Lighting Up The Spotlight! IMPORTANT MESSAGE!
Alright folks, we have a very special announcement! We will be making some great changes to the Spotlight! First off, we’ve gotten a new artist (information on the artist can be given upon request), and from now on your favorite mascot Spotlight Heart will be hosting every review, not just once a weekend.
However, do to this we will be making only TWO reviews every week in order to lighten the load on our artist. But don’t worry! We will be making more in depth reviews in return, along with attempting to fill up the other time slots with interviews with the artist (provided they get back in contact with us in time). All reviews will be told (mostly) from the perspective of Spotlight Heart as well. Consider him the official host of the Spotlight (though he sort of was already).
We’ll also be hosting more live streams to help promote friendship and interactions with each other. We will give you guys plenty of heads up before hand though, and you can even join us in the Skype calls to help host the Livestream while we watch movies and animes together!
Finally, after receiving some messages about why we couldn’t review more popular blogs, we shall be broadening our scope of reviews, showing off some blogs that, while not exactly completely in need of more followers, are blogs that our followers would enjoy knowing about. Of course, our main focus has and will always be promoting up and coming blogs. But as our saying goes, “EVERYONE deserves a chance to be in the Spotlight”.
We will also be accepting assistance with the Spotlight if any of wish to give it. If you would like to help find blogs that need more attention, help us discuss the reviews of blogs, or just want to join us on Livestreams, send us a message with your Skype information.
So, what’s the cliffnote version?
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Alright guys, so it’s Saturday and I’m sure you guys are asking “Spotlight! Where the hell have you been? It’s Saturday!”. Well unfortunately I somehow lost my list of blogs to review (about a hundred or so) and I had to go and find them again. Now that’s not to say I review those blogs in any particular order or even at all, it’s just a list that I look over sometimes come review time, so don’t be afraid to ask for your blog to be reviewed! Better buckle up though, because I’m making this review extra long to make up for lost time!
So now on to the show! Today we have a very special blog, Behind Derpy Eyes!
Let me tell you guys, I’ve fallen in love with this blog. Like truly, deeply in love with this thing. Why? Because the blog has a lot of unique and unexpected ideas while also being great and light-hearted, and with some promising character development as well! What’s the blog about then? Well of course it stars the ever iconic Derpy! And yes, she’s the town’s mail mare with a little crush on Time Turner. What makes it so interesting then? Well let’s take a look.
First off, notice I said Time Turner, not the Doctor. Yes, it seems instead of being the good ol’ Doctor the artists have decided to give him his own character and development, and honestly I feel like there’s not enough blogs making him his own independent character. However…
Unfortunately for Derpy here….
….he’s a bit of a recluse.
But you know what, I actually really love the way they depict him in this blog. Here, he’s an introvert who prefers to be alone. He stays inside all the time and seems to avoid people. He likes to play video games and keep to himself. He even takes medication sometimes, so you can imagine what he thought when he first started receiving the messages.
Yeah, kind of a whole different look ain’t it? Don’t worry, he’s fine with us now, though freaked out a bit again though when he got a message from another tumblrverse’s Doctor. He’s now learned to accept that too, though seeing him trying to understand the different parallel universes made him show some of his otaku-gamer side, and I gotta admit that was kind of funny.
See? Now THAT’S hilarious. I love the personaltiy that these artists have given to Time Turner and how relatable it makes him to the reader. He actual feels like a realistic character now (Well as realistic as talking ponies can get). And the character development for why he has such an anxiety around mares? It makes a great story, though I won’t ruin it for you here.
But what about Derpy herself? Well, like I said it’s not quite what you would expect. Yes, they have Dinky but she’s in fact depicted as being Derpy’s youngest sister rather than her daughter.
And Sparkler’s shown to be in the story as well as her middle sister.
We also get to see her mother and her current father. I say current father because apparently her biological father passed away, and yet still they throw a curve ball by showing us that they had gone through a divorce many years prior. The fact that the artists have gone through the effort of establishing realistic backstory and character development is something to be truly admired. If you’re going to have a backstory or any tragedy, take a lesson from this blog and make it realistic as well.
