Double Feature: "Just an Accident" Fic / "Make New Friends" Episode Follow-up! · 12:02am May 18th, 2015
So to continue my tradition and bad habit of writing more blog posts than stories, but also to somehow cut down on the number of posts I make, I'd like to talk about both my new story for EQD's Writer's Training Grounds, Just an Accident, as well as Saturday's episode, Make New Friends but Keep Discord!
The original idea I had for "Just an Accident" was a completely different and serious story I was going to title "The Revolution Will Not Be Equalized". The general idea was that Fluttershy misses with the bucket of water, and as such, the Mane 6 stay in lockup for over a month. Starlight Glimmer decides to reveal herself anyway and turns Our Town into a really blatant dystopia, complete with propaganda banners and so forth. Party Favor, Double Diamond, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider would have escaped to the mountains and started a rebellion a la Red Dawn with ponies. Problem is, considering they didn't have their cutie marks, I couldn't come up with any way they could actually succeed in such an endeavor. Besides, I watched Red Dawn, and I'm gonna be honest, it suuuucked (at least in my opinion). How do you write a parody of something you hate? I for one can't do it. Anyway, I wrote something entirely different after racking my brains for other ideas, and I'm glad I came up with this story instead.
Tree Hugger is incredible. Due to a number of factors I won't get into, I have actually met people a lot like that pony. Everything that came out of her mouth in that episode may have been just for comedic purposes, but I can tell you that I have heard similar things being said coming out of the mouths of real human beings. Even the hippie ponies in the comics didn't come close. And her chant of "om" mixed with screeches that would make Yoko Ono cringe (SERIOUSLY, WATCH THAT, IT'S INCREDIBLE) just... I have no words.
Discord's jokes and references - well, I don't need to get into pointing them out, because they've all been pointed out by EQD's episode followup and other places. But I'm really split on them! I laughed at them, and loudly too! I got them, I enjoyed them, and I'm glad they were there! But like I've said before, it can feel like the show's pandering more to bronies, and I never needed that to have fun. At the same time, MLP wouldn't be the first show with jokes aimed at adults. I could go in circles about this.
And lastly, I have to commend the episode for having a message that wasn't idealistic. The Mane 6 are together despite their differences, which doesn't always happen in real life. Discord learns that it's cool to group your friends by reasons for being around them. That's something that occurs all the time. It's like the show went from basic ideas about friendship to more complex ones. For the bronies out there that watch the show for the lessons it portrays and teaches: you're advancing to the higher courses.
If you've read this, or read my stories, or because I commented on the story you wrote for the Writer's Training Grounds, or whatever-it-is-you've-done, thank you for being the coolest. More stories are truly, seriously coming - and again, I aim to deliver!
