As always, enjoy and leave a comment.
If any typos, etc, are glaring just point them out to me in a comment or PM and I'll get around to fixing it eventually
EDIT: First revision of this chapter has been made. Pending on what my editors/proofers think, and your comments, I may make more revisions.
Not long after Rainbow Dash left, Applejack and Dexter arrived at the schoolhouse. Once inside, Applejack introduced Dexter to a purple earth pony with a striped pink mane and tail.
“Hello Dexter, My name is Cheerilee.” The mare greeted. “I will most likely be your teacher for your time here in Ponyville.”
“Hello Ms. Cheerilee.” Dexter replied politely, already vying for the teacher’s number one pet position.
“Any allergies or special needs that I should know about?” Cheerilee asked Applejack.
“Not that ah know.” She replied.
“Alright. Well Dexter, I know you must be eager to spend the rest of your day playing, but I’m going to need you to stay here with me for a while.” Cheerilee said as she turned back to the colt. “In order to enroll you in the school, I need to give you a placement test.”
After a goodbye wave to Applejack, Cheerilee led Dexter to a desk with a stack of papers and a couple of pencils. “The test is divided into sections. First is math, then science, equestrian languages, equestrian history, and magical theory.”
“Magical what?” Dexter asked in confusion. Did she just say magic was a school subject?
“Magical Theory, it’s the last section of the test."
“What the heck is that?” Dexter replied before objecting. “'Magic?' That can’t seriously be a topic?”
Cheerilee didn’t respond at first, only giving Dexter a confused grimace “Of course it’s a subject. Ponies have to know about the magic of other ponies outside their own tribe, as well as magical hazards.”
“Magical hazards?” Dexter scoffed. “What is that like? Getting cooties or something? Or saying ‘Bloody Mary’ in front of a mirror will get a murderer to show up at your house?”
Now Cheerilee only appeared more confused, if not slightly concerned.
“No. . .” She began. “Magical hazards like how a pegasus jumping on a cloud can produce lightning, which in turn can cause a fire. It’s nothing as extensive as magical kindergarten but it is fundamental knowledge.”
Dexter looked at her as if she had grown two heads, before he let out a snort and started laughing.
“A pony... jumping on a cloud... that’s completely absurd, lady!” He laughed. “You’re telling me the pegasi, or whatever you call those flying horses, can jump on clouds and produce lightning?!”
“Dexter!” Cheerilee suddenly chastised, breaking Dexter out of his laughing fit. “I will not tolerate you calling anypony a ‘whorse.’ Especially if you’re talking about an entire tribe. You will keep such language out of my classroom.”
Dexter didn’t know calling someone a ‘horse’ could be taken as an insult.
“Huh?” Dexter replied.
“Do not call anypony a ‘whorse’ again, understand?” Cheerilee repeated firmly, though Dexter was still confused.
“Listen” She huffed. “Just take the test. You will be taking them by section, there is no time limit so just keep taking the test until the questions become too hard for you to answer. Once you’ve finished a section return it to me so I can give you the next one. Any questions?”
Dexter only shook his head, at this point he wanted to make sure he didn’t say anything else to make the teacher more upset.
“Good, you may begin.” She said before turning away.
Dexter looked down at the test’s first question.
2 + 2 = ___ “Seriously?” he muttered to himself. The following questions were of the same caliber, but after a while they started to get harder. Well, at least harder by pony standards.
What is the area of a four by four square? “Really? Do they think I’m stupid or something?”
A train leaves Canterlot moving at 20 lengths per second . . . “Are they trying to put me to sleep?”
. . .
The last question of the math section required a fifty line proof, something Dexter scoffed at and finished in five minutes. “I thought she said the questions would get harder.”
“Finished already?” Cheerilee said as Dexter approached her desk. She worried slightly for the colt, those who return placement exams quickly usually did so because they stopped early. Which would indicate that the test taker didn’t get very far.
She passed him the science section, which he also promptly returned fully completed. However, a part of Dexter felt disappointed by the test. It felt lacking, as if the test left entire areas of science untested. He didn’t know if that was intentional or not. Though he did suppose said subjects could have been lumped into the ‘magic’ category. However, he doubted it.
“Finished already?” Cheerilee said in surprise. “I haven’t even gotten halfway through grading the first section.”