And hey, for those of you who are Lyra fans (or Minuette fans) you’ll be happy to know that a certain green (and a blue) unicorn play their own roles in the story as Derpy’s friends.
This is also a great dose of realistic concepts to the blog as it only makes sense that Derpy would, even with being teased about her eyes, still end up with some friends. Not only that, they give Derpy an identity outside of just her being clumsy or a mailmare. They make her a gamer and a lover of movies who thinks fondly of her father who passed away.
The amount of character development that’s shaping up for this blog is absolutely amazing. A rare gem to find in the clutter of cuteness overload or overly dramatic backstories and plots we see in other blogs. And you know what? I can’t honestly wait to see how these two develop over time, and how they grow as characters.
Now what about the art style though? Well, in case you didn’t notice there seems to be more than one artist working on the blog. However, that’s not really all that bad as the differences in styles don’t really serve to be all that distracting as both artists display great talent. The colors and designs are bright and cheerful, and the shading does quite well when needed. Hell, I even like the way they make Derpy’s hair look. Fan-fucking-tastic. It’s exactly what the blog needs and the artists deliver on giving us a style that suits the blog exactly (Makes me envy the lucky team’s talent).
So then what’s the final verdict? Honestly I don’t see how this blog hasn’t gotten more popularity because it certainly deserves it. It blends great development and ideas with a matching artistc style, and honestly there’s not a single reason why these posts shouldn’t be showing up on your dashboard.
Final Verdict: Go follow it now! This blog is sure to not disappoint.
www.behind-derpy-eyes.tumblr.com/
NOTE: By the way guys, just a heads up. We’ve found a new artist and your favorite mascot, Spotlight Heart, will be returning soon! We’ve gotten your messages about how you missed him and so now he’s coming back!
Alright folks, time for another Spotlight! Sorry for not doing this Yesterday. (Not gonna lie. Fell asleep on my keyboard.) So what do we have here today? Well it’s a new blog that started about a week ago based on the classic Doctor!
Ok, so lets face it, we’ve seen blogs about the Doctor before. And you know what? We never have a problem with it. You know you love seeing the Doctor, and enjoy seeing any blog’s take on him or their portrayal, and here we have another blog for us to enjoy!
Now this blog’s only been around for a bit over week, but thankfully the artist has been pumping out about one post a day, which is always a great plus to any blog. It shows dedication which always bodes well for the future. Now what is going on so far with it? Well, the blog so far has started off with the Doctor having become a pony and him having to deal with that fact, much to his chagrin (Yeah, it’s a word).
Yes, it seems this Doctor isn’t all that thrilled to have suddenly found himself to be a pony, then again I’m surprised most Doctors take to it so well. You think they would have like questions or something?
Well, as usual let’s take a look at the artistic style. Well the first thing you might have noticed is this artist seems to have a unique way of drawing ears. Of course, this isn’t bad by any means. In fact, it makes them look quite floppy and lovable, and you know how we love that stuff here on Tumblr Pone.
Yeah, those ears are pretty damn big….
Well, it seems I’ve done my usual schtick (also a word, look it up). Now I guess I should give you my two cents (bits?) about the blog and what I think? Personally, while I may not be a huge fan of Doctor Who, I do really like the Doctor Whooves blogs. They make for a pretty enjoyable character and they can usually present some pretty interesting scenarios and themes, and it seems this blog might be shaping up to be the same way.
So head on over and show them your support and your love of a big floppy-eared Doctor! As for me? I’ve got me some gaming to do. So this is yours truly signing off.
http://timeywimeywhooves.tumblr.com/
Ok, so first off, HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!!! Or as I like to call it, the day you get pinched all day long and think everyone’s being an asshole because you were too lazy to look at a calendar. Well, my day aside, I have just enough time to get in my final Spotlight for the week. Now originally I had said I was going to do a blog on a cybernetic Twilight to finish off the theme of this week even though it was a somewhat popular blog now. However, I decided to switch it to a brand new blog someone showed me today. So without further ado, here’s Aurae43!
