Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree, commentary, spoilers ahead. · 9:32am Oct 2nd, 2016
Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree, commentary, spoilers ahead.
Didn't care much for the opening song, weakest of the bunch IMHO.
I much preferred Filthy Rich as a subversion of the corrupt business man.
I had a feeling Everfree in the human world would be magical to invert the non-magical Everfree on Equus.
I'm going to be honest. I know this franchise is still going strong, and while the fans like to complain about stuff, that's only cause there's nice stuff that actually contrasts with the average stuff. And I know the ACTUAL target audience this show was ya know, ACTUALLY made for, the little girls are still loving it, I think -I- have pretty grown apart from this show.
That's what happens when you write fanfic, heck, happens with head canons, fiction land as a rule CAN'T cover every tiny tinny detail when they're trying to tell a narrative. So we fill in blanks, and since it came from OUR MINDS, we LIKE what we think up, we customize what we see that way. But then the people ya know, PAID MONEY to ACTUALLY write this show eventually and inevitable derail and subvert your head canon, and suddenly, you feel like you've lost the connection.
And the thing is... you can understand WHY they made the changes... the sad part is, a great deal of the time in modern writing? Where writing is a business, well, it was always a business, but there were no market research, copyright laws weren't law of the jungle (not that they HAVEN'T been that way for a long time), and 'intellectual proper' freakin' IDEAS hadn't become a form of business holding like land or factories... Basically, these writers were HANDED DOWN decisions from the show's producers, who were handed down orders from the network, while ALSO being handed down orders from the sponsors, AND being handed down orders from the TOY COMPANY, so you can't really hate them or blame them for what little good they can trying to balance demands from so many masters.
I understand WHY these decisions are made, these half-hour toy commercials are what they are. But that doesn't mean I have to like them.
Sunset telling Flash Sentry she needs to get over Princess Twilight Sparkle, I know is them just closing another door and doing their hardest to make this entire thing a completely separate universe... That doesn't mean I have to be happy about it.
And to note, this isn't about The One Thing, that 'ruined the show' for me or something, the straw that broke the camel's back happened a long time ago, I think I'm only still going because I don't want to give those still reading my fanfic an incomplete story and I want to stay up-to-date. And it's NOT the show that's bad, it's just matured into something that isn't what attracted me to it, combined with other traits that have been added to the show's narrative since then.
57 minutes and two seconds to go.
Nice song at least.
Personally? I PREFER there being a link to the main pony franchise in this.
Yeah, Everfree is a natural mana center in the huaman world, to balance out how Everfree is a place normally devoid of magic in the pony world. Meaning magic can FUNCTION there without the girls needing to transform.
And Human Fluttershy can access pony Fluttershy's ability to understand animal speech. Or rather, has awakened her own version of it. Again, I think this is due to Everfree being such a super charged natural center of magic, but there have been no magic users around to actually USE IT! Either that or Gaia Everfree is awakening and its giving those with magic nearby a natural power boast.
Reminds me of when the Bleach characters visited Hueco Mundo, where the place is saturated with spiritual presence that tiny mundane animal hollows can survive on just the spiritual presence in the air.
YEP! It's Everfree alright.
But why the hell not Sunset too? She's done everything all the others have done.
Derpy spoke!
And the female councilor is on her edge.
WAIT! Sunset can hear that lady's thoughts?! Well... at least that goes with the show's writer's suggest that she's the Element of Empathy. (A Rainbow is made of SEVEN colors... It would be poetic of Sunset Glimmer became that Element on HER SIDE.).
Twilight has the paranoid fantasy that Midnight Sparkle as a separate being is infect her friends with her magic.
And Sunset when she touches Twilight... she could see inside Twilight's heart! Sunset realizes this is the magic that being near Everfree causes.
And Twilight is completely traumatized about magic.
Sunset suspects a scooby-doo hoax... but she wants to be certain before breaking Twilight's heart. Hmmm, 50/50.
And Twilight's friends have the same fear about their new gifts backfiring horribly.
And SUNSET SEES INSIDE PINKIE PIE'S HEAD! It is as an insane place as you think.
And Sunset tells the girls to embrace their gifts while they have them, after all, once they leave Everfree their magic levels will go back to normal anyway.
And Sunset gets the others to not fear their powers, and they should make the best of their gifts.
