S07E21: Marks and Recreation

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Re: S07E21: Marks and Recreation

Postby Mechanical Ape (?) » Mon Oct 02, 2017 6:23 am

Wikipedia wrote:Ensō (円相) is a Japanese word meaning “circle” and a concept strongly associated with Zen. Ensō is one of the most common subjects of Japanese calligraphy even though it is a symbol and not a character. It symbolizes the Absolute enlightenment, strength, elegance, the Universe, and the void; it can also symbolize the Japanese aesthetic itself. As an “expression of the moment” it is often considered a form of minimalist expressionist art.


:starity:

Holy moley. This show got way smarter than I am when I wasn't looking. I figured she was just bad at drawing circles for some reason.

(Other theories included "the Lucent logo" and "receiving alien signals like Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters".)
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Postby SlateSlabrock (?) » Mon Oct 02, 2017 6:38 am

Aramek wrote:I demand many gifs of the eyebrow waggle.

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Postby PonyHag714 (?) » Mon Oct 02, 2017 1:30 pm

That would make a good "Get it?" joke avatar too. Image
:speakest: The fun has been doubled!
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Postby marshmallow (?) » Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:05 am

The more you try to apply logic to cutie marks the iffier the concept gets. It's a nice symbol for growing up and finding yourself, but the world building about it is odd.

For one thing, people change over time. Imagine getting a tattoo for what you were interested in or good at when you were 12.

The cutie mark skill/interest distinction is probably most well done with Rarity. Her mark is literally gems, and she has a spell for finding them, but she's not a miner or a jeweler. Her true talent is more metaphorical, something like unearthing the beauty of the world and others. She's an artist who uses fabric as her canvas. I remember an interview where Faust said Rarity's original element was inspiration, but it was decided that was too abstract for kids, so they went with generosity instead.

But elsewhere, ponies usually have marks in what they do, whether it's magic, flying, or being a waiter. When ponies magically switch or lose cutie marks they acquire or lose those talents. When Apple Bloom had the cutie pox she gained dozens of new talents.

Thunderlane can cook, but his mark is in flying. Presumably he could never cook as well as a chef pony with a cooking mark, nor would a chef pony ever be able to outfly him. Maybe they should've shown a Wonderbolt who doesn't have a flying mark. But then, what's the point of the mark? Why do ponies have them, but not the other races?

There was also this exchange way back in Boast Busters:

Spike: Twenty-five different kinds of tricks and counting. I thought unicorns were only supposed to have a little magic that matches their special talents!
Twilight Sparkle: True, for ponies whose talents are for things like cooking or singing or math. But what if a unicorn's special talent is magic?
Spike: Like you, Twilight, and you know a ton of magic.
Twilight Sparkle: Oh, Spike, stop. I'm sure there are lots of ponies right here in Ponyville that know just as much magic as me.
Spike: Are you kiddin'? I don't think there's another unicorn in all of Equestria with your kind of ability, Twilight.


Starlight has her kind of abilities, and she doesn't have a mark in cooking either.
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Postby Soft Snow (?) » Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:38 am

I feel like the entire episode can be summed up in one scene without explanation. The scene were all the campers go rogue and just do things they like then stop as they are afraid they might get cutie marks in them and the only one of them that already got a cutie mark just shrugs at them and continues to draw circles.

marshmallow wrote:Starlight has her kind of abilities, and she doesn't have a mark in cooking either.

You make a valid point. I always imagined it was like a trait in an role playing game. Getting a cutie mark gives you bonus to a certain kind of skill and if you are a spellcaster a unique spell or ability to go with it. And in just like most games, you build your character toward it's special bonuses. It doesn't limit you from learning other skills, you just won't have that extra bonus towards it. And just like video games I will never be as good at them as others but still enjoy playing them all the same.
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Postby Headless Horse (?) » Tue Oct 03, 2017 3:29 am

I mean I know what this guy's cutie mark is



Neat to see the genesis of Story of the Blanks :flail: :v:
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Postby Fizzbuzz (?) » Tue Oct 03, 2017 4:18 am

marshmallow wrote:The more you try to apply logic to cutie marks the iffier the concept gets. It's a nice symbol for growing up and finding yourself, but the world building about it is odd.

For one thing, people change over time. Imagine getting a tattoo for what you were interested in or good at when you were 12.

The cutie mark skill/interest distinction is probably most well done with Rarity. Her mark is literally gems, and she has a spell for finding them, but she's not a miner or a jeweler. Her true talent is more metaphorical, something like unearthing the beauty of the world and others. She's an artist who uses fabric as her canvas. I remember an interview where Faust said Rarity's original element was inspiration, but it was decided that was too abstract for kids, so they went with generosity instead.

But elsewhere, ponies usually have marks in what they do, whether it's magic, flying, or being a waiter. When ponies magically switch or lose cutie marks they acquire or lose those talents. When Apple Bloom had the cutie pox she gained dozens of new talents.

This is why I think cutie marks work better as a semi-abstract expression of a pony's personality and soul and not just a symbol representative of what he or she is good at. You can see how the latter happens with background ponies since, to properly make a cutie mark, you first have to quite well know the character for whom you're making it, which isn't quite doable when you need a pony to appear in a crowd scene or in a brief one-off shot or something. Cutie marks that are plain images of an object work well enough in that regard, in proportion to the amount of time we actually see a character on screen, but the more fleshed-out ponies deserve more meaningful cutie marks in proportion.

It's the same way with kids, really. I mean, even though computer science is the thing I know best and care most about (enough to where I made my ponysona's cutie mark in that regard... of course, ponies in the show don't have the luxury of designing their own marks), there's still other things I also care about and can do at least not-horribly, like art. Now when I was 12, even then I knew the tech world was for me, but I hardly knew anything else about myself in that regard. I figure that a pony's cutie mark is the sign of that first realization of passion and self-actualization, not a complete definition of identity. But you don't always have that kind of insight and wisdom when you're young!
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