Season 9 Discussion Thread [NO SPOILERS, DF airings only]

@rdibp  

 
>>2045585p (merged)
 
Still think they don’t give a shit about her?

@ILoveMyoozik  
Um, you realized that you showed him a pic from the exactly the same scene and episode?
 
Unless you are talking about the re-appearing cutie mark, then magic I guess… or she just stabbed someone with the scizors and got it in a manner of seconds :p

@AWGear  
It’s called an animation error, it’s been happening since Season 1.

@Anonycat  

They actually aren’t always there.  

It apparently really does take a village (or at least a Ponyville) to raise a child, since apparently she has a continually rotating selection of ponies looking in on her. Which might explain why it’s never been mentioned, because in a town that small, having that many ponies looking after her probably makes the entire situation common knowledge, and thus not something that needs to be mentioned.

@ILoveMyoozik  
I like my headcannon better, but that’s just me :3

Animation errors happen all the time, and cutie marks are no exception. Even when they’re trying super hard to get it right…  
 
…they still get it wrong sometimes.

@DerpyFast  

 
Wait, are they supposed to be related?

@rdibp  
Yes. It is mentioned that she’s his big sister.

@rdibp
 
She’s his older sister.
 
Edit: Ninja’d

@GenericArchangel
 
There’s an animation error with that? What is it?

@Vivace  
@Dustcan  
Oh wait, I thought you were talking about both the aunts. :p
 
Ignore my post

@Spinny  
The moon in her cutie mark is in the wrong place- it sits outside the black splotch, not the correct inside.

Now seeing what happened with Scootaloo and her parents, Parental Glideance makes A LOT of sense now.

Are we also not going to talk about how poor Cheerilee was traumatized by that gator thing? Poor girl was shaking in fear after that. That alone might be reason enough to hate the Scootaparents.

@ILoveMyoozik  
I wonder if they planned Scootaloo’s parents being a thing back then.

@GenericArchangel
 
That’s another thing I wanted to address. How exactly would Scootaloo be safer with her parents if they’re routinely in the presence of creatures such as that, and they’re not attentive enough to ensure they don’t make it out of their cages?
 
And that’s not even to mention just how incredibly negligent it was on their parts to let that thing make it into the freaking school!!!! Why the fuck did they even bring it there?! Isn’t there someplace they could have left it?! Cheerilee should most definitely sue, as should the parents of those poor, traumatized kids.
 
I’m sorry, but Scootaloo’s parents suck.

@Spinny  

 
… huh. And this is just for a pair of women cohabiting? How’s that for thin-skinned.
 
Seriously. For how much they like to make fun of the left for being easily offended by minor things, there’s no one more easily sent into spirals of hurt ego by nothing at all than modern-day conservatives.

@Spinny  

 
It was an act.
 
It maybe got out of control momentarily but I’m sure it was all part of an act for the kids’ benefit (though I’m sure Cheerilee would have liked to know about it beforehand).

Soooooo… Who’s been raising Scootaloo this whole time?

@ILoveMyoozik  
“Boy, i hope someone got fired for that blunder”

@Spinny  
Eh, I wouldn’t say they suck…  
… but it’s definately visible that DHX was kinda out of ideas and just wanted to check out another point on thier list of “Parents We haven’t shown yet but we belive we should”.

I thought more about the episode at work, and then rewatched it.
 
The way I see it, long-term storytelling falls along a spectrum. On the one end, The Present deliberately sets up The Future; seeds are planted that will pay off later. This would be like the MCU. On the other, The Present is extracted or reverse-engineered from The Past; you take the things that have already happened, and just roll with whatever weirdness they produce. It’s pretty hard to argue that late-stage FiM doesn’t lean heavily towards the latter. So while a lack of planning and forethought is a valid criticism, it’s not a terribly useful one.
 
When I think back on Scootaloo’s character, I remember there being a list of things people wanted to have happen to her. It included things like Being adopted by Rainbow Dash, Addressing the flying disability, Getting her cutie mark, and finding out who her parents are. What all of these things have in common is that they’re things mostly outside of Scootaloo’s control. From that, we can get a theme. Many of the episodes that feature all three crusaders after Season Five have to do with them getting to make their own choices in life.
 
So in that sense, Scootaloo getting to choose to stay in Ponyville is a fitting end to her story, and finally cements her transition from not being in control of her life, to taking control. It’s just a shame that her parents couldn’t have been worked into the show more organically. That said, I still think that having her just-established parents respect her as an individual with her own purpose in life is about the best way to tie up those two loose ends.
 
As for the aunts, they gave me a really nice, wholesome feeling. People tend to remember how something made them feel more than what was said. Maybe that’s the secret to good representation; don’t say anything, but try to give the audience a good feeling about what you’re representing.

The Beginning Of The End:8.8  
Uprooted:9.1  
Twilight’s Seven:9.2  
The Point of No Return:9.4  
Common Ground:9.2  
She’s All Yak:9.0  
Frenemies: 9.3  
Sweet and Smoky:8.2  
Going to Seed:7.0  
Student Counsel:9.4  
The Last Crusade:9.3
 
>>2066310t (merged)  
>>2045513t (merged)
 

 
Boy, the screencapping game for this one was crazy weak.
 

 
Later:
 

Is it bad that I didn’t notice that Scootaloo’s aunts were lesbians the whole episode? Mostly because I didn’t know they were supposed to be lesbians. I thought they were just living together. Guys, I may be retarded.

@Nightweaver20xx  
You are actually normal person. This is how this episode should be seen as.  
If not for the idiotic tweets from Mr. Vogel and Buzzfeed article, everyone would be like you.