Afterthoughts: Fluttershy Leans In · 3:14pm May 21st, 2017
from a comic by EStories
Season 7 has been amazing. “Fluttershy Leans In” is, in my opinion, the weakest episode so far, and it is by no means a bad one. “Fluttershy Leans In” is… nice. But beyond that, I really don’t have a lot to say about this episode.
The episode does give us a lot of Fluttershy being adorable. Also, a lot of our cherished assertive Fluttershy. But the episode doesn’t give us any character growth; instead, it is more of a demonstration of the growth that she has accomplished over the course of the series. The Fluttershy we see here deftly handles issues that would have overwhelmed the Fluttershy of S1… but she doesn’t really show anything of her character that wasn’t already showcased far better in the utterly amazing “Flutter Brutter”.
“Fluttershy Leans In” provides something for the character that has been missing: an ambition. And the writers were spot on, giving Fluttershy a goal that makes complete sense for her and that we can easily believe she has been nursing for years even though this is the first time the goal is mentioned. In fact, given Fluttershy’s development arc, it makes perfect sense that she would have kept a secret ambition private until now. Not only has she gained demonstrable confidence and courage thanks to her friends, but seeing them succeed at openly professed goals likely provoked a desire in her to do so as well.
That said, the admission of the goal and the completion of it took place in a single episode, and with no serious challenges. Sure there was a conflict, but it was introduced and then almost immediately resolved. With the exception of a door, Fluttershy never faced a crisis that she struggled to overcome. Instead, the episode was more about reveling in how strong she has grown.
I even feel that the ending “moral” was less of a lesson than a profession of an optimistic world view. Fluttershy didn’t really learn anything here. Nopony did. (I’m reminded of my favorite pony shirt: “Drink Cider, Learn Nothing” – Fluttershy didn’t learn anything because she was right all along.)
vector by DashieSparkle
It is worth noting that the expressed viewpoint isn’t really a universal moral: not all goals are equal and not all dissenting views should be ignored. In my Afterthoughts on “Spice Up Your Life”, I discussed the value of critics and criticism, and the importance of deciphering between helpful and harmful input. Much of what I said there applies here as well.
Pursuing your goals is laudable. But your goals might not be. And even if they are meritorious in intention, they could be deeply flawed in concept. Ignoring sound advice and just bullying through is more often going to result in disaster than in a view “even better than you imagined”.
At the same time, contractors need to respect the client’s vision and attempt to work within the confines of it if they can. If they cannot, they need to be up front about that before proceeding, and determine if this is a project they should be involved with.
As Applejack pointed out, Wrangler’s expertise had merit. The issues arose more from Fluttershy employing the wrong sources of input. All three of the ponies brought in to help were experts in tangentially-related or directly inapplicable fields. Fluttershy needed the help of landscapers and gardeners, not interior decorators and building constructors. It is not a surprise that they ended up going with what they knew and hoping Fluttershy would see the value of it… although frankly they should have just declined the job.
If there is an actual lesson in “Fluttershy Leans In”, I believe it is a lesson to examine and judiciously chose those whose assistance you are going to rely on.
art by RacoonKun
Pillows and Cages:
Season 7 continues to give love to background characters. While not the focus of the episode in any way, “Fluttershy Leans In” brought back two minor characters from past seasons – Dr. Fauna (from “Secret of My Excess”) and Big Daddy McColt (from “The Hooffields and McColts”) – and it was a delight to see them again.
DoomAngel Bunny’s parkour skills are pretty impressive.
Doors, how do they work?
Gawd, this is cute!
The toenail clipping scene was just ...ew.
I loved how supportive all of Fluttershy’s friends were. And how even Rainbow Dash was sincerely moved by her expression of her dream.
I like Rupert.
"And this is the opposite of a nice hug!
...and we shall name the sloth “Flash”...
The animal sanctuary is beautiful, and much like Maud’s new home, it makes a great addition to Ponyville. I hope we revisit it sometime.
art by Tsitra360
so many adorable Fluttershy images
I really hope to see more of the giraffe. Gawd that was cute...
I found this episode enjoyable, but that's about all I can say about it with only one viewing under my belt at this time.
