe they're building up like how they saved all the short little pinkie songs and used them all in AFiD... The season finale might just be a massive musical, almost like a movie (I mean we had, what, 3 songs in Best Night Ever? all full-length or close to it)

though I agree, tartarus, I'd love to have a song in EVERY episode!

If they force themselves to include songs then they won't be as well done and would have to be superfluous.

The only reason to include a song is if it accomplishes something that would not be done without the song. So far the songs all are either used to explain a point, be part of a joke, or set a tone. Just throwing songs in for no reason would take away as it would mean less time for the story and wouldn't accomplish anything

*busts through the walls of text* Ahah!

I think there's more behind pony popularity than just "the internet made it popular, and it has a good design." There's a lot more elements working in harmony that make the show what it is.

Hasbro has said themselves that they aren't quite sure how to handle us (yet). They've made a few good trots in the right direction, but only time will really tell what will happen. They've been pretty good about keeping us hyped and sending teasers out, so we know there's a definite support toward the internet culture -- on top of their laissez faire treatment of YouTube. But, we also know they have limits on what they're willing to put up with (Ponyarchive, Derpygate).

For me, the biggest enemy to pony is the Hub itself. As the channel gains popularity and more content, they'll need to cater to the non-pony audience as well. With this happening, the chances become higher that their spearhead series might take a back seat to the majority audience (which might probably be young males).

Also looking forward, if FiM does become a long running series, I think it should be put down in a dignified way when the time comes. To give a good example, The Simpsons should have been euthanized a decade ago. As much as I'd hate to see it (FiM) end, it eventually does need to end.

I think The Hub is the best thing for MLP. The Hub allows for MLP to have quite a bit of creative freedom. I don't see the channel suddenly gaining a huge amount of popularity forcing it to cater to a new audience. Its nicely tucked away on a channel few people get and MLP is a huge ratings grabber for it. If MLP were on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, or Disney then those channels would not see it as important

Just in time! My roommate and I are ditching cable because it's too expensive and getting Netflix instead. Only problem is, can other people see what you viewed on a shared account? I'd rather not have him find out that I watch the show that way. I'm still not sure if I should try to introduce him or not.

That actually seems like a low key way to introduce him to the show. He sees it on the recently viewed, asks about it, you've got an in to get him watching without looking like you are a rabid fanboy.

Fraud does not need to be deceitful. It does have to result in an unfair advantage of the party doing the defrauding though. They used "sharp practice" to garner an "unfair advantage" in a contest that would gain them a farm, which is profit.

They didn't really seak out an unfair advantage in the contest however. In fact they gave the Apples the advantage by allowing them to use extra help

They were upfroant. They never tried to fool anybody. The business they had may have been sketchy but it wasn't fraud.

http://en.wikipedia....onfidence_trick

From the above article

Vulnerability to confidence tricks

Confidence tricks exploit typical human characteristics such as greed, dishonesty, vanity, honesty, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, desperation and naïveté. As such, there is no consistent profile of a confidence trick victim, the common factor is simply that the victim relies on the good faith of the con artist. Victims of investment scams tend to show an incautious level of greed and gullibility, and many con artists target the elderly, but even alert and educated people may be taken in by other forms of confidence trick.^[2]

Shills, also known as accomplices, help manipulate the mark into accepting the con man's plan. In a traditional confidence trick, the mark is led to believe that he will be able to win money or some other prize by doing some task. The accomplices may pretend to be strangers who have benefited from performing the task in the past.

A greedy or dishonest mark may attempt to out-cheat the con artist, only to discover that he or she has been manipulated into losing from the very beginning.

Yup, tricked into accepting the con man's plan. Seems like what happened here. Though there wasn't anything to gain, except more cider and the town's confidence. Which honestly, to the Apples is worth its weight in gold, as they were hell bent on demonstrating their ability as cider makers as well as INTEGRITY. They had more to lose though, but that is the point of a con, to bring the mark into a disadvantageous deal.

Form the link

A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual operating alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, naivety and greed.

There was no fraud. Flim and Flam were straight up with everything they said. They never tried to deceive and in fact offered an unfair but legitimate business deal. They even stopped selling cider made by the Apple family without legal action having to be taken. The show wanted them to be con artists but failed to make them so

I think Canterlot is largely ignorant of Ponyville and its problems because they simply don't hear about them or do much interaction with Ponyville. If you think about it, the only one who really gets news about Ponyville is Celestia herself.

This is something I was getting at in my post. Equestria doesn't seem to have a lot of news going on. Applejack might be well known in Ponyville for being a community leader, but can you name a community leader in a town 40 miles away from yours? Imagine how much harder it would be to know what is happening 40 miles away while only relying on word of mouth, mail, and maybe newspapers.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash have hit on some national fame, but like the Jesus example, they group up in Ponyville. People may be paying attention for civic pride but it could be like living next door to a world champion underwater hockey coach. Unless you know about underwater hockey he is just your neighbor.

