The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP:FiM

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numsOic

The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP:FiM

Post by numsOic » Mon Oct 08, 2012 3:48 pm

Dictionary.com wrote:per·son·al·i·ty /ˌpɜrsəˈnælɪti/
noun, plural per·son·al·i·ties.
  1. the visible aspect of one's character as it impresses others: He has a pleasing personality.
  2. a person as an embodiment of a collection of qualities: He is a curious personality.
  3. Psychology .
    1. the sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual.
    2. the organized pattern of behavioral characteristics of the individual.[/list:o]
    3. the quality of being a person; existence as a self-conscious human being; personal identity.
    4. the essential character of a person.[/list:o]
In fiction, characterization is the process of assigning characters a role in the story by means of their personality and the representation of this personality in a text. Characters with an important role in the narrative are typically demanded two main aspects: that they be round, and that they be consistent.

Round characters, as defined by E.M. Forster, are complex and cannot easily be summed up in one or two words, and they tend to evolve throughout a story. The Forsterian classification of "round" versus "flat" characters is usually considered as two ends of a spectrum with many variations in between.

Consistent characters show a constant, coherent personality throughout a work, although they may evolve in the context of the narrative, and actions by the characters that are not believably explained by their personality and the current context are usually considered to be "out of character".

The point of this thread is to discuss, in the context of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, through reasoned arguments and preferably with case-by-case evidence, the tension between the opposite demands that a character be consistent, with the danger that a particular writer may "Flanderize" them (exaggerate certain aspects of their personality to the point that they become, at least temporarily, a flat character), and that they be round, with the danger that a particular writer may depict them acting "out of character" in a certain episode. What is the relevance of both aspects? Which one is more important? What are instances of pulling too far in either direction? Do particular writers tend toward either particular tendency? Are there relevant aspects of the art of characterization that this post is grossly oversimplifying?

What do you think?

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Wayoshi (?) » Mon Oct 08, 2012 3:57 pm

I just wrote this in the HF thread...
Wayoshi wrote:In the grand scheme of things, we've said before continuity is not tight, and we like slice-of-life episode to episode with occasional big events at the beginning and end of seasons. Continuity improved starting with Friend in Deed, but mostly for winking nods. How each writer interprets each character is fluid, especially on a mostly freelancing team, and it just isn't going to quite match up 100% of the time. Does that mean any character is really OOC? And I'm not saying character development is meaningless - the broad traits are kept fairly consistent - I'm talking about some of the subtle traits that we're now seeing some mismatches in.
In this sense, I think consistency on the "broad traits" is most important, while inconsistency on the "subtle traits" can be affordable. I dunno about roundness, but all the Mane 6 must be fairly round from the bible, I think maybe a synonym for the extremes of round vs. flat might be three-dimensional vs. one-dimensional characters?

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Brunellus (?) » Mon Oct 08, 2012 7:11 pm

numsOic wrote: The point of this thread is to discuss, in the context of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, through reasoned arguments and preferably with case-by-case evidence, the tension between the opposite demands that a character be consistent, with the danger that a particular writer may "Flanderize" them (exaggerate certain aspects of their personality to the point that they become, at least temporarily, a flat character), and that they be round, with the danger that a particular writer may depict them acting "out of character" in a certain episode. What is the relevance of both aspects? Which one is more important? What are instances of pulling too far in either direction? Do particular writers tend toward either particular tendency? Are there relevant aspects of the art of characterization that this post is grossly oversimplifying?

What do you think?
Since it is bound to come up as an example, I'll go head and mention MMMystery on the Friendship Express as an example of ponies acting out of character. There are at least two ways to deal with things like this. One way is to do like some comic readers, and specify the writer along with the character e.g. Miller's Batman or Purcell's Gumby. This can also be seen in folklore, with many versions of a story or character each with themes and events in common with others.

The other method, I would call the Holmes method. Fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have for years speculated and theorized explanations for seemingly inconsistent details. Nuances like train departure times, days of the week not being on the correct date, etc. have been analyzed by fans since they argued by telegraph.

I would say the second method would be more useful at this time, but depending on how long the show runs, maybe both could have their place.

