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I didn't write any of that.

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May
7th
2017

"Fluttershy Leans In" · 8:09pm May 7th, 2017

A.K.A. "Suited for Success 2: But This Time Starring Fluttershy".


Seriously.

In "Suited for Success," Rarity is the dress expert. Her friends doubt her expertise and muddle her creative vision with their wrong-headed advice. But at the end, they're proven wrong for doubting her designs, and Rarity realizes she should have trusted her instincts in the first place.

In "Fluttershy Leans In", Fluttershy is the animal expert. Her friends' friends doubt her expertise and muddle her creative vision by doing their own wrong-headed thing instead. But at the end, they're proven wrong for doubting Fluttershy's designs, and Fluttershy saves the day by firing their asses, trusting her instincts, not budging one iota from her vision.

The problem is that Hard Hat, Wrangler, and Dandy Grandeur are also experts in their own fields. Tell the first half of the episode from their perspective, and they could just as easily be the ones trying to realize their creative vision while dealing with crazy demands from a client who knows less than she thinks.

"Do you not like the color?"

"The color's fine—just make it look more natural."

"Do you not like the shape?"

"The shape's fine, just make the whole thing, you know, more natural. It needs to be about 20% more natural."

And Fluttershy herself says "I may not know much about construction or interior design or wrangling, but I am an expert at one thing: the care of animals!" That's the kind of dialogue you'd write in a story about compromise. An episode where Fluttershy's initial plan for the sanctuary is overly idealistic, so the consulting experts have to talk her into something that's feasible in real life—while Fluttershy makes sure the result still fits the animals' needs.

Instead, it's a story where Fluttershy's poorly-explained vision was right from the get-go. While Hard Hat's, Wrangler's, and Dandy's expertise doesn't work at all for the project at hand, and they honestly shouldn't have been hired in the first place.

I don't feel like the conclusion was properly set up, I guess.

That aside, it's nice to see how much Fluttershy's grown. S1 or S2 Flutters might have been able to pull this construction project off, but there would have been a lot more crying and cringing along the way.

Bingo card time:

Nothing to update.

Comments ( 1 )

A.K.A. "Suited for Success 2: But This Time Starring Fluttershy"

Not really. Some similarities yes, but the overall story was much different.

Her friends' friends doubt her expertise and muddle her creative vision by doing their own wrong-headed thing instead.

Except they didn't. Her friends fully supported her, understood what she was doing, and helped as best they could. It was the 'experts' they recommended who screwed things up. As well as them doing it for different reasons then in SFS

The problem is that Hard Hat, Wrangler, and Dandy Grandeur are also experts in their own fields.

And this is the issue, the field they are used to is building/designing things for ponies. Not for animals, and they refuse to get that fact and realize Fluttershy knows what she is talking about.

Now yes, Fluttershy really could have done a better job explaining things, but it's also clear, those three were making no real effort to understand her either.

That's the kind of dialogue you'd write in a story about compromise. An episode where Fluttershy's initial plan for the sanctuary is overly idealistic, so the consulting experts have to talk her into something that's feasible in real life

Except her ideas WERE perfectly valid, well thought out, and took into account exactly what the animals would need. The issue was none of the 'experts' saw this, nor got that they knew nothing about what animals really need. Even Wrangler, her cages were more about making it easier for ponies to deal with and transport animals. Focused on the needs of ponies dealing with them, not the animals themselves. Though she at least seems to not have gone 'I know better then you" and just ignored her, but just wholly did not understand what she was talking about.


But, yes the story did not present things very well. It was drawn out, padded, a bit low energy, and above all, very very simplistically presented.

All likely a case of who the writer is. Picture this, not as an ep of the show, but as one of her chapter books made for younger audiences. The story fits right in with those doesn't it? She's simply used to a style of writing which is direct, simple, lacks anything extraneous to the plot, keeps everything direct and to the point. As a story for younger audiences, it fits and er style is really good. But, when compared to the depth, complexity, and energy we are used to in Pony by now, it kind of falls flat.

Yet, it's boosted back up a bit by just how damn GOOD she is at writing the characters. That is by far her greatest strength and she is GOOD at it, as well as being steeped in the show's lore and being more then willing to bring things back. Her ideas are GREAT, it's just her execution of them that needs a bit of work for writing show eps.

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