Forums / Discussion / General

@Fifths:

Awesome.

Good to see some music about best race.

@Dac:

Alright…

Animation: I think the show excels in the animation, given they're usage of crowds, movement in the background, etc. They don't focus solely on the main part of the scene, but have additions, little bits that add together, and small details (zoom blur, panning, etc.). While there isn't a lot of shading, to be fair, the show is rather bright and the models don't look crappy due to it, this leads to shading being neat when it is present (that shot in Putting Your Hoof Down). While it's true the body models are usually the same, it's made up for the sheer amount of ponies that are used consistently. We can have background characters with deep personalities because the characters are used over and over again, instead of making random ones.

Music: I would put it around on par with Disney, because the VAs are usually fairly good singers. Rarity could make many princesses cower in shame with her UNHOLY! SINGING! TALENT!!! ahem And, beyond the singing and all of that in the songs that you are meant to hear, the background music is amazing. Take a listen to understand:

The music doesn't all stick to the happy cheery stuff, with heavy riffs, guitars, etc. in the background as the scene calls. This helps subconsciously lend to the effect of the scenes, while usually going somewhat unnoticed.

Characters: The characters are fairly exceptional, in that they have believable personalities that you could find in real humans, and generally stick to them. They also face believable development, change, and react like a living thing would be expected to (sometimes a human reaction, sometimes a horse reaction). For an example, Fluttershy is usually timid and afraid, but becomes boisterous when around animals (trying to help RD find a pet) or when her friends are endangered (the dragon). She also has the timidness and anxiety from a believable source, helping put the point across. And she's the characters most people consider flattest and least interesting.

Writing: I guess you could say this is the weakest part, but I think it's fairly good, considering it isn't a show driven entirely by the plot, and more the interactions within it. It's not really fair to compare it to LoK, which is entirely plot-driven, and is impossible to watch in random order. MLP is possible to watch in more-or-less random order (the character development will be iffy) because it's plot, story, and writing work in a different way. That considered, I would place LoK's writing above MLP's, but that's to be expected.

Voice Acting: Tara Strong, De Lancie, Andrea Libman, and Tabitha St. Germain.

'Nuff said.

Edit: @Muffinator: Dude, I don't want to fuck Celestia.

GET AWAY FROM ME WITH THAT NOTEPAD AND COACH, VERBOSE! STAY BACK!

>Walk in thread

>Scroll a bit

>Fucking Spitfire Maid Ass in my Goddamn Face

I am 20% more rustled. Wait do we still use that meme.

@Dac the Douchebender

That was very well thought out. Allow me to respond to each area of your critique in turn.

Animation: I agree that it's simplistic and nothing that is dropping any jaws, but at the same time, I don't think that should be taken as a criticism. The simplicity of the animation is does its job and I personally find the style rather refreshing. I don't think it's too much of a problem that all the ponies share the same basic body type because the wild colors and hairstyles generally keep me from getting that uncomfortable feeling that I'm watching two clones conversing with each other.

Music: I remember once listening to a music industry insider talk about how some music is an art, some music is a craft. I feel Daniel Ingram is very firmly a craftsman, using all the tried and true tactics of song writing to make his catchy as fuck songs while not taking any real risks with the music like Legend of Korra is with the jazz/oriental fusion they're doing. I do think you wrong Ingram just to call his songs run-of-the-mill though, they might just be on the craft side of music, but they're superiorly crafted.

Characters: I think most MLP fans would agree with you. The thing that really gets bronies hooked isn't the overarching storylines, it's the little moments between characters. Stuff like when Flutterguy sings Pinkie's evil enchantress song or Fluttershy's "YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE ME" at season 1 finale. It's that kind of stuff that makes us really like the characters and want to see more of them.

Writing: I'll agree with you here as well. MLP stories have to be designed to be comfortably encapsulated in 22 minute bite sizes and are made for little girls, so there's a very clear limit to how deep it can get. I've gotten narrative blue balls more than once from the show where I allowed myself to get lulled into thinking that maybe they won't pull a completely generic story move and then they totally do. It's just the nature of the beast sadly, but that's the cool thing about the fandom is that we can explore all the possibilities with the material that the show can't.

On a final note, I'm suprised you held Legend of Korra's writing to such a high standard. As much as I love the new animation, music, and general concept of the show, I find the characters and writing to be very weak, particularly in comparison to Airbender. Some of the episodes are borderline fanfiction in my opinion.

@muffins
Thank you. I just wanted to make a completely unbiased review of the series.

@ explosive laser
You could say that it's unfair to compare it to korra I guess, but im not gonna give the show a break or a free pass, I'm reviewing it. Still, I guess a better comparison is Phineas and Ferb, which has better writing because it doesn't take itself seriously and thus can be enjoyae without seeming cliche.Anyways, I would try to leave personal bias out of a review, even if you like the songs, they really aren't comparable. It really can't be disputed. Weather or not you think they are better is your opinion.

