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ph00tbag

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  1. ph00tbag
    You have a poor understanding of Godwin's Law. Just because you can easily interpret the episode one way doesn't mean it's a cohesive interpretation. Indeed, you don't even like your interpretation because it's not cohesive. Yes, there is a lot of content involving the changeling, but that's because, as I have already said, Thorax's presence is the motivation behind the episodes actual story. Your interpretation requires you to ignore Spike's arc, or discard it as unrelated and incoherent. My interpretation requires the changeling arc to be coherent. Why do you insist that an incoherent interpretation of the story is the most valid one when a coherent interpretation is available, if not because it is simply your interpretation? Cadance introduced Thorax to her infant child once there was sufficient assurance he wouldn't suck the love out of her. Okay, that's not quite so mild a regard as "maybe we won't kill you," but there is no way you can possibly interpret that as "personal" friend. It's absurd to suggest that Cadance would view Thorax in the same light she does Spike, and, while it's understandable that one may, if one's only exposure to the concept of a friend was MLP, since the show does a poor job of explaining the various registers in which "friend" can be used, the show doesn't give the viewer any explicit reason to expect that a friend just met is trusted to the same degree as a friend of many years.
  2. ph00tbag
    I think you're putting a bit more of what you want the episode to be about in than is actually there. The conflict over Thorax motivates the central conflict of the episode, which is how Spike handles his perception in the Crystal Empire. That's the topic of the cold open. It's the topic of the first act. It's the topic of the final act. How can the focus of the episode be anything else unless you're subconsciously downplaying it because you want the episode to be about Thorax? It's true, the plot of getting the Crystal Ponies to accept Thorax ends rather abruptly, but that's because ultimately, the change from "get out or die" to "maybe we won't kill you or kick you out," really isn't that big of a leap, and when you look closely, that's all there is. The ponies of the Crystal Empire accept Thorax only insomuch as they believe Spike when he says Thorax doesn't wish them harm. Even with this atmosphere of rapprochement, there's still a moment of tension and mistrust when Cadance presents Flurry Heart to Thorax for the second time. And that's what I get out of the episode, on the front of Thorax. His story isn't over. There's more to come from him. The normalization of relations between the Changelings and Equestria won't be resolved in 22 minutes. But, for what it's worth, Spike's identification with his status in the Crystal Empire has been aligned with his personal sense of morals. Just remember, invoking Godwin's Law doesn't mean you're right. It just means the discussion's over.
  3. ph00tbag
    I'm okay with this, mostly because I appreciate a good troll every so often. It's aggravating, but it's also funny to me that I get mad about a show about pastel-colored ponies.
  4. ph00tbag
    So Rainbow Dash is a rogue, huh? That's an interesting one. Naturally, Pinkie's a bard. I've got to say, I've really liked Discord's depiction over the last couple seasons. He has this preoccupation with being perceived as some kind of stock "cool guy," but in his quest to be seen that way, he often denies himself satisfaction. One has to wonder if he really enjoys going out to swing clubs in zoot suits and fedoras, playing poker and dancing the night away, or if he only surrounds himself with those trappings, because that's his idea of what a "cool" guys' night is supposed to be. I know our culture tends to tell us there's one way to be an interesting guy to hang out with--go out clubbing, be emotionally inaccessible, play "manly" games, etc. It's interesting how this episode subverts that perception by in fact saying that Discord is the one that's kinda weird. In this story, it's Spike and Mac who are doing something a little normal. I do kinda wish that there had been a bit more of a normal progression from Spike and Mac being receptive to Discord's alternate dimension in its initial incarnation, to them realizing that the enemies on the first go-round were way OP. Like, it wouldn't have been hard to have that first encounter with the squizard's army start with Spike and Mac being confident they could win, but then reasonably good rolls like 13 and 14 were failing consistently against minions, and Spike and Mac react with alarm and distaste. Instead, the progression feels very sudden. Spike and Mac like it when there's no enemies, but they just run when the enemies appear without even seeing whether the enemies are OP. I think the most satisfying part of the episode, however, was the inclusion, no questions asked, of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie in the game. Nerd Culture, unfortunately, has a shaky track record with being inclusive to girls and women, and there's no shortage of external forces telling girls that nerdy stuff isn't for them, as well. It was so nice to see such an unequivocal endorsement of females being as much a part of the culture as males. For what it's worth, I think Twilight would love tabletops, with all of their detail and adherence to rules and numbers. She should give it more of a chance.
