Chad Rocco...again · 5:25am Jan 20th, 2013
Well, here we go again.
About a month or two ago, I posted a blog post about Chad Rocco, aka the Familiar Faces guy. In it, I outlined my growing frustration and disillusionment with his evermore childish rantings and criticism of the series. And if you've been following his twitter in any way, it's also clear that he's not a fan of Season 3 at all. But I was willing to let the matter drop.
And then someone pointed me in the direction of this.
So...yes, I feel the desire to drag this topic up again because, quite frankly, this is pissing me the fuck off and I have to get it out there. For those who can't tell, this is a response to a tumblr post someone else made about why people don't like Season 3 when, outside of the premier and parts of "Too Many Pinkie Pies" and "Spike at Your Service," he's found it pretty enjoyable. (This was written before "Keep Calm and Flutter On" was aired, so no discussion about that one.) CR was kind enough to write up a few reasons of his own, and again, these are all his opinion and he's entitled to them. But by the same token, I am also entitled to my own opinion, and that is that CR has REALLY become an insufferable jackass over the show.
But let's look at his points one-by-one:
1. This one perplexed the hell out of me, both because it's just a damn stupid argument and because it shows a clear lack of imagination or perspective on CR's part. Yes, Luna is able to enter dreams, but there is nothing that says she can enter everypony's dreams at once. But beyond that, think back to the first episode. Luna's problem was not loneliness; it was that the ponies slept through her beautiful night. In other words, it was a lack of appreciation for her hard work that caused her to turn into Nightmare Moon. And that's not even factoring in that Season 3 Luna is different from the one we saw earlier. If the Luna from "Luna Eclipsed" went into your dreams as a kid, you'd probably wet yourself from fear as she screamed in your face.
2. This is a very common argument against "Wonderbolt Academy." The parody parts were admittedly rather forced (although I'd honestly be calling it generous to consider the episode a parody to begin with), but the argument that Spitfire was completely changed is...no. You see, CR, there is a little thing called a "punch clock," and people tend to behave differently depending on when they've punched in or out. Every time up to this point, Spitfire has been seen either at flying competitions, formal parties, or off-duty projects. But in WA, she was the camp's drill instructor, and as such had to behave a certain way around the recruits. She was there to whip them into shape, not to make friends with them, and considering the crap Lightning Dust pulled almost killed our heroes, there's a very good reason she has to be tough and mold them into ponies capable of standing up with the Wonderbolts. (Now whether or not she was any good at her job is another story.)
3. The first part of his argument is just ridiculous. The shopkeeper with an incredibly powerful artifact is an old trope, but it works very well here. CR goes the extra mile, though, by assuming that since one amulet was tucked away in one shop, then the Elements of Harmony should have gotten the same treatment. My brain is struggling to find the logic trail here, but I can't see it. And again, the CMC arguing did not release Discord. Celestia herself said the seal was breaking down because she was no longer tied to the Elements of Harmony.
Second, the point of the training montage was to get Twilight to focus on getting around Trixie's newfound powers and using her magic in different ways, which is what she did. Rather than just try to beat her in a straight battle like before, she learned how to use her magic to trick Trixie into removing the Alicorn Amulet through misdirection and smoke screens.
And third, the development he wanted for Trixie trips over one of my biggest issues with redemption fics or episodes in general: completely exorcising the original character in order to make the redemption possible. Trixie left the episode still boisterous as ever, but she was obviously starting to learn. Likewise, Pinkie learned how to be responsible without completely jettisoning her goofy personality. Even when Discord was redeemed, he was still snarky, underhanded, and obviously not totally into it. But his proposal would have killed Trixie's personality off entirely, turning her into a sobbing, apologetic mess. So no, Mr. Rocco, but your idea simply doesn't work.
4. This point I agree was a bit of an issue with TMPP, but the reason they said the real Pinkie wasn't the real Pinkie was because she was sitting still, not because she was sad. Even at her lowest moments, Pinkie has always been energetic and excitable; heck, when her hair went flat, she still had enough spunk to throw a party for inanimate objects and kick Rainbow Dash's flank.