Lovely eyes, don’t ya think? So this is Aurae43. Now I’m sure the first question on everyone’s mind is “What’s going on?” Well, the short version is that Aurae43 is a bio-mechanical pony that’s been drifting through space for a very long time and has recently come into broadcasting distance.
Simple enough right? To tell the truth, I really hooked on the story of this blog so far. It presents an idea previously untouched by a lot of other stories and blogs, namely the possibility of alien-esque life forms being possible for Equestria’s world, and whether or not anyone would notice.
Apparently they did.
Now let’s talk some about Aurae herself as a character. Though normally one wouldn’t want a character to be dry and devoid of emotions, due to Aurae’s very nature of being bio-mechanical serves to make her detached personality actually feel quite natural (well, as natural as a bio-mechanical pony can be). Now while she may be robotic in tone and personality, she is still polite (for the most part) and respectful towards others to a certain degree, and in turn answers questions without falling into the typical robot cliche of throwing around terms like “meat-bag” or something just as corny as it would be similiar. This makes her a much more interesting, and even somewhat sympathetic, character. And the backstory that the artist has come up with isn’t tragic, but rather instead it makes you feel somewhat empty-hearted.
See what I mean? Makes you sort of wish they had more time together, huh?
Well, by the time you’ve gone through a post or two, you’ll be finding yourself genuinely hoping for her to find what she’s looking for in Equestria, and maybe even learn how to gain more of an emotional side while doing so. But not to worry, for she isn’t alone in this endeavor. She’s accompanied by her always helpful, yet eerily cheerful energetic AI for her ship, Iota.
You gotta admit, that’s not a half-bad design for a ship, eh? Simple yet elegant right?
Finally, lets talk about art style. Well I’m sure it has already caught your eye as being something very unique among our community here at Tumblr Pone. Honestly? I feel almost like some of these could be considered paintings that would do better in a museum than on a Tumblr blog. It’s a lot better than a lot of the “Modern Art” we see these days right? Well, all that aside, what does the art style do for the blog? Well, I’d be hard pressed to try and think of another blog whose artistic style so perfectly blended with the subject matter. I really couldn’t see any other type of medium or style working as well as the one the artist is using, and God bless them for that because this unique style is really something to behold, and certainly helps to catch your eye when making your routine scroll through the all dashboard updates. Not only that, with the artist pumping out a new post every weekend, I say it’s time to give this artist the Tumblr Pone Medal of Excellence.
And that was Aurae43 everybody! Sorry about the last minute post for this week, but you know how it is with everyone wanting to do something together on holidays like these. But at least you got a good blog to wrap the day up with right?
http://ask-aurae43.tumblr.com/
(Psst. Can you guess the reference? You get a free cookie if you do…)
(P.S.: You don’t really get a free cookie.)
Alright, so since I did Cyberpunk Spitfire for Tuesday’s Spotlight, I decided I would continue a similiar theme for the other two blogs this week, where I’ll be showing blogs all about the ponies with the cybernetics! Hopefully I don’t end up making them quite as long as Cyberpunk Spitfire right? So when I talked to some friends about the idea, I was recommended to go check out Ask Coppercog. So I did, and after looking over the blog I very excitedly said to myself!….
“Meh, sure why not.”
So here’s Coppercog!
So this lazy guy is your local inventor and roboticist for Ponyville. Of course, I think he’s a bit insane too. I mean he lives with two very strange ponies(?), and even stranger he’s actually working FOR Queen Chrysalis. Does that make him a traitor? I have no idea. Everyone else seems to be cool with it and he still seems to help others out with his inventions so…Yeah I have no idea to be honest. But at least he’s helpful right?
Like in this picture!…
…Where he made a machine for sharks to walk on land…
Ok! Bad example! Well what about that one machine that…
…cuts wood with a laser…
Yeah, I’m starting to think this guy has a few screws loose in the head, and that’s not counting that weird mechanical horn on his head. Still, these scientific blunders and crazy inventions do make for quite a bit of entertaining fun, and having such an eccentric personality really helps it along when you see him being so happily enthusiastic for his inventions, even when they don’t make a lot of sense.