Next came the ‘Equestrian languages’ section. The first third of it was straightforward and easy, most of the ‘equestrian language’ mirrored English. However, a third of the way through he turned the page to see a bunch of glyphs that were completely outside the realm of his understanding.
“What the heck is this?!” He exclaimed, catching Cheerilee’s attention. “This looks like some stupid dyslexic girl mashed her face into a piece of paper in an attempt to fabricate unpronounceable words.” He may have been exaggerating.
“What?” Cheerilee responded. “What’s wrong Dexter?”
“This,” Dexter said, pushing the test forward on his desk. “I can’t read any of this garbage.”
“Dexter, that’s not garbage. That’s Unicornian, the written language of the unicorn tribe.” Cheerilee said as she tilted her head to read the page he was pointing at. “Did you say you can’t understand any of it?”
“Yes”
“Well, that’s unfortunate.” Cheerilee said as she took the test and gave him the next section. “But not unheard of, many ponies living in isolated areas that consist mainly of one tribe tend not to learn the other scripts until they’re adults. But that won’t happen with you, I’ll make sure you learn the other languages.”
“Why? Unicornian looks retarded, the name sounds retarded too.” Dexter retorted.
“Dexter...” Cheerilee chastised again. “You should respect the culture of the other tribes. But to answer your question, you might find yourself in a part of Equestria that predominantly uses one of the three tribe’s written language. If that were to happen, you wouldn’t want to find yourself unable to read.”
“Learning that crap is a waste of time. All unicorns must be idiots if they chose a retarded pictographic system for a written language. It is astoundingly inefficient in comparison to an alphabetic one. So unless I can better understand science in Unicornian, which I highly doubt, I’d prefer not to waste my time.”
“Dexter! We’re going to have a talk with Applejack about your attitude.” Cheerilee reprimanded. Normally she would just chastise the colt again, and give him another warning. However today was a day of first impressions. She didn’t want the colt to go home thinking he could shoot his mouth off without consequences. “That is the second time you have insulted another tribe of ponies, you’re not tribalist are you?”
“Eh . . . no.” Dexter replied, already regretting his words. “I uh, I just don’t understand it.”
“Yes well, you shouldn’t insult something just because you don’t understand it.” Only if Dexter took those words to heart, they would have saved him a lot of trouble in the future.
The next two test sections were complete flops. He knew absolutely nothing about equestrian history, and magical theory was either ‘completely ridiculous’ or written in ‘Unicornian.’ After flipping through the former section and handing it back, he hardly even looked at the latter.
“Are you sure you're finished with that, Dexter?” Cheerilee said in surprise. She still wasn’t done grading the math section. “You haven’t even answered the first question.”
“I can’t answer it, the questions are insane.” He replied flatly.
“What?” Cheerilee replied, looking at the test. “C’mon, you can answer this. Number one: who raises the sun?”
“I don't know, God? The Universe? The Tooth fairy?” Dexter quipped.
“Be more specific, which goddess? Remember she is one of the ruling princesses.”
“You can’t be serious, 'princess?'” Dexter replied. The idea of someone or ‘somepony’ raising the sun was, again, absurd. “Typical backward pagan culture, they believe their royalty are supernatural.” He muttered under his breath.
“What was that?” Cheerilee asked.
“Nothing . . .” Dexter hastily replied, he didn’t want to get the teacher upset again. “Look, I just don’t know.”
“C’mon Dexter, I’m certain you’ve heard of Princess Celestia before.”
“Yah. . . of course I have.” He lied. Dexter had to admit, even though he was trying to pass himself off as a native, there were times he did a horrible job at it.
“So the answer to question one? Who raises the sun?” Cheerilee asked, though when Dexter didn’t respond she started fishing again. “You know . . . one of the ruling diarchs. The elder of the royal pony sisters? An immortal alicorn?”
“What?” Dexter replied with growing disbelief in his voice, “You’re telling me . . . The authoritarian ruler of this country is an immortal pony who can raise the sun?”
Confused by Dexter’s reaction, Cheerilee just nodded. It didn’t help when Dexter burst out laughing.
“You think your leader raises the sun?!” He laughed, louder and harder than he thought his little pony body could handle. “And that she’s also immortal, a goddess? Bwahahahahaha!”
