My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Live Reactions & Discussion)

@storyeller: I might take back my previous claim that Applejack can't hold a story herself. She needs a good enabler, but she can make good episodes, just she had a kinda bland run in Seasons Two and Three.

No, she really can't hold an episode focused on her, she NEEDS someone to work off of. The story can still be ABOUT her, but she cant hold it all on her own.

@Psi: Glad to see that your starting to become a Maud fan. I think her, Moondancer, Trixie, Lighting Dust and Gilda are my favorite minor reccurring characters/one-shot characters {Depending on the character} in the show. Maud in particular I love for how much of a contrast she is to nearly everyone else in the series. Instead of being all overly quirky and goofy, she's more reserved and from an in-universe perspective {IE How the mane 5 feel about her in her first appearence} kind of bland, but also still funny and quirky in her own odd little way.

Also, her lack of emotion and love of rocks makes for a lot of great comedy, be it in the show or fanworks. JT even did a fanfic where she requests Twilight and Fluttershy to bring her to a Cockatrice so she can be turned into stone for a little bit.

edited 16th Dec '15 12:36:17 PM by marston

She's bland in a way that is quirky and goofy. That's the trick.

I've noticed that Applejack tends to get some of the best duo episodes where she's in conflict with another pony. Fall Weather Friends with Rainbow Dash is another example, as is Look Before You Sleep with Rarity.

I will admit so far Applebuck Season is the only episode I truly remember Applejack pivoting the entire thing pretty well (though with a lot of reaction humour from the others), though maybe because her provocation was a deadline rather than another character. She has funny flaws, but she needs much more to set her off to an effective degree than the other five, that do more Felony Misdemeanor behaviour. Usually someone needs to be screwing up too.

edited 16th Dec '15 12:43:15 PM by Psi001

@Psi: On a non-pony related note, I have a question for you. I've noticed that in general you seem to prefer quirky goofy characters over serious, dramatic ones. Yet E101 Gamma seems to be one of your favorite Sonic characters if the occusional run-in with you outside of TV Tropes {Like say a Sonic forum or Deviantart} is any indicator. There's nothing wrong with that, I'm just curious, what is the reason why you like that character so much compared to others of a similar catergory?

edited 16th Dec '15 12:47:08 PM by marston

Oh definitely, while AJ can't hold an episode well on her own, she is AMAZING at playing a straight mare to another pony, and is by far the best character to pair with any of the others for some amazing stories. As far as favorite parings to see (Not for shipping just how entertaining they are to see work of each other) the only one that beats anypony + AJ for me is RD + Twilight.

Now I'm wondering how AJ and/or Twilight would interact with Vinyl Scratch.

I haven't played a Need for Speed game since Most Wanted for ps2.

But seriously, this game is pushing me right to the edge.

edited 16th Dec '15 12:56:35 PM by marcen12

Aj does usually work better when she's bouncing off someone else. She has a very low key personality that requires someone else to trigger her quirky side.

I only got Carbon because of nostalgia.

And that's the reason why i don't play that kinda games.

If you want to make AJ quirky, the awnser is simple: Make sure she gets no sleep whatsoever. She will then be so sleep-deprived that she'll make stupid descisions left and right.

/*Uses Magic to make the Pinkie in Marcen's avatar all grown-up*

edited 16th Dec '15 1:08:26 PM by marston

@marston: E-102 Gamma was a Cerebus Syndrome on an old cartoonish Sonic mytho, namely Eggman putting little animals into his badniks for batteries. It was poignant, but still in a way that was kinda quirky. Gamma was similar, you felt sorry for him, but he was a robot, so like Maud, his blandness was the whole point of his character and sometimes made him whimsical ("This presents a problem...").

I think he was better than trying to slap on some anime cliche like they did with the likes of Shadow (though similarly he can be The Comically Serious) or Archie's attempts to be grim and dignified (anyone remember when the Freedom Fighters actually had personalities).

It might also be his theme tune, it's played throughout his story and it's very haunting and heartbreaking.

In all fairness, one of my other favourites is Big the Cat. And of course like nearly everyone Eggman.

@seraphem: I am starting to like a lot of Discord pair offs as well, most often with Fluttershy and Twilight.

edited 16th Dec '15 1:14:31 PM by Psi001

@Mars That won't work until Christmas is over. Also, that thing you gave me to explode spontaneously...it doesn't work.