He’s sort of like Thomas Edison…
…if he was a pony…
…and insane.
But at least he’s not alone in his endeavors. He is currently married to a changeling named Yhsrettulf, a changeling that looks quite familiar to a certain shy pegasus that we all know and love (though apparently holds no relation.) Wonder if you can guess who…
Now let’s talk a little bit more about the humor of the blog. Well it’s really all over the place. There’s not a specific style or category of the humor, it’s really just whatever the mod chooses to make. It can be over an internet meme reference.
Or it could be radical as all hell.
Or even just going with cute, but also random beyond belief.
Sort of reminds you of the Lion King don’t it? Yeah, the humor’s about as crazy as the pony behind the blog, so you’re never really sure what to expect. On the other hand, you really don’t know what to expect! Since the humor’s all over the place, it actually usually ends up being a fun little surprise to see what kind of post or idea they came up with for that day, so it’s very much worth the price of admission (that being no price and just clicking the follow button, but you guys know what I mean).
And since we mentioned posts, let’s talk about the art style. Well, that’s a little bit awkard for me. Why? Well here, let me explain. I honestly have mixed feelings over the style of the blog’s posts. Not to say that the art isn’t good or that the artist doesn’t have talent, obviously the posts are well done, and some of his posts seem like took a lot of effort to stylize and quite a bit of detail to show off a really great talent.
See what I mean? The only problem I have is with the text boxes. They sort of seem bland and emotionless, like they were typed out and then you put a little box around them. In fact, that’s pretty much what happened. Maybe it’s just me but it seems somewhat distracting when I’m trying to enjoy a post and its humor. Hey, I am supposed to be REVIEWING the blog right? I can’t always only stick to saying nice things right? Gotta give it to you guys honestly.
Now of couse, that’s just my opinion, and this Spotlight blog is really more about presenting others’ work for everyone to see so you all can make your own judgements. However, I still feel that maybe a little bit more personality for the characters’ text wouldn’t hurt.
Is it a big deal? Nah, not really. Hell, maybe that’s just the style he was trying to go for to suit the theme of the blog. You guys make your own judgement on that one, because even though it’s a bit of a quirk for me, it’s a small one and doesn’t diminish from the blog’s over all crazy antics.
In fact, I would really recommend heading over there right now as Copper and his wife just had a new baby (Man you have no idea the nightmare that was that pregnancy. I mean, well not to give any spoilers but….BOOM!) It’s a cute little changeling larva and you guys should get over there to get in on the asks about it! It’s actually pretty damn adorable.
And that’s all we have for now folks! Our next blog review will be dealing with a certain purple unicorn with some new additions, so keep an eye out till then!
http://askcoppercog.tumblr.com/
So Helix Week is over and we’re back to reviewing any blogs that come our way instead of just sticking to traditional art blogs, though of course we’ll still be reviewing over them as well. So who do we have today? Well, it’s a nice little blog that I’ve recently stumbled upon. And you know what? I think you guys might like it too. So here comes Cyberpunk Spitfire!
Wow, so the first thought through my head was “This is totally going on the Spotlight!”. Ok, really my first thought was the “I didn’t ask for this.” meme, but you guys get what I mean.
Now lets start this review off by talking a bit about the story of Cyberpunk Spitfire. This story doesn’t seem like it’s for the light-hearted or for those of you looking for a laugh. Pretty much the only thing you could get from it in terms of comedy may be the occasional dark humor. Not to say it’s grimdark or gore-filled of course (Lord knows this fandom has had its fill of that as it is already, right guys?) No, rather the blog is a very story driven experience, delving into the aftermath of the replacement of the citizens’ bodies with cybernetic components (known as the Procedure), along with a now mad Twilight and power-crazy Celestia manipulating things from behind the scenes.
The story is shaping up to be a dark and brooding experience, as we are not being shown gigantic, emotion-filled conflicts of the characters going through the loss of their lively essence and emotions, but rather it takes place AFTER all of that is said and done, after any resistance and after all have been basically forced to undertake this dark and sinister process. Tempers are quick to flare and many ponies have grown unfeeling and uncaring, including our titular character here (that means she has her name in the title for any of you with a dirty mind).
