This really bugs me, clearly there's favoritism for Starlight. She goes much farther than any other villain in this series, and yet she receives less than a slap on the wrist, while everyone else has to essentially walk across a burning field, but they've all become far better characters, and more likable at that. Why are the writers so fixated on Starlight, even after all the poor writing? Oh dear God, she's Roman Reigns.
What on Earth are you talking about? Starlight didn't get that much attention at all from the writers. She barely appeared in seasons 6-9, only appearing in a handful of episodes in each season.
This was a poor review and I disagree with it. You have a poor critique of the episodes. I'm sorry, but this video is just plain bad, to the point where a novice could point out your factual errors and be correct in doing so. You are factually, objectively self-contradictory and your analysis is objectively awful.. What I'd like to discuss is your review of “Every Little Thing She Does” because you simply failed to properly comprehend what was in the actual episode.
For example,.you repeatedly attempt to decry Starlight because she somehow didn't understand she did wrong, while Twilight knew without being told. Frankly, you simply have no understanding of these characters.
You proved this when you said, “And before you say, “Well, Twilight kind of did the same thing in "Lesson Zero”, actually, no, she didn't. First, it wasn't technically the same spell, she just compelled everypony around to want a doll.”
No one is saying it was the same spell. That's a strawman. What people are saying is that both Twilight and Starlight used magic spells to remove free will from their victims. Yes, it is victims, and your later attempt to say the word isn't fitting is wrong. In spite of your misunderstanding of the magnitude of the crimes, Starlight's crime was contained to just the castle and five ponies while Twilight targeted three children and spilled out to affect the rest of Ponyville. This isn't some opinion, that's simply stating the facts of the two episodes.
Both unicorns committed an act that had what most of us would call a harmful effect on the recipients.
In Twilight's case, we got an indication that we have an unstable pony who is capable of and willing to use mind-altering magic on kids and didn't already know that is bad. it was not in-character for Twilight to go crazy, and it wasn't in-character for Equestria to allow such an unstable or evil pony to go around remaining a hazard. They tend to banish, friendship laser, petrify, or so on when it comes to such characters. Up until “Lesson Zero”, we saw a character that was friendly, curious, good-hearted, and a bit snarky, not someone so unstable that they might brainwash children or someone who, left to their own devices, can work themselves into such a frenzy that they do such a thing. This was poor characterization/bad writing for Twilight, done for comedic effect in an otherwise morally-driven story about teaching lessons to kids about how to be friends.
We're led to believe that the generally good-hearted and loveable Twilight is such an idiot that she thinks it's okay to mind-fuck children in order to create a friendship problem just so she has something to report to Celestia on. She fabricated her own sense of urgency, worked herself into an unstable mental state, then victimized children. Twilight targeted the CMC with her act in the same way a thief targets a person, even if they're technically stealing unfeeling inanimate objects. Twilight enchanted Smarty Pants so the CMC would be enthralled by it, fight over it, and she would step in to "fix" that conflict. The CMC are the victims of her plot, just as the Mane 6 were the victims of Starlight's plot. The rest of Ponyville were unintended victims of the collateral damage caused by Twilight's reckless spell.
I'd like to point out that in the ensuing scuffle, several adults were involved in what appeared to be a berzerk brawl. None of them were behaving rationally, and were fighting to get the object of their infatuation. Among them was Big Mac, who has dragged a house before, in a mindless fight with three small children.
But this episode glosses all that over with heart-eyes and a cloud of dust indicating cartoon violence. The symbolic dust cloud and flying limbs represent something. Rather than show the actual consequences of a bunch of adult ponies (including a very strong Big Mac) on the bodies of three elementary-age girls, they went with "lol, cartoons."
Celestia then descends from the sky, casts a counterspell, and nothing more than a lecture results as a consequence, because Twilight "I'm so crazy I just endangered three children because of my insecurities" can apparently be trusted to do better simply after a stern talking to. In spite of her actuons, no long-term therapy, observation, restriction, or punishment was deemed correct. Stern talking to, promise to never do it again, friends take some of the blame upon themselves. No outcries from many about how unrealistic this is, or how much she should be punished. Perhaps put under observation by psychiatric professionals, prescribed medication to keep her in balance, or consequences for using mind-altering magic on non-consenting ponies including, and I am being very repetitive on this point, children.