Sunset touch Fluttershy, does that mean she saw inside Fluttershy's heart?
And Sunset hears an incomplete chat that she takes as proof to her theory... anyone whose seen five seconds of entertainment knows that this isn't going to be the case.
Seriously, the 'hears incomplete chat, and leaps to conclusions' is so common, it's hard to believe anyone would actually do it unless they've ALREADY made up their minds and just want an excuse to 'confirm' what they've already decided.
-_- And Flash Sentry thanks Sunset for telling him to get over Princess Twilight. Damn. They really want to hammer that into our skulls don't they? -_- It feels like kicking someone when they're done.
And Derpy comforst Flash again when Sunset seems to brush Flash off when he says he wants to start over.
And seems the guy wants to protect the camp IMHO using Gaia Everfree's magic.
Gloriousa claims she's the protector of Everfree not her brother. And Filthy Rich couldn't be the more opposite of his pony self. And... Gaia Everfree calls for one who wishes to listen. She takes five of the Elements that are in the Cave, she has the power.
So Gaia Everfree IS a fantasy. Or at least the version Timber told is.
I'll admit, the twist with Gloriousa is a good one. Also note how there are SEVEN stone in that cave, and she took five... not six stones... So there was a seventh Element after all... a rainbow has seven colors.
It still makes me wonder if the Alicorn Amulet was Element number 7, but was corrupted somehow.
She takes the other two elements... She becomes Gaia Everfree for all practical purposes.
And Rarity being Rarity manages to make an outfit that AJ actually likes.
Human Snips and Snails see Gaia Everfree and think she's just taller.
Gaia Everfree love her camp so much... she builds a WALLS around it.
Timber knows his sister has gone mad with power... but he has no means to oppose her.
The Humane six however... decide the time has come to fight fire with fire.
I want to say again, Gloriousa being the surprise antagonist here ACTUALLY WORKS, she's a pure well intentioned extremist... she also can't let go of the past, and like any vengeful nature spirit, she despises the tireless march of progress.
And for the record BTW? I think time flows DIFFERENTLY on the human side of the mirror! Let that be heard and understood!
And the girls pony up without their instruments, and basically now can do so now almost at will!
Stupid Rainbow Dash, just fly.
The vines just keep growing!
And a dot glows on Twilight's forehead. About time they added something for the unicorns.
And Gloriousa doesn't understand why the humane six are resisting. The girls try to reason with her... but you know how that goes. And Timber tries as well.
Sunset again has to encourage Twilight to swallow the fear of magic for a minute to get them inside.
Sunset makes perfectly clear that Gloriousa isn't herself right now.
And Twilight defeats her inner demons. So the demons without are no problem.
And the jewels go to their true chosen ones.
The 'what happened' followed by the 'apology' is kinda weird.
And the girls figure out a scheme to get this camp saved.
And we get a slight hint of the next Equestria Girls movie.
Elements of Chaos? I doubt it sadly, but cool.
I really want to say that while the characters mean well, I seems like 'hand of author' that Flash Sentry is told to 'get over' Princess Twilight.
I make no opinion positive or negative about the movie, it was a mixed bag. This is... sadly... I think my least favorite of the Equestria Girls films, sorry. Do I regret paying a month of Netflix for it? ... I don't think so.
Some reviewers I think are right that no thought is taken to Princess Twilight's feelings on the matter.
And Pinkie Pie accidentally blow ups up the pier. And the movie ends.
For the record, most of the songs were nice. But I stand by what I said about the flanderization of Filthy Rich, AND the sinking ship with Flash Sentry they DISTRACT from the movie with me. And I PREFER that EG films to have a connection to Equestria!!! It lets me get more comfortable with the films.
My ratings from most favorite to least favorite?
1. Rainbow Rocks
2. Friendship Games
3. Original Movie
4. Everfree
I just bloody hope they aren't going to destroy the gate between worlds at the end of the film... it feels... PETTY by the writers if they did so.
And why the hell didn't Sunset bring her journal with her? I feel like it's the Pokemon anime GS ball all over again. For those not in the know, in the pokemon anime, the GS ball was a major plot point in the Orange Islands arc of pokemon... meant to contain Celebi, but the 4th movie got made making that plot point obsolete... so they had them give the GS Ball to Kurt... and hope the audience would just forget about it. Instead it remained a hot topic of debate for years until the producers came clean. I just bloody hope it isn't the same here.
