IMPORTANT TAGS
Analysis -- Art -- Fanfiction
Speculation -- Practice -- Fandom
Episode Review
“They sang the praises of nature, of the sea, of the woods. They liked making songs about one another, and praised each other like children; they were the simplest songs, but they sprang from their hearts and went to one’s heart. And not only in their songs but in all their lives they seemed to do nothing but admire one another. It was like being in love with each other, but an all-embracing, universal feeling.”
~Fyodor Dostoevsky, “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”
(Source: en.wikiquote.org)
After drawing that picture of Pinkie Pie I was thinking a bit about how FiM handles inspiration and encouragement in general. I felt that the quote used there typifies Pinkie Pie’s methods and worldview quite well. With few exceptions, she pretty much loves everything. Consider how she happily ate Apple Bloom’s cupcakes in Call of the Cutie, for example. Pinkie Pie is very much about seeing, and celebrating, the good in everything and everypony.
But! That’s not the entire show. Rarity, for example, is absolutely nothing like that. She might be as much the opposite of that as you can get. Rarity has very precise tastes and is frequently critical of things that don’t fit those tastes. Does this mean she’s a jerk while Pinkie Pie is good? Well, sometimes. Consider Sisterhooves Social, where Rarity has to learn to be not quite so demanding towards Sweetie Belle. But it’s not JUST that Rarity shouldn’t be so demanding. In the montage at the end of the episode one of the scenes shows Sweetie Belle filling the kitchen with smoke again, but then pulling out a perfectly lovely pie for Rarity. Sweetie Belle learns something too.
Pinkie Pie would look at Sweetie Belle’s or Apple Bloom’s burned treats and gobble them up and say they did great. And that’s good. Rarity would help Sweetie Belle make something better. And that’s also good. This, I believe, is one of the core messages of the show: Good is not just one thing. There isn’t one singular ideal we must uphold, forsaking all others. If somepony feels like crap about what they do no matter what they make, they probably need Pinkie more than Rarity. If somepony offers up their work for criticism, they probably need Rarity more than Pinkie. And some people just react better to one or the other for personal reasons. Rarity and Pinkie are both good and they both have their place, and we all need a healthy dose of self-love and self-criticism in order to stay sane.
Credit to Steve Ross for the quote. I just thought it was perfect for Pinkie Pie.
THIS IS THE BEST THING I HAVE SEEN ALL DAY. :D
I’m now imaging a Bob Ross-esque baking show run by Pinkie Pie.
“And now let’s just make a happy, little icing balloon. Look at him, doesn’t he look so happy?”
I… I need to write this now.
Yes.
Yes, you do.
And we all need to read it.
It’ll be a hard road Donny, my lad. My usual blend of pony tears and angst won’t work for this, so it’ll be challenging. But I will carry on, I will preserve! For happy!Pie!
FOR HAPPY!PIE! :D
I would love to see a fic like that.
Also this took less than three hours to become my most noted post ever. Wow.
Contestant: Pinkie Pie
Submitter: Donny’s Boy
Title: “The Perfect Song”
Pinkie Pie was nervous.
Pinkie Pie was never nervous, and yet, Pinkie Pie was nervous.
She stood rooted to the spot, absolutely still for once in her life, and stared into the patient, expectant teal eyes that were right in front of her. Those eyes that she loved so dearly, the ones that sometimes smiled at her, sometimes laughed, sometimes snapped, sometimes hurt … but eyes that had always, always been there for her, eyes that had never once refused to look back at her. As she stood gazing into Fluttershy’s eyes, Pinkie tried to remember everything that Rarity and Rainbow Dash had told her, but it all blurred together in her mind.
“You gotta be bold!”
“But not too bold, darling! You don’t want to frighten her!”
“Yeah, but you can’t be too laid-back, or ‘Shy won’t know you want in her saddle.”
“Rainbow Dash!”
“What? It’s true!”
“Ignore her, Pinkie. Besides, most important of all, you must …”
“… absolutely gotta …”
“… be romantic!”
Artistic analysis of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic for the purposes of understanding how and why it succeeds and how this can be applied to other works, as well as other thoughts about the show and the fandom surrounding it.
Also check out my art tumblr here.
