#this is just a silly magic pony princess post

[hyperfocuscentre]

i think we can all agree that luke’s motives were right for his whole anti-gods rebellion but WHY THE ACTUAL FUCK did he choose the child chomper??

he saw this titan and his silly myths and went ‘i want that one’

#crack post #this is just a silly magic pony princess post #percy jackson #pjo #annabeth chase #luke castellan #thalia grace #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson text post #percy jackson textposts #percy jackson and the olympians #percy jackson and the lightning thief #pjato #percy jackson and the last olympian #pjo hoo toa #riordan universe #riordanverse #rick riordan

[dandytron2000]

Discord redesign for my silly little AU !

Second child of Queen Chrysalis and Tirek the lord of the underworld... He was born for the single purpose of sabotaging the efforts of the pony princesses in fighting back against the empire. But, being a mischievous airhead he is with a relatively harmless skillset of chameleon-like camouflage and chaos magic he rarely if ever lived up to the expectations put on him.

He was the first apostle of the empire the main 6 faced, and easily the most cooperative one, as he was just waiting for an excuse to switch sides.

Discord lies about his age relentlessly, but the fact is, he's around same age as Pinkie Pie, likely a month or two younger than she is. He doesn't know the exact date of his birthday, which Pinkie of course considers blasphemous so they share a birthday party now yay

And of course fluttercord is canon in this au because autism couple forever <3 There are many reasons why they're very special for one another, but this isn't a deep lore post so I'll just say that they both are nature freaks and freaks of nature at the same time.

#mlp fim #discord mlp #fanart #mlp redesign #mlp au #my little dungeon au

[mosthomoeroticenemies]

The List

This is just a list of all the contestants, now I must go make the round one matchups (I have no idea how long that will take, bear with me please)

There’s 186 contestants so putting it under a read more

Papyrus - Undertale

Sans - Undertale

Jack Skellington - Nightmare Before Christmas

Brook - One Piece

Skelly -Hades

Skeletor - He-Man

Skeleton - Minecraft

Lewis Pepper - Mystery Skulls

Grim - The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

Héctor Rivera - Coco

Itward - Fran Bow

Ghost Rider - Marvel Comics

Skulduggery Pleasant - Skulduggery Pleasant

Death - Discworld

Lord Hater - Wander Over Yonder

Smitty Werbenjagermanjenson - Spongebob Squarepants

Skelita Calaveras - Monster High

Señor Hueso - Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Mr. Skully Pettibone - Scary Godmother

Gaster - Undertale

Skull Boy - Ruby Gloom

Real Magic Skeleton - OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes

Dry Bones - Mario

Spooky Scary Skeletons - Silly Symphonies: The Skeleton Dance

Dr Bones Cookie - Cookie Run Ovenbreak

Manny Calavera - Grim Fandango

Kravitz - The Adventure Zone

Bonejangles - Corpse Bride

Benrey - Half Life VR but the AI is Self Aware

Harrowhark Nonagesimus - Harrow the Ninth

Sans - Deltarune

Dry Bowser - Mario

Mamá Imelda Rivera - Coco

Houndstone - Pokemon

Rexy - Night at the Museum

Ainz Ooal Gown - Overlord

King Clawthorne - The Owl House

Clackula - My Singing Monsters

The Lich - Adventure Time

Skeletons - Skyrim

Benny - Halloweentown

The Skull - The Last Unicorn

Skellinore - My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

The Dinosaur Skeleton - Dog Man

Zans - Going Under

Skul - Skul: The Hero Slayer

Ernesto de la Cruz - Coco

Royal Dominguez - Inscryption

The Skeleton Appears - The Skeleton Appears

Bonehilda - The Sims

Scraps - Corpse Bride

The Titan - The Owl House

Hector Barbossa - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Skeleton Horse - Minecraft

Samukai - Lego Ninjago

Oshare Bones - Puyo Puyo

Master Warden Palamedes Sextus - Harrow the Ninth

Skull Man - Mega Man

Cubone - Pokemon

Trazyn the Infinite - Warhammer 40,000

Death - Soul Eater

Lady Bone Demon - Lego Monkie Kid

Bone Fairies - Meme

Twelve Foot Skeleton - Twelve Foot Skeleton

Mr Death - Adventure Time

Bone Dragon - Dragonvale

Skeleton Horse Jockey - Minecraft

Skull - The Daily Object Show

Skeletons - Spy Kids 2

Skeletons that tried to kill Mr Krabs - Spongebob Squarepants

Skull on the Mantelpiece - Sherlock

Lerexus Novation - Elder Scrolls Online

Bone Monk - DUSK

The Augur of the Obscure - Elder Scrolls Online

No Name - Skeleton Soldier Couldn't Protect the Dungeon

Mortis - The Clowns SMP

Skull with Party Hat - It's Time For Comics

Yorick - Hamlet

Skeleton - The G Keyboard

Environmentally Storytelling Toilet Skeleton - Various Post-apocalyptic Games

Skeleton - Oblivion

Atavist - Slap City

Gravelord Nito - Dark Souls

Xykon - The Order of the Stick

Death - Puppet History

Bones Malone - Tumblr

Stallord - The Legend of Zelda: Twilgiht Princess

Santa Claus - Puppet History

Poco - Brawl Stars

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra - The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra

Just Walk Out! - The Meme

Nakarkos - Monster Hunter

Skeleton - Morrowind

Caged Skeletons - Stardew Valley

Arc - Skeleton Knight in Another World

Banjaw - My Singing Monsters

Pip's Skull - South Park: The Stick of Truth

Gregor - The Adventures of Puss in Boots

Heisenbones - Breaking Bad

Death - Gregory Horror Show

Greg the Grim Reaper - Conker's Bad Fur Day

Skeleton - Crypt of the Necrodancer

Skeleton - Danny Phantom

Pariah Dark's entire skeleton army - Danny Phantom

La Muerte - The Book of Life

La Calavera Catrina - Mexican culture

Mr. Holbrooke - Little Witch Academia

Bart without his flesh - The Simpson's

Honda - Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san

The Boneraiser - Boneraiser Minions

David S. Pumpkins' Backup Dancers - Saturday Night Live

Bonesy - Gorillaz

Skeleton - "What's a skeleton's favorite snack?"

Décor and his husband - Tumblr user liquidstar's brother's room

Toumaï - Paleontology

Princess Rita - Once Upon a Tower

The Grim Reaper - The Sims

Elias Ainsworth - The Ancient Magus' Bride

Fabro the Necromancer - Slim Gretina's Grumpy Shark - Absurd Extravaganza

Death - Horrible Histories

Mind-Boggling Effects - Playstation

Mortaccio - Vampire Survivors

Halloween Novelty Pencil  - Halloween 2016

The Skeleton Head - Lockwood & Co.

Captain Bones - Crashbox

Skullastic Superintendents - Monster High

Wither - Minecraft

Stray - Minecraft

Skelly - Monster High

Bonesy - Monster High

Grim - DanTDM

Bone - Aib

High Lord Wolnir - Dark Souls 3

Christmas tree skull - Real Life

Skeleton - Gravity Falls

Me the poll maker - The Near Future

Mr Bones- Mr Bones

Lego Skeleton - Lego

Kruncha and Nuckal - Lego Ninjago

Spider Jockey - Minecraft

The Lernaen Hydra - Hades

Skeleton Champion - Oblivion

The Skulkin - Lego Ninjago

The Nightmare King - Dimension 20: Fantasy High (Sophomore Year)

Queen Elizabeth 2 - England

Stalnox - Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Stalkoblins - Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The Skeletons - My Closet

Lord Death Man - DC Comics

Cadaver Cain - Skulduggery Pleasant

Your Own - Your Body

Righty - The Lone Necromancer

Count von Dy - The Mystery of Greveholm

Skull and Bones - Skull Chapel in Czermna

Sedlec Ossuary skeletons - Real Life

Gary the Necromancer - DnD campaign

Manolo Sanchez - The Book of Life

Death - Cultural

Boneknapper - How to Train Your Dragon

Hooty - The Owl House

Monk Gyatso - Avatar: The Last Airbender

Skullgreymon - Digimon

Inaccurate Animal Skeleton Decoration - Home Depot

Skeleton - Bones Album Cover

Skeleton-T - Puyo Puyo

Skeletron - Terraria

Mr. Saturday - Skeleton Boomerang

Da Vinci - Ghost Stories

Milo Belladonna - Monster Camp

Bones the Skeleton - Skyrim Mod user jarrodrey99

Reaper (Gabriel Reyes) - Overwatch

Szarekh The Silent King - Warhammer 40,000

Calliope - Homestuck

Jared Hopworth - The Magnus Archives

Hexxus - FernGully: The Last Rainforest

Rem - Death Note

Grimm - Grimm's Hollow

Decay Dragon - Dragonvale

Melting - Nuclear Throne

Duskull - Pokemon

Bona - My Singing Monsters

Death Phantom - Sailor Moon

Charon - Hades

Necrodeus - Kirby: Mass Attack

Jimothy - Elsewhere University

Blight - Batman Beyond

#not a poll #contestants #ik no one will read all of them but theyre there if youd like #sorry if i misspelled any I mostly went by the submissions and what it said when I looked them up #these are also just vaguely in order by number of submissions #however everything bone fairies and down only had 1

[kakusu-shipping]

MLP for the universe thing!! Uhhh do you have an MLP s/i??? Idk, but if you do this is just an opportunity for you to talk about them :D

I do have an MLP Self Insert!!! ...Well did. He still exists, and you could even find him on this very blog but it. It's bad kfdjgkfdjkg and depressing. It's from 2018.

Also I had two but I only ever posted about one publicly so that's the one I'll take about kjfdgjdf

So when I first was learning what age regression was I was using MLP Friendship as Magic as like. A regression trigger, to test the waters. And as I've sense learned about my little self, self inserts he makes are Very Fucked Up. We're gonna like. Pass over all the fucked lore I made in 2018 and just go over the basics.

My S/I is a unique species of Pony I made to help Princess Luna with the stars, they're nocturnal and live on higher clouds than any other ponies and shape constellations. When Princess Luna got banished they were kind of forgotten about and most moved to lower lands, including my S/Is parents.

But they were all still nocturnal, including my S/I who as a colt would just. Land atop other ponies in ponyville and pass out. No one really minded he weighed basically nothing and swapped around alot.

My F/O for this self insert was Big Mac, who I do still like and would like to revisit and make a better S/I for some day. When we were younger I'd ride around on his back while he did deliveries and he'd talk and talk about anything and everything, not noticing I was dead asleep, then when we're older I visit him at night and info dump star and galaxy shit to him while he's half awake until he eventually falls asleep.

It could have been just a silly cute Self Insert if little me was any kind of normal, but he was not fkgjkfdj. I'll spare you the horrors, enjoy the silly pony Self Insert

#Emile's Arts #Thankyou for asking #This one is way tamer than my Dragon Self Insert the other one I also had #Because I projected hard onto Spike and still kind of do but from a distance kfjgkfd #I wasn't in a solid mental place the first time I watched MLP #Maybe I'll go back some day #I did have a good time with it at least #Eepy lil horse

[moonlightreal]

Unicorn series books

Let’s read some unicorn series books!  I’ve got a few series and I’ll hit up the library for some new stuff.