Contrast that to Starlight who has been presented to us as a flawed individual with issues, who comes from a bad place and is trying to do better, to become "normal." Already, we can expect her to mess up because her character isn't presented to us in the same way Twilight is.
In the case of Starlight, Starlight's committing her crime was completely in character for her. The fact that it was her "plan A" was the point. She is known to be flawed, and the fact that she has flaws was the point of “Every Little Thing She Does”. In case you missed it (which you obviously did), continue the lyrics of the song that the episode title is referencing. “Every little thing she does is magic.” We know she is already in a long-term correction effort. She is learning under Twilight as a course of corrective action to make her a better pony. She was Twilight's student as part of the effort to guide her to be a better pony. It wasn't an instant 180 turn from how she used to be. She needed guidance to overcome her flaws. It is essentially therapy.
Her motivations are clearly explained and presented to us. It isn't merely "hey, she goes cookoo sometimes, isn't that funny?" She's been given this chance to turn her life around, and she doesn't feel like she deserves this break. She expects that she deserves to be locked in a cage somewhere for the things she has done. She says this repeatedly. Her character arc in “To Where and Back Again” is to tackle her anxiety over being the leader, because when she last had that kind of authority and power, she really screwed up and hurt others.
The pony who has given her a chance to learn to be better has given her "friendship lessons." She expects these are things she should just be able to get without having them explained to her. She figures, "I'm a smart pony, these are easy things, I can just do them all at once." The fact that she is bad at friendship lessons and didn't learn them is part of her character flaws. Demonstrating how this character behaves in this situation is far more thought-out and demonstrated as a coherent story than was done in “Lesson Zero.”
Once we get to the actual crime, we realize that Starlight's was far less severe. It was limited to five ponies and some minor property damage. There was some risk of more danger, but it was also mitigated by Starlight's attempts to fix the problem, and ultimately very little lasting damage happened. No children were involved. The entire town wasn't endangered. The episode showed Starlight taking actual actions to try to prevent some of the unexpected hazards that came up, instead of her simply looking around, crazy-eyed saying, "Of, no, I need to fix this," like Twilight did.
Furthermore, the actual consequences of Starlight's spell and unexpected results were played out in real time instead of hidden behind symbolic dust. The depiction of the crime and its consequences were better portrayed through better writing. The fact that fewer ponies were involved, less area involved, and fewer implications/consequences created they were able to show it fully. Those choices indicate a better-designed crime from a writing standpoint, as it allowed for better execution. Had they given the execution from “Every Little Thing She Does” in “Lesson Zero”, we would see trampled kids. Had they executed Starlight's crime as poorly as they did in “Lesson Zero”, Starlight's spell would have just made the Mane 5 woozy and say silly things or spontaneously catch fire and run around with Yakety Sax playing in the background.
I will point out that in both crimes, the spellwork implies some rather dark concepts. In Twilight's case, she cast a spell from memory. She didn't need to look it up. She even mentioned, "Works every time", implying she has used it before. She's well aware of what it does. In Starlight's case, she had to go through the motions of looking up several spells, then combined them as she does. There are implications both on a character level and on a societal level for both instances of spellwork. Neither feels morally better or worse than the other, but Starlight's spellwork is overall more interesting due to being a mix of spells rather than, "Oh, by the way, Twilight happens to know this spell." I'd give the edge on writing to “Every Little Thing She Does” for being consistent with normal MLP lore in that weird spells do exist, and you generally have to study them. Twilight, at least in other episodes, usually has to read up about whatever spell she is about to use, and in “Boast Busters” we saw that the number of spells she had memorized mostly included parlor tricks like making a mustache appear on Spike. The fact that the “Want It, Need It” spell apparently is among those she has memorized is troubling and feels out of character.
You attempt to paint Twilight's crime as less severe, missing the point. The misguided argument that you're trying to make is that one or the other of the two criminal acts is worse and therefore that pony or episode is worse too. That is utter nonsense, a weak argument. Your issue is that Starlight was forgiven for doing an unforgivable thing. Twilight did the same thing to three kids. Yet the older sisters and families of those kids forgave Twilight. Applejack forgave Twilight for mindfucking Apple Bloom. Rarity forgave Twilight for mindfucking Sweetie Belle. Rainbow Dash forgave Twilight for mindfucking Scootaloo. Granny Smith and Big Mac forgave Twilight for mindfucking Apple Bloom and Big Mac. The Mayor of Ponyville forgave Twilight for causing a fracas, mindfucking her and several citizens of Ponyville who would vote for her next election cycle. Twilight "psychologically abused" kids and random passersby. But everyone was fine because she looked a bit remorseful, and Celestia pardoned her.
