>anonymous artist  
>https://zutheskunk.deviantart.com
 
…okay…

Dear Ms. Williams  
Why are you trying to ruin everything Lauren Faust worked so hard to achieve?

In necessary 3D of course.

The CG was the only good part of that episode. Without it…would be immensely less watchable.
 
Go to bed, Merriwether.

Well, the story certainly was a very, very low point, but CG was… okay.

the cgi was pretty cool

The CGI wasn’t half bad
 
I mean it was obvious but it was neat

lololloollololoolloollolololoolollololololololololollololololoolloollolololololololololololololololololoolololololololooloollolololololololololololooollololololololololololololoololloloolololollololoolololololollolololololololololololololololololololololololooooooololololololo

I also think the dragon’s code thing could have used a LOT more exposition on why spike was doing that, because the rest of the dragons didn’t seem so “noble” to me.
 
(also, could a moderator just throw my comments in to one box or something, I feel like I’m spamming the comments section because my brain keeps remembering things I meant to say before I hit post comment)

also, I loved the way the timberwolves looked, just because they looked like dark, disjointed aberrations from the cursed forest just outside of town.
 
about the things with spike, I kinda assumed it was a similar issue to the way I am when using a tool I’m not used to: I bumble around like an idiot and fail at tasks that I could do blindfolded if I was using my own tools and/or system. the times he wasn’t a bumbling moron (the rock tower thing comes to mind) it was something either he can do without any extra tools, or, like with the rock tower, would be something he’d be good at because he’s a dragon. this person is acting like ms williams is michael bay, when she’s more or less like the one tile on the floor that’s a half of a shade lighter than the rest that does the job just as well, but every imperfection is magnified due to its incongruity with those around it.

I think part of merriwether williams’ issue is that either she’s told to write an episode around a certain moral, or is told to give the editors a moral for her episode to be based around, either way she starts with the moral and works her way from there, and by the time she’s written the episode she’s written an episode for a completely different moral, but it’s too late to change it, so she has to keep the end scene with the letter to celestia built around the moral she started with, even though the ep really has a different one by the time it’s done. hasbro greenlights it as “hey it’ll sell toys” and they make it, like with mysterious mare do well.  
the only other way to explain how disjointed her episode morals are from the rest of said episode is to say she’s just bad at summarizing her entire episode, so the end makes the entire episode feel forced.
 
also, her jokes really do fit better with a show with less congruent characters than mlp. (like spongebob. there the characters are always acting only marginally similar than they were in the episode before, and constantly relearning the same things)
 
p.s. anyone else notice her name is the first names of merriwether lewis and william clark? I just kinda found that interesting.

SURE LOOKS PRETTY BACKGROUND PONY IN HERE
 
On an unrelated note, even after Dragon Quest, MDW and Hearth’s Warming Eve, the other Merriwether episodes have more than redeemed her for me.

I don’t think her writing is that bad. I think the CGI added to the timber wolves and made them a heck of a lot scarier, plus it still matches the show’s style. Also, how can an episode with Applejack being awesome be bad?

If no one has a gun to your head, you never ‘have’ to respond to anything, not even this comment. Free will, brother.

^Exactly. I’m much happier when I don’t have to respond to unwarranted irrational hate. And I unfortunately have an urge to respond whenever I see it. The Internet is a dreadful, dreadful place.

>I come to Derpibooru for the art, not the hate  
>WALL OF TEXT RESPONDING TO HATE.

Damn, this came close to 100 posts…
 
Probably for the best though, she is one of the show’s best writers. Mysterious Mare Do Well, Dragon Quest… well Hearth’s Warming Eve was a low point but most of her work is gold!

At background pony below
 
I don’t remember anyone blaming her for those minor changes like at all.
 
I don’t like her cause her writing is very lackluster and she plays things too damn safe and predictable. She has some good episodes but her bad episodes are really goddamn bad imo. She’s the weakest writer for a reason.

@BP that specifically addressed me way back
 
“D50 in a previous Spike episode(Dragon Quest) it showed Spike been capable of cooking. In this episode why is he such an idiot and can barely cook.”
 
When was Spike portrayed as an idiot? Clumsy and juvenile, sure. But idiotic? No. Hardworking and dutiful? Yes. Clumsiness is entirely within precedent, BTW. Sneezed fire into one of Twilight’s books in Owl’s Well That Ends Well. Made a general mess of things throughout that episode as well. In the cold open to Secret of My Excess, he thinks using the whole floor as a shelf is better than using the bookshelves. You have to wonder how much of his perceived competence as an assistant is due to Twilight’s strict guidance - something Applejack doesn’t do because she doesn’t want an assistant. Same episode, knocks over Cheerilee because (dun dun dun) he’s overexcited. Overexcited Spike = accident prone. As for the pie, that’s the strongest (and perhaps only) argument you can make about inconsistency. But it’s not unexplainable. Could be trying a new recipe. All sorts of accidents could have happened in the process. Maybe that’s the kind of pie he likes and previous successful attempts at baking were due to strict adherence to recipe books. Or maybe it’s just a joke and it’s stupid to dwell so much on it. It’s honestly not that big a deal. If I cared enough, I would pick out inconsistencies in a lot of non-MW episodes (and I’m fairly sure I already have). Just claiming that they’re the exception and not the rule, and that good MW episodes are the exception and not the rule is just biased nitpicking.
 
