"Hearth's Warming Eve" is to me what "Too Many Pinkie Pies" is to Polsky detractors (which I don't understand at all). I'm not gonna go any farther into the rest (last time I did, it took twenty pages and got a little bit too heated), I'm just gonna say, ..glad it wasn't like that.

Also it was good to see Luna, and I'm glad she didn't overshadow.

I also noticed (with the exception of "Too Many Pinkie Pies") that not writing to Celestia the moral is commonplace this season.

Sonic the Hedgehog.

Apparently Celly doesn't take letters from children.

• Fluttershy: "now remember the true show of bravery is admitting that you are scared."
• Scootaloo: "well I guess that makes you the bravest pony in history."

edited 8th Dec '12 10:58:29 AM by HeroShepherd

@Mio: Pretty much the same for me. They're okay but tend to have more flaws and less compelling plots than some other writers'. Many of my faves tend to be Rogers' or Marrow's episodes.

edited 8th Dec '12 11:00:22 AM by Psi001

I never really liked Hearth's Warming Eve. I never really got into the "fictional" characters that the Mane Six were playing or their story, and the Mane Six's own behaviour was pretty dumb too.

Morrow's actually written some pretty unpopular episodes actually, most of them involving younger characters interestingly (though she's probably one of my personal favorites too). When I hear people say their favorite writers it's usually Meghan Mc Carthy or M.A. Larson (I actually think Mc Carthy is a bit overrated but I like Larson usually).

edited 8th Dec '12 11:06:51 AM by Mio

@Lopiny I'm sure she would if she felt they needed it. They weren't there to receive the assignment in Lesson Zero, though.

@Hero Shepard: Oooh, smack.

Mio: Maybe one thing I specifically like about Rogers' and Marrow's is they are more liable to toy with the main dynamics more and show characters in different roles (eg. Rogers is responsible for nearly all of AJ's Not so Above It All moments, along with an Only Sane Man role for Apple Bloom of all people, while both writers have written most of RD's Smart Ball ones) making the cast seem more multi faceted.

In this sense they are some of my favorites, but only because they are alongside other writers, whose work I can actually appreciate more because of it. If they were the only writers I'd likely complain about them being Flanderized. So in a way, I have favorites, but near to all of them are pivotal.

This is why I think Depending on the Writer is such a pivotal trope really. We see all sorts of writers' different takes on the characters, and they usually all make for one very three dimentional character from all their enterpretations. Shows with only one writer tend to have more limited characterizations and more skewed spotlight to me.

edited 8th Dec '12 11:18:34 AM by Psi001

I think the problem with Depending on the Writer is that while in theory it allows for greater breadth characterization and roles, I find that often in practice it makes for more fragmented and disconnected characterization and in extreme cases can lead to the same character being completely different depending on who happens to be writing that day. Even in less extreme cases you can pick up on who happens to be writing the character that day if you pay attention enough, which often leads to people saying they like this writers version of the character better then this version of the character and so on and so forth.

I can see the point your trying to make, but there are also quite a few problems that come with multiple writers.

, I'm sorta halfway between these. I do like that the different writers allow for different takes on the characters, but I also think that some writers stretch the characters to the point where it starts to look inconsistent.

I do agree that Williams is far from my favorite writer, though. Both MMDW and DQ are near the bottom of my episode lists. HWE and PYHD were both good, but not great. I think the issue with her is that she tends to modify the setting and characters to fit the needs of the plot while most of the other writers tend to keep the setting and characters consistent and modify the plot to fit. Personally, I think the latter approach fits the character-driven nature of the show more.

edited 8th Dec '12 11:27:25 AM by JapaneseTeeth

I fail to see character contradictions outside of the obvious MMDW flub, honestly. Can anyone give any examples? Kinda hard to argue a point when I don't know what exactly I'm arguing against.

I admit the erraticness does become a problem, but still there is enjoyment seeing the characters take on such different facets and roles (eg. while Twilight is almost a completely different character in some episodes, I think it adds to her complexity and sympathetic appeal that she can be a rashional Straight Man in one episode and a neurotic buffoon in another).

I think taking away Depending on the Writer also hurts some characters in places. For example they've downplayed AJ's Not so Above It All streak for her more sane one from about Season Two, which to me made her a bit duller compared to Season One where like Twilight she switched rather evenly between sane and buffoon roles and seemed a very versatile character (likely because Roger's wrote many of her spotlight episodes with others using her as a secondary Straight Man).

