Thoughts on MLP season 6, part 1

The Crystalling
It was alright. How do I feel about the baby being an alicorn? Neutral. Personally, I don't mind overpowered characters, unless they're poorly written. I liked that she was the unwitting villain here.

It was odd to see Celestia and Luna defeated by bad weather. I know it wan't just the weather, but really. I'd expect more from creatures, who can move the Sun and Moon.

I liked Sunburst. Though it seemed a bit stupid that Starlight didn't guess what was going on. I like it when characters catch on to things as quickly as the average viewer. They just come across as dim otherwise.

"Now, kiss," thought most of the fandom.

The Gift of the Maud Pie
The story was very primitive. Personally, I hate the "Gift of the Magi" trope. Saw it coming from miles away, even though I haven't noticed it's in the title.

But such episodes are all about the journey rather than the destination. And the journey was quite fun, so it's a good filler.

What? It's an excellent place for Rarity's boutique.

On Your Marks
Not a fan. The CMC got their marks in an earlier episode and sang a song that said they knew exactly what to do with their lives. The start of this episode felt like a major step back from that. Apple Bloom especially. She knew the little colt needed help from CMC, wanted help even, but she just totally ignored him.

The episode had a handful of good jokes, but I found it weak overall.

I still wish they went with the name Snowflake for this guy.

Gauntlet of Fire
Beyond predictable, but watchable.

Hug every dragon you meet, but don't tell them why.
That was my favourite part.

No Second Prances
I thought it was good. Twilight was crazy, Starlight - relatable, Trixie was... well... Trixie. And Celestia clearly had the time of her life at that dinner party.

Also, I liked how Starlight spoke of stage magic as something separate from regular magic.. So I guess it's an art form and Trixie is better at it than Twilight.

Go home, Twilight, you're... erm... Just go home.

Newbie Dash
Not a fan. I get the idea of team spirit and pushing yourself to your limits, especially after you've proven yourself. But... taking crap from others for tradition's sake... Really?

But I did like that Dash is apparently cured of her random inability to retain information. I liked her being a nerdy fangirl, geeking out over every inch of the compound. I thought that was spot-on.

Also, the impressions were a weird move.  Not buying it.

A Hearth's Warming Tail
It's a very good Christmas Special. Very cozy, the music's just right and the costumes are pretty neat.

The coolest part by far.

The Saddle Row Review
I liked it. The format is definitely interesting. It was nice to hear the ponies as they were individually interviewed. Wasn't flawless - I guess trying to make a lesson out of it is the reason. But it's still enjoyable.

That diner looks like a nice place.

Applejack's "Day" Off
Not a fan. I can understand that inefficient ways of doing things can become a habit, but AJ was full-on stupid back there. Also, Rarity's way of mending fences seems wasteful.

That colt look fabulous enough to be a Sailor Moon villain.

Flutter Brutter
It's a good episode. Meeting pony families is always interesting and Fluttershy's brother sure is something.

Oh, the agony...

Spice Up Your Life
I liked it. So many cool visuals in one episode - neat new characters and cool new restaurant. And also Pinkie's table manners - I like how she headbutts plates.

Can't help but wonder if Pinkie knows about the possible
future consequences of eating really spicy food...

Thoughts on "The Guardians of Harmony" toys

I'm guessing you've seen these by now. We actually got pony action figures.

How sweet is that Nightmare Moon? I'd only ever expect that much detail from custom sculpts.

So, what do I think? They're bold, they're fun, they're finally show-accurate. They're... exactly what we wanted since season one.

The combat can be a bit weird, but considering what we had before, I don't care.

Okay, I am biased here, and I think the company still needs to produce brushables for the collectors. But I have been hoping for this sort of thing since before the show aired and I fully intend to buy some, so I think I'm allowed to be excited.

See, that's why you need trained marketologists on staff. They'll help you produce exactly what the consumers want. It may take five years, but who's counting.

Celestia's Theme Song

Thinking back to my Pony Theme Song post, I came up with a perfect one for Celestia.



Princess of The Dawn. Flawless.

