My thoughts on the finale, and also some Outlaw-related food for thought. · 9:21pm Feb 16th, 2013
Okay, so... that was definitely a thing. I'll say right now I was one of those people who was opposed to the direction FiM was taking Twilight, it just didn't seem at all necessary to me. From the moment Celestia said the words: "Because she is a princess," the episode went straight into an unrecoverable downward spiral. We love (or at least I do) Twilight for who she is: a nerdy, awkward, neurotic little bookworm with a real innate talent for magic, not a pretty little pony princess. I could deal with Twilight ascending to alicornhood, (she deserves that honor, she's one of the most accomplished practitioners of magic in the show!) but becoming a princess? No. Linking the two was a step too far, and a huge leap in the wrong direction. In this modern society, we're supposed to be trying not to foster the desire to be a shallow, pretty, vainglorious little princess in young girls. All to push a toy. Damn you, Hasbro.
The whole reason this didn't really sit right with me from the beginning was because it was destructive to my suspension of disbelief. Meghan McCarthy and M.A. Larson insist that Twilight's personality won't change in the slightest, but how am I supposed to watch this and pretend that everything is still normal? Twilight is royalty now, and on top of that, she's essentially been granted goddess status. Not to mention the fact that it completely obliterates the dynamic of the Mane 6- two ponies of each type. Now Twilight is in a completely different league, one of only 4 alicorns known in existence. An alicorn princess hanging around with 5 other normal ponies going through slice-of-life shenanigans from episode to episode? Ludicrous. No, this is forever going to be an elephant in the room for me, and while it won't stop me from loving this show and everything it has spawned, it will make it a lot more difficult for me to take seriously.
That said, I enjoyed the rest of the episode immensely; I've always loved the songs and I especially love musicals, so flaws aside, it was a great episode.
As for Outlaw related news, here's a few things to mull over for the upcoming chapter, in no particular order:
- This is the big one- Chapter 23 marks the return of an old character, and a new addition to the party as a result.
- Tension rises between Razorbeak and Mach over a particular issue.
- A small glimpse into Vortex's progress thus far.
- Mach opens up a little bit more, and we get a better idea of how he came to be the person he is today.
- Many may have guessed given the amount of huge clues I've dropped (keep quiet if you have), but this is the chapter that makes it official - The identity of Mach's ancestor is revealed.
Everyone's got something to say about the season finale, I don't blame them. The finale can be seen in varying degrees, from Outright betrayal to Everything We Wanted or just a good episode. I'm kinda in the middle and found the songs in this episode pretty lame. Still, this pretty much just cements my feelings about Season 3 being mostly non-canon with Fallout: Equestria.
You say you're inserting a new party member? That makes me a little apprehensive, given that you said you were only going to do 30 chapters of Outlaw + accompanying story of Razorbeak. It's not that introducing a new party member is bad, it's whether you'll be able to flesh out the character whilst continuing to expand on the pre-existing ones. But I have faith in you Tofu, you almost always do something amazing with your story..
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It could prove to be a bit of a daunting task, I must admit, but I need to keep pushing myself if I want to improve, venture outside of my comfort zone, much like artists do. Originally, Mach was slated to have four companion characters, but I chickened out when it came time to introduce number three, so I skimmed over it and weighed my options while I dealt with the approach to introducing what would be number four. Now that chapter 23 is here, that time has come, and I've decided I'm not backing out of it this time. If I pull this off, it could lead to some interesting character interactions, so I'm really hoping I can make it work in a convincing manner.