Pipe Land 14 · 6:14pm Aug 16th, 2017
Nothing extra or weird today, just stream-of-consciousness thoughts and analysis of Fame and Misfortune!
I really can't get over them including Toola Roola in the show. :D I mean, Coconut Creme is great, she was a blind bag first, so it's nice to have a canon version of her to go along after the fact. But for all that G3.5 sucked, Toola was one of the last MLP shelfwarmers around when I first started looking at pony toys, and I've always liked her color scheme and the fact that she was an artist. (Also that her name sounds like a Spoonerism of "toora loora".)
Gotta love that guy just going, "free sundae, whatever". Almost as good as Derpy and the pizza.
I know it wasn't meant to be the focus of the episode or anything, but you gotta wonder what those two were fighting about so strenuously. I mean, kids can get really emotional about anything, but still…
Did anyone comment yet on Berry Punch talking with Flash Sentry's little brother there?
"This is the friendship journal my friends and I used to keep." Yeah, like… last year.
Starlight Glimmer, master book-judger. I have to say, that's the start of what turns out to be a surprisingly good role for her. (And to those saying she may have taken the place of Spike… Yeah, I think there's a whole one joke in here that wouldn't have worked if he said it.)
"Do I need to prepare myself?" That feel when Twilight thinks Fluttershy doesn't need to prepare herself for sudden book.
The way Rainbow goes through the book, you'd think there was a section for each pony, instead of a sequential recording of lessons as they're learned. That bothers me slightly.
I do love that gag about Fluttershy's lessons. Like, you'd think it was a takeoff on how quietly she talks, but no, there's a reason.
For some reason, I love the way Applejack reaches for the journal.
So can we call the sequel to Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 "Learn Hard or Fly Young"? :V
It's funny how duplicating a book seems to be the kind of thing that Starlight would be adept at. I can't quite explain my reaction to that scene, but it just felt very natural.
Okay, but the 'manifesto' joke is just the best. :D Who cares if it's the old "Starlight can't be on screen unless someone brings up her past" shtick, she had a fucking manifesto.
Okay, so let's talk about Daring Do for a minute. A lot of people have been concerned that, by publishing the journal, they've outed A. K. Yearling as Daring Do. This is a zero-sum game, though. There's nothing saying, one way or another, what exactly they've published. All evidence in the episode suggests it's just the lesson parts. I think there's some context, a summary of the adventure leading up to it — what else would the ponies in the episode have to bicker about? — but do you really think that Rainbow would have done that, even if she were just expecting Celestia to be the only one who read the friendship report? And I checked the Daring Don't transcript; there's nothing there saying one way or another, either. So until there's an episode about Daring Do trying to get her revenge on Rainbow Dash for revealing her secret identity, I think we can assume all they did was confirm Daring is real — if that — and anything further is an "if you want it to" situation.
Rainbow's "I'm awesome" is an echo of the feeling I get when I read my own fanfics. :V
Twilight handing out the journal and suggesting Toola and Coconut read Rainbow Falls makes me think there is a religious component here. It's like, "Open your Friendship Journals to Rainbow Dash 4:10 and repeat after me…" Y'know, like, Bible quotes? :B Just me?
For a second there, I thought we were gonna get Twilight Time II.
I love how Twilight very casually goes from holding one journal, to taking over the levitation for the unicorn, to holding all four.
I have to wonder if an autograph doesn't break the whole "mint condition" thing. But then, I'm not that kind of collector, so what do I know. :B
That stallion with the douchebaggy ponytail sounds a lot like GutiuSerenade. >.> And I have to admit, I never quite got the problem with Rarity. Takes all kinds!
I do like Starlight as the mane six's muscle. Like, she goes over for a 'chat' and is all "Is Starlight Glimmer gonna have to mindrape a bitch?" and then Douchebag McMullet is all, "And just who are you?" and then Starlight rapes his mind with her evil mind rape magic. :V I mean, it's the only thing she's good for, aside from being a printing press.
(Okay, but given how the episode goes, whatever she said to those two obviously didn't stick.)
Yeah, I never expected Pinkie to have a problem with making ponies laugh too much. That was clever, especially given the whole "she's the funny one, ergo everything she says must be funny" thing that… Quite frankly doesn't make any sense, but it makes for good television. :B
"You've known me for years" is really one of the best lines, though. :D
I stand by my assertion that we're seeing a more mature Rainbow Dash these days. I mean, she's finally reached the point where she would rather work than be adored by her fans. Crazy. (Though I can't blame her, that "can't say r's right" filly's voice grates on my every nerve.)
I do like that at least one foal was wearing official Rainbow Dash fan merch. There's crossover appeal! Someone write a fic about new fans coming into the Rainbow Dash fanclub through the journal and the old fans complaining about them. :V
"Yeah, we're entitled to know!" And here we have the character meant to represent bad fans. V:
I do love this scene with Fluttershy. Hearing a pony parrot complaints I've seen in online forums is just a hoot, and Fluttershy, as I said previously, gives the right defense of herself. If there's a problem with it, it's that she goes from shaking in fear to suddenly assertive at the drop of a hat. I mean, maybe she just needed Twilight's presence to get some confidence, but I can't imagine she was immediately quelled by the barrage of questions, ergo I can't imagine she'd immediately recover like that. But hey, they're not flawless, amirite?