So in conclusion, Pinkie Pie is able to describe food in such vivid detail as to overwhelm a pony's self-command.

Wonkadoo

Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Wonkadoo » Mon Oct 08, 2012 9:41 pm

Brunellus wrote: So in conclusion, Pinkie Pie is able to describe food in such vivid detail as to overwhelm a pony's self-command.
I would argue that while the characters are behaving unusually, they are not behaving outlandishly. We have seen Rainbow Dash break rules before and we have seen Rarity behave greedily before. While we have not seen similar behavior from Fluttershy per se, we have certainly seen a dark, possessive side.

While the ponies are generally good, they are not invariably good, and I think the show is better off not trying to establish them as paragons.

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Headless Horse (?) » Mon Oct 08, 2012 9:52 pm

It's not that they're "good" or "bad". It's that they each have multiple conflicting motivations, just like real people.

Rarity wants to be a good friend and a good sister, but sometimes her desire to climb socially and to keep her business in order interferes with her ability to put others' interests first. It's not that she's a bad person—it's just that she can't only serve one master 100% of the time. Sometimes she has to do what's right for herself instead of what's right for her friends and family. Haven't we all been there?

The same goes for Twilight, who has to balance the interests of her friends with her own desire not to ruin her career and her standing with the Princess. Same with Rainbow Dash, who has a particularly heavy dose of self-interest in comparison even to the friends she'll allegedly never leave hanging.

They're all the same in that regard: the way they act isn't supposed to paint them as paragons of anything, but rather to show that they're each operating according to their own distinct sets of personal priorities and values. The fact that we can empathize with each of their disparate goals, even when they conflict, is what makes them likable and relatable to us.

Wonkadoo

Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Wonkadoo » Mon Oct 08, 2012 10:24 pm

^^ In fact what I had in mind was Rarity trying to pilfer treasure in Dragonshy. That wasn't a matter of balancing anything against anything, that was just being unable to resist something in front of her.

fenster

Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by fenster » Mon Oct 08, 2012 10:56 pm

numsOic wrote:the tension between the opposite demands that a character be consistent, with the danger that a particular writer may "Flanderize" them (exaggerate certain aspects of their personality to the point that they become, at least temporarily, a flat character), and that they be round, with the danger that a particular writer may depict them acting "out of character" in a certain episode. What is the relevance of both aspects? Which one is more important? What are instances of pulling too far in either direction? Do particular writers tend toward either particular tendency? Are there relevant aspects of the art of characterization that this post is grossly oversimplifying?
This is a minor quibble that's irrelevant, but I think it's worth pointing out that, for a TV show like MLP:FiM, certain characters are selected each episode as the protagonist or Hero for the viewer to follow, and that there are degrees to which the different cast act in each episode on the scale of "Round to Flat" that falls into line with the serviceability of those characters within each episode's story. An episode like "Best Night Ever" spreads out the light on all of the mane 6 throughout the episode as if they were all protagonists, and as such they all have relatively dynamic behaviors as they deal with their situations, making them all more Round. However, consider "Sweet and Elite", where the protagonist role is clearly given to Rarity and the rest of the mane 6 protrude their silly ponyville manners into the esteemed High-Class Canterlot world; while Rarity can be argued to have Round characteristics, the rest of the mane 6 would probably fall in line with being "Flat" due to the nature of who gets the limelight in the episode and how they play into that. And even further still, you can have cases where even if the mane 6 aren't relatively big in the spotlight compared to the selected protagonist(s), they can learn something that can potentially be argued for making them Round Characters, like in "Swarm of the Century", "Suited for Success", and "Ticket Master".

