A thread to discuss My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the tie-in media.
All of the usual forum rules
apply. In addition, please remember that the thread is discussing a kids' show, and it's primarily focused on the work itself, not the fanfic — in particular, we don't want to see lewdness creeping in.
Edited by Mrph1 on Aug 26th 2024 at 10:24:26 AM
Huge amounts of
What Could Have Been concerning Lauren and Meghan's differing plans for the show.
Finally caught "Pinkie Pride" this morning. Some thoughts:
Haha, so much Pinkiedash ship teasing.
The way everypony gets swept up into Cheese Sandwich's spiel and forgets Pinkie? More evidence for Sereg’s theory that ponies have almost no collective long-term memory.
And Derpy stuck her face in the fondue pot because she had to pull out an extradimensional creature that was drowning in the chocolate.
Dark- it's a discussion of the fact that Lauren Faust had some very different ideas about the show would have gone. Unless there's a reboot, there's no way to really reconcile it with anything that happened since she left after season 2.
Most of what she was actually planning is left unsaid. However, there is a hint that Celestia and Luna would have died/left somehow, only to come back later, kinda like Obi Wan or Gandalf.
http://h0useb0und.tumblr.com/Really? Didn't notice that at all. Of course, nothing can top Wonderbolts Academy.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayMost of the post was old news, talking about how Lauren had a very different vision for the show, that it'd be darker and more adventure focused, etc. Only one of the posts had any specific details.
- The Everfree Forest expanding was originally planned to be a slow, mysterious, and growing threat over the course of the series, rather than a sudden event that quickly got dealt with
- Cadance wasn't supposed to be an alicorn
- Lauren didn't like reforming villians. Presumably this means that Discord and Trixie would have stayed evil. She said that "Trixie had the potential to become a very significant villian".
- Comparing The Best Night Ever and Sweet and Elite to Twilight's coronation and Games Pony Play: "Keen eyes will notice a stark difference; where before there was a sort of contempt and mockery of high society culture, now there is indulgence and outright celebration."
- The Everfree was originally a lot more hardcore. "Things like a silly camping trip are pretty implausible in the original vision; The Everfree would have bucked them sideways"
- Some of Lauren's ideas were dark enough that she wasn't sure if she'd be able to get away with them.
- We'll probably never know what was originally planned, or at least not until after the show is over. But suffice to say that as of Season 3, it's gone down a completely different path.
edited 2nd Feb '14 9:00:15 AM by storyyeller
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayI haven't seen either. I've heard the second anime was a lot better but the intro was rushed due to wanting to not spend too much time retreading the same ground.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayThanks story, I skipped that section assuming it wasn't important. I should stop doing that.
http://h0useb0und.tumblr.com/interesting. Sounds like she was intending to bring in G1's darker tone, all be it more slowly.
I do have to wonder if that would have been a good thing or not. if the pilot's anything to go by, they could have been really rushed, and we'd miss out on the quieter, character-focused slice of life episodes, or at least wouldn't have had nearly as many.
Though vastly different situations, speaking as a G1 fan it could have used less adventure and more character development, so I have to wonder if the more action would have impeded that.
edited 2nd Feb '14 9:10:31 AM by darkabomination
It certainly would have been interesting, though really I can't say I mind it having drifted away from there.
Still, perhaps someday we might get a G4.5 that runs more along with Fausts ideas. A sort of My Little Pony: Brotherhood is Magic type deal.
Birthright: an original web novel about Dragons, the Burdens of Leadership, and Mangoes.Also have to wonder if the goddess angle would have stuck. I kind of lean towards the yes, seeing how Cadence was supposed to be a unicorn, meaning Celestia and Luna would have stayed unique. Plus, if they'd been treated more like Yoda, it would have kept their special status inline with the creation myth presentation we got in the beginning.
One thing frustrates me about discussions of Lauren Faust's vision: So many people have an unspoken assumption that, if Faust had just stayed on the show, her ideas would have been faithfully transmitted and everything would have been awesome. But this doesn't make sense when we consider how Lauren's ideas got mangled even when she was on the show. It was supposed to have more adventure episodes (not all adventures episodes as some have claimed, but more than we got) but they wrote slice-of-life episodes because those were easier to make on a demanding schedule. Cadance was supposed to be a unicorn, but was an alicorn instead because toys. The guy posting this info on Reddit outright says that some of Faust's plans are dark enough he wasn't sure they'd have been greenlit, yet the soli Faustus faction acts like that wouldn't be a problem.
I honestly think that, if Faust hadn't been kicked off, her original vision still would have been subjected to Executive Meddling. Fans would still throw around accusations of shark-jumping, pandering, and character derailment, but there wouldn't be any convenient scapegoat to blame them on. And we'd hear (via DVD commentaries) about how the finished episodes didn't quite line up with Faust's original vision... but the finished product would be "eh... close enough" that Faust wouldn't feel any pressing need to go back and do things "right".
Whereas now, there does seem to be some interest in doing seasons 3 and after "right".
Also:
You know. I really don't believe this poster to much. Not necessarilly that Lauren had different plans, but that the show would have ended up being much different from what it is now. I especially don't buy that it would have been at all "darker" or more "epic".
And frankly I'm not even sure if I would have liked Faust's full vision.
edited 2nd Feb '14 9:22:41 AM by Mio
In response to the Trixie becoming a major villain, I can see it happening. Sort of a From Nobody to Nightmare situation, except it's more like from Small Name, Big Ego to nightmare. Twilight shows her up, she seeks revenge, learns some new spells, gets more serious... Etc. or maybe she could've kept the amulet.
http://h0useb0und.tumblr.com/The Everfree was originally a lot more hardcore. "Things like a silly camping trip are pretty implausible in the original vision; The Everfree would have bucked them sideways"
Which never happened, and the "silly camping trip" wasn't even IN the Everfree.
Yeah it basically just people whining about how hing "could have been" none of which has any basis in fact. Is just wild speculation, and no NONE of it is "retcon's" because nothing that actually EXISTS in the show was changed.
I never said it would be better, only different. And yes, people can be idiots.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play

And my birthday. :3
http://h0useb0und.tumblr.com/