  5. ph00tbag
    I have to say, I thought it was funny when Big Mac checked out that one flapper pony.
  6. ph00tbag
    Ogres and Oubliettes has been elevated to true canon. This is cause for celebration.
  7. ph00tbag
    I liked Spike in this episode. I liked Twilight and Starlight, too. I felt like their motivations and thought processes made a lot of sense. I didn't much care for Spike's song, although I really want to see some orchestral rock ballad covers come out of the music community. I did like the way Twilight and Starlight's faces betrayed their own internal conflicts while Spike was singing. I love when action tells the story in this show, and the background action during Spike's little aria was great for that. I'm kinda disappointed by the way Thorax was portrayed. It seems kinda pony-centric for there to be a Changeling that just rejects the ways of his own kind and talks about how great it would be if Changelings acted more like ponies. I kinda wish he had been a little bit less apologetic about who he was, arriving at his need for friendship from the perspective of, "if love can be freely given to me, why exert the energy needed to take it by force?" This is touched on in the episode, which is nice, but I feel like a lot more time is spent trying to say that the pony way is the only way to approach the world. It's not very equitable. Still, I like that the episode tried to seek a middle ground between ponies and Changelings. I also liked the name of Thorax, and the fact that, despite his rejection of the Changeling ways, he still has an instinctual urge to feed on love. All in all, it was a half decent episode, and certainly a good Spike episode. The key to Spike episodes really seems to be letting Spike's pragmatism take over, and teach others.
  8. ph00tbag
    On a side note, this episode is an accurate dramatization of how I react to Thin Mints irl.
  9. ph00tbag
    Many people find that the fact that the Wonderbolts call Dash names and make her clean shit diminishes the import of her finally flying with the Wonderbolts. It's odd because most viewers who are former and current military (myself included) find that aspect of the episode to be the most satisfying part of the episode, because the hazing, to us, is the most salient indicator that she's been included. She's not just wearing the uniform and performing the stunts. She's part of the team. But when we try to point that out, we're ignored. Go figure.
  10. ph00tbag
    It's really not just Rainbow Dash. I'd say the writers have a lot of trouble getting Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie right, as well. Rainbow Dash has just been at the forefront lately because missteps in her characterization have been sore points in several episodes this season. There are really two points where writers have chosen to continue with the bad decisions of previous works, rather than retcon them, in my opinion. And both of them, near as I can tell, stem from MMDW (every time I talk about the things I don't like in MLP, somehow this episode always comes up). For one thing, Rainbow Dash at her best is self-conscious to a fault. She shouldn't fall victim to dramatic-ironic self-humiliation, which many refer to as, "cringe," because she, as a rule, is intensely aware of when she's being humiliated. She doesn't do stupid dances and make a fool of herself trying to open a goddamn jar of relish, because she'd realize these things would make her look ridiculous, and that is anathema to her. So when Rainbow Dash partakes in these kinds of activities (like she does in Rarity Investigates! and Newbie Dash), it just. Feels. Wrong. The other thing that MMDW gets wrong is that Rainbow Dash doesn't save the day to make herself look good; she does it because it's the right thing to do. And it goes a bit deeper than that;Rainbow Dash is one of the most self-sacrificing ponies in the cast. At her best, Rainbow Dash deprives herself for those she cares about, and doesn't go out of her way to be cruel. Rainbow Dash's relationship with Fluttershy should be summed up by her letting Flutters go in front of her in the line for cider, not by her scaring the shit out of Fluttershy, then mocking her for being too easy. It feels like Rainbow Dash has developed down two very different paths, depending on what parts of each episode you're watching. Down one path, she is a cruel, self-aggrandizing bully who is totally self-unaware. Down the other, she is a selfless, but self-conscious, idealist with a fragile sense of pride. Since Rainbow is terrible at self-analysis, and never really lays this out, I can see how it's easy to get the two confused on the surface, but the distinction is huge, because one interpretation of her is utterly unlikable, and the other is relatable and endearing.