The bulk of your issue is that you are unwilling to even apply your own standards equally to the two episodes. You're unwilling to extend to Starlight the same bias you use to give Twilight a pass. You use the same talking points and make the same errors of bias as people who genuinely hate Starlight. You attempt to say you are being fair and simply pointing out flaws of a character you otherwise like, but you aren't. All you have is incoherent judgments, unfairly applied bias, and personal preference. This is the same mistake all Starlight Glimmer haters like you make. When they complain about Starlight's character and depiction, they are unwilling to fill in the blanks left by canon with reasonable or consistent filler. You demonstrate you can do this for Twilight to excuse a badly written episode and even attempt to call it well-written. You're unwilling to do the same for Starlight in an objectively more complex and nuanced episode with much better characterization, a much more believable presentation of conflict, and a much more satisfying conclusion. Anyone with a reasonable analysis of the two episodes would call “Every Little Thing She Does” the better-written of the two because it is.
in other words, you're not internally consistent with your judgment. Even by your own standards, if you try to fairly apply them, Twilight is just as deserving of your outrage as Starlight is.
Both ponies used magic to mess with the free will of others. Both of them were reprimanded by the Princess they look up to. Both characters did wrong and needed to be told. Celestia had to tell Twilight that "causing problems in order to fix them" is wrong. Starlight had to have her errors explained to her too. That is the point of her character. In Starlight's case, this process went even further. She went and personally apologized to those she wronged, and accepted that they probably wouldn't want to be around her anymore because of what she did. They chose to accept her apology and forgive her. If anything, we got to see more of the correct outcome in “Every Little Thing She Does” than we got to see in “Lesson Zero.” It was a better-written episode, and it was far fairer and well done.
It was poor characterization for Twilight to commit the crime she committed, it was in-character for Starlight to do so. “Lesson Zero” was less well-written on that point.
The severity of the crime itself is less important to the quality of writing, but the handling of that crime and its magnitude was better designed and better thought out in Starlight's case. They handled the situation much more realistically in “Every Little Thing She Does” than they did in “Lesson Zero.”
What I'm getting at here is that the overall progression from crime, resolution of the crime, and presenting the consequences of that crime are what makes good writing. A story isn't better written or worse written because it features a character that steals bread and the other features a murderer. What makes the story better than the compared story is how well its own crime is presented or written. So no. In anything resembling reasonable interpretation or critique, “Lesson Zero” is the worse written episode of the two. If you think otherwise, then you clearly don't understand good writing.
Now, you seem to be trying to assert that some further punishment is necessary for Starlight, and a lack of that punishment is an indicator of bad writing. No, it isn't. The consequences directly fit the crime. Make things right with your victims. If they believe you are sincere, no further action is necessary. The state only steps in when differences are irreconcilable, or crimes are considered heinous enough to not allow individual resolution. As part of the consequences of this particular crime, she goes directly to the ponies she harmed and apologizes. I want to repeat that:.she went to the ponies she wronged and directly apologized to them. Sincerely. She expected and accepted that they would never want to be her friends or talk to her again. She didn't try to weasel out of it. She didn't try to justify herself. She didn't try to make herself out as less bad or anything. Just straight up accepting her fate and whatever they decided. They, as good friends, forgave her. It was a touching, heartfelt scene. No, it was not bad writing. It was not rushed, nor a cop-out. It was a strong character piece, and it put each of the Mane 6 on display and showed the strength of their friendship and willingness to forgive their friend, a lesson clearly lost on Starlight Glimmer haters like you. That's far better writing. .
In contrast, the literal ruler of Equestria, as well as the Mayor of Ponyville, were presented with a crime in which Twilight Sparkle mindfucked three children directly, and caused mayhem to Ponyville, causing injury to potentially several ponies that she could be liable for. No interaction between Twilight and any of them offering apologies or to make amends. Instead, the ruler of Equestria declares her innocent/pardoned, because she promises to never do it again. She was "instantly" forgiven, only it didn't trigger you this time. And her friends will write her letters on occasion too. I guess that is community service of sorts. Are we really supposed to just accept that everything is good, and no one resents Celestia or Twilight for it? That's pretty bad writing!