And Starlight just picks that guy up. XD Again, she's good as muscle.
Rarity doesn't get a lot of wacky freak-out moments. This is the best. "Stress sewing" was inspired, whoever came up with that.
That "NYRRHMM!" as she crosses the room. XD Tabitha St. Germain is a gem.
Flattened, angry Twilight behind the door. XD
"Right away, pony who still likes me!" There is a lot of RariJack in here, isn't there? :V
"And kick out my own family?" XD I really do love that AJ, in two breaths, condemns and accepts these weird freeloaders. Good sign of her mental state.
You have to wonder how yee-hawing became a thing with the SAA's. I can't imagine AJ ever wrote many in the journal…
Window-staring. I appreciate that Starlight seems to know Twilight pretty well like this. Though, again, it's a role Spike would have filled just as easily. (With, y'know, Starlight in the throne room scene to duplicate the book and make the manifesto joke…)
The doors smash through a wooden sign; it's a wonder nobody lost a hoof! D:
>familyin'
"My emotions darling" is seriously one of the top ten funniest one-liners in the whole show.
Also, the thing with the measuring tape, that's just… It blows my mind. I don't get it, but I love it.
Hey, Pinkie pops out of the vase and falls on Applejack, and no one makes a big deal about that. :V
"Wait here, I've got an idea." The fact that I really, really wanted Starlight to go out and mind-control the crowd into complacency says a lot about me, I think. Especially since I was disappointed she didn't. (Again, a role Spike would have filled just fine…) I'm just a terrible person, aren't I? :B
Worth noting one of the spa twins is on Team Twilight.
I'm sad Rarity took off her outfit.
Okay, so let's talk a second about Twilight being better before she got wings. First, yes, yes she was. :V But moreover, someone pointed out the journal didn't start until after she got wings, which puts the whole chronology into disarray. (Because we're all sitting here taking this episode too seriously, just like the ponies in it!) All I can think is that the friendship lessons stretch back to at least the start of season two, when all of Twilight's friends got in on writing letters to Celestia. But again, there's nothing one way or the other to suggest that anything has been added to the journal for its publication, for all that I don't think it's a stretch to say Twilight would have wanted to add in as many old friendship reports as possible, to maximize the learning potential. The "this isn't a mistake" answer, then, is that this old mare knew Twilight for a long time, maybe back when she was in the School for Gifted Unicorns, grew apart from her (the School answer would explain this), and is now finding out what kind of pony she's become as a Princess, and doesn't like it one bit. So, again, it's just another fandom joke, but you can find easy, reasonable answers to all canon questions if you try. :V
Unrelated, but it's weird how there's no Team Rarity, just a Team Not Rarity. I mean, even Fluttershy gets signs!
No, I still think the song isn't great, purposeful or not, and doesn't really fit the overall message of the episode.
I don't actually hate the song, I'll note, but I do hate that line about Rainbow singing about her ego. It's literally when I stop listening to any remix. c.c
Ohh, Applejack, you could never be too honest with Rarity. (Them bedroom eyes!)
Why does Fluttershy get to do Birth of Venus? It kinda fits, but it's so random!
People keep talking about Pinkie being off tempo, but if you just mean the "you got, too" near the end, that's a pretty standard lyrical counterpoint. Not a mistake, in other words.
I am slightly upset no one clapped, you ingrates literally just got an impromptu musical number. >:B
Rainbow Dash is okay with the poopervisors, you heard it here! :V
>Starlight Glimmer touches foals :V
Applejack: Thing Ruiner V:
Usual VA check! Toola Roola's voiced by probably an actual child VA, who's been active for three years, almost exclusively in Barbie-related content as Chelsea. (Don't know who that is.) As for Coconut Creme, this is her VA's fourth role ever, and the previous three were all in 2014. Strange CV! O.o
So, I don't think I need to repeat that this episode has been pretty divisive. If nothing else, I've yet to see anyone go "meh" over it. I have a theory, and it comes down to whether you approach it as a content creator, or as a fan. (And yes, I know that's something of a false dichotomy. I've already seen one example that stands outside it. Just work with me, here.)
I think the real gist of the episode comes from the creator's perspective: no matter what your intentions, when you publish your creation, there's no telling how people will react. This is held up in a lot of Twilight's angsting about having published the journal in the first place, lamenting that no one's learning any lessons, and never having expected someone to treat it as a work of fiction.
But as a fan, and specifically a fan of this show, it comes off as far more scathing. Certainly, if you hear yourself being parroted by the strawman background characters, it's likely to come across as a slap in the face. There's a definite trend, especially toward the end of the episode, where it seems like the show runners are going, "Yeah, we fucked up, but we're not perfect, so shut up." (I mean, that's kind of strong, but I'll agree the message gets muddled toward the end.) I keep thinking of Bad Horse's recent post about the episode, where he claims its message is "You're not supposed to have opinions."