“That’s all true, yes . . .” Cheerilee responded, still confused by the colt.
“Miss Cheerilee, do you know how big the sun is? How hard it would be to move?”
“Dexter? Are you saying you don’t know about the diarchy or of the princesses?”Cheerilee asked.
“Diarchy? Wait, there are two?” Dexter asked.
“Princess Luna, she raises the moon . . .”
“Of course she does!” Dexter unleashed another bout of laughter. “Talk about propaganda . . .”
---
For the next hour Dexter sat silently while he waited for Cheerilee to finish grading his test, wearing a forced smile which screamed 'I'm the perfect student.' Every so often he could hear Cheerilee mutter phrases of disbelief, catching her staring up at him from time to time.
But it wasn’t until Applejack returned that either of them spoke.
“Cheerilee,” Applejack greeted.
“Hello Applejack,” Cheerilee replied. She had just finished grading the last portions of the test when she walked in.
“So, how’d he do?” Applejack asked, tilting her head toward the colt.
“I . . .” Cheerilee shook her head with a slight frown. “Utterly baffling is how he did.”
“Baffling?”
“I don’t understand his test at all.” Cheerilee said, motioning toward the stack of papers before her. “He completely blew away the Math and Science sections of the test; and I don’t mean just for a colt his age. He completely blew the entire test out of the water!”
“His math score alone indicates that he should be taking classes at the Royal Canterlot University. Same thing for his science score.” Cheerilee explained.
“What? Are you say'n he should be in college?” Applejack grimaced. “Did he really do that well?”
“For math and science, real well is an understatement. But... thats only half of it. He has no knowledge of equestrian languages, culture, history or magical theory.” Cheerilee went on. “He didn’t even know who Princess Celestia was when I asked him.”
“Really?” Applejack tilted her head in confusion. “Dex? Yah don’t know who Princess Celestia is?”
“You mean the pony that supposedly raises the sun?” Dexter scoffed in reply. “Newsflash for you ladies, Celestia doesn’t raise the sun. But even if she did that doesn’t make her a goddess. She’s lying to you.”
The mares shared a glance of bewilderment. From their faces, Dexter would have guessed he was speaking a different language.
“Uh, Dex. She does raise the sun.” Applejack countered.
“Um, no. No she doesn’t.” Dexter countered. “You don’t really believe that she does, do you?”
Applejack nodded.
“Both of you?” Dexter asked Cheerilee, she responded with a nod as well.
“It’s both fact and common knowledge Dexter,” Cheerilee replied.
“My goodness, everyone believes this?” Dexter said in disbelief. “You’re all indoctrinated with delusions so fanatical it’s a wonder your society even has the concept of science. . .”
There was an awkward moment of silence as the two mares shared another glance of confusion.
“He appears to legitimately not know who the princesses are,” Cheerilee turned back to Applejack. “Nor any other facts about Equestrian history. So on balance, I have to rate him as average for his age. I can’t justify putting him in a higher class with such large gaps in his fundamental education. He will be in the same class as Applebloom."
“Sounds fair,” Applejack replied.
“AVERAGE?!?” Dexter shouted, standing up so fast he nearly knocked over his desk. Immediately he was next to Cheerilee and Applejack. “How can you say that I am AVERAGE?! I am far greater than AVERAGE!”
“Dexter?” Cheerilee said, taken aback by his sudden outburst. “Dexter, you’re clearly exceptional in certain areas. But you’re lacking in other basic parts of your education. I can’t justify placing you in a higher level class.”
“Because I didn’t answer that ‘Magic’ Crap? Or because I wouldn't regurgitate your propaganda?”
"It's not propaganda, Dexter." Cheerilee countered with a frown. "We're not lying to you. I know this may be difficult to accept, depending on what you were taught, but-"
"Either your incredibly incompetent," Dexter cut, knocking the papers on Cheerilee's desk to the floor. "Or this ineptitude is intentional!" He turned to Applejack. "I refuse to be in a class where I am forced to regurgitate fallacies purporting some stupid horse-princess."
“DEXTER!!!” The mares cried in unison.
---
“Ow ow ow ow!” Dexter wasn’t exactly a happy colt at the moment, he was quickly learning that pony methods for disciplining a foal were highly effective.