For a real life example of this, let's say you get into a bar fight with someone and break one of their bones. They can decide to forgive you and not press charges, or they can sue you for assault and battery, or something depending on local laws. They could sue you for medical bills incurred by them upon you. A story about that bar fight is not badly written just because they choose not to press charges. As long as it is in character for them not to do so, as it was with the Mane 6 towards Starlight.
Now let's take this same scenario and apply it to Twilight's case. Imagine now that the President of the United States witnesses you in that fight, and watches you break the guy's arm. Also, you throw bottles into the crowd of onlookers, including the Governor/Mayor of your city, injuring them. Then he steps in, tells you that you did something bad, but go home and sleep it off. It's fine.
And no one thinks to complain about the President's intercession. Some folks have to get stitches and bones set because of you, but the President says all is well, and no consequences for you. As long as you and your friends upvote his Tweets.
How good of a story does that make, huh?
In conclusion, it is plain for everyone to see that you are dishonest. Your opinion on writing quality is not worth listening to or considering. You're a waste of everyone's time. Get lost.
“I’m a waste of everyone’s time,” said the grown man who just wrote a goddamn novel to tell me I was wrong about his best pony, on a video I made almost two years ago.
Hell, if you had bothered to watch my latest pony videos, you’d know that I’d lightened up on Starlight considerably. But no. You had to go to my blog and search for a video you disagreed with, because you were positively jumping up and down doing the pee-pee dance because you couldn’t handle that someone had a different opinion than you on the Internet.
I want to be much nastier than I am to you, but after two days ago, I’m done with strangers telling me how wrong I am over petty bullshit. So I’ll simply return your advice and tell you to get the hell off my blog. Good day, ‘sir’-and I use that term loosely.
SIR IT IS A CARTOON OF COLORFUL PONIES MEANT FOR CHILDREN, you can't be this serious to leave a whole ass college dissertation on my little pony my guy. You just can't. It ain't that serious ＼(￣▽￣;)
Like this is actually embarrassing. It's his review, aka his opinion, and for you to get this bent out of shape over a character in a show...take several seats and get a life my guy. Cuz this ain't it.
This really bugs me, clearly there's favoritism for Starlight. She goes much farther than any other villain in this series, and yet she receives less than a slap on the wrist, while everyone else has to essentially walk across a burning field, but they've all become far better characters, and more likable at that. Why are the writers so fixated on Starlight, even after all the poor writing? Oh dear God, she's Roman Reigns.
ReplyDeleteWhat on Earth are you talking about? Starlight didn't get that much attention at all from the writers. She barely appeared in seasons 6-9, only appearing in a handful of episodes in each season.
DeleteI'm just talkin' about this season and the next.
DeleteThis was a poor review and I disagree with it. You have a poor critique of the episodes. I'm sorry, but this video is just plain bad, to the point where a novice could point out your factual errors and be correct in doing so. You are factually, objectively self-contradictory and your analysis is objectively awful.. What I'd like to discuss is your review of “Every Little Thing She Does” because you simply failed to properly comprehend what was in the actual episode.
ReplyDeleteFor example,.you repeatedly attempt to decry Starlight because she somehow didn't understand she did wrong, while Twilight knew without being told. Frankly, you simply have no understanding of these characters.
You proved this when you said, “And before you say, “Well, Twilight kind of did the same thing in "Lesson Zero”, actually, no, she didn't. First, it wasn't technically the same spell, she just compelled everypony around to want a doll.”
No one is saying it was the same spell. That's a strawman. What people are saying is that both Twilight and Starlight used magic spells to remove free will from their victims. Yes, it is victims, and your later attempt to say the word isn't fitting is wrong. In spite of your misunderstanding of the magnitude of the crimes, Starlight's crime was contained to just the castle and five ponies while Twilight targeted three children and spilled out to affect the rest of Ponyville. This isn't some opinion, that's simply stating the facts of the two episodes.
Both unicorns committed an act that had what most of us would call a harmful effect on the recipients.
ReplyDeleteIn Twilight's case, we got an indication that we have an unstable pony who is capable of and willing to use mind-altering magic on kids and didn't already know that is bad. it was not in-character for Twilight to go crazy, and it wasn't in-character for Equestria to allow such an unstable or evil pony to go around remaining a hazard. They tend to banish, friendship laser, petrify, or so on when it comes to such characters. Up until “Lesson Zero”, we saw a character that was friendly, curious, good-hearted, and a bit snarky, not someone so unstable that they might brainwash children or someone who, left to their own devices, can work themselves into such a frenzy that they do such a thing. This was poor characterization/bad writing for Twilight, done for comedic effect in an otherwise morally-driven story about teaching lessons to kids about how to be friends.
