Text version and links:
My OC is designed by Hanna: http://hannaep.tumblr.com/
The original design was by Mizuki Takashima: http://mizuki-takashima.tumblr.com/
Background music:
1. Power (intrumantal) – Kanye West
2. Devil in a New Dress (instrumental) – Kanye West
3. Electric Feel (Instrumental) – MGMT
Is the moral good? Sure. Relatable? Definitely. But the situation, when I put myself in it, got me thinking.
So, let’s say I’m Spike. The woman I love (and it is an unrequited love) has just become all-powerful. In the process, she has decided that I’m the only person who understands her and gets to be at her side. She seems to be the most passionate she’s ever been, and she’s focusing more attention and affection on me than ever before.
I’ll admit it: I’ve got an evil switch in my brain; and this situation would probably flip it. I’d throw myself at the hooves of my demon queen and stand at her side as she bent the fabric of reality to her will. I would totally go along with whatever she wanted as long as I knew she loved me and was happy with the results of her actions.
And, as a true villain, it would be my downfall. One day Rarity would alter the world or myself in some fundamental way that I don’t want her to. Either she would alter me into a different, more subservient person, and I would lose my will; or, if I retained my will then she would view me as a traitor and destroy me; before her path of chaos degrades her mind and body into nothingness and the entire universe is destroyed by her power.
*bling!*
Hm? Oh, I just got a skype message from friend of the show, urishima! It’s pretty long, too.
“so, if you don’t mind me talking about this for a bit, there was a shitload of conflicts in this episode, wasn’t there”
Uh… I guess so.
“there was the ‘be honest with your criticism, especially with your friends’ thing”
Right, that’s the obvious one. This kind of thing comes naturally to me. Maybe because my first name is Conrad, which means, “honest counselor.” People tell me I’m very blunt.
“then Rarity learning that ‘form follows function’”
Another good one to learn. Sometimes Rarity seems to understand this concept perfectly, and other times not so much, so I’d call it an inconsistent characterization; but still a relevant lesson for her to learn. As Tommy Oliver points out in his video, this episode does a lot to communicate about creative endeavors, and this is one of the things that is challenging for a lot of artists.
“and the ability of just making anything you want happen in a flash, making whatever you create with this ability ultimately meaningless, because in craft the creation process is an integral part of it all, including overcoming limitations”
I would definitely agree with this, but at the same time it’s hard to say. Yes, hardship is an integral part of the resultant product, but does that mean a product with no hardship wouldn’t be good? It would certainly be different, but let’s consider a situation.
My videos, for instance, have developed into their current form mostly through adversity. The adversity of finding an audience is why I adopted the video format. The adversity of dodging youtube’s content ID system is why I adopted the OC style; and continued attempts to dodge content ID have influenced the way I present footage in the videos. These things have affected the content in a lot of ways, some of which have enriched and deepened the overall product.
However, if I could will my videos into being fully animated spectacles, would they not then be better? It’s something that I don’t care to learn how to do and would take way too much of my time otherwise, but if I could beam it into creation, then why wouldn’t I?
Hard work makes you appreciate the benefits of that work more, certainly, but having benefits from light work also facilitates more work to be able to be done. Rarity’s reaction to her power is exactly what mine would be: oh hey, my production rate is increased, so now I can do ALL the things I’ve ever wanted to do. I could go through all of the ideas for videos, films, novels–whatever I’ve got backlogged–and make those things happen.
The issue raised by your point, however, is less a question of how instantly creating something affects its quality and the attachment you have to it, and is more a question of the logistics of this magic. Because it is true that the idea of willing an art piece into existence doesn’t make sense because there are too many things that you wouldn’t know until you’re making said art piece.
Does Rarity know the correct measurements and mechanics of the buildings and chariots she’s causing to exist? Does she already know how to construct all of these things and is literally just willing the materials into existence and skipping the effort? Is it more like she’s doing the entire project in an infinitely short amount of time, or is she also willing into existence her knowledge of how to make the product?
If I willed this video into existence, I would have had no clue previously what the exact arrangements and selections of words would be, because those things are not premeditated, but emergent in the process of creation. So if I willed a video into existence, would I also be causing myself to have known all of the words and arrangements instantaneously?
See this is why I hate powers like this whenever they come up. They make me think way too fucking much about something that’s completely hypothetical.
“Also, the book, or the spell of the book, had a mind of it’s own, which scares the crap out of me”
I’m not entirely sure what you mean by this, but I’d say it’s more like the spell is automatic. Like, does it actually think for itself, or is it following a requisite set of rules? I feel like if it had a mind of its own it would be able to avoid undoing. Again though, not sure what you mean. But thanks for the topic suggestions! A round of applause for Urishima, please!
Now, I know that some of you will be frustrated with me for saying this, but Spike, to me, is a fundamentally uninteresting character. Yes, I think he’s well-written in this episode with a believable and relatable arc, which Tommy Oliver did a perfectly fine job of detailing in his video.
But Spike just isn’t a character I’m interested in. Besides having one of the most consistently excellent voice performances in the cast, Spike just doesn’t have much going for him in terms of intrigue. His personality is indistinct, inconsistent, and undefined, and I’ve never connected with him really on any level. He doesn’t have a strong continuous arc like Rainbow Dash or Twilight, nor depth of character like Rarity or Pinkie Pie, nor do I want him for my wife like Applejack or Fluttershy. Even when Spike is written decently, I already care so little about him that it’s hard for me to feel anything watching his episodes.
And that’s it really. Again, check out Tom’s video if you want more of a close reading of the episode’s strengths and weaknesses, but for me, all that really grabbed me about this episode was how much I wanted to spiral into a horrific villainous downfall with sexy evil Rarity.
NO ONE MARE SHOULD HAVE ALL THAT POOOWER
My Sword Is Unbelievably Dull 