S07:E16 - Campfire Tales

[DonMaguz 1,023]

Good episode, I enjoyed the sisters' moments and how the episode showed the growth they have all had since Sleepless in Ponyville.

As far as the legend's stories go, I liked the three of them but Mist Mane's took the cake, the moral was amazing and the sacrifice she went through was really emotional and inspiring. It's great to see how each of the heroes of the legends have inspired AJ, Rarity and RD, it seemed to me that they're building up a new "power up" for them to show at the season finale (and probably sell more toys with a new style) but I would love if that building up is handled to the CMC on future seasons.

For me it was a nice 7/10 episode, but for some reason I think that this is one of those episodes that will grow on me a lot over time.

[Hierok 11,831]

Great episode, but Scoots annoyed me a bit. I understand she is afraid after last time, but if you got scared, and your not Fluttershy, of a twig, it is a little bit pushed. Loved Rarity's story. It was a real beautiful story.

[Music Chart Fan 819]

1 hour ago, CypherHoof said:

Still think you are overthinking it. At the "animators for this episode" level, they were probably given a storyboard with a time budget, where they had to relight the fire, in under 5s, by AJ rubbing sticks together.  This is the same fire that can apparently be grabbed by a non-magic-using pony and thrown into the middle of the cave, complete with its ring of stones, as a single unit, so it obviously has some properties that wouldn't apply to a normal camp fire in this world. 

  It was also extinguished by excluding air (a layer of web covering it over) so could still be extremely hot at the core, and just need oxygen to get to it to re-ignite - the spot that the stick rubbed against was smoking immediately the stick touched it and glowing within a second or two after that, so that's plausible. So, Occam's razor actually cuts the other way around in this case - the answer isn't "I don't understand how this works, so it must be an animation error, not how it really works" but "this is what happened and was probably written that way; the simplest explanation for why it works that way is probably correct"

Rainbow's throwing the fire and fire ring into the cave seems to be a gag played for humor - I may not particularly like it, but that's probably the simplest explanation, and I wouldn't necessarily draw any world-building conclusions from that. And I don't see any hot coals or anything like that in the fire ring as Applejack reignites the fire - just four other seemingly uncharred and unburnt sticks. So what was burning in the fire ring previously that seems to have burned completely and left no evidence? Considering what I said in my previous post, when choosing among competing explanations for why the campfire is depicted the way it is, I would rather avoid explanations that break the laws of physics for no particularly good reason. Thus, it seems to me that either of the explanations I posited above (oversight by the episode's creators or safety concerns about young viewers) would require the fewest assumptions and the least disruption of (what I see as) our understanding of Equestria. And that's partly because...

1 hour ago, CypherHoof said:

sadly, in a world where magic exists, "A Wizard did it" is a perfectly valid explanation. Not literally of course, but I could certainly imagine that you could make a potion that gives wood the characteristics we actually see in the show, even if it doesn't naturally grow like that.

I would really rather not have "Because magic!" be the go-to fallback excuse for any inconsistency or questionable occurrence on the show. Where does that line of thinking end? Must all standards and expectations be thrown out the window, to be replaced by a nihilistic view that none of the world-building or characterization of Equestria and its residents matters, because arbitrary magic could change any of it at any time with no further explanation? If anything and everything can happen, with no baseline of consistency across the show, I would find the show much less entertaining and relatable, probably to the point that I wouldn't watch it any more. But I don't believe that that's the world which the show's creators are trying to make. I think they are generally striving (without always succeeding) to make a consistent and relatable world, one that generally has continuity in how it works and what the audience can expect from it, with new additions to the lore occurring with good reasons that enhance and build upon, rather than just arbitrarily disrupting or even destroying, the rest of the world-building.

[jackfettgames 50]

This was a good episode, especially as an introduction to two new writers.

In the camping segments, a good majority of the jokes landed, and the bonding moments were very sweet.