Secret of the Unicorn Queen 1988

A classic, always fun.  Sheila is helping her friendly neighborhood mad scientist when she falls through a portal into another world!  Where she meets a band of women warriors trying to protect the kingdom’s unicorns from evil.These books being from the time, they’re written more like fantasy books than childrens’ books; there are definitely some silly elements but the warrior women are all such memorable characters and the world is surprisingly built for such thin books.

You may scoff, but these books are good enough that when they became hard to find at least two people posted scans of them, just to make sure they wouldn’t be lost. 

This series is also just begging for a fanmade sequel.  Sheila uses the stuff she happens to have in her backpack-- a can of soda, chewing gum, her walkman-- to solve problems and convince the people of Arren that she’s a sorceress-- what will the next girl to come to Arren have in her backpack?  

Unicorn Chronicles 1994

Are brilliant.  Has anybody not read them really?

Unicorns of Balinor 1999

Princess Arianna has fallen through the gap to Earth and lost her memory.  She and her bonded unicorn Sunchaser must get back to their realm of Balinor and defeat the evil Shifter who has conquered the kingdom and disappeared the royal family.  The story wanders a bit, with different plot elements being added and taken away, but the characters and the unicorns make it good.  Mary Stanton is a horse person, and you can tell.

This series is worth reading, but it’s also a bit muddled.  Ms. Stanton was writing to a brief and you can tell; the writing is a little clunky and the line of the plot goes and stops and finally ends without getting to the end.  Some fan really should step in and write a last book tying everything up.

Wish Upon a Unicorn 1999

A series that doesn’t even have a series title and will be completely eclipsed by a movie of the same name. Also could be called the Vicki Blum unicorn series after its author.  Young Arica falls through a crack in the floor into a world of unicorns, elves and trolls.  As expected there is evil oppressing the kingdom and only Arica and the unicorns can save it.

This series has sunk out of sight and while I wouldn’t say it deserves it, the books are not as good as the other unicorn series of the time.  

The Unicorn’s Secret 2001

These books are aimed quite young, my copies has “Ready-for-Chapters!” blazoned across the top and they are in large font.  If you don’t mind a very quick and simple read the series is quite lyrical and lovely.  A little girl named Heart rescues a wounded mare who gives birth to a unicorn foal. Soon they must flee Heart’s cruel guardian to search for their real home.

My Secret Unicorn 2002

Young Lauren’s pony Twilight turns into a unicorn when she says a magic spell!  Together they solve problems like, “a horse is afraid to jump!” and “friends aren’t getting along!”  Linda Chapman is a prolific author of childrens’ fantasy under several names.  She also wrote the Stardust and Sky Horses series.  For books aimed at tween girls they have a surprisingly rich level of detail and magical worldbuilding that place these books just above the “too childish” line.

Unicorn Princesses 2017

Seven different colored unicorn princesses rue the Rainbow Realm of funny magical critters. Unfortunately their friendly neighborhood wizard-lizard keeps messing up his spells and causing trouble!  I’m not going to read the rest of these but I do kind of want to steal the wizard-lizard and stick him in a Winx fanfic.

Unicorn Rescue Society 2018

A series that includes remarkably few unicorns for the title.  It is the tale of two kids whose mysterious teacher is a member of the titular rescue society.  He’s never seen a unicorn but he intends to see one! And rescue it!  An attitude I approve of.  Each book in the series features a cryptid or supernatural critter in its geographical location, with factoids about the place.  Good stuff, but written just that little bit too young for my taste.

Unicorn Academy 2018

Ten year old girls and boys go to a boarding school where they meet their bonded unicorns!  Each book follows a different girl and her unicorn as they discover their magic talent, deal with the obligatory snooty mean girl, and chase after the mysterious cloaked figure who keeps trying to sabotage the magical lake that supplies water to the whole country.  The first book also includes magic frogs, which gives it a plus but the series is aimed too young for me to want to read the rest.

Unicorn Quest 2019

Eleven year old Claire and her sister Sophie find a passage into a magical world.  The unicorns are gone, the people are divided, and evil wraiths are terrorizing the populace.  And the girls have gotten separated when Sophie, who’s just recovered from a major illness, went into the magical world alone and disappeared along with a valuable unicorn artifact.  Claire must track down her sister and find where the unicorns have been hidden away.

Skandar series 2022

Only the first book in the series seems to be out yet, but it is great.  These unicorns are violent carnivores that can be semi-tamed by bonding with riders at birth. Unbonded unicorns grow up feral, violent and immortal so they rot away while still living.  Our hero Skandar has made it through mysterious opposition to bond with his unicorn but it looks like they have a forbidden power instead of the usual elemental magic.  Plus, a villain has appeared and is doing villainy things.

I liked the first one enough to immediately put the second on hold at the library.  

#unicorns #secret of the unicorn queen

[fictionkinfessions]

(Please post this while it’s still the 10th, Mod Party Cat!)

Dear former citizens of Equestria and other countries of the world Equestria was in (as well as any other readers of Fictionkinfessions who may be reading this),

It’s been 12 years as of today since the show that shows our homeland, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic aired. That’s a really long time - half my life as a matter of fact!

When I was a young filly of 14, still… well, honestly rather random and silly, as well as innocent and unaware of the existence of Fictionkin, and I stumbled upon My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, I never imagined that ten years later - even 4 years later! - I would find out I was, well, literally the reincarnation of the main character of the show! Funny how that turns out, huh?

A lot has happened since that first fateful day. Even if this life has been different to my past one, I’ve found a lot of friends that I can spend time with and love. I still miss my old family (both my actual blood family, and the other ‘mane six,’ or the Council of Friendship, as it were), but my new family of choice and blood have helped a lot.

I hope everycreature out there from Equestria and the surrounding lands - dragon, Changeling, hippogriff, griffon, donkey, sheep, cow, and pony, as well as the myriad other creatures I didn’t mention - is having a fantastic day. And all of you should take pride in being you! Even other Twilight Sparkles!

Because ever since I’ve started being proud that I’m Twilight Sparkle, using my old name as my current one, I’ve felt far better than I have for ages. Just… so much happier.

And anyone who didn’t come from Equestria or its world, you should also take pride in being you!

Not too much, though, but that part goes without saying.

Anyways, I hope to see some of you around more often! It’s always good to see anycreature from Equestria on here, or even just from that world; it makes me happy!

I wish you all a fantastic ponniversary,

Your former Princess (well, for some of you maybe),

Twilight Sparkle.

P.S. This does not mean that this week’s ‘ask assignment’ (they aren’t actually assignments, especially since they’re optional, but I like calling them that) is cancelled; if you still want to answer it, you absolutely can. I will be getting another one in this Friday, though; gotta write down the ideas I have before they leave my brain.

s

#fictionkinfessions #fictionkin #magic-at-twilight #mlpkin #mlpfimkin #happy anniversary! #long post

[thereisselfpreservation]

Hello! I’m Meeps! I enjoy drawing, writing, reading, video games, nerding out, role-playing, the color pink, and fashion. I’m multishipper trash. Everything I post besides personal stuff goes through my queue. I’m pretty boring. ✨∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿✨

I AM STRICTLY ANTI-HARASSMENT ABOUT SILLY FANDOM STUFF, AND I TAKE THAT SERIOUSLY. DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE HERE. I'M SO TIRED.

[ fandom interests under the cut ]

Current Top Hyperfixations: Heaven Official's Blessing Rick and Morty

Other/Stable Hyperfixations: Animal Crossing Deadpool (general character) Heaven Official's Blessing Minecraft My Hero Academia My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Pokémon Rick and Morty Spider-Man (general character) Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Star Wars (IV, V, VI) Steven Universe Trigun (’98 anime, manga, Stampede) Yu-Gi-Oh! DM

“I just think they’re neat”: Avatar: The Last Airbender BJDs Good Omens Hazbin Hotel Howl's Moving Castle (book) Legend of Zelda Lord of the Rings Princess Mononoke Silent Hill Skyrim

#about the gnat

[kats-observatory]

My Introduction!

Name: Kat

Pronouns: she/they

Age: 16

Randoms: im dyslexic, im diagnosed adhd, i dye my hair a lot, i would love to become friends!!!!

Boundaries:

1. I don’t mind dirty jokes or cussing please just don’t direct any inappropriate questions or jokes at me because I am infact a minor.

2. I will tolerate no racism, homophobia, transphobia, or anti lgbtqia+ you will be blocked

3. Be silly

A full list of all my hyper-fixations!

- Hazbin Hotel

- Helluva Boss

- Heathers (The musical)

- Hamilton

- How To Train Your Dragon (httyd)

- Shameless

- Gilmore Girls (team Jess)

- She-ra: princess of power

- Spiderman: into the spider verse/ Spiderman: across the spider verse (specifically Hobie and I’ve read all the spider punk comics)

- My Little pony: Friendship is Magic

- Care Bears

- Five Nights at Freddys

- Stardew valley

- dspm (please forgive my sins/ I will not post about dsmp)

- Qsmp

- Doki Doki literature club (ddlc)

- The Bear

- Young Sheldon

- Monster high

- Royal high

- The Dragon prince

- liv and Maddie

- Heartstoper

- The Sims 4

- Minecraft

- Roblox

- Beetle Juice (the musical)

- haiku!!

- Melanie Martenez

- Sally face

- Franbow

- Little miss fortune

- James Marriott

- music

- the promised neverland

- genloss

That was much longer than expected and I still probably missed some.

#hazbin hotel #helluva boss #heathers #hamilton musical #httyd #shameless #gilmore girls #she ra #she ra and the princesses of power #across the spiderverse #hobie brown #my little pony #my litte pony friendship is magic #care bears #fnaf #stardew valley #dsmp #qsmp #ddlc #the bear #young sheldon #monster high #royal high #the dragon prince #liv and maddie #heartstopper #sally face #fran bow #the sims 4 #intro post

[applejackofalltrades]

Why Do I Like AppleDash So Much?

Literally nobody has ever asked me this but I'm going to answer this question anyway.

Intro: How I Got Into My Little Pony

Imma be real. The reason I started watching the show is because some of my old Twitter mutuals were interacting with posts about the Friendship Is Magic 10th anniversary. Some of them were talking about Rarijack and how it was a good ship, and others were discussing the implied canonicity of Appledash.

I had, at the time, just finished catching up on The Owl House that had recently been in the process of finishing up season one or had just gone into hiatus (can't remember which) and I was losing interest in my old hyperfixations fast.

See, I do this thing where I get really REALLY invested in a show and then as soon as it ends or as soon as I absorb every bit of media in it, I lose some of the interest or it fades. I don't usually lose full interest. For example, I still love She-Ra (my last big fandom) and I'm obviously still invested in The Owl House, but ever since both of those shows ended/stalled, I was desperately needing something to distract me from the trials and tribulations of my will to live that my daily life often forced upon me.

As you can guess, ponies was my solution.

I went into the show with a Rarijack mindset, but knowing that Appledash existed. I guess my mutuals just really liked Rarijack. I decided to give season one a chance. Actually, I felt quite silly for even deciding to watch the show. You see, back in 2018, I was still quite... trivial about watching anything that was seen as "girly". I didn't really have any problems with watching cartoons (ie. V*ltron, Steven Universe, Avatar, Pokemon etc.) but it was the fact that a show was "girly" that made me iffy. I had a very fragile masculinity, okay?

Anyway, so I actually was really afraid to watch She-Ra, even though the teaser images and trailer looked good. But I did and I decided that even "girly" shows could be good and that I was silly.