"If there is an actual lesson in “Fluttershy Leans In”, I believe it is a lesson to examine and judiciously chose those whose assistance you are going to rely on."
That's pretty much what I took from it. Hire the right people for the right job. The rest, you are spot on.
This ep, kind of shows that it was written by GM Barrow, it does feel quite a bit more like something made for a younger audience, or at least written in a style made for them. It felt like her chapter books. Simple, direct, uncomplicated. But not dumbed down. Still feeling like it fits in Equestria, part of the larger story, but just, presented in a much more simplistic manner to make it easier for younger audiences to follow along. While showcasing just how damn WELL she understands the characters and the world.
So yeah, weakest ep of the season, but still damn good overall, just, written a bit too simplistically for what it's trying to do.
It's a good episode. Bunch of adorableness.
Though I had no idea why Fluttershy is not a vet and that whole sanctuary thing sounds like a biblical edem.
...If you think of it, we have seen a vet Fluttershy in "A Bird in the Hoof" episode. Didn't go well.
Now there's a sentiment I understand! Its not even hard being as wise and handsome as I am, I don't even think about it. sage wisdom spews forth as soon as it hits my brain
Bear with me a moment kkat, I will have a point. So, in case you haven't noticed, I have a decided mass of hot burning contempt for Fluttershy in your story. She's repugnant to me there. Why?
Because she in not this Fluttershy.
She's become the pony Rogers
Fluttershy is still her in her refusal here. They didn't do what she wanted, and she got upset (words of wisdom in Equestria: the wise stallion fears three things: the storm at sea, the moonless night, and a miffed Fluttershy
) but she didn't go full on bitch mode. Agreed, no growth, but thats to be expected.
Nice to see she didn't freak at the idea of wranglers occupation
Couple of questions regarding it though: well, why don't this lot just go live in the woods? And why didn't the vet tell them to fc
k off? Also, are vets and doctors really seperate fields in equestria like for humans? With the disparagy amongst species, and hell the ponies themselves, hard to think so.
And where is all this money coming from? Her family must be loaded
I haven't been able to see that whole episode. But I find it interesting that the Giraffe wasn't able to talk. It sort of makes me wonder just how many species are capable of speech there. It a bit puzzling because we see a whole lot of animals capable of sapient thought that allows Fluttershy to communicate with them. But a trend seemed to indicate that hooved animals all had the ability of speech we could understand... Well maybe not goats, I can't remember Iron will's goat ever talking.
I always find episodes like these interesting to see the levels of intelligence between the animals.
4541588
It was strange to me too. They give her he eyes that the sapient creatures in the show have. Note how the Diamond Dogs have big eyes with pupils but Winona only has beads for her eyes and most of the pets do as well. I do get that bigger animals, like the bears get detailed eyes but they are never as detailed as the ponies or griffins or other's eyes. The Giraffe in the episode had detailed eyes with pupils, irises and even detailed eyelashes... I was expecting him/her to speak at the end of the episode and call the sanctuary a nice place but she was looking for an inn or a hotel and she was misunderstood.
4541411 I'll admit, I don't at all follow your reasoning here.
It is true that the Fluttershy of Fallout: Equestria still held the shy mannerisms of S1 Fluttershy... after all, there is no way that I could have predicted the personality growth of the character over several seasons. However, that doesn't seem to be what you are complaining about.
Just like this Fluttershy, the Fluttershy that I wrote had a dream. Just like this Fluttershy, the Fluttershy that I wrote had the courage to pursue it. Like this Fluttershy, the Fluttershy that I wrote was able to inspire and lead others towards the completion of that goal. And like this Fluttershy, that Fluttershy succeeded... and did so while facing considerably more challenges and at considerably more cost. I'd go so far as to say the Fluttershy of Fallout: Equestria did what this one did better than "Leans In" showed her doing it.
Also like this Fluttershy, that one that I wrote saw her vision perverted by ponies who had their own ideals. The only real difference is that for "Leans In" Fluttershy, that perversion happened while the work was in process and she was able to stop it. Those who perverted Fluttershy's work in the story did so after the fact and behind her back. And it is the nature of invention that you really cannot un-invent something, no matter how much you want to put the apple back on the tree. The Fluttershy of Fallout: Equestria even had her "This is the opposite of a nice hug!" speech (at the Ministry of Arcane Sciences, see Report 444 and 445).