5. The existence of Cadance and Shining Armor is something I already discussed back in the last blog post, so I'm not going to discuss it again. But complaining about the concept of destiny? Okay, this is where I officially have to call foul. Destiny is only bad if the person receiving said destiny never has to work for it, never has to sacrifice for it, and never suffers from its repercussions. That is not true of the show. In fact, the whole concept of Cutie Marks is more or less a form of destiny, but it's not something that's just handed out.
To go a bit further, the idea of "destiny" as I see it is that each person has things they are uniquely talented in. Some people can play a violin perfectly, while others can repair a car engine with just a snap of their fingers. These are all talents that a person has, and it's what makes us individuals. "Destiny" is the metaphorical extension of this fact, where people are fated to do better in certain positions and careers than others, and have to go through life and discover what this means on their own. Sometimes they just get lucky and stumble across the answer, and other times they manage to get pointed in the right direction early on and commit themselves to that life. And that's true of all of the Mane 6. Twilight was very interested and skilled in magic, so she was sent to a prestigious magic school. Rarity wanted to become a fashion designer, but didn't know what style she was best at until her magic kicked in and guided her to gemstones. Applejack thought she wanted to become a socialite, but realized that what she really wanted was to be close to her family. And after discovering that, they all got their Cutie Marks.
So no, the idea of Twilight having a special destiny is not a show-breaking flaw. It's not even close to that. And to try and bring up Alicorn Twilight in the midst of this argument just doesn't work. You're complaining about a possibility, not a cold-hard fact. And if it does happen, then we judge it by what we're offered. Blind panic has never gotten us anywhere.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. His deviantart page shows a movie clip representing him being bored after Season 2 while the "BRONIES" party like drugged-up losers. When someone said he was taking things a bit too seriously, he called them a little girl. His behavior has crossed the line into the downright insulting, and I've frankly had enough. Right after he won me back with his admittedly great Familiar Faces on Cold Heart (a villain from the very early Care Bears), we run into this crap.
And once again, I find myself here, doing a blog post I don't want to do because...I have to let this all out somewhere. I know CR will never read this, nor will he care if he does, but...I feel more than disappointed here. I feel like someone I really looked up to and enjoyed has devolved into something I hate. It's not that he dislikes Season 3; I'm perfectly fine with him not liking the show anymore. But his arguments and complaints scream of someone incapable of seeing outside of his own viewpoint. And while a lot of it is no doubt overthinking, there are plenty of points where he just doesn't seem to think enough about what's happening.
Sorry I wasted your time here, and I hope this is the last time I EVER have to make a post like this again.
Huh. This shit again? Well, let's take a look.
And...
Excellent argument, sir.
No wasted time, I was wondering what other people thought about season 3, and I guess this answered it :3
And since Trixie and Discord are now reformed, you think that we'll get other MLP villains returning?
Did you remember to breathe while saying all that?
That was very well said. I knew there was a reason I read all your blogs.
Stop doing that. Bringing up well thought-out points and opinions is never a waste of time. You make lots of good points and go through the trouble of explaining them. That, to me, makes it easily worth the read.
We (the followers) are your emotional spring-board! Abuse us, we
you.
Seriously, they say don't bottle up your feelings for a reason. I enjoy reading rants anyways, plus your's are always so well written. Hope you have a nice day.
~Momentai
So what do you think of Season 3 so far?
The good? The bad? Needs more/less of this or that?
And I've seen the sypnosis for the two future episodes. It should prove interesting, though I am still confused on episode 13's sypnosis.
Oh and did you hear of the 'Princess Coronation'? What's up with that..
I have felt somthing was missing from the first few episodes but I have generally enjoyed s3 and the community is still as fun as ever even with a few of us flipping out over things that may come of that somthing has gone wrong. I think we worry way to much honestly.