...Actually, wait a second. I'm not too sure on the "Twlight is her slave" bit.
Otherwise though, a perfect match!

Thoughts on MLP season 5, part 2

Canterlot Boutique
I think this episode kind of tells artists "forget marketing, just keep working the way you like". Well, it works if you've got time and don't need money. Otherwise, I'd say you need to suffer a bit until people are aware of you, and then you can do what you want. The boutique will survive in the world of plot convenience, but I doubt the rules of Rarity would help a new creative business take off in actual life.

Let's not forget - ponies flooded the shop for the closing down sale.

Rarity Investigates!
At last, a film noir episode. It's about time! The mystery wasn't too difficult to solve, but that didn't matter - the jokes were good.

Solving crimes has never looked so fabulous.

Made in Manehattan
Well... if you're into all things Broadway and love Coco Pommel, it's the best episode ever. Otherwise, it's a decent enough filler.

"W-what? You haven't watched it?"

Brotherhooves Social
Well, that was definitely unexpected. Cousin Orchard Blossom sure is something. I thought this episode was funny and sweet.

Enchanting, is she not?

Crusaders of the Lost Mark
This probably is the best thing one could have done with the crusaders - give them their marks, but keep their story going. As for Diamond Tiara, that was an awful lot of character development shoved into one episode.

Mrs Rich really needs a hobby.

The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows
I guess Princess Skyla merch was out there for a reason after all. I thought Pinkie was very well-written and really enjoyed the bit with Shining freaking out over a burnt comic book.

That unicorn needs more screen time.

Hearthbreakers
I liked it. Meeting Pinkie's family was fun. I really enjoyed learning their customs.

Festive!

Scare Master
Angel is one evil bunny. That maze he thought of was downright freaky. Somewhat disappointed by Fluttershy's decision not to bother with Nightmare Night. To me, that came across as a forced friendship lesson. But there will be people, who really needed to hear it, so I'm not gonna argue. A good episode overall.

Surely, the scariest scene of the episode.

What About Discord?
Once again, to me this came across as "I know we no longer have friendship letters, but let's teach the viewers something". I didn't like it much - made me feel like I was lectured. But the jokes were alright.

You won't get it, you just had to be there!

The Hooffields and McColts
It was a matter of time before we had a Hillbilly feud episode. It's an alright filler.

I think that's the most character diversity we've ever seen on MLP.

The Mane Attraction
I had mixed feelings on this one. I guess the idea was - Rara was a very talented filly, pure of heart, then she had to change to become famous - her stage persona was arrogant and her talent was hidden by all the glitz and glam, choreography and vocal effects. Then she came back to who she was - just a pony, pure of heart and very talented. 

Charity event or not, I bet this sudden change left some fans confused.

Weeeelll..... I'm sorry to be "that person", but young Rara's song was gleeful and patriotic enough to be a communist anthem. I'm not a fan. I also thought that despite how basic and shallow her lyrics were as the Countess, the heartfelt piano number was forgettable in comparison. I mean, there's only one Countess in Equestria, but I bet there are scores of ponies doing sentimental piano numbers. 

She is the countess. No question about it.

I found it disappointing that Rara couldn't just re-create her gimmick with Rarity's help, perhaps putting a twist on it. She said "the show must go on", but did it really?

Seriously, who, apart from AJ, is gonna get the triangle thing?
Perhaps she wants to be Rara's next pushy manager.

I guess I'm disappointed because the Countess looked like a glam rock star. I feel a certain loss from seeing her convert to "normal". I'd like to see the opposite happen for a change. If I had my way, she'd lose the glitz and glam, the giant apples on the stage along with half of the effects and would play some good old gothic rock.

One can have an arrogant stage persona, but be their own lovely self with the fans.
Just sayin'...

The Cutie Re-Mark
Best episode ever! The ending's cheesy and predictable, but who cares! So many post apocalyptic futures to draw inspiration from! Awesome! Josh Haber is quickly moving up in my list of favourite writers.

