gdp's Comments

Equestria Daily : Filli Vanilli - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 15 Feb 2014 17:03:48 +0000

Thing to me is, the ending song was the same song they sang throughout the entire episode. It just had Fluttershy in it. I dunno, I really think that it was better WITHOUT her in it, or at least, with her "Flutterguy"-ing it up.

Equestria Daily : Filli Vanilli - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 15 Feb 2014 16:34:50 +0000

Haha, holy crap! I can't believe I forgot that one. Props to you. *Snob mode activate.* WELL, THE THING IS, SPIKE -IS- A -DRAGON-, AFTER ALL. THIS IS -CLEAR-LY- THE FIRST TIME WE'RE HEARING A -PONY- SAY IT.

Equestria Daily : Filli Vanilli - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 15 Feb 2014 16:26:17 +0000

"Seriously though, no offense, but you kind of sounded like a dude." Dude is now a canon pony saying. 10/10 I'm estatic, a Fluttershy episode happened that I really liked. I had a couple of gripes with it, but overall this one was a solidly fun romp. First of all, the music, save for the very first and very last songs, were FANTASTIC. Maybe it's because I'm a sucker for A Capella, but I absolutely adored the Ponytones, both in music and in concept. Seriously, Big Mac singing in an A Capella Band, what's NOT to love? Second, the humor. The humor was fantastic. Pinkie Pie was an absolute riot; even moreso then then in HER OWN EPISODE a few weeks back, but for once there were a great number of jokes unrelated to her or her antics that were equally hillarious. In particular, I loved all the insane ways they snuck Fluttershy around during their elaborate singing ruse (Need to hide her in the Spa? It's cool, my friend has a DIVING HELMET we can borrow.) Also, it warms my heart to see the team inserting so much continuity this season...*sniff* The message was solid too, but...this is where my criticisms begin. Fluttershy, unfortunately, still remains my least favorite character due to her distinct lack of characterization beyond a singular concept: She's really shy, so she doesn't want to do things until the climax of the episode when she learns she needs/actually does want to do them. She has a FANTASTIC Voice Actor behind her, and a lot of potential for character development, plus a unique locale for a home...and they just keep going with this exact same note. Her episodes always boil down to the same formula, and we never get any actual development on her CHARACTER during them. As a result, I've always found that she seems to do best in the "group episodes," like the flashed back to Bridle Gossip. This episode...wasn't any different. At all. It was the exact same Fluttershy Formula that's come to be expected; it's just this time around, the episode surrounding it is greatly more entertaining then usual. I loved the fact that "Flutterguy" was not only called by name, but actually re-utilized as a plot element (In before the inevitable episode where they need to keep Pinkie Pie from blurting something out, so they inflate her tongue again.) However, aside from the standard Fluttershypisode-ness, there was one, jarring thought that stuck with me from beginning to end. "...That song she sang at the start SUCKED." Seriously, the characters continued to go on and on and on about how she had the most amazing singing voice ever, and NEEDS to IMMEDIATELY start singing publically...and all I can think is that that fist song was really, really bad. In fact, to double the irony, the LAST song wasn't all that good either. I don't want to blame it on Fluttershy's singing voice, because I actually don't think she sounds bad, it's just that the the first song ultimately boiled down to over-hyped humming, and it felt incredibly forced; like the team was REALLY trying to push the concept of her voice being "Angelic" in some way. Then, to back it up, the last song had the exact same problem. Fluttershy with her deep voice, or Big Mac, are interchangeable in the role, but one way or another the Ponytones sounded FANTASTIC...except for the last one when Fluttershy joined. All the sudden there was this high pitched exess sound overwhelming the other voices that were entirely in sync with one another. Honestly, I'm glad that she's still one-note in THIS scenario, because I really think that the Ponytones are BETTER OFF WITHOUT HER. This isn't some little detail if you consider the fact that Rarity's insistence they NEED her voice is the driving force behind the whole episode. Well, either way, maybe it's just me. Maybe a lot of people will like those songs (*cough*hopefully for reasons beyond the fact it's just Fluttershy singing*cough*) and I just lean more towards the lower-key style of A Capella that the group had without her. On top of that, all said, those details don't stop the episode from being entertaining. 7/10. Do this, with some character development next time, please.

Equestria Daily : Pinkie Pride - Episode Discussion and Download

Sat, 1 Feb 2014 16:42:31 +0000

Yeah, that's true. I'm actually aware of the "proper" terms, but to be honest I'm really not into shipping...at all. In fact, in 90% of cases I really actively dislike it. I tend to call the whole thing "Crack Shipping" because I'm not seeing the romance that even "normal" ships are purporting to introduce, and to me the whole thing usually comes off as some kind of creepy forced lesbian fantasy, rather then a realistic romance. That said, as you pointed out it is a misuse of the term. "Crack Shipping" tends to be more http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/...

