sammyjs-ponies - Tumblr blog

[sammyjs-ponies]

Not gonna lie, this was pretty funny.

[sammyjs-ponies]

[sammyjs-ponies]

Just LOOK at these pictures of Sunny Daze! They have SO much character! I'm already working on another drawing of her (my fave overlooked pony) but Oh man. I HAVE to draw these in my own style.

I love G3's look as it turned out, but I can't help but wonder how much more amazing the series would have been if this studio had been the one to animate all of the movies.

[sammyjs-ponies]

I've rebranded my Facebook page and started posting there again! Interaction still isn't great but it's worth a shot.

[sammyjs-ponies]

Have you heard of the new show Wild Manes? What's your opinion about it?

I have been watching it!

I find it very pleasant and I enjoy it. In fact, the show feels like it would fit perfectly alongside shows from the 2003-2008 era, like Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, Horseland, and of course G3 MLP.

And I for one, love that. It's nostalgic even though it's brand new, and I've been wishing so hard to see shows appear that make that happen. It's like that feeling we all wish we could have again of watching our favorite childhood shows for the first time.

I've been sitting with the popcorn watching the mixed reactions from Bronies. The consensus is that G5 is a total flop and we're all craving something better to fill the void. I've seen about 75% of videos hyping it up "Will this be the NEW MLP???" and the rest calling it "Bootleg Ripoff" and at worst just hating on it for all the same reasons they blasted G3.

Wild Manes is a comfort show. Not something action-packed and profound with deep lore like G4 was, and it shouldn't be compared as such. These other shows I mentioned above have an audience of an entirely different set of people that Bronies often refuse to accept exist.

We do also love profound shows like G4, but the kinds of people who exclusively like G4-type shows have a hard time accepting different genres if they're not exactly the same... and tend to shame the people who have different tastes as if everything else is objectively "bad".

Imagine a person who refuses to eat anything but chicken tenders getting on a high horse and insulting a foodie for enjoying more foods than just chicken tenders.

As for my review of the show so far:

They're doing VERY well with storytelling for being limited to a 5-minute runtime, and if they ever get the chance to do more, I think they have great potential to have amazing stories. The "You're probably wondering how we ended up here" gimmick at the beginning of each episode, which is jarring to some people, would be way more enjoyable with a full 20-minute episode. In fact, it's VERY refreshing to see a cartoon doing something different for once.

As I said, I love how the show makes me feel. The art style is great. The background art is great. There's no villains or monsters or world-ending scenarios at stake, which is again, refreshing.

(Another thing Bronies tend to not realize is some people just don't want to watch characters fighting 24-7. High-stakes episodes are enjoyable once in a while, but how can it be special if that's how things just are all the time? I don't know about anyone else, but big battles to save the world are a lot more meaningful to me when we've spent some time living happily in that world to sympathize and understand why it's worth defending.)

And sometimes, I just want to watch cute characters have fun and live life, where the worst of the problems is a minor disagreement with your friend that gets worked out in the end. A world I can wish I lived in.

My only biggest complaint so far is that I wish the hair moved. You'd think with such a focus on hair, they'd have some real physics in the animation.

But again, they're just starting out. Surely things will improve if it takes off.

[sammyjs-ponies]

I am now on Fiverr!

If you were nervous about personal communication and direct transaction through PayPal, you can now place orders for my work on Fiverr!

[sammyjs-ponies]

Hate to say it, but I feel like it's risky having G3 designs on my TeePublic store. Not only now that I'm an official business, but also seeing MLP pushing older generation merch in recent years would suggest they want to keep up with it. When the recruiter for TeePublic first contacted me, they assured me it would be fine, but I don't trust that I wouldn't get a C&D if Hasbro found out about it.

It's sad, because they're pretty much the only things people buy (even though it's not a lot), but I think for my safety and integrity, I should take them down.

However... that doesn't mean I can't remake them without using the copyrighted characters! My skills have grown a lot since 2015 anyway. I think this is the best thing to do. If bootleggers can get away with recoloring show art on packaging, there's no reason I can't continue drawing ambiguous OCs in G3 style and still sell them.

[sammyjs-ponies]

[sammyjs-ponies]

Do you have an in-depth enough opinion of G4 to hypothetically make a video essay about its failures? If so, how much money would you want for such a production?

I do have strong opinions about the later seasons. The show did not need to be milked for so long.

I genuinely loved G4 in the first two seasons. In fact I just saw a TikTok compilation recently of some of the humor in Season 1 and boy do I miss it. "She's an evil enchantress and she does evil dances..."

Something shifted in Season 3 that lost my attention to the show. And I'm not talking about Twilight becoming an alicorn, I'm talking about the overall pacing of the stories, the humor, and even the art style.

But opinions don't necessarily equal failures. I've learned that in defending G3. People need to learn that it's okay to dislike something without making up reasons to say it's "objectively bad", trying to convince its fans that they shouldn't like it either. That revelation gave me peace by realizing I don't owe anyone a "good enough" reason as to why I should be allowed to like G3.

In my opinion, G4 just shifted gears toward something I wasn't really interested in anymore besides wanting to stay tuned to see what was happening to the characters.

I don't really plan on doing video essays to be honest. I know I said years ago that it was something I would have liked to do (ie. explaining all the reasons why G3 wasn't objectively bad), but that was years ago. I want to focus my channel on animations and original creations.

[sammyjs-ponies]

I have begun the rebranding process!

For this blog, instead of "Scáth's Ponies", it will now be "Sammy J's Ponies". The url will be "sammyjs-ponies".

[sammyjs-ponies]

Rebranding

I'm considering rebranding. My life is finally shaping up for contract work to actually support me, and I'm going to have to turn into a serious business. Graphics, Animation, Film, Music, Etc. whether I'm doing work for others or monetizing my own original content.

"The Shadow Rider" doesn't really represent who I am anymore, and sounds like darkness and evil, not a name a Christian would present themselves with. Not to mention "Scámarca" is not even English, hard to remember and spell, and people like to make fun of the word "Scam" in it. Let's be real. The name is childish.

I'm still thinking of a new name. It should give the vibe of "The Fruits of Transformation".

I do like "Fruits of Transformation" but I feel it's quite long. I'll keep thinking about it, but be prepared in the near future that "Scámarca Productions" will be changing.

[sammyjs-ponies]

I am open for Commission!

Character drawings, Illustration, Animation, Game Assets, and of course my specialty, G3 Pony Art! Price list is available on my website:

[sammyjs-ponies]

I was thinking about what I should do next as an animation.

I'd like to do something Christmas themed but I'm worried I wouldn't finish anything in time for Christmas.

Then I got the idea of doing something simple with a few Christmas/Winter themed ponies (Minty, Snow-el, etc) Even though who am I kidding, I never make anything "simple" and always end up shooting way over my league setting myself up for burnout.

I was thinking "Jingle Bell Rock" and having the ponies bounce up onto the screen holding Jingle Bells. Simple and Easy. I thought it would be funny to have something goofy like, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, and then the last pony pops up holding a literal rock.

But I realized, we have Minty in the mix. How could I miss the opportunity to have Jingle Bell... SOCK!!!

How would I make that make sense though? Ah well, just thoughts.

[sammyjs-ponies]

"Poneh" Animation Meme, with G3 Rarity!

[sammyjs-ponies]

Wow! I never expected my OC to get so much attention!

[sammyjs-ponies]

My new G3 Pony OC: "Vapor Waves"

[sammyjs-ponies]

I did a G3 Animation!

(Crossposted from Youtube since it had to be marked "For Kids")