A thread to discuss My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the tie-in media.
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apply. In addition, please remember that the thread is discussing a kids' show, and it's primarily focused on the work itself, not the fanfic — in particular, we don't want to see lewdness creeping in.
Edited by Mrph1 on Aug 26th 2024 at 10:24:26 AM
Yeah, that's the other thing that irked me: nobody but AJ paid any attention to the short-term issues. Yes, long term thinking is important, but also irrelevant if things go downhill before we get there. AJ's first priority was 1. keep the crop from being destroyed (keeping in mind that this is the start of the harvest season, so each day she delays is going to through off production) and 2. Keeping things in one piece until the rest of the family gets back. Fluttershy's solution may work in the long term, but AJ needs get to work now.
I've got no problem with that idea, aside from the fact that it's pure speculation. If Fluttershy would have said, "Oh, bat saliva enhances the growth rate of the seeds", I would have rolled with it. Unfortunately, she gives no explanation.
edited 3rd Jan '14 9:17:46 PM by JapaneseTeeth
Reaction Image RepositoryThere's also the problem that giving the bats access to such a large supply of apples with no competition for them will result in a population explosion which can't possibly end well. Fluttershy may be able to keep the bats confined to one section of the field, but can she keep them from boning?
And the fact that apple farmers don't actually grow apple trees from seeds.
edited 3rd Jan '14 9:19:11 PM by Crowfall
Yeah, what everyone else is saying.
Applejack's plan makes sense in the short term. However, the mane casts' plan to implement it backfired. We don't know if it could've worked out any other way, because no other possibilities are ever given.
However, Fluttershy's plan supposedly makes sense for the long term. Exactly why and how is unknown because she's rather vague about it, but it's clear from the start that it's the "right" option. And by the end of the episode, we have no other option anyway. It would've been nice if they took a minute to explain some of this stuff, but they didn't.
Fuck, what?
edited 3rd Jan '14 9:21:30 PM by IkeAndMike
http://h0useb0und.tumblr.com/
Well, I'm hardly an expert on apples so if anyone knows better feel free to correct me, but from what I understand the way apple genetics works means that just planting a seed can get you who the hell knows what kind of apple. Could be tasty apples, could be crappy ones, who knows. If you want a field of granny smith apples or whatever, you need to take some root, graft on some of whatever type of apple tree you want, and plant that. Apple trees are actually a bit of a Frankenstein monstrosity really.
Then again, Equestrian agriculture doesn't seem to care about such issues.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play@Ike: If you want to start an orchard with just seeds, you're looking at waiting the better part of a decade before enough of them are mature enough to produce fruit. Granted, EP magic might make it shorter for AJ, but it doesn't change the fact that the farm is hosed if the crop fails. Having a stronger crop ten years down the road means jack if they have to close down in the next month.
Fluttershy's plan does make sense in the long term, but it neglects the short term completely. The problem of future crops is an issue, yes, but so is AJ's concern of "these varmints are eating my entire crop and I have to stop them. Fluttershy's solution does precisely jack about that. They need a plan that deals with both the short term solution (Sweet Apple Acres not going bankrupt from having their crop eaten) and the long term (the bats' well-being and the state of the farm down the road).
Think of it from a modern farmer's perspective. If your corn is being ravaged by say, rats, your first priority is to get rid of them ASAP so you still have a crop. Once your short-term interests are taken care of, get to work on the long term stuff.
Basically, a long term plan isn't better than a short term plan just because it's a long term plan. That's like trying to improve your future health by running a mile each day, but neglecting yourself in the short term by letting yourself get dehydrated.
edited 3rd Jan '14 9:31:35 PM by JapaneseTeeth
Reaction Image RepositoryActually it did. It ensured that the bats only ate a small portion of the orchard.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play![]()
It did end up working, but no one had any reason to know that beforehand. They had no idea whether or not Fluttershy would actually be able to keep the bats there, and it doesn't change the fact that AJ lost a ton of apples to the bats sitting around fighting about what to do when she could have just ousted them at the start and saved a lot of the crop.
See, if Fluttershy would have said that it would have made a lot more sense. Give her some concrete reasons outside of "Well, they'll help. Sort of. In the far future." It would also have made it so that AJ's attitude was more just dislike for the bats than anything else. In the episode itself it comes off more as AJ trying to be pragmatic and Fluttershy stopping her out of sentimentality. Fluttershy never really gives much reason beyond "we need to be nice to the bats", which is a lovely sentiment, but doesn't really help Sweet Apple Acres meet quota.
edited 3rd Jan '14 9:39:11 PM by JapaneseTeeth
Reaction Image RepositoryI want this next episode to be great so we can stop talking about Bats! God.
Visit my Tumblr! I may say things. The Bureau ProjectYou're assuming that AJ could have kicked out the bats entirely, which I highly doubt.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayWell, not without help. My point is that her plan was to get rid of the bats ASAP to minimize the damage.
Reaction Image RepositoryI just don't think that'd even be possible. I mean the orchard is HUGE. The only reason Fluttershy was able to corral them is that she was asking them to move voluntarily and offering a place to go.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayWell, that's why AJ brought Twilight in.
And now I'm going to bed. Want to be able to get up to see the episode tomorrow.
That's not getting rid of the bats so much as changing their behavior. And the plan didin't work, anyway.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayAh, sorry, been stuck at the hospital with a fidgety and stubborn dad. Had MST 3 K on the mind for some reason, I wonder if Pony will ever reference it...
So what's it about, besides the obvious of Rarity and city acquistion?
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play

As I've said before, bat saliva acting as fertiliser is tame by our world's standards, nevermind the weirdness of Equestria.