Option 1: Whenever you watch the episode, comment on this post as you watch with whatever responses you feel like posting!
Option 2: Go to http://webchat.freenode.net/. Enter a nickname, then for the Channels field enter ##rabbitcube, and finally fill in the Captcha and hit Connect! We'll be watching the episode and commenting there starting at 3:00 p.m. EST. However, I will not be participating because I'm at Anime Boston, so I'd appreciate if one of you could copypasta the chatlog to a comment. Whenever I actually watch the episode, I will update this post with my own responses.
Liveblog below the cut!
<Froborr> Rarity ep? Rarity eps are fun.
<Froborr> ...Bwah? Isn't this the order Sapphire Shores placed back in season 1?
<Froborr> TIME IS BROKEN
<Froborr> Sweetie Belle, you are being selfish.
<Froborr> Sweetie Belle is going to turn into a control freak director, isn't she?
<Froborr> Ah, this is going to be about Sweetie Belle being overshadowed by her more talented sister, eh?
<Froborr> Sweetie Belle sounds very Diamond Tiara-like in that rant.
<Froborr> Great, an Idiot Plot.
<Froborr> JUST EXPLAIN WHAT THE PROBLEM IS, SWEETIE BELLE.
<Froborr> WTF Sweetie Belle, why are you evil?
<Froborr> I like how this obvious ream sequence has noticeably less depth of field than usua.
<Froborr> I don't think that would have worked in previous episiodes.
<Froborr> Okay, I *do* like the Luna-Sweetie Belle character parallel.
<Froborr> Meh, extended predictable dream sequence is extended, predictable.
<Froborr> At least we're probably getting a chase sequence?
<Froborr> Bald security pony is the best. His cutie mark is a lock!
<Froborr> Okay, so you can STOP AND EXPLAIN NOW.
<Froborr> Argh.
<Froborr> Never mind about liking the chase sequence.
<Froborr> *wanting the chase sequence I mean
<Froborr> Eh, that episode was okay but not great.
<Froborr> I *am* liking Dreamwalker Luna, but this wasn't the best execution of the concept.
Okay, looks like I'll have to post this in chunks, rather than all at once... 4,096 character limit.
ReplyDeleteThere was a fair bit of in-joking since it was just me and dad this week, and this episode brought back a lot of memories... I have to go right after posting this, but tonight or tomorrow I'll translate a few of the jokes for you guys. See below for the transcript...
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DeleteWell, that's a good start! I didn't notice that Blogger had tagged non-@ chat lines as HTML tags. Okay, going through and removing the brackets around mere_oblivion's messages...
DeletePre-episode chatter:
[13:52] == mere_oblivion [IP redacted] has joined##rabbitcube
[13:52] == ChanServ [ChanServ@services.] has left ##rabbitcube []
[13:53] <@Sylocat> Hey
[13:53] <@Sylocat> Looks like it might be just the two of us today
[13:53] mere_oblivion Hey there, hi there, ho there (etc.)
[13:53] mere_oblivion Well, this will be . . . cozy.
[13:53] <@Sylocat> Indeed
[13:54] <@Sylocat> The stream's in the channel topic above
[13:54] <@Sylocat> ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b49aw2Ha1zs )
[13:54] mere_oblivion How DID you guess I was groping for same?
[13:54] <@Sylocat> Just in case
[13:55] mere_oblivion For Whom the Sweetie Belle Tolls? Nice! (Or am I premature?)
[13:55] <@Sylocat> That's the title... I haven't seen it yet
[13:55] <@Sylocat> (of course, it's gonna be hard to measure up to Maud Pie, but I'm sure it'll try its best)
[13:56] <@Sylocat> Okay, 4 minutes
[13:56] mere_oblivion And why do I think it won't make quite as much fun of Hemingway as he deserves?
[13:57] <@Sylocat> We can only hope
[13:57] mere_oblivion (Or maybe it will go straight to the source and make fun of John Donne?!?)
[13:58] <@Sylocat> I know I'm looking forward to finding out
[13:58] <@Sylocat> <2 minutes
[13:58] <@Sylocat> Preloading?
[13:58] == mere_oblivion [IP redacted] has quit [Quit: Page closed]
[13:58] <@Sylocat> ??????
[13:59] == mere_oblivion [IP redacted] has joined##rabbitcube
[13:59] <@Sylocat> Welcome back
[13:59] <@Sylocat> Just in time... get ready
[13:59] mere_oblivion I am indeed.
[14:00] <@Sylocat> Click
Episode itself, Part 1:
Delete[14:00] <@Sylocat> The art of the dress, again
[14:00] <@Sylocat> And a CMC caring a swath of destruction through everything in her path, again
[14:00] <@Sylocat> Ooh, continuity!
[14:01] mere_oblivion You're not suggesting a decline in the ideas realm?
