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Just saw the episode. Loved it. A lot. I was laughing a ton, found a lot of the interactions cute, and didn’t think anybody was too out of character at any point. Of course, maybe I’m just in an agreeable mood or something.

I’ll admit that I enjoy Spike’s character more than I assume most of you do. Because… he… reminds me of someone.

Anyways, I enjoyed it. Simple as that. I do agree that it was predictable, but then again, so are most of the episodes. My mom has predicted, with almost 100% accuracy, the entire plot of almost every single episode. She’s read a lot of things in her time, so she knows how it goes.

I said it was funny already, but I want to put emphasis on that because it was a major point of why I enjoyed the episode, and the show in general. I disliked Wonderbolt Academy because it wasn’t funny at all, focusing more on the action-y scenes that I personally hate. Whereas this episode had a ton more humor (Pinkie Pie technically could be humor in WA, but she was too over-the-top for me). In my book, if it makes me laugh a lot when I’m looking to laugh a lot, then it’s good. I have Legend of Korra and video games for action.

@Pony drought:

You see, I’ve made it so I’m more attached to vidya gaems than I am to ponies so these droughts don’t hurt me. It’s just a show, after all, I’m not that dependent on it. I mean, I joined the fandom right as the first drought began, so I’ve spent more time without it than with it. I pity you weak-willed fools who will succumb to madness and dementia, feeding upon the tortured dead for sustenance as your sanity withers away like a flower in the darkness of the night.

ahem

Just play video games or something while you wait.

Edit:

I CLAIM THIS PAGE IN THE NAME OF RAAAAAARITY!

so were posting rarity pictures

I should be available come 7pm Eastern tonight, so I’ll start a Synchtube around then. If you have any episode suggestions, let me know, and I’ll have them cued up. You can also suggest other videos as long as others are alright with them. You can just throw them into the playlist.

After reading a lot of the responses most episodes get, I feel like a bastard for liking them all. I don’t know why. Maybe I am easily entertained or something, I think all of ‘em are fun. Especially this latest episode, but that’s probably due to me being a stickler for Spike and AJ. (Oddly enough, I don’t ship ‘em) I guess I should just keep on truckin’, heh.

Hmmm… I wonder if people ever MST3K’d an episode of FiM…

Hm…I fear my parents’ connection might not be conducive to supporting a Synchtube, so I’d suggest someone else start one instead of me (if you want to continue the not-yet-a-tradition). I’m not sure if I’d be able to get into the room myself, but that shouldn’t stop anyone.

A simple process: Go to “the site,” click "Create a Room, you’ll be “OP,” and then add the videos to the playlist or chat via YouTube links (drag and drop works for me.) Once you have the room, just post the link here so people can find it.

I got this.

I’ll not be paying attention for a good deal of it, what with college essays and animating and such, so you guys just do your own thing and I’ll pop in every now and then.

@Zeroblue

So your OC name is Blue Shift? Hmm any chance that has any reference to Half Life: Blue Shift?

@Episode

Thanks to Bruno for linking it here. My thoughts as I went along:

Overall verdict: LAWLPONEz!

Are the rest of you guys really gonna do this whole Comic Book Guy Act every time a new episode comes out as if every episode reaches a new low? C’moooon, it’s a kids show!

Scrutiny is magic. There are some legit complaints about it, but I think many of us can agree it was a fun romp overall, even if it felt a bit like filler.

You know, now I’m really wondering what makes timberwolves tick. Before, I thought they were just wood-like, kind of like the ents, but they’re more like a classic elemental golem, which typically is something that’s been conjured/summoned, not just an ordinary creature with a life cycle. Perhaps they’re specifically there to guard Everfree or something, though that begs the question why? And they’re protecting it from what, ponies? That’d be such a Hayao Miyazaki thing to do. Who would have put them there to do that? Good fanfic fodder, to be sure.

Here, have a cute little wufy.

@Falcon

@BSoD
The Weaver has actually been shipping AppleSpike for a while now:
Part 1
Part 2

@Deadparrot

I figured as much. I already knew there is no shipping lane left unscathed so far

@Synctube

Whoa, what happened in there? I go make a sandwich for 15 minutes and when I come back the rooms is empty with Sanic YTP’s running on full volume.

