Whelp, first three episodes of Season 8 watched. · 2:00pm Aug 21st, 2018
It's official. The show is now as cringey as the fandom.
Okay, in all seriousness, Season opener wasn't as bad as some, and its flaws are really down to the language used. Too many mentions of 'Friendship' as opposed to the more mystical-sounding and accurate 'Harmony.' They could have taken a very interesting angle and show a blend of talents, teach unicorns about farming and Earth ponies about magic (or rather, proper first aid in case of magic emergencies), and then expand that to show how different species survive in different environments.
You could have had an Uncle Iroh moment there, show. You had it at your hooftips and ya missed it.
There was some potential for legit out-of-the-box thinking, but they stuck with the Friendship angle. They only mention once that they will be teaching the Elements, in essence, and that's a shame. But that ties into the other big issue, I suppose.
Neighsay has a legitimate point. Recall back to Season 1, or to pre-tribal times, when Friendship or Harmony wasn't just a goody-goody code of conduct, but a form of gnosis that could summon weapons-grade magic. There is an overlap there. But I appreciate that he simply takes off when he's told where to stick it. At the end of the day, he cannot flex his authority beyond what he's doing, leaving the Friendship School illegitimate according to Equestrian standards. But that, in turn, brings up the major, major plot hole with the entire endeavour.
Twilight could have prevented this very easily. She has an out, a smack-in-your-face obvious out.
The EEA rules over all education in Equestria.
"
Hey, Thorax, mind if I set up shop on your turf?"
Seriously, just build your school outside of Equestria, and you avoid this whole thing. Set it up near Starlight's old village; it's close to the border, isn't it? The town can use the traffic, all you'd need to do is rearrange the schedules so there's only one major topic being tackled per or per month; that way you don't upset anyone's daily life. Applejack and Fluttershy could teach in winter, when they have less to do, for example. Pinkie Pie could teach in Spring, so when all the new foals are born, she's on the other side of the map and not disturbing the newborns in the hospital.
Now, did it give me any ideas? Eh, sure, but only an obvious one, that's too close to what I'm doing for original works already. A new student, a reindeer with mind control powers, one who's so terrifying everyone just freaks when... well, the scene would play out like this:
"There's something I forgot to mention. Tarandus is not exactly a deer," Twilight said, before taking a deep breath to steady herself. "He's a reindeer, and that's not the same thing."
"Well, it's close enough, isn't it?" Fluttershy said. "Aside from the, umm, talking and flying."
"Not quite," Twilight replied. "I haven't been entirely honest about it. See, reindeer aren't some elusive and unknown race. You do know them. We've all heard of them, just by another name. We used to call them... caribou."
A gasp went through the room.
"The tyrants of the North?" Starlight started.
"The terror of the snowy forests?" Fluttershy added.
"The red-nosed menace?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Silence fell.
"What?" Rainbow shrugged. "It's what they're called, isn't it?"
So yeah, it sounds fun, but I don't have the time for it, and it'd be too close to the novel to use, so... take it as you will. Shenanigans would happen, you know the drill by now. At the end, the reindeer would just be sent home, and he'd receive a letter to confirm he can take a correspondence course.
Seriously, why didn't Twilight just organise the whole damn thing as a correspondence course? That's another obvious out. Starlight was on point, though, really liked that.
Also, Gallus is left-handed. Or left-clawed. He writes with his left. I wonder how many people noticed that.
And then the Mudbriar episode. It's... interesting, at least. Cringey, but in a heartwarming kind of way. And I can tolerate heartwarming cringe, even support it. None of the three episodes make the 'never again' list. Though the absolute state of canon is... it's a fekkin' minefield now, seriously. Slash and burn writing really does not help in the long run.
Also, do I need to say it? Do I? Still? Okay, just one more time.
Filly Funtasia.
Y'all thought it was dead, but it ain't. Epona, goddess of animal husbandry and guardian of the dead (how's that for multi-classing? 
) raised its corpse, and it got up and bit the show you like, so now My Little Pony is infected. We have an Academy, they're upping the amount of species, it's only a matter of time before we get a villain in a dark mirror and a black faerie pony with a scar on his eyebrow.
Taking some ginseng now, by the way, it's... it's helping. I'll get back to writing next week, hopefully this little break will let me come back with a vengeance. I can feel my old powers returning...
Until then, Cracker out.
Does Tempest Shadow count?
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No green sparkly wings, and also haven't seen the movie yet.
I think she might count as the not-yet-released Filly Edge line, though. Those figurines have little razors in them to play with
On that note, no bat ponies in Twilight's school? Really? The words 'You had one job' are taking on a whole new meaning there.
I get... really confused when it seems like I'm not watching the same show as other people.
Also, putting the school the fuck off elsewhere or making it a correspondence course defeats the purpose of the whole exercise.
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The purpose being... what, exactly? Teaching friendship lessons? You don't need to be in Ponyville to do that. Bringing different kinds of creatures together under one roof to foster a greater bond? Again, can just as easily be right outside Equestrian borders as it can within said borders. What is in Ponyville specifically that you cannot move or build elsewhere?
The problem isn't remoteness, either, otherwise the yaks and hippogriffs wouldn't have been able to show. I mean, they say out loud that ponies have come far and wide to attend. If they're already travelling that far from all over Equestria, moving it across the border isn't that big a step. Heck, if anything, for some of the students that'll make it easier to get there. If the problem is availability of the teachers, a simple change to the schedule fixes that. Have extended sessions planned out for each teacher to do their section of the course, like they do in college.
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Part of it is political. If you can't intuitively grasp why Princess Twilight's School of Friendship should be in the town where Princess Twilight lives and where the big fuckoff Friendship Castle is, I don't think I have the crayons to explain it to you, but I'll try.
The issue with remoteness is as I said, political. Twilight asked for five representatives from five sovereign nations, personally, from five of her nonpony friends. What would it look like if she were to then bundle them off hundreds of miles from her supervision and oversight to the edge of Equestria?
Not very good.
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So politics and optics trump practicality. I understand that just fine, no need to break out the crayons or the f-bombs. I just don't agree with it. Different perspectives, suppose.
Well, I stopped following the show around episode 90, then watched the 100th because it was a load of fun, then have cringed at the sole concept of the foundation of a major educational institution dedicated solely to the teaching of friendship: it would be like the "lesson of the day", as seen in 90's cartoons, taken to one hundred.
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No, your concepts are unworkable, unfeasible, and less practical.
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I've never understood why people without a horse in the race are still here. Less so people who complain about episodes they don't watch.
Season 8 is kind of bumpy but it’s had some great episodes.
It's disappointing that so many people on this site choose the worst episodes to try and get back into the show. The Trixie starlight episode was amazing last week
Season 8 didn't have the strongest start, but so far I've overall loved it. The later episodes really pick up.
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Well, I mean... I do kinda have to watch them in order, don't I? I haven't had a real chance to watch pony undisturbed and on TV (as it should be watched), so... why take a different episode?
*Reads the first sentence*
OOF! XD, LOL.
Nice profile pic
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Thanks! Took me about a month, with all the re-thinking and re-starting it required.
Still, first DeviantArt picture of
Avatar Valt: the Last AirbendeerValt the Wonder Deer, pretty proud of it, even with the obvious flaws.4925340
Nice, and OK! It's cool and awesome!