After his little outburst, Dexter was chastised again by both the mares. Applejack also promised him a bunch of chores as punishment for his foul language. However, things really got worse when Cheerilee informed Applejack about his earlier indiscretions.
Apparently calling all someone a ‘horse,’ was an insult. Double that when applied to the princess.
Applejack quickly apologized to Cheerilee, before promising that the colt would be disciplined. The teacher merely nodded before saying farewell and watching them leave.
Dexter's pain started shortly thereafter.
The moment Dexter and Applejack cleared the schoolhouse, Applejack’s teeth clamped down on the colt's ear. It was rather uncomfortable, and somewhat painful when Applejack began to walk. Though it was very effective at keeping the colt at Applejack's side.
In truth, it wasn't anything worse than what Dexter's own mother would do. She had grabbed Dexter by the ear on the few occasion he misbehaved with her.
“Quit yer bell-aching.” Applejack said through a mouthful of ear, answering his third plea for her to let go. However, she granted his request soon enough. “Ah don’t want ta ever hear you talk’n like that again ya hear?”
“I’m sorry!” Dexter said, rubbing his ear. “I won’t do it again!”
“Good ta know, I’ll hold ya ta that.” Applejack replied, anger lingering in her voice. However, her heart melted at the sight of the saddened foal.
“Dexter, Ah’m sorry about pull'n yer ear. But Ah cant in good conscience let a foal Ah’m in charge of act badly. It’d only be fer ya in tha long run. Ah also can’t let yah have a tribalist attitude either. I know tribalism ain’t uncommon in other parts of Equestria, but thankfully that nonsense ain't here in Ponyville.”
“That hurt . . .” Dexter answered.
“Hey, Ah know what ya mean. Mah parents did that ta me whenever they caught me lying. Broke me of that habit real quick.” Applejack replied. “And I can understand ya wanting to be ‘above average’ in school. But if what Cheerilee said is true, yer gonna have to learn a lot if you want to catch up ta other foals yer age. Ah think ya should visit the library after school tomorrow and get some history books ta read.”
“A library?” Dexter asked, almost forgetting everything else.
“Yup,” Applejack smiled, nuzzling the colt. Despite how odd it felt, Dexter appreciated the gesture. “Mah good friend is actually the librarian, Ah’m sure she’d be happy to help you get some books.”
“I think I’ll do that.” Dexter nodded.
. . .
“Miss Applejack?” said a masculine voice, startling the two ponies. Looking up, they found two unicorns. The guards were both completely white, except for blue eyes and blue manes. Each wore identical sets of golden armor, and bore identical stoic expressions.
“Ah, you must be the guard I heard was coming ta check on me.” Applejack replied in relief.
That got Dexter’s adrenaline to spike. So these were two members of ‘the guard.’ They were slightly intimidating from Dexter's point of view, being much taller than the small colt.
The closer guard nodded in response to Applejack. “I am Corporal Hard Lance. Have you noticed any strange behavior in the other town's folk?” He cast a glance at Dexter. “Or out-of-place individuals?”
Crap.
Dexter started to sweat, internally dreading. Were they here about the vandalized boutique, or did Cheerilee call the 'thought police?'
“No, Ah can’t say Ah’ve noticed anything noteworthy. In fact, you two are the most ‘out of place’ ponies Ah’ve seen all day.” Applejack flicked a hoof at the stallions. “What’s this about anyway? We don’t usually see many guards in Ponyville.”
“There was an incident at the Ponyville hospital involving an unidentified device.” He replied. "I can't explain the circumstances at the moment, but the guard have made the situation a high priority."
Double crap.
“Really? Is that it? Ah heard something about a changeling being found in the hospital.” Applejack questioned, though the guards maintained their stoic expressions.
“Yes, a changeling was discovered at the hospital last night. However, I must order you to refrain from speaking about it. Disseminating that information might cause a changeling scare.” The guard stated simply, earning a nod of agreement.
The guards then shifted their stoic gazes onto Dexter, locking on like laser guided missiles. The colt shrank under their sudden gaze as he huddled at Applejack's side.
“Dexter.” The guard stated firmly.
“Umm . . . heh” The colt replied with a nervous chuckle. However, after an awkward moment of silence, during which the two guards said nothing and stood waiting patiently, Dexter spoke up. “Y-yes, that’s me.”
“You were at the hospital recently, correct?” Lance inquired, his tone was still firm and direct.
