Plentiful Ponies. Surprise!
So as some of you know, yesterday was the premiere of Season 3 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. If you haven't seen the episode yet, it's here. I also recently attended EQLA, so I have various pictures to share!
There are a thousand other things I should be doing, like grading and cleaning. Whatever, ponies.
First of all, and this is bragging rights:
The Great and Powerful Trixie!
You would not believe what I went through to get this done.
The Great and Powerful Trixie as she naturally is.
Initially, I got the Fan Favorites Collection, because it was the only way to get Nightmare Moon, and, I thought, Trixie.
I'm still not sorry I did. It was really the only way to get hold of Nightmare Moon. For a while there, Nightmare Moon was being sold on eBay on her own for a larcenous $50, which is the cost of the whole collection. (Or was it 39.99?)
She's still in the packaging. Yeah, yeah, whatever, I'm fussy about doing their hair and stuff. Dash is the next up to be styled.
Trixie's also in the collection:
I was sort of surprised to see the blue and white hair, since I remembered it from the cartoon--incorrectly--as just white. I like Collection! Trixie--she has this neat glittery cutie mark.
Then I was in Target for some other reason, and thought oh-so-casually, "hmm, I wonder if there are any Trixies or Lyras there--not as though I know exactly where the Pony aisle is, of course, it's just that I might as well." And much to my surprise, there they were!
There was actually another Lyra there, too. I briefly thought about buying the extra and shipping her off to another good and deserving pony fan who couldn't find her, but then I didn't. I'm sorry. Anyway, Lyra's also still in her packaging, I'm afraid.
Getting Trixie's hat just so was a pain in the keister. I actually made one, found some purple thread and replaced the pink thread I'd used, made another, decided I liked the first better, and went with that. The problem is that it doesn't work very well to stitch it inside out and turn it rightside in. It usually ends up too small.
It's also deceptively simple-looking. It's actually three layers: a lilac satin lining, purple felt, and a gauzy overlay with stars embedded in it. I jacked up the bling factor with some nice AB crystal rhinestones I had kicking around the place.
It's also got two wire circles: one to fit around Trixie's ears (the inner circle) and the brim. The brim can be bent for a movement effect. The bathroom's not a particularly glamorous place for photos, but it's easier to see what I did:
I'm still not totally happy with the cloak. The collar is thready and unfinished, but you can't quite tell under the ribbon. Anyway, if Trixie makes an appearance in Season 3, we are both ready.
I'm not even a giant Trixie fan. It's just that she didn't look right without her hat, and you can't bust your rump working on a pony without developing a fondness for her.
Now, on EQLA:
I enjoyed myself, though in some ways it was a little . . . strange? I know! I know! Totally hypocritical from someone coming out of HP fandom! Maybe it was because it was the first totally one-fandom con I've ever been to other than a HP con. There wasn't a whole lot to do: one room for panels, and then an artists/vendor's room/craft fair. The panel room was great for popular things like Lauren Faust and the writers and voice actors, but not so much for smaller things.
I got there early on Saturday so I could go to the rehairing and customizing panel. I LOVED it and wish there had been more of it. In fact, I would have loved to have a whole separate room for demos of pony crafts. (The people painting blind bags, etc.) I could have happily spent an hour or more with that, plus some chance to look at the materials, really see up close how the rooting tools were used, etc. As you can see, fooling around with pony hair makes me happy.
There was a voice actor's panel--I went to both of them--and I went to one writer's panel. I really enjoyed the voice actors. Michelle Creber, who does the voice of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's voice, is cute as a button, and during the first session, she was wearing a sort of Apple Bloom costume. Tara Strong was late for the first panel, but that was ok. She was at the second one. LA traffic truly is the pits: I'd planned to go to a Harry Potter Bowling Night and bailed when I saw the sig alerts. The first question was some strange thing about Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash which I didn't follow, and neither did the voice actors, on purpose. As time went on, the questions became more rigorously screened.