But, oh boy, cringe culture really messed with me. In mid/late 2020, I was ashamed to watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I said I'd watch one season just so I could laugh at it. I wanted to watch it as a joke, and who knows, maybe I found a guilty pleasure to watch while I waited for The Owl House to come back?

I loaded up Netflix and I hit play. Instantly, I was cringing at myself. Can you blame me? Early season MLP was obviously meant for kids. Not that it was immature or bad, but it was definitely a kid's show, especially considering the iconic storybook opening of episode one.

I watched the episodes, but they mostly were just background noise as I did other things. I remember watching them, but I was indifferent, although frustrated that I found myself chuckling at a few of the jokes and quips. I wasn't that invested, though. I thought Twilight was boring, Rarity obnoxious, Pinkie annoying, Fluttershy frustrating, and Rainbow Dash infuriating. I didn't really mind Applejack, I mostly kinda just thought she was the best one. (Nothing's changed, eh?)

And then....

Fall Weather Friends

Season One Episode Thirteen rolled around.

It starts (as y'all know) with Rainbow Dash and Applejack throwing horseshoes.

I don't know why, but this caught my attention. Of course, being only a few episodes after Look Before You Sleep, I had Rarijack on the mind. But I did think that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were probably good friends and would make for an interesting pairing, and a more interesting episode given their similarities, but also their differences.

I found myself fully watching this episode, and I dare say, it's the episode that dragged me fully into the show.

Maybe it's because I see myself in both of them in a way. Maybe that's why I connect so much with the pair, but them having an episode together? That was really good for me. I wasn't in the best state of mind, and something about seeing two characters that were in some ways reminiscent of myself interact and argue and have an endearing episode together made me smile.

It was then that I discovered the simple amazingness of AppleDash.

I mean, who doesn't love obnoxious, competitive girlfriends that are both prideful and headstrong?

I know I love it.

Anyway, so at that point, my mind kinda just clicked and I decided that my OTP was AppleDash. However, poly rights and Applejack has two front hooves *cough* Rarijackdash *cough*

But yeah so that's how I got into AppleDash. Fall Weather Friends, which was kinda the episode that made me love MLP.

How That Progressed

Well, obviously, I still love that ship I mean I live for it. If I could have any one single ship it'd be them. It just kept getting better and better as the show progressed, I mean their dynamic is great whether you want to see it platonically or romantically. They have a lot in common right off the bat (example, they are both incredibly stubborn, though AJ would take the cake for that) and seem to be close (I mean right from episode one they appear to already have a pre-established friendship), but they're also different. Applejack is a hard worker all of the time with anything she does, while Dash tends to be lazy but can be extremely driven when she is motivated (for example, when she wants to achieve her Wonderbolts dream). Applejack is immensely caring and family-oriented and does things for the good of everypony, while Rainbow Dash can be kind of a jerk and not mindful of her actions when she's wrapped up in the stuff she's doing for herself (not to say she isn't caring, but she tends to be kind of an ass, even to Fluttershy sometimes).

Their growth was immensely fun to watch and as time went on, they shared more and more screentime together. Even if it's not an episode that revolves around them, whenever one of them is in frame, most of the time the other is close by, and they often stand next to each other.

Now, in terms of why they work in the show's canon (in my opinion, either romantically or platonically, they do make a great pairing):

They are both competitive and enjoy competing with each other, though they know (especially after FWF when they've taken it too far)

They watch out for each other (AJ often holds Rainbow Dash back when she's about to rush into danger, especially in early seasons, and Dash always lifts AJ out of danger first [the two examples I can think of off the top of my head are in Best Gift Ever and My Little Pony: The Movie])

Their personalities even each other out. (AJ is a lot more calm than RD, and while they can both get worked up, Applejack is usually the calm one)

Their colour schemes are literally complementary. (AJ's coat is orange while Rainbow's is blue. AJ's eyes are green while RD's are pink/red).

They share a lot of cute moments. (You can just look these up)

THEY'RE HECCING CUTE.

AND FINALLY

I mean fuck, the finale. They're literally canon, you cannot tell me otherwise. It was absolutely intended and you cannot prove otherwise. (read the script notes l o l "we actually could do sort of a subtle wink to the idea that they are now a couple???" < RE Appledash). They live together, they have domestic arguments about chores, they are always giving each other fond looks throughout the episode, always standing next to or near each other, and well we all know Rainbow's iconic hoof on AJ's head in the last shot of the show.

Ashleigh Ball really was the OG shipper and fuck it, she was right. We all know they are in love, she knows they are in love. The only reason they couldn't explicitly state it in the show is probably bc Hasbro would have been against that at the time (I mean, Lyrabon had to be very subtle but hey we gottem).

Oh and, I know this isn't exactly canon canon, but it is an official game: The My Little Pony Magic Princess app. Future AJ and RD's descriptions allude to them being together.

You could negate this and say that this is just them being friends but I mean... come on. Come on. Sweet Apple Acres is Apple family land, and the only people who live there as of The Last Problem are Apples. (AJ, Sugar Belle and Big Mac and their foal, and you guessed it... Rainbow Dash).

You cannot tell me that they aren't canon. You'd really have to be grasping at straws because all the signs are there. They had build up, development, and it just makes sense.

If you don't think it makes sense... did we watch the same show??? It absolutely makes sense.

Anyway, AppleDash is canon. :)

#jay has pony thoughts #appledash #applejack #rainbow dash #i just like talking

[peaceandlove26]

big post abt a bunch of my twilight-centric aus (i have lots more that arent about twilight hahah) along with her partner in each au bc i dont want to draw and describe the entire cast of each one rn. also the designs here arent “final” or anything, just what comes to mind when i draw them usually. ok

1. basic au

this ones pretty close to canon and its the one i draw/reference most often. there are minor changes to events in the show (ex. chrysalis gets reformed, starswirl becomes a villain, etc) but its basically the same, especially when it comes to the actual characters! not much to say about this one! pinkie and twilight get married sometime before the finale

2. starryverse au

my most cherished au... i could go on forever about this one!! this au is a “reboot” type thing— all the characters have new names, different designs, and altered personalities and roles. twilight twinkle is a pony created by princess solstice out of pure magic (although twilight doesnt know that). i would write many essays about this if i could so ill Not do that right now... twilight twinkle is very eager to make friends but is pretty bad at it. rose quartz pie (aka rosie pie) becomes her first friend and from then on, twilight has a silly puppy love crush on her that eventually becomes mutual love. rosie pie is an energetic and empathetic baker who specializes in baking party treats.

3. swap au

all the mane 6 ponies are different types of ponies now! ta daaaaa! twilight is an earth pony specializing in potion magic, and pinkie is a party planner who has REALLY weak magic when it comes to anything but chaos and parties. fluttershy is a super strong earth pony who is kind of afraid of her own strength—however, it gives her an advantage when dealing with large or dangerous animals. rainbow dash is a unicorn with the dream of becoming the first-ever unicorn wonderbolt, using her special magic that allows her to run on air. rarity is a pegasus who loves making artistic weather patterns, though these arent always very effective at... weather. she also makes beautiful aerodynamic clothing. applejack is also a pegasus, and feels out of place among her earth pony family. (the secret twist is that her mom was a pegasus! wowww!) she makes special apple treats made from the best apples at the top of the trees, which only she can reach.

4. ascension au

in this au, all of the mane 6 become alicorns and live together and love each other forever and ever YAY

5. time travel au

in this au, twilight accidentally travelled back in time as a teenager to a time before luna was corrupted by nightmare moon. she didnt know about luna, as she was kept a secret by celestia in the present. she and luna fell in love, and had twilight stayed, luna probably wouldnt have become corrupted, since she wouldve had someone who appreciated and believed in her. however, twilight was eventually transported back to the present, thanks to her family finding a spell to bring her back. after learning ehat eventually happened to luna, twilight began trying to create a spell that would free her from the moon. in this au twilight would temporarily be a “villain”

6. basically just canon

in this universe pretty much nothing from canon is changed besides designs. the only thing changed is that instead of “spreading the word of the storm kings defeat” (lol?? thats what magic is for) tempest becomes twilights personal guard. (seriously, why do all the other princesses get guards?)

7. starlight glimmer fucking dies au

ok kidding she doesnt die she just never gets redeemed... instead the “seventh mane 6 member” is luna! after lunas return, she is sent to live in ponyville (because, like, theres NO way she was ready to just. rule equestria) luna is super powered down, out of fear that she could become corrupted again. some of her power is stored in the moon pendant she wears, in case she needs it in an emergency! luna becomes great friends with all of the main characters... i have ideas on how she’d get along with each one heheh! but her dearest friend is twilight sparkle... they just understand each other in a way nopony else can!

anyway ya theres all my silly aus... im very in love with all of them so ask me about them/any characters in them and ill gladly tell u

#of course these arent even CLOSE to all my aus i just. specifically felt like talking about my twilight live story aus #also sorry lunas designs r so ugly i got tired and also i SUCK at the color blue #but ya umm also feel free to ask what other characters are like in these aus... like ‘what does applejack look like in the swap au’ #i would be so delighted

[miikrokkosmos]

jimin x reader: disney date headcanons!

Anonymous asked: hiya! Idk if this would be more weird than enjoyable for you to write, but I wanted to ask for hc about going on a date with jimin in the happiest place on earth! Esp since you worked there, right? Only if you want to though! I figured you might have some date tips and ideas or park knowledge that not everyone would think of anyway ;)

_______________________________________________________________________

a/n: omg not weird at all, I LOVE this request so much you have no idea. Idk if I have a lot of special insight or tips, but I hope you enjoy! Also I’ll be writing for the Orlando parks bc that’s what I know, and I also know celebrities often go backstage to avoid ppl but for the sake of this post it’s just a normal date out with Jimin and no celebrity treatment J Besides, who better to go to WDW with than the Disney Prince himself??