[14:01] <@Sylocat> (I think I forgot to show you the episode "A Dog and Pony Show")
[14:01] mere_oblivion Was that earlier this year?
[14:01] <@Sylocat> Uh oh... who is Sweetie Belle going to... oh my goodness
[14:02] <@Sylocat> (no, it was way back in season one... that's where we met Sapphire Shores)
[14:02] <@Sylocat> Those dresses are... "interesting."
[14:02] mere_oblivion i think i did miss that one.
[14:02] <@Sylocat> Ah, a Dave Polsky episode
[14:02] mere_oblivion good sign?
[14:03] <@Sylocat> Uh oh... stuff going wrong onstage, my premiere cringe-inducer
[14:03] <@Sylocat> oh, she made it after all
[14:03] <@Sylocat> Wait, she WROTE a play?
[14:03] <@Sylocat> She's a playwright?!
[14:03] <@Sylocat> I have a kindred spirit!
[14:03] <@Sylocat> AHAHAHAHAHAH
[14:04] <@Sylocat> Shakespeare!
[14:04] mere_oblivion Though i can't imagine your beginning a play "Forsooth and etc."
[14:04] <@Sylocat> This is my new favorite episode already
[14:04] <@Sylocat> Oops... backstage entrance
[14:05] <@Sylocat> Uh oh... this is very, very familiar to us, isn't it?
[14:05] mere_oblivion Sadly . . . very sadly . . .
[14:05] mere_oblivion "I remember the hats!"
[14:05] <@Sylocat> Oh yikes, it's Our Mutual Friend all over again
[14:06] <@Sylocat> Whoa
[14:06] mere_oblivion I blame Anne.
[14:06] <@Sylocat> Egyptian headdresses
[14:06] <@Sylocat> Awk-ward
[14:07] mere_oblivion The basis of life, actually. (In tandem with em-bar-assed0
[14:07] <@Sylocat> Huh? We have canon age numbers?
[14:07] <@Sylocat> Sweetie Belle doing an impression of Rarity
[14:08] <@Sylocat> Ouch... I feel for both of them, as sad as that sounds
[14:08] mere_oblivion Sweetie Belle is me last night (but that was after an audition, not a performance--except an audition is a performance)
[14:08] <@Sylocat> How did the audition go, by the way... oops, shouldn't get distracted now
[14:08] <@Sylocat> Oh no... sabotage?
[14:09] mere_oblivion Oh, I think feeling for both of them is right on! Esp on MLP.
[14:09] <@Sylocat> Dream sequence
[14:09] mere_oblivion Haven't those people ever been to APT?
[14:09] <@Sylocat> Yeah, rain is the most fun part of APT!
[14:10] <@Sylocat> Wow, this is creepy
[14:10] <@Sylocat> Oh, another Luna-Dreamwalker episode
[14:10] <@Sylocat> Aww
[14:10] mere_oblivion Much more fun than a Luka-Skywalker episode.
[14:10] <@Sylocat> Kindred spirits... oooh, Looney Tunes action
[14:11] <@Sylocat> Ghost of Birthdays Past?
[14:11] <@Sylocat> Isn't this Pinkie Pie's job?
[14:11] <@Sylocat> Ouch
[14:12] mere_oblivion Heavens, it really is Christmas Carol.
[14:12] <@Sylocat> Oh dear
[14:12] <@Sylocat> Wait, how is Luna seeing this?
[14:13] <@Sylocat> Or It's a Wonderful Life
[14:13] <@Sylocat> Only less cheesy
[14:13] <@Sylocat> I do love the dream imagery
[14:13] mere_oblivion A wheel of Brie is less cheesy than IaWL.
[14:14] <@Sylocat> Oh, is Luna bridging the gap between Sweetie Belle's and Rarity's memories?
[14:14] mere_oblivion Interesting theory!
[14:14] <@Sylocat> That would disprove the "Luna can only enter foals' dreams" theory
[14:14] <@Sylocat> Yep, it's A Christmas Carol
[14:14] mere_oblivion Lord, what foals these ponies be!
[14:15] <@Sylocat> This episode speaks to me on so many levels
[14:16] mere_oblivion I can imagine.
[14:16] <@Sylocat> Wait, we're only halfway through the episode?
[14:16] <@Sylocat> Ah, the rest of it will be hijinks as she tries to undo the problem
Episode, part deux:
Delete[14:16] <@Sylocat> I do like the pacing in this episode
[14:16] mere_oblivion Re-lent-less! (In a good way.)
[14:16] <@Sylocat> SHOWTUNES?!
[14:17] <@Sylocat> BLASPHEMY!
[14:17] mere_oblivion Well, the 21st century Top 40 equivalent.