@fifths
Thanks for the response. I am not trying to criticize so much as just give a reality check I guess. I like the show obviously and understand why it is the way it is, but with many bronies acting like it is the best show ever, I just felt like pointing out why it's not.
About korra, Agree to disagree I guess. I feel it's very strong in the story department.

>On the internet
>Pony general
>Review
>Expecting lack of bias
>

Regardless, I think you give the show too little credit and are comparing it to the titans of each facet. It might not be the story-driven show that Korra is (that's the entire point of the show), or have the music of Disney (after all, you're comparing a movie that's by itself to a show that's based on a toy line). That's slightly unfair to the show, but I guess that's a review.

I can still say that I could put Becoming Popular up there with Part Of Your World, because Rarity can sing her little equine heart out. That may be an opinion, but you can't effectively rate a song's quality without bias. You can say the pitch was low, the bass was weak, etc. but you can't say 'this song is better than this'.

Likewise, you can't really say that Korra has better writing than MLP. That would technically be an opinion, as well. You can say it does a continuous, fluent story well, which is the show's goal. MLP is a short story to Korra's novel, in a sense. Korra is long, has a large amount of flow, can put details and filler in, and take some time. MLP is short, to the point, has fewer details, and has less time to waste. Neither is superior to the other, as it's a matter of opinion whether you favor one or the other.

Really, I was just reviewing my opinion, as I assumed I was supposed to, given the environment (a forum thread regarding cartoon marshmallows ponies on an internet meme documentation site).

A correction to previous my calculation, The percentage of dubstep pony music is actually around 6.9%, but it still does not represent a majority of pmvs/pony related music.

Verbose wrote:
“So how much of the content is electronica?”
I would say approximately 1.7% of pony music is electronica. In addition if you had the impression that I liked I electronica. I will clarify I I don't really like electronica, I just had to point out that there is a difference between it and dubstep.

@Pony Commercial

Every review has a little personal bias I guess. Still, you can't really say that thinking that Disney songs are better is just an opinion. They have superior production values, last longer, and are just more memorable.

@Fifths
For someone who uses DJ-PON3 as his avatar, that's about the last style of music I would have expected from you… in a good way.
That was very nicely done and could absolutely stand up next to anything posted to EQD.
Totally send it in!

@Dac
You make a lot of very good, reasonable points and I largely agree with you (though I've never actually seen any of the Avatar cartoons.)
The only thing I would mention is under the animation heading.
To me, simplicity is really a very positive thing.
I come from a childhood heavily based in Simpsons watching, and one of the major art style tips that Matt Groening gives out frequently is simplicity.
Achieving the desired effect while using as few lines as possible allows emotions to be both clean and powerful without becoming muddled or overcomplicated.
He also talks a lot about character design, especially about giving each character a unique and immediately recognizable shape, even in silhouette.
MLP certainly follows these two points (recolored background crowd-fillers notwithstanding) and are major reasons behind why I started watching in the first place.

In the end, yes, I do agree that the show is probably somewhere in the 'average to above average' range overall, but the community that has built up around it is definitely the major cause of the show's staying power.

Oh, yeah, one last thing.
I'm always down for a good, complex story with lots of intricacies and development, but sometimes I just want something… happy.
And MLP exudes 'happy' on almost every level.
It fills its role and it fills it well.

I would say approximately 1.7% of pony music is electronica.

<img src="http://mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw219_7b1e28c066c36542d1037fe7033b4e48.png" / >

That means less about 1 of 50 are from the genres including, but not limited to, drum and bass, dubstep, house, trance, and techno.

I'm curious now.

• Sample: Results on the first page on YouTube when using the search term "pony fan music," not in quotes. Sample excludes music that is obviously not inspired by Friendship is Magic and official music.
  • Includes "The Stars Will Aid Her Escape" (Electronica), "Luna's Lament" (Not electronica), and "New Lunar Republic" (not electronica).
• Results: 7 of 15 were electronica (does not include use of the electric guitar, electronic keyboards, and other such instruments)

Conclusion Well…I'll let you conclude whatever. It may be that people just like electronica more and the ones with music that can't be considered electronica don't have enough views. But I kinda doubt it going by the musical tastes I've seen from bronies.

>Princess Luna gives you a lap dance.

@DeadParrot222

I actually really dislike club music in general. I find it to be a sign of the degredation of western culture into a collection of sensualist pigs grinding on the dance floor, and too damned loud besides.

I really didn't care much for Vinyl either, but then I saw Epic wub time. I've probably watched the following scene 10-15 times.

God damn, that's hilarious.

@Fifths
Awww… you gave Deadhors3 a sad…..

@Fifths
Pretty much feel the same here on my end.
If you're writing a song and want to instantly lose my attention, start singing about 'da club.'
I'll be gone in a flash!

And Epic Wub Time was amazing!
"JUST MY BASS CANNON!"

@Deadparrot
Oh yeah- don't get me wrong, I hate that "up in da club" shit as much as the next person.
(You can only rhyme bottles with models so many times Flo Rida)
The thing about electro is that the shit tends to float to the top, but you just have to dig a little to find the good stuff.