I think I broke my 360 controller because of this fucking game. I hate this fucking game. It doesn't want me to win.

Interesting points. I myself do like Gamma a lot. I just never quite thought about it like that, aside from deconstructing the whole "Eggman puts animals inside robots" thing.

Speaking of Sonic, I think that Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog is probably the best 90's Sonic cartoon. Sure, it has issues {Most of the characters who arn't Sonic, Tails, Robotnik or his minions tend to be annoying, for one thing}, and it's really freaking weird, but it has that cartoony Loony Toons feel to it and it can be bizzarely entertaining. Plus besides Sonic Boom it's the only Sonic Cartoon that never attempted to be grim and serious at any point in it's run. Also, Robotnik. Nuff said.

Sonic AM was a good show, though.

You mean Sonic Satam. And it was good, up to a certain point anyway. I use to absolutly love it, but I've became far more aware of it's flaws over the years. Especially with Season 2.

I remember one thing I liked about Aosth was that, despite the wackiness, there was still a small ounce of heart to it. It had one of my favourite interpretations of Sonic and Tails' relationship for ages. And it never really had to break the mood down to do it either.

Satam started off good, but then dwindled as it went on. Also while it at least tried to be an even balance of serious and whimsy, the treatment wasn't that well executed and balanced, mixing pretentiousness with juvenile cheese.

Usually I can still like a more serious character if they have heavy Not So Above It All qualities and still get in on the show's 'fun' at times, rather than just being a killjoy. You don't have to be dark and serious to have this problem, you just have to not take part in the fun parts, eg. a character that refuses that do slapstick or say humorous lines.

Sally Acorn for example is a good comparison of these elements. In early media she was more The Comically Serious, she was similar to Twilight in that she had poignant development but still suffered humorous flaws like a prudish temperament and thinking she was more dignified and lucid than she really was. In later media she's more just genuine down to earth and serious minded, even when they try to make her flawed, she's rather serious and perpetually 'normal' acting, making her rather boring.

edited 16th Dec '15 1:28:57 PM by Psi001

^I would really like if there was a middle ground found for Sally. Like if they combined both the serious down to earth side and her tempermental Comically Serious side that you mentioned. That way she can be serious when she needs to be but also entertaining and interesting when her flaws come out. Alas, that would mean Ian Flynn would have to give her a real personality, so that of course isn't going to fly.

Season One of Satam had a decent compromise of Sally.

Season Two still had the comedic side to some degree, but over shilled her and made her strictly the Straight Man. It's sorta like 'what if Twilight always won every argument rather than humiliating herself every once in a while?'.

edited 16th Dec '15 1:32:33 PM by Psi001

I know, but there's no modern version of her that follows that. And the thing is, I like serious characters when they have an interesting personality and character flaws. Sally doesn't have either of those. Especially not with the Creator's Pet status she's gained.

edited 16th Dec '15 1:34:06 PM by marston

Flynn tries to make her flawed but never quite grasps her original personality. I kinda get the feeling he just thought the whole problem was her never being wrong rather than what caused it, making her feel interchangeable. And she still rarely in dignifies herself in the process.

edited 16th Dec '15 1:40:11 PM by Psi001

In general, prior to the reboot {In which I then completly gave up}, I have mixed feelings about the comics. There are characters and storylines that I enjoy {Scourge, Fintivus, some of the darker stories as well as lighthearted ones}, but there's also a lot of issues. One of which I find to be the otherwise awesome Eggman. To this day the comics try to pass him off as a goofy affable bad guy, and that would be fine....... If it wern't for the fact that this version of the character has committed multiple counts of genocide for fun and has the biggest body count out of anybody in the entire Sonic franchise.

I barely watch any Sonic shows so I wouldn't know.

I feel like I should devstroy devil may cry three right now....like God Damn

edited 16th Dec '15 1:56:47 PM by marcen12

^You should go play Red Dead Redemption then. It can be a little hard here and there, but overall the game is fun and not tremendously difficult.

I have never consumed any Sonic media.

The closest I've come to is listening to Crush40 and watching Sonic Let's Plays and streams.

edited 16th Dec '15 2:03:11 PM by Rosvo1