And maybe that's why s3 is only 13 episodes there experimenting maybe s4 of there is one will satisfy most bronys.
Even when you do waste my time, your writing is so interesting i never feel cheated. So regardless of how you feel about a post, post it anyways.
730327
Seconded.
This is probably a bad idea, but what the hell--it's not like I have any reputation to lose in this fandom.
When I check the episode scripts after an argument between you and Emeral Bookwise, I often think Bookwise's arguments fit the scripts better than yours, and you sometimes come off a bit petty, especially in defense of particular character interpretations that are near and dear to you. (Don't take that as a total endorsement of Bookwise--I also agree with many of the criticisms you've made of his criticisms.) But "Bringing up Blueblood" is still one of my favorite fics, and your reviews don't change that. I'm still following your account, and I still want to read whatever you write next.
I've written things that offended a lot of people. That's to be expected--not everything I think matches what everyone else thinks. Conversely, not everything everyone else thinks matches everything I think. I just try to be polite, and know when to close the browser window and read something else.
Ok, I need to add some points here as well because I need to talk about it
1.) I said it before, and I said it again and I will go on saying it-JUST BECAUSE YOU DO GOOD THINGS DOESNT MEAN YOU GET RECOGNITION FOR IT!!!!! Jeeze, Luna was filled with jelousy and hate over the non apreciation of her night i.e no star gazing, no dancing in the moonlight, no love for the moon. Heck lets assume she didnt mind the sleeping, she still couldnt go into every dream, help every pony, and even if she did she still wouldnt be appreciated for it. We forget things in dreams and it was obivious from Scoots reaction that no one, NO ONE knew about this. Heck, most superheroes dont get any recognition they deserve in the MArvel universe. What about the rest of the episode? The sisterly bonds formed? The sweet moments...nothing? not at all?
2. Hassled? I think the point was to show the difference between pushing yourself with skill and poise (ie. a professional) and recklessly (i.e Maverick). Also as you said...she is a puinch clock girl. She cant afford to show favorites no matter who it is! What about the showing of the difference between a pro and a reckless idoit? What about showing why Dashie is skilled and awesome? Nothing about that?
3.) ...Really? REALLY? I...I just, WHAT? How many times has a show- ANY show- shown a magical amulet be in the hands of a shopkeeper or some random store in backwaterville? This, just makes no sense. I probably havent seen as many shows as he has and I name a few series where this happens (heck Kim Possible had an episode about finding a weapon of mass destruction at a con!) and yes she wasted a ton of time...because she needed to find out...because she instantly know everything about everything. WHAT? And furthermore, it was still right, because it showed that Trixie wasnt completely changed and was still the mare I know and love to use.
4.) Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, Look...They can never be really sure, because as stated, one mistake and its over for the pink mare. What if that was the mistake and the real Pinkie was trying to find herself. They couldnt just say, "Thats the real Pinkie, yep." Because...what if she was wrong, would you take the risk?
5.) Oh here we go, the old "Cadence and Shining means that Twilight isnt an social outcast anymore...despite that you can still be close to only two people in your entire life and still have no social sklls whatsoever. Moreso, you can grow into being a reculse and forget how to make friends or decide that making friends is useless" argument. Oh wait, he has something new for me to charboil...good
Ok, lets start with the destiny thing- Correct me if I am wrong but...Hasnt this been talked about since season 1?
Twilight: what if your special talent is magic?
Yep! It has, and it isnt even a sure thing, just a rumor (based on something debunked by tara, Megan, and one other show writer) but, really? What is wrong with giving Twilight a destiny? What, how does it mess with her, cant it also show how her power is still nothing without others?Anime does this all the time (Luffy-pirate king, still needs everyone)? Or show her growth? And as for the whole "I am not a kid anymore"-That...would cheapen her in my eyes because that is the most cliche line a character trying to prove themselves will give. And guess what...THEY HAVE BEEN GROWING APART! What part of that is so hard to understand? He is a royal guard, he is very busy...how would he find time?