The story segments all had good aesthetics in their animation, but my favorite was Mistmane's because it also had a better story than the other two in my opinion.

[CypherHoof 26,483]

20 minutes ago, Music Chart Fan said:

 Considering what I said in my previous post, when choosing among competing explanations for why the campfire is depicted the way it is, I would rather avoid explanations that break the laws of physics for no particularly good reason. Thus, it seems to me that either of the explanations I posited above (oversight by the episode's creators or safety concerns about young viewers) would require the fewest assumptions and the least disruption of (what I see as) our understanding of Equestria. And that's partly because...I would really rather not have "Because magic!" be the go-to fallback excuse for any inconsistency or questionable occurrence on the show.

I think we will need to agree to disagree. Continuity requires that they are consistent (or explain inconsistencies), but if something is just "how it is in the show" then I can accept that. There is lots of stuff there that doesn't add up; where did the smoke go if it didn't come out of the entrance, for example? where did it go after the entrance was blocked, and weren't they using up all the oxygen in the cave by burning a fire after it was sealed? why didn't it get unbearably hot? and so forth.

[Ganondox 899]

19 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

I can see that in a way, yet I'm unsure what you mean. Can you explain why, please?

It seemed like every other line was her emphasizing she would only tell stories about her self. Once was enough, they way over did it this episode. 

20 hours ago, GrimGrimoire said:

If Flyders become real, none of us would ever go outside again.

 

They can't be worst than mosquitos. 

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

12 minutes ago, Ganondox said:

They can't be worst than mosquitos. 

They look like flies crossed with spiders and appear to seriously want to capture and consume creatures several times their own size. I would say they would be immeasurably worse.

 

[Thrond 3,263]

31 minutes ago, Ganondox said:

They can't be worst than mosquitos.

I dunno, they seem pretty aggressive. 

[KH7672 1,604]

9 minutes ago, GrimGrimoire said:

They look like flies crossed with spiders and appear to seriously want to capture and consume creatures several times their own size. I would say they would be immeasurably worse.

 

I know! I just watched it again and heard Applejck's line about them

AJ: Like it or not we're food too...

SB:And I've got the bites to prove it.

That's actually a pretty dark turn this supposedly bugged out camping trip had. I actually understand why Rainbow Dash was so hasty to block the entrance. Those bugs (wait if they're part spider are they also considered arachnids) are no joke to anything living.

[Ganondox 899]

1 hour ago, GrimGrimoire said:

They look like flies crossed with spiders and appear to seriously want to capture and consume creatures several times their own size. I would say they would be immeasurably worse.

 

Nope. Spiders are friends, mosquitos are actual satan. 

1 hour ago, AlexanderThrond said:

I dunno, they seem pretty aggressive. 

Can't be more aggressive than mosquitos. 

[Thrond 3,263]

41 minutes ago, Ganondox said:

Can't be more aggressive than mosquitos. 

That's fair. Mosquitoes are mean little buggers. 

[Megas 27,629]

Mosquitos are vicious little monsters who have probably killed as many people as spiders, snakes, WWII, and McDonalds

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

2 hours ago, Ganondox said:

Nope. Spiders are friends, mosquitos are actual satan.

Yes, but we are not talking about spiders. We are talking about fictional insects that apparently want to eat creatures the size of ponies (whether that is figuratively in the same way we say mosquitoes are eating us, or quite literally web them up and have some mass feeding) that swarm like bees, bite or sting like wasps and shoot webs to ensnare their prey and seem to actively hunt them. 

I'll take the normal everyday mosquitoes any day of the week.

 

[StrawCherry 1,673]

I really liked Scootaloo's line, "Big scary dragons… or more like Spike?" too much for some reason.

[Cwanky 17,579]

Good thing Scootaloo wasn't around when Applejack's family and Pinkie visited the scariest cave in Equestria.

So much potential nightmare fuel.

