I got one thing to say about somebody's pet:

Schnappi

I'm far more amused that I should be by the soap box gag.

I...didn't enjoy that episode as much as the other ones. I think I just got annoyed with Pinkie Pie's constant twitching. Plus, no Rarity and no Rainbow Dash.

The second half was pretty good though. I did like Twilight's burst of anger, Spike's: " Maybe she exploded!" and Applejack.

Whenever I heard "Applejack", I expect the sentence to be suddenly cut off in the middle...

Wait, what? I just like Applejack.

The newest episode is on YouTube now. (If you didn't know already)

edited 13th Feb '11 5:28:04 AM by hybridelement

I mean, like. You know.

And I did know! I've seen the episode now.

Have to say, wasn't quite my type of humor. Too much slapstick, too much acting stupid and awkward. Though, the pet alligator was amazing, so was Derpy, and so was Twilight's gloating by which I mean HAH!

The moral, I can't say I agree with. But the Youtube video does link to some screenshots of a discussion of it on Lauren Faust's DA account, and for one thing, I'm feeling pretty bad for her now because she obviously didn't want for it to be taken in an anti-intellectual way... and for another thing, someone raised a really damn good point.◊ Namely that Twilight was actually being a bad scientist, for she was completely ignoring the data she was collecting in favor of trying to prove her preconceptions. A real scientist has to be prepared to be wrong.

Buuut still, I'm not entirely happy with having a moral like that in a show aimed at kids. Children already believe just about anything willy nilly, so Twilight's skepticism should be shown as a good trait, not something that results in anvils. Then again, her skepticism was good in the episode with the Zebra lady, so there's that...

On a positive note, I do enjoy it when Twilight acts in a strange way. As the Smart Guy and the main character, she's kinda obligated to simply be normal and the voice of reason, but it's really nice when she shows some quirkier sides to her character. That's what I loved the most about the sleepover episode. "... then our sleepover shall be officially fun!"

http://toyfair11.asmzine.com/gallery/hasbro/hasbro-my-little-pony-1/index.html

That's a lot of pink pastels right there.

I can Has, bro?

Oh, no. I didn't know.

The moral was another reason I sorta felt annoyed at the episode. It felt like I was being accosted by my religious uncle. After watching the episode again and after reading the reply linked by Fawriel, though, I feel a little bit better about it.

Now those toys...I need one. I could put it on my desk while I'm studying to remind me there is still hope in the world. (Or remind me of the Frankfurt School of Sociology)

I am a slave to tha pony!!

edited 13th Feb '11 4:08:37 PM by hybridelement

I'm wondering if maybe Lauren Faust will try to sneak in something positive about skepticism in the future now.

I really need to see that new episode, by the way.

I'm probably not as familiar with the fandom and following as you guys are. But reading up on a few things, I think the episode can be interpreted this way.

Pinkie represents /co/ members who love the show.

Twilight represents members who don't understand the love.

Take it that way.

Wait, what? http://toyfair11.asmzine.com/gallery/hasbro/hasbro-my-little-pony-1/slides/P2120829.html

She's a pony, so shouldn't she learn to walk on all fours? Aren't animals such as ponies and deer sort of born knowing to walk, anyway?

edited 13th Feb '11 9:30:35 PM by boobustuber

That would be nice. To an extent, we kinda got that in "Bridle Gossip" (even if, ironically, Twilight dropped her skepticism in that episode just in time to end up wrong). Sad truth is, skepticism tends to get the shaft in fiction. Outside of Scooby-Doo, fictional skeptics almost always end up wrong. This isn't because of some anti-intellectual conspiracy or anything - it's just that a story where ghosts or psychic powers are real is easier to make interesting than a story where they're not. I'll admit, I kinda hated this episode because of the whole "don't try to understand the world" message. Buuuut, I understand that this wasn't the intended moral, and that I'm overreacting because this is such a hot-button issue for me.

Except that in Equestria, you can be skeptical about totally different things. Where as least Magic is proven to exist.

Ghosts and Psychics? Ouch, I forgot out boring skepticism is in our world. You know, I equally want to understand the world, and equally like ghosts. Why do I feel like I'm having to choose between something awesome and something awesome here? They could have a completely naturalistic explanation for things like magic in their world.