_______________________________________________________________________

·      waking to a very excited Jimin flopping on top of you, embracing you close enough to him so he can half-whisper in your ear that “it’s time to waKE UP :D”

·      you playfully pushing his head away with a whine to glance at the clock on the bed side table in your resort room – 6:55 am

·      “jimin wtf this is supposed to be a vacation day, where u, u know, take it easy and sleep in”

·      “but baby…the parks open in two hours”

·      “right…two hours…so let me sleep another half hour”

·      “NO D:” he practically shrieks, he’s full on pouting now, tugging your arm to help sit you up

·      “I mean…we need the extra time to do our hair and coordinate our outfits :((((“

·      you sit up and rub your eyes to fully take in his pouting form, eyes as big and sweet as you’ve ever seen them

·      “well…I can’t argue with that”

·      spending the next hour picking outfits that are comfortable for a day in the parks but complement each other nicely

·      both of you styling and putting product in your hair mostly just to take cute selfies together and pics in front of the castle bc you know it’s all gonna get destroyed after an hour in the florida sun

·      when you turn the corner on Main Street and see the castle and both just stop and stare with wide, happy grins for a few moments

·      jimin giving you a toothy smile and sweetly grabbing your hand to get in line for castle pictures

·      after one (1) silly pose jimin ignoring the photographer’s ideas for different poses bc he just wants to take pics in front of the castle with his arm around your waist and his lips on your cheek bc he knows the blissful, eye-closing grin that brings to your face and he wants as many pictures of that as he can have to keep forever

·      then going back and getting in the long starbucks line bc neither of you ate breakfast in the two hour period you used completely to prep for the day and you need your caffeine to make the most of your park day

·      sitting down on the hub grass in front of the castle to make some last minute adjustments to your fast pass selection for the day

·      rock paper scissors bc you want to fastpass haunted mansion and he wants the many adventures of winnie the pooh (but it doesn’t really matter bc you both know you’ll wait in the standby line for the losing person’s ride anyway :)))

·      giggling to each other whenever you get to use your magic bands bc you both specifically ordered matching ones

·      jimin lightheartedly grumbling at how the splash on splash mountain was much bigger than he expected and just flat out ruined his hair and won’t believe you no matter how many times you tell him he still looks amazing (but that doesn’t mean he’ll try to stop you from continuously telling him that either)

·      screaming your head off on space mountain which just makes jimin uncontrollably giggle behind you the entire ride so the ride pic ends up with your face like DX and his like XD

·      having way too much fun in the gift shop after you ride pirates of the Caribbean trying on different pirate gear and taking goofy pics of each other

·      jimin posing in his chest-out, hands on hips good boy pose for you with a big fluffy pink pirate hat on which you promptly make your new lockscreen

·      grabbing a dole whip and rushing over to the people mover so you can just take a breather and enjoy views of Tomorrowland

·      you have a soft spot for alice in wonderland and get on the teacup ride only for jimin to have WAY too much fun aggressively spinning the ride as fast as possible to get a rise out of you

·      you feel a lil sick but his childlike giggliness is too adorable for you to not take snaps and video of on the ride

·      “my love, I’m feeling kind of hungry”

·      “me too…wanna get hot dogs at Casey’s??”

·      “mmm...i was hoping we could make our dinner reservations at Be Our Guest?”

·      “JIMIN WHAT RESERVATIONS THEY WERE BOOKED EVERY TIME I CHECKED”

·      “that’s bc you didn’t try to reserve them as early as I did months ago…”

·      somehow you’re not sure if you’ve ever felt more in love with him than in this moment but you’re okay with that

·      playfully smacking his chest before jumping forward and smashing your lips against his, holding his face tight to yours

·      jimin giggling right after, dimples on display and then hiding his face in your neck bc he can’t handle the cuteness that comes out in you when at your favourite place (but excuse u sir have you seen yourself)

·      once you’re sitting at the restaurant “jimin does this mean we can please order the grey stuff for dessert” “of course, lovely, I’ve heard it’s delicious”

·      you make a stop at Prince Charming’s Carousel after supper and jimin ends up just standing next to you on your pony, an arm around your waist as you enjoy the ride (since he gave up his horse next to you for a very little princess who really just had to have the same horse he chose)

·      you pretty much just gotta stare into his eyes the whole time tho bc you can’t believe how beautiful he looks, grinning, all lit up with the night sky in the background and the carousel lights glowing in his eyes beaming at you

·      you can’t really wrap your head around the fact that you are, in fact, dating a real life Disney Prince

·      taking sneaky candids of him after the ride with the carousel as the backdrop bc you wanna remember how beautiful and happy he looked in that moment forever

·      making your way to the front of the castle as fast as possible to get the best viewing spot for the fireworks

·      jimin grabbing your hand right when the lights go down for the show to start

·      you know the fireworks always make you emotional but you weren’t expecting for the waterworks that burst forth from within you this time

·      there’s a difference between enjoying a fireworks display lighting up a real life castle and enjoying it when you’re deeply in love

·      jimin sensing your emotion and the weight of the moment

·      you being just a complete mess by the time “I See the Light” from Tangled is playing so he tilts your chin back with his finger, places a hand behind your neck and claims your mouth with his own, fireworks ablaze in the background

·      you’re fully self-aware of the cheesiness of the moment but you really could care less and really wish you could just stay there and hold on to the happiness you feel in that moment, with jimin, forever

#jimin x reader #jimin imagine #bts fluff #bts x reader #bts imagines #thanks for the request!! #my stuff #jimin #pt

[deerlyloved]

false

under cut: a look into what smoky is trying to do, aka more mlp fanfic of my ocs

Hoop was here. It was fine.

Doodle Bug stood from the ground. Where was she? It clicked in an instant, that was a silly question because she was where she was always supposed to be. Ponyville, of course. Doodle Bug never left Ponyville, not since she had that no-fly ban in Canterlot.

“What were you doing on the ground, goof?” Hoop said, bumping his shoulder into hers as he fell in next to her, a grin on his face, “You’re gonna get grass stains again, you know how Twi feels about that.”

“Twi.” Doodle Bug repeated. Right, Twilight, Princess Twilight, Doodle Bug helped manage her library. She must still be in a post-nap fog. She was napping, right? Of course, she was. Why else would she be on the ground?

“What time is it?” Doodle Bug asked, suppressing a yawn and glancing at the sky. It was… a nice day. Wasn’t it dark outside? No, that wasn’t right. It was day time. It had always been day time. Canterlot was fine. Why did she think that?

“I dunno, noon or something? What does it matter to you, Bugsie?” Hoop asked with a curious tilt of his head, “You don’t work today, right?”

No, she didn’t. Twilight was out of town. That wasn’t right, why wasn’t that right? Twilight was out of town and she didn’t have to work. “Twilight’s out of town, a business trip I think, she told me to go ahead and take the week off.” Doodle Bug explained, still blinking sleep out of her eyes before she smiled at Hoop.

“Hey, freebie week!” He said with a laugh. Doodle Bug stared. When he opened his eyes, they weren’t orange, one colored red and the other blue, wide, mane a mess, face blank, Doodle Bug bit back a shout of surprise and flinched, and when she opened her eyes-- He was fine. “You okay?” Hoop asked, starting to walk, “You look a little out of it.”

She did? She had no clue why. Probably her nap.

“Sleepy.” She commented, walking forward with a small yawn. She followed after him, catching up quickly and giving her wings a stretch. “Wish I could fly.” She murmured.

“You can, didn’t you hear? No more ban for you!” Hoop replied with a laugh, “You forget a lot of stuff,” He bumped into her again, playfully, “That’s why you have me, I’m like an orange memo calendar with legs.”

“Right.” Doodle Bug responded. Of course her ban was lifted, it was only for three months, and that time had passed. The windows had been fixed. The mayor was not mad.

They were in a cafe now, the walk wasn’t far, and Doodle Bug liked this cafe, they had good sandwiches and better apple pie. She grinned, just about to eat her abundance of sweets, and she noticed a flash of yellow and looked up. Comet?

“Comet!” Doodle Bug called, waving and drawing the attention of the unicorn. Comet Flash blinked a few times, looking away from the menu with surprise before a kind smile made its way onto his face. He ordered quickly, speaking to the green and white pony behind the counter before he quickly made his way over to the table Hoop and Doodle Bug sat at.

“Miss Doodle Bug!” He greet with a grin matching hers, “I’m happy to see you, you too Hoop!” He looked between the two pegasi, long tail flicking behind him.

“What are you doing in town?” Doodle Bug asked curiously, tilting her head, “Aren’t you a royal guard?”

“Why, yes I am!” He laughed, “The Princesses are in town, haven’t you heard?”

Of course! She saw Queen Celestia yesterday, her and Queen Chrysalis were tending to their foal, Bumble. She hoped they had more kids one day, they were in the hundreds with all the changelings about but there was always room for more! She laughed at her own joke.

“Right, right, I swear I’m like a goldfish!” She laughed, “Well, I guess it’s break time for you then?”

“Sort of.” Comet Flash explained, “We switch out guards since we have so many, to make sure no one’s overworked.” He explained, “I just did a few days on day-guard, so I have a few days off. Good timing too!”

“That’s cool!” Doodle Bug replied, “So what are you doing with your free days? Wanna hang with the cool kids?” She motioned between her and Hoop.

“Aw, probably at some point, but I’ve got something really special planned!” He touched the saddle bags he had on with a soft smile, his eyes soft for a moment before he perked up again, “I don’t want to say too much, but Copper’s visiting soon! Oh, um, my boyfriend! Tomorrow!” 

“That’s so sweet!” Doodle Bug gasped, tapping her hooves together as she bounced in place like a filly, “Wow, I hope you guys have a great time!”

Hoop’s face dropped. He saw Comet was standing over him with a sword. Why were his eyes like that? What was creeping up his leg? It’s fine.

He smiled again. “What’s up with people getting dates before I do?” He joked, rolling his eyes playfully, “Even DB has a date!”

She did? She did. She had a date tonight! How could she forget?

“Oh, I forgot!” Doodle Bug gasped, eyes filled with worry, “Me and Smoky! Oh gosh, I need to get home, I finally get that mare to agree to date me and I forget!”

Smoky’s name coming out of her mouth made her stomach turn. It’s fine. She’d wanted to date Smoky for months, but she only just now had the guts to ask her out. And she said yes, can you believe it?

She wanted to hurl. It’s fine.

Doodle Bug seemed frantic until Hoop spoke up, “You can’t date on an empty stomach, Bugsie, sit down and eat first, then we can go get you looking your cutest.” He teased. Doodle Bug sat down with a sigh, though she was grateful to be grounded by her friend.

She saw Hoop on the ground. Cipher was staring on with red and blue eyes. Comet was standing over Hoop, sword to his neck, red magic creeping up his body as he lay tense and terrified. Doodle Bug flew. She knew she couldn’t help, how can you fight magic as a pegasus? She was flying-- No.

She was in the cafe. She smiled. She ate her food. She had a date with Plumparcel tonight, she couldn’t mess it up, she’d wanted to ask them out for months now.

#mlp #mlp oc #my ocs #doodle bug #hoop shoot #comet flash #my writing

[ponett]

Welp... it’s over. After nine years, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is over. I just got done watching the series finale with Anthony and, just like I knew I would, when the credits rolled, I cried my eyes out

I should probably say something, huh. I’ve been sharing thoughts like this mostly on Twitter lately, but I started using Tumblr to blog about MLP, so I don’t think it would be right to post this anywhere else

I have a complicated relationship with MLP:FiM. It’s a show that got really hit or miss after the second season, and it has a fandom so toxic and so full of edgy libertarians that it scared me off from formally participating in fandoms for the rest of my life. But it’s also probably my favorite TV show of all time. There are other shows that are much better written, that have more to say, that are more consistent, even including several other cartoons from the same decade. But I think I’d be lying to myself if I said it wasn’t my favorite show

No other piece of media has had as massive of an impact on my life as My Little Pony

I grew closer to some of my closest high school friends because of our shared enthusiasm for the show. I started PonyPokey with Jake and Derek and made a bunch of bad videos and got invited to be on a wildly disorganized BronyCon panel with Jenny Nicholson in 2012. (We went on stage immediately after Lauren Faust’s panel. I barely said a word due to stage fright.)