Equestria Daily : Pinkie Pride - Episode Discussion and Download

Sat, 1 Feb 2014 16:30:51 +0000

Seriously, I got goosebumps when the Party Polka began and he was using his standard singing voice.

Equestria Daily : Pinkie Pride - Episode Discussion and Download

Sat, 1 Feb 2014 16:24:42 +0000

Man, am I the only one who feels like they wanted to make up for taking so long to get to the songs this season? This one was was like a miniature musical! I have two words for this one: Shipping HolyfuckweirdalwaseverybitasgoodasIimagined Yeah, the fantastic crack-shippers are gonna get so much out of this one. Cheese and Pinkie were so in sync that at one point I actually said "Damn it Hasbro, stop encouraging them." On top of that, Weird Al stole the show with Cheese. Initially, I wasn't quite sure what to think of the character, but as it went on, right down to his backstory, it was pretty apparent that he was pretty much the embodiment of Weird Al in Pony Form. Plus, they managed to do the one thing I didn't think they could: THEY MADE A PONY NAMED CHEESE FRIGGIN' SANDWICH AND PLAYED HIS NAME 100% STRAIGHT. Seriously, nobody had even the slightest comment about that? I know pony names are like that, but at this point I'm expecting a visit from his long lost brother, Fruit Pancake whose specialty became designing clothes after he watched the play Rarity slapped gemstones all over the costumes on way back when. If I could stop fanboying out for a moment though, I would like to say that truth be told, this was a little less then I had hoped for. Ultimately, I have to say that I think that Pinkie Apple Pie is still my favorite episode this season, both overall and in terms of Pinkie episodes. The story and interaction in it was just so fantastic. Here it's great, but....I dunno. I took issue with a couple of plot elements that seemed really forced, most notably the fact that Pinkie immediately takes a Highlanderian "There Can Be Only One" approach to the situation, from pretty much the moment Cheese starts showing his bubbly personality. It's especially jarring because moments earlier, they were completely on the same page; hell, nothing Cheese actually says or does (aside from gloating) actually comes off as him trying to "usurp" Pinkie's throne, so her incredibly hostile reaction just comes off as prideful... "Pinkie Pride".... OooooOOOOOoohhhh. Yeah, kind of goofy that my main issue with the plot is pretty much the intent of the episode. I just think it would've been better if Cheese at least showed SOME sign of actively trying to "out-do" Pinkie, and maybe he was and I just didn't catch it, but it really seemed like it was all in her head. Either way, aside from that it was pretty much solidified in my "number 2" slot for this season...aaaand then Weird Al Pinkie Polka. Goddamnit, it's like my childhood fantasy comes true; a show I like gets a Weird Al Polka. Combined with all the fantastic sight gags (Gummy has apparently ripped through the fourth wall and become a real alligator now) during the song, it came JUST short of a tie with Pinkie Apple Pie. The Humor was fantastic, the concept of two pinkies (Cause let's be honest, Cheese really is a male Pinkie without the bouncing and an affinity for saying "epic") gagging-off was explored fantastically, even with a convenient goof-off rule book! All and all, this one gets an 8/10 for me. The story was a bit less then what I wanted, but Weird Al made up for that. Please Weird Al, come back some time.

Equestria Daily : Three\'s a Crowd - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 25 Jan 2014 16:36:21 +0000