I...I just...look I do have respect for the guy...but not when it comes to ponies, not anymore. It seems he can not see the good parts of the eps, or the heartwarming moments, the awesome ones, or the fun bits. ITs like he wants to say "Only Lauren was the true goddess....despite that she and Rob were the only ones to really left and everything else is...THE FREAKIN SAME!". Its like trying to talk to a G1 only fan with this guy. As I said, I used to...but then this and it gets me mad to see this. It doesnt help that it seems he is determined to show "Cheap damage" (aka...games you might dont know or care about ever!) and ignore the good one-i.e Familar Faces wich he was kind enough to show an ep...finally. I also feel like his arguments come from someone, who has never seen a show before.
I think my biggest issue with S3 has been that almost every episode felt like it needed another 20 minutes to tell its story properly. I have to kind of wonder if the problem is simply that they've told the simple, 20-minute stories already, and they've started digging into some heftier fare.
730329
Regarding Twilicorn: after seeing the synopsis for the episode in question and the advertising blitz surrounding it, I've concluded that it's most likely that Twilight will merely be accidentally switching destinies -- and species -- with Celestia herself. Twilight becomes an alicorn responsible for the sun and Celestia becomes the unicorn Element of Magic. The whole "coronation" thing is simply a confused response to this bizarre situation. As a bonus, expect to see Fluttershy switched with Spike, resulting in Dragonshy.
And sent to ChadRocco at DA.
730393
Thanks for clearing that up.
730344
Hey...thats every fandom, in every community, in everywhere...its just that there are some that are nicer about it than others. Heck...I am old enough to have been there for when they changed Rangers for the first time...you want to talk about a shitstorm- let me tell you! (god I feel old on this site sometimes
) Like you, I still find a lot of fun in the really good parts of th community, the ones who make it worthwhile and exciting.
730393
I am totally in agreement on this. Its either this, Twilight is forced into alicorness by the magic or b-she does it and is forced out of the universe because of it...season four is about getting her back home alive
730329
So far, I'm enjoying most of Season 3. The premiere was quite weak and the last two episodes have not been so good, but there's still a whole lot to enjoy. I'm not ready to write the series off just yet is all I'm saying.
730385
To be honest, that's how I feel most of the time. And sometimes that's really for the best. But if someone posts that they disagree with me, I try not to belittle them or insinuate that they're stupid for thinking differently. I want people to feel free to express their opinions, even if they go against my own. I can fully accept that I might be missing the point entirely, or that I'm looking at the scene wrong, or that I'm missing something in the shuffle. It's nice that you mentioned Emeral as well; I always look forward to his responses to anything, even if we're on totally different sides of the issue. At the very least, he (and others) will explain why they feel the way they do, which helps me break out of my own narrow viewpoint and see things from different angles.
...Damn, that came out stupid.
Point is, what really bugs me about CR isn't that we disagree; it's the way he presents his argument, like there's no other side to the issue but his own. Calling people "little girls" when they say that he's taking things too seriously is not how you respond to someone, regardless of context. And this is someone I immensely respected for quite a while.
730393
Which is why Hasbro needs to drop their current policy about keeping continuity low and let them make either longer episodes or more two-parters for heavier subjects. Something like today's episode needed more time to breathe and develop; trying to cram it all into just twenty-two minutes made a bit of a mess of things. Still, "Sleepless in Ponyville" fit into its time frame perfectly, and most of the episodes only needed maybe a minute or two more to fully get the point across.
