La communication dangereux.

Hey! Our first multi-parter! This story only has two, though I’ve planned for a few that are slightly longer, not by much (well, except for the big one, but let’s not get into that just yet). Further, we’re on Facebook now! You can totally “like” us or “follow” us or whatever it is people do on Facebook. I’ll be honest, I never bothered to have anything to do with it until someone suggested it might help drum up publicity. Call me old fashioned, but I still have a soft spot for instant messaging and IRC.

ANYHOW! Let’s celebrate by addressing a whole bunch of little topics!

After two agonizing months, I finally nabbed the 10” Fluttershy Funrise plush! And right after I pre-ordered the full set of 10” Aurora plush, and right before the announcement of the 4th Dimension plush. Am I bitter? I don’t know a soul who could be with a Fluttershy within constant hugging distance. If anyone needs me, I’ll be under this pile of felt animals, giggling like a schoolgirl.

Good for Mane6! I’ve known fan projects throw in the towel for far less, and while I’m not 100% convinced that we’ll see a final release of Fighting is Magic in the end, I still have more faith in this team than I ever did with Sonic 2 HD. In the face of some profoundly vocal opposition, I stand by my statement that it was a jerk move by Hasbro, but I’d rather not dwell on my past rantings. At this point, I really don’t care if I ever actually play this game; I want to see it successfully released out of principle, and because I think the dev team deserves the satisfaction of completion.

I can’t say I understand the perspective of anyone chucking in the towel after Alicorn Twilight. I wrote the last comic in jest of someone purely overreacting, but then I found out that’s how a few people were legitimately responding! Let’s clear something up: Yes, it’s terrifying that Hasbro corporate seems to be pushing certain directions to better appeal to the age demographic that they actually sought in the first place, and I think it’s a blunder that they’re not pandering to us more than the occasional thrown bone, but the silver lining has always been that they’ve hired people who very clearly do give a crap about what this franchise means to people, including many on the writing staff. If season 4 gets released and Twilight becomes a ditzy, bland princess, crippling Faust’s original vision for the show, then sure, throw a justified fit. When Equestria Girls becomes the awful high-school tween drivel that I can’t help but expect it to be, by all means, riot. Heck, I’ll stand there on the front lines with you. But I’m not going to panic until I know there’s something worth panicking about, and right now, there isn’t.

I do fear Equestria Girls. I look at the rumored concept art, and I can’t help but think it’s a sad grab at the Monster High audience. As a teacher, I’m exposed to a lot of crazy crap, including, recently, Scholastic Book Fair preview videos. Most were pretty good, and man can that Lemony Snicket sell a book, but then we get to a preview for the Monster High novelization. I know I was basically watching an extended commercial, but it was supposed to be for books. The author spent the entire time describing the characters and emphasizing the terrible puns that the franchise uses to make everything sound vaguely spooky. All I got out of it was that there were a bunch of girls without clear personalities, they go to a school, they’re totally BFFs, and there might be some kind plot…somewhere… I think? This is why I fear Equestria Girls. We’ve got a taste of the good stuff from kid culture. We can’t go back to how things were before. We just can’t.

I’ve finally decided it’s time for me to start getting into MLP fan music. Considering my love of OC Remix and comedy music, it’s a crying shame I hadn’t before, and there’s only so many times I can listen to “A True, True Friend” on repeat until it’s time to snag new tunes. If you’ve got some good recommendations on where to start, I’d be happy to take them. Just know that I’m a massive stickler for fan work remaining true to the spirit of the show, so I don’t recommend starting me on some speed metal dirge about Rarity struggling with drug addiction, no matter how much you love it.

I’ll toss out a few more mini-discussions when we finish “Trial by Fire.”

Who am I kidding? I could listen to “A True, True Friend” on repeat indefinitely.
GX