Discord: We can't stop here, this is Fruit Bat Country. Today's episode was fun...and felt relatively pointless. There's a few reasons for it, I think; most notably the focus being a little...out of whack. The best part of the episode was by and LARGE Discord, to the surprise I'm sure of absolutely nobody ever. I must say, Discord really is fitting well into the role of most-evil-not-evil-person-ever. You can tell from the moment he arrives, even before they overtly drive the point home with his "devious face" that he's faking it, and to me that kind of hurt the episode overall. I spent the majority of the time saying to myself "Okay, he's still faking it. Okay, he's still faking it. Okay, when's he going to reveal that he's so obviously faking it. Okay, why CAN'T TWILIGHT TELL HE'S FAKING IT?" Still, Discord did what Discord always does: he was a riot. I particularly loved some of the background nuances like him sneezing on a lamp post, causing it to tip it's top and walk away, or his initial sneeze causing a house in the background to say "fuck gravity", no doubt causing it's inhabitants a slow, cruel death as they found themselves suddenly incapable of breathing, screaming forth from a great inferno as the house left the atmosphere. Oh, there was also a song; or at least, that's the closest thing we as human beings could possibly comprehend it as. John De Lancie "sang" a deadpan musical number within a show about technicolor equines aimed at young females. Somewhere, in the mass abyss of space, the crew of the Enterprise just shuttered a bit. Still, those were the things in the episode that worked; and they worked really well. Discord stole the show as we expect Discord to steal the show, and it was fantastic...and then, the rest of it happened. Now, no. I'm not gonna go on a ramble about how horrible this episode was, because it wasn't horrible. This was most definitely not my least favorite episode this season, or anywhere near my least favorite episode in the series as a whole. It just...wasn't anything special -outside of Discord.- The story was an interesting concept, but felt far too disjointed in execution, the characters involved (besides Discord) were far to under-utilized, and all and all it just felt a bit too jumbled. TL;DR, here's a small example so you can try to visualize what I mean: When you write a story, the bare basic structure is "Beginning-Middle-End." Once you have a grasp of basic Storytelling, you can begin to segway and alternate subplots, so it would begin to look something more like "Begin/extra/ning-Subplot-Middle-Subp/extra/lot-Payoff-End." If you're good enough at it, you can do this without making it come off as convoluted or contrived, and if you keep the pacing in check, the story as a whole becomes exceptionally better then before. This episode, at least to me, felt like "Beginning-Beginning 2: Beginning Harder-Main Plot-Middle-Divinity Incarnate, AKA Episode Song-Kind Of End-Okay Now It's Over." There just seemed like there were things that went nowhere or didn't need to be there; things involving the other characters for the most part, which goes back to my point that I felt like the characters really were not utilized well. To put it in perspective, one of most people's largest complaints about Cadance is that since her introduction, she really hasn't gotten much of any character development in the show. The Comics have done a great job, but the show has left her as little more then a basic "pretty princess" who just happens to be the wife of the main character's brother. A ton of folk were looking forward to this one because it had the potential to finally shine some light on one of the show's characters who STILL needs real, proper development (I'm looking at you, Fluttershy) aaand...it didn't happen; not even in the slightest. Cadance is still just as bland as she ever was, and we're right where we started on her. Then there were some minor things that just didn't go anywhere; two coming to mind being Applejack and Rarity getting "sick" (If he was faking it from the beginning, how come they couldn't tell they WERE NOT actually sick? Is Discord actually the harbinger of plague and can infect the innocent on a whim?) and Pinkie Pie chasing "mysteriously appearing" balloons. I was hoping these things would come to play later on, at least as running gags, but sadly both went nowhere. I GUESS you could say Rarity and Applejack showing up at the very end could count as "pay off" of sorts for it, but let's be honest, the two scenes had nothing to do with one another. Though I will admit, I did like Rainbow literally leaving the episode. It was a fantastic contrast to seeing last week's episode and this one back-to-back. All and all, this one's a 6/10 for me. Honestly, if you cut out Discord this episode really sucked, but the continued insanity and fun of John De Lancie really pulled through and made it at least enjoyable. I hope Weird Al fairs better, truly.

Equestria Daily : Pinkie Apple Pie - Episode Streams and Discussions

Sat, 11 Jan 2014 16:16:22 +0000

Applejack, you're the element of HONESTY. You had ONE JOB and YOU FUCKED IT UP. Oh. My. Gosh. I have not laughed that hard, that many times at an episode of this show in a long, long time. It should come as no surprise that I enjoyed it, being that both Pinkie Pie is my favorite Pony and I enjoy Applejack far more then most Bronies, but...this one was practically tailored to my tastes. This is the first time, possibly ever, that I can say I loved EVERY ASPECT of an episode. The humor was off the charts. There wasn't a single joke that didn't hit home, and it was full of them from start to finish. The "Pinkie Humor" was completely spot on season two style; no loud annoying jingle-key nonsense. From the moment it began, Pinkie began doing Pinkie things, and every time she did something it was hilarious. But man, it wasn't just limited to her. The Apples really, REALLY shined in this episode. Granny Smith in particular, I now really want to see more of. This is the first episode in awhile that you can say that Applejack not only had a prominent role in, but fulfilled that role to the fullest potential, and it's SO past time for that to happen. No getting out-shined by lovable talking bubble-butt background ponies, or random one-shot -never-mentioned-again characters, just full on character development for a group of characters we've been seeing literally since Episode ONE, yet somehow never managed to really get the treatment they needed to become full-fledged flesh and blood people. The character development was FANTASTIC in this episode, to me because it both showed them as individuals, with their own quirks, along with their flaws as a whole. The Apple -Family- really felt like a genuine family, rather then the usual shtick of their sheer size being a punchline and them amounting to little more then a mass of background characters behind Applejack. Then there was the Song. I'm an absolute sucker for the kind of choreographed dance routine that they did in Apples to the Core, but even then it surpassed my expectations. The way they made the ponies move to the rhythm, the almost perfect flow of the lyrics, and the core visuals of what they were going through all blended together almost perfectly. The one, ONE flaw I can honestly find in the entire episode was Granny Smith's line in the song seemed a little bit off compared to the rest of it, but that was hardly enough to ruin the experience. Finally, the moral. The whole storyline was fantastic, and I really hope we see some lasting effects from it; Pinkie hanging with the Apples, Applejack and Pinkie being a little bit closer, etc. The climax actually surprised me a bit, I was expecting it to be that they discover Pinkie isn't an Apple, which is followed by the "Family is more then just blood" route, but rather, they left it ambiguous which leaves potential for it to be revisited in the future. Given the sheer amount of continuity we've been getting this season, I really, REALLY hope that becomes a reality. I could sit here for ages just going on about everything I loved in this one, so Instead I'mma wrap it up here. This one gets a 9/10 from me; it was almost perfect, and just about everything I look for in an episode. Good story, great characters, FANTASTIC humor. Am I nuts? Maybe I'm bias because of the fact it was half-Pinkie-Pie, but I really just loved every minute of it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch it again.