After years of being too afraid to share my art online, I started putting more effort into learning digital art so that I could draw ponies. It started out rough, but with the drive to improve, I quickly got better. I started Fluttershy Replies. For the first time, I had an audience. I had people who cared about my work and supported me. Even as times have changed, many of you have been following me since way back then

Around the time I came out as bi in 2012, I got really into MLP shipping. Writing sappy comics and drawing sappy art became an outlet for my years of pent up feelings, and helped me sort out a lot of stuff. My Little Pony also completely changed the views on femininity that had been beaten into my skull since childhood. Suddenly, it wasn’t this strange, alien thing to be afraid of. MLP, at its heart, is a show about how there’s no wrong way to be a girl. That’s an incredibly powerful message. Rarity wasn’t a vapid snob. Fluttershy wasn’t a background character who got made into the butt of the joke. Pinkie wasn’t a ditz. These were characters written to be empathized with. And writing about my own feelings from the perspective of Fluttershy felt... right. It took me a few years to fully process those feelings, but eventually, I realized the truth. I was a trans woman. And a cartoon about horses was the first step on my path to realizing this

In 2013, one of the roughest years of my life, I decided to download RPG Maker on a whim to give myself a distraction. Naturally, my first instinct was to make a game where Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash kiss. What was initially supposed to be a short, Fantastic Game-esque playground of silly little jokes spiraled out of control and became Super Lesbian Horse RPG, a game that I poured my heart and soul into over the course of a year. And then, a couple years later, my desire to preserve the ideas from my copyright-infringing fangame also spiraled out of control, as all my creative projects do, and became SLHRPG’s successor: Super Lesbian Animal RPG. SLARPG isn’t really a reskinned MLP fangame anymore--it’s more like a new game inspired in part by my old project. The story has been drastically rewritten, the characters changed, the levels and gameplay redesigned. Most of the cast of the new game wasn’t in the original project in any form. There’s much, much, much, much, much more new content than old left in the game. And the original game had already strayed so far from the canon anyway. But I’m also not sure it would exist without MLP

I made a bunch of friends online, including close friends I still have to this day. I met the people like Bee and Thomas who I’m still working with on SLARPG. Most importantly, because we both blogged about MLP and had some mutual friends, I met Anthony, the love of my life. We’ve been together for five years now and supported each other through good times and bad. This is the lamest, corniest, stupidest thing I will ever say in my life, but he’s the Rainbow Dash to my Fluttershy

...

So what about the finale itself? (spoilers, obviously)

I have... mixed feelings on the finale. There were some things that really annoyed me in there. But also, like I said, I cried, so I think it’s safe to say they did good overall

I think the thing that stuck in my craw the most was Discord. Which I guess shouldn’t be surprising. I’ve been saying for years now how I hate Discord, how he spits in the face of everything the show stands for. He’s an obnoxious elderly manchild who constantly causes problems on purpose and torments his so-called friends the second they stop paying attention to him. But they have to put up with him and give him infinite second chances, because he’s a god and Celestia said they had to reform him

The overarching plot of the final season is that Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, Tirek, and Cozy Glow (a Darla Dimple-esque filly villain from season 8) had teamed up with Grogar, a “new” villain taken from G1. While this goes on in the background, Twilight is making her preparations to become Celestia’s successor, as we’d known would be her destiny since the day she got wings six years ago. The villain team-up stuff was genuinely fun, and a highlight of the season for me. But then, in the three-part finale, it’s revealed that Grogar was actually Discord in disguise, and that he’d been intentionally trying to orchestrate a big attack on Twilight’s coronation so that she and her friends could save the day and get a big confidence boost going into her reign as princess. This is like... one of the most bafflingly stupid plot twist of all time. It’s literally the end of the show, and Discord has learned nothing. He’s “nice” now, but he’s still intentionally causing huge problems and putting everyone’s lives in danger to solve his problems. He freed four different villains they’d already defeated just so Twilight could beat them again, and in the process they literally blew up the goddamn castle in Canterlot and nearly killed everyone. And yet... they still forgive him, because they have to

I did, however, think that the last two-part adventure episode was fun overall. It tied a nice bow on much of the series, bringing back a bunch of old friends (including cameos from the movie cast!) to band together and save the day. Of course, in the end, they beat the bad guys with a big rainbow laser and sealed them in a statue. You know, even though a previous season finale was all about how solving their problems with a friendship laser and sealing the villains away never worked. Also, Cozy Glow might be evil, but she’s still literally a child? And now her petrified body is on display in the center of Canterlot? What the fuck????

I’m complaining a lot, but again. It was fun overall. It was nice to have one last big adventure, and to have the mane six reflect on how they’d grown since Twilight moved to Ponyville

...

And then we got the actual final episode. And boy did this one hit me HARD

I’m so glad that they ended on a quieter episode about the main cast’s friendships, because that’s what the show is actually about. The two-part adventures to save Equestria every season are fun, but that’s not the real show. We all came back every week for Twilight and her friends

There are things I can complain about here, too. Spike being a buff adult dragon with the voice of a child is fucked up. I’m still not used to seeing Twilight be Celestia’s size. But more than anything, I was always worried that we’d get a Harry Potter ending, where all the characters are paired off into arbitrary marriages so they can all have kids. Thankfully, this didn’t really happen. The only one who had a kid was Pinkie, who apparently got married to Cheese Sandwich (Weird Al’s character) at some point. Like, they literally shared two episodes together, with no hint of romance? But then they got married and had a kid off-screen??? What the fuck???? A lot of people also think that Fluttershy ended up with Discord, and I know I’m massively biased against that ship, but... I mean, they teased the FlutterCord shippers, but there wasn’t really any actual textual evidence that they were any closer than they had been previously. Y’all weirdos who ship Fluttershy with an obnoxious elderly man can interpret that as being “canon” if you want, I guess, but it’s not

The other relationship that shocked everyone in the finale was Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who... appear to be a couple? It’s definitely hinted at. I have... very, very mixed feelings about this. I mean, okay, obivously I’m the big FlutterDash fangirl. But I think AppleDash is cute, too! The problem is that, like... they’ve barely interacted in years? Like, they had a lot of episodes together in the first two seasons, but then the writers barely ever had them interact past that point. I can’t even remember when the last time we got an actual episode focusing on them was. And no, the one where Rainbow takes Granny Smith to pony Vegas doesn’t count

Like... yeah, it’s cute. It’s a nice gesture. Lyra and Bon Bon getting married in the background was also cute. But we can do so, so much better in 2019. We have so many explicitly canon lesbian couples in cartoons. Couples that actually kissed, or got married, or showed feelings for each other. Rainbow and AJ barely even fucking talked to each other in the final few seasons. I dunno, it just feels very hollow to me. Even the Equestria Girls crew admitting they were pushing RariJack felt more substantial to me, because at least they were given on-screen chemistry and lots of canon interaction

But in the end, complaints aside, the finale was about Twilight moving back to Canterlot, and worrying that her friendships would fade because of it. Honestly, I think this is what the finale of the show always would’ve been. It was the perfect story to end on. And boy, it hit really close to home

And then the last song happens, reflecting on how things have changed, but how they’re all still friends. And we see all the other friends they made along the way. And the camera zooms out, and the book from the opening of the very first episode closes, bringing the entire nine-year saga full circle

And then I started sobbing really hard in Anthony’s arms

...

I dunno. I just got done nitpicking a lot, but I still think that the last episode was a good and very emotional ending for the show

I’m going to miss this show dearly. I know it will be back in a new form, and that the leaks indicate that it’ll still star slightly different versions of the Mane Six. I’m also used to shows like this getting rebooted. Hasbro cartoons are honestly lucky to last past three seasons. FiM, on the other hand, got over 200 episodes, a theatrical film, a few specials, some shorts, a bunch of comics (which I still need to read), and a spinoff human AU series that was also really great. There’s no shortage of content, and I’m sure I’ll be returning to the series for years to come. I’m also glad that the show managed to go out on a high note

But still. It was a constant presence in my life for nearly nine years. Even as the quality got really hit or miss, even as they took the premise in strange directions, even as the crew of the show grew more and more dominated by men, it was still a show I could rely on to always be there, 26 episodes a year. I’ll miss it. I hope what comes next is just as good, if not even better. I also hope it’s gayer

I was going to end my ask blog, Fluttershy Replies, around the time the show ended. I’m not sure if I’ll do that just yet. I don’t know. I think that might be a bit much for me to process emotionally. Too many doors closing in my life in quick succession. But I do want to do more with it. These characters will be special to me for the rest of my life

I mean shit, I haven’t even drawn StarTrix yet. I’ve still got a lot of work to do with these horses, folks

#bobby thinks about horses

[wordswithkittywitch]

Barbie: A Fairy Secret

Well, it’s finally happening. I’ve lowered my standards enough to start posting my thoughts on Barbie movies. Well, my in-depth analysis so I can give all 37 (I’m counting both Barbie and the Rockers half-hour shorts as one movie. It was a continuing plot.) Barbie movies a rank based on my own arbitrary standards. And because it’s arbitrary, they are being scored out of 110 and I starting more or less randomly with the one I watched earlier this afternoon.

Barbie A Fairy Secret: Overall Score: 54/110 Why is it a score out of 110 instead of 100? Because Barbie gives 110%. Also because there are twelve categories, and only one of them is negative. Why is this score so low? Simply put, I’ve seen all the Barbie films and this isn’t the best one. I still enjoy it, and let’s find out why that is...

High points: 6/10      This is a genuinely funny movie, even if sometimes the jokes are so stupid you’re a little ashamed of laughing at them. Even if you’re watching as an adult, you have to accept this is fundamentally a kids’ movie and it’s going to be silly.      Now, of course there are some kids’ movies that don’t have this problem, and some of them are even in the Barbie series. But this is a film where Ken Matrix-dodges a puff of glitter.

     The architecture of Gloss Angeles and in particular the palace really steals the show; even if a lot of the floating platforms look like gold chocolate kisses hovering upside down. Beyond the gleaming gold and jewel-bright colours, we see a streaked pastel sky extending forever in all directions. Really. All directions. Raquelle asks how far away the ground is, and is quickly informed there is no ground.

Low points: -4/-10 The animation style wasn’t as polished as some of the later Barbie movies, and usually I can just ignore that, but it also lacked the pastel charm of some of the earlier ones. It was kind of in an awkward middle ground. The faces are a little stiffer than other films, and a lot of the emoting needs to be done with the body language.

And on a far more petty note, I don’t think that the name “Zane” sounds as much like a fairy as “Graciellla”. Or “Graylen”. Or even “Crystal”. “Taylor” is on about the same level of sounding like a fairy as “Zane” though.

WLW appeal: 6/10

I’m not saying that two women admitting that they both wanted to be closer but thought that the other one didn’t like them, hugging and then a rainbow of light transforms into fairies, shattering the cage they were in is necessarily lesbian subtext, but it’s really easy to read it that way. Especially since right after it happens Taylor says love is more powerful than a Passion Fairy’s anger.

However, Barbie and Raquelle’s moment of understanding each other pales in comparison to Taylor and Carrie’s relationship. The two are unquestionably close, never out of the other’s sight. However, the thing that made them read as most romantically involved to me wasn’t anything they did on screen: it was Princess Gracellia’s past history with them. When three people are close friends and two of them become so close they cut the third person out without realising they’ve upset them at all, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re dating, but any time I personally can say that I really lost a friend, it was a variation on that story. I’ve seen it in other people, and much to my disgust almost any time someone brings up that this is a problem, the blame falls on the “third wheel” for not realising that romantic love is obviously more important than any of their previous friendships, and suggesting that if they were emotionally mature they would just go off and fine someone to snog themselves, thus becoming a fully realised romantic being.

Okay, none of the romantic part of the last paragraph was textual, and I am definitely projecting at least a little bit; but this is a recurring theme across media, and it sucks, and I enjoy the fact I can avoid it. Yet another reason I have watched all the Barbie movies.