  11. ph00tbag
    From a logistical standpoint, I was most impressed by the pranks of AJ and Rarity. I kinda wish those two had taken a step back and appreciated just how well-thought-out the pranks were. I laughed the hardest at the scroll prank, though. Celestia's bewildered expression is what sold it.
  12. ph00tbag
    I actually prefer, "She tried to prank her friends with joke cookies. You won't believe what happens next!" In addition to not really being able to cover several arcs in a given episode, there are enough sub-arcs to the show that giving more than one or two episodes to any of them per season cuts into the time they have to develop anything else, and they keep adding arcs in, so it gets harder and harder as they go on.
  13. ph00tbag
    Helicopter parenting is another excellent example of what's at play here. Really, though, no matter the example, the core problem is the same: older generations often adopt a position of "I know best because I'm older," and that can be a difficult rationale for younger people to counter. I love that this episode, while letting children know they are allowed to speak up about ways in which the adults in their lives are negatively impacting them, also gently reminds adults that children are more than legacy--they're not just surrogates; children are people, and ought to have a say in their own development.
  14. ph00tbag
    So what happened to not pranking Fluttershy? I don't think I need to say more on that point. I did like how Pinkie was never really committed to the "stop pranking" philosophy. Her perspective of enjoying the pranks while also appreciating their need to be good was refreshing. I loved how this caused her to apparently waffle between Dash and the Remane 5 in terms of who she sided with. It highlighted the grey area that this topic covers really well. Her solution to the problem was very much a thing Pinkie would do, and it was sophisticated as hell, to boot. Speaking of sophistication, I feel like Rarity and AJ in particular could have at least appreciated the pranks Dash pulled on them, because that was some genuinely impressive stuff, with misdirection and a little bit of "how did she do that?" You may not have found it funny, but there has to be at least a little bit of wonder, there. But for what it's worth, the rest of the pranks were definitely pretty lazy and... not particularly funny. It made it hard to appreciate that the whole rash of pranks was incited by the Remane 5 challenging RD on her prank on Fluttershy being lazy and unfunny in the first place. I did like that Rainbow's motivation came from the Remane 5 confronting her, and her not really understanding the confrontation. It was the episode's primary improvement on MMDW, and I liked that they tried several times before concluding that the solution was turning the tables. This episode really shined when the zombie prank got set in motion, though. I'm actually impressed as to how well they emulated the rising action typical of the horror genre. Very rarely does an episode of MLP actually have me on the edge of my seat. More often than not, it's an enjoyable escape to kick off my weekend, but this one can be enjoyed as a legitimate horror story. It's kinda disappointing that Rainbow didn't find it funny in the slightest. I would hope she'd appreciate the irony of it, but I supposed she's not a connoisseur of irony, herself--she's more of a slapstick girl. Not to mention, the point of the episode would be undermined if she had found the prank to be funny. In the end, I kinda feel that the episode idea would have been amazing a couple seasons back, but it's ultimately a rehash of the first half of Griffon the Brush Off, and the second half of MMDW, and while it has more nuance than either of those episodes, it highlighted the aspects of Rainbow Dash's character that, to me, always grated, and never really jived with my interpretation of her.
  15. ph00tbag
    Yeah, nineties stuff is really the best.