[Ganondox 899]

4 hours ago, GrimGrimoire said:

Yes, but we are not talking about spiders. We are talking about fictional insects that apparently want to eat creatures the size of ponies (whether that is figuratively in the same way we say mosquitoes are eating us, or quite literally web them up and have some mass feeding) that swarm like bees, bite or sting like wasps and shoot webs to ensnare their prey and seem to actively hunt them. 

 I'll take the normal everyday mosquitoes any day of the week.

 

Sounds like mosquitos, only with less hatred. 

Edited August 28, 2017 by Ganondox

[Bricks_Ahoy 860]

I liked this episode. the fly-ders would be really annoying in real life. I like that we got some character development from the CMC (like Scootaloo having claustrophobia). I didn't like Dash in this one, egotistical as usual. The stories were cool. I preferred Rarity's at the end of the day. Catch y'all next week.

Score:5/5

[Justin_Case001 4,889]

 

This was a pretty good episode.  (Why did I picture Rick Sanchez bursting into the scene at the beginning and yelling, "SLEEPLESS IN PONYVILLE SEQUEL!!  F*CK YEAH!!!)  I love the follow up to Sleepless, though.  I'm usually not a big fan of this format of episode in any animated show, where they do three short stories.  The exceptions are Treehouses of Horror, and Futurama's Anthologies of Interest.  But this wasn't bad.  I enjoyed it.  I really liked Mistmane's story.  Oriental land was great.  (Yeah, yeah, I know, "oriental" probably isn't pc.  But it's not "Asian" because it's not really Asia.  Whatever.  Insert pc term of choice.)  I think this show does a great job of showing ethnic diversity in a tasteful way.

I really enjoyed seeing some sisterly bonding between Scoots and Rainbow.

Oh, to live in Equestria, where bug bites, including massive facial swelling heals in mere seconds!  I got a good laugh from Rarity's shadow puppets as well.  She's just waving her hooves and it creates a detailed, dancing Twilight ballerina.    Oh, mercy.  That's the kind of logic and physics suspension that I don't mind.  It's a fine line, but if walked correctly, it can be very funny.

And that's it.  Short review.

[CypherHoof 26,483]

I find it interesting that Sweetie Belle can do a shield spell; i assumed that was something only non-specific magic unicorns could do, then I remembered her new cutie mark has a star on it..... and also a shield. hmmm...

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,492]

There was something really cute about Scootaloo freaking out so much in this episode. I think it could have been how much it goes against her average personality which is pretty fearless and upbeat. Her interactions with Rainbow made it better at it truly felt like they were sisters.

That is a face of pure worry right there.

Scootaloo being by her 'big sister' for protection, adorable.

3 hours ago, StrawCherry said:

I really liked Scootaloo's line, "Big scary dragons… or more like Spike?" too much for some reason.

There was something cute about that as well, about the delivery of that line. :3

[Truffles 2,033]

I enjoyed this one more on the second viewing. I had already given it a "liked" rating, but seeing how Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash really bonded after the last story really connected with me emotionally. I think that's why I liked Mistmane's story the best as well - I felt more of an emotional connection with her character than I did with the other two legends. Also Rarity is best narrator, but that's mostly in part to her VA. 

While the second viewing helped, it's still not enough to switch in into the "loved" category. But a fun watch, nonetheless.

 

On ‎8‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 1:30 AM, Music Chart Fan said:

..

Rainbow Dash can apparently punch and kick swarm clouds of the flyders and they make a smacking sound as though they're a single solid unit.

I'm a bit surprised by both the sheer number and the aggressiveness of the flyders. They don't just want to eat the food, they bite the ponies and shoot webs at them with the apparent intent of keeping them from running away. Do they normally travel in a large predatory swarm like that? Did the ponies inadvertently disturb a nest of them or something?

...