"Too great a price to pay for equality? ...Let me think about it"

Thoughts on MLP season 5, part 1

The Cutie Map
A pretty cool opening story. Though it probably should have been a three-parter. It's a bit rushed.
Starlight Glimmer created a neat little dystopia. I don't think it's communist or directly related to 1984, as I've heard many bronies claim. Perhaps it was inspired by 1984, or perhaps a writer just wondered "what happens if ponies lose their cutie marks?"

Communists make sure everyone's equally poor and busy with either work or various community projects, while believing they live in the best country in the world. They love having talented people on board - great athletes, scientists, artists - as long as whatever they create fits the ideology. All their achievements are attributed to the communist regime, of course. So no, Starlight Glimmer is not a communist.

As for 1984, that could have been the inspiration, but that's about it. I have actually read it and I think the difference in scale is too great to claim any real resemblance - Oceania from 1984 is a massive world power that takes up a third of the planet and has an infinitely complex and utterly insane government system. The Equalist village is a village with one Starlight Glimmer at work. Also, in 1984 not much was said about limiting people's talents - the state played rather subtle mind games with them. The party members were technically free to do what they wanted, but at the same time knew they'd be chased down by the thought police for walking the wrong streets or talking to the wrong people.

Though is probably as close to the Ministry of Love as the show can get away with.

Castle Sweet Castle
Definitely a filler, but it was sweet that the old library wasn't forgotten. I quite liked the root chandelier. I was actually afraid the castle would get a permanent and tacky makeover, but everything worked out just fine. There was a couple of good jokes, Twilight's alternative hairstyle made many people happy. I had just one problem with this episode - one of the spa ponies spoke without the accent.

Compare it to a rotting corpse if you wish, but you have to admit, it really ties the room together.

Bloom & Gloom
I like both Luna and the CMC, so I really enjoyed this one. Excellent humour, fun new creatures - the Twittermites. I wish Babs had a different cutie mark though - the scissors look kind of odd.

I don't know where the derpy dolphin came from, but I approve.

Tanks for the Memories
It was just a matter of time before we had a "dealing with death" episode. The only thing is, Tank will wake up... Either way, wasn't too psyched about the story, but the jokes were fun.

Is it strange that I mostly feel sorry for the damaged factory and its workers?

Appleoosa's Most Wanted
I liked the detective story vibe here. Trouble Shoes himself was interesting - it isn't often that you see a pony resembling a realistic horse. But the moral of the story was kind of... unrealistic? "You know how your life is nothing but torture, suffering and embarrassment? Well, that's okay. This is your special talent! People love laughing at you! Doesn't that make you happy?" Yeah... that somehow doesn't work for me.

Can't you tell? He's really loving his life right now.

Make New Friends but Keep Discord
It's a fun little episode. How they got away with using Tree Hugger I'll never know. Jealous Discord is pretty funny. This is worth watching just for Smoze the slime monster attending a high society party.

As you can see, the Grand Galloping Gala is an exclusive formal event.

The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone
Episodes about new lands are always exciting. Didn't expect Griffonstone to be a dump. Was kind of hoping the treasure would be returned and the city would magically transform into something inspiring. But oh well. It was a metaphor. And if not, we'll never know. Either way, the visuals that came with the legend were cool. New monsters are always a welcome addition. The monster's skeleton looked cool. Seeing Gilda again was nice, though I wasn't convinced by how completely she reformed by the very end.

At least Pinkie enjoyed her stay.

Slice of Life
Awesome. The only problem I have with it is that I'm tempted to show it to non-brony friends and I have no idea where to begin explaining all these fanon things. Also, I'd really love to see children reacting to this one. I wonder if they liked it or just found it confusing.

I also liked the way they portrayed a certain grey pegasus.

Princess Spike
An alright filler. The jokes were pretty funny.

Sure, leave Spike in charge. What could go wrong?

Party Pooped
I enjoy seeing new creatures from different lands and the yaks were no exception. I like that they were absolutely crazy. And I enjoyed seeing Pinkie's secret party planning room.

"Remind me again why we're trying to befriend these guys..."