Mostly I couldn't hear them very well, and I was righteously pissed off about that. Honestly, who goes to a voice actor panel and talks through it? I gave some guys the Professor Hairy Eyeball. I'm a pro, and it often works. Then I tried the head twist, and then the full out whole body twist, along with the uptilted head and the "Who, sir, are YOU?" facial expression. Did not work. Finally, I resorted to the finger at the lips and a repeated umpire across the throat cut. This did work. I also had to lean across to one young lady who was taking a cell phone call: "Stop that right now." But yeesh--in a voice actors' panel? The next time I sat close up front where I wouldn't be so annoyed.
The writers were pretty interesting. I did like what M.A. Larson said about the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy episode. They're so straightjacketed by that damned "Dear Princess Celestia, here is the obvious moral" thing. He said they flat out had nothin', so that's what Applejack says: "I didn't learn anythin'. I was right all along!" They also said which character they like writing best/find easiest to write. Amy Rodgers Keating said Pinkie Pie, which figures. M.A Larson said Rarity (thank you!) I cannot remember who said Rainbow Dash. I don't remember which episodes she wrote, but I've got a bone to pick with how the writers often do Rainbow Dash. She's easy to write--hell, even I've done it. Egotistical characters are the bomb. I love them. And the no-filter thing is tremendous fun. But you really do have to be careful with them. I like her best in episodes like Hurricane Fluttershy, which sticks in lots of different things about her: serious determination to do her job (yes, really), competitiveness, genuine need for her friend's support, actual attempt to understand what it's like for those of us who have no athletic skills Fluttershy. Sometimes they go way overboard with her and she loses any sympathetic qualities.
There was also a panel with Lauren Faust, and in a way, I didn't find it that terribly interesting, because she's already said so much of it in previous interviews. One thing that she said that WAS interesting: someone asked about the episodes where there's prejudice towards ponies, e.g., Gilda's and the dragons "ponies are uncool, ponies are lame" thing. She said that echoed, not racism, but the attitude people have towards girls and girl stuff, i.e., ponies, and that she was very intentional about that. I don't know why that didn't get ringing applause.
[This has stuff about the Pony That Must Not Be Named. It's documentation, and that's all--please no stuff about it in the comments, ok?]
There were huge long lines to ask questions. One person asked something about how she created "Ditzy Doo" and why the crossed eyes, and she pointed out that she did not create the crossed eyes. That was a storyboard artist thing. The storyboard artists have a lot to do with the interesting stuff. The writers had the Cutie Mark Crusaders going bowling, but it's the storyboard artists who added the ponies who looked like the guys in The Big Lebowski. Anyway, she said the name "Derpy," which made a lot of people freak out, and then the organizers ran down the line and I could hear "no more Derpy questions, no more Derpy questions, you guys." I'm not going to get into that particular mare's nest, but y'know, if something hurts someone's feelings, just maybe drop it? Oh, well.
The next day they had the person who creates the background music. That was also very interesting. I enjoyed his commentary that all the main characters have a musical "theme." I can't believe that I didn't notice Rarity's harpsichord theme! I'm going to go back and try to pick out the other ones. That was the only panel I asked a question in, because they ran out of questions. I asked if it was his idea to use "Ride of the Valkyries" in "May The Best Pet Win" and he said no, it was Jayson Thiessen's. In fact, his reaction was "really? Seriously?" But it's so perfect! I mean, Ride of the Valkyries is all about badass ladies riding badass winged horses on the stormclouds and swooping into battle badassedly, so why not cut out the middleman and have a badass lady pony? Works for me! (Incidentally, Valkyries don't have "meaningful relationships," so that nukes the whole "I ship Dash with everypony" thing.)
And then there was the vendors room and the Best Thing Ever, which was a woman's G1 pony collection. Her personal toys from her childhood. And I took lots of pictures. For your enjoyment:
Yup, that is original Applejack.