And again, I think that's pretty strong. This one's gonna be about what you bring to it, though, which is something of a platitude. We all bring stuff to each episode, and that's why there's no real consensus about which are the absolute best. So… yeah. Make of it what you will, I still enjoyed it, though I'll note it's definitely not the most technically sound of even the recent episodes, no matter whether they meant it that way or not. :B Three-point-five outta five.
So can we call the sequel to Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 "Learn Hard or Fly Young"? :V
No, silly. Fly Hard
Amen. For my own experience, “Twilight Falls, Sunset Dawns.” In numerous chapters after I revealed Sunset’s backstory, everyone began heaping blame on Celestia for what had happened with her. One commenter on the epilogue compared Celestia’s apology to Suset for failing her as a teacher, to a domestic abuser blaming their victim for “making” them hurt them. When in fact I tried to show that Celestia repeatedly tried to reign Sunset in and it was Sunset’s insecurities over Twilight that caused her problems, while Celestia deeply regreted her actions and blamed herself for what happened. For a story that tried to make the point “Sunset can’t let herself be happy because she keeps comparing herself to Twilight,” a lot of readers were quick to jump on the “It was Celestia’s fault for building up Sunset’s expectations and then betraying her” bandwagon. Ah well, death of the author and all that.
As for Daring Do, an episode summary for later in the season implies Yearling is considering retiring. If this ep will tie into it directly, probably not, but fanon will let us assert yes.
This interpretation of her character is somewhere between 70 to 100% of the reason Celestia's Angels exists.
…Only if it’s about Rainbow trying to enlist Scootaloo into a junior flight camp.
As someone who's never had much of a problem with changes on the show, I thought this was one of the best episodes I've seen so far!
Later in the episodes, Dash's fans do want to hear about how she met Daring Do over and over, so I think it's fair to say the journal reveals Daring's nonfictional nature. Granted, there's nothing definitive about her being A. K. Yearling.
Twilight does have the best lethal office equipment. The mind-rending photocopier goes very nicely with the firebreathing fax machine and the reality-warping Rolodex.
Just so we're clear, what's the distinction between V: and :V?
Because she's coming out of her shell.
And yeah, the intended message doesn't seem nearly as hostile as Bad Horse has made it out to be. Mind you, that's coming from someone who watched an early Starlight story's comment section immediately devolve into a debate over whether or not Our Town was actually communist.
4637076
Fly Hard with a Vengence?
Starlight Glimmer, the Red Menace, confirmed as cannon.
And he runs away in terror after she placed him back down.
My wife didn't appreciate when I made a similar joke during the episode. Something something "Why is Starlight in contact with foals that aren't hers?"
I have only seen strong reactions one way or the other about this. Either love or hate. I understand a few different ways it could be taken and rewatched specifically for those viewpoints. That was interesting...
4637189
None, really, I just hate using it in the same direction twice in a row. Even though I think I did. :B
Some of the meta humor struck me as good, Fluttershy's "real improvement doesn't take 22 minutes" bit was good, and any Rarijack is welcome... but the ep just felt bitter. Like the writer read one too many criticisms and decided to "get back" at them.
68.media.tumblr.com/fb33d47e501205764ec370537d138e8a/tumblr_ouoz46J9Mh1t5ye1po1_1280.png
It takes a damn good joke to get me to actually laugh out loud at an episode. I did when Glimmy mentioned her manifesto, and both Rarity's "My emotions!" and Pinkie's "You've known me for years!" completely cracked me up!
As for the legions of the butt-hurt... well, nobody jumps that high unless the shot really hits a soft spot, I think. Yeah, the barbs where sharp, but they weren't aimed at the fans who politely and calmly gave negative feedback. It just proves again the old adage: Don't be a jerk to a bard.
Your explanation on the fan creator dichotomy actually explains a lot. A ton of people on /mlp/ were critical of it, so I was expecting a ton of people on fimfic to similarly voice their dissaproval, since the two site are more or less in sync about these things. I thought fimfic would be just as anal about having their criticisms lampooned. But your explanation is solid. Fimfic is already so jaded about the author fan relationship that they looked past the obvious plot and jumped write into the writer's shoes.
4637776
I mean, it explains my own positive reaction: I was thinking of the episode in terms of Larson's recent(ish) published book, and the experiences he must have had with that.
Allow me! The episode is just 'meh' and I haven't even seen it. But in a way, I have seen it, many times in fact. I've seen it in Simpsons episodes with Comic Book guy, Animaniacs and the please get a life foundation sketch, Nostalgia critic with Douchy McNickpick, any time a cartoon makes fun of forums and their own fan base, and many many many more times.
And that's what makes this a little interesting to me. (Other than the fact that Larson, more or less, has disowned this episode) Because I have seen this joke done before, I wonder why some feel more insulted here than anywhere else? The same goes for stuff like Teen Titans Go (Nowq you want to see a series that says don't have opinions) Is the fact that we are now mor connected shows that stuff that was once funny is now a little more harsh? That an episode like this, wich would be a luagh riot back then, needs to be written with more tact? That now we need the other side of things to make it more even whereas before we could show all of their fans being fat without problems? I don't know really.