Hey something occured to me. You know how real life newspapers have trouble with ambiguous headlines? I bet it's even worse for ponies due to their naming conventions. Anyone have ideas? The best I could think of was

AREA PERASUS HAS FOAL WITH HOOVES (Dr. Hooves could not be reached for comment)

I like the fact that the protagonists aren't perfect. It's more realistic. Which is a slightly silly thing to ask from this show, I know.

And Scoots is scared of ghost stories because of Granddad and his over-zealous "Show young grand-daughter the horror of war" thing.

edited 8th Dec '12 7:44:09 PM by Steventheman

@Blue: I wouldn't even say that they come across as Jerkass Woobie characters most of the time. They do on occasion, but I wouldn't say that it's a common thing. The fact that they have flaws and have to work to overcome them is what makes the characters so interesting.

edited 8th Dec '12 7:43:51 PM by JapaneseTeeth

I like each character shows the ability to be arrogant or boneheaded and often walks themselves into a big problem because of it. It works because it is moderated and there are plenty of redeeming moments to balance (hense the controversy with RD in S2) but I often think the more flawed the character can be, the more interesting they are.

I think Lesson Zero, Applebuck Season and Read It And Weep do a lot for their respective characters for example, since it's just their flaws causing an excalating dialemma for themselves and nearly the whole focus is just them digging themselves deeper into a very avoidable situation.

Maybe Jerkass Woobie is an extreme word, I mean more the sense they are very sympathetic in their own stories, but usually because it spotlights a flaw and most of the problem is their own fault, which humanizes them a lot. It's usually their supporting roles that spotlight their moments of clarity and competence.

In the mentioned episodes for example, it's very easy to pity the leading characters, but it's still because they are being arrogant buffoons.

edited 8th Dec '12 7:48:12 PM by Psi001

And it's my favorite so far.

I think this one is my favourite of the season so far. It just worked for the most part, though I felt it would've been better just endng on the Superman shot.

Okay, my brother's just walked downstairs. Imma have to cancel this, and do it tomorrow night. Sorry guys.

I was looking forward to this as well. :/

edited 8th Dec '12 7:48:17 PM by Steventheman

I like that they have flaws too. I just get tired of the focus character always being in the wrong and always failing so that they can learn a lesson. I'd like an episode that just lets a character be awesome every once in a while.

Yay! Finally someone other than me remembers!

We do have the occasional one to balance it. eg. Magic Duel was primarily a Twilight episode, as was Cider Squeezy for Applejack. They learnt nothing and were badass about it to top it off.

It helps that usually whenever one character is acting flawed, another counters it with a moment of clarity. Twilight is the Straight Man in many other characters' episodes, her neurotics more the basis of her limelight ones, where another takes the role. Most of RD's Smart Ball moments have also been in other characters' episodes. One character's fall is another's opportunity.

edited 8th Dec '12 7:59:02 PM by Psi001

BEST CROSSOVER

edited 8th Dec '12 7:57:46 PM by CDRW

YMMV on which episode is the best/worst of Season 3 in action. I personally think "Too Many Pinkie Pies" is so far the "weakest" of the season, but that's like saying chewy chocolate chip cookies are worse than chunky chocolate chip cookies.

Its still chocolate chip cookies, man!

Yeah, it's true, they're just kind of rare. But generally I enjoy the actions of the characters more when they're in a supporting role than when they are the main character.

I mean Dash is my favorite by far, but traditionally I do not like Dash episodes much...

Well she got to be awesome in Sonic Rainboom at least.

I like the setup really. I can see why most shows go for the Aesop format, since it usually makes for very character centric stories, especially ones with rotating spotlight. A character making a mistake with their flaws and having to learn from it is a key in Character Development, and as said the supporting cast get opportunities to show clarity and competence foiling it.

We could maybe have a few more action based stories, or at least more subtle Aesops, but still I'd rather they kept the primary setup for the majority.

I do find RD's spotlight episodes a tad painful in places (especially MMDW), but I still admit they do a lot for her character development wise and show her solo appeal. If she didn't have her huge flawed moments she'd be a much duller character. It's just at that point she didn't have good redeeming roles to balance it (even in some supporting roles she was acting like a jerk). She arguably got her positive aspects developed the least out of all the main six. It's gotten moderated better since then though.

edited 8th Dec '12 8:09:11 PM by Psi001

The main thing MMDW has going for it is that the setting is pure Refuge in Audacity.

I think it's the premise that fans want to see their favorite characters do well, when they become the Butt Monkey or act like a jerk they cringe and likely disown that moment. But at the same time, such moments are likely what give them pathos and appeal in the first place. If we just diluted things to their positive roles they would likely be rather dull characters.

I remember being like that since a little kid, when I had a fave character in a show, I always prefered the "nice/winner X" moments to the "jerk/loser X" ones, but if they didn't have the latter I likely wouldn't sympathise with them in the first place.

I tend to be mixed at this age, since I can appreciate both in moderation. I actually tend to prefer a Straight Man acting like an arrogant Butt Monkey for example since it humanizes them so much from their usual role (maybe why I find Twilight and AJ's episodes so enjoyable to watch). But still their primary role is neccessary.

I think a good character must have the capacity to be a winner and a loser.

edited 8th Dec '12 8:28:08 PM by Psi001

@Bluespade: Eh, I usually don't even notice that much.

@Story: Too bad that the setting isn't Refuge in Audacity most of the time.

Hello again. What's occurring?

Hello.

Talking about the new episode, as well as spotlight episodes and how they treat a character's flaws.

edited 8th Dec '12 8:17:37 PM by Psi001

Luggage, lol

RIMSHOT

Fluttershy :D

Luna, you voyeur you

human!Scootalove :3

edited 8th Dec '12 8:23:24 PM by AceOfScarabs

Anyone notice the trees from the season one pilot in Scoots's nightmares?

I will fight you on that.

Chewy cookies are always better than dry ones.

RD is being all sisterly and taking Scoots under her wing because she doesn't want her becoming anxious over her flying skills her whole life like Fluttershy

Rainbow dash is much better this season I think

O hai Fallen :D