Just freaking cute: no other reason. Oh no, wait: That's Lucky, I think, the first boy pony.
These are the early EARLY ponies, the first eight, from what she told me.
Closer up:
Meghan, [EDIT: as a couple of people have noted below, it's actually Molly. Whoops!] but I really took this picture to show Posey. Posey looks like Fluttershy, as you might have noticed, and she's got her cutie mark, but she's an Earth Pony. The original for Pinkie Pie, Surprise, was a Pegasus, but they kinda got swapped. So that explains a lot: Fluttershy, who "should be" an Earth Pony, really doesn't like flying and prefers the ground, while Pinkie Pie doesn't seem to need wings to become airborne if she feels like it (balloons? weird contraption? sheer bounce?)
Speaking of which:
Surprise and Baby Surprise and Firefly and Baby Firefly!
Surprise became Pinkie Pie and Firefly became Rainbow Dash. You can find a whole Who's Who: (Click for full size)
So of course Baby Surprise and Baby Firefly came home with me.
Fluttershy: Oh, um, Rainbow Dash, you look a bit . . .different. . .
Rainbow Dash, from inside her blister pack: WHAT? SPIT IT OUT!
Fluttershy: oh, um. . . nothing.
I guess the different pony generations take some getting used to. The g4s look weird to old Pony fans, sometimes: too small and faces too tiny (and I'm informed, a bitch to work with because the plastic is so hard.) I'm looking at the g1s and thinking "moo," but they are still the originals and I'm proud of them.
Pinkie Pie: SURPRISE!
You can kinda see that their cutie marks are the same: three party balloons.
Notice something else, too: Pinkie Pie (and Fluttershy) have been signed by Andrea Libman. So that makes three of the Mane Six who have been signed. Now if I could just get Ashleigh Ball and Tabitha St. Germain. Seriously, it's not a big deal. It's more that it's cool if I can.
I also got Butterscotch:
But she is already en route to Great Britain. I hope she enjoys the trip and gets home ok.
So that's all the pony from me! I might post a quick review of Season 3's premiere, but I'm saving that for another post so this doesn't contain any spoilers.
There are a thousand other things I should be doing, like grading and cleaning. Whatever, ponies.
First of all, and this is bragging rights:
The Great and Powerful Trixie!
You would not believe what I went through to get this done.
The Great and Powerful Trixie as she naturally is.
Initially, I got the Fan Favorites Collection, because it was the only way to get Nightmare Moon, and, I thought, Trixie.
I'm still not sorry I did. It was really the only way to get hold of Nightmare Moon. For a while there, Nightmare Moon was being sold on eBay on her own for a larcenous $50, which is the cost of the whole collection. (Or was it 39.99?)
She's still in the packaging. Yeah, yeah, whatever, I'm fussy about doing their hair and stuff. Dash is the next up to be styled.
Trixie's also in the collection:
I was sort of surprised to see the blue and white hair, since I remembered it from the cartoon--incorrectly--as just white. I like Collection! Trixie--she has this neat glittery cutie mark.
Then I was in Target for some other reason, and thought oh-so-casually, "hmm, I wonder if there are any Trixies or Lyras there--not as though I know exactly where the Pony aisle is, of course, it's just that I might as well." And much to my surprise, there they were!
There was actually another Lyra there, too. I briefly thought about buying the extra and shipping her off to another good and deserving pony fan who couldn't find her, but then I didn't. I'm sorry. Anyway, Lyra's also still in her packaging, I'm afraid.
Getting Trixie's hat just so was a pain in the keister. I actually made one, found some purple thread and replaced the pink thread I'd used, made another, decided I liked the first better, and went with that. The problem is that it doesn't work very well to stitch it inside out and turn it rightside in. It usually ends up too small.
It's also deceptively simple-looking. It's actually three layers: a lilac satin lining, purple felt, and a gauzy overlay with stars embedded in it. I jacked up the bling factor with some nice AB crystal rhinestones I had kicking around the place.