Amending Fences
I really liked that Moondancer's party, which Twilight missed in the very first episode of the series, was brought up again. It's an fun episode. But I'm not sure how I feel about Moondancer being a re-coloured Twilight.

Now there's a though - what if Moondancer was Twilight's science project. Either cloning or mirror magic.

Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?
Perfect! Action-packed and well-paced. This episode felt like a two-parter, though didn't feel rushed. If you haven't seen it, just go watch it.

I don't know about you, but I love surreal dream scenes like this one.

A Pony Sunday

Episode of the week: Mystery on the Friendship Express
I didn't like it. It was significantly more childish than every other episode in its season, as if it was aiming at a demographic at least 5 years younger than the actual target audience of the show (and yes, I do mean kids).
It went overboard with silliness to a point where the jokes were no longer amusing. Some of the visual gags had too much unnecessary complexity to them, making the situation too unrealistic to be actually funny. The whole thing just looked like a desperate attempt to entertain a discontented baby.

In my eyes, it failed as a mystery special. The fact that Scooby Doo episodes are pretty much the same length shows that "Mystery on the Friendship Express" (I also think "Mystery on the Canterlot Express" would have been a better title) had all the chances of being a good, elaborate detective story. Instead, the plot was very basic and it just dragged on. The point of any good mystery tale was completely missed - the viewer never got  a chance to make any guesses. The clues were so basic we weren't even shown any until the reveal.

All in all, a disappointing attempt that suffered greatly from a lack of a convincing problem, as well as bad storytelling in general. I think this script would have worked well in G3, which was aimed at much younger children.

Anyway! Moving on...

Community Highlights
Art of the week:
Gummy and Pinkie
Queen Chrysalis
Queen Chrysalis (2)
Wrong turn
Chrysalis The Dark Queen (I've been waiting for this! A rather badass painting closely resembling 40k battle art).

Videos of the Week:
"We are No Pushovers" Hub Promo
Epic Wub Time: Musicians of Ponyville
MAGIC.MOV (not exactly new, but perhaps someone's not seen it yet)

Great scene. Still didn't like the episode.

A Pony Sunday

Well, I haven't done this for a while! My apologies. Since the season has just finished, I will be reviewing the episodes I've missed from latest to earlies in the upcoming weeks.

This Week's Episode:  A Canterlott Wedding
My verdict? It was rather awesome. Not sure if it will be in my top 5, but it's fantastic for what it is. It was very Disney - we got a prince and a princess about to get married and a treacherous villain trying to stop them. A villain with a swarm of evil mindless minions, I might add! There were some heartfelt songs that, I'm sure, were purposely Disneyesque. Especially since we've finally heard an evil character sing, as they tend to do in Disney movies. That's all good.
Now what makes the episode awesome? Spoiler alert, if you haven't seen it! 
The changelings look pretty badass! I thought the queen didn't look all that great in the show's visual style, but I love the concept anyway. The hungry swarm of these bug-like creatures just looked like the MLP version of Tyranids. 
Another thing I loved was that not only did queen Chrysalis simply defeat Celestia, but the mane six haven't even had a chance to stop her. Sure, she was beaten by "the power of love", but let's face it, it's a more original solution than just using the elements of harmony and their giant rainbow death ray. 
What could have been improved, imo? Well, much like the other two-parters, it felt rushed. I guess we are kind of used to it by now. I know this can't be done, but I wish MLP was a slower-paced series with multiple intertwining plot lines. For example, I would have liked to see Twilight wandering through the crystal caves for a few days while the villain tries to convince her friends that everything's fine, or replaces her with a changeling and the friends are starting to notice something's not quite right.  Instead, Twilight escapes the caves in no time at all, which makes it sound like the evil queen was majorly exaggerating when she said you could wander in the caves forever. And once again, we get the effect of "Oh look! An awesome villain! ...and they've killed it".
I know it's too much to ask for from a kid's show, but I think it would have been a lot more interesting if it didn't have a predictable "problem-solution" structure to every episode.
(Then again, we got "Swarm of the Century". The ending made me happy).