As for flutters.. I think this will be brought up again in the future when she's being scared "You remember that time with the tornado to send the rain to clodusdale? YOU were the one that made it happen, YOU were the one that made a difference, and we need YOU to make a difference NOW!"

It might be brought up but by her friends or others in town. That incident won't make her famous any more then a worker on any project who does a poor job but helps out gets famous.

While earth ponies may have some innate abilities having to do with the ground it is possible pegasus ponies have the same with clouds. I think it is reasonable to believe they could build their homes with supports that would allow heavier objects to rest. Even if the objects themselves are not enchanted in some way the clouds below them could be prepared to bear the weight. If the strength below clouds is not consistent a pony walking may fall through even if some of the clouds could hold her

Don't get bummed or think it has to hold you back. Knowing you have it will be good so you know how to adjust but it doesn't need to be a barrier, especially if you've gone this far with it

Two things to be considered

1. It doesn't seem like news spreads alot. We've got word of a newspaper in an upcoming episode, but haven't seen anything like that before especially at a national or regional level, and there are no radios or televisions. There is probably an overall lack of information and communication in Equestria. The ruler banishing her own sister was even eventually forgotten (admittedly over a thousand years, but come on she's still alive. A historian could ask her what happened) Most ponies are probably involved with local dealings and their day to day lives to the point that the happenings elsewhere simply don't make it to them. Unless a friend or relative tells them whats up in Ponyville they aren't getting informed.

2. The average pony doesn't seem to be troubled with an over abundance of brains or critical thinking skills. They mostly just seem to go along with the flow. The mane six and those in authority seem to be the exception. Other ponies just show up to cheer at whatever impromptu contest is being held or panic when a monster shows up.

3. Ponyville seems to be destroyed alot.

4. Some of the exploits are pretty specific. Your average pony selling flowers probably doesn't care about fashion or flying so that would negate the accomplishments of Rarity and Rainbow Dash, who are better know in circles that wouldn't be familiar with Twilight and Applejack being local leaders or Pinkie Pie throwing parties. They run in different circles. Fluttershy is the least accomplished. I don't think her name getting known for helping in the latest episode will make a big impact on anybody other then Rainbow Dash giving her credit because it is a yearly duty and Ponyville almost failing at it isn't exactly going to be something people talk about positively.

I understand the intent was for them to be con men, but there was a disconnect with what actually happened in the episode. The most connish thing they did was goad Granny Smith into agreeing with the contest Apple Bloom agreed to. There is no con in having an effective advertising campaign with alot of showmanship. Part of a con is that there has to be some sort of deception. Flim and Flam were pretty straightforward. The machine worked as they said it would and there were no hidden conditions to their offer.

A better direction for the episode if they wanted to show off the con would be Flim and Flam offering to sell the machine for cheap, only to not mention that their magic is needed to run it, and they charge alot to run the machine. Even claiming to have cider that is just as good when it is actually very poor quality would be more of a con. Instead it started out with them acting like con artists, went a weird John Henry direction, and then Flim and Flam left town so everything could wrap up happily.

My theory is this episode went through a few rewrites and not everything meshed out right. Flim and Flam conning the Apples and then the man vs machine contest don't line up real naturally. I'm guessing originally there were two ideas of how this episode would go, they started with the con, switched to the contest, and lacked the time to rewrite the beginning. If you also notice originally the contest was for who would be allowed to sell cider but afterwards they act like the farm was the prize even though losing one revenue of money would not mean the farm would immediately be lost nor would it mean Flim and Flam would own it. It again feels like there was more then one draft with different things at stake and they got mixed together

Look back at her breakdown in Sonic Rainboom, and again when trapped in Ghastly Gorge, (not to mention her apprehension over her friends finding out she likes reading) she's very scared and insecure inside, yes, she is well aware of her abilities, but a lot of the ego is just a mask she hides behind to protect herself, I honestly think she and fluttershy share a lot of the same emotional problems, just handled VERY differently (fear of humiliation, fear of ostricization, etc) And had their circumstances been reversed, they might have ended up almost exactly in the opposite's position today (baring that Dash seems to ahve more physical strength than fluttershy - but that might be because Dash started training at a young age and if flutters had taken that rout instead she would have been much stronger)

And with the last episode "Hurricane Fluttershy" we see even more than Dash has a soft, caring side, and that she is hurt when her friends turn away from her, when her ego-mask is lowered, she's a completely different pony

The latest episode also shows Dash's maturity. In the past she would have freaked over things like Fluttershy not doing well and not being able to break the record. In that episode however she simply wants Fluttershy to try her best and easily accepts that they will struggle just to do the job

I got the latest McDonald toys when they came out but haven't gotten any other toys since I simply am unable to find toys in the stores that look appealing.