It's also got two wire circles: one to fit around Trixie's ears (the inner circle) and the brim. The brim can be bent for a movement effect. The bathroom's not a particularly glamorous place for photos, but it's easier to see what I did:
I'm still not totally happy with the cloak. The collar is thready and unfinished, but you can't quite tell under the ribbon. Anyway, if Trixie makes an appearance in Season 3, we are both ready.
I'm not even a giant Trixie fan. It's just that she didn't look right without her hat, and you can't bust your rump working on a pony without developing a fondness for her.
Now, on EQLA:
I enjoyed myself, though in some ways it was a little . . . strange? I know! I know! Totally hypocritical from someone coming out of HP fandom! Maybe it was because it was the first totally one-fandom con I've ever been to other than a HP con. There wasn't a whole lot to do: one room for panels, and then an artists/vendor's room/craft fair. The panel room was great for popular things like Lauren Faust and the writers and voice actors, but not so much for smaller things.
I got there early on Saturday so I could go to the rehairing and customizing panel. I LOVED it and wish there had been more of it. In fact, I would have loved to have a whole separate room for demos of pony crafts. (The people painting blind bags, etc.) I could have happily spent an hour or more with that, plus some chance to look at the materials, really see up close how the rooting tools were used, etc. As you can see, fooling around with pony hair makes me happy.
There was a voice actor's panel--I went to both of them--and I went to one writer's panel. I really enjoyed the voice actors. Michelle Creber, who does the voice of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's voice, is cute as a button, and during the first session, she was wearing a sort of Apple Bloom costume. Tara Strong was late for the first panel, but that was ok. She was at the second one. LA traffic truly is the pits: I'd planned to go to a Harry Potter Bowling Night and bailed when I saw the sig alerts. The first question was some strange thing about Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash which I didn't follow, and neither did the voice actors, on purpose. As time went on, the questions became more rigorously screened.
Mostly I couldn't hear them very well, and I was righteously pissed off about that. Honestly, who goes to a voice actor panel and talks through it? I gave some guys the Professor Hairy Eyeball. I'm a pro, and it often works. Then I tried the head twist, and then the full out whole body twist, along with the uptilted head and the "Who, sir, are YOU?" facial expression. Did not work. Finally, I resorted to the finger at the lips and a repeated umpire across the throat cut. This did work. I also had to lean across to one young lady who was taking a cell phone call: "Stop that right now." But yeesh--in a voice actors' panel? The next time I sat close up front where I wouldn't be so annoyed.
The writers were pretty interesting. I did like what M.A. Larson said about the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy episode. They're so straightjacketed by that damned "Dear Princess Celestia, here is the obvious moral" thing. He said they flat out had nothin', so that's what Applejack says: "I didn't learn anythin'. I was right all along!" They also said which character they like writing best/find easiest to write. Amy Rodgers Keating said Pinkie Pie, which figures. M.A Larson said Rarity (thank you!) I cannot remember who said Rainbow Dash. I don't remember which episodes she wrote, but I've got a bone to pick with how the writers often do Rainbow Dash. She's easy to write--hell, even I've done it. Egotistical characters are the bomb. I love them. And the no-filter thing is tremendous fun. But you really do have to be careful with them. I like her best in episodes like Hurricane Fluttershy, which sticks in lots of different things about her: serious determination to do her job (yes, really), competitiveness, genuine need for her friend's support, actual attempt to understand what it's like for those of us who have no athletic skills Fluttershy. Sometimes they go way overboard with her and she loses any sympathetic qualities.
There was also a panel with Lauren Faust, and in a way, I didn't find it that terribly interesting, because she's already said so much of it in previous interviews. One thing that she said that WAS interesting: someone asked about the episodes where there's prejudice towards ponies, e.g., Gilda's and the dragons "ponies are uncool, ponies are lame" thing. She said that echoed, not racism, but the attitude people have towards girls and girl stuff, i.e., ponies, and that she was very intentional about that. I don't know why that didn't get ringing applause.