Considering that the show seems to work on the principle of balancing out 6 strong characters to share the spotlight (with a special focus within on Twiight) that get switched around in terms of relative importance in each episode, it's probably best to accept that characters will act differently based on their functions from episode to episode by nature of this show.
Wayoshi wrote:I think maybe a synonym for the extremes of round vs. flat might be three-dimensional vs. one-dimensional characters?
Pretty much. I haven't read Aspects of a Novel in full myself, but I've been taught that it was important to note that both types are fundamental to any story, yet it's probably favorable to have the main character have more round traits. Neither one is considered ultimately "better" in a strict sense of how much do people like a certain character, since the reception of a character will depend greatly on the audience's resonance with personality types and the style of writing in the first place, though, so I often feel like "Round Vs Flat" gets used incorrectly by a lot of people who only consider a character "good" if they are Round.
Brunellus wrote:
The other method, I would call the Holmes method. Fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have for years speculated and theorized explanations for seemingly inconsistent details. Nuances like train departure times, days of the week not being on the correct date, etc. have been analyzed by fans since they argued by telegraph.

I would say the second method would be more useful at this time, but depending on how long the show runs, maybe both could have their place.
I have to admit I fall into the first method all the time, as I usually pair the giving written interpretation of a character's personality as belonging to that writer, but I don't think I'm familiar with this second method very well. Do you think you can expand on this a little more?

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by The Doctor (?) » Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:00 pm

Wonkadoo wrote:
I would argue that while the characters are behaving unusually, they are not behaving outlandishly. We have seen Rainbow Dash break rules before and we have seen Rarity behave greedily before. While we have not seen similar behavior from Fluttershy per se, we have certainly seen a dark, possessive side.

While the ponies are generally good, they are not invariably good, and I think the show is better off not trying to establish them as paragons.
My bigger problem with their actions isn't that they might not try to get a bite of the super cake, but I just found it unbelievable that they would hurt not only Pinkie, but the Cake's chances of winning a contest to satisfy that desire. While the characters do have flaws, none of those flaws have been done to the extreme that they'd hurt their friends intentionally.
Last edited by The Doctor on Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

numsOic

Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by numsOic » Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:03 pm

fenster wrote:I have to admit I fall into the first method all the time, as I usually pair the giving written interpretation of a character's personality as belonging to that writer, but I don't think I'm familiar with this second method very well. Do you think you can expand on this a little more?
What he means is that the second method involves finding or thinking up in-universe explanations as to how certain things are the way they are. An extreme example would be the idea that ponies speak English because they learned it from humans, who all disappeared or died out, instead of the fact that the show was made by English speakers for an English-speaking market.
fenster wrote:Pretty much. I haven't read Aspects of a Novel in full myself, but I've been taught that it was important to note that both types are fundamental to any story, yet it's probably favorable to have the main character have more round traits. Neither one is considered ultimately "better" in a strict sense of how much do people like a certain character, since the reception of a character will depend greatly on the audience's resonance with personality types and the style of writing in the first place, though, so I often feel like "Round Vs Flat" gets used incorrectly by a lot of people who only consider a character "good" if they are Round.
This is the reason I wrote "important characters" in the OP, and even that depends greatly on the purpose or the genre of the work in question. Both round and flat characters definitely have their place, and good writing makes the best use of both. Fans of certain authors or series appreciate things like every single character that's ever appeared having an intricate, complex background, but a large part of the general readership would probably find that kind of thing excessive and intrusive.

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by marshmallow » Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:12 pm

In my experience when a fan complains about someone acting OOC about half the time they really mean they didn't like the direction the writer(s) took their favorite character.

fenster

Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by fenster » Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:13 pm

^^^^^^^^ Pretty much that, yes
numsOic wrote: What he means is that the second method involves finding or thinking up in-universe explanations as to how certain things are the way they are. An extreme example would be the idea that ponies speak English because they learned it from humans, who all disappeared or died out, instead of the fact that the show was made by English speakers for an English-speaking market.
Ohhh, yes! Now I know what you mean, though I usually think that method isn't preferable due to tendencies to act as a "cover up", so to speak, on particular styles/failings of the writers or ignore the method/media through which the story is told. Kind of like looking at the "story" without looking at the "storytelling", if you can get understand that, in which I feel the storytelling is crucial to any story.

Am I alone on this? Does anyone think either this method or the other one Brunellus mentioned are okay methods to dealing with different characterization?