This is what happens when I leave you people alone for too long.

Chrome has a knack for crashing whenever I have Flash open, so I got knocked out about halfway through the SuperJail episode and it took me forever to claw my way back in. When I did, it was just Tim and DeadParrot watching a PMV, and I immediately crashed again and didn’t bother. Not sure where the Sanic came from.

But next time I run a SynchTube, remember to bring me your virgins.

Rarity pony is most fun pony to animate I think.

You’re asking for the obvious now BSoD.

@Randomman

I hope you are not thinking what I think you are thinking…

I have no clue… Burning Phoenix just suggested it, and considering Nobody was around for a better suggestion, I went with it.

Guh I keep forgetting about the livestream >.<
Oh well, I was busy drawing Fluttershy anyway

I’ve seen a lot about how the 3D was necessary to animate such complex creatures like the Timber Wolves. I agree, in the second season they were kept in the shadows so they were easier to animate and cut corners with and now they’re there bright as day so they had to animate every single chunk from multiple angles- making it almost impossible to do strictly in flash.

However, it begs the question, why use the Timber Wolves? Why not an easier to draw monster like the Ursas, Cockatrices, or basically anything else? The Timber Wolves seem like the single worst choice for an action piece.

@Windigo:

BECAUSE THEY’RE BAD-ASS, MANG!

THEY’RE LIKE LITERALLY THE HYPEST SHIT, MANG!

LIKE, THE BOMB-DIGGEDY, MANG! SO BOMB-ASS, MANG!

What I’m saying is that the timber wolves were an interesting concept that hasn’t been used to the same effect as the other beasties, and it gave the art team an excuse to experiment a bit more.

Yay! Now RandomMan is getting involved with the Tumblr!

-- blackMage [BM] began pestering cellularGalaxy
%{color:#002366}[CG]%at 16:13 --
[BM]: How long are you planing to wait?
[CG]: Depends…
[CG]: There isn’t a guide on Finding Ninjas…
[BM]: you don’t have to find her, just where she hid the Package!
[CG]: Oh… Right!

Obligatory Tumblr Link

To keep this from being all about me, let’s recap Season 3 so far:

Starts with a fun pair of episodes that feature an unknown, threatening, but otherwise laughably shallow villain. Turns out to be very foreshadow-y.

Pinkie Clones Herself, and we question whether the clones had potential. Nonetheless, even if they weren’t sent back to the pond, they should definitely dispersed from pony-ville so as to not be a nuisance. And maybe differentiate themselves.

The topic of bullying is brought up. And although it speaks an air of truth, the fact is, it’s kinda a cliche point. But as my storytelling teacher once said, cliches exist because they work; they just happen to have lost their impact over time.

Twilight vs Trixie! Twilight beat Trixie by doing slight of hand; and at the same time, Zecora brought up a debate on magic. Fake? Limited? Possible, but requires tools to do? Who knows?

Scootaloo gets an episode! And it turns out Luna is goddess of dreams as well as the Night and Moon. We also learn that Scootaloo can Scoot while Asleep!

R A I N B O W Dash ended up at the Wonderbolt Academy Playing second fiddle to a more careless version of herself. People complained that she was out of character, while others said she wasn’t. Issues being her not being worried VS she’s afraid of being seen screw up guys, not rejection. For being nicer VS She’s thick, not Mean. And we pondered the significance of established physics of clouds being slightly mutable.

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! Oh yeah, and Apple Jack got an Episode! But mostly Bats! Also, Applejack’s parents are Dead! Also, bats! More Babs Seed from Manehatten, and newest CMC member! Bats out of nowhere! We See what granny smith, Applejack, and others looked like when younger! BATS MADE OF FRUIT! And we discussed how the Apple Family reunion impacts on what we know of the Celestial Calender… AND GLORIOUS BATS! I’m sorry, I can’t get over that, They’re so cute!

