by Headless Horse (?) » Sun Sep 13, 2015 11:56 am
I don't know, it could be a genuinely novel thing for them, being able to wear something exactly like what a celebrity model wore. That kind of thing gained popularity in the real world for a reason, after all.
I appreciated the depth and richness of the story with this one. It dealt with some very subtle conflicts and clashes of value systems which are going to be a nice challenge for the target audience to get a handle on. Look at how the dynamic between Rarity and Sassy ebbs and flows and ebbs again throughout the presentation, where Sassy's embellishments and visual aids take Rarity by surprise but she quickly rolls with it and takes advantage of them in the spirit they're offered—right up until the final dress reveal when she goes too far (and isn't immediately contrite about it when Rarity confronts her, which felt like a smack in the face).
Similarly with Sassy's pin-by-pin plan for market domination versus Rarity's "TLC" approach. Sassy genuinely thinks "Just hire some minimum wage seamstresses; you'll never have to sew again!" is a huge coup. She thinks Rarity wants to be a manager like her, not someone who actually does the creating thread by thread herself. She isn't counting on that sounding like Rarity's version of hell.
And there was a ton of interesting wordplay, which wasn't just part of the set dressing—it was actually woven into the storytelling. I thought "The Reign in Stain" was a particularly clever name for a dress, but I also laughed out loud at how badly chosen it was, how it felt like AKR must have been so pleased with herself for coming up with it that she ignored how clumsy and unappealing it sounds what with its various layers of meaning (who wants a stained dress?). ...And then it turns out that Sassy brings that point up herself and makes a plot point out of it. That's some "Does it make any sense to set up a baked goods stand at a catered Gala?" level stuff.