Now, I am under no impression that these acts are underground. Walk up to any random dude and I'd put the chance of him being a member of "the horde" (deadmau5 fan) as the same chance as him being a member of "the herd"- if you follow. However, they get barely any airtime in the states while the various "club & sex anthems" get so much airtime. It makes me sad.

@Windigo
Oh yeah, I didn't mean to imply that I dislike all electronic music or anything like that.
I can almost always find examples of any genre that I like, and there is definitely a good amount of techno that works for me.
Honestly, my problem lies more with rap and hip-hop for tired, overused themes (like clubs, booze, 'ho's, etc, etc *groan) and endless self-aggrandizing.

I'm really bad at identifying the differences between sub-genres, especially in electromusic, but from what I've heard, 'dubstep' gets on my nerves.
I know it's a bit of a joke now, but the first time I heard dubstep was when my little brother started blasting it at home and I literally asked him why he was listening to a remix of modem noise.
I've been trying to keep an open mind about it though, so I'll listen to dubstep posts on EQD every once in a while hoping for a 'diamond in the rough' but 90% of the time, I get burned.

I'm listening to your videos as I'm typing this and they are good examples of what I do like, or that I'm at least okay with.
It's more the 'DROP DA BASS' kind of songs that irk me.
For example (and to keep this slightly pony-related), I remember some songs on EQD from months ago that started off with a very nice synthesizer tune for a couple minutes before suddenly and unceremoniously exploding.
Whirs and clicks and shattering glass everywhere! In a Fluttershy song! Wha?!
(I tried to find an example, but I don't remember the names…)

Eh, musical tastes…
What can you do?

New subject, kind of. I just wanted to know if you guys are afraid of anything. I have a fear of dolls. I have no clue why, though. They just creep me the hell out. Also, what are your takes on dark and horror stuff? I personally enjoy them a lot.

I marry Soarin? Dammit, why couldn't it be Fluttershy!?

@Music discussion (Again! Hah! But at least time it's another topic)

Since I'm strictly into electronica I have no criticism to give to Fifths song, other than great work and keep it up.

That said, when I read Algernons post, I could understand where he is coming from. From the perspectives of electronica enthusiasts like ourselves: dubstep is very dominating and omnipresent in the genre. However it's nowhere near the greatest, undermining much of what we consider to be high quality electro.

Most of the electronic genre's remain underground, but dubstep is highly commercialized. Thus it disgruntles us to the point of feeling like dubstep is "friggen everywhere, man!". So it does sometimes feel as though most of the Brony music video's within the electronica genre turn out to be dubstep mixes…a lot.

Granted most Brony music is NOT electronic, there's far more pop, rock and many various and less conventional genre's being used but of course were not looking at anything other than electronic are we? It's just out of the ones that are electronic, I very rarely hear anything other than dubstep.

All this is being said without knowing any real statistics or without doing any real research. It's just a perspective.

@Windigo

And people wonder why I prefer my music with minimal lyrics. At best: no lyrics whatsoever. I'm really tired of that crap too, and this is coming from someone who even goes clubbing

BTW Deadmau5, Pendulum and Skrillex are good but those are just the big names that are well known, there's even more "good stuff" if you go beyond the big labels and dig deeper

@Deadparrot

I’m really bad at identifying the differences between sub-genres, especially in electromusic, but from what I’ve heard, ‘dubstep’ gets on my nerves.

Listen to the drum beat. Many electronic sub genre's are defined by how they use the drums differently.

People have trouble telling the dubstep from other genre's because they think loud grinding screeching or bass drops define the genre….no, no it does not. They all can contain drops and wubs. (Especially House. So many people confuse House for Dubstep because House has wubs too.)

And yea, its no surprise that dubstep gets on peoples nerve. I think that's because a lot of the popular stuff loud screeches, scratches, grinds, static noise and worst of all; chipmunk vocals (FUUUUU). That shit is NOT music and how Skrillex became famous for it baffles me. I'm hard pressed finding dubstep that doesn't do that.

My music collection is 99% electro but only 5% dubstep thanks to that fact

Unrelated to anything on this page;

@Blue Screen

As someone who listens to next to zero electronic music, I find myself made curious by these distinctions between genres. It all sounds the same to me. Would you be so kind as to briefly explain the differences that define and seperate the various electric subgenres?

@Zarathh
Fears, eh?
Spiders! God damn spiders, man!
Really, any insects (I know spiders are arachnids but go with it) but spiders creep me the hell out.

As for horror, it really depends on the context.
Mindless, 'OMG, JASON'S GOT A KNIFE!' doesn't do much for me but other types can be interesting.
Your video up there had a cool drawing style, so I kinda liked it.
Plus it reminded me of another Jonathan Coulton song:

Love the ending of that song!

@Fifths

The more you listen to the various genre's, the more you can pinpoint the differences. But on the surface, any parent genre will always sound the same.

I never listen to Rap or Pop and all that stuff sounds the same to me as well, even though they have many sub-genre's.

If you want to understand what really sets each electro genre apart, I would advice talking to Opspe. He's our foremost expert on the field and can explain it far better than I can. Tell him I sent you.