“Um, yes.” Dexter replied.
“Did you notice anything unusual or noteworthy during your stay?” The stallion asked.
“Umm. . . No.” Dexter answered. Dexter was by no means a judge of what was ‘usual’ or ‘unusual’ in pony society. Granted, the whole experience of waking up in a hospital run by ponies was unusual for him. But he wasn’t about to try and explain anything to the guards.
“According to the hospital records, you slept in room four thirteen, where a novel piece of medical equipment was discovered the following morning.” The guard stated directly, there was nothing accusatory in his tone. “Would you happen to possess any relevant information as to how it ended up in your room?"
Triple crap.
This was the exact reason why he kept his laboratory, and his amazing scientific abilities, a secret. Revealing his abilities could lead to blowback and sticky situations. A fact that is apparently unchanged in the pony world.
But what set off warning bell’s in Dexter’s mind was not what the guard asked, but what he didn’t ask. Dexter remembered cannibalizing a number of other medical devices in order to get parts of the device he built, an act which would probably be considered vandalism and attract law enforcement. However, the guards made no mention of it whatsoever.
“No.” Dexter lied flatly. Maybe even too flatly. Something he would have realized if he caught the strange look of confusion and scrutiny Applejack cast at him the moment he voiced his lie.
There was another moment of silence as the two guards continued to gaze at Dexter. Eventually the other guard, Hard Lance’s partner, broke the silence. “Please turn to your side.” He instructed the colt.
However, despite the instruction, Dexter only huddled closer to Applejack. He was completely confused by the command.
“Turn to your side and present your cutie mark.” The guard repeated, maintaining his stoic expression and tone.
“Why?” Dexter protested, getting more and more nervous by the second.
“Dex, don’t be afraid and show em yer cutie mark.” Applejack said with an encouraging nudge.
“But I don’t wan-“ He began to protest again, however he was cut off by Hard Lance this time.
“Refusing to present your cutie mark to the guard when directed is a class three misdemeanor.” The guard stated. “Now turn to your side.”
After another moment of hesitation, and a nod from Applejack, Dexter turned to allow the guard to see his cutie mark. However, after a moment Applejack’s voice broke the tense silence.
“The hay do ya'll think yer doing?” Applejack said, causing Dexter to turn back and resume his place by her side. One of the guards had taken out a piece of paper and was now holding it in the air with his magic. “I know you’re not trying to flank-print a colt.”
“Ma’am, we were instructed to retrieve a-" The guard began, however he was cut off by Applejack.
“It don’t matter what you were instructed to do. Ya’ll can get a look at somepony’s cutie mark but you can’t flank-print em unless yer arresting them, much less a foal when you don’t have consent.” Applejack retorted.
“Parental consent, you’re not his parent according to hospital records.”
“Yah, but Ah’ve been made his guardian, and Ah say no. Yer not getting consent from me unless you have a good reason. Why do you want to get a copy of his cutie mark?” Applejack asked.
“For internal record keeping purposes,” the guard replied without missing a beat. “Our detachment has been directed to thoroughly document the incident at the hospital.”
“Paperwork?” Applejack scoffed incredulously, not trying to hide the anger growing in her voice.
“Very important and urgent paperwork . . .”
“Get outta here...” Applejack flicked her tail before motioning Dexter toward her side. “C’mon Dexter, we're going home.”
Story 9/10, good crossover, that is true to the character, and has no retardedly bad plot devices in it. Excellent set up, and only flaws are caused by staying true to the character. Would be 10/10, if didn't focus on Dexter's interaction with other ponies, in which he is weird as fuck. Awkward nerd talking to people is not a good premise for longer storyline.
Chapter 6/10. Racism and boring guard birocracy. + Poorly done cliffhanger. I just don't care about the guards. And the point of view was hard to place. Worst chapter yet. Other ones were a lot better, but I am giving it some leeway, since it's the set up, for something that might be good. Also you squandered the opportunity of oral exam. That dialogue could have been awesome, and the written test part felt rushed.
Anyhow, nice job, would say that I cant wait for next chapter, but you should put it out, when you feel its ready. Good job, and nice story. I hope you write a lot more
you made dexter an incredible douche, more so than in the cartoon
Dexter is a douchebag? I din think he can be that insensitive.