Equestria Daily : Rarity Takes Manehattan - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 4 Jan 2014 16:57:44 +0000

Using it is one thing, I mean specifically replicating more of the fabric itself. It was already shown that yes, she could utilize the fabric when it was given to her, but did you get the impression she was capable of actively creating more of it? I assumed that because she was so un-creative as to need to steal it in the first place, she likely was too un-creative to adequately reverse-engineer it to learn how to create more. Does it work differently for tailoring? I assumed that Rarity would have had specific kinds of threading and linens to make a cloth that everyone immediately identified as unique, IE you couldn't just take a look at it and immediately know what she did differently sufficient enough to mimic her.

Equestria Daily : Rarity Takes Manehattan - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 4 Jan 2014 16:22:54 +0000

Oh man, I admit that I really had low expectations for this one. The last "Rarity Goes To The City" episode we got was fun, but aside from it's fantastic song and Fancy Pant's peculiarly sizable Unicorn Horn, it didn't actually have a fantastic amount memorable about it. This one, oh man. The Fandom's gonna have a fit over this one. First off, just going to point out I absolutely loved the humor in this episode. Every single joke was spot on and worth anywhere from a chuckle to a full on laugh. I particularly loved Rainbow's gags; her lampooning the notion of sporadic bursting into song, and her blatantly terrible attempts to hide her enthusiasm at the quality of the play by seemingly attempting to look like a pony rapper. Perhaps it was simply my own demented imagination, but when she proclaimed "It wuz a'ight." whilst drooping her shoulders and crossing her legs, I couldn't help but imagine that had she had hands, she would've been making cheesy fake gang signs to complete the entire visage. Also, Pinkie's very few lines were all funny. If this keeps up I won't be able to complain about Pinkie not being funny anymore. You're ruining me, writers! But onto what made this episode really shine: The setting. This is the first time we've seen a true, modern city in MLP, complete with public transportation, modern conveniences, and food stands selling...Chili-Carrot-Dogs? Everything was completely out of it's element, compared to the thriving "magic kingdom" aspect we've seen so far. The only other time we've seen Manehatten was in Applejack's flashback Waaaaay back in Season 1, and even then it looked more like an imitation of a modern city, rather then a full on, functional Pony NYC. The fact that this place exists sets a new precedence for what they can potentially use in this show, and I'm pumped. There was only one little bit that stood out to me, the notion of Rarity getting her fabric stolen. Not to say that it couldn't happen, just that in this scenario, it didn't make too terribly much sense. Specifically, what was actually going to come out of it. Now, please correct me if I'm wrong, as I have very, VERY little knowledge about the fashion industry, but when you literally make a name for yourself by winning a contest, doesn't that fashion line become...you know, your first piece? If fabric-steal-bitch-face (That's what I'm calling her, I don't remember her name, okay? Sue me.) gets popular on a line she didn't create; or rather, cannot truly replicate because she doesn't actually have the know-how to make more of Rarity's fabric, wouldn't that pretty much make her career over before it started? Again, I don't know much of anything about the fashion industry, and I'm not exactly a world-class tailor, so if there's something I'm missing feel free to correct my uninformed-ass. All in all, it was a minor gripe, and you could chalk it up to fabric-steal-bitch-face being so moronic and short sighted that she didn't bother figuring that out by herself. In the end, I loved it. The good FAR outweighed whatever little bad there was, and I absolutely loved the concept of the ELEMENT OF GENEROSITY trotting about NYC as the one beaming light of not-suckage. The jokes were spot on and the setting was just grand. The Song was standard fair for the show; nothing to write home about, but the visuals within it made up for it tenfold. Kudos to the team for this one.