Community Highlights
Okay, since during all the weeks I've missed I've only been looking at art, I'm just gonna feature a lot of images this time!

Art of the Week:
My Punky Pony - Rarity (If you know me, you'll know that I'm a sucker for cool mohawks!)
Everything Changes
Long Live the Queen
Trixie - I won't lie anymore...
South Pony
Error in Trajectory
The Fun Has Been Doubled
Luna's Lament
Smart and Fancy
MLP: Manly Dash is Manly
Derpy and Dinky
Hell's Kitchen
MeFashionista - Krakenbell
MLP FIM
Rainbow Dash Charm
Bing-Bang-ZAM
Spike and Peewee
Woodland Cottage
Establish Pony Connection..4:3
MLP - Another day o' labor
My Little Sharkies
Derpy's gonna Derp
The Muffin Queen
There On The Battlefield She Stands
Pony...
Dusk in the North

Queen Chrysalis in all her glory. She might as well be saying:" That's right! No one cares about you, ponies! It's all about us changelings now."

Happy Mother's Day!

To everyone in UK anyway! This is a holiday that has always confused me. Here's why. Why can't everyone agree on the same date for it in this day and age?  Just to add to the confusion, apparently about 30 countries celebrate it at different dates to those in the list.

As a kid I'd hear about someone celebrating mother's day probably 3 times each year. I'd find myself thinking if I should buy something for my mom. But I knew she wasn't expecting anything since Russia's never had a Mother's Day until 1998 (we've always celebrated the apparently-international Women's Day instead). The president has randomly decided to add this new holiday and put it at the last Sunday of November.

But.. ramblings aside, happy Mother's Day to anyone celebrating!

art by  Equestria-Prevails

A Pony Sunday

Pony time!

This Week's Episode: Baby Cakes

I have to confess, seeing that the episode began in a maternity hospital and knowing it must be the one where Pinkie babysits... well.. that made me groan. I'm one of those awful people who think that babies are scary drooling little monsters whose high-pitched squeals bring plenty of pain to the ears. 

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. I actually liked the fact that nobody was trying to show babies in a flattering light. The Cake twins were the drooling, screeching, clumsy monstrosities they would have been in real life. And I could totally sympathise with Pinkie when she shoved Twilight out the door for the "Some ponies aren't that responsible" line.

I liked the very distinct Tom & Jerry vibe going through the episode. And I also liked the small horror scene. It kept me on the edge of my seat as I expected poor Pinkie to go into Pinkamena  mode driven insane by the children.
So to wrap this up, even if you don't like babies, it's a good episode! Go watch it if you still haven't!

Community Highlights

I'm not gonna give a full list as it hasn't really been a week since my last pony post. So here's a "light" version for you.

Art of the week

Clydell Elmerson Pie A very unique style indeed! Go check out this rather psychedelic rendition of Pinkie's father.
Cant read my derpy face And something a bit more light and humorous to balance things out! Derpy's gone Gaga and is bluffing with her muffin. 

Music of the week

The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well I should stop shamelessly taking the weekly music suggestions from Bronyville. But this one is just so good that I couldn't resist! Makes me think of some soundtracks to "The Matrix".

Video of the week

Derpy Loves her Lava Lamp Okay, this is just adorable! I hear it's available as a screensaver somewhere, too. I don't have the link though.
Gundam Stop Motion : Love & Tolerate... I love how well this video has been put together. I'm quite a big fan of stop-motion animation anyway, especially videos where toys "come to life". This one is great for how seamlessly the pose transitions happen and the special effects blend in. And the 2D Fluttershy really looks like she belongs in the scenes. I dare say that even if you don't like ponies that much, you should see it!
I'm not sure how much I liked the character saying he's gonna love and tolerate the crap out of his opponent before starting a fight.. I'm sorry, but a fight is a fight. Yes, you should fight back. No question about it. But you love and tolerate later, when the guy you've beaten to a pulp is in a body cast and willing to listen to reason. ..Okay, I'm not saying go overkill if you've started fighting... but hey. It takes as much violence as it takes. I suppose the brony thing to do is to know exactly when to stop. 