We're led to believe that the generally good-hearted and loveable Twilight is such an idiot that she thinks it's okay to mind-fuck children in order to create a friendship problem just so she has something to report to Celestia on. She fabricated her own sense of urgency, worked herself into an unstable mental state, then victimized children. Twilight targeted the CMC with her act in the same way a thief targets a person, even if they're technically stealing unfeeling inanimate objects. Twilight enchanted Smarty Pants so the CMC would be enthralled by it, fight over it, and she would step in to "fix" that conflict. The CMC are the victims of her plot, just as the Mane 6 were the victims of Starlight's plot. The rest of Ponyville were unintended victims of the collateral damage caused by Twilight's reckless spell.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to point out that in the ensuing scuffle, several adults were involved in what appeared to be a berzerk brawl. None of them were behaving rationally, and were fighting to get the object of their infatuation. Among them was Big Mac, who has dragged a house before, in a mindless fight with three small children.
But this episode glosses all that over with heart-eyes and a cloud of dust indicating cartoon violence. The symbolic dust cloud and flying limbs represent something. Rather than show the actual consequences of a bunch of adult ponies (including a very strong Big Mac) on the bodies of three elementary-age girls, they went with "lol, cartoons."
Celestia then descends from the sky, casts a counterspell, and nothing more than a lecture results as a consequence, because Twilight "I'm so crazy I just endangered three children because of my insecurities" can apparently be trusted to do better simply after a stern talking to. In spite of her actuons, no long-term therapy, observation, restriction, or punishment was deemed correct. Stern talking to, promise to never do it again, friends take some of the blame upon themselves. No outcries from many about how unrealistic this is, or how much she should be punished. Perhaps put under observation by psychiatric professionals, prescribed medication to keep her in balance, or consequences for using mind-altering magic on non-consenting ponies including, and I am being very repetitive on this point, children.
ReplyDeleteContrast that to Starlight who has been presented to us as a flawed individual with issues, who comes from a bad place and is trying to do better, to become "normal." Already, we can expect her to mess up because her character isn't presented to us in the same way Twilight is.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Starlight, Starlight's committing her crime was completely in character for her. The fact that it was her "plan A" was the point. She is known to be flawed, and the fact that she has flaws was the point of “Every Little Thing She Does”. In case you missed it (which you obviously did), continue the lyrics of the song that the episode title is referencing. “Every little thing she does is magic.” We know she is already in a long-term correction effort. She is learning under Twilight as a course of corrective action to make her a better pony. She was Twilight's student as part of the effort to guide her to be a better pony. It wasn't an instant 180 turn from how she used to be. She needed guidance to overcome her flaws. It is essentially therapy.
Her motivations are clearly explained and presented to us. It isn't merely "hey, she goes cookoo sometimes, isn't that funny?" She's been given this chance to turn her life around, and she doesn't feel like she deserves this break. She expects that she deserves to be locked in a cage somewhere for the things she has done. She says this repeatedly. Her character arc in “To Where and Back Again” is to tackle her anxiety over being the leader, because when she last had that kind of authority and power, she really screwed up and hurt others.
The pony who has given her a chance to learn to be better has given her "friendship lessons." She expects these are things she should just be able to get without having them explained to her. She figures, "I'm a smart pony, these are easy things, I can just do them all at once." The fact that she is bad at friendship lessons and didn't learn them is part of her character flaws. Demonstrating how this character behaves in this situation is far more thought-out and demonstrated as a coherent story than was done in “Lesson Zero.”
Once we get to the actual crime, we realize that Starlight's was far less severe. It was limited to five ponies and some minor property damage. There was some risk of more danger, but it was also mitigated by Starlight's attempts to fix the problem, and ultimately very little lasting damage happened. No children were involved. The entire town wasn't endangered. The episode showed Starlight taking actual actions to try to prevent some of the unexpected hazards that came up, instead of her simply looking around, crazy-eyed saying, "Of, no, I need to fix this," like Twilight did.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, the actual consequences of Starlight's spell and unexpected results were played out in real time instead of hidden behind symbolic dust. The depiction of the crime and its consequences were better portrayed through better writing. The fact that fewer ponies were involved, less area involved, and fewer implications/consequences created they were able to show it fully. Those choices indicate a better-designed crime from a writing standpoint, as it allowed for better execution. Had they given the execution from “Every Little Thing She Does” in “Lesson Zero”, we would see trampled kids. Had they executed Starlight's crime as poorly as they did in “Lesson Zero”, Starlight's spell would have just made the Mane 5 woozy and say silly things or spontaneously catch fire and run around with Yakety Sax playing in the background.