  16. ph00tbag
    You know, this episode really touches on an aspect of adulthood that's often overlooked. Experience has its own set of blinders, and they often leave adults unaware of how their actions are perceived by the young people around them. It's incredible how easy it is for us to forget what the generation gap looks like from the other side. Generation X was furious throughout their youth that the Boomers repeatedly accused them of being lazy, disrespectful, and whiny, and now Gen X says the same thing about Millennials. On the same gear (it begins), it's easy to see how easily RD, AJ, and Rarity would lose sight of what the derby was really about. It's not that they've not ever felt like a third wheel (har har) themselves, it's that there's some weird blind spot (oh dear) that makes theory of mind weaker when dealing with younger generations, and from the older side, it can be surprisingly difficult to see when it's time to let go of the wheel, and let the younger generation drive (I can't control it anymore). It's not like RD, AJ, and Rarity don't know what they're doing is wrong; When the consequences of their selfishness are laid at their own feet, though, they immediately able to empathize, and they don't need an explanation of what they did wrong--indeed, they provided much of the rationale for why they ought to have taken a back seat (send help). They were just exhibiting a common trait of the generation gap. So I don't really see it as out of character at all. The way RD, AJ, and Rarity act is downright typical of adults when interacting with youngsters. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. It wasn't one of the best episodes, but it was really cute, and the song was one of the best this season. Derpy winning most creative as a foal had me in stitches. My favorite aspect of this episode, though, was Anderson's motif of playing incidental hits whenever Rarity said, "big, and bold." He even repeated it with noticeably less verve when Sweetie Belle mimicked her sister, but without the same enthusiasm. Everyone sleeps on William Anderson, but he consistently delivers in this show. Also, lol at Scootaloo's chicken cart.
  17. ph00tbag
    @@Denim&Venom, The apparatus for activating and mobilizing an entire armed force existed as late as the Mane 6's foalhood. How else could Celestia have built an army to combat King Sombra in the alternate timeline? That timeline only diverged from the prime timeline when Rainbow Dash failed to perform the Sonic Rainboom. Indeed, the apparatus needed to be functional at least a year prior to the time Twilight gets into the timeline, because Sombra only returned within a year of Twilight getting to Ponyville. At the very least, there was a draft of some description, and it was implemented at a national level. And there are members of the Guard at nearly every royal ceremony. You may surmise that they are more of a secret service, but they also serve a role in keeping the peace, and Flash Sentry (who wears Equestrian Royal Guard armor, and not that of the Crystal Empire Guard). To boot, there's no proof other than your speculation that the organizational structure of Equestria's military is the same as America's. Actually, the fact that the Wonderbolts are members of the EUP, and not a separate air force proves that the two militaries have divergent structures. The weather service still suggests a system that is organized at a national level, and is helmed by members of the Wonderbolts, another national level Military organization.
  18. ph00tbag
    The apparent absence of an active military is not the absence of a military. You may not see uniformed soldiers walking about saluting, but there's a thing called civilian wear. Members of the American Military are expected only to wear their uniform during the duty day, and maintain a civilian appearance when not on duty, to maintain their personal security. No doubt, Equestria's military follows similar rules. Nothing you've said here precludes an Equestrian Military, and you even acknowledge that the weather service is an extension of the EUP that provides a non-combatant civil service, not unlike the Army Corps of Engineers. Ultimately, your argument of a lack of military is undermined by the explicit statement that Equestria is defended by the EUP in Testing, Testing. My suspicion is that for the most part, the military is a reserve organization, since Equestria is not currently at war. Prior to 1945, this was the way the American Military functioned--once the war was fought, the large majority of the fighting force returned to the civilian life. Equestria's military seems to follow this paradigm.
  19. ph00tbag
    It's pretty clear that the central government of Equestria in Canterlot exercises a very loose control over the course of events in the land. Greater authority of rule seems vested in whatever local governments exist for each city-state. The Grand Equestria Pony Summit suggests that the main function of the central government is to organize interstate political events of such a form. It's even suggested that while Canterlot is the seat of the Diarchy, it is also represented independent of that Diarchy in the Summit. It seems to take the Greek notion of loosely associated city-states, the EU's notion of an economic union, the Russian concept of a Grand Principality, and mush it all together into something entirely unique. I suppose the delegation of powers breaks down something like this. Local Governments - Primary legislative, judicial, and executive authority, selection of representation to Canterlot. City states may choose to settle interstate disputes on an individual basis, or appeal to the Princesses for adjudication. Grand Equestria Pony Summit, and other political conventions - Interstate commerce negotiation and legislation, fostering national cooperation, redress of grievances with central government. Princesses - Military commanders in chief, supreme adjudicators of interstate disputes, organizers of interstate political events, creation of national identity, raising the sun and moon. Technologically, it doesn't appear that Equestria is to a point where greater central organization of the government is possible. At a similar level of technology, England was barely holding it's multi-continental empire together, and the United States was literally in the middle of a Civil War. Germany and Italy were just figuring out how to unify, and the rest of Europe was a bit of a mess. All told, the Princesses letting local governments mostly hash it out for themselves was probably a good idea. Grand Equestria Pony Summit, and other political conventions - Interstate commerce negotiation and legislation, fostering national cooperation, redress of grievances with central government.