[14:17] <@Sylocat> Bouncers, the enemy of every fictional character ever
[14:17] mere_oblivion And at least we have an iconically black character who doesn't speak in rhymes.
[14:18] <@Sylocat> Yes, yes we do
[14:18] <@Sylocat> I was just about to say that
[14:18] mere_oblivion It is a bit of an improvement, though we're still deeply in Cliche Country.
[14:19] <@Sylocat> Oh for goodness's sake, just TELL Rarity what happened
[14:19] <@Sylocat> But of course, Sweetie Belle's paranoid fantasies are also telling her that admitting what happened will also... wait, Luna's actually there?
[14:19] <@Sylocat> How did she know to... wow.
[14:20] mere_oblivion Well, now SS can walk like an . . . Egyptian? Comanche?
[14:21] <@Sylocat> ...How did she know that... oh, DREAMS
[14:21] <@Sylocat> So, Luna takes the imaginary-friend role
[14:21] <@Sylocat> (there's a meta-commentary on fanfics somewhere in there)
[14:21] <@Sylocat> D'awwwww
[14:21] mere_oblivion And we're back to YSP at the very end.
[14:21] <@Sylocat> Oh you
[14:21] mere_oblivion I know, I'm bad.
Post-episode discussion:
Delete[14:22] <@Sylocat> This may seriously be my new favorite episode
[14:22] <@Sylocat> I never thought anything could live up to last week
[14:22] mere_oblivion It's about as meta as can be, at least to the likes of you and me.
[14:22] <@Sylocat> (yeesh, when did Polsky get so talented? Between this and "Rarity Takes Manehattan," he's downright brilliant)
[14:23] mere_oblivion Oh, that was his too. Did he used to be mediocre or sump'n?
[14:23] <@Sylocat> He's... controversial in the fandom
[14:24] mere_oblivion Mais pourquoi?
[14:24] <@Sylocat> "Feeling Pinkie Keen," "Over a Barrel," "Keep Calm and Flutter On," none terribly popular
[14:24] <@Sylocat> But this? Brilliant
[14:25] <@Sylocat> Anyway, I'd better post this in the comments at Froborr's blog... then I have to go, both to game with Bridget and Jason, then to mom's choir concert... wow, this is a packed day
[14:25] <@Sylocat> So I will see you tomorrow
[14:25] mere_oblivion I'll say. Have a blast and a half.
Okay, and here's a brief translation:
DeleteAt 14:05, the part that was familiar to us involves friends and family members suddenly having things "come up" that prevent them from attending the plays we're in.
Another thing we found rather darkly humorous was that the costumes overshadowed the performances... it's not that big an exaggeration of the sort of thing that happen in our circles... particularly during "Our Mutual Friend," which refers to a full-length ten-hour stage adaptation of Charles Dickens's final novel, that YSP did (I played John Rokesmith, dad was Noddy Boffin... I could link to the videos if that's not too blatant link-dropping?), hence mere_oblivion's "It's the hats!" line.
(and yes, our reference to "auditions" refers to actual auditions that another indie theatre company here in town is holding for a production of Troilus & Cressida)
"APT" stands for "American Players' Theatre," a rather prestigious theatre here in Wisconsin, where a number of rather famous actors (including Amy Acker) have gotten their starts. APT's main theatre is outdoors, and the rain comment refers to a performance that dad and I went to quite a while ago... it was a performance of P.G. Wodehouse's "The Play's The Thing," and it started to rain early in the first act, but since it was actually the last week of performances for the season, they couldn't give out Rain Checks because there wouldn't be any more performances to come back for, so they just went on and finished the play anyway, in the rain. It actually made quite a bit of the play even funnier, especially when one character saying "The storm has passed!" caused the audience to crack up, since it was pouring by then and we were all covering ourselves with plastic bags and such, it was one of the best times I've ever had at the theatre... wait, what was I talking about? Oh, right, sorry.
But lest you think it was merely the first few minutes I adored, I felt quite a bit of what both Sweetie Belle and Rarity were going through throughout the episode... I don't know if the imagery of the theatre was meant to tie back in with the thematics of the episode or if it was just supposed to be a cool setup, but it certainly meshed well, I thought.
(YSP is "Young Shakespeare Players," the theatre company we work at most regularly, and the "back at YSP at the end" was a bit of a deprication since it was in reference to Sweetie Belle saying "the play wasn't that good, the costumes were the best part.")
Sorry if this is totally incoherent, I'm still fangushing about this episode and nursing a headache from having run around all day and attended an ear-splitting choir concert I just got back from.
I take exception to the notion that "It's a Wonderful Life" is cheesy. It's actually an incredibly dark movie. Jimmy Stewart's character is one of the tzaddikim nistarim, the 36 righteous souls per generation without whom the world collapses. Remove him, and all things descend into the darkness which is all most people are able to create.
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