I will point out that in both crimes, the spellwork implies some rather dark concepts. In Twilight's case, she cast a spell from memory. She didn't need to look it up. She even mentioned, "Works every time", implying she has used it before. She's well aware of what it does. In Starlight's case, she had to go through the motions of looking up several spells, then combined them as she does. There are implications both on a character level and on a societal level for both instances of spellwork. Neither feels morally better or worse than the other, but Starlight's spellwork is overall more interesting due to being a mix of spells rather than, "Oh, by the way, Twilight happens to know this spell." I'd give the edge on writing to “Every Little Thing She Does” for being consistent with normal MLP lore in that weird spells do exist, and you generally have to study them. Twilight, at least in other episodes, usually has to read up about whatever spell she is about to use, and in “Boast Busters” we saw that the number of spells she had memorized mostly included parlor tricks like making a mustache appear on Spike. The fact that the “Want It, Need It” spell apparently is among those she has memorized is troubling and feels out of character.
You attempt to paint Twilight's crime as less severe, missing the point. The misguided argument that you're trying to make is that one or the other of the two criminal acts is worse and therefore that pony or episode is worse too. That is utter nonsense, a weak argument. Your issue is that Starlight was forgiven for doing an unforgivable thing. Twilight did the same thing to three kids. Yet the older sisters and families of those kids forgave Twilight. Applejack forgave Twilight for mindfucking Apple Bloom. Rarity forgave Twilight for mindfucking Sweetie Belle. Rainbow Dash forgave Twilight for mindfucking Scootaloo. Granny Smith and Big Mac forgave Twilight for mindfucking Apple Bloom and Big Mac. The Mayor of Ponyville forgave Twilight for causing a fracas, mindfucking her and several citizens of Ponyville who would vote for her next election cycle. Twilight "psychologically abused" kids and random passersby. But everyone was fine because she looked a bit remorseful, and Celestia pardoned her.
ReplyDeleteThe bulk of your issue is that you are unwilling to even apply your own standards equally to the two episodes. You're unwilling to extend to Starlight the same bias you use to give Twilight a pass. You use the same talking points and make the same errors of bias as people who genuinely hate Starlight. You attempt to say you are being fair and simply pointing out flaws of a character you otherwise like, but you aren't. All you have is incoherent judgments, unfairly applied bias, and personal preference. This is the same mistake all Starlight Glimmer haters like you make. When they complain about Starlight's character and depiction, they are unwilling to fill in the blanks left by canon with reasonable or consistent filler. You demonstrate you can do this for Twilight to excuse a badly written episode and even attempt to call it well-written. You're unwilling to do the same for Starlight in an objectively more complex and nuanced episode with much better characterization, a much more believable presentation of conflict, and a much more satisfying conclusion. Anyone with a reasonable analysis of the two episodes would call “Every Little Thing She Does” the better-written of the two because it is.
in other words, you're not internally consistent with your judgment. Even by your own standards, if you try to fairly apply them, Twilight is just as deserving of your outrage as Starlight is.
Both ponies used magic to mess with the free will of others. Both of them were reprimanded by the Princess they look up to. Both characters did wrong and needed to be told. Celestia had to tell Twilight that "causing problems in order to fix them" is wrong. Starlight had to have her errors explained to her too. That is the point of her character. In Starlight's case, this process went even further. She went and personally apologized to those she wronged, and accepted that they probably wouldn't want to be around her anymore because of what she did. They chose to accept her apology and forgive her. If anything, we got to see more of the correct outcome in “Every Little Thing She Does” than we got to see in “Lesson Zero.” It was a better-written episode, and it was far fairer and well done.
ReplyDeleteIt was poor characterization for Twilight to commit the crime she committed, it was in-character for Starlight to do so. “Lesson Zero” was less well-written on that point.