Boy, am I late for this discussion. I instantly thought of that song when Zarathh mentioned dolls. Probably shouldn't be listening to it at 3 a.m.

Anyway. If Ihad a fear, it would be spiders. And needles. God I hate needles. Like, Edward Elric levels of hate. I hate them so MUCH! I NEED AIR! AAAAAAAAHHH!

Apparently, my brain was trying to block out bad thoughts during my first reply because I completely left out needles.
Massive phobia there.
I've seen horror movies and video games where people are hacked limb from limb without the slightest problem, but I literally cannot stand to watch someone get a shot, not to mention getting one myself.
I actually have to close my eyes or look away.
Crap, I'm getting creeped out just thinking about this…

Syringes are everyone's phobia. There is a reason why SAW 2 featured a scene where a woman falls into a pit of rusty syringes…[shudder]…worst part of the movie

Lurker mode deactivated. I know I'm reaching way back here, but seriously, this track is what managed to get me interested in dubstep. Some of the electronic stuff out there is quite bad, I'll grant you, but certainly not all of it.

Really, I appreciate practically any genre of (pony) music. I try to judge 'em on a song-by-song basis.

@MLP Review
I actually disagree with the notion that FIM is "nothing great." If that were the case, I don't believe any of us would even be here at all. The stories are fine, maybe not Shakespeare, but episodes like Party of One actually do hit it out of the park as far as I'm concerned. As for everything else…

Screw it, it's 3 a.m.
Korra's a Mary Sue. Good night.

Cutest. Little. Tyrant. Ever!

On the topic of electronica…

HOLY SHIT GUYS, THAT'S TOTALLY A FLUTTERSHY SHIRT.

DEADMAU5 CONFIRMED FOR BRONY.

NO, I AM NOT JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS HERE, SHUT UP.

[/fangasm]

That EqD update came at a very useful time for me, since everything else I wanted to say in this post has nothing to do with ponies. Horray for off-topic discussions!

Tim the Enchanter wrote:

Dubstep pmvs probably makes up 0.71% (this is a rough estimate from the YouTube search results) of the pmvs/pony related music on YouTube, sure there maybe electronica/techno pmvs but these genres should not be confused with dubstep. I am not stating that dubstep is good, I am just stating the fact that the amount of dubstep pmvs/pony related music do not represent the majority of community generated content.

Yeah, considering I have over 11 hours of dubstep in my iTunes library, it's safe to say that I know what dubstep is. It has a very recognisable sound, so it's usually easy to tell whether something's dubstep or not (it's not quite as obvious when it comes to either high-tempo glitch-hop or low-tempo drumstep, but even then it's fairly easy to tell).

I was exaggerating a little with that post. I tried looking through EqD's instrumental music, and there isn't too much dubstep there. There is an awful lot of music labelled 'electronic' though, and most of it is of an extremely amateurish quality. Often it seems like they just throw default synth sounds over a generic beat, add a sample of Fluttershy saying 'yay', and then call it 'MLP music'. There's no creativity in that, and I much prefer it when people actually put some thought into it (e.g. lolstaz's and Fifths' music).

Fifths wrote:

I actually really dislike club music in general. I find it to be a sign of the degredation of western culture into a collection of sensualist pigs grinding on the dance floor, and too damned loud besides.

I'll agree with you here, but only when it comes to the really popular house and RnB tracks that seem to dominate the clubs where I live. I can't stand music like that, where they sing how everyone's getting laid and shit like that. However, you'll find there's a lot of creativity in the underground electronica scene. People aren't afraid to experiment, and they make music because they enjoy it rather than using it as a way to become famous.

Oh, and about the genres of electronica that you were asking about:
I'll post a brief summary on your wall. Once you know what to listen for, you'll probably find it really easy to distinguish between them.

BSoD wrote:

And yea, its no surprise that dubstep gets on peoples nerve. I think that’s because a lot of the popular stuff loud screeches, scratches, grinds, static noise and worst of all; chipmunk vocals (FUUUUU). That shit is NOT music and how Skrillex became famous for it baffles me. I’m hard pressed finding dubstep that doesn’t do that.

Here's a fun game:

Listen through a UKF Dubstep compilation, and every time you hear a retarded noise, take a shot. Take two shots for every annoying 'yoi yoi' sound too. I can guarantee you'll be dead before the end of the third song.

@Algernon

For everyone's better eyesight.

Well there is this post he had a while back at his Facebook.
Link

i herd u liek anime (lol i no sum of u dun iz funny cuz u haev bad taste in shows) so i post it twiligt sparkl n pinke pie

<img src="http://img.ponibooru.org/images/67daad3e0758a769652874dd7f67194f/194927%20-%20artist%3AAgu-Fungus%20humanized%20Japanese%20ninja%20twilightsparkle.jpg" height="300" / ><img src="http://img.ponibooru.org/images/35d93f67a91b1d9c614f7bcb990e0aca/195023%20-%20artist%3AAgu-Fungus%20capoeira%20humanized%20Japanese%20pinkiepie.jpg" height="300" / >

Related:

<img src="http://images.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw2582_large.png" height="300" / >

Verbose PSA: Please edit your posts for proper grammar. Terribly biased scientific studies say that precisely way too f*ckin' many posts on the Internet go without spell-checking and editing, many of which are indecipherable by humans. The public health concerns are alarming, as the number of facepalms has skyrocketed to match the number of poorly constructed posts (i.e. way too f*ckin' many.)