[This has stuff about the Pony That Must Not Be Named. It's documentation, and that's all--please no stuff about it in the comments, ok?]
There were huge long lines to ask questions. One person asked something about how she created "Ditzy Doo" and why the crossed eyes, and she pointed out that she did not create the crossed eyes. That was a storyboard artist thing. The storyboard artists have a lot to do with the interesting stuff. The writers had the Cutie Mark Crusaders going bowling, but it's the storyboard artists who added the ponies who looked like the guys in The Big Lebowski. Anyway, she said the name "Derpy," which made a lot of people freak out, and then the organizers ran down the line and I could hear "no more Derpy questions, no more Derpy questions, you guys." I'm not going to get into that particular mare's nest, but y'know, if something hurts someone's feelings, just maybe drop it? Oh, well.
The next day they had the person who creates the background music. That was also very interesting. I enjoyed his commentary that all the main characters have a musical "theme." I can't believe that I didn't notice Rarity's harpsichord theme! I'm going to go back and try to pick out the other ones. That was the only panel I asked a question in, because they ran out of questions. I asked if it was his idea to use "Ride of the Valkyries" in "May The Best Pet Win" and he said no, it was Jayson Thiessen's. In fact, his reaction was "really? Seriously?" But it's so perfect! I mean, Ride of the Valkyries is all about badass ladies riding badass winged horses on the stormclouds and swooping into battle badassedly, so why not cut out the middleman and have a badass lady pony? Works for me! (Incidentally, Valkyries don't have "meaningful relationships," so that nukes the whole "I ship Dash with everypony" thing.)
And then there was the vendors room and the Best Thing Ever, which was a woman's G1 pony collection. Her personal toys from her childhood. And I took lots of pictures. For your enjoyment:
Yup, that is original Applejack.
Just freaking cute: no other reason. Oh no, wait: That's Lucky, I think, the first boy pony.
These are the early EARLY ponies, the first eight, from what she told me.
Closer up:
Meghan, [EDIT: as a couple of people have noted below, it's actually Molly. Whoops!] but I really took this picture to show Posey. Posey looks like Fluttershy, as you might have noticed, and she's got her cutie mark, but she's an Earth Pony. The original for Pinkie Pie, Surprise, was a Pegasus, but they kinda got swapped. So that explains a lot: Fluttershy, who "should be" an Earth Pony, really doesn't like flying and prefers the ground, while Pinkie Pie doesn't seem to need wings to become airborne if she feels like it (balloons? weird contraption? sheer bounce?)
Speaking of which:
Surprise and Baby Surprise and Firefly and Baby Firefly!
Surprise became Pinkie Pie and Firefly became Rainbow Dash. You can find a whole Who's Who: (Click for full size)
So of course Baby Surprise and Baby Firefly came home with me.
Fluttershy: Oh, um, Rainbow Dash, you look a bit . . .different. . .
Rainbow Dash, from inside her blister pack: WHAT? SPIT IT OUT!
Fluttershy: oh, um. . . nothing.
I guess the different pony generations take some getting used to. The g4s look weird to old Pony fans, sometimes: too small and faces too tiny (and I'm informed, a bitch to work with because the plastic is so hard.) I'm looking at the g1s and thinking "moo," but they are still the originals and I'm proud of them.
Pinkie Pie: SURPRISE!
You can kinda see that their cutie marks are the same: three party balloons.
Notice something else, too: Pinkie Pie (and Fluttershy) have been signed by Andrea Libman. So that makes three of the Mane Six who have been signed. Now if I could just get Ashleigh Ball and Tabitha St. Germain. Seriously, it's not a big deal. It's more that it's cool if I can.
I also got Butterscotch:
But she is already en route to Great Britain. I hope she enjoys the trip and gets home ok.
So that's all the pony from me! I might post a quick review of Season 3's premiere, but I'm saving that for another post so this doesn't contain any spoilers.