Spike gets saved; swears to help, but makes a mess of things. RD turns out to be a Fan Fic Writer (presumably a bad one), More Timber Wolves, in CGI, which was hit and miss. We find out Twilight’s Balloon is from the rent a shack. The Ponies turn out to be bad actors (Element of Honesty my pattooie!) and The lie turns to truth! And the lesson here is: “That’s what friend’s do!” Daww!

Coming Up: I have no freaking clue how this will turn out!

Animation discussion?

This. Is why I joined the fandom.

It’s a matter of the show’s style. For the most part, everything in the show is round. The ponies are made of circles, the animals are made of circles, the monsters are made of circles. Everything is round, and the only way to cast round objects in three dimensions is some pretty intense shading. This is where the Timberwolves differ. They aren’t round. They’re made of wood, of trees and branches, and as a result they’re much blockier than most anything else in the show. Could they have been done in Flash? Absolutely. But if any character or living thing was going to be done in CGI, the Timberwolves are far and away the best candidates.

Now, I mentioned last page that I have a deep and abiding hatred of 3-D animation, but I have to say that I’m really pleased with how the Timberwolves turned out. Going back to the spiel about everything being round, not only are the Timberwolves just generally easier to do in 3-D, but they’re pretty much the only thing that could be done in CGI without departing from the style. We don’t love My Little Pony’s animation for its dramatic, smooth and rounded shading. It’s essentially a show of vectors, thick outlines and solid fills, and, for the most part, no shading. Really, the only way you could work something in 3-D would be if no shading was necessary, and that’s where the Timberwolves come in. You color one side of the log a lighter shade and the other a darker shade, with the same thick outline around both, keeping the hues separate. Viola.

That’s why the Timberwolves worked so well. They were unique, they were still very well done (one of the primary reasons for my hatred of 3-D is how easy it is to be lazy with it) and they kept to the show’s style. It’s nice to see departures like this every so often; as well as the show is animated, I’d like to see something different, especially when we know the studio is so capable.

Anyone who complains that the Timberwolves sucked or looked out of place is a fool, and is simply worried that their “I only watch it for the animation” argument is in peril.

In the meantime, I’ve been doing some animating myself. Flash builds for everypony!

@Exudes

Bouncing trampoline ponies everywhere!

@3D discussion
Exudes said it pretty well.
The timberwolves were rendered in 3D because it would have been immensely complicated to try to construct them in 2D to a level that would allow them to perform to actions called for in the script.
The old ones that were 2D certainly were not bad, but their movements were limited and a little ‘wooden,’ if you’ll pardon the pun.

Interesting couple of notes from one of the show’s animators, though:

First, the big wolf at the end was not 3D and was animated just like everything else in the show.
In that case, I think they did a really good job of blending him in with both the normal cast and the 3D style of the little wolves.
Good job.

Second, the Dizzitron was apparently a 3D effect.
I guess the fact that it was relatively simple and only seen from a couple angles helped mask that because I really had no idea.

I forget when the Synchtube was supposed to be, someone mentioned 7pm (I’m assuming American time) but I’m having trouble keeping up with the time differences.

Anyways, good morning I’m assuming. I decided to do the smart thing and use my iPhone to figure that out.

Anyways, it’s new Year’s Eve (probably for all of us, but not for long), and over here, there’s like… only an hour to go before midnight. So Yay! My first Pony New Year!

It’s Unfortunate that it’s not going to be the year of the horse… That’s the year after.

Anyways, what I should be doing for a resolution… Is to stop going from project to project and focus on a single project instead… but we all know that’s not going to happen; so instead, I’ll just make my resolution to be that if I’m going to swing from project to project, I’ll go from one to another I started earlier.

Anyways, Happy New Year!

Well, I think I have a slightly better opinion about the 3-D wolves (and the side by side shot of S2 and S3 running makes me appreciate it a bit more.) However, I still can’t say I like them as a whole. FIM has had a fairly consistent art style and throwing in a 3-D entity with black outlines in a 2-D world with softer outlines just didn’t feel right (however, since they are mystical beings from the Everfree Forest, this sorta works I guess). IDK, maybe I’m just too hard on it because this is the first time we’ve seen 3-D entities in the show, and it was done with something we had already seen in 2-D. On their own they looked alright, but when I watched it, they never felt like they were really “there”. Found it rather odd that I did actually like the “final boss” wolf, who turns out, was not done in 3-D, but 2-D.