Please. Use a browser with a built in spell check. Use the edit buttons for your posts. It could save a life…or something.

@Algernon

I'm not even suprised. Deadmaus (not gonna do the fancy grammar) has made references to various internet memes on his Facebook and even puts them into his songs every now and then. He clearly has some experience with the "interwebs". So it wouldn't really suprise me that he came across MLP:FiM and got interested. It was only a matter of time.

Deadmau5 – [ / ]

Skrillex – [ ] … … soon

@Dan
There we go!
That's an example I can use.
As I said, everything is opinion, but for me, that remix just made the song worse.
Even when dubstep is done 'well,' according to people who like it, I always feel like those noises are just covering up more interesting music.
In Eurobeat's original, I loved the piano part that played throughout, but it that remix, it's almost completely drowned out by heavy bass and a bunch of noise.

Quite honestly, I don't really have an ear for distinguishing the different genres and, at a certain point, it feels like people are just making up labels so that every band has its own 'unique' genre ("We aren't techno! We're 'hardcore electro-punk jazz fusion dubstep!'").
I've come to associate that 'yoi yoi' noise with dubstep, so the fact that I hate that sound probably accounts for why I say that I don't like the genre, though my definition may be flawed.
It's really the 'yoi' that is both completely a-musical and simultaneously ubiquitous in so many songs that I dislike.
If you leave that out, chances are much higher that I'll enjoy a song.

Just my two bits.

@Verbose
Excessive facepalming has been linked to reddening of the forehead and palms and, in rare cases, concussion should the offense be spectacularly significant.
Then there's this:

EDIT YOUR POSTS! I JUST MIGHT SAVE A LIFE!

Verbose pls.

Inb4 Verbose comes and steals this picture away.

@DeadParrot222, El Slinker

Have some nightmare fuel

@Fifths
Oh, you…

But here's what I'm talking about when I say my brain is weird.
The 'successful' poking was far more cringe-inducing for me than the unsuccessful mutilation.
I still haven't played Dead Space 2 yet, but now I know one scene that I really won't be looking forward to seeing…

@Algernon

HOLY SHIT GUYS, THAT’S TOTALLY A FLUTTERSHY SHIRT.
DEADMAU5 CONFIRMED FOR BRONY.
NO, I AM NOT JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS HERE, SHUT UP.
[/fangasm]

Yes…YES! Another victim overcome by the horde herd. Now we just need to get Skrillex and we shall be one step closer to world domination

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

And I liked your summary of the genre's (on Fifths wall). You weren't too far off regarding Trance. It is kinda like House with a definite focus on upbeat melody and also Trance commonly goes heavy on the beat so your neighbors can hear that "doof" 3 houses down the street. Trance can be atmospheric, euphoric, hard or liquid.

Sometimes it can even sound exactly like House. I've got one Trance song that fooled everyone on YouTube and had them thinking it was House. I had to ask Opspe about it for clarification. Turns out it's actually Trance.

Definitions of the genre's is much needed during this time. As I said before many people still think 'electronica = dubstep' 'when dubstep is just another sub-genre.

On a final note, I am totally playing that drinking game

@Deadparrot

Quite honestly, I don’t really have an ear for distinguishing the different genres and, at a certain point, it feels like people are just making up labels so that every band has its own ‘unique’ genre (“We aren’t techno! We’re ‘hardcore electro-punk jazz fusion dubstep!’”).

That's actually what's going on. For example: Brostep exists for this very reason; I'm pretty sure its just House with more random noise.

Note that this doesn't just happen with electronica, other genre's get this too. For instance, on the metal side you have "Nu-metal" which is just one bands play style

It would be easier to list what genre's are real than the ones made up by select artists. But I wont bother going into detail, were off topic enough as it is.

Please join in on this discussion.

I've been gone for a while so please excuse me for dredge up some old topics but I want to put my two cents in:

Mister J's Historical ponies link:

I am an amateur historian, there are few things I respect more than the achievements of the humans that came before us. Which is when I see these ponies in historical images of great suffering or tragedy, I am really quite saddened because I feel it insults the memories of those in the pictures, like "fuck you you piece of shit…oh wait you have a pony! SO SAD ;_;" it belittles their accomplishments or suffering, because face it: Ponies are magical cartoon horses, these are real people and if you can't empathize with them without the inclusion of cartoon ponies ( even though what happened to them was in the past) then you need to step back and take a reality check.

This doesn't really extend only to those pictures. What's even worse is Axis Powers Hetalia. At least the pony historical pics attempt to show some real historical event, APE devolves massive battles that claimed millions of lives and terrible bloodshed into a cute little boyfight for girls to squee at. It makes me rage beyond reason.