  20. ph00tbag
    Well, what kind of representative government are we talking about here? Is it unitary or a federation? Would the legislative body be like the English Parliament, or the American Congress? Would the head of state be a monarch, an elected representative, or a body of elected representatives? What powers would the central government have? How would representatives be elected? Regardless of any of these, I find it doubtful that most of the cast would seek election. Applejack has her farm. Rarity and Rainbow Dash have their careers. Pinkie Pie might actually run, but her "Party Party" would likely not be successful. Twilight may actually run, too, but why would ponies vote for members of the Quadarchy they had just overthrown? Keep going through the cast, and it's hard to find viable candidates who would have cause to run. Maybe Fancy Pants, or the Mayor of Ponyville. These are the only two who seem to be prominent politically inclined individuals, honestly.
  21. ph00tbag
    A lot of misinformation being perpetuated here. First off, Hillary Clinton has done nothing with classified information that no other high level official with access to such information has ever done. However, what she did do exposed American classified information to compromise which almost certainly (but not verifiably) occurred. Why was she not indicted? James Comey summarized it this way: Clinton did not maliciously mishandle the information, and it cannot be proven that her actions resulted in a successful attack by the enemy. No sane prosecutor would indict on those charges. This leaves us back at the first point: What Hillary Clinton did is normal in the field. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Trump isn't a hell of a lot better at security, either; What Clinton did showed ignorance of information security, and poor judgement, but Trump hasn't demonstrated those to me in great measure. My estimation is that we will neither be more or less exposed under either candidate than we are now. Trump is racist. But that doesn't say much. Clinton is racist. I'm racist. Racism, or a prejudice against someone, and a tempering of ones action, based on the other person's outward appearance, is an evolved human trait. What really determines the moral evaluation on this point, is a person's relationship with their inherent racism, and how they let it affect their actions. In his own actions, Donald Trump doesn't really treat anyone unequally. He is, to borrow a term, an equal opportunity asshole. The only person Trump really seeks to elevate over anyone else is himself. If you can't help him do that, he has nothing for you. It doesn't matter if you're purple. But what is most disconcerting about Trump is that, while the most convoluted sophistry can, indeed, argue that his rhetoric is not racist, per se, it is tuned perfectly to incite a particularly violent and dangerous reaction in individuals who act almost exclusively on the worst assumptions they have about people who don't look like themselves. When Donald Trump opens a speech by proclaiming that Mexico is sending their criminals, specifically, their rapists, then dismissively cops that maybe some of them are good people, that is either an abyssmally disastrous accumulation of word-vomit, or Trump is choosing his words precisely to stoke his audience's fear and rage above all, before making a lame attempt at ameliorating his detractors. These are the two interpretations we have of the end results of Trump's candidacy. He is either unbelievably lucky to have so consistently created a mood of fear surrounding Muslims and Latinos, or he's been trying. Either he really doesn't think before he speaks (which should worry you), or he really wants the most worrisome elements of American society to feel intense hatred toward two groups of people, based entirely on external factors. Take from that what you will. As for me, I voted for Sanders in the primaries. In recent months, I have come to the conclusion that, for all of my misgivings about Clinton being beholden to wealthy interests, and my feeling that the story of her being a paladin of civil equality is a misleading narrative that doesn't fully capture her relationship with Progressivism, Trump is so dangerous, not simply in mere policy, but also in his fomenting of violent divisiveness among the American people, that I have no choice but to vote for the only sane candidate that remotely aligns with my own views. That's Clinton.