Equestria Daily : BATS! - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sun, 29 Dec 2013 09:12:04 +0000

I feel like you didn't actually read what I said, just snippits of a sort. You're creating an entire basis around misquotations. "Were this, again, a real scenario, what Fluttershy wanted them to do would effectively be spending millions on creating a SECOND Orchard, or severing a significant amount of the Orchard to become this so-called "Sanctuary." ***--->>>Keep in mind that making a new field would mean buying more land if you didn't remove a section of the orchard you regularly harvest. In other words, Fluttershy was effectively saying "You're a horrible person for not giving up a chunk of your livelihood so that these pests who sporadically showed up one day and started sucking you dry can have a place to continue sucking you dry.<<<---***" My issue with this was that Fluttershy was completely and utterly disregarding the fact that Applejack was effectively having her livelihood robbed from her, not to mention the fact that Sweet Apple Acres accounts for such a DRAMATIC portion of Ponyville's ecosystem, being the only major farmland as far as we've seen yet and the ONLY supply of local apples along with a few other things like say, milk. The issue was that the bats were shown to consume at a beyond controllable rate, and left unchecked would literally suck the orchard dry. They weren't just "daring to eat something!" as you stated, they were COMPLETELY CONSUMING THE ENTIRETY OF HER CROPS. If left unchecked, Applejack would have been left with absolutely NOTHING, and as as result, her desire to not kill them mind you, but to drive them out, is an entirely understandable reaction. "it felt like they were trying to push some sort of "Save the animals" environmental message ***--->>>without having two clues how the environment works to rub together.<<<---***" The issue I took here is that they were, again, suggesting something that simply was not a viable solution given the variables that had been shown, and then promptly vilifying Applejack for not wanting to go along with what by all intents and purposes appeared to be the WORST solution available. At the time Fluttershy first suggests the sanctuary, this is what had been seen: 1. The Bats had consumed more then 1/4th of the orchard since their arrival, which since Applejack was surprised at their presence, it's logical to assume had been strictly within that night. 2. Since they are shown, they continue to rapidly, RAPIDLY consume at an alarming rate. 3. They are shown to be somewhat mischievous, as far as animals in FiM are concerned, answering Fluttershy's very first 'communication' attempt with them with the equivalent of telling her to bugger off. In other words, the bats are sucking Applejack dry and offering no real benefit, just the scattered theory by Fluttershy that the trees may grow back stronger (It's also good to note that allowing animals to scatter seeds in a controlled environment such as a farm is not only counter-productive, but also potentially dangerous to the already planted crops). Wanting to "kill the animals" had nothing to do with it, and I never once state that they should have gone down that route. In fact, multiple times in multiple replies I've suggested the concept of them doing things along the sort of sending the bats away to a place where they can be TAKEN CARE OF by people who are aware of their needs and necessities. Your conclusion that because I'm not on Fluttershy's side I somehow just want them dead has no basis in reality. My issue with the episode was that Fluttershy was WRONG. Not that there was no alternative to driving the bats off, but that her own alternative scenario realistically WOULD NOT WORK. The only reason it ended up working in the end was because of plot convenience writing, and that's the point I bring up. The fact that Fluttershy's "belief" on how to deal with it was INCORRECT, yet the show treated it as though it was, completely nullifies the episode's otherwise fantastic message of "Stand up for what you believe in, even if everyone else disagrees."

Equestria Daily : BATS! - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 18:29:21 +0000

I kind of figure that's what they were going for. The implication to me was that Fluttershy is going to be tending the bats at the farm from now on. That said though, I draw that conclusion entirely from past knowledge of the show and what I've come to expect from the characters. The issue in the episode remains that it simply wasn't portrayed properly. A small little thing like her successfully speaking to a bat right at the end while Applejack was hammering the sign down would have sufficed. Unfortunately, that doesn't nullify the issue that logically the sanctuary being built didn't actually make any sense. The structure of the episode went: 1. Bats appear. 2. Debate over how to deal with them. 3. Applejack's methods win out. 4. Alicorn Magic Happens (Note, this should have already been considered a bad idea. Last time they tried to alter the survival instincts of an animal race, a swarm of insects ate most of Ponyville.) 5. Convenient Writing dictates that Fluttershy becomes a bat pony now because of a magic misfire, something that wasn't even implied to be possible while they were planning to do this spell. 6. Flutterbat (Best part of Episode) 7. Reversal Spell hits Fluttershy. 8. For some reason, Bat Sanctuary is built. There was no indication that the reversal spell on Fluttershy would in any way change the Bats back to the way they were; heck, they weren't even present when the spell was done. Yet in the next scene, all the sudden Applejack is building a Bat Sanctuary for them in spite of what we've seen suggesting that technically, everything should be fine now. Fluttershy is back to normal, and the bats still don't want to eat apples. Unless I spaced on a point where they specifically state that the reversal on Fluttershy will revert the bats as well, that's what made the sanctuary at the end feel REALLY forced.