I'm sorry if that seems extreme, but as I said: I love history and I respect it greatly.

Muffins wrote:

I’ve been meaning to bring this up myself. Lately, I’ve been feeling like I have nothing to contribute anymore, and that people don’t care about what I have to say. Sometimes, I’ll mean to answer a question, but someone else will answer it in a much better way than I can, and so I just won’t post.

Verbose wrote:

Some users get preferential treatment

YOU!....YOU! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT MISTER SELF PROCLAIMED MOST GLORIOUS TL;DER AND MOD TO END ALL MODS! WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF THE SUFFERING OF THE LITTLE PEOPLE!

BSOD wrote:

Yep…just hanging…that’s all, nothing else. If you catch us doing something weird it isn’t what it looks like

Of course it isn't what it looks like. That last time we did something other than hang out was the worst night of my life! I can't believe you're the kind of person who would fuck a guy in the ass and not have the goddamn courtesy to give him a reach around! Fuck you straight to hell!

BSOD wrote:

Especially Verbose and Phoneix: How often do they try to spark up an intelligent discussion only to get image dumps? But I like to think we don’t let that discourage us. To be fair in a thread like this with many participants posting frequently; it is easy for huge posts to end up being ignored.

I don't get discouraged, the thread has it's ebbs and flows and you must ride their waves and see your opening my child to begin the tl;dr.

Explosive Lasers wrote:

I’m beginning to think the Discorderly Conduct guy loves Bushwoolies, and is just a closet Browooly.

You mean Girl. Both that blog and the Chyrsalis blog are done by two female friends who are apparently professional animators or artists. I know this because I attend their livestreams :)

Algernon wrote:

This thread used to have a lot more text on it, especially around the end of thread 3 and for most of thread 4. Sadly, a few frequent tl;dr posters have moved on since then, or have started contributing less. Back then, everyone was posting more, and a lot more was being discussed. If you look to the profiles of people like opspe or BSoD, you’ll see a badge for the ‘Late Night Debate Club’, and back when that was running you could go to sleep one night and wake up to find people had posted two full pages of tl;dr discussions. I really miss how the thread worked back then, as do a few other regulars, so it’s fair to say that well-thought-out posts are appreciated around here. Please, keep doing what you’re doing.

I actually like how the thread is working now. A fine blend of images and text. Remember back then? I can count the tl;dr on one hand: Myself, You, Verbose, BSOD,Opspe (and I have a feeling I'm forgetting someone) and we dominated the thread. If it went on just like that, people would probably have just left or continued lurking like Muffins wrote earlier.

We were overbearing and GODDAMN I HAVE THAT BADGE TOO WHY DOES EVERYONE FORGET BP

(continued in part 2)

Algernon wrote:

What are your thoughts on the phrase ‘Love and Tolerance’?

It was discussed in depth in another thread, but most posters here didn’t contribute to that discussion (myself included). If people seem interested in this topic I’ll post my own views, but for now I think this post has gone on long enough.

I know a lot of people are like "YOU'RE RETARDED IF YOU USE THIS PHRASE IT'S A TROLL PHRASE INTENDED TO MOCK YOU!"

But I say…isn't that just grand? We've taken a term used to insult us and taken it as a rallying cry.

In the real world, this happens a lot:

Fans of Ajax Football Club in the Netherlands were labelled as "Jews" because their stadium was located next to a Jewish neighborhood despite not many jews actually supporting Ajax. This lead to opposition fans using anti-semetic chants against Ajax, leading Ajax supporters ot embrace their "Jewishness" and call themselves "'Super Jews" and waving Stars of David everywhere.

A similar situation exists in England with the London Club Tottenham Hotspurs who endured anti-semetic chants but they took it in stride and named themselves "Yids" to defuse the insult.

The greatest insult to a person who insulted you is….to embrace his insult as Tyrion Lannister so eloquently states:

DeadParrot wrote:

This is another one of those times where I wish I had some kind of cool, dramatic, or emotional story about how ponies have altered my life in some extreme fashion.
Sadly, I do not.

You can do what I do: Lord over these puny weak men by the virtue that you were a perfect human being before watching the show and now? You're a perfect human being of human perfection perfect.

JOIN IN ME IN EVIL LAUGHTER! MWHAHAHA

Jackal Lantern wrote:

Though it’s still one of my favorite episodes, I didn’t really like the portrayal of Celestia. It kind of seemed out of character to me. What are your opinions on her episode to episode continuity?

I found it great, it's when you know a character who seems invincible and nearly always has the upper hand actually lose. It sort of humanizes them.

A good example is the Greek Pantheon. If Zeus wasn't such a horrible person who occasionally was bested by his wife Hera, it wouldn't have been as interesting a story now would it?

Lastly, do you prefer Celestia or Luna, and are you a day person or night person?

I come from a desert. Luna> Celestia BUT I LIKE CELESTIA TOO! :(

Fifths wrote:

Hey, new topic. You guys ever have any pony dreams?

Once…and only once. I mentioned it before and never again will I mention it.