To hear both sides of the argument and see if both parties have solid ground to base their viewpoints, is something I take a small pride in myself. But frankly CR's side is lacking in many places, much to my dismay, and has been getting worse with every episode aired. Now I'm not overly thrilled with how season 3 has been, while it has its flaws I can look past them and hope the next episode will be better. (Note: at the time of this I haven't watched "keep calm and flutter on") CR does have a few points that are valid but if I were to be honest here, they're nitpicks. He seems to find a flaw in the episode and almost entirely focuses on that one (or two) glaring flaw/s and starts calling the episode crap because of it. My question now is who is he truly mad at? The writers because they're not writing to his head cannon, or the fact that "My Little Pony" is a franchise that in its original concept was to "help" market new toys? Wait I'm getting off base here, Maybe I should go point for point like CR and IHA.
1) If I may be allowed to go into the realm of speculation. Maybe Princess Luna thought that one way to regain the love of all the little ponies of Equestria was to help them with their nightmares. The reason this didn't occur to her before was because of the fact that in the past it was because it was less important, or she had less experience with the finer details of dream manipulation (I'm thinking of Luna around 500 years young), OR maybe the reason we haven't seen her (till her return in season 2) was because this is what she was doing over the first year of her return. This is just my thoughts. We also know that CR is against Luna's look from Season 2 so now i'm wondering if he was just using this as ammunition. Point for IHA.
2) I'm going to piss off a lot of people here and say both are wrong. The way that Spitfire was acting was highly off putting for any one in the position of a leader. I'm banking on the fact that Spitfire has been doing this for some years (5+) and her years of being on the team, should have taught her the signs of an individual trying to go the extra mile Vs pure recklessness. I can understand the idea of pushing one's self to be better, but Spitfire just sitting back and allowing other ponies to be down right hurt when the whole point of the academy is to evaluate a pony based on "Teamwork!" That to me means pushing yourself and your team to be the best they can be, but doing so in a manner that doesn't cause harm to others. No points for either.
3) Blatant references kill the mood for me, so to say I have a biased opinion of Trixie's return episode is obvious. If the whole "Star Wars" theme was cut out, I would have loved this episode but i'm not here to talk about that. The whole "shop has a powerful artifact" thing has been done before and it's just a plot device, no need to analyze it beyond that. The whole CR rant about Discord and the CMC was to say the least way off base, as well as his comment on the Elements. Yes I do wish the end was done better, I had hoped that Trixie would simply apologize but before running away spout her "But when I return, I will be stronger!" leaving her still humbled but allowing a more friendly rivalry to blossom. point goes to IHA.
4) There is not much I can say here that hasn't already been said. Point to both.
5) Oh boy where do I start... Well the official statement from Hasbro is that Twilight will NOT become an alicorn, so I will go with that fact and say the coronation is going to be the crowning of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence as the rulers of the Crystal Empire. By now we know CR's hate for Cadence and if what I think is going to happen does, he might just blow a gasket.
While CR does make a point about world building, we (writers, artists of all kinds) already do that through our works. Be it through fan-fiction, fan-art, fan-animation or fan-music, we the fans expand the world in out own right because that's just a part of what we do. We tell stories of our most beloved characters or of character of our own make, and let our imagination take hold.
This is just my opinion and should be taken as such.
730465
You make a good point, and I see where you're coming from.
I thought you were kidding about calling the fan who disagreed a girl.
Wow. What a fanboy. I love CR, but his incessant bitching about the show since around the end of season 2 is starting to paint a different picture for me.
Disappointing. That's the only word I can think of.
730465
Mm good points. Well, thanks again.
I really only watch CR's reviews of Familiar Faces, his cheap damage series and reviews of MLP episodes are two things I don't like and rarely watch. When I have watched Cheap Damage he talks about obscure games, but doesn't do it well like say James Rolfe the AVGN/Board James when he reviews old board games or videogames for older systems.
Now I read his blog post and didn't like it, it does seem way too nitpicky. Then again he does do reviews for a site that primarily focuses on reviewing and critiquing other people's works, so maybe that line of work has just rubbed off on him to the point where he is over-analyzing stuff. Though I do detect his love of Faust and her earlier works and I agree he blames Lauren's departure too much on what he doesn't like. Not that Season 1 was perfect, conflicts like the one in The Ticket Master could have easily been avoided, Over A barrel felt overly goofy at times, especially with the pie war and Feeling Pinkie Keen didn't really have all that much of a moral besides just accepting some things can't be explained so just accept them... or Derpy will drop a piano on your head =P.
