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One Rant To Rule Them All

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(Hooooo boy... This is going to upset SOMEONE, I guarantee.

Well... There's nothing for it other than to just get it out there. Here goes...)


Helooooo everyperson!

Wow. I’ve still been writing a lot. I think it might have something to do with the fact that I’m procrastinating because I don’t want to draw my beloved character getting horribly beaten, but don’t quote me on that.

Anyway, it’s been a long time since I’ve talked about MLP:FIM.

I mean, a REALLY long time.

Months?


Yeah. But some people don’t have closure yet (namely my brother), so as service to them (him) I will explain my reasons for my strong departure from ponies, and perhaps in supplement, explain my current position once again, because even I am still learning just what that is. It might be a plethora of reasons. A multitude of reasons, maybe. But I would rather have you know about my current position until I possibly change my thoughts than have you left completely in the dark.
So. Moving on.


Those of you who are still hoping that I post a pony picture or write some pony fiction in the future are going to be sorely disappointed.
That ship has sailed, and to extend the metaphor, it won’t be coming back to port except briefly through cash incentive.
Yes, you heard that right. You would most certainly have to pay me in order to draw ponies, and I wouldn’t accept any payment for any work with writing either.

This isn’t the first time such a genuine departure has occurred either. Consider Veggie55 here on Deviant Art, if you will.
Some of you may know him for his pioneering experiments in imitating the show’s vector work, which when spiced up with a very thick dose of cleverness, made him get very popular very quickly.

But like every artist truly passionate about their craft, he did not wish to be remembered for the work he did in imitating a show that wasn’t his.

Probably millions were doing that already. How could he possibly make himself known if he didn’t do something that was his?

And so he created one last comic as a goodbye/apology/thank-you and started to pursue his own craft. I applaud him.

I too have made such a departure. I’ll say more further below.


So... I'm apathetic towards the show. Seems a bit bold of a statement.

It’s not. Every time my brothers mention that a new episode is out, I immediately realize that I actually forgot, or as of late, don’t quite care nearly as much as I used to.

In fact, if I do remain aware of the show, I feel like I’m just watching future episodes as they come just to give it a proper chance.

That’s right. Obligation.

I will forget about the episode on some Saturdays, and on others I will simply pull it up when the plans my brothers and I have are accomplished, simply because I feel obligated to do so after so much time spent in loyal attendance to the show… Or perhaps even a form of worship? In retrospect, it might have been a form of worshiping the show, of feeling that it can do no wrong.

But now, I feel like I’m watching a show slowly teeter towards jumping the shark. I feel like the talented writers are trying to keep it on life support after one too many cases of executive meddling on Hasbro’s part.

I don’t want to see it die. I loved it once and I don’t want to see it crash. Every episode since the season four premiere episodes has been a slow, creeping, steady reminder of this.


So now let’s see if I can deduce the true and final reason why I left the fandom so drastically.

In fact, it might be several reasons, each different, independent and along a specific timeline I can track. So what was the first?


Hands down, it was disappointment and betrayal. I had faith the show would still feel like it was when I came into it. I wanted to see Twilight remain a bookworm and protégé of Princess Celestia, because I felt like she was a more rounded character with these traits. I wanted Rainbow Dash to be lead weather pony, Pinkie to be creator of parties, Rarity to be the fashionista, Applejack to be the apple farmer, and Fluttershy to be the animal caretaker, because their characters were so well designed for these roles. They were rounded to their positions and were well developed that way. Major change was, as a matter of fact, not needed, and it was debatable that their characters would be improved through change of character status and not just better understanding and writing.

Barring that, I wanted any changes made to these characters to be surgical, precise and considerate to where they currently stood and where the story stood as well. I mean, they did that very well with Discord, didn’t they?

Then I learned Twilight was going to get a set of wings and a crown. Even though they were surgical about changes made to Twilight’s friends, I knew then that Twilight was not going to leave this without extremely major and jarring change.

So I changed what I was going to hope for. It was either change everything to suit such a major “adjustment” to our protagonist, or let things be business as usual, and this rumor was only a rumor.

It was either change the show’s dynamic and workings as befits the clear and obvious change of Twilight, or change nothing.

This is the point where I felt disappointment and betrayal. They did change Twilight. They gave her the wings and the crown, and I grew very worried. I ranted and went on hiatus, ranted some more, posted my choice rants online, you get the idea.

Season four, episodes one and two were my hope spot for the series. That first two episodes alone implied a continuous story arc, excellent writing as usual, and most importantly… The huge change to how MLP:FIM was going to run.

Remember my “all or nothing” hope? I had even greater reason to hope that they had gone for the “all” side with these episodes, because that season premiere was a strong departure from the normal formula in all the right ways.

“Then what”, you ask?

Well, friends, that’s when I had realized they took a strong swerve towards the “nothing” side of my previous hope.


It is at this point that I felt manipulated, and thus the second reason why I distanced myself from the fandom.

Sure, it might have been entirely my fault, but that changes nothing about how I felt at the time, even if I know better in retrospect.
I felt manipulated because I was given a great story with great characters. They gave me this regularly until they dropped a bombshell on me in Magical Mystery Cure. They then gave me the season four premiere, which set my hopes higher, only to have them come crashing down as I finally realized the truth…

Alicorn Twilight was executive meddling.