Foxy's rant of the week...

Have you seen Epic Cupcake Time? Well, it honestly is epic.
It's a parody of a youtube show called Epic Meal Time where guys cook things with bacon, booze and a great deal of swearing and it's actually pretty funny.

So we've got Dash and Pinkie making cupcakes with a sick amount of sugar. It's very well animated, the voices for Pinkie and Dash are spot on. There's an unmistakeable "home movie" air about the whole thing. Plenty of references to both the show and Epic Meal Time. If it wasn't for some mild swearing (which I didn't even notice during the first view) it might as well have been one of the Hub's parody adverts and some parents might have even shown that to their kids ("See, son! Ponies are awesome! You can stop telling your friends now that you were adopted by a couple of psychotics!") We got proof that Pinkie and Rainbow can make cupcakes without getting gory, Derpy mysteriously appeared out of nowhere in the end. Everyone's happy!

And now there's Epic Pie Time. Well... There's more swearing. And there's booze. I started to cringe as these looked like omens of bad taste. But then Vinyl Scratch made an appearance and it all started to seem worthwhile. But not for long. Pinkie's decided to add more booze to the pie dough and broke a bottle. This followed by a buy-our-stuff advert for a cartoon site. Then more swearing and an inappropriate reference... in the end Rarity of all ponies appears, dives face-down in the pie and starts eating it....

Well... I am a disappoint... Because "mature content", I hear you ask? Nope. I couldn't help but feel slightly shortchanged, if that's the word I'm looking for. The first cartoon had set my expectations quite high. And the latest one... well... it seems both less intellectual, less tasteful and much less entertaining altogether than a "Cow & Chicken" episode and they have a fat red guy with no pants in the show . Basically before we had ponies in-character and the whole thing mimicked the show very well. At the time I assumed it was the author's intention. Now I'm not sure they know where they're going with this. I don't see the motivation behind spending hours animating something that looks like a cheap cry for attention. 
Surely Epic Pie Time would appeal to some teenage fans. Which brings about another point. Think of the drunks! You hear people say "think of the children" all the time, but children are not that dumb. Drunk teens are. It's a bad idea to eat a pie that has broken glass bits in it. You can actually die from having ingested small glass shards.

Do I think that there's no room for toilet humour in the fandom? Well, not really. If it's done well for what it is, and doesn't give you any false hope, why not! I'm sure you've seen these, but they are pretty iconic examples (and yes, the language, obviously, is inappropriate):

Friendship is Magic B***h
APPLE.MOV

DRESS.MOV

A Very Pony Wednesday

I've decided that Sunday is gonna be my day of choice to relax and talk pony. Cause, well... being a brony and all, if I don't talk about the show I'll surely explode! ...due to some technical difficulties encountered earlier I'm posting this now.

This week's episode: Family Appreciation Day
I really enjoyed it! I must say that so far I love season two as a whole. There hasn't been a single episode that disappointed me. And the latest one might just be in my top 5.

Zap apples are awesome! I absolutely adore this show for using mythological creatures the way it does and now it seems to be developing a mythology of its own as well. Studio B are definitely heading in the right creative direction. Or is it just me finding lightning-related things cool? Well, I'm happy either way!

And speaking of mythology, there's also the timber wolves! How cool were they? I actually physically squeed like a little fan girl when I saw those, which hardly ever happens to me. Are they a reference to something or just one of the many clever puns found frequently in the show? Very Grimm Fairy Tales I think. Either way, if this hasn't been done before, it had to be done! A fantastic addition to the FiM's ongoing monster list if you ask me.

It was nice to see an episode centred around Granny Smith, even though the lack of a solid AJ episode in this season is becoming a joke at this point.
I quite like how it started with her being a crazy old lady Applebloom's ashamed of and then we got not only the reasons for all her strange actions, but also an interesting background story. Though it confused me as I assumed that Ponyville, Cloudsdale and Canterlot were founded at the same time, as covered in the previous episode. And I couldn't help but wonder what interest Princess Celestia had in checking out the Apple family's seed collection. Surely a bag full of random seeds is more of an assortment than a collection. And how do ponies starve when surrounded with grass? Am I over-thinking it? Perhaps. But what are bronies for after all.