Ace Appeal:  4/10 I suppose this needs to be said at least once, and since this one is getting posted first, it’s a natural choice to get this disclaimer out of the way. No, I don’t think that anyone in Mattel offices ever stops and says, “Hang on. Does the plot of this children’s movie appeal to the sensibilities of adult asexuals?” However, I’m pretty sure there is some variation on “Not all kids like romance, and most parents want to keep the romance their kids see in media to be on the tame side, so we’ll have to pay attention to how much romance we put in and how it’s handled.” However, as an adult asexual, it is always freaking refreshing to have characters interested in something besides The Sex™, and the best place I have found to seek that is in children’s media.

In a movie aimed at adults, one would usually establish the main romantic couple with kissing, steamy stares, and other things that make your friends not want your partner hang out with the rest of the group. Or, in the case of The Airzone Solution, goosing your partner while she’s having a conversation with someone else, making her voice go up so high I finally recognise Nicola Bryant without her fake American accent. (by the way, if you’re looking for movies with asexual appeal, The Airzone Solution is not one of them.)

This is the face of a man who cannot unwatch The Airzone Solution.

Also, in a movie aimed at adults, no one can end in the same romantic relationship that they started in, which Barbie can avoid because the character of Ken cannot exist in a vacuum: Ken is Barbie’s boyfriend (the Barbie Vlogs/Dreamhouse Adventures timeline notwithstanding; especially given that there really is no question that in that particular timeline “Karbie is endgame” as the kids say.), all personality traits are related to this. If Ken appears in a Barbie movie, we know he already is Barbie’s boyfriend because Barbie is a wish fulfilment fantasy for young girls: As many rewarding careers as they like, a steady relationship with someone who adores them, a large group of friends, pretty much any material goods they can think of at their fingertips, and of course, magical powers. This, quite frankly, is why Barbie works as a woman somewhere in her twenties or thirties and why she doesn’t make as much sense when people try to age her down into a teenager. Seriously. That’s what Skipper is for. How can Barbie have a sixteen-year-old little sister if she herself is sixteen? It doesn’t make sense. But I’m getting off-topic.

This is a kids’ movie, so we establish that Ken and Barbie are dating by having them being adorable duelling with spoons over ice cream sundaes. And that’s why I’ve watched every Barbie movie ever made.

As I mentioned before, the subplot with Gracellia feeling cut out of Taylor and Carrie’s relationship feels very familiar to anyone whose friends distanced themselves for their all-important romance. And while this could happen to anyone, being dropped out of your alloromantic/allosexual friends’ lives when they discover dating is one of the most recognisable and most terrible parts of the asexual/aromantic experience. Does this mean that any of the characters present as asexual or aromantic? As usual, not necessarily. Gracellia clearly isn’t aromantic. But, also as usual, “I’ve been there! It sucks!” is a common step in headcanoning a character as ace. And even if they aren’t, it’s still relatable. We also see a happily married middle-aged couple, Reena and Graylen. Narratively, they exist to show that a marriage between a fairy and a human can work, but I could have seen way more of them being cute. But I like cute old married couples. Which may be weird for someone desperately looking for characters in any form of media who actually like their love interests and stay with them through the entire story instead of breaking up to add more drama. Anyone who has had their friends start dating knows that couples do not need to be breaking up to cause drama.

Graylen’s character design is almost exactly like the advisor in the Fairytopia series. You might not expect “older black fairy with gray muttonchops and friendly advice” to be a stock character in Barbie films, but there he is. Often, Barbie movies do not have a full mouth kiss in them. If there is, that is often because there’s a wedding ceremony. This is an example of the latter. The couple who isn’t married at the end, however, express their love by trying not to be married against their will. Still, no matter how relatable all of this is to an asexual, it does end in a very Midsummer Night’s Dream everyone paired off sort of way.

Entourage:  6/10

Raquelle- Those familiar with Life in the Dreamhouse already know Raquelle as Barbie’s self-proclaimed rival and a twisty bitch who lives for drama, making her one of the most enjoyable characters to watch. She has a different voice actress here, which can throw you a little. Especially if you’re trying to remember which My Little Pony voice actress has replaced her Life in the Dreamhouse voice actress.

Taylor- Ginger shoe fairy with a pink dress and a posh accent. Mostly responsible for the “tell Barbie the truth, go to Gloss Angeles, and rescue Ken” plan. 

Carrie- Brunette purse fairy with a purple dress. Probably the slower of the two. That said, even though she supplies much of the comic relief, it doesn’t stem from her being stupid, it stems from her never-emptying purse of visual gags. By the end, Carrie’s jokes have started to grate on Raquelle:

“I think this time I’ve got a home run!”

“Enough! It’s going to be a baseball bat, right?”

Art Style: 5/10 I’ll admit this isn’t my favourite era of Barbie movies as far as animation is concerned. The faces aren’t as emotive as some of the other styles of animation. Raquelle for one makes up for this with full-body sarcasm. The architecture in Gloss Angeles is really the highlight of the film’s visuals: with large amounts of sparkling crystal and gold curlicues putting one in mind of a jewellery box with it’s contents spilling out. Particularly in the fight scene between Ken and Zane, where they recreate the “Duel” bit from that 90s Gladiators show where the contenders sand on an elevated platform and hit each other with what appear to be large fancy cotton buds. The only difference is that the contenders have wings. The architecture is shown off nicely in the “welcome to Gloss Angeles” montage. Unlike films like a Mermaid Tale, they did not feel the need to put dozens of puns in this sequence, they just put wings on everything they could think of—dogs, cats, handbags, coffee cups, shopping bags…

Plot: 7/10 The plot takes place within the “Life in the Dreamhouse” continuity: Barbara Roberts is a highly successful celebrity who lives in Malibu with her three younger sisters, is dating her longtime boyfriend Kenneth Carson, and has a close group of friends, including Rochelle who openly hates all of them (barring Ken) but remains part of the social circle.

A jealous fairy named Crystal feeds Princess Graciella, ruler of the fairies, a love potion which makes he fall in love with Ken. Graciella kidnaps Ken and declares she will marry him that very day. Zane, Graciella’s previous boyfriend and also a fairy, challenges Ken to three successive duels as Ken tries to back out of this. Barbie and Rochelle, rival film stars, come to Ken’s rescue, aided by two fairies who have been living in the human world disguised as humans and working as Barbie’s personal stylists.

The whole thing feels a lot like Barbie does Comedia del Arte, which I love. A love square that is resolved with two couples at the end, a love potion, over the top comedic figures, a lovesick woman declaring she will marry someone she just met, the upper class characters being saved by the complex planning of their clever servants; if you accept personal stylists as the modern equivalent of a tiring maid.

Zane is probably the main reason I keep thinking Comedia del Arte when I’m watching this. And it’s not just that he has the same accent as el Captaino (a stock figure in Comedia del Arte. The foreign captain who is usually a comedic rival for the young lover). In his first scene, he challenges Ken to three successive duels: “So, you think I am not bold enough for two duels? For that, I challenge you to a third duel!” “Why not? I wasn’t doing anything after the second one anyway.”

I can’t help but think about how the plot would have been different if princess Graciella had drunk the love potion three seconds earlier and fallen in love with Rochelle instead of Ken. “I have to save my frienemy who has just graduated from pain in the ass to total bitch.” would have been a very different story to “I need to save my boyfriend.”  

The whole thing is a mess of consent and lack thereof. Crystal puts a spell on Graciella so she becomes obsessed with Ken, Graciella puts a spell on Ken so that a marriage proposal comes out of his mouth, much to his horror. And, if the whole “Comedia del Arte” thing hadn’t been running through my head the entire time, the fact that it pretty much starts and ends like A Midsummer Night’s Dream would have done it: Someone gives the queen of the fairies a love potion. She falls in love with the worst possible option. Humans get involved. The two romantic couples are sorted back into their ideal combination, the fairies convince the humans it was all really a dream. Even Carrie and Taylor reminding the audience of the secret at the end puts me in mind of Puck’s final speech.

The plot would have gotten a higher score if it hadn’t been for one plothole that seems to grow and shrink the more I examine it: Crystal was in love with Zane, but he was in love with Graciella. So she gets her hands on a love potion and uses it on… not Zane. I guess thought if he wasn’t in a relationship he would pick her on his own. Perhaps she wanted “real love” and was prepared to give her princess a chemically assisted version. We will never know.

Character design:  6/10

It’s not unusual for the cast to be wearing their best costumes in the final act of a Barbie film, but in this case this was achieved by putting most of them in fairly ugly outfits for most of the action.

The costuming was quite up to standards in the last fifteen minutes, but that leaves us with fifty seven minutes of unnecessary peplum to account for. 

Raquelle and Barbie appear in formal gowns for the red carpet premiere:

Raquelle wears a one-shoulder purple and blue gown with a lettuce edged wrap skirt with a high-low hem, simple blue teardrop earrings, and some excellent shoes.

As usual, Raquelle is quickly upstaged by Barbie, who wears a ruby pink bodice with a peplum hem over a bright violet mermaid skirt. These are accessorised with rhinestone rose jewellery and silver pumps, although the shoes are only revealed when Raquelle rips the back of her dress up to her thighs.

While these gowns only show up in the first scene, they are easily the best looks they wear in the film, which is understandable as they are the dresses worn by the dolls. The doll look sort of reappears at the start of the final act, where Barbie and Raquelle transform into their winged form from the dolls, which is the tops from their red carpet gowns on cocktail dresses.

Barbie’s rose peplum top melts much more pleasingly into the three flounces of her miniskirt, while Raquelle has a flounced A-line miniskirt with the slightest edge of silver and pink petticoats peeking out the bottom. A silver ruffle accents her neckline and compliments her wide silver belt. The looks are finished in both cases with those curling vine heels that Mattel was putting on all the fairy dolls in the early aughts. This is such a breath of good taste after their “normal” outfits from the main part of the film. 

After the premiere, the human characters really get the short end of the stick as far as costumes are concerned, and while I can see how it was important to make the humans visually distinct from the fairies, even when everyone is wearing “clip on” wings.

Raquelle spends most the movie in cobalt blue knee-length trumpet dress and a pink polka dot mini sweatshirt; which frankly should never have happened. The effect is completed with strappy silver heels which barely do not reach the end of leatherette black leggings. Sadly, the effect is “I dressed Barbie first and these are all the doll clothes I have left over”.

Barbie’s main look seems to be doing everything it can to keep a knee-length jean trumpet skirt with pink stitching from ruining the rest of the outfit. This is done with a pink and white striped tee and a half-sleeve black jacket. I don’t want to be too hard on this look, I’ll admit, because I can see my sister wearing something like that, but hopefully a more flattering cut of skirt.

But then again, I’ve always hated trumpet miniskirts; I hated them when they were in style, I hate  them now that they aren’t, and I hate the fact I owned two because that’s what was for sale at Walmart in the mid 2000s and I hadn’t taken to making most of my own clothing yet. I called them “crotch ruffle skirts”. I was a bitch in high school.

 Miss Roxelle appears very briefly in a tasteful white and gold two piece pencil skirt suit. As a fashion designer and the older fairy who they come to for help, it makes sense that she has a classy, mature vibe.  