Daffy Duck is also a very intense case of Depending on the Writer but I think the usage of his crazy winner and frustrated loser enterpretations are what made him so vibrant and multi faceted so when they switched to just using Chuck Jones' pompous version he seemed a lot more limited.

edited 8th Dec '12 11:34:17 AM by Psi001

@Perpetual: I guess it's not quite contradictions so much as characters losing or gaining nuance depending on who's writing them. Take this episode for example. I can't honestly say that Rarity is out of character besides being exaggerated a bit, but she seems really flat and one-dimensional compared to her portrayal in a lot of other episodes (Sisterhooves Social, Dog and Pony Show, Green Isn't Your Color, Sweet and Elite, etc.) Even episodes like Stare Master or Ponyville Confidential when she didn't have a major role gave her a bit more depth, whereas here it seems outside her first and last scenes, her sole character trait seems to be "Doesn't like camping".

Again, it's not inconsistent with her previously established character to act that way, but it irks me that they didn't really use her for anything except "Lol, the fancy pony goes camping" jokes. Those jokes are fine in and of themselves, but it's all she does until the tail end of the episode. We've seen in previous episodes that she doesn't always have such an aversion to getting her hooves dirty, and I find it weird that this episode doesn't touch on that at all.

edited 8th Dec '12 11:36:44 AM by JapaneseTeeth

This is my problem with AJ in many circumstances. It's obvious some writers have different PO Vs on how the characters work and which ones they have an interest in developing, hense why it's better we have so many 'cooks at the pot' so as not to risk Flanderization or Spotlight Stealing.

One writer will like this and that character for example, and have enough understanding of their personality they will try developing them and fleshing them out. They will have less interest in another though, so put them in the background or use them for more one note roles or gags, leaving it to another writer to make use of them. With the right diversity of writers and view points it can all be balanced out.

edited 8th Dec '12 11:40:03 AM by Psi001

It's all about focus. You can't see the layers of a character unless you focus on them, and this episode focused on RD/Scootaloo. All of the episodes you mentioned save Stare Master has significant Rarity focus, where as here she was very much just along for the ride.

@Psi 001: I'll agree with you on Applejack (it's actually why I kind of like when Merriwether writes her), and Twilight. . .well we've been over that plenty so let's not go there.

Honestly in this show it's only really caused some minor annoyances, but I still feel that it is something to recognize and if necessary reconcile when you have all of these writers.

This is my favourite episode of Season 3 so far. Yes, Rarity's behaviour was quite a bit exaggerated, and they could have toned it down a little; but all the same, I really liked it. And I am not usually a fan of the CMC, so that was a surprise.

As said I think it's easier to get past because of the many writers. If there was an enterpretation certain fans didn't like, then it would be a lot harder to bypass if the one writer that created it wrote all of said character's appearances from that point onward.

Even at that though I do occasionally find enjoyment when the characters act completely different from how they should. Bridle Gossip took everyone a deranged direction, but it was actually rather funny because of it.

edited 8th Dec '12 11:46:09 AM by Psi001

@Perpetual: It's not that they didn't focus on those traits, it's that they didn't so much as mention them. Just because she was a supporting character doesn't mean she needs to become one-dimensional. It doesn't take much time at all; something as brief as showing her helping to set up the campfire, or helping to cook or something. Basically my problem is (and I realize it isn't that big a deal, I'm just using it as an example), is that once Sweetie guilts Rarity into going on the trip, Rarity fights it every single step of the way until the very end. Like I said, it's not OOC, but they could have incorporated more of her previous characterization into it.

Basically, I think it would have been truer to her character if instead of complaining about it the whole way, she admits that she doesn't like it but still tries to make the most of the situation.

My point in bringing up those episodes wasn't to say that she needed that level of depth, just to point out that we know she has that level of depth, and this episode ignored it.

edited 8th Dec '12 11:46:34 AM by JapaneseTeeth

Maybe, though I kind of enjoyed that. It shown some sort of payback for Sweetie Belle manipulating her into joining them, if she just sat back and took it in silence it may have given off an annoying The Complainer Is Always Wrong tint. I hate shows that almost imply it's okay to belittle or even outright bully your 'misguided' team mates and they will take it in silence.

Hopefully we will get a proper Rarity episode this season however.

edited 8th Dec '12 11:53:44 AM by Psi001

I really like Luna having the power to enter dreams, because it's just a really nice situation for her.

Think about it. The way her job works, she's nocturnal. She watches over the night, so she has to sleep during most days. As a result, she probably doesn't spend a whole lot of time with ponies who aren't night-owls like her.

But, since she can enter dreams, she can spend time with those who have to sleep at night, and spend her nights walking through beautiful (or terrifying) dreamscapes.

It means her nights don't have to be lonely.

Same, a nice hidden tint, and almost gives her mischevious shade. I admit the suggestion she is giving other ponies (and in this case a terrified kid) nightmares however has a slightly disturbing undertone though.

I almost think that she sometimes seeks out nightmares, and tries to resolve them like she did in this episode.

A nice turnaround after a millennium of her image fostering nightmares, eh?

She doesn't seem to give dreams, but enter them.