On Heroes: a rebuttal to Kkat's post · 2:50am Jun 2nd, 2016
Personally I don't think violence and being a good person have much to do with each other. I get that people might draw that conclusion, but I regularly beat on and am beat on by one of the nicest woman in north america (My Krav Maga instructor. If she's any indication, I can see how Israel won the six days war
) She's emphatically a good person... and can fold up men twice her size like an origami, I've seen her do it!
The difference as they say is in the details.
Here we have the Bats, perhaps on of the most harbitten, bitter, unrelenting, wolverine like dogmatic heroes ever... and he's helping Harley Quinn, a supposed educated therapist who bought one of her patients lies and gave us a grim view into abusive relationships. A woman who described Bruce once as "Yeah, Joker.. he beats me, makes me feel like dirt, and don't get me started on his socks! But you Bats... you hurt me," And out of all his foes... Harley and Friez are about the only ones who may reform.
Then we have the Flash, the antithesis of the dark knight
The man here is sick. Both Flash and Batman have exhibited keen insight into dealing with their criminals, and will go easy. And both are good people. Its different then Wonder Woman or Superman as we rarely see either engaging with any enemies like this, and both heroes are taking risk to do so.
Littlepip is a good pony. She tried her damndest to save a stallion who sold her to raiders, tried her utmost to save a seemingly bigoted sherriff, and given ample opportunity to split stayed behind to help raider victims escape. As are Calamity and (boo) Velvet. Steelhooves and Xenith... no. For all their talk of being around Pip making them want to be "better" there's little to show for it.
Conversely, Blackjack... is a rotten pony. She stood aside and consorted in murder, was a rapist, a drunk, cheated on the mare she claimed to love repeatedly... she is such an example of not good she loses all likeability and you know you're in a bad spot with a story when a rape while having your limbs torn off doesn't begin to cover karmic justice, or even makes you feel bad for her.
Littlepip stands in a league of her own, but I'd liken Blackjack to the Saints without any of the morals
Actually... I think I'd liken Pip to a sort of forgotten hero. Frank Castle, aka The Punisher.
From what I've scene, Littlepip isn't after justice, but what's right. And in terms of the most monstrous of ponies... Rampage in awe bows to her one true lord in terms of sheer body count and slaughter.
ALL HAIL FLUTTERSHY, HAIL TO THE NO LIFE QUEEN!
Fluttershy is another example of a not good pony. Shocking, I know! But weakness should never be mistaken for soft spokeness, and coddling should never be mistaken for kindness. And of course the coward doesn't even have the courtesy, the decency, the ability to be ashamed enough to look out into what she made and take her own life. And I hate that I think that! I am not one to ever wish that on anyone, but Fluttershy... I hope the next time she called the other mane six her "Friends" someone slapped her for speaking such blashpemy. And judging by her demeanor, she never willing hurt a bug, never mind a pony. The least violent mare in Equestria, and she managed to achieve the sort of numbers those columbine fucknuggets could only cream there jeans over.
And if the pegasi had any self awareness or honor at all, they'd be kissing Pips flank as though it tasted of ground beef and skittles rainbows for both removing the "one day we'll go down" hoof dragging, and removing the Enclave ability to stranglehold their own tribe. I'd like to think that part about being the villian was just a mixture of late teenage hormones (I've yet to place an age... 16 or so) exhaustion, being a girl (Yeah, I said it. Girls are more emotional the boys, I'm waiting for that lawsuit, just take a number and wait in line) and just going through Celestia. And naturally the NCR will no doubt give her an atta girl once her jobs done... then immediately give her the boot from what was her home.
All I can think of for this really is this one video I found not to long ago let me see if I can still find it.
Also this new overwatch vid helps with how some would look at a hero.
Blackjack is a much better person than Littlepip. For all her faults (though your recital of them is extremely out of context and unfair), she actually tries to do good, which is more than can be said for Littlepip. Littlepip shoots defenseless people because she feels like she has superior moral ground. The only time she ever felt bad about gunning down mobs of defenseless victims was in Arbu, and even then she spared no sympathy for her other victims in Bucklyn Cross. Even Calamity, arguably the most unjustifiable killer in the entire story ("it's muh policy"), at least felt bad for going out of his way to kill people for no good reason.
Blackjack at least is not actively baneful. Moreover, she goes out of her way to teach people to be better people. Littlepip has a slash-and-burn ideology which usually roughly follows this formula:
1) Go to place
2) Kill people who disagree with me
3) Leave without waiting for the dust to settle
BJ never gives up on her enemies' better nature. If it comes down to them shooting, she'll usually shoot to kill, but if there's a way for her to win without killing anybody, she always takes that chance. She spared Steel Rain an uncountable number of times, no matter how far out of his way he had repeatedly gone to hurt her. Even in the end, she didn't directly kill him.
BJ went way out of her way to spare Bastard towards the end. She could have easily killed him, but unlike Littlepip, BJ hates unnecessary death. Conversely, when Littlepip was facing down a completely unarmed raider who was terribly frightened, she literally shot that poor fellow in the ass. Four times! For no good reason!
The list goes on and on, but the bottom line is that Littlepip doesn't ever do anything worthy of being called a hero. Even her genocide in the end, which is very easy to justify, is paid at the expense of others, not herself. She kills the people who disagree with her ideology, and because Homage is fake news (elaborating on that would be a huge rabbit hole) and also her girlfriend, she gets glorified on the radio. That doesn't make her a hero. Taking bullets for other people isn't heroism when you redirect just as many bullets, if not more, at other-other people.
Even her friend Velvet Remedy is a better person than Littlepip. She is arguably too idealistic and disconnected from reality, even moreso than Blackjack, but she also isn't actively despicable.
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Lets address this first: Equestria is no place for heroes
Simply put, no one has the luxury to seek change from with in anymore in Equestria. It doesn't matter what relationship a mare has or if that stallion is off his meds, and as much as they might wish otherwise none have the luxury of chancing it to find out.s
As to your assessment, lets examine three character
Calamity: a soldier raised by soldiers in a culture and tribe dedicated to training and raising soldiers. he was brought up and trained to take out his enemies quick and relatively painlessly.
Blackjack: a security mare raised by one from a line of them. a cop. unlike soldiers, cops while trained to kill are ultimately there as peacekeepers, there to de escalate things, to take people down not out.
Littlepip: for all effect and purposes a civilian who walked into the wolves den with no discipline, training, or ethics outside of self preservation. A mare not even in her majority, a child, who chases the grown adult who used and abandoned her tribe and in her first few hours exposed to enslavement, rape, and near death. She could have taken some raiders load or taken their life, and saved derpy and others where most given the chance would have bailed. So with no training or real experience, she proved herself.
M point is that they have different mentalities. one should take that into consideration
who were cannibals who sold pony flesh as gator meat. she did the wastes a favor
how? she knew it was wrong, but dud nothing due to laziness and not wanting to rock the cart?
no arguement there, but I find her use of pip more abhorrent myself
As for her ideology... again, a child. no one really taught pip, so she made her own morals. disjointed, stiff, and led her down foolish paths, but still there.