The show already survived several:
“Don’t make the show adventure! We want slice-of-life!”
So they didn’t. It resulted in something beautiful because they poured their hearts into the task for an alternative.
“Give us a pink pony princess!”
So they did in Cadence- one with a dynamic personality and likable character.
“Show those bronies some Scootalove!”
So they did- in a way that was believable, heartwarming, and although not conforming to Lauren’s original idea, it was in a way no one would object to... Not even Lauren.

But this?

“We want Twilight to be a purple pony princess! You have a 30 minute time slot to do it in. Oh, and this might be the last episode of MLP:FIM ever. Go!”
And when they rushed to produce the best thing they could with what little they had…
“Oh, wait! We just got the okay. You can make more seasons.”

I’m amazed they managed to produce something decent, and it’s a testament to their skill that they managed to do so. But with that, they now had an Alicorn Twilight they did not know what to do with.

The season 4 premiere was great, but then the executives reminded them that they wanted slice of life.

How do you do that with a princess?

Well, the only way they seem to have worked out is to ignore that they’re a princess.

Sure, the episodes started out tightly tying in with each other, depicting the ponies heading towards a common goal in finding the six keys for the box…

But then it drifted back to its previous formula.

One problem guys…

That formula can’t WORK.

Alicorn Twilight caused a desperate need for change to the formula, simply through the fact that a princess is very different from a unicorn bookworm. Twilight no longer has to write friendship reports, and she’s even on equal standing with the other princesses now. Why are she and her friends writing in a diary instead?

Were I given this change, I would have simply used clever writing to tie in the lessons I wanted to teach to the story as it’s occurring. There is no justification for this diary: Learning how to be a good friend should not require taking personal notes, and I’d bet the only reason Celestia made the mane six send her friendship letters was to gage their progress. Beyond serving as a good reminder to a Discorded Twilight, they really served no purpose other than this.

More importantly, where’s the active pursuit they had towards that one goal? It seems like they have forgotten about the keys with the way the episodes are being written, as there has been quite literally no reference made by the characters about these keys since Castlemaneia.

The season long story arc that I was promised seems to actually be a loose tie-in of episodes that are otherwise unrelated. The Equestria Games (a recent development for those of you living under a rock) currently has more active tie-ins and continuity than this season long story arc.


And that is why I have this third and current problem: Apathy, and realizing I’ve been worshiping a series capable of failure like anything else.

Here’s my first analogy: This series is like the man a woman has married, but wants to divorce because he just isn’t the man she married anymore. He’s changed too much.
I feel that way about the show. This series used to be exactly what I was looking for, but now… Isn’t.

Secondly, imagine this morbid analogy: This series is like a chicken being slaughtered by the farmer. Sure, its head has been cut off, but the body hasn’t caught on to the fact and continues to flop around in the most undignified death throes nature can produce.
I feel that way about the show. It’s main point and driving force has been cut off from it. The rest of the show is trying to cope, but has been going through death throes instead. Far longer than most franchises do when their driving forces have been cut off, but it will still die.
I’ve stopped caring because there’s nothing left to care about.

My favorite pony is no longer my favorite pony, and more importantly, my favorite show has stopped being my favorite show.

I have stopped worshiping it, because I have finally realized it is not perfect, and it is not immortal. Sure, I knew these facts, but they never became real for me until now.


I can’t watch a show if I think I’d just be watching it die.

A show that ends in an official, satisfying way? That’s completely different… I think this show is going to die because it has been mortally wounded.

I don’t have an obligation to watch something that has lost my love for it.

I can’t cling to something when I see no sign of it ever being worth clinging to in the future. The fact that things could change is not enough. There is a super small chance that somehow all these letters arrange themselves into an ascii picture of a cat, but I wouldn’t count on it.

And because I cannot watch the show without harkening back to the good ol’ days, I cannot participate in its fandom, as the people within it will know more about the show than I.


I have decided because I do not enjoy the show anymore, nor do I participate in its fandom, I have no obligation to watch it, or cling to the fan works of those who do.


En clôture:

Firefanatic, I’m sorry that I had to say this so brutally. Bear in mind that my opinion does not represent yours, and you are free to pursue shows as you wish.
…I would be interested to know what makes you keep pursuing this show unlike me.

Meteormanmike, what I said to him goes to you too… Though maybe you’ll agree with part of what I’ve said here.

To my brony watchers: You are all fantastic people. I’ve never met such a creative community before, and I will never regret my time in your fandom.
I may not draw or write ponies, but I am still clearly and definitely me. My style, my tone, and my mark will still be present in my works, even though they no longer contain ponies.
As so many continued to follow Veggie55, I implore you to continue following me. I will do my best to not disappoint you.


Let this never be addressed again, for all I need to say has been said within this rant.

(Phew! The one rant has been dropped into the volcanoes of Mordor. Now... We wait for the orcs to catch on.)
This is going to hurt (me).
© 2014 - 2024 Daaberlicious
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