“This show her goddamn inconsistency. She takes a flaw from a character and over-exaggerate it which makes them an unlikeable jackass. Case in point Mare Do Well.”
 
Did not happen. If you found Spike to be an unlikable jackass instead of a well-meaning clutz in this episode, I don’t know what to say except thanks for proving my point about making things up. He’s a worse jerk in Owl’s Well and Secret of My Excess.
 
“The humor is so forced when she writes it. It feels like it should be in Spongebob but in there its fine cause the characters there are silly and supposed to comedic. In here its situational humor that does not work with any of the characters cause it contradicts previous episodes. Spike should not be fucking up simple task and looking like a idiotic tool. That does not work at all in this show. “
 
You’re the one exaggerating how much of a screw-up / tool he was portrayed. And exaggeration isn’t inherently bad in the first place.
 
Honestly, this is why I don’t pay attention to who the writer is when it comes to cartoons and comics and try to stay away from fandom whining. I come to Derpibooru for the art, not the hate.
 
I have a friend that for some reason absolutely hates Adam Glass for his writing on several comic series, for a lot of the same reasons MW gets. I later informed him that Adam Glass was responsible for an episode of Supernatural that included one of his all-time favorite moments of the series. He literally could not consolidate the two things. How could a writer he hate so much be responsible for something so awesome? I don’t have an answer, but it’s the kind of drama I think could and should be avoided by not putting so much salt into who’s writing something that takes creative input from multiple sources.

It’s depressing how people just jump into assumptions when MW is involved. Some people explicitly blamed her for the supposed change of voice actress for Spitfire, and now for the use of cgi with the timber wolves… and apparently some people haven’t learned about the originally intended ending for Wonderbolts Academy when blaming her about how it did end, and ignore that two people were involved in the writting of this episode.
 
There is more into the creation of an episode than the writter, people. There are a lot of things we don’t know, don’t assume.

Magic duel isn’t boring or generic but it feels sloppy and rushed. Larson could’ve did much better considering imo he’s the best writer the show has. But that’s for a another time.
 
I understand you. I don’t have high expectations for ponies as you may assume.I’m usually very forgiving; Its when its dumbed down to the point of treating the audience like idiots is where I draw the line.
 
Its incredibly annoying when we have an actual well written episode that actually tried(Williams with Wonderbolts Academy) and then just gets lazy with this episode which is rubbish.

@BP below (again)
 
To add a piece about your first point, I agree. Labeling FiM a kid show does not justify such writing, but it does relieve expectation and standard of such writing. Get what I’m trying to say? It slides by, but doesn’t pass.

@BP below  
HERE WE GO. I like you. Yes… You understand.
 
I don’t 100% agree with you on MW using the most generic and boring way of writing, or that Larson messed up with Magic Duel, but I do agree with you that taking the safe route is detrimental to the core of the show. Your last paragraph is just so 100% true.

I just want to say
 
Just cause its a kid show does not justify awful inconsistent writing. I don’t want dumbed down writing cause its a kid show. They should not treat the audience and kids like idiots.
 
Williams dumbs down the writing by using very typical and generic writing on already cliche stories. Unlike the other writers that put their own spin on it Williams does the most generic and boring way possible.
 
People say it has very good writing for a kid show and is very fun to watch. We don’t need writers like Williams ruining that. Don’t get me wrong every other writer fucks up(Larson with Magic Duel,Cindy with the Owl episode and Megan for Friend in Deed). However their good episodes outweigh the bad and they show how good the show is when its not blogged down by taking the safe route with lazy dumbed down writing. Williams plays it too safe and chooses the most generic stuff you could ever put in a children show. Also I don’t hate all of her work. She made Hearth Warning Eve and Wonderbolts Academy which really surprised me on how good it was and made up for her Season 2 episodes that were lackluster/bad. I had some hopes for this episode that she would do a good job but she again takes the safe route and doesn’t even try to make it interesting.
 
This show would be much much better if the writers went more out of their comfort zone and work with lore and characters more.

If you don’t hate Pinkie Keen because of that bullshit moral or whatever then you’re a bigger tool.
 
BP
 
PP isn’t THAT stupid. There’s airheaded, and there’s moronic.
 
If there’s a gag that tries harder than “crazy face”/G3 Pinkie Pie face, I’d like to hear it.
 
And there you go with ad hominem again. You know, you’re actually the one with shit taste thanks to perspective.
 
WOOOOOOAH! OPINIOOOOOONS!