Friendship is Magic - Friends Forever Comics - Issues 1# to 12#

Hey! Remember when this blog used to update every week and had fully written reviews? Neither do I!

I swear, if I had the power to stop time, or at least slow it down to half speed like in Majora's Mask, I'd be doing fully written reviews of all these comics. But as it is right now, I'm too overwhelmed with work to sit down and review the comics in depth, besides Blogger's system of editing fucking sucks. Say what you want about Tumblr's coding, but at least that's streamlined and simple enough that I don't need to refresh constantly if I want to embed a picture or make a sentence into a link.

Anyways, check the video reviews under the break, featuring Norman Sanzo, Silver Quill and myself! I hope you guys find them enjoyable and insightful.

Friendship is Magic - IDW Comics - 2014 Annual: Power Ponies.

This one will be a little bit different from what I'm used to do with the videos. Instead of a page break, since there is only this one issue, I am putting it all here without a page break, no break no fuss. I hope you guys enjoy our review!

For those who miss the Golden Age of superheroes.

Best Part: The Earth-shattering strength of the inks.

Worst Part: That some pointless internet drama might have put a damper in its enjoyment.

Friendship is Magic - IDW Comics - Issues 1# to 26#

Have yet another batch of comic reviews all nicely tucked in a single post for your convenience. This way you don't need to hunt down individual videos or reviews, here you can watch ell the reviews of the main series from Issue 1# to Issue 26#.

You might be wondering why I'm not being snappy, or witty, and just plain informative. This is because I'm writing this at 3:45 am, after getting only two hours of sleep and with a shore shoulder due to excess of drawing goddamn cartoon horses. All for an article that probably just two or three people will read. Fucking hell, sometimes I wonder if even this little effort is worth it.

Have your comic reviews after the break!

Friendship is Magic - IDW Comics - Micro Series Reviews

The hiatus does weird things to people.

Some start drawing Rule 34. Others write fanfics of pairs they would have never imagined. Some others decide to program videogames. The more desperate ones open ask blogs. There's even the rare ones who decide to record podcasts to talk about the pony comics in a desperate attempt to fill their empty lives and find some meaning in the dark abyss.

I did (almost) all of those, and here's the result. I am putting together a post with all the reviews of the My Little Pony Micro series produced by IDW. In these podcasts me and my friends, Norman Sanzo and Silver Quill, talk the Micro series and what we consider to be the best and worst comics in it. Strap in for several hours of nothing but pony talk.

SEASON 4 EPISODE REVIEWS - ANNOUNCEMENT

Hello everyone.

So, Season 4 is already here and it packs so much in its opener that I am left wondering if they fired their best shots already. If we are to believe Meghan McCarthy's words (and not going like Leonard Shelby in "Memento") it's possible that this is just the start of something bigger.

However, this post isn't about that.

My health and my work have put themselves in the way of me doing episode reviews as soon as the episode is released. I too realized that doing this is unfair towards the episode and those of you who read my articles. It takes a while for an episode to shimmer, settle down and grow on me, and my opinion can shift depending on how much time I dedicate to analyze and think on what I just saw. This means each review will come out at least one week after the episode is released, so I managed to gather information, get better pictures, and a much more solid opinion.

I hope to see you guys soon, with a lot of opinionated articles that I hope rustle a lot of jimmies and tickle your brains! Or perhaps I'll just write "meh" articles because maybe the episode was written by Merriwether Williams, we will see.

TURNABOUT STORM - Review

Fan made stuff is probably one of the best things of any fandom out there. It’s a way to both represent your love for something and to show your appreciation to those who work on it. It’s a kind of flattery that rivals with that of naming a street or a square after a rock band or a movie star, and nowadays more than ever before we have a much bigger outlet to showcase this fan made productions, thanks to the internet. However, regardless of the good intentions behind the fanart, the fanfics, the fan music or other craft, these are not absent of flaws, so they are far from perfect (you know, just like every sort of media, including the show that we all love so much). Coming down on reviewing them or even criticize them ends up with either or both parties, the reviewer and the reviewed, feeling very awkward and inappropriate; and if worse comes to worst one of those parties is going to get butthurt enough to throw a tantrum about it.

