Equestria Girls shorts
Aug. 24th, 2017 05:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
insaneladybugWorking on a Turtles fic, but I'm not quite sure what to do with it and my attention keeps wandering, hence why I'm writing this long entry.
I never did take the time to record what I thought of the other two Equestria Girls shorts. I loved the first one so much because it seemed to go back to the formula that really worked, the urban setting and school stuff going on and no constant magical powers courtesy of mysterious stones.
The other two shorts I liked less than the first one, even though they also had things I liked.
The other two, especially the second one, went back to the stone thing. Luckily, it is positively established that the girls only have powers when they wear the stones. Unfortunately, they decide they probably need to wear them all the time because they keep encountering such bonkers stuff. Makes sense, but I didn't want this show to turn into Winx Club or X-Men: Evolution. Like, I really, really didn't. I liked how in the first three movies, they only have powers when they play music/when a major crisis is happening. They're just normal kids the rest of the time. That's much more interesting/easier to relate to than suddenly having powers all the time that they have to learn how to control. I dunno, when it isn't established from the start that the characters have powers, I like it to stay that way, that they don't. I like seeing normal kids solving mysteries and stuff. I've just always had this thing where magic ... really tends to tick me off. Suddenly the characters aren't ordinary anymore and they can solve everything with just the right spell or such. Boring! But I realize I'm in the minority on that point. Magic has always been the means to an end for me and I tend to only use it if I want a particular hurt/comfort scenario but I want a hand-wavy solution for healing the character, like if the injury is too horrible for anything but a complete healing via magic so there's no permanent damage. Because honestly, magic is hand-wavy.
Of course, the power of love can also seem hand-wavy, I realize. But if, say, someone is mind-controlled, to me it's far more beautiful and character-developing for them to break it themselves because of their love for and desire not to hurt their loved ones, rather than only being able to break it if someone else uses magic or even science on them. Of course, magic fans would probably say how beautiful it is if, say, someone is able to find a new magical ability within themselves to protect their loved ones because of their desire to protect them. And I'll admit, I agree that is beautiful. But I still don't like characters to have magical powers. I think it supercharges them too much/gives them abilities humans were never meant to have/makes life too easy. And I know I probably shouldn't have that last one as a problem, because there are tons of stories about how powers make things harder. And it's popular to have stuff where someone has to train for years to get the magic to go right. But I don't know how to feel differently, because magical powers have always been an issue with me. And it's caused problems I never wanted it to, like when I'm interacting with someone who feels the complete opposite regarding magic. Let's say it makes collaboration on a project very ... awkward sometimes, for both parties.
Okay, aside from that sticky topic, I ... honestly seem to prefer the Equestria Girls series when it deals with school adventures, which the latter two shorts didn't. Maybe it's because I was home-schooled and never really had the standard school environment and it kind of fascinates and intrigues me, even though I don't regret the home-schooling. Of course, I don't think the Equestria Girls stories I've written and also planned to write dealt with school adventures, so maybe I shouldn't feel disappointed about that issue. But it just ... felt a lot different with those different settings.
Let's see ... can I come up with positive things? I always like the plotline of visiting a movie set, so that was fun. And I loved Sunset meeting Starlight Glimmer and Starlight wanting to visit the human world. I love her human design! I am sad we will likely never get a doll of her now that there's mainly just the Minis. There will be a Mini figure of her, only available in a set of six. And honestly, the Minis just aren't the same. I do love my Sunset Mini and I'm happy I finally got to get her, but I can't get over the terrible proportions. I took a long time to get used to the dolls' proportions, but they're way better than the Minis'. Waaah, I want the dolls back.... There were still ones I wanted to collect too.... I was thinking of checking T.J. Maxx, since they seem to get the dolls after the big stores don't have them anymore.
Also, I loved that Sunset is so used to living life as a human that she couldn't quite remember how to work things as a Pony until Starlight reminded her of the unicorn horn. Aww. Starlight was really nice to Sunset and patient with her and vice versa. They made great friends and Starlight gave advice that seemed to really help Sunset. That was awesome!
So yeah, in the end, it was a mixed bag and I haven't bought the DVD yet. I'm debating whether I really want to, since I only really liked the first short and there were just things I liked in the other two rather than liking them as a whole.
It feels so good knowing autumn is on its way. The days are getting shorter and some days are getting a little cooler and it's wonderful. I feel sad for Mom, as she always feels bad when summer ends, especially if we haven't been able to do much during it, but autumn is totally my favorite season and I am always so relieved to say Goodbye to summer heat and Hello to autumn leaves, spooky stuff, and my birthday. Heh.
