The Document of PGS: A Ghost in the Machine · 2:17am Jul 8th, 2014
A small update which seems to have flown under the radar. Significant, though, because it's the first time since the start of the story where Fluttershy has had any part to play in the narrative. The reason why she's been so underutilized is that... well, I just don't really like Fluttershy.
I know, I know. She's popular. She's adorable. She's everybody's waifu. But to me, Fluttershy is a flat character, second only to Pinkie Pie in how one-note she is. I stopped watching for a while after Magical Mystery Cure, so I don't know how season four handled her, but I think there's a reason why the best Fluttershy episodes are the ones that have her acting out of character. In character, she's just not all that interesting.
In writing Fluttershy, I kind of have to extrapolate how she'd react to the situation at hand by gauging it against her established personality traits. The emotional numbness she displays is admittedly a leap, but not so unreasonable, considering the events of the past few days.
I want to talk about the GEKKO, but all that's really happened is that it stumbled back into the story. Nothing significant has happened to it yet, and it hasn't said or done anything to give you fresh insight into how it thinks or operates. It quotes The Boss a lot, but then, it's always quoted The Boss a lot.
Discord vs. Luna - that was a scene I very much enjoyed writing, even if I don't think I captured Discord quite right. My inspiration - in tone, if not in execution - was The Silence of the Lambs, in which Clarice Starling - while trying desperately not to show it - is thoroughly intimidated by Discord, even when he's locked away. In that instance, though, Clarice has brief moments of victory, where she shuts up Hannibal and surprises him with some unanticipated bit of courage. Luna thinks she's gained the upper hand, but Discord is more shrewd than she credits him for, and he sees through her.
Foreshadowing is easy to do, and difficult to do well. Discord drops more hints about the mythology alluded to in the previous chapter, but since he assumes that Luna already knows all about it (and she does), he doesn't get very specific. I think there's enough there for the reader to piece it together, though.
The vision Discord allegedly feeds Luna draws on the language and imagery of two songs from the Metal Gear Rising soundtrack: Red Sun and Hot Wind Blowing. The two are similar in their messages and tone, though I think Hot Wind Blowing is about committing atrocities in the name of a cause, while Red Sun is just about killing shit for the hell of it. Either way, they're tonally incompatible with MLP.
Which is why I drew material from them for a scene depicting a post apocalyptic Equestria.
Apropos of nothing.
If it seems like I'm struggling to come up with things to talk about, it's only because I am.
Watch Season 4, dude.
Flat? One note? Really? Don't get me wrong, I don't find Fluttershy particularly interesting either, but she's easily as complex and varied a character as any of the other five. I'm not gonna sit here and type you up an essay or anything, but I think you're overlooking quite a lot to come to that conclusion.
Also, I haven't gotten to the latest chapter yet, but I'll comment on how you wrote Discord when I get to it, since I do know that he's a hard character to get right. But I must say, if you really haven't watched season four yet, I'm already worried, because season four did more to flesh out Discord's character than all his previous appearances combined.
2265845 You may well be right about Fluttershy; that could just be my bias against the character coloring my judgment. Either way, though, I don't find her interesting enough to feature her prominently, and I intend to keep her in a supporting role throughout. The current chain of events is an exception to that rule.
I feel bad, actually, because Fluttershy gets her own story arc while Rarity sleeps off an insanity hangover. I like Rarity considerably more, but Fluttershy servers the narrative more than Rarity at the moment.
2265813 I know I ought to. The canon breaks off after season two, but that doesn't mean the backstory elements that seasons 3 and on introduce have vanished. I'm just nervous about it. I don't mind revising my story plan as the show introduces new material - I've done it more than once (Shining Armor's existence threw me for a loop, but the story is frankly better for having him) - but I also don't know how much of what I've written has been contradicted by the show.
I don't like picking and choosing what to incorporate into the story canon, and what to ignore. I'm willing to do it if it's a minor thing that doesn't really affect the way that the story unfolds - for instance, in the PGS canon, Cadance is immortal - but larger stuff, with greater ramifications, could negatively impact the narrative.
I know that's a cheap excuse. But I feel like it'd be arrogant to ignore giant swaths of canon just because it's inconvenient to my narrative.
Also - and I think I said this before - a lot of season three seemed phoned in to me, compared to the previous two seasons. Especially the second, which I think is better than the first (unpopular opinion, I know). Keep Calm and Flutter On, and then Magical Mystery Cure, and then Equestria Girls...
I'm told the fourth season was a significant rebound, even by people who liked the third season as a whole, but my confidence in the show was really weakened after the third.
2265941
Season 1 was only good because the characters were new to us and every new episode was a revolution and revelation in character development and world building. However, the premier was amazing for its demographic.
Season 2 was way better because it was comfortable with the characters and started more freely using them to entertain. Also it's premier and finale were both inspired and exciting.
Season 3 had some truly standout episodes but it's primary purpose was to facilitate season 4.
Season 4 has its "meh" moments but it also delivers. Just delivers on every level. The premier (when combined with last season's finale) changes everything and then the finale changes everything again.
While I would advise against trying to incorporate the canon lore, I would recommend taking what it says about the characters and equestria and using that for tone and development.
Edit: Besides, the biggest thing it would affect in the story is the Everfree castle. And that's already blown up so whatever.
2265960 Buh, you asked me about that when the episode aired. I was like "eh". I guess there are a few important plot points that I don't mind ignoring...
It's funny you say that about season three. I know there were some very good episodes, but I can't for the life of me remember any of them besides Spike Doesn't Get Invited to Cadance's Super Bowl Party Because He's Too Dumb and Fat and Has to Watch the Pets Instead. That was the title, right?