Oh look, they added a new character to the Gameloft pony game. But honestly, who in their right mind would want to buy Silver Spoon, I mean she’s a total b-

Guise

I think they discovered our weakness guise.

Stupid Sexy Silver Spoon…

Anyways, 5 in the Morning, looks like it’s time for me to crash…

See ya guys, I probably won’t wake till you Americans are about to start the New Years Eve Celebrations for yourselves…

…Actually, I think that sounds like something I should check back for!

And then Viking posted for the first time in 3 months.

Very slight spoilers about the finale:

Really, is revealing the writer of an episode considered a spoiler?

Might as well share the vector I made for a New Year’s collaboration thingy over on DA.

Happy New Year, everyone!
Keep your fillies away from the booze!

Vikingbolt said:

And then Viking stopped being a glorious winged faggot for the first time in three months.

FTFY

@Dat Silver Spoon:

Literally the second image on Google for ‘Silver Spoon MLP’

Fuck, they’re catching on!

@Dem spoilers:

M.A. Larson finale that we have officially confirmed using brain magic for being a FAAAAABULOUS Rarity episode?

Now this I can get behind.

Hooray!

@Bruno

Would have thought that would take another 3 hours…

…Maybe I should take East/West coast of America into consideration…

F**** it, New Years gift to you all, an unfinished sketch of the next page of Rainbow Knight (Which I conveniently forgot about till now)

Hows that for keeping up with a New Year’s resolution?

Oh my gosh, I sound so much like Dash right now…

I hear New York Hits Midnight in an hour… Anyone want to say a few words?

I for one wish to say it’s been an honor to be part of this fandom, and I look forward to another year of Pony…

So for the Third time in the last 24 hours, I wish to say, Happy New Year!

@ZB: I say to that notion as well as a continuation of the crazy and fun antics we have, remember and strive forward. I also can’t wait for next years episodes, being the impatient imp that I am. Reminds me though…

Do you guys think Hasbro would let a gaming company like Banpresto or Capcom make a crossover game with their toy lines (including MLP), whether it be a fighting game or an rpg?

RARITYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

PONIES

(haven’t watched a single season 3 episode beyond the season premiere trolololololololo)

@Rinsankajuginblarghwsxdas
Hasbro lol

Happy New Year to everyone in exactly 2 hours, 9 minutes and 32 seconds unless you are not in the Pacific time zone, at whence point happy belated or happy early New Year as the case may be.

Happy New Year

My New Year’s Resolution is to stop lurking and finally join this delightful rogue’s gallery of pone. Mission accomplished!

EDIT 1: That image…doesn’t seem to work. EXCELLENT START THERE JYRON WOO MAKIN’ GOOD IMPRESSIONS

EDIT 2: AND NOW IT’S BETTER. dont mind me just being a silly little bitch fouling up my intro post~

Yes yes, happy noob ears to all.

Also I watched the last episode again today. I think I like it almost as much as too many pinkie pies, which is a lot. I also don’t have anything against the predictability of the end, because yeah – it wasn’t the first time I saw something coming either and like Phoneix I love and watch the show for being cute and funny more than anything. This one was pretty damn cute and funny. (not that you guys don’t make good points).

@Twins: NAH GURL, YA BETTA CATCH UP!

Nah, but really. What I mean is a crossover with all Hasbro properties, not just MLP. Maybe even some Takara Tomy lines if they want an international appeal. You guys think they’d let a gaming company like Banpresto or Capcom make a crossover for them. I think I’d be estatic for such a thing.

Crossovers are pure awesome on one hand, and extremely nerdy on the other…

Good thing I Like both! Thumbs up on that idea.