Equestria Daily : BATS! - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 17:57:40 +0000

I suppose I should have clarified, no, I don't by any means think I'm "doing it for the kids." What I meant by that is that I go in depth with my analysis of these episodes because I have a love for this kind of entertainment medium. I started watching this show because it reminded me of the shows -I- grew up watching in the late 90s/early-to-mid 2000s, and while I can't say that for all of them, a lot of shows from that era were actually surprisingly deeper then we realized when we were growing up. I don't give kid shows a free pass for being a kids show because the shows I grew up watching would not be given a pass for being kids shows. Things like the numerous series in the DC Animated Universe, The 2000s reboot of TMNT, numerous shows on Nickalodeon and Cartoon Network, if you go back and watch them they actually were VERY well paced, and provided a good message in a positive manner, especially when you consider they do all this within a 30 minute gap. Not to say they were perfect, by a long shot, but nothing really is. I treat MLP like this because I'm treating it the same way I feel the shows I grew up with were treated. I don't call it being on a High Horse, I call it being critical. I believe all forms of media need to be critiqued, no matter the demographic. I cite the fact I dabble in writing simply because in doing so, It becomes by proxy far more noticeable to me when tropes rear their ugly heads. I'm not going to turn a blind eye to things like restrictions and studio issues, but at the same time, I'm judging the episodes based on what we've already seen. I guess to TLDR it, we've been shown the team can do far better, and I'm simply citing a standard I've come to expect over the past 3 years. As I said originally, this episode was FAR from "the worst." In fact, if you completely ignore the message and moral aspects, I would easily say it was a GOOD one. The jokes were fun, the song had a nice toon and the whole Flutterbat thing was a nice little turning point. But it wasn't as good as I've come to expect, and I simply cite why because I enjoy looking at this kind of show from that perspective. I feel as though I'm coming off as angry in some way, in which case I apologize, because I really am not. I'm just being critical, and that's just something I enjoy doing to a show I enjoy watching.

Equestria Daily : BATS! - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 17:33:14 +0000

The problem is that Fluttershy is factually correct IN A WILDERNESS SCENARIO. The Sanctuary solution, yes, is a legitimate solution... IF you have the resources and the know how to maintain it, along with depending on just what kind of animal you're dealing with. The problem is that logically, EVERY SINGLE THING in this episode suggested that a Santuary was not a viable solution. 1. The Fruit Bats feed far to quickly and span over far too much of an area to be satisfied without giving up FAR too much of the orchard. 2. The Fruit Bats are shown to be mischievous. 3. The Fruit Bats are NEVER shown to be what Fluttershy is suggesting: hungry themselves and providing for a nest of some sort. You never see them taking food back to their families, or in any way do anything other then consume, and consume, and consume. If there was ANY SORT of evidence to suggest that the Fruit Bats could be viably contained, then by all means do so. The problem is there wasn't, along with a complete lack of information on the topic (Fluttershy herself states she never encountered one before, so even their local animal expert can't provide any proper advice) the best case scenario would've been to simply drive them away, and put some procedures in place so that it would be undesirable for them to return. In a real world scenario, that would be some sort of cage, or chemical. In Pony Logic though, I dunno, they could say a Unicorn did it and that would have sufficed. As it stands though, the Sanctuary they build has no means to contain the bats, and as a result appears to be completely ineffective. In sort, it's like they brought the bats into one part and the bats just automatically decided they were going to go from eating 3/4ths of the orchard over the course of a single day to eating less then 1/4th and having that sustain them INDEFINITELY. The reason this matters is because it's so illogical, the message falls entirely short. I COMPLETELY agree that the lesson of this episode is fantastic. It's one that's dearly needed in society today, but because of the fact that what Fluttershy was suggesting was incorrect, the moral as a whole is as a result, lost. There would have been no negative repercussions as far as we can tell, for them just driving off the bats. In spite of this, the other characters are all but vilified for wanting to go down this route, and when they end up doing so the only reason ANYTHING goes wrong is plot convenience. If they had shown a LEGITIMATE reason for the bats being driven off, like it disrupting the local ecosystem, them going back to their nests with hungry families and Applejack feeling guilty about it, that would have been fine. Because the thing that Fluttershy was standing up for even though everyone else thought it was wrong, WAS WRONG, that's what hurts the episode as a whole.