I'm not so sure that Rainbow's rock slide would actually prevent the flyders from getting in the cave if they were determined to do so. I wouldn't necessarily expect the rock slide (with various, mostly large rocks) to create a perfect barrier with no gaps large enough for any flyders to get through.

I had to combine all your comments into a single quote and edit that, because I haven't figured out how to multi-quote from the same message once it's on a previous page... <_<

RD can punch them because pegasi can punch at clouds, so maybe a cloud of bugs is just another cloud susceptible to pegasi magic?

It could be the flyers were aggressive because they were so far from their natural habitat and where stressed, causing them to because aggressive. Though the flaw my logic is they seemed to have no problem with capturing and eating ponies, so they are clearly carnivorous and could thrive in any part of Equestria - in fact unchecked they could likely become a plague on the land, no matter where they originally came from because they don't seem to have any natural predators to keep their numbers in check. I wonder what Fluttershy thinks of these bugs? Are they her friends, too, or does she feel more about them like she feels for dragons since they have no issues with making her into a meal?

I thought about the gaps in the rocks, too. I guess dirt collapsed with the rocks, filling the gaps and they just didn't bother to animate it? Of course, by sealing the cave well enough to keep the flyders out meant she may have sealed their only source of air and they were all doomed to suffocate if they didn't clear the opening again. So to me it seemed like some of Scootaloo's fears about being trapped were justified. In any case, since there was another way out it didn't really matter.

 

5 hours ago, StrawCherry said:

I really liked Scootaloo's line, "Big scary dragons… or more like Spike?" too much for some reason.

I didn't even notice this line until the second viewing. I wonder how Scootaloo reacted to Ember last week, since she's a dragon somewhere in-between the two extremes of Spike and Torch?

 

1 hour ago, Justin_Case001 said:

OK, that ref cracked me up silly. Thanks! 

 

[Dowlphin 463]

At first I was: Camping again?! But then it developed nicely. This was an episode where you can enjoy the foreign culture themes, and I personally especially enjoyed the Asian one; The music made me melancholic about WoW Mists of Pandaria. I feel drawn to that style.

That also gave me the thought that if you want to fully appreciate the work that background musicians do (i.e. everybody except Daniel Ingram, heh), you have to watch an episode like this in 5.1 audio and then mute the center speaker.

When Dashie got stung hard, I was thinking: OK, how many seconds before it will fully reset? And as we know our animators, her face was perfectly fine only moments later. It's not a big thing, but my activity in Star Citizen lately involuntarily made me think "Better immersion please!"

Had no other thoughts about this episode worth writing about, at least at this point. But I can hardly go for prolonged times without a pun, so here is one, heh...

 

Light-version of saving the day. Daylight saving if you will.

P.S.: Somehow I very often find myself wanting to rate an episode 3.5, but the poll only allows 3 or 4, neither being an accurate choice, heh.

Edited August 28, 2017 by Dowlphin

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Just so everyone knows this thread has not disappeared; it's just been moved to the bottom as it natural with the rest of the episodes.

Thank you.

[Dowlphin 463]

9 minutes ago, PathfinderCS said:

Just so everyone knows this thread has not disappeared; it's just been moved to the bottom as it natural with the rest of the episodes.

Thank you.

In order to see this message, people would either have to have found the thread regardless or be subscribed to it, and in the latter case the thread list will go unnoticed anyway.

[Music Chart Fan 819]

3 hours ago, Truffles said:

I had to combine all your comments into a single quote and edit that, because I haven't figured out how to multi-quote from the same message once it's on a previous page... <_<

I don't know what exactly your process is or if you've already thought of this, but if you're composing a reply on one page of the topic, it should be saved if you navigate to another page of the topic and restored when you click on the reply box again. So I think you can do whatever multi-quotes you want to do on one page of the topic, give it a second to save, then navigate to another page, restore your reply as you've composed it so far, and then do whatever further multi-quotes you want to do on the current page. It's still a bit of work, but that's the best solution I can think of for your dilemma.