Thoughts on S6 E12, and updates on updates · 12:30pm Aug 1st, 2016
Pony is back, and so am I. Just kidding - I never left, inasmuch as bears don't die during winter.
Let's see what this episode is.
Stranger than Fanfiction
okay wtf
Check below the break for my thoughts on return of glorious pone. Or, if you want to get to the good bits, just skip errything and click the link at the end of the post.
This was a pretty great episode!
And now that there is Patchy, this is a pretty great blog post.
I like how the immediate plot hole - that Daring Do doesn't simply fly over the breaking bridge - was actually some sort of thematic foreshadowing. Twilight being fan-disappointed is cuter than Rainbow being fan-atic (hue), and followers will know that Rainbow Dash isn't really best pony, but she done good in this one.
Quibble Pants. Fookin Quibble. I love this setup already.
What makes him work so well, I think, is that the both of the have equal-sized egos with even the same inclinations - they hype up easily over things they like, and readily disparage and make snarky comments about things they don't. Consider RD and fashion, RD and farmwork, RD and reading pre-Daring Do, RD and anything she doesn't think is awesome. Then consider Quibble and you see that they work pretty much the same way, just that one of them likes DD and the other doesn't! Quibble is probably the best foil for RD that the show has introduced (or, at least, feels like it), and he really brings out an organic escalation.
I suggest we call her Copa Cobana. Screw it, I'm calling her Copa Cabana. And Copa Cabana has seen some crap, lemme tell ya.
Smug ass Rainbow Dash.
Also fookin Caballeron. He was fantastic. Underplayed smugness meant that his confusion had equal measure to shine, and it made for the lol moment of this episode.
"Please! This guy's accent is all over the place! And - no offense-"
"I..."
You know a scene is great when the actual dialogue is better than any caption you could come up with.
Smug ass Rainbow Dash 2: Electric Boogaloo
The moment when Rainbow Dash called Quibble an awesome egghead is the moment one of you out there decided that there would be a shipping triangle with them and Twilight, I'm damn sure of it. When you get it done I'd be happy to proofread it for you
Quibble's rambling continuing through the credits is a great touch too.
Fanofmosteverything's recap caught a few more easter eggs that I missed. Nobody's mentioned Ranma pony sketch in the convention, so I guess I will here.
All in all, that was an enjoyable episode. Sure, it's not the return to S1 feel or S5 form, but it was a fine return to what S6 has in store. For its willingness to bring in a brand new side character, and have him build up such strong interactions, makes this a daring episode that did. Do. Daring did done do.
So the Gordon Ramsay fic that I hinted at in the last episode review didn't happen. Neither did the Zesty Gourmand thing. Both of them were started, they just didn't go anywhere... it happens that I periodically run out of pone-focused juice, and that was simply the time that it spluttered out.
Man, I have ideas. So many of them. But I don't write them, and I don't even give them the benefit of thought. The only thing I've been thinking about is the Touhou crossover, and that may be because that's my ponyfic (and possibly fanfic at large) swan song. Not so much that I was planning on quitting, but that if ever I got to it, that would be the last piece I would ever do, period. It's just how I'd want to go, if at all.
I haven't started on that yet. There's hardly enough to make it a story instead of a Powerpoint presentation. So there is hope that I'll get more out before then.
Some of these ideas - stories that exist under the "Stories" tab on my profile - include adventures such as:
16500 Bits Plus Interest
"...and you see, the real prize was the magic of friendship!"
"No. No, no, no. No. You don't understand. See, we owe a lot of ponies a lot of money. And they don't accept friendship as currency."
When a ragtag team of convicts are met with an unpleasant surprise at the end of one of Princess Twilight's RAPs, or Reformation Adventure Programs, they have to find another way out of their past misdeeds. Armed only with a legendary relic that may or may not work, a newly vacated fortress previously belonging to an ancient evil, and a naive but powerful princess who insists on facilitating instead of helping, what can Equestria's worst do to save themselves?
or the only HiE I've ever wanted to write:
The Life and Times of Edwin Grey
London, 1999: Edwin Grey, single father of one, signs up for a temporary government position after he is replaced by automation at the local factory. Unbeknownst to him, the position will require more than he is prepared to give.
Equestria, 999: As the first millennium dawns, the Council of Life convene to admit their failures: the races they populated the planet with war bitterly against each other for dominance, and the unique powers they were blessed with are abused for personal gain, with great expense. A new leader is needed to unite these wayward tribes... the only problem is that he's an infant who needs to be taken care of.
As a new millenia dawns on the two planes, one reaches out to the other, and only one thing is certain: neither world will escape this experience unchanged.
or the one crossover practice fic I wanted to do before Touhou:
Fate/Hay Night
The Holy Grail War is a competition between seven mages as they fight to claim the Holy Grail, a device that can grant any wish, for themselves. By summoning Servants, heroes from myths and legends past, these mages plunge into bitter bloody battles until only one is left.
At least, that was how it was supposed to be.For any War outside Fuyuki, birthplace of the War, are but imitations, and all imitations have their flaws. This one has a particularly glaring one: its Servants are not from Earth, but from a fictional land called Equestria...
There's my problem. Everything's too grand. Everything's too big and too complex and too demanding, and the coward in me says that none of this is justified. Because every hour I spend putting 400 quality words towards I project could be spent putting 900 words of saleable Minecraft fiction (my ebook is up to 11k words, by the way) or 400 words towards my "serious" variety article blog (that one takes you to a review of Central Intelligence).
I wouldn't call it getting old. I mean, I'm feeling adulthood creeping closer week after week. I think what I've become is stingy, which is much less abstract, artistic or tortured.
Or it could just be that I need to refill and suddenly, one day, you'll start seeing stories sandwiched between an intro and a post-production blog popping up in your feed.
Anyways, as is tradition, since this was a good episode, instead of writing a response fic, I have done another comic. And, possibly as a form of compensation, it's a real long doozy (it probably took me as long to make it as it did to write this review). Link goes directly to Photobucket Imgur if because the resolution doesn't show up nice here.
Her cutie mark is a carrot dog. Of course she's pissed about serving drinks, no one's buying her food! (
Because she's selling it at overpriced con prices, no doubt.)4125939
Oh dang, forgot to take a screenshot of the little carrot dog roller she had going on the side.
Fun fact: Copa Cabana derives pleasure from fan drama.
Also, thanks for the unexpected plug.
In hindsight, I'm not sure why I didn't mention the anime placards.
Also also, I can't fault you for being selective with where you channel your creative juices. It's a good way to ensure that what you do write gets done. And I can certainly empathize with epic idea intimidation.