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Wonkadoo » Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:38 pm

The Doctor wrote: My bigger problem with their actions isn't that they might not try to get a bite of the super cake, but I just found it unbelievable that they would hurt not only Pinkie, but the Cake's chances of winning a contest to satisfy that desire. While the characters do have flaws, none of those flaws have been done to the extreme that they'd hurt their friends intentionally.
They didn't intentionally hurt anyone. Apparently, none of them thought taking a bit of cake would be a big deal. :pinkieshrug:

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Headless Horse (?) » Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:42 pm

Rarity evidently thought there was such a thing as taking a bite straight out of a cake in a ladylike manner. :wat:

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Wonkadoo » Tue Oct 09, 2012 12:06 am

You have to peel back your lips just so. :v:

fenster

Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by fenster » Tue Oct 09, 2012 12:12 am

Of course, you wouldn't know how to eat cake like a lady. But some ponies do. :vogue:

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Brunellus (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 1:26 am

fenster wrote: I have to admit I fall into the first method all the time, as I usually pair the giving written interpretation of a character's personality as belonging to that writer, but I don't think I'm familiar with this second method very well. Do you think you can expand on this a little more?
numsOic's explanation was on target. A parallel example might be Spike's egg. In the first episode, he said it was purple and green. In The Cutie Mark Chronicles, it is entirely purple. Was he embellishing? My first explanation was that since the interior is only partially shown when it breaks, perhaps the interior was green and purple. Why was Sweetie Belle able to sew the CMC capes, but can't make anything else(not even breakfast)?
:iiam:

EDIT: Yeah, I was veering off topic a bit there. In an effort to get it moving again, I'll mention that I have a few issues with The Mysterious Mare Do Well and Putting Your Hoof Down. The latter mostly confined to the part where Fluttershy is deliberately mean to Rarity and Pinkie.
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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Madeline (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 1:31 am

Things like changing egg colors are really more along the lines of minor plot holes, though. They aren't important enough to bother most of the viewers (I hope, anyway), and any impact on the characters is strictly accidental.

Stuff like Sweetie Belle being able to make capes one moment and nothing the next is a more standard plot hole, or your average TV writing. It's important to have a character do something to contribute in one episode, but not in another. Sweetie Belle being good at cooking would have been bad for the plot of "Sisterhooves Social," so they conveniently ignored any hints that she might be, er, handy. (Hoof-sy? help I'm stuck in an analogy and I can't get out :flail: )

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by agradify » Tue Oct 09, 2012 1:50 am

Say useful. It's not as species-specific.

:sweetielarm: TEXTWALL EDIT :sweetielarm:
On the debate of characters being perceived to be in or out of character, it is interesting that many of the OOC claims are levelled at characters who become less likeable, while characters who becomes nicer in a similar way are regarded as having depth added to them. A case in point would be Rainbow Dash, whose nastier side is seen in her ego trip in Mare Do Well and her image obsession across other episodes in season 2. While those moments were met with derision by a portion of the fanbase, people largely line up to praise episodes such as Hurricane Fluttershy for making her more relatable.

I think the seemingly hypocritical stance on what is out of character and what is not is partially justified here; people generally try to do well. While they aren't completely altruistic, they try to lend a helping hand where they can. They stick together and look out for each other – they take other people into consideration, not just themselves. These traits allow them to be relatable and likeable. People who don’t have these traits - such as sadists or psychopaths or plain jerks who tend to look out for themselves out of selfishness, indifference or even revel in others’ misery - are exceptions. This where we get characters such as Gilda or the teen dragons. Because of the way they act and think, viewers are naturally hostile to them because there is nothing to relate to.

The Mane Cast all fit into the first group; although they are all legitimately flawed, in the end they are all well-meaning. Where the complaints of OOC-ness largely come from are the instances where they, or any other character that is meant to be likeable, has their jerkiness ramped up, whether it is justified in-story or not. It’s simply a knee-jerk reaction to the sudden shift in the character’s actions; we demand justification for why a character is acting the way they are, especially if it is against what we feel the character should be like. If the jerkiness has a reason for existing (Rarity in Sonic Rainboom or Dash in Mare Do Well) then peoples’ reactions will depend on how well written they perceive the character’s “fall” to be.

