Unpopular opinion time

@Mr.Myoozik
Very true

@Jonny Manz
Honestly given how people have been talking about the problems with G4 here, I think that nostalgia is blinder than Toph Beifong with her feet burned.

Bronies: G5 is bad because it ruined G4!
Also bronies: Why are so many things in G4 made this way?! It’s so bad!

@Tiger beetle
I grew to like them more thanks to Pinkie Pie and Yona. Honorary yak and the best yak bring out the best out of them. Rutherford can be funny at times but he could potentially get himself killed with his attitude. I mean if the ponies weren’t so nice. He and his yaks would have frozen or starved to death. And I believe yaks would definitely have been floored if they went to war with ponies. Twilight just didn’t want to because ponies are a peaceful race. If they could avoid conflict they would. It’s less that they’re afraid they’d be in danger, but more that they have a principle. I mean yeah not everypony has great magical power like Twilight, strength like Applejack, speed like Rainbow Dash, or beast taming power like Fluttershy, but no yak has any of those. The odds are absolutely awful for the yaks. Just with the Mane Six alone if they had no moral code whatsoever, nopony else needs to move a muscle.

If you think about it, if ponies weren’t so peaceful, they could always rule over Equestria with an iron fist. I always feel like they’re holding back their power. I mean the only beings capable of overpowering the ponies are… other ponies under Sombra’s mind control, half bug ponies, and Storm King’s army probably would have lost if Tempest didn’t stone the princesses first.

@ЅℰℒᎯℙℋℐℰℒ
G4 is lightning in a bottle. But yeah I get what ya mean.

@Mildgyth
Yet Spitfire’s still an awesome gal. The mane style change is not that deep.

@Jonny Manz
I thought it was to cope that the canon didn’t happen because they didn’t like it.

@Jonny Manz
About the “CalArts style”, is bean mouth legit the first and basic style they teach you? Because I did search up Calarts and I see anything else but bean mouth. Heck, even amazing Van Gogh style paintings. I feel that reason must be why both bean mouth and Calarts overlap.

@ЅℰℒᎯℙℋℐℰℒ
Maybe she styled it that way in Spitfire’s honour.

@Lord WyrmSpawN
Aren’t the buffaloes just as thick-skinned as the yaks are?

@WaynePonePone
With their powers, they’re just warriors in the Royal Sisters’ dynasty sweeping out average army mooks.

@WaynePonePone
An average yak is very strong, their whole thing is stomping and smashing, while not every pony has exceptional power. Look at Yona - she’s young, and yet she is more than capable of wrecking her surroundings. I still feel the ponies fear the destruction and casualties. It’s just like Garble’s plan to burn Equestria to the ground - better to circumvent it than deal with the consequences. It’s the whole reason Spike stays until they find a more affable Dragonlord.

From the species in the season 8 premiere, changelings and hippogriffs are shapeshifters, dragons can withstand lava, fly AND can breathe fire, and yaks are walking tanks, while griffons can fly, and have sharp claws and beaks. ANY of these would be bad news if they decided to attack Equestria. Ponies might win in the end, but a war is still a war. No matter who wins, both sides suffer losses.

@Tiger beetle
I guess it works with my “ponies are pacifists” argument. I mean if they wanted they could tear apart every nation one by one but they just don’t want to because they don’t want even a single creature getting hurt, either their own or others’. This may seem like one of those “pony supremacy” messages, because it is.

@TheQuietMan
Eh, I figure that happened later when more events started happening (the first was Cadance, the first really big one was Twilicorn for sure)

Also, I wouldn’t know, I’ve never tried to apply to CalArts or anything (a brain dead chimpanzee with two broken thumbs probably still has more artistic talent than me, haha)

I liked the Yaks. They were the first other species encountered that actually felt like they had some culture. The whole “trying to get along with a weird culture” felt a little bit Star Trek.

@TheQuietMan
People just use the term “CalArts” style since it’s easier to say and everyone else says it without knowing what it really means

I feel the pipsqueaks are an over-idealized version of what an online fandom actually is.

@Zabilac
They are children so thats ok

@Mr.Myoozik
It’s the only term I have for that particular style. Unless I coin a new one.

@Wiimeiser
If we’re talking about that one infamous gif of character heads transitioning into each other, then I’d call them ‘beanheads’. It’s less a style, and more a trend in animation - like thick outlines and snappy movement were for several shows on the 90s CN (Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Lab, Johnny Bravo). As the animation landscape changes, certain trends permeate simultanously running shows.

@Tiger beetle
And one has to wonder why everyone copies the success instead of trying to strike out on their own. I personally guess it’s some instinct gone wrong (or right), but that’s just me.

@Wiimeiser
It’s not really copying the success. It just happens. PPG or Dexter’s Lab were not going for the exact same thing just because they share some aesthetics.

@Zabilac
Indeed, if they want an accurate depiction of a fandom, they can just look at this one.

@WaynePonePone
The last time they did that, people got angry.

I actually liked that episode.

@Zabilac
What does that mean?

@Zabilac
Ahem Fame and Misfortune and this comic issue

@Dragonpone
They see an ugly reflection but can’t cope with it or make an improvement of themselves because “we’re perfect the way we are”. Not always.

@Dragonpone
Exactly my point.

It’s pretty telling that the reason why the episode turned out that way was because of Hasbro, the showrunners didn’t want it to turn out so mean spirited, and really who can blame them?

@Mr.Myoozik
Take the Fluttershy complaints, like it’s basically arguing that the fandom is ignorant of the work they did to make Fluttershy more proactive.

I think a problem with the episode might have been that they went after the fans for having a critique the showrunners believe they wrote well. It should have just been about toxic fans and the way they conduct themselves.

@Mr.Myoozik
That’s mean spirited to you? I think they didn’t go hard enough on us.

The episode was very strawman-y, but I wasn’t offended or attacked from the complaints thrown. The episode had its funny moments but for the most part it was whatever to me. The song in the episode wasn’t good though