Equestria Daily : BATS! - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 17:19:24 +0000

Oh, I'm not saying by any stretch that the whole "turn the Fruit Bats into No-Fruit Bats" thing was the "right way to go about it." It was incredibly silly, and illogical even by magic ponies standards. I'm also not disagreeing with the notion that the farmer needs to be prepared for potential other variables, as in any production profession. The problem here is that Fluttershy's solution was ENTIRELY WRONG. What SHOULD have happened is that they went with what Applejack originally wanted to do: DRIVE THEM OFF. That's what Farmers do in that scenario. If you wake up to find Fruit Bats nibbling at your crops, you don't throw your hands to your side and go "oh, those willy rapscallions!" and let them be so that they distribute seeds (Which, mind you, will be scattered about, landing in improper places which in a controlled scenario is excruciatingly disastrous, leading to things like tree roots obstructing one another and having to uproot entire trees. The Fruit Bats would manage. Animals survive, it's what they do. If they got driven off of the orchard, they would find another source of food, especially since Sweet Apple Acres is right next to the Everfree Forest, where it's absurd to assume no fruit grows. The bats, after all, DID need to come from somewhere. The problem with the "sanctuary" is that IT WOULD NOT WORK. You can't just move animals to some other trees and expect them to stay there, you need to put things in place so that they HAVE to stay there. If it had shown Twilight doing something like putting up a barrier around the sanctuary so the bats couldn't get out, then it would be fine, but with how quickly it was shown that they could completely consume huge portions of orchard, there is NO WAY they aren't going to spread outward from where they were herded. As it stands, were it not for plot convenience, Applejack would wake up the next day to once again, find the bats having consumed a giant portion of her orchard. Further still, if the Sanctuary at the end WAS intended for the purpose of allowing her to "bat-proof" the rest of her orchard, I would've gotten behind that. It would have been silly, but at least manageable. The problem was the implication is that the bats now somehow, live on the farm and confine themselves willingly to a single portion of it against their own nature of sucking the entire place dry within the span of a day. It's completely unrealistic WITHIN THE RULES THEY ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES. Fluttershy's delusion, as I stated below, comes from the fact that her absolute FANTASY about what the "misunderstood bats" are REALLY like has no basis in reality. She outright states she's never encountered one before, so unless she has literally read up books on every single animal she may ever encounter, she has no grounds for her insistence that the bats allowed to remain on the farm, would somehow confine themselves to a small portion of it and become beneficial. The fact that her side of the song appeared little more then her own fantasy of how she views pretty much all animals, even against what's right in front of her face, didn't help matters. ...and yes, I am somewhat bias towards the farmer in this scenario. I wouldn't condone something like Applejack wanting to "kill" the bats, though I doubt the show would ever go down that route, but there's absolutely no reason for her to feel bad for simply wanting to drive the pests that are potentially ruining her livelihood for the upcoming season off her farm.

Equestria Daily : BATS! - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 17:04:24 +0000

That would have been fine if the idea to help the animals held any merit. For example, if the way they did it was that SHE took them in, or they rounded them up to send them somewhere that they could be cared for properly. My issue was the fact that her idea amounted to "Cut out a huge chunk of your farmland, AKA, your livelihood, so that these pests that showed up one day have a place to stay and feed." She suggested this, after pointing out that she actually had never encountered a Vampire Fruit Bat before, so logically it could be assumed she didn't know too much about them, and also right after she attempted to communicate with one and it effectively told her to sod off. The situation up to that point suggested that yes, actually, she was entirely delusional, because EVERYTHING they had seen from the fruit bats suggested that Applejack's scenario was the correct one. Her "side" looked like nothing more then how she views ALL animals, right down to them being cute and cuddly, with no visible relation to the actual creatures they were encountering.

Equestria Daily : BATS! - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 16:53:39 +0000

That kind of thinking is one of the most infuriating things to me. Not to be disrespectful, but I absolutely DESPISE when Children's Entertainment gets a pass when it does something asinine because "It's a kid's show." Children, I believe, deserve to be treated like they have a functioning brain, especially since the show's target demographic is in a developmental point in life. It's why I always go so in depth into these episodes every week, I like to think this show tends to do a relatively good job by the kids, and the fact there's enough to entertain the older crowd is just icing on the cake. The problem though honestly, is that what you just said is exactly my problem. Because of how outlandish and disconnected the scenario of this episode was from the moral, the moral by proxy loses it's merit. In reality, the message of this episode was "Stand up for what you think is right, even if everyone ELSE thinks otherwise." This is a FANTASTIC message in this day and age where peer pressure is such a serious problem in just about ALL facets of life, child and adult... ...except Fluttershy was WRONG. THAT'S the problem. The episode's message falls flat because the thing that she was standing up for that everyone else disagreed with, WAS THE INCORRECT SOLUTION. If the outcome had simply been "There's a better way then just driving them off," like as I suggested, the idea of Applejack donating Trees to Fluttershy's Cott and the Fruit Bats "moving" there to have a place to live, then it would have been fine. Heck, even if it went down the route it DID go down, but showed something like the Fruit Bats being driven off then going back to their nests and not having food to feed their families, THAT would have been fine. The problem is the fact that the moral was completely lost because of the fact that the only reason there was any negative repercussion for what they did to the bats, was because of plot convenience. As someone who dabbles in writing, that's the most infuriating thing to me at all.