I also giggled at the fact that Diamond Tiara's dad is actually called Filthy Rich and his "I prefer Rich" response to being addressed as Filthy.

One more thing I liked was a lack of a friendship report at the end of the episode. I thought that was a nice touch since it makes the show less predictable and we don't have to have Spike around each time (don't get me wrong, I like Spike. But I don't think he should appear just because a letter needs sending while there's nothing for him to do in the story). The lack of a report, however, didn't mean that nopony learned anything as Applebloom voices this week's lesson at the end. I like how natural that was.

Community Highlights
The Bronyville Podcast kept me sane while I was forced to spend hours upon hours in 3DS Max (I think I can actually say that I've learned to model though! Yay!). Go check it out. It's great!
I was pleasantly surprised at how professional it is. The two co-hosts are very likeable characters, each with a fantastic sense of humour. And they tend to have awesome guests, too! Now Bronyville is my number one choice for keeping up with the fandom. EQD is great, of course, but I personally don't like the fact that you just end up covered with an avalanche  of news posts and you'd have to spend hours on the site to go through them all and figure out what everypony's been up to.

Art Of The Week:
Since this is my first post, I'll throw a few of my recent faves at you:
The Stars Will Aid In His Escape No one is safe from Rule 63 it seems. And though normally I don't pay much attention to gender swaps, this one has caught my eye. I'm liking the blocky and pointy armour here. I sense a certain Transformers vibe, which seems to fit pretty well.

Mistress of the Eternal Night Very beautiful, nicely stylized. I think the artist has done a great job with the palette she's chosen to work with and I absolutely adore Luna's pearly skin as well as the starry mane.

No Title. Still a great image though. It's a very cute animated picture. It takes me back to the days when we didn't know what Flash was and I was searching the web for pretty gif animations (Yep. Way back when Windows didn't freak out at the sight of those and kindly played them in the Windows Picture and Fax View). But that's enough nostalgia there. Go check it out. Very pretty, quite tasteful, the animation flows seamlessly from what I can tell and it has pretty twinkling stars, too.

MLP - Happy Holidays Once again, not normally a big fan of humanized ponies. I really like this image though. The artist has actually taken care to preserve the characters' personalities and present the viewer with a likely-to-happen situation. I think the style is lovely as well. Makes me think of some children's books' illustrations.

Party Hard This was just too funny not to share. Very well-done for what it is I think.


Music Of The Week:
Fluttershy's Lament When I first heard it I thought it was the most awesome fan-made track I've ever heard. I don't know if it was the sleep deprivation, the prolonged exposure to 3Ds Max or the fact that the song sounds different through speakers rather than headphones. I've downloaded it for my mp3 player and I've noticed it sounds a bit too harsh for me. But if you like Fluttershy, do check it out. Her voice is adorable and seems like the perfect choice for mixing. And yes, if you're not aware, the "Fluttershy is a tree" and "Scootaloo is a chicken" are both things in the community. And no, there's nothing more to back those up than Fluttershy saying "I'd like to be a tree" and Applebloom calling Scootaloo a chicken in the show.
Mistress Zecora Moving on to a more sane choice of mine... The lyrics, the melody and the singing are all done reasonably well to say the least. In fact, it's much better than half the crap on the charts these days. Or is that not saying much? Either way, check it out. I have downloaded this song as well and I love it.

Fic Of The Week:
I haven't actually read any fan fiction up to this point. Apart from the infamous fic that shall not be named...
I have however got my eye on one. "Canterlot Follies" by LadyMoondancer looks like great fun to me. It's something I've never expected to see : a MLP and "Jeeves and Wooster" crossover. I haven't started reading it, but I have glanced over it a few times and, to my absolute delight, it looks very well written. Can't wait to start!