Dac wrote:

Animation:snip

I'll have to disagree with you there. It might not have the fantastic visuals of Korra which I agree is one of the best animated shows on air right now but MLP's animation is incredible. The amount of times I've seen animated shows that have stilted animations, use still shots instead of actual animation, have very stiff characters that only blink and move their mouths and washed out backgrounds and colours is staggering ( Japanese anime is notorious for this). It may not have the same jaw dropping visuals as Korra, but it has subtlety and I enjoy that.

Sure there are things I wish they could do better (more variety in pony shapes) but overall, I'm quite impressed with it.

If it wasn't for the animations and the character design, I wouldn't have been persuaded to actually watch the show itself.

Music: Snip

I agree that it is not yet on par with Disney movies but comparing it is a bit unfair like you said since movies have far larger budgets but for a weekly cartoon show? It's head and shoulders above the rest.

And we tend to say "It's not at the same level as Be Prepared (My personal favorite)/Be a Man/etc.." but we tend to forget that Disney made shitty songs and movies too and This Day Aria is better than those. It's not at the top tier of music, but it slotted in at a high place for me.

Most of the other songs are quite catchy as well. As for Legend of Korra, I can't….actually recall any of the music…

I don't really think the show is "average" as you put it but don't think it's as amazing as people make it out to be. It's somewhere in between for me.

--

Whew that was long! I know it seems a bit OCD to talk about things that happened when I last posted but I guess I have OCD.

We've probably already discussed this before, but please forgive me for forgetting.

How old do you think the mane six (and other background ponies) are relative to one another? Who's the oldest? Who's the youngest? What is your reasoning?

Well, they're all old enough to work and live on their own, so past high school age I think. I always figured early 20s.

@Connor

Of the mane six, Fluttershy's most likely the oldest, since she was bigger than the others during the flashbacks in The Cutie Mark Chronicles. Further proof is that she says she is a year older than Pinkie in Griffon the Brush-Off.

Unfortunately, the rest is all guesswork, and I can't remember any tidbits that'd point one way or the other.

@Connor:

Brownmane beat me to it. They are all the same age (which I would put around 20), except for Fluttershy, who is a year older. We also can safely assume they are 20 years old (and not the average adulthood age of a real horse, which is much, much younger) due to several hints and details in the show indicating they have human life spans.

In terms of absolute ages, I refer you to Faust herself:

Any guesses about relative ages is likely going to be based on their perceived maturity levels since the only canon fact is that Fluttershy is one year older than Pinkie Pie.
Since maturity in fact can have very little to do with actual age, no real conclusions can be drawn.

All that said, I like to imagine Rarity as the oldest as she's the only one who seems to have any romantic interests and she owns her own business all by herself.
Fluttershy would probably be next on my list for her motherly traits.
Then AJ for her hard-working attitude and general air of self-reliance.
I'd put Twilight next because she seems like she's old enough that she should already know a lot of the lessons that she's learning and it's only her reclusive nature that held her back socially.
Finally, I'd put Pinkie and Dash as youngest because they are the most child-like in their exuberance, hero worship, lack of responsibility, etc.

Even with Word of God being in play, I would say that they are comfortably "adults." In Lauren Faust's response here, she thinks of them in terms of maturity. Apparently, there is a "show bible" of sorts that helps the team understand how the universe works. How in-depth that is, we have no clue.

However, there is one, age-specific hint that falls in-line with what Lauren Faust says and what we say simultaneously:

If the link doesn't work, then go here and make sure the time is at about 13:08. It's the first part A Canterlot Wedding. Cadance says that Pinkie's reception plans are perfect for a 6-year old's birthday party. Pinkie agrees and says "Thank you!" She doesn't say for a human, and according to other Words of God, there are no humans in Equestria (and they have never been referenced at all.)

As such, Cadance (actually, Chrysalis) is probably talking about a 6-year old pony. You can see what that entails: board games, streamers and confetti, and wacky dancing. Sounds like the activities of that of a human 6-year old as well, no.

So given that, unless there is an unequal aging process for ponies in the show and humans as we know them, a 6-year old pony in the show has the maturity, interests, and activities of a 6-year old human. So a young adult pony would have the same maturity, interests, and activities of a young adult human. They probably have the same ages as well going back to what Cadance said and Pinkie confirmed.

Of course, we know that the mane six act like adults on the whole, but they occasionally have adolescent moments.

But here's the thing: most young adults are the same way. I can assure you, as well as BSoD and burning_phoneix, young adults aren't always mature and we don't always handle situations in the most mature manner.

Also keep in mind that this is a cartoon, and the morals are meant to teach children lessons about friendship. These matters of being friends with people can become more complex as you become older and more complex, but the writers have to make the lessons work for children. Therefore, the characters have to be a little immature. If the show was made with a different purpose and demographic in mind originally, then I would expect the mane six to deal with slightly more complex issues and would perhaps act more like what we expect young adults to act like.
 