Yes, it seems Spitfire has pretty much lost herself to her own decaying emotions, making her hostile and with a darker, angered outlook on life. For those of you who seek a deeper, darker story without having to deal with the cliches of blood, guts, and gore from the grimdark side of the fandom, this blog is certainly for you. It hits you right in the heart not because of melodramas playing out all the time or because of seeing all our favorite ponies go insane with blood lust for no reason whatsoever, but rather from the tragedy of the fact that they have simply lost who they once were in an actual believable, and yet still tragic, way.
In fact, while the idea of the of the cybernetics might seem attractive, and the artist certainly does an amazing job making them look enticing, it seems I even found myself deciding I would rather take the sweet release of death than suffer this TRULY agonizing fate, a fate not done by bloody hands during massacres or deprived insanity, but by their own actions and choices. It’s a truly horrifying prospect that goes BEYOND any amount of blood and gore could deliver, especially for what we know about who these characters once were, and now seeing what they’ve become.
Now, you may be asking yourself how these events were originally set into place? Well, you’ll be happy to know that it seems this scenario was not just be employed as a cheap gimmick, but instead that the artist gives us an actual believable scenario that truly makes sense to the characters as Twilight, being the mare she is (or in this case, was), had simply only wished to help her friend.
From this act spawned a descent into madness that will create a truly intimidating experience for those of you who want something that’s TRULY dark, not just bloody and cliched.
(And for those of you wondering, yes the pictures are melded together into a single picture in the actual posts on the blog. Just couldn’t pull the same effect here what with this being a text post and all).
Now, of course, we can’t talk about the blog without addressing the art style. Well, as you can see, the art style that the mod uses matches the blog and the subject matter perfectly, creating nice smooth, slender forms along with amazing color schemes that make each page simply amazing to even look over. The shading and hues are some of my favorite among a lot of the blogs I’ve reviewed and seen, and it really and truly sells the blog’s setting and the cybernetics very well, making each picture very pleasing to the eye and to just simply admire.
In fact, this picture may play host to some of my all time favorite use of coloring schemes that I’ve seen in a long while. The shading and hues here blend perfectly together with the smooth forms and style, creating amazingly vivid colors and some truly awesome visuals. Even if you’re someone who doesn’t like the darker story of this blog, we can all find appreciation in this artist’s hard work and clever design, blending imagination and skill together.
If you want a more story driven experience to help liven up that cuteness overload that’s been cluttering your dashboard recently (and not minding a bit of foul language), THIS is the blog for you, and I know that I certainly will be following this story to see what this artist has in store for us.
http://ask-cyberpunkspitfire.tumblr.com/
And that’s all the time we have for now folks. Look forward to my next post Thursday night! And remember folks, EVERYBODY deserves a chance to be in the spotlight. Until then, I bid you goodbye my friends.
Alright guys, so it’s been a great week. To all my followers, thanks for all the support. I believe Helix Week can officially be declared a success. It seems it’s done just what it was meant to, give others confidence in their blogs and their art, and I’ve been getting messages and recommendations of different blogs to review every day. I hope everyone found some great blogs to follow as well from all this!
So now it’s time to wrap Helix Week up. Our final blog is one my personal favorites, so without further ado, I present to you all Jumped Out Pinkie Pie!
That’s right Pinkie, you fourth-wall breaking bag of fun. Man, do I love this blog. It’s just such a creative blog to behold, and since the artist uses the same artistic medium as the rest of the blogs this week, I thought Pinkie would be a perfect way to wrap this week up! So let’s take a look as to why this blog is definently worth the follow!
Well, first off the premise is an extremely creative idea that takes full advantage of the fandom’s head-canon of Pinkie’s Fourth Wall abilities and brings it out to real world humor. There’s plenty of references and the blog’s presentation makes the interactions with real world objects very believable.
