Jump to content
Banner by ~ Discord The Overlord
Guidelines

碇 シンジン

User
 View Profile  See their content

  • Posts

    6,229

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    79

 Content Type 

Posts posted by 碇 シンジン

    General issues with Spike

    in MLP:FiM Canon Discussion

    Just now, BasementSparkle said:

     I guess what I'm thinking is, is that it seems like you feel these situations are "Forced" because you have an image of Spike they contradict somehow. I don't think these actions are at all inconsistent or unjustified within the show, but they are to the image of him you've created. 

    Yeah I agree with that seems like our interpretations of his character differ somehow and that is quite normal I think as people rarely see any characters completely same way someone else sees them. As it is quite common that people reflect and feel the characters through themselves and that can be one major factor on how they interpret the way the character is represented in the medium.

     

    • Brohoof 1

    General issues with Spike

    in MLP:FiM Canon Discussion

    Just now, BasementSparkle said:

    I guess I just don't see the choices he makes in these scenarios as "Forced" in the same way you seem to. Obviously, the choice to stay behind and compete in say "Gauntlet of Fire" is needed to progress the plot, and it might not say anything particularly new or in-depth about Spike's character, but I don't somehow view it as forced or invalid because of it. It's an instance of Spike deciding to stay behind and do something hard, potentially dangerous to help his friends, that's consistent with his character to me and it makes sense as a decision for him to make. Same thing with the Equestria Games incident. These cases didn't feel "Forced" in any real way to me, they felt like they fit perfectly into the episodes.

     

    Yeah they fit the episodes but i think that is the issue there as it feels like they are using Spike as a tool to make the episode consistent without the regard of the actual characterization that motivates those choices and actions. I admit there is slight characterization in there sometimes but in most cases i dont feel that it was enough to justify the action completely.

    It feels like the show is trying to deliberately dumb down Spike and his choices to appeal more to the target audience, it really isnt an issue on episodes where Spike is not in the focus, but when he is on the focus something just puts me off on most of those episodes or maybe i am reading his role in the show somehow wrong.

    I mean the episodes are good even the Spike episodes as episodes, but Spike in them is not good as I feel his characterization seems to be lacking somehow in most of them. 

    General issues with Spike

    in MLP:FiM Canon Discussion

    Just now, BasementSparkle said:

    In "Equestria Games" Spike could have easily run away from the Ice Cloud, fled from the stadium, give into fear and try to save his own skin without worrying about others. Same thing with "Gauntlet of Fire", Garble and the others threaten ponies, but Spike could easily justify going home to himself if he really wanted to. Equestria has guards, it has Princesses with great magical power, it has Twilight and the girls who deal with dangerous situations all the time with or without the elements, he could easily turn and head back home but he doesn't.

    In these situations, Spike might be "Forced" into making a choice, but the choice he makes is still an indication of his character. He's brave when he has to be, he'd willingly place himself in harms way to protect others, rather than turn tail and run, he'll do things he doesn't want to do for the sake of his friends. Just because one is forced into a situation where they have to make a choice, doesn't mean the choice they make has no reflection on their character. When put to the test, Spike will stand up for what he knows is right.

    Yeah being "forced" into a choice doesnt make the choice any less relevant, but from my experience "forcing" the characters choices in storytelling is usually not the best way to develop the storyline or the character in question. It might have something to do with the nature of the show as I feel that the more exaggerated the situation is usually the choices in that situation are more forced.

    Though sometimes even forced choices can be intertwined into the story seamlessly though that usually requires laying a solid foundation beforehand to support that "forcing". On Spikes situation I dont feel that there is much foundation in those choices, they feel mostly spontaneous in the moment choices that dont really reveal any depths from his character. I see them also as quite straightforward  fro example saving the Equestria Games was pretty much just saving the Equestria Games  on the other hand not smashing the egg reflected on how Spike was born from an egg himself and because of that there were values that were important enough to him to make him decide the way he decided.