So where it counts, I do see the Fluttershy of Fallout: Equestria as having a lot in common with the Fluttershy who "Leans In". I personally believe your contempt for the Fluttershy of the story has more to do with what she tried to accomplish and your politically charged interpretation of the character. As much as some demonize those they disagree with, virtue and character are not determined by ideology or faith.
4545218
Believe it or not, I can keep my politics seperate from my liking a character or story
I dislike Fluttershy not for the megaspell itself, but because of her arrogance.
She ignored her advisors, ignored the state of affairs, ignored reality, ignored the zebra and their cultures, and went and made the megaspell with no regard at all for anything but her own sense of moral high ground. She spit of Big Mas grave the second the thought of anything less then a cease fire or zebra defeat entered her little pink maned head. She is no less then a traitor, to her nation, and worse, to those she called friends.
Her plan with the megaspell was stupid. Her use of her nations assets was atrocious and her not stepping down as ministry head says it all. She knowingly acted in sedition, knowingly provided aid and knowledge to an enemy force, and despite her dislike s ministry head, continued in its service not because of right and wrong, but because she thought them as meanie heads and bad ponies who would actually help with the war then, say, making a megaspell or better yet, refusing to be there at all. If she was so appaled, why not sit in a cell or even adjustng the spell to incapicitate the zebras? No, she couldn't dream of causing minor discomfort in a people who had made their intentions of conquerors clear.
No, if Fluttershy in fe was this Fluttershy, then the war would have been different. If she had spoken to them as she spoke in show, had held off on the megaspell as a ace up her sleeve or solely for the war effort, then the war would have been won. If she had any semblance of morality outside of an overly sheltered child and realized that her kindness was cruelty, then all the rape and enslavement and hopelessnes and no one able to trust even their own brother would have never been. You once said how a pony like Littlepip couldn't be a good person because of violence, and yet Fluttershy is good because of good intentions and because she couldn't maintain control on her own ministry?
Ones actions reflect who they are, and while one cannot fairly judge one action alone, we need only see the final bleak picture. She made a poor decision Kkat. Whatever her intentions were, however much she may have sought to be better, her refusal to act in her own nations best interest then her own sentimentality.
When I first read that kkat, i was appaled at my first thought: I thought, wicked sinner I am, I thought if Fluttershy had any scrap of remorse, any inkiling of her actions, why she didn't blow her brains out. And how much it sullies the others memory if she claimed them as her friends again.
In fact as in fiction, my contempt for people is on one thing. Politics, faith, opinions, all those, in my view, are hardly a thing to hate others for. I reserve my contempt for the only thing that matters: for those who cause harm, and to what extent. While others did "pervert" the megaspell, she pushed and oversaw it. She refused to see things as they were outside of immediate circumstance and the zebras and ponies not immoral intrinsically or culturally, but victims of matters outside their control. In short, people we basically good and wanted what she did, to have it end. Not one side or the other winning, just one day deciding it was all a silly misuderstanding and putting down the guns for plows and bullets for butter.
I'm not a good person Kkat. I'm an embittered angry man, and I freely admit I'm biased. But my contempt for her is more then red or blue: Equestrias needs less Fluttershy, More Littlepip. Whats their difference? For her ideals, Fluttershy sacrificed others, For Pip, she sacrificed herself
4546186
This is long past the episode, but you talk as if she knew what would happen.
Her vision for how the megaspell would be used was obviously naive, and I think safe to call delusional.
I don't see how "this Fluttershy" would have acted so differently - her flaw was overoptimistic naivety, not a lack of boldness. Especially since this Fluttershy also stuck with her vision.
But I kind of agree with you that the Fluttershy of FOE seemed willfully ignorant. People have a responsibility to think through their actions, and good intentions do not absolve them of it.
__________________________________
On a lighter note, that giraffe was adorable and I want to see it with a speaking role somehow.