I also think CR is in the minority over Luna's new look, it's much more creative and goes well with her theme of the Night. I'd refute his whole argument about Season 3, but previous commenter's and you InsertAuthor have pretty much already summed up what I could say about it. All I'll say on CR and MLP is that he should probably get his mind off it for awhile and stop getting so worked up, maybe do more Familiar Faces episodes or maybe do a retrospective of older shows and their modern day counterparts, like Thundercats or the various Spider-man series's.
730465
Yeah, perhaps I should have said "several" rather than "almost all", and you're right that most of them only really needed a few more minutes rather than an entire second ep. Or third ep, in the case of the Crystal Empire -- that was one that I felt really did need quite a bit of extra storytelling time. As good at exposition as Celestia is, the whole story had a sense of "GO! GO! GO!" to it. But I'm probably preaching to the choir.
TMPP could have used at least another five minutes to avoid the deus ex machina book. It's not exactly two-parter material, in that I don't see anywhere to really split the dramatic arc, but I really felt that 22 minute limit. I didn't really object to them not jumping to any conclusions about the sad Pinkie they found, at least.
One Bad Apple was good, but Magic Duel felt a little thin to me -- meaning that they got the whole plot across, but it was at the expense of those little character moments I love so much. (Example: In Hurricane Fluttershy, when Fluttershy runs away and Dash starts to call after her, then stops herself and just gives a frustrated little kick because she knows there's nothing she can say that will help.)
Sleepless was fine, but a tad clunky when Luna showed up. I thought they could have used a better explanation for Luna's presence than "it's my duty to enter your dreams". My headcanon is that there was a nightmare spirit feeding on Scoots, and Luna needed her to get rid of her persistent fear in order to remove it safely.
Wonderbolt Academy wound up just a minute or two shy, but they were important minutes. Some additional time to make Pinkie look like less of a spaz would have been nice, too.
Apple Family Reunion was another one I felt came up 'thin'. It was functional, but when I compare it to something like Hurricane Fluttershy, the lack of polish really comes through.
Spike at your Service was just kind of painful to me... I'm not sure whether its issues could have been fixed with extra time, but I feel like Spike's incompetence was a shorthand way of getting across why AJ would be uncomfortable with his help when the real issue would be her pride versus Spike's pride.
Oh hey! CR apologized! Just go to the bottom. Not the most graceful apology, but I suppose it'll do.
Your icon... is Celestia popping out of a crackerjack box? :-)
733879
It's actually from this video here:
And I wish it was a Cracker Jack box. It would give me an excuse to buy Cracker Jacks again.
733972: I was gonna say, that'd be some prize... :-)
well, now you know how I felt when the texans beat the lions last turkey bowl.
Welp, it's happened. Elvis has left the building.
We will remember you for who you once were, CR, just as I hope you remember MLP for what it once was. And for many of us (myself included), still is.
1059694
Well, that's depressing. Foreseeable, but depressing.
1059735 He gave us the courage to see beyond even the most outrageous of exteriors to find something worth cherishing, yet it seems that courage alone did not provide him with the strength to continue on. But if we band together, we will surely work our way through this grievous time.
1059773
Perhaps. CR was able to find good in the earlier generations when nobody else would, and it was nice to have someone with somewhat of a big name among the fans. But really, his walk towards darkness was spelled out long ago, and watching him decay over the course of Season 3 was horrifying.
I wonder why he chose this point to finally announce he was departing. Was it when the commentary guys he followed called him out on his opinions of "Sleepless in Ponyville?" Was it when his fans called him out when he attacked and flamed anyone who dared to disagree with him? Or did he just burn out?
No matter what, though, it'll be a shame to see him go.