4579402
4579487
No, he was a extreme douche in the carton. He just was doing cool stuff, or getting wrecked by Dee Dee.
You should rewatch some of his social interaction episodes. He is not nice, or good at getting his idea across. He means kinda well, but he is pretty self absorbed and selfish. Also he hates ponies, because they have tried to kill(Or whatever they were trying?). He has done multiple unsafe animal experiments, and massive property damage without regret. He is not socially wise too.
Also he is like 8 years old. He might be smarter then everybody, but he doesn't have much of life experience.
He is shown to attempt to take over the world on multiple occasions. See Ego trip episode.
4579374
Yah, I felt the same way about this chapter as well. It felt sort of like filler to me, but I felt it was necessary to maneuver the story were I want it to go. Those maneuvers are subtle. But there is another reason why it probably feels a little underwhelming. This chapter was actually the 2nd half of the preceding chapter before I got lazy and stop editing it.
I just don't know how the story got featured on what I regard as the lamest chapter thus far. The chapter isn't bad, but it isn't on the same level as the other chapters.
As for the guards - good. You aren't supposed to like them. Your not supposed to dislike them, but you're still not supposed to like them.
I miss all of the older shows they used to make. Like the old Scooby-Doo(I'm talking 1970's), Hey Arnold, Rugrats, and a lot of others that I haven't seen in so long I've forgotten their names.
4579625
In one of the episodes didn't he accidently turn DeeDee into a Pink Pony?
4579402
No. If you remember the show from when you were a kid, then you would remember Dexter not being a 'douche bag.' But if you go back as an adult, when you can understand all the cultural nuisances better, you'll find out that he is indeed a jerk. If not borderline sexist.
Dexter is: Arrogant, Condescending, single-minded, insensitive - the list goes on. But these are his character FLAWS. I mean, he once invented a mind control tool to hypnotize his family into doing his biding - all because he didnt want to take out the trash.
But ultimately his heart is in the right place - he isn't evil like Mandark, and can be depended on to do the right thing (and occasionally save the world.)
4579685
Yes, yes he did.
4579691
One of the very first episodes involve him (and Dee Dee) turning into a number of animals as a result of them fighting over a device that... you guessed it... turns people into different animals.
4579689 False. He was so absorbed in bickering with Mandark, he let giant meteorite hit the earth. He will try to save the world, but you can't depend on him doing it.
4579694
4579743 There was also the episode where Dee Dee gets obsessed with the mlp version within the show. A parody of generation 2 or something, I don't know. But she wanted to become a pony herself, and, after some 'convincing' Dexter, he turned her into a pony with the intent of making her do all the heavy pull work, which she doesn't like, and she breaks free, and hilarious situation happen. Or something like it. It has been a while since I last saw it.
That Dexter is impossible mouthing off like that to Cherilee and Applejack. That attitude of his towards anything without a known scientific reason is a very unattractive side of him.
4579809
Keep reading
But watch a few episodes of Dexter's lab (after). You'll find that Dee Dee kicks over chemicals on a regular basis. In fact, clouds of dangerous vapor filling his lab should be a regular occurrence with her around.
I'm starting to think this might be one of those deserter/peaceful Changelings get exe-persecuted and then everyone looks like a racist jerk things, but I'm not sure.
4579743
Mother of god... that profile pic... well, im not going to get any sleep tonight...
Very good storyline so far, although you forgot your commas in front of a lot a names when need to be above other mistakes.
It's always when anothe character adress another charcter, friend, even when they call them by something else
8/10 so far for me :P Catches the imagination and comedy of the show so far
Booooyah! new chapter! its reading time!
4580107 or he will simply present medication that fixes their deficiency for "love", thus meaning that changelings would have no reason to assumb false identities except for the ones who are spies.
Merely seeing this earns it an upvote.
4580545
But I want you to read it.
My main concern with this story is just how out of character Dexter's dialogue tends to be. Granted it's been a long time since it aired, but I don't recall him ever speaking this rude or foul-mouthed on the show. Let alone calling any potentially new field of study or linguistics "retarded."
It would be more true to character if when he saw it and realized it was a pictographical language, that he would be intrigued by it while wondering aloud to Cheerilee 'why children are expected to know ancient languages'. :3
4580572
Dexter's use of foul language is ambigious. The episode (where Dexter uses curse words) called Rude Removal, implied that he actually does use bad language on a semi-regular basis. But being a childs show, said episode was banned in the USA and no other episodes featured him shooting his mouth off.