I was so happily pro-skeptic until you said ghosts and psychics. And I want the absolute scientific explaining of the world. You know what I like in fiction? Scientific, Naturalistic explanations for why things like Ghosts and Magic exists in their world. But this is a children's Fantasy show, not High Fantasy and Hard Science Fiction crossover.

Admittedly, I watch shows like this because not only do I like cute things, but I like Magical Unicorns and Fairies and Ghosts and Magic itself, and Magicians and Griffons and Youkai and all of that good stuff. If I try to be some Naturalistic Pantheist Pagan and try to go for that in reality, I run across all the "Skeptics" saying "Naturalistic Pantheism is wrong and stupid", if I try to get lost up in some fantasy world, another universe where such things might exist, I'm being some nerdy escapist whom enjoys fiction too much because they "fail at life". I personally make a balance between the two. Near equally positive about Skepticism, and interesting things. And of fiction and reality. Either way, somebody is going to hate you for something. Might as well keep variety in all of the things you enjoy in the world.

You know why they managed to make Scooby-Doo interesting, despite the fact it's about prove the villain isn't really a monster of the week? It's because they have a talking dog. Gee, I love Rationality and Logic, but now I feel like to support that I have to not like anything interesting again. This isn't directed at you, just as what I feel like is a part of the situation to begin with. I realize you're much of the same position I am. Ugh, a world without ghosts and psychics, who the heck wants that? I like how Pokemon has all that sort of thing, but has the theme of aiding scientific discovery via being given the Pokedex from Professor Oak. The Pokemon games all start with a scientist, even though they're in a fantastic and interesting world. With a great many Ghost and Psychic Pokemon.

One of those scientists needs to be female for a change, though.

edited 14th Feb '11 9:36:16 AM by Ukonkivi

Haha. Funny you should say that.

Yeah, if you mean Pokemon needed female Pokemon Professors, there's two: the anime-only Professor Ivy introduced years ago and Professor Juniper in the Black and White games.

edited 14th Feb '11 11:40:31 AM by Customer

You mean they finally gave us one for Pokemon Black and White? I am in love.

Three weeks... @_@

...I need more My Little Pony to keep me distracted.

Present, to you, the slug ponies.

PONY LEGS DON'T WORK THAT WAY!

Oh, the pony-ity...

Am I the only one who finds the faces on the toys to be really, really ugly? I kind of prefer the minimalism of Lauren's faces, especially given their range of expressions.

I can see it now: "Daddy, why don't their faces move like on TV?" ;_;

From what little we've seen, I've gotten the impression that the magic of Equestria kinda follows the same general idea as Dungeons & Dragons - it has rules that are set in stone, gives reproducible results, and is, in other words, extra-glamorous science.

I dunno. I do not believe that being a skeptic means you need to be a sad, bored person. I don't believe in ghosts or shinigami, but that didn't hamper my enjoyment of Ghostbusters or Death Note. I may not believe in Superman, but I still find him inspiring.

See previous statement. I'm not cynical enough to believe that we have to choose between rationality and wonder. ;)

Yes, that's pretty well exactly how I would describe it.

Speaking of Dungeons and Dragons... at this rate having a tabletop RPG of MLP may no longer be a hoax... It may not be Hasbro, but someone, somewhere, is going to make it. I just KNOW it. And that hoax is going to be all the more amusing.

I'm actually working on an RPG Maker for it myself right now. As much as many people are making fanart and fanfiction, I figured SOMEBODY needed to get to work on a game. Unsurprisingly it's based upon the return of the Midnight Castle menace returning in an "extradimensional" sort of sense. I really liked that special, and My Little Pony was at it's most Swords and Sorcery in works like that. Appropriate for an RPG game.

I kind of ran across a few roadblocks so far to making a good RPG game that other people would be impressed by so far. And so I spent a little less time working on it. But have decided I'll never get anywhere if I get discouraged by those things. And have decided to work on simply things and scenarios that I would want to play. And can worry about making it passable later as I finish my work.

I swear, by the end of this, I might know how to program in Ruby. Or become an expert in who knows what. I've started a game making project again, I don't want to abandon it yet again.

edited 15th Feb '11 3:17:04 PM by Ukonkivi