Of course, on the remaining limbs, I’m already a compulsive cross-over-er… So take it with a grain of salt…

%Heck, I’m doing two crossovers at once, one may end up highly referential to other shows and become “Crossovery” with them, and I’m imagining some distant point where both crossovers come together in a violent Crash. Not to mention one of the Crossovers already has multiple timelines that are going to cross-over into each other…

… And that is a lot of crosses! Hope that doesn’t hurt your head!

@Jyron: Oh, a new guy! Welcome to The Pony General (Specifically #6) and Happy 2013! You’re welcome to discuss pone-related stuff and events or have a little pone-related fun. I’d list all the regulars on this thread but…

@ZB: You seem to be a big fan of crossovers. How about clickin’ this sentence right here so you can fill’er up on ‘em crossovers. Not like it’s blatant self-advertising, nope…

awkwardly whistles

Really, is revealing the writer of an episode considered a spoiler?

It could be, but it’s not going to bother me. I just like to play it safe. For example, if Merriwether Williams was the writer for the finale, we’d all know to just catch the Cliff Notes that the episode is going to be different than when M.A. Larson or Cindy Morrow was credited with the writing.

Oh, and Happy New Year, all.

Resolve to make T. Sparkle your favorite pone in the New Year.
 
 
Speaking of animation:

Click both for sources.

Ever got a question that was so simple, and made perfect Gramatical and logical Sense, but there was no Reason for it to be asked?

Due to a lul in questions on the Ask Tumblr, I decided to “answer” one of these questions in as stupid a manner as possible!

Anyone ever had an experience like that? Where they just decided to check their brain out to a strange question and just ham it up? Have some fun?

Or maybe just got given a simple question, and the only answer you could give was… What is this?

Wow, I didn’t know I could reply to myself.

Where was I? Ah yes.

“Wrong year, idiot.”

Happy New Year everyone! I swear I wasn’t drunk last night!

Okay maybe a little…

@Jyron
Welcome! WELCOME! To this thread I do mean. Please, get comfortable here, as you’re going to be here forever (a long time!).

Nah, joke asides, how are ya doing today? On this wonderful morning/afternoon/evening of the first day of 2013.

My first day of the new year’s already eventful: everyone in the house is changing bedrooms. busybusybusy

@Verbose: Twily’s already one of my two favorite ponus (the other being Pinkie). Mission accomplished once again?

Verbose said:

Resolve to make T. Sparkle your favorite pone in the New Year.

(Nothing against her of course!)

And the song that that Daring Do animation was made for:

Bonus Derpy, Luna, and Scootaloo!

Well, everyone…
Looks like the bronies have become mainstream enough to hit the sitcom circuit!
Only a commercial right now.
(Edit: Stupid embedding isn’t working. Have a link: Hot In Cleveland)
The actual episode isn’t out yet, so we will have to wait to see how we are eventually portrayed, but this could get interesting (though for the most part, it looks like they are going for the ‘hilarious because it’s weird’ angle).

My reasoning:

Your pony is blue.

What starts with Blue? The wavelength property of blue and red shifting, which popped into my head completely randomly for some reason.

So yeah, it’s just a random suggestion.

Exudes Affluence wrote:

CUTE!

But one complaint…don’t you think their forelegs are connected to far down their bodies? It’s like their upper legs connect right in the middle of their abdomens there…

Jacob wrote:

Found it rather odd that I did actually like the “final boss” wolf, who turns out, was not done in 3-D, but 2-D.

Really? Do you have a source for that? I wondered why the Emperor Wolf seemed so much better!

Twins posted:

*BITCH STOP LICKING MY BULLETS! THAT CORRODES THE AMMO!

Deadparrot wrote:

Well, everyone…
Looks like the bronies have become mainstream enough to hit the sitcom circuit!
Only a commercial right now.
(Edit: Stupid embedding isn’t working. Have a link: Hot In Cleveland)
The actual episode isn’t out yet, so we will have to wait to see how we are eventually portrayed, but this could get interesting (though for the most part, it looks like they are going for the ‘hilarious because it’s weird’ angle).

Well as long as they don’t go for the “Videogamers/furries are murderous psychopaths” that Law and Order went with, then I’m okay with it.