However, when a character suddenly starts being nicer than usual and the story treats it as normal characterisation, then people start talking about how they have depth. When a villain or antagonist is shown to have a good side, such as Silver Spoon in Family Appreciation Day, the audience starts to warm up to them. They become closer to what we perceive to be “good characters,” good meaning sympathetic. With characters like Silver Spoon, who is usually portrayed as a brat and Rainbow Dash, who is brash and arrogant, scenes where they open up and reveal that they can be nice and empathetic are more well received than if Pinkie was inexplicably vindictive or if Rarity became a bully, simply because it is human (or pony) nature to behave in a kindly manner. It's just instinct to us to condemn those who act like twats, while encouraging thoughtful and kind behaviour, so maybe we are more flexible in allowing characters to be gentler than usual than being more selfish.
:pinkieshrug:
Last edited by agradify on Tue Oct 09, 2012 5:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by dilettante » Tue Oct 09, 2012 5:41 am

I think that while the show itself really set out to make well-rounded characters, a lot of moments people may cry OOC are either to move the story or to establish the issue in the first place. Sweetie Belle can't make breakfast. This is the first indication in Sisterhooves Social that she is kinda inept at stuff. In another episode she made nice capes, but that was, in a way, a method of getting Rarity to leave the CMC in Fluttershy's care as well as foreshadow the CMC's "act first ask later" state of mind. I wouldn't consider them plot holes necessarily, but instead some things to make the story more believable. Maybe it's just me, but the show doesn't have that much in the way of continuity, and with that more freeform style allows the characters to be more flexible than the established serial shows. Of course you can bend, not break these characters, and when you step out of that "line," you get the people crying foul. The characterization is definitely what contributes to the show's quality, but I think these characters are a bit more malleable than what we may perceive.

Ashenai

Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Ashenai » Tue Oct 09, 2012 8:51 am

dilettante wrote:I think that while the show itself really set out to make well-rounded characters, a lot of moments people may cry OOC are either to move the story or to establish the issue in the first place. Sweetie Belle can't make breakfast. This is the first indication in Sisterhooves Social that she is kinda inept at stuff.
What about her "dumb fabric" moment in Show Stoppers?

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by PhoolCat (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 9:30 am

There's a difference between not being any good at something due to inexperience because little kid and bad at everything because comedy.
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Ashenai

Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Ashenai » Tue Oct 09, 2012 9:37 am

There are people who are legitimately bad/clumsy with their hands, though. And Sweetie Belle is never shown to be bad at everything; she has a beautiful singing voice.

fenster

Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by fenster » Tue Oct 09, 2012 10:20 am

agradify wrote:While those moments were met with derision by a portion of the fanbase, people largely line up to praise episodes such as Hurricane Fluttershy for making her more relatable.
I certainly don't. :v:


And while I agree with most of what you say, I don't think Silver Spoon really works for your case since she has very little characterization in the first place, so that when she claps it does go against her base character at the time but since she has so little to her it's not exactly very noticeable. Characters who are more well-defined, such as the mane 6, if they went "OOC", would stand out more I think.

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Headless Horse (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:33 am

Silver Spoon clapping has more the function of being a well-deserved "fuck you" to Diamond Tiara than a character development point for Silver Spoon.

If anything it just shows us that SS is simply easily influenced, and would probably be a nicer person if she'd had better friends. Like Beavis. :v:

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by PhoolCat (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:41 am

To me the biggest fuck-you-to-continuity OOC was RD refusing to go back for Pinkie & Rarity at the end of TLR. :rainbert:
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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Ashenai » Tue Oct 09, 2012 12:13 pm

She never leaves her friends hangin'!

Except, like, if it'd be kind of inconvenient to help them out. Seriously, they're all the way back there and it's naptime. They'll be fine. :rainbert:

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Headless Horse (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 12:20 pm

:v: "You're done for! I'm goin' on without ya!"

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Glazius » Tue Oct 09, 2012 1:15 pm

Thought I'd share this. Seems like for any given two out of the main six, there's some element of friction.

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Mr. Big (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 1:30 pm

I always viewed cartoon characters as being blank slates. There are set personalities you have to adhere to, but beyond that, it's fair game as far as twisting and turning those said personalities depending on how it suits the stories (of course, how you twist and turn them is important)

That's my take :pinkieshrug:

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Doctor Wheeze (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 1:49 pm

Glazius wrote:Thought I'd share this. Seems like for any given two out of the main six, there's some element of friction.