Tiny nitpick: You called Sunset "Starlight" several times.
Just because the new material is different from headcanon doesn't mean you should give up on writing. After all, isn't each fanfic an alternate universe? We are free to make it different. For example, Friendship Games ticked me off with how they treated Flash, but in my story, The Lost Hero (when I finally have time to finish it), I'll throw him a bone. Also, I had a different idea for how Starlight Glimmer would seek revenge in the Season 5 finale, which The Lost Hero will eventually cover.
What was the straw that broke the camel's back for you?
4236816
You've already said you don't like me. So why do you look asking probing questions?
4236843 Curiosity.
And just because I don't like you doesn't mean I HATE you. We WERE friends once, and I'm sorry for how things went, even if I can't remember all of it. (Though as you yourself admitted during the PPPOV review, memory can be fallible.)
For some reason this reminded me of the Bleach and Naruto fandoms when both of the series' ended...Only difference is that some parts of those randoms took things a bit too far, and ended up being outraged when their shippings didn't end up as canon.
...Great. Now I need a fanfic where that ball is actually used.
4236876
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/678259/equestria-girls-legend-of-everfree-commentary-spoilers-ahead-#comment/4237125
4237266 So...the straw that broke your back was that all of your headcanon was destroyed?
4237302
Uh. Dude. I linked you to that because the guy wanted a fanfic where the GS Ball was used.
A rather eloquent explanation of why so many fanfic authors seem to grow away from the source.
I agree with your analysis, especially the rating of the 4 movies. I'd like to see some SunFlash come out of this, but that seems unlikely.
I was kind of disappointed that Sci Twi became the main character here. She's the alicorn, she's the leader of the team, she has the magical horn and an actual cool power. Sunset has basically become Princess Celestia, here to give sage advice and guide Twilight but not actually do much on her own, which is why she got the short end of the power stick.
Now that I think of it: Gaia Everfree, wants kids to keep having fun at camp forever instead of leaving and growing up, embraces nature, is basically a nightmare of twisted kindness. I wonder if that reminds me of anyone?
4237315 Oh. Oh! My mistake.
4237125 I once wrote an epic Pokemon story where the GS ball was designed to contain an ancient evil. Want a link?
4237781
Sure. Why not? I could always use some more pokemon fanfiction.
4237787 Here you go, but be warned, I wasn't as good at writing when I made this as I am now. The sequel's better, but I've been stalled on it for a few years now: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2053520/1/Latias-Journey
To be fair, I suspect that her being blasted back to normal kinda scrambled her brain a bit, she obviously remembers, it just took a while. Think of it as just waking up, it takes you a little while to become fully conscious.
Eh, it's above the original EQG for me, but, apart from that, I feel like Rainbow Rocks and Friendship Games were stronger. This is good, but, the other two were just, y'know, better.
... You, DO know you could have simply waited for it to come out online and not payed a cent for it, right?
Bare in mind that him and his pony counterpart are two different beings.
Your writing is awesome, and continue it. The fact that it's differnet from the show is what makes it so good.
And, yeah. This was the worst of the movies for me. I just feel like the worst MLP is still better then a ton of what else is on.
4243195
And I really liked Gloriosa as an antagonist too, but think the reveal was SLIGHTLY misacted. (She went TOO smarmy for a well-intentioned extremist...But Sunset's empathy-powers helped establish that. We can assume she was on overload at the time.)
4243197
We were led to believe Filthy Rich would be the villain, and Sunset gave us every reason to believe that the scoopy-doo hoax was going on. I liked the reveal. It made sense on hindsight.
You and me both. I am overly sick and tired of this trope.
As long as Sunset and her connection to to Equestria is still there, it will be impossible to separate the two dimensions. Sunset is the the bridge between the two worlds.
That and Sunset's reaction was THE most funniest part of the movie in my humble opinion. My neighbors looked at me funny when I laughed like crazy.
*shrugs* Mines is
1. Rainbow Rocks
2. Everfree
3. Original
4. Friendship Games.
4243649
Ditto. :) I just wish the actor had played her a bit kinder during the reveal, emphasizing the 'well intentioned extremist' part. Not the smarmy "I'm so bad." kinda thing. VERY minor quibble.