    General issues with Spike

    in MLP:FiM Canon Discussion

    Just now, BasementSparkle said:

     As for Spike always taking the easy route and not being the kind of guy to do that...I disagree, strongly. What about in "Gauntlet of Fire" where he decided to take place in the Gauntlet to make sure that nobody like Garble who would want to hurt ponies would get in charge? What about "Dragon Quest" when he refused to smash the Phoenix Egg to the teenage dragon's faces? What about "Equestria Games" where he was the one to immediately leap into action and save the empire from that giant ice cloud? What about "The Crystal Empire", where even before Twilight orders him to take the heart to Cadance, he willingly follows Twilight the whole time to be with her and support her, even knowing things might get dangerous?

    I think Spike is absolutely the kind of character who'd make sacrifices or even put himself in danger to do the right thing or help his friends, he can be lazy or greedy sometimes, but Rarity can also be greedy and Rainbow can be lazy, does that somehow negate the times they're generous or hard-working? I don't think Spike is the kind to take the easy way out at all, he's been Twilight's #1 assistant for years and he's typically show to actually be very hard-working at that job.

    From those situations Dragon Quest and The Crystal empire are only ones that I feel that he is acting genuine 

    As in Dragon Quest it was his own choice not to smash the egg  compared to the Equestria Games for example where it really wasnt a choice as if he did not do that he would've pretty much died  or atleast many ponies would've died so I dont really see that kind of choices as choices that can define his character as they are pretty obvious choices to anyone in that situation and because of that I see them as "forced" 

     

    Yeah he has qualities that enable him to do that but i dont thing that the examples that the show has presented us are the best representation of his qualities and that is why i feel that his character doesnt add to much 

    General issues with Spike

    in MLP:FiM Canon Discussion

    14 minutes ago, BasementSparkle said:

    I don't really understand this, all of the instances of Spike's generosity I mentioned make perfect sense to me.

    Rarity comments on how rare Fire Rubies are and makes it very, very clear, without outright saying it, that she'd really like to have the gem. Spike considers it for a moment, before deciding to give it to her instead of keeping it. This is obviously motivated in part by his crush on her, but it doesn't necessarily take away that it was still a generous choice.

    When it comes to Twilight going on her vacation, Twilight says she wants to go but that she can't simply because she has too many Princess duties to take care of, Spike tries to convince her to take a break and go anyway, but she refuses so he finally settles on doing her work for her so she can go. This makes perfect sense, Spike is her #1 assistant and he takes that job very seriously, he's also one of Twilight's closest friends and pretty much a member of her family, he cares about her a lot and wants her to take a break and enjoy herself.

    As for the incident with Thorax, Spike does initially choose not to stand up for him out of fear, but he immediately feels guilty for that choice and thinks it was wrong, he considers Thorax his friend and he feels he should have stood up then, after finding Thorax, he stands up for him this time because he knows that's what he should have done in the first place. Makes sense, Spike and Thorax had obviously become friends, Spike knows he's not a bad guy and Thorax even saved his life, he hesitated the first time because he feared losing his heroic reputation and the respect of the ponies he loves, but he considered it worth putting those on the line to stand by a friend.

     To me, all of these situations make perfect sense and I don't see how they aren't genuine, Spike never "Had" to do any of these. He didn't have to give that gem to Rarity, he didn't have to stay behind to let Twilight go on her cruise, he didn't have to stand up for Thorax, but he wanted to. As for him changing his initial choice, people change their minds, Spike clearly hesitates and takes a moment to think before giving the gem to Rarity, but in the Thorax case it was less changing his mind and more just him being too scared to do what he really wanted the first time.

    Those are good examples and i see how they can be viewed from that perspective as well but what i was talking about was referring more to his character as a whole in those situations and not those situations alone. Those situations alone without much context of the character or how he behaves on other situations seem pretty good and fine. But when i look those situations keeping in mind his character and contributions to the shows narrative as a whole those scenes dont really feel that genuine.

    Maybe that is just me though, maybe i am projecting something based on my own experiences into Spike because i havent been impressed on how he has been handled as a character and that is why the light i view him in is distorted somehow.