I was going to say that I liked Hurricane Fluttershy, but that was a season two episode.
2265992
Season 3 had:
Spike start on his path to becomming a goofball with occasional heroism by helping to save the Crystal Empire.
Pinkie cloned herself, got depressed, and then Twilight masaacred all the clones.
The most tomboy filly yet was introduced and became a bitch to illustrate a cycle of abuse, then joined the CMC.
Twilight proved she was better than Trixie at both real and fake magic, defeating a metaphor for red and black alicorns everywhere. (This is where she really shouda got her wings.)
Scootalove. All is Scootalove.
Rainbow Dash proves she is Wonderbolt material and also not a bitch. Even tho she already kind of did that last episode.
Applejack had a dumb during a reunion and then they all sang about a racist barn.
That episode with the cgi Timberwolves and Spike being a complete retard.
Fluttershy reformed Discord with FRIENDSHIP.
Spike is bad with children and animals.
The mane 6 do some stupid shit in the Crystal Empire nobody cares about.
And Twilight sings constantly for 30 minutes and grows wings, causing half the fandom to hara-kiri. I LOLed.
So as you can see, stuff happened. And Scootalove. All is Scootalove.
And if THAT SHIT did not break your story, Season 4 will probably make the fic super-saiyan. 《< THAT IS FORESHADOWING.
Edit: Besides, fuck the fic. Watch it for your own entertainment.
2266062
Well I NEVER.
Now that you mention it, I liked a lot of those episodes when they aired... I think about half of them. The rest were either forgettable, or mediocre (Racist Barn, Spike the Incompetent Retard...).
But I did enjoy the Scootalove. And I just like Scootaloo as a character, too. Funny story, she was originally supposed to play the role that Apple Bloom wound up with in the fi - oh wait.
*sniffle*
Seriously though, I really liked that episode. I don't think Dash has that many moments in the show where she drops her characteristic bravado. It was special to see. And everything with Sweetie Belle and Rarity, too.
About the only thing I didn't like was Luna spying on ponies' dreams. The implications are disturbing. I don't even mean in a suggestive way; I mean it's weird and creepy to think that someone is monitoring your thoughts while you sleep.
2265941
I find it's common in this fandom that people will have a bias against a character. I think it comes down to what kind of person you are. It's easier for us to empathise with a character that we see something of ourselves in. It's about relatability. If you're not a shy sort of person and can't relate to a personality like Fluttershy, then it's only natural to look at her and write her off. The inverse is also true. A shy person who's used to being stepped on by egotistical jocks all their lives might be unable to empathise with a brash personality like Rainbow Dash and take a disliking to her.
I do it too. For me, it's Pinkie Pie who's my least favourite main pony, because I'm easily annoyed and have some really obnoxious super extrovert type people in my life, so I often play Cranky to the rest of the world's Pinkie Pie. I don't particularly hate her or anything, but I enjoy her character less than the others especially because her mindset is the furthest from my own and the most difficult for me to place myself into.
2265992
As for good episodes of season three, if you're the kind of filthy heretic that does not praise our lord Discord, I can only point to Wonderbolt Academy, which was a great episode IMO, even if it did create some weird continuity issues. For me, the highlight was Lightning Dust, who I think was the best mid-season villain since Trixie. Lightning Dust is everything that Sonic Rainboom's three stooges should have been. You want to talk about flat, one-note characters? Look no further than those morons.
2266218
Mmm. I really like the Luna dreamwalker canon. Since they are not canonically goddesses, the implications for the mythology behind that magic have potential. Also it is technically the only thing that Luna does in the show that qualifies as a "good" act: banishing nightmares (irony) and providing moral lessons (based on experience).
2266337 I feel like even that is an invasion of privacy, though. Dreams - nightmares, even - are deeply personal. I don't want Luna to know that I frequently have nightmares about talking radishes forcing me to devour my own butt.
I don't want to overthink it too much, though - Luna making nightmares go away is very much in keeping with the spirit of the show, and I'm sure that there isn't anything sinister about it.
2267858
It's a perspective issue. Had the same discussion in the comments of a fic called Just Passing Through.
You're not missing much.
*Ducks behind sandbags*
Now, don't get me wrong. From what I could tell, there are some really good episodes in season 4 (Bats!, Castle Mane-ia), some bad episodes (I really didn't like the opening episodes), some HORRIBLE episodes (Daring Don't) and then are some average (Rarity Goes to Manehattan). It's just that season 2 almost had all decent and good episodes in my opinion and that there were only one or two bad episodes throw in, while season 4... It's really average. Painfully average, which is saying a lot considering all of the great content I've seen the show pump out in seasons 1 and 2.
Don't get me started on season 3.
Granted, I haven't seen half of season 4's episodes and stopped watching at For Whom The Sweetie Belle Tolls, but if I stop watching a show halfway through, well, something must have stopped me from watching. I think it was a lack of interest. Yes, a lack of interest. There was nothing interesting going on in the show for me, nothing to look forward to. It's probably me just moving on and stuff, but I swear, half of the reason I stopped watching was the season 3 finale.
I hate Twilicorn.
*Hides behind more sandbags*
2268334 Well, I trust Kimi Sparkle's highly insightful critical analyses of season 4's episodes, and she hasn't had much to complain about besides the nefarious Josh Haber's reign of evil. I'm not too pleased that they made Rarity go away forever, but the introduction of Trent Hoof and his charming (if racist) antics more than make up for it.
Bats! really should have come with a trigger warning, though. Poor Kimi.