1059800 It was likely the Equestria Girls synopsis. Or maybe he was just waiting for something good to come out of the fandom (i.e., "Double Rainbom") so he could leave on a high, personal note.
Granted, after reading his arguments on his Twitter linked in this blog, I could at least see where he was coming from for most of them. But his "Sleepless in Ponyville" complaints are pretty much as flimsy as you describe them here.
At least he says we have every right to like season 3, even if he views us wrong for doing so. C'est la vie.
x_x No no I can totally agree with your opinions. I did NOTICE CR was being a bit of an overdramatic dickhole over how season 3 was executed and how he can just ASSAULT anyone who likes it and it's ideas. While I do understand what he's saying, that he's a bit frustrated with the executions AND how it's presented, but unlike him, I myself actually found the season ENJOYABLE. It's basically a 'It's so messy,it's good' type of thing, kinda like Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns: It's cruddy and messy, but it tries to be good. I used to like his reviews as well, but now with his attitude, it's just sad.
And he KNOWS, He's loosing fans, just by how he's acting. It's like some of the bronies that are still hateful towards Twilacorn. While I can understand the reasons why Twilight's an alicorn is a bit TOO soon, but come on,it's been months already.
Unfortunately, CR burning out isn't the end of this. There's a critic who ends up bashing the third season with arguably even worse reasons then CR who goes by the name of Byter75. se this link for details http://talonsoficeandfire.deviantart.com/journal/Byter-and-the-vicseral-hatred-of-MLP-season-three-408118721
1059800
Which commentary guys called him out and what video was it? Just curious.
1460906
It was the Otaku Ascended guys during their commentary on "Sleepless in Ponyville." (It starts around the 23:00 minute mark.) They don't mention CR by name, but the issue they mention was one that he brought up almost immediately after the episode aired and has not dropped since: that Luna entering dreams means she would have never been lonely and thus never become Nightmare Moon. They then proceed to point out the logical flaws in that argument.
The other reason I'm certain it's CR they're mentioning is because he guest commentated with them on "A Canterlot Wedding." (The video, unfortunately, has fallen victim to ContentID and can no longer be found.) And even back then, it was a chore to sit through because...well, CR opened the video screaming that the episode sucked like he was doing a very bad Nostalgia Critic parody and wouldn't let go from there. (The other two guys were split down the middle, but the one who didn't like the episode was a hell of a lot more restrained about it than Chad was.)
Since then, CR's changed his argument to Applejack being the better fit than Luna. I can agree with the spirit of that, but I still feel that Luna's involvement was handled well and gave her a bit more character. The way he had it framed for AJ would have essentially ended the episode's conflict almost immediately, and would have tread the same ground covered in "Sisterhooves Social."
Also, do you have any idea how people are suddenly discovering this post? Because I don't. This thing was made almost a year ago, and its view count has skyrocketed.
1462673
Maybe it's just a random time of people looking up the drama about CR. I didn't follow much of the drama and much of the info about it was new to me. I didn't even learn about CR's distaste for season 3 until his cameo in the Nostalgia Critic's review of Son of the Mask.
I just kinda stopped following CR for a bit after I came across much of his posts about season 3 on tumblr and DeviantArt because much of it was painful to witness. I just recently became curious again, looked up some info on Google, and your blogs came up.
I used to really like CR but I can't see him in the same way I used to after all this drama.
If the Cartoon Hero, a lesser-known reviewer who took inspiration from CR, acts more like the CR I knew and enjoyed than the CR I witnessed much throughout 2013 then you know something's wrong. But, this is all old news and I'm not trying to stir up anymore drama (as there's enough as it is).
I also feel a bit sorry for CR (to some extent) for, at the end of the day, it was his loss when he chose to leave the fandom. I also know that a fair amount of the Bronies that he had said drama with didn't act much better than he did (though he should have known to act better 'cause, from what I can tell, he's no idiot). But that's all I have left to say about him, I suppose.