Equestria Daily : BATS! - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 16:43:02 +0000

To be honest, I'm relatively neutral when it comes to hunting. I don't particularly care either way on a number of issues, and hunting happens to be one of them. It probably comes from the fact that I come from a relatively conservative family, with a father who enjoys shooting (though just target shooting, he never actually partook in hunting or condones the pointless killing of any living thing.) and so I can see the "appeal" in hunting for sport. Not to mention I've known many, many hunters over the years and they've almost all been entirely stand up individuals and the best of company. That said, I do draw the line at hunting any sort of endangered species. Personally, I'd never kill an animal unless it was threatening my own life; I'm actually more of an animal lover myself, I just don't condemn people who enjoy it for whatever reason.

Equestria Daily : BATS! - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 16:37:38 +0000

You're absolutely right...in the wild. This is a farming scenario, where all forms of growing and maintenance are in a controlled state. The introduction of a variable like Fruit Bats disrupts the order, as opposed to being a part of the order in the scenario you're referring to. There's a reason Farmers drive out things like Fruit Bats, Rabbits, Moles, etc that steal/ruin crops, or spray the plants to "repel" intruders. If it were actually a good thing for creatures to distribute fruit, Farmers would let it happen naturally on a regular basis. This isn't "Hypothesis". I live in Central New Jersey. There are about three farms in walking distance, and another five+ within driving in any direction. When I moved to where I live now around 17 years ago, there were more like six in walking distance that have since been converted into real estate. I've gone to the farmers market and seen first hand the farmers unable to supply something because animals ruined what was going to be the latest batch of crop.

Equestria Daily : BATS! - Episode Streams and Discussion

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 16:20:32 +0000

Oh jeez, I really don't know how to feel about this one. First off, let me say that while Fluttershy remains my least favorite pony, this season has done a substantially better job of making her far more of a character rather then a caricature. She's had far more notes then just "She's Shy" so far, and this one...sort of, continued that trend? First off, I'm going to list the things that I just think didn't work: The Moral and the Song. The Moral was, in it's entirety, forced. There was absolutely no reason for it to turn out in Fluttershy's favor beyond convenient writing; if anything, the reality of a REAL WORLD version of this scenario dictates that Fluttershy was 100% in the wrong. Pests such as Fruit Bats are a plague on orchards and fruit growing, and you don't let them be simply because "The trees may grow back larger." On top of that, her insistence of the Fruit Bats being family-supporting, misunderstood innocents seemed entirely delusional when they not only shared the visage with Applejack's side of the song, but were shown to be chaotic, and overall obnoxious individuals. Not once were they shown to be bringing fruit to their nests, or anything beyond simply sucking the apples dry and spitting them on the ground. Were this, again, a real scenario, what Fluttershy wanted them to do would effectively be spending millions on creating a SECOND Orchard, or severing a significant amount of the Orchard to become this so-called "Sanctuary." Keep in mind that making a new field would mean buying more land if you didn't remove a section of the orchard you regularly harvest. In other words, Fluttershy was effectively saying "You're a horrible person for not giving up a chunk of your livelihood so that these pests who sporadically showed up one day and started sucking you dry can have a place to continue sucking you dry." Taking into account the fact that creatures like that would not ACTUALLY remain in one section of the orchard just because you put a fence around it and a sign outside with a picture of one of them, all in all this problem should not have actually been solved at all. The Fruit Bats are still there, and were it not for "lol morals" writing, they would continue to do exactly what they were doing. In the end, Fluttershy just completely scewed Applejack over for the sake of some pests. It's bullshit. It felt like they were trying to push some sort of "Save the animals" environmental message without having two clues how the environment works to rub together. There's a reason animal preservation tends to take place in a controlled scenario, and creatures like bats tend to be IN A LARGE CAGE. I'm not saying they should have just flat out driven the bats away, but they could have done something like had Applejack donate a few trees to a local Animal establishment; a zoo, or hell, Fluttershy's Cottage if you don't want to introduce some place new. That way the Animals could still have a place to feed and live, and it would have been a far more believable scenario with a believable GOOD outcome. The Song pretty much holds the same complaint. The music itself wasn't bad, but the whole side of Fluttershy concocting this inane fantasy about what the bats were REALLY like, and the show treating it like everyone ELSE was in the wrong was very irritating. A lot of negativity, and the irony is, I actually liked the episode in spite of this. Pinkie was actually amusing again (Apparently her hair is an arm now, and she's also half mole.) though not so much as the last episode, it's still a step in the right direction. "Flutterbat" was a lot of fun, if for no reason beyond the cool design choices, and very few jokes fell flat. Overall I give this one a 6/10. It was a fun ride, It's just a shame the moral was so asinine. I doubt this one will be one of my least favorites this season, but I also doubt it'll be anywhere near the top.