The severity of the crime itself is less important to the quality of writing, but the handling of that crime and its magnitude was better designed and better thought out in Starlight's case. They handled the situation much more realistically in “Every Little Thing She Does” than they did in “Lesson Zero.”
What I'm getting at here is that the overall progression from crime, resolution of the crime, and presenting the consequences of that crime are what makes good writing. A story isn't better written or worse written because it features a character that steals bread and the other features a murderer. What makes the story better than the compared story is how well its own crime is presented or written. So no. In anything resembling reasonable interpretation or critique, “Lesson Zero” is the worse written episode of the two. If you think otherwise, then you clearly don't understand good writing.
Now, you seem to be trying to assert that some further punishment is necessary for Starlight, and a lack of that punishment is an indicator of bad writing. No, it isn't. The consequences directly fit the crime. Make things right with your victims. If they believe you are sincere, no further action is necessary. The state only steps in when differences are irreconcilable, or crimes are considered heinous enough to not allow individual resolution. As part of the consequences of this particular crime, she goes directly to the ponies she harmed and apologizes. I want to repeat that:.she went to the ponies she wronged and directly apologized to them. Sincerely. She expected and accepted that they would never want to be her friends or talk to her again. She didn't try to weasel out of it. She didn't try to justify herself. She didn't try to make herself out as less bad or anything. Just straight up accepting her fate and whatever they decided. They, as good friends, forgave her. It was a touching, heartfelt scene. No, it was not bad writing. It was not rushed, nor a cop-out. It was a strong character piece, and it put each of the Mane 6 on display and showed the strength of their friendship and willingness to forgive their friend, a lesson clearly lost on Starlight Glimmer haters like you. That's far better writing. .
ReplyDeleteIn contrast, the literal ruler of Equestria, as well as the Mayor of Ponyville, were presented with a crime in which Twilight Sparkle mindfucked three children directly, and caused mayhem to Ponyville, causing injury to potentially several ponies that she could be liable for. No interaction between Twilight and any of them offering apologies or to make amends. Instead, the ruler of Equestria declares her innocent/pardoned, because she promises to never do it again. She was "instantly" forgiven, only it didn't trigger you this time. And her friends will write her letters on occasion too. I guess that is community service of sorts. Are we really supposed to just accept that everything is good, and no one resents Celestia or Twilight for it? That's pretty bad writing!
For a real life example of this, let's say you get into a bar fight with someone and break one of their bones. They can decide to forgive you and not press charges, or they can sue you for assault and battery, or something depending on local laws. They could sue you for medical bills incurred by them upon you. A story about that bar fight is not badly written just because they choose not to press charges. As long as it is in character for them not to do so, as it was with the Mane 6 towards Starlight.
ReplyDeleteNow let's take this same scenario and apply it to Twilight's case. Imagine now that the President of the United States witnesses you in that fight, and watches you break the guy's arm. Also, you throw bottles into the crowd of onlookers, including the Governor/Mayor of your city, injuring them. Then he steps in, tells you that you did something bad, but go home and sleep it off. It's fine.
And no one thinks to complain about the President's intercession. Some folks have to get stitches and bones set because of you, but the President says all is well, and no consequences for you. As long as you and your friends upvote his Tweets.
How good of a story does that make, huh?
In conclusion, it is plain for everyone to see that you are dishonest. Your opinion on writing quality is not worth listening to or considering. You're a waste of everyone's time. Get lost.
“I’m a waste of everyone’s time,” said the grown man who just wrote a goddamn novel to tell me I was wrong about his best pony, on a video I made almost two years ago.
DeleteHell, if you had bothered to watch my latest pony videos, you’d know that I’d lightened up on Starlight considerably. But no. You had to go to my blog and search for a video you disagreed with, because you were positively jumping up and down doing the pee-pee dance because you couldn’t handle that someone had a different opinion than you on the Internet.
I want to be much nastier than I am to you, but after two days ago, I’m done with strangers telling me how wrong I am over petty bullshit. So I’ll simply return your advice and tell you to get the hell off my blog. Good day, ‘sir’-and I use that term loosely.
SIR
DeleteIT IS A CARTOON OF COLORFUL PONIES MEANT FOR CHILDREN, you can't be this serious to leave a whole ass college dissertation on my little pony my guy. You just can't. It ain't that serious ＼(￣▽￣;)
Like this is actually embarrassing. It's his review, aka his opinion, and for you to get this bent out of shape over a character in a show...take several seats and get a life my guy. Cuz this ain't it.