Remember folks, creativity is your best friend. It’s about your imagination and using your head, not just about what your hands can put on paper, and this blog just pulls it off in an amazing way. It’s unique and a very nice change of pace from what we’re normally used to here on Tumblr Pone, and the humor can get pretty creative as well, without going too overboard with it.
See what I mean? Got you too didn’t it? Now I will say that the artist seems to have a good grasp of the English language but there are some hints that show it’s not their primary language, however with time the artist seems to have improved her fluency quite a bit.
But no matter what, it’s always just cute as hell…
www.jumped-out-pinkieanswers.tumblr.com
And there you have it folks! The last entry of Helix Week! Now, I’ve been getting some more traditional art blogs sent to me so I’ve got a few up my sleeve. Of course, now it’s free game for everybody so if want your blog in the Spotlight, all you gotta do is just ask. We’ll be going back to doing three blogs every week again.
Note: Unfortunately, since our artist quit, we won’t be able to keep doing Spotlight Heart’s Weekly Special Spotlight that we do once a week. Sorry abou that folks.
Oh alright, lets end this on a happy note. Since our other blogs have been doing Tumblr Pone Highs, lets end this one with a pic for it too.
www.jumped-out-pinkieanswers.tumblr.com
ask-lordsheogorath-blog asked: Wooooaaahh there, High Silver. I'm pretty sure Lying Applejack is already crazy popular. Your spotlight should be shining on someone else that needs it.
Yeah I know, but I even said that I already know that Lying AppleJack is popular, but the point of this week is to show people not to look down on yourself for thinking your artistic medium or style isn’t as good as others. You don’t have to think that because you don’t have a tablet or use programs or make digital art that your art isn’t good enough to be noticed.
And LAJ is proof of the fact that if you put enough effort into something, people will take notice no matter what. Yes, I usually show blogs that need promotions or that aren’t as well known, and I’ve done that even this week. I just wanted to show proof that you can also get popular when using that style.
Alright guys, it’s time for our third blog this week! As you know, this week it’s all about the low-tech! We’re reviewing over some great blogs that use anything that goes straight to paper. Pencils, pens, markers, even crayons, all in an effort to show that any medium or artistic style can make a great blog and that you shouldn’t be ashamed that you can’t use tablets or advanced programs, and you should never be ashamed of your work no matter what.
And tonight we’re reviwing the ever popular blog, Lying AppleJack!
I know what you might be thinking. Why am I doing a Spotlight over such a popular blog? Well, this blog is a shining example of what Helix Week is all about. This blog and its artist uses pencils and markers, and yet their art looks even better than most digital art. For those of you who use hand drawn pictures, this blog is exactly where hard work and practice can get you. So that’s why tonight I’m talking about this blog that pulls off humor, design, quality, and popularity all in one.
So lets talk about style. Though it’s hard to exactly place your finger on, the style is very distinct and you could probably be shown tons of pictures and be able to single out this artist’s work. Somehow you don’t even notice that it’s been drawn using markers or pencils at first glance, and really have to look at it closer to see that.
Even in this picture where he had to switch part way through from using markers to colored pencils, you wouldn’t even be able to tell if you weren’t already aware of it, and even then it’s still hard to tell.
Now what about the entertainment? Well if you’ve been following the blog you already know the humor is always entertaining, if a bit erratic. He constantly shifts between character interactions…
…interactions with the comments…
…and funny references…
Not only that, but the artist is pumping out a picture almost every day, making this blog’s dedicated artist an immediate favorite.
If you’re not following this blog yet, you’ve been living under a tumblr pone rock. Whoever this mod is, we thank you for being a great example to all those who use pencils and markers that with practice, any artistic medium can be absolutely amazing.
So remember folks, if you stay true to your style and don’t get discouraged, and with a little bit of practice, you can make it just as amazing if not more so than any digital art blog.
http://asklyingapplejack.tumblr.com/
And before we go, here’s another farewell pic for Tumblr Pone High. Stay tuned tomorrow night where we review our last blog, and one that’s very special and creative, a blog I’ve been waiting to do for a long time.
Until then, remember folks. EVERYONE deserves a chance to be in the spotlight!