I could be wrong though, I wanted to make sure his egotistical side AND anger about being called 'average' were well displayed.
Hmm... interesting. I would like to give this chapter a - 5/10 rating (all the previous ones are 8 or 9).
The reason its a 5 out of ten is that this particular chapter felt out of tune with the previous ones. The reason us dexter's characterization.
I remember your author's note back in chapter 1 when you said you'll take a few liberties is dex's character. you did pretty ok except maybe this chapter.
I liked (LOVED even) how you handled dexter's character prior to this chapter here mainly because its very close to his original persona - nerdy, a tad arrogant due to his intellect, and overall eggheady
In this chapter however, Dex is... well. a jerk. he's pretty much a potty mouth. retarded, idiot, crap - words i haven't witnessed him using in his show.
i may be wrong on the word usage part but overall i'd still say this dex came out extra abrasive in this chapter. can't remember any episode in the show that had him cussing like this...
i really can't find anything else wrong (save for a few misspelled words here and there, no biggie). storywise it was a bit dry compared to the last ones(the only exciting part for me here is the part where dex aced the math and science tests... that and the mention of twilight and her library).
please don't take this the wrong way... its just that i think i like the past chapters more due to simple but spot on characterization and more funn-entertaining moments.
btw. thnks for the update. :)
4580586 Hm, I suppose, but it still seems a really odd choice to go with the non-canon version of his behavior in that case. He's coming off less egotistical and more as an ass...
4580609
Yah, I felt the same way to. As I stated in a previous comment.
As for his character being too abrasive, yes and no. Most of us dont remember Dexter's Rude Removal episode (which showed under what circumstances he would use curse words) because it wasn BANNED in the usa.
Dexter's lab was actually under some scrutiny, having parts and skits banned. There was even a point in the show where it's original creator LEFT (he went on to do samurai jack). But we were all too young at the time to notice these things.
4580572 wow. i thought i was the only one who felt this way... i wish i know what to say to 'communicate' where it felt out of place (dex' character) but im not really a critic i admit.
4580620 i'll take your word for it renegade :)
i know you know what you are writing. i think that's really cool considering this is an old show. again, thnx for the update.
4579689 yeah but HOLYSHIT cursing!? in know you'll get your ass whooped?
4579625 makes me wonder though. has he EVER read any psychology books? he's already self analysed himself he should know he is acting like a complete douche
My goodness, it seems as though my attention has been stolen.
25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmfc67NJJH1ql1qf2o1_500.jpg
4580898 a what?
4581930
Psychology has little to do with identifying whether you are a douchebag or not.
More likely than not Dexter is a high-functioning autistic. In other words, he is not intentionally trying to be a jackass. He literally just does not immediately understand how his words (which seem completely fine and normal to him) affect others until he has experienced the exact situation before. Placing him as an Asperger's sufferer.
4583127
A Gary-Stu. A character inserted into a story that is good at everything, solves all the problems, knows everyone of any importance to the author, and is all around without a real personality because they're not an actual character. Specifically, the male version. The more commonly known version is the Mary Sue, the female.
There are different variations on these, but this is a quick rundown. 9/10 times a Mary Sue/Gary Stu is a very bad thing. The author is avoiding Dexter becoming a Gary Stu, because they are annoying and pathetic characters.
4579689
He becomes a lot more sympathetic when you accept the fan theory that he's got Asperger's. As by way of example, the reason that he talks in the stilted manner that he does when his family speak normally has to do with his thinking that he has to TALK like a GENIUS like Ludwig Von Drake. The reason he sees his sister as an EEEEEEEEEEDiot instead of the normal girl of average intelligence she is is because his brain can't process female behaviour. Finally, the reason he can't get along with adults is because he ain't got a clue WHAT he's doing to piss people/ponies off.
Claudius Caesar's version of a popular background pony seems to also be an Aspie so could serve as a mentor to a fellow little professor type.
4583242 definitely aspergers, there is another mental disorder that also has lack of empathy as a symptom but in dex's case this is really over the top
4583245 I am pretty sure that once dexter hears that they feed on "love" he will at least try to do some research, it is probably a dopamine addiction or something along those lines.