So taking all of those things, conflicting and confirming, into account, I'd say that they are obviously young adults. Their lives and culture probably mimic older cultures for us, so a young adult for them may be a 12-17 year old. People centuries ago began to work and have families at about these ages, and education of any sort didn't have to last until you were in your early or mid twenties (if not longer…)
 
 
tl;dr: They are young adults with exaggerated characteristics for the sake of the show's purpose. Their ages are probably mid to late teens in human years. Fluttershy looks different from everyone in Cutie Mark Chronicles and is confirmed to be a year older than Pinkie. The rest of the mane six fillies are probably about the same age, because they all have the same filly figure.

Trying to figure out who is older among those five is just for kicks, but you can take the fact that Pinkie says when her birthday is, when the episodes air, and when Pinkie talks about Twilight's birthday being "next year" (so it's probably not near that point in It's About Time) and then try to get more information out of that, but it won't be very accurate.

HEY KIDS YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?!

"Time for you to take your meds again?"

NO! TIME FOR THE SECOND INSTALLMENT OF TAKASHI'S PONY PARODIES!

LET'S GET READY TO DARE TO BE DERPY!

PUT DOWN THE CHAINSAW AND LISTEN TO ME!
IT'S TIME FOR US TO JOIN IN THE FIGHT!
IT'S TIME LET YOUR FILLIES GREW UP TO BE COWPONIES
IT'S TIME TO FEED THE PARASPRITES!

YOU BETTER PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET
YOU BETTER COUNT YOUR SCOOTALOOS BEFORE THEY HATCH
YOU BETTER SELL SOME CIDER BEFORE ITS TIME
YOU BETTER FIND YOURSELF AN ITCH TO SCRATCH

YOU BETTER EAT ALL THE CANDY YOU CAN
WHEN PINKAMENA'S NOT AROUND
STICK YOUR HEAD IN THE MICROWAVE AND GET YOURSELF A TAN

…

TALK. WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL! *
*BITE. THE HOOF THAT FEED YOU!
BITE. OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW!
WHAT CAN YOU DO?

DARE TO BE DERPY!

TAKE. SOME WOODEN BIT COINS!
LOOK. FOR TRIXIE LULAMOON!
GET. YOUR MOJO WORKING NOW!
SHE'LL SHOW YOU HOW…

…YOU CAN DARE TO BE DERPY!

YOU CAN TURN THE OTHER CHEEK
YOU CAN JUST GIVE UP YOUR SHIP
YOU CAN EAT A BUNCH OF PASTRIES AND FORGET TO LEAVE A TIP

DARE TO BE DERPY!
COME ON AND DARE TO BE DERPY!
IT'S SO EASY TO DO.
DARE TO BE DERPY!
WE'RE ALL WAITING FOR YOU!
LET'S GO!

IT'S TIME TO MAKE A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLEHILL
SO CAN I HAVE A VOLUNTEER?
THERE'S NO MORE TIME FOR CRYING OVER SPILLED MILK
NOW IT'S TIME FOR CRYING IN YOUR BEER!

SETTLE DOWN, RAISE A FAMILY, JOIN THE PTA
BUY SOME MODEST HORSESHOES AND A CHEVROLET
THEN PARTY 'TILL YOU'RE BROKE AND THEY DRIVE YOU AWAY
IT'S OKAY! YOU CAN DARE TO BE DERPY!

IT'S LIKE SPITTING ON A FISH
IT'S LIKE NEIGHING UP A FLUTTERSHY TREE
IT'S LIKE I SAID YOU GOTTA BUY ONE IF YOU WANNA GET ONE FREE

DARE TO BE DERPY!
(Yes!)
WHY DON'T YOU DARE TO BE DERPY?
IT'S SO EASY TO DO
DARE TO BE DERPY!
WE'RE ALL WAITING FOR YOU!
DARE TO BE DERPY!

BURN YOUR CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS
LOOK A GIFT PONY IN THE MOUTH
ROCKS AND TURNIPS CAN BE YOUR FRIENDS

…

YOU CAN BE A CIDER ACHIEVER
OR YOU CAN SIT AROUND THE HOUSE AND READ TRANSFORMERS KISS PLAYERS
OUR FUTURE'S UP TO YOU!
SO WATCHYOO GONNA DO?
DARE TO BE DERPY!
DARE TO BE DERPY!

WHAT DID I SAY?
DARE TO BE DERPY!
TELL ME WHAT I SAID!
DARE TO BE DERPY!

IT'S ALRIGHT!
DARE TO BE DERPY!
WE CAN BE DERPY ALL NIGHT!
DARE TO BE DERPY!

COME ON JOIN THE CROWD!
DARE TO BE DERPY!
SHOUT IT OUT LOUD!
DARE TO BE DERPY!

I CAN'T HEAR YOU!
DARE TO BE DERPY!
OKAY, I CAN HEAR YOU NOW!
DARE TO BE DERPY!

LET'S GO, DARE TO BE DERPY!
DARE TO BE DERPY!
DARE TO BE DERPY!
DARE TO BE DERPY!

DARE TO BE DERPY!
DARE TO BE DERPY!
DARE TO BE DERPY!
DARE TO BE DERPY!