4625294 I believe this Fluttershy would actually have more reason to make the overly optimistic assumption she did, because this Fluttershy would have a solid canon foundation for that belief: the protective use of the Crystal Heart spell seen in Season 3. That cooperatively-fueled, super-sized spell effect would clearly have been the precursor for megaspells (right down to the temporary "crystal ghoul" magical radiation side effect). Assuming ponies would use megaspells the way they already used a proto- one isn't that odd; history would suggest that is how they would be used.
4625420
Good point that the Crystal Heart spell could reinforce this Fluttershy's likeliness to see a giant spell as the solution to the war.
It definitely fits as a precursor to megaspells.
And if anything this Fluttershy being more assertive may have made her more likely to try a bold and risky plan.
To be fair to the Fluttershy of FO:E her absolute revulsion of the war clouded her vision on how her megaspell would be used. And for obvious reasons she couldn't confide much in others about her plan.
4625294
No, she assumed what would happen, and ignored the state of affairs and all and sundry to do so.
But as 4625420 said, she was going to cock things no matter what happened, so... feh. I wont belabor the point and my position remains the same. The signs of a great author is the ability to provoke emotion, which clearly going by my soap boxing on the pink haired simp, means Kkat is to be congratulated, and I still love the story overall, aside from a few nitpicks here and there. Fluttershy and Velvet are just the really irking points in what is otherwise a solid and wonderful tale
4636801
We seem to agree that Fluttershy's vision was clouded to a delusional level with her decision.
What do you dislike of Velvet? That she liked Fluttershy for the good she did, or didn't disown her when she found out about the evil?
4639484
Hmm... Well, if kkat would allow a moment more, I'll answer it simply is much the same as Fluttershy, though if anything, Velvet is worse.
Fluttershy had, at the very least, a reason for her naivete. She was something of a shut in raised in a seemingly, at least by human standards, idyllic place which was founded on the ideas of love and friendship (which was part of their problem, but thats' another discussion).
Also Velvet was, frankly and pardon, a judgemental bitch. Excuse the fuck out of Calamity and Littlepip you furry headed ninny but some actually view Raiders and Slavers as targets of elimination, and a thousand pardon on your simpering sentimentality but no, your not being altruistic, your being an obsessive bint. She manipulated a child, a mare she knew was sweet on her, and caused her vault, her family, undue pain, and for what? To ease the pain of a weak and weary world, to mend the seeping wounds of all in God's raped and ruined former Glory? No. She did it for herself.
Maybe I'm being unfair, because she did seem to change her tune later on, but geez did that character drive me up the wall story wise
4639648
I don't recall her condemning Littlepip, Calamity, and the rest of their companions for killing raiders and other scum generally, though with an exception she didn't kill herself.
Morally she should have been willing to kill in battle herself - doing so could have kept herself and others safer from enemies that certainly deserved death - but I can sympathize with her having a psychological difficulty in killing. Of course I've never had to face that decision, but I think that even a completely justified killing would be scarring. Especially in a world as cruel as the Wasteland. So in a way her holding onto her code was selfish, but I guess I see it as a case of a weakness of will more than a decision she was proud of. Maybe I'm being too sympathetic to her, and my memory of that is a bit clouded at this point. Please correct me if I forgot something important here.
As a small point in her favor there, as the team medic it was tactically prudent for her to try to avoid direct combat where possible. Since if she got hurt it would significantly worsen her posse's chances of survival.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Surely you can sympathize with someone wanting the freedom to make their own decisions and live their own life, rather than the life appointed to them by an Over
lordmare.That Vault standard of an arbitrary ruler bossing everyone around is completely despotic and barbaric, and I fully support her decision to defy and escape it.
Does the fact that her vault would miss her rule all of that out to you? If so, you should be equally critical of Littlepip deciding to leave - for similar reasons of wanting to choose a different life and a fantasy of rescuing Velvet Remedy and, maybe, winning her affection.
And part of Velvet's motive was that she wanted to help people - with medicine - and was barred from doing so in the Vault.
4639667
hmm... well, you've certainly got the noggin joggin. Perhaps a re read is in order, but you're more then likely right on this one
edit: you know, now that I have rubbed my two brain cells together and cleared the resulting smoke that billowed from my ears, I can't for the life of me remember why I disliked her so much
Huh