I'm also wondering, honestly, what to even ask for on my birthday or what I might like to buy on my celebratory shopping spree. I'm pretty happy/content at this point in time and can't seem to think of much I want, at least that would be available around here. If I saw, say, season 2 of U.N.C.L.E. or that awesome Charlie's Angels boxset or season 1 of Rockford, or the other DuckTales and Talespin DVDs (or new human Baxter merchandise!), I'd be happy to snap them up. But I'm unlikely to see them offline (and unlikely to see human Baxter merchandise at all). I'll still want to have the shopping spree, though.
Normally one thing I always ask for is the latest Clair Poulson novel. But the one he's just released didn't sound quite as compelling to me as most of his books do, so I'm a little "Eh" right now. It sounded like it might focus on romance even more than most of them do. Honestly, as much as I love the plots and suspense and most of the characters, I get really bored when there almost always has to be a romance. I just tolerate it because the rest is so great. I think he only has one book where there isn't a romance between the male and female leads, and that's Conflict of Interest. I should read it again. It was a breath of fresh air to see a friendship instead.
Maybe for the shopping spree I'll focus on trying to get the other pieces I'll need for my Baxter Halloween costume. I really only need a wig and the coat; I have everything else. And without K-Mart, that seriously limits my costuming options. Sigh. They had such a good selection of stuff. ShopKo used to, but the last couple of years they've hardly had anything. Wal-Mart usually has a pretty good line-up, so I'm hoping I'll be able to find what I want there. If that fails, I guess there's Target and maybe a party store to try. The lab coat should be easy to procure, but the wig may be a little harder. Baxter's hair is such a unique color. I'd be willing to get a blond one if it was the right style, but I'd prefer light brown. And wild scientist wigs usually only come in white.
Most years, I'm lucky to find one or two things I want on the shopping spree. A lot of years, I find nothing and decide what I really want is online and get it there (and have to wait for a week to get it in the mail, sigh). Last year was one of the best times I've had in ages. I got ... let's see ... the Indigo Zap doll, a Real Ghostbusters DVD, the plushie that became Baxter, a YGO book (not a manga, a book about the anime and the characters and such), and TMNT seasons 1 and 4. It was so awesome.
Seems like most of the Pony Movie toys coming out are Sea Pony related or Ponies dressed as pirates. The new characters I wouldn't want toys of until I see whether I like their characters. And I have no desire to own the established characters in Sea Pony or Pirate form. I want to see the movie, but I am not thrilled at all about the main characters having to change into mermaids and blowfish (WTH, poor Spike). And since that seems to be one of the main product lines being pushed, it seems like it must last longer than one scene in the movie where they go for help. Then again, I guess some of the other lines have been based on scenes in the show that were only one scene. One can only hope.
I never did take the time to record what I thought of the other two Equestria Girls shorts. I loved the first one so much because it seemed to go back to the formula that really worked, the urban setting and school stuff going on and no constant magical powers courtesy of mysterious stones.
The other two shorts I liked less than the first one, even though they also had things I liked.
The other two, especially the second one, went back to the stone thing. Luckily, it is positively established that the girls only have powers when they wear the stones. Unfortunately, they decide they probably need to wear them all the time because they keep encountering such bonkers stuff. Makes sense, but I didn't want this show to turn into Winx Club or X-Men: Evolution. Like, I really, really didn't. I liked how in the first three movies, they only have powers when they play music/when a major crisis is happening. They're just normal kids the rest of the time. That's much more interesting/easier to relate to than suddenly having powers all the time that they have to learn how to control. I dunno, when it isn't established from the start that the characters have powers, I like it to stay that way, that they don't. I like seeing normal kids solving mysteries and stuff. I've just always had this thing where magic ... really tends to tick me off. Suddenly the characters aren't ordinary anymore and they can solve everything with just the right spell or such. Boring! But I realize I'm in the minority on that point. Magic has always been the means to an end for me and I tend to only use it if I want a particular hurt/comfort scenario but I want a hand-wavy solution for healing the character, like if the injury is too horrible for anything but a complete healing via magic so there's no permanent damage. Because honestly, magic is hand-wavy.
Of course, the power of love can also seem hand-wavy, I realize. But if, say, someone is mind-controlled, to me it's far more beautiful and character-developing for them to break it themselves because of their love for and desire not to hurt their loved ones, rather than only being able to break it if someone else uses magic or even science on them. Of course, magic fans would probably say how beautiful it is if, say, someone is able to find a new magical ability within themselves to protect their loved ones because of their desire to protect them. And I'll admit, I agree that is beautiful. But I still don't like characters to have magical powers. I think it supercharges them too much/gives them abilities humans were never meant to have/makes life too easy. And I know I probably shouldn't have that last one as a problem, because there are tons of stories about how powers make things harder. And it's popular to have stuff where someone has to train for years to get the magic to go right. But I don't know how to feel differently, because magical powers have always been an issue with me. And it's caused problems I never wanted it to, like when I'm interacting with someone who feels the complete opposite regarding magic. Let's say it makes collaboration on a project very ... awkward sometimes, for both parties.