  22. ph00tbag
    Not all of these ideas are my own, but let me basically lay it out. I was curious, one drunken evening, about what, exactly, unicorn horns are made out of. Traditional mythology would have me believe they are made of a substance called Alicorn, which was the name given to putative "Unicorn Horns" that were ground into powder which was sold for medicinal purposes back in the European Middle Ages. But that kinda falls flat when you realize that these so called horns were actually narwhal tusks. The idea of Unicorns having teeth sticking out of their heads was somewhat unsettling, and it struck me as evolutionarily unlikely that any living thing would ever need a protrusion of a substance as hard as dentin growing out of their skull. Basically, hardness doesn't really determine penetrative power--that's just a function of the fineness of the point. Dentin is used in teeth so that they don't get crushed under the pressure exerted on them by the jaw muscles. Teeth need to be as hard as they are. A horn doesn't need to be any harder than, well, keratin. Any cat owner can tell you how much damage keratin can do. And it turns out, most horns in the animal kingdom are simply keratinous growths on the head. So I concluded that unicorn horns are most likely bony protrusions with a pointed growth of keratin atop. Something about keratin in Equestria must make it a good conductor of magic for those who are attuned to it. Which leads to the question, why can't anything made of keratin conduct magic. Well, the answer is, it must. Fur, manes, tails, hooves, feathers, even, too a lesser degree, skin... all would conduct a certain amount of magic, and when you look, all do. Cutie Marks are a magical discoloration of the flank. All ponies exhibit the "magnet hooves" phenomenon, and pegasus flight can really only be explained with the aid of magic. That leaves manes and tails, and if you look hard enough, you realize that actually, only Earth Ponies seem to have a particular control over these two parts of their body. So it seems using hair is a distinctly Earth Pony trait. I think Tommy Oliver was the first one to really figure this out, but I can't recall precisely. The kicker to that is that it predicts that Luna and Celestia's moving hair may be not be so mysterious--it would just be a specific manipulation of their Earth Pony power over hair. I also recently read Earth Ponies are Overpowered, by Maran, which posits that Earth Ponies have a certain attunement to the magic inherent in all things, and can move it about via their hooves, which, as the title suggests, is pretty damn OP. It would certainly explain Earth Pony steel, in that they could imbue the steel with magical properties simply by touching it. It's too bad the fic is so good about excising excess exposition, because I would have loved a lengthy exploration of the ways in which this ability translates to the vague, "Earth Pony industriousness."
  23. ph00tbag
    For what it's worth, those in the military will continue to tell you that the problems many people have with the Wonderbolts are all too familiar. Anyone who's been on profile can tell you how true-to-life Rainbow Falls was for Soarin'. The call signs in Newbie Dash were tame by Air Force standards. I could go on and on. The problem for the Wonderbolts, which Daring Do doesn't have to deal with, is that they need to compensate for their lowest common denominator. Why did Soarin' get the shaft in Rainbow Falls? Because I guarantee other ponies have used injuries to get out of the things they don't want to do, but the injuries have miraculously healed when they want to do something. How did Wind Rider get to where he was in the Wonderbolts? Well, not every shitbag gets chaptered in basic like Lightning Dust. The Wonderbolts, and the EUP, are organizations that are, above all, about being the best, and doing what it takes to be the best. It's statistically more likely they'll have problems along the way than Daring Do, but what's important is that they improve after every failure. Daring Do does much the same thing, but it's easier for her, because she usually works alone.
  24. ph00tbag
    How delightfully cynical. Keep in mind, though, that this kind of thing is found in every fandom, and really every community. At its most general, this is a story about tribalism, and its antagonistic relationship with peaceful coexistence. Humans (and evidently ponies) have this evolved tendency to form antagonistic relationships with each other based on petty differences, and it stops being about who's right, and starts being about who wins. It's true this episode is timed late enough in MLP's lifespan that this phenomenon has reared its ugly head in Bronidom, but that doesn't make the episode a knee-jerk reaction to that specifically. The writers have indubitably dealt with this many times before, so the inspiration for this likely comes from multiple sources. If anything, AK Yearling is the mouthpiece for the show staff. As she says, "I don't have time to worry about dissatisfied fan-ponies." Anxiety over fandom drama is much more important to the fans than it is to the content creators. Once you realize that the writers really don't care if you liked it or not, you can focus on the actual point of the episode: don't let the fact that you didn't like it be the basis of some pointless extended altercation with people whom you usually include among your friends.
  25. ph00tbag
    @One-Punch Man, I'm not sure why you expected mature, balanced reporting from Horse News. They are basically the Enquirer of the horse fandom.
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