For the wedding, Ken gets a fashion upgrade from “we put him in a plaid shirt to make him look more heterosexual” (which was kind of ruined by the teal and metallic gold palette) to “one of those really tacky heterosexual wedding toppers” for the wedding scene. The horror of someone tied up and being forced to marry someone they barely know is somewhat diminished by the image of groomsmen elbowing each other and chuckling, “As usual, am I right, men?” That said, matching the pattern on his lapels to the pattern on his wings was a nice touch.

Crystal takes the purple/green slightly alternative route in villain costume design: fingerless gloves, cropped vest, stripy skirt, asymmetrical bob, purple leggings and black ankle boots.

And interestingly, she is the only fairy who presents as a girl who has dragonfly wings. I’m not going to say that this means Crystal is transgender, but I am definitely going to be thinking about that for a while. Part of me thinks, “Sure, why not, that’s probably going to happen in fairy society as much as human”, and part of me thinks, “Usually it’s the heroes or sidekicks in Barbie movies that get queercoded.” So let’s just move past Crystal’s boyish wings.

I spend a lot of time Graciellla is on screen trying to figure out how her hair is accomplished. Like most Barbie characters, it looks physically possible so that it can be recreated on a doll. It looks as if two French braids were started on her head, then the loose hair was tucked under itself, a little bit like a rolled chingon.

It probably is related to the fact her standard outfit is pretty basic: a petal pink strapless cocktail dress with a rose pink sash. It’s accessorised with a mess of pink rhinestone jewellery to set off her tiara.

Zane starts off in a fantasy style purple vest and striped jeans in a desaturated purple palette: The gold trim and collar pushes it towards the high fantasy fairies were meant to be, but it appears that halfway down the design they realised that they wanted it to be reflective of modern fashion and gave him pinstriped jeans. Don’t get me wrong, I love purple pinstriped jeans, I own purple pinstripe jeans, but they don’t go with his top. High fantasy and mid-2000s fashion are hard looks to marry, and I’m objecting to this example. Now, I could have forgiven him for wearing knee-high boots and cuffing his trousers to show them off, if they weren’t striped jeans and black combat boots. He’s half pirate and a half “I just came from a Green Day concert”. And he tries so hard to make it work. Wearing the exact same outfit in white and gold to his wedding was a choice. Once of several stupid choices made by Zane over the course of this movie.

Zane goes full Star Trek Next Gen for his combat jumpsuit: And honestly, I kind of love it. The gold and cobalt blue set each other off beautifully, the wide gold stripes down Zane’s legs, the elegantly tooled golden breastplate, the spirals of gold coming up his boots to the wide gold edging.

We actually see the slits the back of Zane’s jacket when he gets on his knees to propose to Graciella, and all of the feminine fairies (except for Crystal, as mentioned before) are wearing tube tops and off-the shoulder dresses so that they can dress without damaging their wings. But it appears that his wings are emerging from narrow slits in the back of his vest. Which might account for why the masculine fairies have smaller, narrower wings; more like a dragonfly than a butterfly. And it might also account for why Crystal has dragonfly wings and a cropped vest.

Finally, we have Taylor and Carrie, who ride the line between fantasy fashion and human fashion by wearing some fairly simple, “this looks like a doll” dresses. They also look far more like a “set” than any other characters because while their outfits look different, they are comprised out of the same basic elements: A dress with a fitted satin bodice, capped sleeves, and a flounced circle skirt accessorised with a short bead necklace, simple earrings, a headband and a side ponytail. The only real difference between them is their magical focuses:

Carrie, being a purse fairy, has a glittery doctor-style handbag; so called because the frame opens out like an old doctor’s visiting bag, not because like the Tardis it is bigger on the inside. Though both are true. Taylor has magenta glitter peek-toe platforms with knee-high laces with wings on the heel and rosettes on the toe. Raquelle admits, “If I had to trust my life to one pair of shoes, it would be those.” as Taylor chirps: “The more fabulous my shoes, the stronger my magic!” Me too, buddy, me too.

Music:  3/10

There is really only the main theme, Can You Keep a Secret? which plays over the opening and closing credits. It’s peppy, it’s happy, it’s not so stupid you’re grating your teeth, but ultimately it’s pretty forgettable. It serves its purpose and allows the story to move on. It plays again during the “welcome to Gloss Angeles” montage.

Animal companion:  4/10 Halfway through the movie, Pegaponies show up and help the humans with their difficulty in flying with clip-on wings. The pegaponies show up, transport the main characters to the palace, and are never heard from again. They do not talk or exhibit greater than animal intelligence, but however they do greatly advance the Rochelle and Barbie friendship plot by allowing the two of them to discuss how their relationship, and their animosity, formed. All pegaponies are recolours of the same mesh: a stocky, small horse with a striped mane and sparkly lace-like wings. The heroes all ride sidesaddle, partially because they’re all in dresses and partially because they all have wings themselves. While I usually subscribe to the less-is-more approach to pets in Barbie movies, in this case more might have been more.

Antagonists:  7/10 Zane- Since Barbie has Raquelle, it only makes sense that Ken gets someone who declares himself his rival as Ken protests that they aren’t actually pursuing the same goal. And like Raquelle, Zane is over the top and hilarious. He’s probably my favourite part of the movie. Graciellla – Crown Princess of Gloss Angeles, because “queen” sounds evil unless you’ve got a kid. While she isn’t exactly a bad person, she spends most of the film trying to force someone who isn’t in love with her to marry her. Actually, that is in fact pretty bad, but it is slightly mitigated by the fact she’s under a love spell. Remember kids, love spells aren’t consent! She spreads the awful cycle of “fairies don’t need no consent” by magicing a proposal out of Ken’s mouth inbetween his protestations to let him go. So, even though she changes her plan as soon as she’s not under a spell, she still has the whole “I’m an immoral fairy who really doesn’t care how much I mess up human lives” thing going on, which I also enjoy. Kids have to learn to fear the fey sooner or later. Crystal- From her arm-warmers to her stripes, here’s the soft grunge girl here to punish the preps for existing. Well, to punish everyone around her for the sorry state of her love life. Unrequited love stinks. Of course, what makes her a villain instead a tragic hero is that she is perfect content to ruin as many lives as it takes to get what she wants. Again, fairies tend to be amoral. Raquelle- Only an antagonist in that she remains Barbie’s self-proclaimed rival, and pain in the rear, even as she joins her quest to save Ken. To be fair, at no point does Raquelle stop thinking of herself as Ken’s friend. Partnering with a rival to save a mutual friend is probably Raquelle’s most antihero moment across all media she appears in. So while there’s a lot of antagonists, ranging from rivals to villains to “manic force of nature” I would have a difficult time saying, “You know what movie has some great antagonists? A Fairy Secret.” Although it definitely gets points for variety.

Doll Tie-in:  4/10

Comparing the doll commercial to the movie, I get the feeling that the people making the commercial hadn’t been given the plot to the movie before writing the script for the advertisement.

Personally, as someone who just genuinely likes dolls, I don’t like the moulded on bodices, since they limit the number of dresses you can put over them. I get the idea that the moulded on swimsuits are to give the dolls some vestige of dignity when the girls are leaving them undressed.

As for “transforming dresses”, the Fairy Secret dolls all have variations on the “skirt folds out into wings” gimmick.

This was also the period where the doll designers decided that plastic moulded curlicue laces going all up a doll’s shins said “fairy fashion”, and that, I’ll admit, I like.

At least the faces have better moulds than the characters in the films.

#Kittywitch has watched every Barbie film #Barbie #reviews #meta #Barbie: a Fairy Secret

[isaackuo]

Starco Week5 Wrap-up!

This week was really fun! It was nice for someone to actually see the silly comics I draw! Normally, hardly anyone even notices so I rarely put in the effort of a multi-panel comic.

Here are links and explanations to my Starco Week 5 comics:

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185176588866/awkward

The one that started it all for me! I actually didn’t even notice there was a Wedding prompt later in the week. I just saw a post about “Awkward Dating Moments” and the Kellco shipper in me thought of a cute little comic that MAXIMIZED STARCO AWKWARDNESS.

So I thought, why not? It was only 3 little panels, and it mostly involved me drawing Kelly - who I find easy to draw. And I thought it was freaking hilarious.

EXPLANATION:

This comic refers to Booth Buddies, a “memorable” episode among us Starco shippers. In it, Kelly and Marco are on a wedding date, until Star Butterfly yoinks Marco away to the infamous photo booth. Then things get a little weird. In this comic, Kelly gets back by yoinking Marco to be her breakup buddy “booth buddy”, when Marco and Star are on a “wedding date” ...

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185223809716/yeah-im-a-bad-boy-princess

This one was the toughest for me, and also the weakest. I don’t follow AUs and I’m not used to thinking in terms of AUs. I tried to study the Bad Boy AU a bit, but I couldn’t think of any funny jokes for it. Honestly, I just went with the first idea I finally thought of which was vaguely funny.

EXPLANATION:

This comic references a few of the “bad” things canon Star actually did:

1) Trash a cop car in Star vs Echo Creek

2) Shoot a cop chopper out of the sky in Sad Teen Hotline

3) Murder the MHC in Cleaved

But “nice” AU Star wouldn’t do that stuff, right? So Bad Boy Marco picks up the slack for her. So ... it’s funny? I dunno, I think my sense of humor is too obtuse a lot of the time. You really need to be in deep with the show to even remember the stuff I’m referencing and make the connections?

I guess either you “get it” or ... oh well.

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185220760531/starco-snugs

Haha, this one was “controversial”. I mean ... if you read my stuff then you know I think Star was addicted to the thrill of having both Marco and Tom, the same way Marco was addicted to the thrill of two timing with Star and Hekapoo (in Night Life). I think this was cute and tragi-comic, and it’s one of my favorite parts of Star Butterfly’s character. Let her have her distinctive flaws, okay?

But apparently this also cuts a bit too close to home, since it’s one of the things hardcore Tom stans criticize Star for (both the character and the show).

Anyways ... while everyone else was going sweet lovey-dovey, I went a bit freaky. I mean ... I think of this as romantic, but maybe I’m just weird that way. Like ... just imagine. Marco Diaz consoling Star every night for breaking up with Tom, and then he gets hit by “Mind Eraser” so he gets to do it again tomorrow. Isn’t that romantic?

EXPLANATION:

This comic is based on the “Mind Eraser” spell Eclipsa teaches Moon in Total Eclipsa the Moon. It’s one of my favorite spells to make jokes around, because it’s basically the flashy thing from Men in Black.

So I ponder ... what if Star really went all out using “Mind Eraser” and she went completely nuts taking advantage of it on Marco Diaz? Okay, in Here to Help, Star rushed to skip the awkward talky talky stuff and went straight for a kiss first. Maybe she’s used to it because she’s had the confession talk with Marco dozens of times already?

Oh, I also snuck in a joke referring to how Tom didn’t let Star kiss him on the lips after they broke up. As such, the only actual Tomstar kiss shown was the Lava Lake Beach kiss Marco saw from a distance. A bit mean to the Tomstar shippers, don’t you think?

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185256268271/when-is-this-state-going-to-end-starco-road

Road Trip was a challenge for me. I wanted to minimize drawing effort since my arm was sore, but I also wanted to depict a long amount of time. So I was thinking of them taking turns driving, but I switched to a bicycle based on Honey and Clover. Using a bicycle also allowed posing them in cute ways not available with a car, so it all worked out!