So try and keep this in mind while I review “Turnabout Storm”, a fan made crossover mini-series that puts the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic in the same cauldron and mixes it to see what comes out. What did I think of it? Well, there is only one way for you to find out, isn’t it?

Reasons why I shouldn't write for MLP:FiM - Episode 8, Dragon Usefulness

- EXT. SWEET APPLE ACRES.

Spike and Applebloom have been cleaning the Apple Family´s pig, named Piggington, and they are now presenting their finished work to Applejack. Piggington looks pristine and shiny, sparkles floating around her, a bow on the back of her head.

SPIKE.

Ta-Da!

APPLEJACK.

Good job, you two.

APPLEBLOOM.

Applejack, is it okay if I get going? I don’t wanna be late for my Crusaders meeting. We’re getting’ fit for water skis.

APPLEJACK.

Heh, you definitely don’t wanna be late for that.

APPLEBLOOM.

Water skiin’ cutie mark, here I come!

APPLEJACK.

Spike, you can head on out too. I reckon you have repaid me in full so we’re officially even Steven.

SPIKE.

What? Ohhh no. We aren’t even close to be even Steven! Please Applejack, you must allow me to assist you further!

Reasons why I shouldn't write for MLP:FiM - Episode 7, Logic Duel.

            -           SCENE: EXTERIOR, PONYVILLE.

The Great and Powerful Trixie has just defeated Twilight Sparkle in the Magic Duel. The boastful unicorn relish in her victory as she cackles.

The Great and Powerful Trixie.

Trixie is the highest level unicorn! (Evil laugh) And now, it’s time for you to leave Ponyville, FOREVER!

Twilight Sparkle looks worried as she lowers her head and puts one leg over the other. Her five pony friends and Spike stand between her and Trixie.

Applejack.

That’s enough Trixie!

Rarity.

You proved your point, but you can’t possibly expect Twilight to leave Ponyville!

The Great and Powerful Trixie.

You fools...

We see Twilight gets wrapped in a field of red magic energy. She is suddenly lifted as she looks down to the ground, terrified of being held within Trixie’s magical embrace.

The Great and Powerful Trixie.

She’s already gone!

Trixie’s magic throws Twilight out of frame as Twilight screams. Her friends run out of the scene to follow her.

My Thoughts on Focus

There is a pattern in my reviews, especially the reviews focused around Friendship is Magic. I always start them talking about something that has nothing to do with ponies. I will talk about politics, a TV show from the 70’s, a Michael Crichton book, or llamas. I will talk about something completely irrelevant and the reason behind this is because I kind of like that style of writing. It’s a very fun way to throw off your readers to then bring them back to the subject matter, and it also grounds the article in some sort of reality. It’s easier to talk about pastel colored horses once you have talked about something familiar, or moved the spiky issues out of the way. That’s why sometimes I also start talking about how the fandom has caught fire and burnt to its foundations.

I also do this because I have a terrible problem with focus. You see? Did you see how I did it again? Focus is something very important and it is inherent to both the fandom and the show we all love and enjoy so much. It’s not unique though, every fandom and every show has this issue. It can be good, and it can be bad. It can be intentional and unintentional. And here I am going to talk a little bit about it.

MY FAVORITE THINGS EVER IN A PIE CHART

Yeah, so I did this for shits and giggles.

I spent the entire day painting Rarity's necklace, I wanted something far more simple than that to vent, so I made this.

Hope you find it insightful.

Reasons why I shouldn't write for MLP:FiM - Episode 6, Mare-do-Well Rises.

           
            -     SCENE. EXT. PONYVILLE.

Rainbow Dash is lying on a cloud in the outskirts of Ponyville. It’s a raincloud, grey and black. Rainbow Dash looks depressed and when she talks to herself she does so in a rather down fashion.