    But let me shed some light into how i see those situations in detail:

    First the fire ruby scene:

    IIRC the situation at that moment is that he has a Fire Ruby that he has deliberately been saving for that occasion and that is briefly emphasized on the scene then we see Rarity and she notices the gem in question. after she briefly expresses her interest on the gem, Spike jumps into a conclusion of giving it to her rather quickly considering how important the gem was supposed to be to him, yeah it is a generous choice but if you take into consideration how he behaved after and before that and on many other episodes, you'll see that the difference in this situation was that Rarity was the target of the generous act. And based on how Spike has been acting towards her basically every time they interacted I'd say that he was pretty much "forced" to give it to her. As that is basically what his other actions towards her have been proving. 

    I think Spike would've been better in that episode had he not given the gem to her, I think it would've solidified him as his own character and not dependent on other characters 

     

    Twilight Case:

    I dont recall seeing the episode where there was a case like that so i cant really comment on that

     

    Thorax Case:

    The situation basically was that they were hunting the changeling that was sighted Then Spike has contact with the changeling and notices that he is not a bad guy. after that is where the problem starts He couldv'e told straight up what the situation was to everyone but instead of that he basically squirmed around until he was basically "forced" to tell what was going on by the situation. Yeah it was a brave act to put yourself on the stake on behalf of others but another look into his character on other episodes reveals that he really is not the type of guy to do that. Based on my impression of him he pretty much picks the easiest route most times and relies on others to basically do everything.

    What I feel that is not genuine is that you cannot really expect those kind of actions from him based on how the other episodes have constructed his character, to me it doesnt feel that those situations could come naturally

    Awards/Badges

    in Feedback

    Now that the awards system has been up and running for some time. I'd like share my thoughts on what I personally would be interested in.

    I saw months back there was section of awards relating to exploring the site etc. which i thought was really intriguing idea. Something that i think i would be able to get invested in. Though now that I checked it wasn't there anymore. 

    What I thought was good in that was that there were awards and you needed to figure out yourself on what they were about and how should one be able to acquire  one of them.

    Doing something specific or going to somewhere specific would be the triggers and i think it would be good and interesting way to spark some interest and engage the community in exploring areas that are not really in your face most of the time.

    Of course it would require some planning and work to come up with something that is appropriate, engaging and useful way to acquire the awards in question.

    I'm not sure what options there are available for assigning the triggers but from what I've gathered there could be a chance of utilizing the system in this way.

    Depending on what possibilities there are when taking limitations that are present into consideration I think that a system like this could be useful and fun way to interact with the site.

    • Brohoof 2

    General issues with Spike

    in MLP:FiM Canon Discussion

    On 10/6/2018 at 1:17 AM, BasementSparkle said:

    Besides, you want to point out Spike's greed? How about the times he wasn't greedy, remember when he gave Rarity that Fire Ruby he'd been saving for his Birthday? How about the time he was willing to do extra work and answer fan-mail so Twilight could go on a vacation with her family? When he put his entire reputation as a hero to the Crystal Empire on the line to be supportive of Thorax? Spike's been selfless and generous just as often as he's been greedy.

    I think the general issue there is that for me atleast those actions feel forced and superficial. It feels like he did those things only because he had to and not because he wanted to do so in the first place.

    What I mean is that in many situations he chooses something and then after he sees how the things are turning out only then he changes his initial choice. It doesn't really feel like he even considers what will happen before he makes the initial choice. 

    Feels like he just goes with the flow and doesn't even think for himself. On some rare occasions he shows some intellect but usually those are brushed off by him playing the straight guy in comedic situations.

    Because of that in my eyes his character lacks genuinity. It doesn't really feel like his decisions are even his own.

    His character doesn't usually add anything significant into the scene and in scenes where he is the focus he basically is just doing what he was told to do 

    Make teacups count towards a user's reputation

    in Feedback

    I'm fine with the system as it is. The other reactions don't particularly need to add to the reputation or basically anything. I think their purpose is more related to expressing yourself through the system relating to the content in question.

    Yeah they could add to reputation but does it offer anything different than normal brohoof then, I think it could decrease the value of diverse expression that is currently represented in the system if many of the reactions offer similar or too similar functionality.

    Though it all comes down on how you use and interpret the system.

    • Brohoof 1

    Worst teacher ever?

    in General Discussion

    I thought that one teacher that said put it on Google every time someone asked him something was a bad teacher but these days. I've got a feeling that he actually was one of the best teachers because of that 

×
×
  • Create New...