I was also thinking to try and cram in a joke about Star not being able to just use magic - using the Thor reaction gif to Steve Rogers not having the internet to look up the weather meme ... but ultimately it just didn’t fit. Also, I wanted to minimize drawing effort.

EXPLANATION:

Not much going on here - there’s really only one joke. But the cuteness of Star slumping on Marco really sells this one. Apparently, everyone else also thought so, since this ended up being pretty popular.

Oh, I suppose the sheer absurdity of doing an interstate bicycle trip eastward from the California coast is also a bit funny.

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185303660951/isaackuo-sword-fight-club-xover-double-fight

I initially struggled with this prompt. I mean ... crossover double date? It’s just weird to me. How do they even know each other? How did they meet? It makes no sense?

Well, a classic Douglas Adams writing trick is to take what you’re stuck on and turn it around. And so I did. How do they even know each other? THEY DON’T. It’s just some random “Fight Club App” meetup. Once I had that epiphany, it was a matter of figuring out what couple would be the funniest to fight ...

EXPLANATION:

I’m proud of all the jokes I packed in here. Of course, we start off with the fact that this “date” is a random “Fight Club App” thing. Not only that, but it’s a Sword Fight Club. Like that’s a thing. You’re just going to randomly fight some strangers with swords. Like you’re in freaking Highlander except there’s no Prize or whatever.

But it’s funny because getting into some random fights is indeed the sort of thing Star and Marco would do for a fun date! Same with Steven and Connie, really (although this is more along the lines of Steven and Amethyst wrt Tiger Millionaire).

Then there’s the fact that Marco Diaz wore baby Mariposa to a sword fight. Who even does that? Oh right ... Queen Solaria and Queen Eclipsa. Which fandom didn’t question at all ... we just thought it was cute.

Star’s “We’re fighting kids?” is a reference to Alone Together, when Kevin freaks out that Stevonnie is actually two kids.

Marco is okay with fighting a kid, since his Season 1 karate nemesis was 8 year old Jeremy Birnbaum (remember him?).

The slit eyes Mariposa give Steven are based on the way baby Meteora looks at Marco.

Connie’s right - Star and Marco are 15 ... not all that much older than she is. But Star has been through a lot of serious stuff making her grow up young. She has lost touch with what teenagers even do (as she noted in Cornonation).

Star’s shocked at Steven’s age the same way Connie was shocked when she learned Steven’s age.

Even though Steven’s age disconnect is caused by wibbly wobbly gem hybrid growth rates, Marco assumes it’s because he “Did time in the Neverzone”. I had fun rewording that phrase until it implied something like doing a prison sentence.

The final kicker is baby Mariposa revealing she’s almost as old as Connie. This calls up fandom mixed feelings about Neverzone age ambiguity and what the heck this implies after Gone Baby Gone. And I mean ... you all saw it coming, right? You knew baby Mariposa had to be there for a reason, right? It’s funny because you see it coming a mile away.

Needless to say, this one is the one I’m most proud of. I had so much fun writing and rewriting it in my head until it was perfect! The only bad thing is that you need to be pretty familiar with both Star vs the Forces of Evil and Steven Universe to get all the jokes. But hey ... my sense of humor is obtuse like that.

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185295564211/the-honey-moon-ball-starco-wedding-prompt

This was another tough one. I already blew my best wedding joke on Day 1, and I didn’t even notice there was a Wedding Day prompt at the time!

I struggled and struggled to come up with anything. So I just latched onto the first joke I came up with. In lieu of good jokes, I tried to sell this one with sweet cute character art showing Tom being dashing and Starco being lovey dovey. Still ... this is one of my weaker ones.

EXPLANATION:

Obviously this is based on the Blood Moon Ball/Curse, but this time Tom’s hitting them with a different curse - the Honey Moon Curse.

As we find out in Curse of the Blood Moon, Star didn’t pay attention to the MC and she thought the Blood Moon light was just a fun party light. So in this comic, she’s just obliviously caressing Marco while he questions what Tom means.

I initially thought of Tom explaining that he was confused about what Marco had previously meant when he said he wanted a “honeymoon”. But then, I thought it would be funnier if it’s simply ambiguous whether or not Tom is being spiteful or a silly practical joker or what. Sometimes it’s funnier when there’s a psychological tension - you don’t know what Tom’s thinking/feeling.

https://isaackuo.tumblr.com/post/185313724836/toy-star-starco-week-5-prompt-au-of-choice

Another one which was initially tough for me. I’m just not familiar with AUs, so I knew I’d have to make up my own. But what? Nothing clicked until ... TOY STORY! After that stroke of brilliance, there were too many ideas. The hard part was paring things down into a manageable short comic.

I’m most proud of the INSANE look of Princess Star tapping her Wand at Diaz. And also the Pony Head box for Princess Star.

Anyway, the great thing about Toy Star is that I didn’t need to fill in much detail in order for the reader to imagine a whole world around it. I mean ... we all know and love Toy Story. It’s part of our cultural consciousness. So it’s really easy to imagine some fun enemies-to-buddies story just from a few suggestions.

EXPLANATION:

The boxed Princess Star bonking Diaz off the bed is actually not quite how it happened in Toy Story. But close enough! (We don’t actually get to see the majesty of a boxed Buzz Lightyear until Toy Story 2.)

Princess Star has ball jointed arms similar to Buzz Lightyear while Diaz is a flexible stuffed doll like Woody. I left off “Butterfly” because “Princess Star” feels more self centered and self important.

Diaz is named “Diaz” just to make Jackie’s line sound more intimate and personal.

Mermaid Jackie is, of course, a reference to the popular fan theory that Jackie was a mermaid. This “Sunny Atlantis” mermaid is a reference to the Pixar short Knick Knack. She’s an aquarium decoration, rather than a toy. This is a reference to how Woody’s girlfriend Bo Peep was also not a toy (she was a lamp).

The mermaid in Knick Knack has shades rather than eyes. So that’s why mermaid Jackie is lifting up shades to look down toward Diaz.

The panel where Diaz is getting out from under Adam’s bed is directly based on a Toy Story screenshot. The original does have a cactus pictured on the bedspread. I thought it would be kinda funny if it’s ambiguous what sort of “cactuses” broke Diaz’s fall.

The “must be some mistake” panel is also directly based on a Toy Story screenshot.

Princess Star immediately trying to Narwhal Blast Diaz indicates she’s even crazier than Buzz Lightyear. Buzz merely shifted around pointing his laser arm at Woody. Oh - the “psycho” look in her face really sells this, I think.

The fact that Princess Star is somehow aware she has to tap the button on her wand to activate it is ... well I think it’s funny. (The button placement, of course, is plainly designed for human use.)

Princess Star requesting a nearby Quest Buy is a reference to Quest Buy, the episode where they go to Quest Buy to buy a wand charger. “Or do you still use Plutonium” is a reference to Buzz’s technobabble “distolic fusion” ... but I thought the use of real world “Plutonium” would give the joke a bit more kick (sort of a Back to the Future reference also).

Diaz answering “we’ve got double-A’s” is a reference to Toy Story where Woody says the same thing.

“Look, new friend,” is something Star Butterfly would say, but with a flat attitude more like Buzz Lightyear. This indicates Princess Star has a bit different personality than canon Star Butterfly. It fits in more with Toy Story, helping the reader imagine how this Starco relationship will play out.

“Multiverse High Command” is a mashup of “Magical High Commission” and “Star Command”. The threat of the multiverse being destroyed is something Queen Moon warns Star in Star Comes to Earth. The spiel where Princess Star explains her mission is similar to Buzz Lightyear explaining his mission. Presumably, it’s written on her Ponyhead box. Again, all this stuff helps the reader imagine how this Starco relationship will play out.

Diaz’s “You’re a toy” is, of course, a reference to Woody trying to explain to Buzz Lightyear that he’s just a toy.

“I believe the term you’re looking for is ‘Magical Princess from Another Dimension’“ refers to a similar Buzz Lightyear line, as well as how canon Star introduces herself to Marco Diaz in Star Comes to Earth.

But really ... there are SO many memorable Toy Story lines that cramming in references is like shooting fish in a barrel. Too easy! But still fun!

Of all the silly ideas I put out there for Starco Week 5, Toy Star is perhaps the one which has gotten some interest. It’s begging to be fleshed out. I welcome anyone to do whatever they want with it!

And again, a big thanks to everyone who read my stuff, followed, reblogged, and such! Especially, of course, @starco-week

#starcoweek5 #starco #svtfoe #star vs the forces of evil #Thoughts #myart

[septembersung]

I'm curious about the kind of picture book you consider "useless"/"twaddle". Intuitively I know some picture books really are terrible, but I can't put into words why.

A great question!! The tl;dr answer is, twaddle is “junk food for the brain.” Some of it’s delicious in small doses, but you don’t want a steady diet of it. Some twaddle is straight up bad for you. Some of it is only good in limited ways, or for a certain time, or in small doses. There’s gradations of twaddle, and not all of it is without merit. When I’m making choices for my kids, I take a “I’ll know it when I see it” approach.

The long version begins with a contrast: The Charlotte Mason definition of a “living book” is a book by a single author written interestingly and with passion for the subject matter. It should fully engage the reader. Textbooks, on the other hand, are “spine books” - useful for research, but not to be the primary or only text for the subject. So “twaddle” books by contrast are fluffy, gimmicky books - candy or junk food for the brain. They’re frequently shallow, and often in series, written a particular format. At the link to living books an example of “twaddle” is the Magic Tree House series. She noted that they’re not “bad,” but they’re not great literature - so she wouldn’t read them aloud to her son, but they were a good transition for him from simple books to real chapter books when reading on his own, and did spark an interest in a number of different subjects.  So although twaddle, they weren’t entirely meritless for her family. (I agree, and also have other beef with MTH, but that’s another post.)

Since I don’t have any independent readers yet it’s easy for me to pick good chapter books to read aloud, but as they look at picture books independently and ask to be read them all the time, and I am periodically the recipient of large numbers of picture books, I’ve had to take things in hand. Last year I was given as gifts stacks and stacks of paperback Scholastic books. Most of them seemed “cute” or harmlessly quirky at first glance, but most of them really are junk food for the brain. (Scholastic has also started pushing progressive ideologies pretty heavily; their newer offerings are full of landmines.) I’ve also started to recognize that outside silly fluff stories there’s also twaddle in nonfiction in this style - if you accumulate enough of it, it’s just a bunch of flashy packaging meant to ‘grab attention’ and the same surface information over and over again.

Some examples of twaddle: The Princess and the Pony, Curious George*, Magic Tree House, The Littlest Valentine, Fly Guy Presents..., most recent Thomas the Train stories. 

*The original handful of CG stories are an exception. The same applies to The Magic School Bus, but aside from the little MSB paperbacks that are pure retellings of the classic episodes, even the gimmicky, later-produced ones have enough science in them to be worth keeping around the house. The later CG books, on the other hand, have very little actual science information in them. I categorize CG science as “useful twaddle” and shelve them with the MSB books.

It’s been really useful for me to revisit this because while there are elements of Charlotte Mason’s approach that I like, such as the concepts of living books and twaddle (and the emphasis on outdoor time), there’s a reason I’m attached to classical education. CM has some great angles and overlaps in some ways with Classical education, but Classical education is language-focused, Catholic (or rather, the fullness of it is, although the link there is to a Protestant educator), and consciously follows the trivium, for starters. 

#catie-does-things #my homeschooling tag