this kind of stuff is why I love Derpy/Dinky.

@Applelight: Really? I didn't know that.

That stuck out at me too. At least it's not as obnoxious as WW.

@ Mio

Yeah I said that on a bad day, she could be a bit of a crusader. Our minds think alike once again!

She called her AJ in The Last Roundup when they were arguing when they found AJ.

AJ's been called "AJ" several times before. Off the top of my head Twilight called her it in TLR.

Ninja'd

edited 29th Dec '12 2:02:22 PM by PerpetualLurker

Big Mac called her AJ in Winter Wrap Up.

More like Rule of Drama.

Oriental Adventures or Complete Warrior Samurai?

Role: background pony

Applelight/Mio: The best reason I can think they downplayed AJ's temper and daring side is because it made her too similar to RD at times, though given their chemistry, I figured that was kind of the point.

edited 29th Dec '12 2:07:39 PM by Psi001

To me Applejack best moment was when she remained by Fluttershy side during the entire trip on Dragonshy never ONCE losing her temper. She is the Team Mama and that episode proved it.

Fall Weather Friends seemed to indicate that, but I thought there was still plenty of more subtle differences for them to contrast one another. I personally don't see why they would need to make RD and AJ more different then they are, and if they did they probably could have gone about it better.

edited 29th Dec '12 2:10:20 PM by Mio

The battles were dull, but they definitely did have different personalities during the non battle parts.

I have nothing wrong with AJ having Straight Man moments and times she does work just fine with others, my problem is that these moments now seem pretty much it for her character, and even when they try to make her flawed, it falls short.

AJ did seem more liable to agree with RD early on (eg. Bridle Gossip) but otherwise I think they differenciated enough. RD is more an ego driven character than temper driven nowadays anyway.

I liked it because RD is the 'id', she speaks her mind and has no problem making things about herself, even if she does occasionally step out of her way to be selfless under important circumstances. AJ is the character who is trying to be the voice of reason and play fair, but at times, it's more than her own pride can handle and she ends up on the same level.

edited 29th Dec '12 2:14:32 PM by Psi001

That's my biggest problem with the episode too. Even when AJ is supposed to go crazy, she doesn't manage to cause a real conflict. It's like watching Fluttershy kick the vase in Green Isn't Your Color.

Yeah, the temper is the only bit of AJ's character that I wish would come up more. I think she's more liable to be frustrated by the shenanigans that the rest of the cast gets up to.

Actually, this season has given AJ a trait she hasn't really had in past seasons, which is a good sense of humor. She's a lot more snarky this season than she has been in the past, which I really like.

It only doesn't come up because she isn't put in situations where it would make sense to come up often. Her reaction to the Pinkie swarm in TMPP is a perfect example of her still having that character trait, but it wouldn't make sense for it to show up anywhere else this season.

edited 29th Dec '12 2:16:06 PM by PerpetualLurker

The snarkiness is nice, but it only really helps for brief gags, and there are still lots more characters more profound at it.

Twilight if anything does better at the sarcastic role because she has the neuroses and frustrated qualities to elevate it. I would be interested in seeing a temperamental and snarky AJ though.

It's not just her reacting to proportional problems, in the first season, she did seem to have a slightly disproportionately short temper. She wasn't say, the 'Donald Duck' of ponies, but she could easily be pissed off or take things the wrong way and when someone actually was trying to wind her up she could actually get kinda vindictive (eg. Fall Weather Friends or Look Before You Sleep). Her chew out of Twilight in Winter Wrap Up is a good example, she had her reasons from her perspective, and she didn't mean to make Twilight cry, but in the end she lost her temper at a well meaning person screwing up, compared to this episode where she's completely reserved with Spike.

edited 29th Dec '12 2:24:08 PM by Psi001

I do like the snarkiness.

I disagree story, to me they were all the same "blahblah I don´t like you blahblah" all the dialogue was boring but then again it IS Josh Whedon, bleurgh. The cartoon Earth Mightiest Heroes did a much better job giving every member a different personality on my opinion.

I´m not sure lurker, on Fall Weather friends AJ and RD began making fun of Twilight. It seems they share a sense of humor and she isn´t above making fun of somebody.

She doesn't seem that much snarkier then she has been in the past.

I caught the online video. W Ill post reactions in the non-live Pony thread.

@Shota But the episode's already aired. And this counts under Live Reactions.

edited 29th Dec '12 2:22:34 PM by crowlover

@Psi AJ never just flew off the handle disproportionately to the events at hand. In the two episodes in Season 1 I can think of where her temper was a factor (Fall Weather Friends and Look Before You Sleep), she only gets really angry after appropriate amounts of steady escalation from both sides.

As said though, from both sides, in that she acts just as overdefensive and vindictive as the others. She is the more level headed character in both, but she does lose it quickly, showing she has prominant limitations in how far she can be pushed. In later episodes she seems too infallibly mellow.

As said in Applebuck Season her stubborness is riled up because she takes comments from Big Mac and Twilight the wrong way and goes out of proportion with them. She seems to realise she put her hoof in her mouth when she outbursts at Big Mac she'll do the whole thing herself.

edited 29th Dec '12 2:27:57 PM by Psi001

@Psi When is she ever pushed that far without reacting in future episodes, though? Just because the appropriate situation to display the trait never arises doesn't mean that the trait stops existing.