Okay, aside from that sticky topic, I ... honestly seem to prefer the Equestria Girls series when it deals with school adventures, which the latter two shorts didn't. Maybe it's because I was home-schooled and never really had the standard school environment and it kind of fascinates and intrigues me, even though I don't regret the home-schooling. Of course, I don't think the Equestria Girls stories I've written and also planned to write dealt with school adventures, so maybe I shouldn't feel disappointed about that issue. But it just ... felt a lot different with those different settings.
Let's see ... can I come up with positive things? I always like the plotline of visiting a movie set, so that was fun. And I loved Sunset meeting Starlight Glimmer and Starlight wanting to visit the human world. I love her human design! I am sad we will likely never get a doll of her now that there's mainly just the Minis. There will be a Mini figure of her, only available in a set of six. And honestly, the Minis just aren't the same. I do love my Sunset Mini and I'm happy I finally got to get her, but I can't get over the terrible proportions. I took a long time to get used to the dolls' proportions, but they're way better than the Minis'. Waaah, I want the dolls back.... There were still ones I wanted to collect too.... I was thinking of checking T.J. Maxx, since they seem to get the dolls after the big stores don't have them anymore.
Also, I loved that Sunset is so used to living life as a human that she couldn't quite remember how to work things as a Pony until Starlight reminded her of the unicorn horn. Aww. Starlight was really nice to Sunset and patient with her and vice versa. They made great friends and Starlight gave advice that seemed to really help Sunset. That was awesome!
So yeah, in the end, it was a mixed bag and I haven't bought the DVD yet. I'm debating whether I really want to, since I only really liked the first short and there were just things I liked in the other two rather than liking them as a whole.
It feels so good knowing autumn is on its way. The days are getting shorter and some days are getting a little cooler and it's wonderful. I feel sad for Mom, as she always feels bad when summer ends, especially if we haven't been able to do much during it, but autumn is totally my favorite season and I am always so relieved to say Goodbye to summer heat and Hello to autumn leaves, spooky stuff, and my birthday. Heh.
I'm also wondering, honestly, what to even ask for on my birthday or what I might like to buy on my celebratory shopping spree. I'm pretty happy/content at this point in time and can't seem to think of much I want, at least that would be available around here. If I saw, say, season 2 of U.N.C.L.E. or that awesome Charlie's Angels boxset or season 1 of Rockford, or the other DuckTales and Talespin DVDs (or new human Baxter merchandise!), I'd be happy to snap them up. But I'm unlikely to see them offline (and unlikely to see human Baxter merchandise at all). I'll still want to have the shopping spree, though.
Normally one thing I always ask for is the latest Clair Poulson novel. But the one he's just released didn't sound quite as compelling to me as most of his books do, so I'm a little "Eh" right now. It sounded like it might focus on romance even more than most of them do. Honestly, as much as I love the plots and suspense and most of the characters, I get really bored when there almost always has to be a romance. I just tolerate it because the rest is so great. I think he only has one book where there isn't a romance between the male and female leads, and that's Conflict of Interest. I should read it again. It was a breath of fresh air to see a friendship instead.
Maybe for the shopping spree I'll focus on trying to get the other pieces I'll need for my Baxter Halloween costume. I really only need a wig and the coat; I have everything else. And without K-Mart, that seriously limits my costuming options. Sigh. They had such a good selection of stuff. ShopKo used to, but the last couple of years they've hardly had anything. Wal-Mart usually has a pretty good line-up, so I'm hoping I'll be able to find what I want there. If that fails, I guess there's Target and maybe a party store to try. The lab coat should be easy to procure, but the wig may be a little harder. Baxter's hair is such a unique color. I'd be willing to get a blond one if it was the right style, but I'd prefer light brown. And wild scientist wigs usually only come in white.
Most years, I'm lucky to find one or two things I want on the shopping spree. A lot of years, I find nothing and decide what I really want is online and get it there (and have to wait for a week to get it in the mail, sigh). Last year was one of the best times I've had in ages. I got ... let's see ... the Indigo Zap doll, a Real Ghostbusters DVD, the plushie that became Baxter, a YGO book (not a manga, a book about the anime and the characters and such), and TMNT seasons 1 and 4. It was so awesome.
Seems like most of the Pony Movie toys coming out are Sea Pony related or Ponies dressed as pirates. The new characters I wouldn't want toys of until I see whether I like their characters. And I have no desire to own the established characters in Sea Pony or Pirate form. I want to see the movie, but I am not thrilled at all about the main characters having to change into mermaids and blowfish (WTH, poor Spike). And since that seems to be one of the main product lines being pushed, it seems like it must last longer than one scene in the movie where they go for help. Then again, I guess some of the other lines have been based on scenes in the show that were only one scene. One can only hope.