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All 5 of Fluttershy's are just synonyms for shy :v:
......:hatte:
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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by The Doctor (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 6:57 pm

PhoolCat wrote:To me the biggest fuck-you-to-continuity OOC was RD refusing to go back for Pinkie & Rarity at the end of TLR. :rainbert:

They were a few minutes outside of town. Pinkie weren't any further from town than Fluttershy and RD just RAN, while pulling a wagon. Not RD's fault that Rarity and Pinkie couldn't find their way back to the town that's only a few minutes behind them...

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Highbrow Dash (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:18 pm

PhoolCat wrote:To me the biggest fuck-you-to-continuity OOC was RD refusing to go back for Pinkie & Rarity at the end of TLR. :rainbert:
Oh come on, that was hilarious :rainbert:

Also, RD's "just run over the damn bunny" face :smirk:

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Wayoshi (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 8:33 pm

Quiet =/= shy :rainbert:

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Vivianinatoga (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 9:01 pm

"Ponies are not people, therefore they are not characters" (he said whilst in the middle of reading He Thinks He's People: How Brian Made Personhood for the Dogs from 'Family Guy and Philosophy: A Cure for the Petarded')
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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Timber72 » Tue Oct 09, 2012 10:13 pm

I still don't agree that Rainbow Dash is lazy. So she naps sometimes, so what? She also trains often, can handle the whole towns clouds in a few seconds, and is the 2nd best athlete in ponyville. That doesn't seem lazy to me. She also organized the entire team in Hurricane Fluttershy and trained all their pony flanks into shape. That contrast offered in the picture just doesn't work to me. I would say it is humble vs. braggart instead, but they didn't want to use that because it was already done. Only when Applejack gets provoked by dash does she start to brag.

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Ashenai » Tue Oct 09, 2012 10:48 pm

Twilight wrote:I still don't agree that Rainbow Dash is lazy. So she naps sometimes, so what? She also trains often, can handle the whole towns clouds in a few seconds, and is the 2nd best athlete in ponyville. That doesn't seem lazy to me. She also organized the entire team in Hurricane Fluttershy and trained all their pony flanks into shape. That contrast offered in the picture just doesn't work to me. I would say it is humble vs. braggart instead, but they didn't want to use that because it was already done. Only when Applejack gets provoked by dash does she start to brag.
I get the impression that she's more flaky than lazy, a typical underachiever. She's a supremely talented flyer and can easily outperform just about anypony as long as a project excites her, but she gets bored easily and has trouble motivating herself.

Timber72

Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Timber72 » Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:06 pm

Ashenai wrote: I get the impression that she's more flaky than lazy, a typical underachiever. She's a supremely talented flyer and can easily outperform just about anypony as long as a project excites her, but she gets bored easily and has trouble motivating herself.
I do agree with this, I'm just not sure what words to use for it. Unmotivated vs. motivated?

Wait, no, that doesn't seem right... :pinkieshrug:

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Headless Horse (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:08 pm

For the RD/AJ line I would have gone with "self-interested vs. altruistic". :pinkieshrug:

(You could also do "ADHD vs. obsessive-compulsive" or something)
Last edited by Headless Horse on Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by The Doctor (?) » Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:09 pm

Twilight wrote:is the 2nd best athlete in ponyville.
:rainbert: : "1st best"
Ashenai wrote:I get the impression that she's more flaky than lazy, a typical underachiever. She's a supremely talented flyer and can easily outperform just about anypony as long as a project excites her, but she gets bored easily and has trouble motivating herself.
I don't know if that's fair.

She actively trains for the Wonderbolts
She takes care of the town's weather
She helps demolish barns
She was very motivated about the water in HF.

Other than her resting when AJ needed help in Ticket Master, I don't know of any other time we've seen anything that could be seen as slacking off.
Last edited by The Doctor on Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The Importance and Perception of Characterization in MLP

Post by Ashenai » Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:12 pm

:bluh: : First best cheater, more like

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