As equestria wil probably be perfectly ok with his talent(due to how they see cutie marks) he may later on not need to hide it as much(i said LATER), he may also be called in to give the design specs of the device he made(under that situation he may end up haveing to give away his reasearch data about changelings).
^ Only error I found
As a Asperger's sufferer I feel the need to remind you all that we are not all complete and total jerks. Generally we simply think a different way. Say if we were all in a classroom and somebody was sitting in an Asperger's seat. Not a big deal right? WRONG! While he or she could easily just find a different seat and "be cool about it" it just wouldn't work for us. That seat was assigned for... let's use me for example... That seat was assigned to me and me alone and you can sit in the seat that was assigned to you and only you. Lack of empathy is also something that I would like to correct. Just because I'm an aspie doesn't mean I'm a mean green computing machine who doesn't care about others. If I see somebody being bullied I will try to step in and stop it, I was bullied too and I don't want that pain on anybody. Now, I do have moments were I don't care how others feel about what I do, but usually it's when I have an important job, chore, assignment, etc. to do and they are stopping me from my objective. Thanks for reading.
4584267
...This is a perfect example of what I just pointed out above.
Source: Also suffering from Asperger's.
4583850
Dexter is likely a bit of a sociopath. So honestly, he's not over the top. The author is correct, Dexter has been a little shit the entire series and very - VERY insensitive. He's just been awesome the whole time, too.
4584790
That, too! But he's been through so much and had his ass handed to him enough times that humility would had to have been beaten into him by now, don't you think?
Look at him. Dexter is, even here, portrayed at most times to be just fine until he comes across something he personally doesn't understand or agree with. Then he raises hell because things aren't how he pictures them in his head - so he denies it with vitriol. If it were just a matter of arrogance, he would simply look down on /anyone/ who could not prove themselves his equal or superior.
4584771 yes but i do not see how that would apply here, he will probably not engage with the changelings until he knows what they are. I am pretty sure that he would notice the chemical imbalances in their brain from their hunger for "love" pretty quickly when he scans them.
4585919 I found it hilarious too.
4585872 I don't think he meant to insult you, I think he gave the name Asbergers to another psychological disorder incorrectly. From what I've read about Asbergers on wikipedia (prompted by your conversation) I don't think Dexter has Asbergers.
There is one thing we can all be certain about, Dexter is an Introvert. I'm actually surprised that no one here has brought up that word yet. I must be doing something wrong...
4585872
I also suffer from Asperger's, so you - like the other guy, getting pointlessly defensive are showing character flaws you personally need to deal with. You don't see me getting upset over it - or the others who've had to toughen up, accept reality, and decide that getting upset and defensive (which is a natural reaction while dealing with the issue, believe me - took me awhile to get past that myself) is just somewhat immature.
Given what the character has displayed via canon and writing, from what we are able to tell of his interactions and the way he treats himself and those around him - not to mention his words, this is what he mostly deals with. An autistic with a touch of sociopathy. Two separate issues, neither is an insult, neither is offensive. Otherwise I'd be insulting myself. Make sure not to assume just because someone said one thing and did not confirm that it was meant to be insulting. You will save yourself many troubles in the future that way as you get older.
4586013
It's not an insult, and no - I am not incorrect. He exhibits traits from both Asperger's as a high-functioning autistic, and he exhibits traits of the light end of sociopathy. The psychology is sound. Their problem is that someone brought up that a character who is under scrutiny for their actions shares a trait with them - which made them defensive. It's not something you or anyone else needs to apologize for. It's just holding their hands when it's something they need to learn to power through on their own, just like I did and every other sufferer I've met who's had to.
That aside, yes - he shows traits of being an introvert as well. However, since we lack a more in-depth look at the character when he's not DOING things, it's hard to be one-hundred percent certain as to where his issues lie.
4586277
Strangely enough, thats not true. He has one friend named "Douglas E. Mordecai III" (Strange name right?) that actually appeared in five episodes.
But Im not going to say anything more >:) I dont want to spoil anything I have planned.
4586269
No hard feelings.
4586529
That's very true, Dracone. She worked with her husband on Dexter's Lab, and I believe that on PPG and Foster's she was the one in charge. Memory's a tad rusty, there.