Rainbow Dash

All anypony talks about is Mare Do Well this, and Mare Do Well that! What about me? How could everypony forget about me so easily? I mean... have I changed? Same sleek body. Same flowing mane. Same spectacular hooves. Nope, I'm still awesome. They're wrong. But... then... why am I all alone? I hate being all alone.

Rainbow Dash lies down on the cloud and pouts. In the background above Ponyville a cluster of storm clouds form, thunders re-sound in the distance as the lighting flashes with dreading threat.

Reasons why I shouldn't write for MLP:FiM - Episode 5, It's not that rare to be assertive.

-         SCENE. EXT. FLUTTERSHY’S COTTAGE.

Fluttershy has been going on an assertiveness rampage all over Ponyville and she has returned to her cottage, only to keep being mean to other ponies around her. When throwing a tourist pony in the air, Pinkie Pie and Rarity try to stop Fluttershy from keep being so unpleasant.

Reasons why I shouldn't write for MLPFiM - Episode 4, And then Twilight was right.

-          SCENE. INT. CANTERLOT CASTLE.

The rehearsal for the wedding has been going for a moment until Twilight Sparkle has interrupted it, accusing Princess Cadence of being evil. After assaulting her, Cadence has stormed out of the room, leaving Twilight to be scolded by Shining Armour.

Reasons why I shouldn't write for MLPFiM - Episode 3, Poor comunication kills the script

-          SCENE. INT. SUGARCUBE CORNER.

Fluttershy just stepped inside with three parasprites in her mane. She has given one to Twilight Sparkle, and the other two she has kept them with her.

Reasons why I shouldn't write for MLPFiM - Episode 2, With friends like these...

-          SCENE. INT. CANTERLOT CASTLE.

The Mane Six have been restrained by The Changelings, Queen Chrysalis has captured and imprisoned Princess Celestia in a cocoon, Shining Armour is under hypnosis, and Cadance has been glued to the floor with goo.

Reasons why I shouldn't write for MLPFiM - Episode 1, The Apple Dilemma

-          SCENE. EXT. SWEET APPLE ACRES. DAY.

The Apple Family gathers round trying to decide whether they accept the offer that the Flim Flam brothers are making to them or not. They have formed a circle and they are arguing possibilities. Flim and Flam interrupt.

Achievement Unlocked - Feel the Burn!

There is a particular achievement in the Equestria Daily Summer Achievement List: "Feel the Burn - Write a fanfic of 3000 words by hand". I could take all the notes from "The Regal Dream" and just post them here. Those amount for around 10.000 words! But it doesn't count if they are repeated, so I wrote a cloppy fanfic involving Princess Luna, Big Mac, Spitfire and Braeburn. Then it turns out Pinkie Pie wrote it and Twilight was correcting her constant misspellings.

According to my numbers, I managed to fit 16 words per line, and each page had 35 lines. The last page had less than that and the total count reached up to 2.986 words, or something like that. Not 3000 words per se, but that's...

Anyways, I leave you with the evidence here. I won't post a biggest image. This fanfic is mine only >:3 With all its grammatical errors, misspellings and lack of cadences. Now, if you excuse me, I gotta go write "I am sorry" a million times ^_^;

Fanfic: The Regal Dream.

Here's a quick link to the latest fanfic I've finished. I wouldn't brag about it so much if it didn't take so much of my time to finish it. I feel really proud of it, and everyone at the Equestria Daily site seems to have enjoyed it. So here I leave a link to the fic in particular. Enjoy it!

THE REGAL DREAM

JAMES CORCK’S HAIKU COMPENDIUM.

               I’ve always wondered how to write Haiku Poetry. Since I am trying to shake off my lazy bum attitude and do some productive work for this fandom, I decided to go online and search for some guide on Haiku Poetry. I found a really good one that I will link at the end of this compendium, and if you want to try and do some yourself let me know if it was my attempt what encouraged you.

English is not my native language, so it might show with some metaphors. Now enough of talking and on with the Haikus! I will give you extra points if you can pin-point which character of the show I am referring to. The first Haikus are fairly easy, but then I made things more complex.